Losing Interest

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Let's be honest if we had 8/9 points from our first 4 games then this thread wouldn't exist. The mood on this forum is always dictated by Saint's results.

 

And another good one

[sotonjoe]

Losing Interest in SFC and football in general - seems to be a common theme across a number of threads just now.

 

From a personal perspective I found the whole summer at SFC and the start to our season all very predictable and if I’m honest I choose to walk up Ben Nevis on Saturday rather than watch us lose to Arsenal.

 

Similar stories coming from my friends in Bournemouth and Southampton who are struggling this season and can’t quite put their finger on why. All feels a bit uninspired and predictable this season?

 

Is it a mixture of our best players leaving every single summer, our poor start, net summer spend, new manager who is not inspiring many or are people now just coming to terms with our position (top 10 is probably all we can hope for)? Or are people just repulsed by the grotesque wages and transfers in the Prem now? Perhaps a combination of 3 or 4 things?

 

I’ve found myself watching more golf and NFL this past week - in months gone by I would be (given chance) on SSN all day every day. Something has changed!?

 

How are the rest of you feeling? With Europa and top 6 last season I was absolutely buzzing for the season to start back in May – I seem to have dropped from a 10 to a 5 over the past 4 months.

 

Good. Hopefully, you will lose interest in trolling on here as well. Cheerio.

[ALWAYS_SFC]

Good. Hopefully, you will lose interest in trolling on here as well. Cheerio.

 

He will only stop when we win and cant moan because that`s all it is on here,

Win and its fine, lose and the club are useless...

[Saint in NZ]

Here's the way I see it. The Saints will never be able to compete long term with the 7 big-named clubs as, in the end, money talks. Add Leicester and, perhaps, West Ham and a top ten finish (best of the rest) is the best we can hope for. We will only ever spend, or less than, what we have received for players in the transfer market. Fans have to live with that. Last few seasons were the exception rather than the rule. Let's make the best of Europe, and the Cups, because we're not likely to be back there for many years to come. Put out strong sides and enjoy a run. Les Reed was dreaming when said the club has aspirations for the Champions League. Never realistic! Also, must say that the money spent in the transfer market, plus wages to players, is nothing short of obscene.

 

Having said all that, a few wins in the next games would see a different attitude on here.

[Yate Saint]

This has actually been a good thread /read for me!! Can't be arsed to post on here most of the time but I've definitely lost interest. I hope it comes back but it's not just Saints. I saw a player the other day (i cant even remember who it was now), playing for a team on MOTD and I didn't even know he had gone there. Normally I would be up on those things. Not had a real urge to get to a game yet either.

 

I was going to try and get tickets for West Ham away last week when they went on general sale. I forgot, until I saw the sold out article flash up on facebook. Not like me at all. I was a little gutted. Wanted to see the new ground really and its transformation post the Anniversary games, which I went too earlier in the summer. Then I thought to myself that at least I've saved some cash.

 

As a few have said, I just don't know why. I wouldn't have it down to our poor start to the season. Just a football in general thing i think. I'm sure it will come back one day....maybe when the money disappears and teams like Man City are average again.

[eelpie]

 

As a few have said, I just don't know why. I wouldn't have it down to our poor start to the season. Just a football in general thing i think. I'm sure it will come back one day....maybe when the money disappears and teams like Man City are average again.

 

This last bit says a lot. The top seven clubs buying their success has taken a lot of 'level playing field' competitiveness out of the Premier League. And also because the media are really only interested in these teams. Plus also, that referees are now so obviously influenced in favour of these clubs, as seen through so many decisions.

[eelpie]

Like Boufal? Granted he's missing the start of the season but he could be the equal or surpass what Mane did for us.

 

I did not mention Boufal because his was a very late signing, he is not match fit, gets injured a lot, and he will be away in African Cup games for a while, so although I have high hopes of him, this is a speculative part time addition to the team , so far.

[eelpie]

Losing interest must mean that there aren't enough games surely. It's the 13 th September and we've played just 4 competitive games since mid May. Once we get the old Tuesday/Sunday/Thursday going it will be much more interesting. Football is about playing and watching actual games not speculating about it for months on end on t'internet.

 

It's been good to have a couple of Saturday 3pm starts, but over the whole season Saturday afternoon games don't happen enough for me. Traditional regular Saturday family gatherings at St Mary's are what I miss most. Price hikes have not helped here either.

[PeteCampbell]

Optus coverage has been insanely good. You are missing out.

[Kingsbridge Saint]

I've lost interest in the premier league due to the tv rights in Australia being sold to a company without a tv presence and requiring people to change their mobile phone plans and internet providers to watch online coverage which continually freezes and provides live coverage on delay

 

The greed of the premier league to take a few extra dollars over providing a viewing platform has lessened my interest

 

Looking forward to watching the Europa league though which is on tv

 

Bloody Oath #optusout

[Kingsbridge Saint]

Optus coverage has been insanely good. You are missing out.

 

Good on some platforms, very good in fact, especially on an iPad Pro. But not live. 2 minutes behind, so the end of social media. I would love it if they tried it with a mainstream Aussie sport like the AFL or the NRL. They would get torn apart.

[Saint_Tony]

A lot of games coming up now. I've lost a bit of interest but mainly due to our poor form and a disappointing transfer window. I said at the start we should ignore the league and focus on the cups. I don't think we will get relegated, but can easily see us finishing as low as 15th. A decent run in the Europa and another of the domestic cups can still make this a great season.

 

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

[notnowcato]

I did not mention Boufal because his was a very late signing, he is not match fit, gets injured a lot, and he will be away in African Cup games for a while, so although I have high hopes of him, this is a speculative part time addition to the team , so far.

 

He signed in the window before Mane did for us... and Mane will be at ACON too. Time will tell how many injuries he had with us.

[david in sweden]

I've supported Saints for over 40 years and I can honestly say that this is the best era in the clubs history. Good cup runs give good memories but there's never been an era before where seven years of continuous improvement has resulted in a top six finish and a European adventure. The trouble with all this is we become complacent. We suddenly feel invincible and can't understand why the four or five clubs above us don't just roll over and concede we are the best club ever. So four games without a win is definitely enough to turn the average fan off a game where obscene amounts of money are changing hands with all the other clubs apart from our own.

 

I agree totally Mowgli...especially after my 56 years as a fan....some of our "so-called fans" don't realise that not spending £100 million in every transfer window and not being able to fill our (mere) 32,000 seat stadium ....does put us at a slight disadvantage compared to big city clubs with much greater resources.

[BARCELONASAINT]

It's an interesting post started by a poster I generally despise because of his constant negativity about everything to do with the club. Am I losing interest in the club?...NO, I have supported them since the beginning of the 70's and am lucky to be among those that have seen us win the F.A. Cup.I will always support the club...no matter what...Saints are MY team and the red and white runs through my veins.I will always be eternally grateful for what Markus did for our club and what his family after his death have continued to do....despite Katherine having no real interest in football. I'm grateful we have a board that know how to run the club and not make the mistakes of say Leeds, Portsmouth etc.I look forward to every Saints game in the hope we will win against the top sides, which we have done brilliantly against in the last few seasons....and so so close again on Saturday had it not been for awful piece of reffing.The only thing that puts me off football is the very small percentage of fans on this forum that never have a good word to say about Saints and love it when we lose but are rarely seen when we are doing well. These fans are the only thing that occasionally makes me feel like losing interest because I believe they do not deserve a club like ours and just wish they would f**k off and support someone else.....if you can call it support!!!

[BallBoy]

I am 50 years a fan and I consider myself to be very blessed to be a Southampton lad and a Southampton fan. I don't think I could be described as a fair weather fan. I have been there through thick and thin.

 

Sadly, I too, am struggling to maintain the same level of enthusiasm as in previous years.

 

I agree that our achievements in recent years have been phenomenal and I rejoice in that.

 

So what is missing this year?

 

Soul and excitement.

 

In years past we have always had exciting players who lift the spirits. Terry Paine, Ron Davies, Peter Osgood, Kevin Keegan, Wallace brothers, Alan Shearer, Matt Le Tissier, Marian Pahars, Rickie Lambert, Sadio Mane to name but a few.

 

I don't see any players now in that sort of category and the spark is gone. Add to that a manager who sends me to sleep and I am struggling.

 

I hope that Boufal will provide that spark. He looks promising if we can just get him on the pitch and keep him there.

 

I too hoped we could kick on this year. The reality is that we are weaker.

 

I will always be a Southampton fan but there is a void at the moment.

[adrian lord]

Supported Saints avidly since age 9, inheriting them from my dad. Only really got interested on 01.05.1976. Little did I know that would be as good as it gets!

 

In the modern era we regularly went home and away all through League 1 and the Championship years.

 

But, tellingly, neither of us have seen a single live match since back in the Premier League. Armchair fans now. Reasons: something anaemic and plasticy about the Prem; tourist crowds; I always revelled in the "underdog" side of Saints and fighting back to glory against all the odds, expensive; live a long way away;getting old, less and less connection with the mercenary careerist players.

Edited 14 September, 2016 by adrian lord

[bjk]

Could never say i'd lose interest in Saints but football is starting to pee me off more and more,just too much money its disgusting really.Think a lot of it also for me is Saints selling our best players every season and just letting Koeman leave for the first club that comes along.Was so looking forward to this season in Europe with Koeman but his departure and the subsequent appointment of Puel,especially with some of the other managers linked has left me feeling a bit flat at the moment.Hope Puel does well obviously but just wished Saints would push the boat out a bit more and show more ambition.

[gordonToo]

I’ve been a supporter since the old third division south days but it has seemed to me for some time that money is killing the game I grew up with and loved. I suppose that’s inevitable given the mass communication age we live in today but I find myself increasingly unwilling to get too emotionally involved when both the players and management clearly have loyalty only to themselves.

[eelpie]

He signed in the window before Mane did for us... and Mane will be at ACON too. Time will tell how many injuries he had with us.

 

We've had lots of late signings in the past, but when will Boufal be fit enough to start playing?

[Mowgli]

Comment like this from players and agents before they've kicked a ball for us, show me what a soft touch we are and why all these new longterm contracts me nothing (other than more money for the owner)

 

Boufal agent

 

 

"He's coming back from injury, you're going to the Premier League, so you go to a club where you'll play, to a club that's used to bringing through young players [southampton] and then eventually you go to those big clubs. They have sold 14 players to Liverpool, United and Chelsea."

 

Mane was the same. But wouldn't you rather get two years of Boufal and a handsome profit after two years than not see him at all? I would.

[doddisalegend]

Mane was the same. But wouldn't you rather get two years of Boufal and a handsome profit after two years than not see him at all? I would.

 

Exactly I could imagine the sort of meltdown on here if the club bought in the sort of players who would be happy to stay saints all their career. I'm sure the likes of Billy Sharp, Dean Hammond, Dan Harding would have happily played for saints in the PL on nice long contracts. If players are happy to stay at saints for a long time it will be because they aren't good enough to get interest from bigger clubs.

[shurlock]

Supported Saints avidly since age 9, inheriting them from my dad. Only really got interested on 01.05.1976. Little did I know that would be as good as it gets!

 

In the modern era we regularly went home and away all through League 1 and the Championship years.

 

But, tellingly, neither of us have seen a single live match since back in the Premier League. Armchair fans now. Reasons: something anaemic and plasticy about the Prem; tourist crowds; I always revelled in the "underdog" side of Saints and fighting back to glory against all the odds, expensive; live a long way away;getting old, less and less connection with the mercenary careerist players.

 

You can't say this. It doesn't fit with mboard received wisdom. Only divs who support the premier league and bought into the CL hype are meant to lose interest, not genuine southampton fans.

[OldNick]

Exactly I could imagine the sort of meltdown on here if the club bought in the sort of players who would be happy to stay saints all their career. I'm sure the likes of Billy Sharp, Dean Hammond, Dan Harding would have happily played for saints in the PL on nice long contracts. If players are happy to stay at saints for a long time it will be because they aren't good enough to get interest from bigger clubs.

Tell the Leicester and Everton fans that and they could laugh in your face.

Ok they have sold 1 player to other clubs, 3 or 4 season on season and then throw in progressive managers. People say that RK left for more money, well perhaps he left as he knew that everytime he made a decent team he would have to sell.

I will always support Saints but it is hard to see players you admire on the pitch constantly get sold.

[St.JonB]

As opposed to N'Golo Kante leaving the Premier League champions and Champions League qualifiers to go and get paid more money for a team that was barely in the top 8 and didn't qualify for Europe? And that's a Saints problem?

 

And "more money for the owner" works how, again?

 

Really don't think you can compare us to Leicester. They lost one player, their manager signed a new contract and they spent some money.

[Heisenberg]

Mane was the same. But wouldn't you rather get two years of Boufal and a handsome profit after two years than not see him at all? I would.

 

Bloody good question. Tough one

 

Would we not be best just finding and keeping these players? Maybe we can lose one (max) a season, but 3 or 4 every summer is really hard to watch.

[jasonb]

I'm losing interest in the Premier League and the billions spent as others have mentioned.

 

I've had a career change which means I have less time on my hands.

 

I've also been priced out of it in terms of going to games live.

 

As much as I feel distant from it all compared to when I was younger nothing, NOTHING feels as good as a Saints win!!

 

I think I will always go bat sh*t crazy when we score. It's ingrained, I can't control it anymore than I can control my drinking on a night out.

 

At 42 years old I ought to know better I suppose.

[The9]

Really don't think you can compare us to Leicester. They lost one player, their manager signed a new contract and they spent some money.

 

They probably needed to buy a lot more than they did to cope with European football anyway. The point was that the Champions of England who are in the Champions League group stages lost a player to a club without European football purely due to his desire to earn more money, what chance has anyone else outside the big money clubs got of keeping players?

[St.JonB]

They probably needed to buy a lot more than they did to cope with European football anyway. The point was that the Champions of England who are in the Champions League group stages lost a player to a club without European football purely due to his desire to earn more money, what chance has anyone else outside the big money clubs got of keeping players?

 

But as I said they only lost one player; all the others are still at the club. We would have sold three or four in their position.

[Nordic Saint]

But as I said they only lost one player; all the others are still at the club. We would have sold three or four in their position.

 

Leicester bought some very good players too - Mendy, Kapustka, Musa, Slimani etc - so their squad has clearly been strengthened. The equivalent for us would have beeen only sellling Wanyama but keeping Mane and Pelle and bringing in the 3 new players as well as 1 or 2 more.

[shurlock]

The9 on top form as usual I see

[Heisenberg]

You simply cannot compare us to anyone in the BPL as no other club sells it's best 3/4 players every single summer - none!

 

And despite being the ONLY team to sell 3 of its best players we were also the ONLY team to have a large positive net spend this summer.

 

We are unique but not in a positive way - the Southampton way appears to be the Tesco value way (taste is OK and you get used to it, it's cheap and not very nutritional. Some like it alot don't. The ones that like it will talk about starving children in Ethiopia and tell the rest to be grateful for the 6p can of beans)

[The9]

But as I said they only lost one player; all the others are still at the club. We would have sold three or four in their position.

 

I'd loan an arm to be able to find out, but frankly you have absolutely no way of knowing if that is the case.

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

Losing Interest in SFC and football in general - seems to be a common theme across a number of threads just now.

 

From a personal perspective I found the whole summer at SFC and the start to our season all very predictable and if I’m honest I choose to walk up Ben Nevis on Saturday rather than watch us lose to Arsenal.

 

Similar stories coming from my friends in Bournemouth and Southampton who are struggling this season and can’t quite put their finger on why. All feels a bit uninspired and predictable this season?

 

Is it a mixture of our best players leaving every single summer, our poor start, net summer spend, new manager who is not inspiring many or are people now just coming to terms with our position (top 10 is probably all we can hope for)? Or are people just repulsed by the grotesque wages and transfers in the Prem now? Perhaps a combination of 3 or 4 things?

 

I’ve found myself watching more golf and NFL this past week - in months gone by I would be (given chance) on SSN all day every day. Something has changed!?

 

How are the rest of you feeling? With Europa and top 6 last season I was absolutely buzzing for the season to start back in May – I seem to have dropped from a 10 to a 5 over the past 4 months.

 

Not watched a Prem game this season. Been watching non-league Olney Town on a Saturday afternoon and found the whole experience far more enjoyable. Players like Hamann and Scholes are spot on with their recent comments about the premier league. Just because it has the highest paid players it doesn't make it the best league in the world.

Where's the enjoyment in watching your team start to look like something special and then have the board pull the rug from underneath them by constantly selling players. I thought the idea was to push on and move forward? All I see is one step forward, Two steps back.

Football has just become a business. The clubs don't give a **** about the fans. Disillusioned? Absolutely!

[The9]

You simply cannot compare us to anyone in the BPL as no other club sells it's best 3/4 players every single summer - none!

 

And despite being the ONLY team to sell 3 of its best players we were also the ONLY team to have a large positive net spend this summer.

 

The alternative being that we're crap and no-one wants our players like every other team that isn't either in the Champions League or massively richer than us.

 

And what on earth are you on about with "despite"? Obviously teams who sell players for lots of money are going to have lots of money.

[ooh it's a corner]

Just to bring the thread back on track to the OP....

 

Tomorrow evening, I have the privilege of watching the team I have supported all my life in a floodlit, European fixture against Sparta Prague. In order to make sure I can enjoy a couple of pre-match beers, with friends and family, I am working from home.

 

I am excited this evening. Tomorrow morning, I shall be more excited than I am now. Tomorrow afternoon I shall be watching the clock, longing for 5:30pm when I can attempt to stop work and head to the pub.

 

I expect the game to be a dull, European fixture, with an away side that time-wastes and doesn't try very hard to score. But I shall enjoy the event.

 

These games are rare. They are the little gems in my Southampton FC supporting history, that create memories.

 

I can remember losing 2-4 to Sporting Lisbon at the Dell. They only had 4 shots all game.I was ten years old. But I can still remember it.

 

Yes, football is not what it once was. It's less tribal, it's more about tv, it's more about over-paid, foreign national footballers. But tomorrow evening, when the smell of hotdogs and onions hits my nostrils, I will be transported back to a ten year old kid, loving every minute of it.

 

Losing interest?

 

Maybe.

 

But not tomorrow night.

[The9]

Just to bring the thread back on track to the OP....

 

Tomorrow evening, I have the privilege of watching the team I have supported all my life in a floodlit, European fixture against Sparta Prague. In order to make sure I can enjoy a couple of pre-match beers, with friends and family, I am working from home.

 

I am excited this evening. Tomorrow morning, I shall be more excited than I am now. Tomorrow afternoon I shall be watching the clock, longing for 5:30pm when I can attempt to stop work and head to the pub.

 

I expect the game to be a dull, European fixture, with an away side that time-wastes and doesn't try very hard to score. But I shall enjoy the event.

 

These games are rare. They are the little gems in my Southampton FC supporting history, that create memories.

 

I can remember losing 2-4 to Sporting Lisbon at the Dell. They only had 4 shots all game.I was ten years old. But I can still remember it.

 

Yes, football is not what it once was. It's less tribal, it's more about tv, it's more about over-paid, foreign national footballers. But tomorrow evening, when the smell of hotdogs and onions hits my nostrils, I will be transported back to a ten year old kid, loving every minute of it.

 

Losing interest?

 

Maybe.

 

But not tomorrow night.

 

[austsaint]

Just to bring the thread back on track to the OP....

 

Tomorrow evening, I have the privilege of watching the team I have supported all my life in a floodlit, European fixture against Sparta Prague. In order to make sure I can enjoy a couple of pre-match beers, with friends and family, I am working from home.

 

I am excited this evening. Tomorrow morning, I shall be more excited than I am now. Tomorrow afternoon I shall be watching the clock, longing for 5:30pm when I can attempt to stop work and head to the pub.

 

I expect the game to be a dull, European fixture, with an away side that time-wastes and doesn't try very hard to score. But I shall enjoy the event.

 

These games are rare. They are the little gems in my Southampton FC supporting history, that create memories.

 

I can remember losing 2-4 to Sporting Lisbon at the Dell. They only had 4 shots all game.I was ten years old. But I can still remember it.

 

Yes, football is not what it once was. It's less tribal, it's more about tv, it's more about over-paid, foreign national footballers. But tomorrow evening, when the smell of hotdogs and onions hits my nostrils, I will be transported back to a ten year old kid, loving every minute of it.

 

Losing interest?

 

Maybe.

 

But not tomorrow night.

 

Nice work. You have earned a 5pm knock off pint.

[baggytrousers]

Losing Interest in SFC and football in general - seems to be a common theme across a number of threads just now.

 

From a personal perspective I found the whole summer at SFC and the start to our season all very predictable and if I’m honest I choose to walk up Ben Nevis on Saturday rather than watch us lose to Arsenal.

 

Similar stories coming from my friends in Bournemouth and Southampton who are struggling this season and can’t quite put their finger on why. All feels a bit uninspired and predictable this season?

 

Is it a mixture of our best players leaving every single summer, our poor start, net summer spend, new manager who is not inspiring many or are people now just coming to terms with our position (top 10 is probably all we can hope for)? Or are people just repulsed by the grotesque wages and transfers in the Prem now? Perhaps a combination of 3 or 4 things?

 

I’ve found myself watching more golf and NFL this past week - in months gone by I would be (given chance) on SSN all day every day. Something has changed!?

 

How are the rest of you feeling? With Europa and top 6 last season I was absolutely buzzing for the season to start back in May – I seem to have dropped from a 10 to a 5 over the past 4 months.

 

Love it that we're a club that is looking to grow success rather than just buy it.

 

Love it that every year we confound the pundits' predictions. This year will be no different.

 

Love it that we swim against the tide.

 

Love it that we've signed a 21, 22 and 22 year old that have been likened, by people in the know, to Busquets, Henry and Hazard.

 

Love it that we've re-signed 7 of our core players on to long term contracts.

 

Love it that we're trying something different and more adventurous tactically rather than just copying the big clubs but with lesser players.

 

Love it that we don't just spunk ridiculous money on big names who had one decent season in the premiership and are now just money magnets.

 

Love it that we do our homework on players and managers.

 

Interested ? Definitely!!!!! More so than I can ever remember.

 

Really looking forward to watching our team this season and still proud to be a Saints fan.

[austsaint]

Love it that we're a club that is looking to grow success rather than just buy it.

 

Love it that every year we confound the pundits' predictions. This year will be no different.

 

Love it that we swim against the tide.

 

Love it that we've signed a 21, 22 and 22 year old that have been likened, by people in the know, to Busquets, Henry and Hazard.

 

Love it that we've re-signed 7 of our core players on to long term contracts.

 

Love it that we're trying something different and more adventurous tactically rather than just copying the big clubs but with lesser players.

 

Love it that we don't just spunk ridiculous money on big names who had one decent season in the premiership and are now just money magnets.

 

Love it that we do our homework on players and managers.

 

Interested ? Definitely!!!!! More so than I can ever remember.

 

Really looking forward to watching our team this season and still proud to be a Saints fan.

 

Fair enough Baggy; nice positive post, however your first and second lines seem highly contestable!! Growing success rather than buying it is a fabulous proposition as long as the likes of Shaw, Bale, Walcott, Ox, Chambers keep rolling off the assembly line. The Club's at a point where the talent pool from the Academy is average and most of our recent success on the field comes down to players like Mane, Wanyama, Morgan, VVD, Pelle etc. For many it looks like a regression of success coming up rather than growth, and the sale of the bought talent without similar level replacements looks risky and inadequate - not withstanding the promise Hojbjerg and Boufal bring to the team. I haven't lost interest, but there isn't the same level of excitement and edge-of-seat style with Saints this season and the results reflect that. As for confounding the pundits' critics, with this year being no different....that's a brave call.

[Breeny]

I'm a Mush and proud of it .Living abroad at present doesn't change that. Great memories of following Saints .Away days at Ipswich , was always good one .I was at Wembley in May 76 .

Still have the ticket stub and programme . Got the FA cup winners tattoo on my right upper arm at Zacks after- still have it ! Probably stupid looking back on that !

What I feel is the club will always be at the heart of the supporters. What's really changed for me is the players are now mercenaries with little allegiance to the club. I guess you cant blame them for that .Often living and playing in a foreign place they know nothing about. That's what the mega money has done to the sport at the Premiership level. So yes even I have lost a bit of passion overall. Still love the and have passion for the club but I realise now most of the people on the payroll do not share it .

[baggytrousers]

Fair enough Baggy; nice positive post, however your first and second lines seem highly contestable!! Growing success rather than buying it is a fabulous proposition as long as the likes of Shaw, Bale, Walcott, Ox, Chambers keep rolling off the assembly line. The Club's at a point where the talent pool from the Academy is average and most of our recent success on the field comes down to players like Mane, Wanyama, Morgan, VVD, Pelle etc. For many it looks like a regression of success coming up rather than growth, and the sale of the bought talent without similar level replacements looks risky and inadequate - not withstanding the promise Hojbjerg and Boufal bring to the team. I haven't lost interest, but there isn't the same level of excitement and edge-of-seat style with Saints this season and the results reflect that. As for confounding the pundits' critics, with this year being no different....that's a brave call.

 

All views on football are contestable. One of the reasons why we live the game.

 

Growing success doesn't just mean the academy. It also encompasses scouting up and coming young talent from around Europe, signing the most promising ones and improving them. Hopefully once they've gone to the next level they'll choose to stay. If not, we make a tidy sum on them and go again. Each time we go through this cycle our options improve. You mentioned Mane. With the money we got from him we've signed 3 players, all 22 or under, who could go on to be as good or even better than him. I think it's our intent to try and keep them at Saints long term but fully appreciate that this may not happen for all three.

 

Regarding the brave call as I pointed out we've got a recent history of confounding expectations. Why not this time ? Every year at this stage we have a meltdown on this site and pundits predicting this will be the year that our luck runs out.

 

It's not luck. We are a well run club and we'll have enough I the tank to have a decent season and position ourselves nicely for the future just as we have been doing for the past few seasons.

 

It's a good strategy but it sometimes does necessitate sacrificing short term success for long term gain.

 

Keep the faith.

[Saint in NZ]

Here's the way I see it. The Saints will never be able to compete long term with the 7 big-named clubs as, in the end, money talks. Add Leicester and, perhaps, West Ham and a top ten finish (best of the rest) is the best we can hope for. We will only ever spend, or less than, what we have received for players in the transfer market. Fans have to live with that. Last few seasons were the exception rather than the rule. Let's make the best of Europe, and the Cups, because we're not likely to be back there for many years to come. Put out strong sides and enjoy a run. Les Reed was dreaming when said the club has aspirations for the Champions League. Never realistic! Also, must say that the money spent in the transfer market, plus wages to players, is nothing short of obscene.

 

Having said all that, a few wins in the next games would see a different attitude on here.

 

I see no-one commented on my post. Starting to feel I shouldn't have bothered coming on here. I've been a Saints supporter for over 60 years and witnessed many changes over that time but still never written a side off after just four league matches. Some people need a little patience and not put pressure on a team that hasn't had much chance to develop yet. Keep the faith!

[whelk]

I see no-one commented on my post. Starting to feel I shouldn't have bothered coming on here. I've been a Saints supporter for over 60 years and witnessed many changes over that time but still never written a side off after just four league matches. Some people need a little patience and not put pressure on a team that hasn't had much chance to develop yet. Keep the faith!

 

It's a place for narcissists mate. Occasionally some interesting posts but mostly responses are to previous spats or people just repeatedly churning out banal points. Rarely anything original get posted as let's face it how many angles can there be. Amazing how many threads just start up about the same thing that had a thread started 3 days earlier and everyone jumps in and posts the same sh1te they posted a few days ago. Thesis material.

 

And hugely negative about the club generally. But this is people's outlet as probably got no one in real life who will put up and listen to them spouting their moaning drivel incessantly.

Edited 15 September, 2016 by whelk

[baggytrousers]

I see no-one commented on my post. Starting to feel I shouldn't have bothered coming on here. I've been a Saints supporter for over 60 years and witnessed many changes over that time but still never written a side off after just four league matches. Some people need a little patience and not put pressure on a team that hasn't had much chance to develop yet. Keep the faith!

 

For what it's worth I for one agree with virtually everything you've said.

 

I say virtually everything as I do disagree with you when you said that Les Reed must be dreaming when he said that the club has Champions League ambitions.

 

I do think the club is ambitious but in a slowly, gradually building us up kind of way. Time will tell if this proves to be unrealistic and it is certainly vexing some of the moaning minnies on here whose sole idea of ambition is to get the cheque book out and seem to want instant success stanly cost. That path has been the ruin of many a club before us.

 

Taking their age into account the quality of the three youngsters we have signed this season is outstanding and we have amanager who can take them and the rest of he squad forward so ultimately challenging for a Champions league place ought to be within our sights but let's get there in a sustainable way.

[OldNick]

The alternative being that we're crap and no-one wants our players like every other team that isn't either in the Champions League or massively richer than us.

 

And what on earth are you on about with "despite"? Obviously teams who sell players for lots of money are going to have lots of money.

the other alternative is to sign the player for 3-5 years and let them stay for that period.In that time we may build a team that is so successful that they then want to stay.Fanciful perhaps but you never know.

[hutch]

the other alternative is to sign the player for 3-5 years and let them stay for that period.In that time we may build a team that is so successful that they then want to stay.Fanciful perhaps but you never know.

And then let them go for free? That'll work f'sure.

[New Forest Steve]

I'm a Mush and proud of it .Living abroad at present doesn't change that. Great memories of following Saints .Away days at Ipswich , was always good one .I was at Wembley in May 76 .

Still have the ticket stub and programme . Got the FA cup winners tattoo on my right upper arm at Zacks after- still have it ! Probably stupid looking back on that !

What I feel is the club will always be at the heart of the supporters. What's really changed for me is the players are now mercenaries with little allegiance to the club. I guess you cant blame them for that .Often living and playing in a foreign place they know nothing about. That's what the mega money has done to the sport at the Premiership level. So yes even I have lost a bit of passion overall. Still love the and have passion for the club but I realise now most of the people on the payroll do not share it .

 

Hehe, Zach !! Got my first couple of tattoo's off him just after I left school. He'd leave a note on the shop door and you'd have to go drag him, half cut, out of the Glebe before getting inked up for life ...... I can see the pitfalls to this modus operandi now but at the time it seemed like a great idea.

 

Anyway back on thread it's interesting to note that the general concensus is that money and business interests are ruining the game so to play devils advocate, I'd like to remind people how it was before the Prem was formed and Sky's involvement, as I've not seen it mentioned here.

 

Back in the 80's and start of the 90's English football was in a very dark place. Football hooliganism, a European competition ban, run down and unsafe stadiums, Heysel, Hillsborough, the Bradford fire, plummeting attendances. The game was run down and in a very sorry state. Something had to give. English football needed a big overhaul and these things cost money ... lots of it.

 

Cue Sky and foreign investment. Like it or not, massive investment was essential at the time and once it came it was here to stay

[angelman]

Sorry Steve, don't buy that argument. Other leagues haven't had the money but seem to have survived and modernised - say for example, the Dutch league.

[Mallagroth]

I was going to post this yesterday: something has been missing for me, it started last season, didn't have the urge to do the aways as much, found myself paying a lot less attention to the whole game and circus. And I was there League 1 ST's away at cold nights at Dons etc blah blah, I generally remember it as being a lot more fun than the Prem, more games, intense football with high scoring slip ups, the prem with its tedious media overhyping that goes along with it has just beaten me down.

 

The incredible buzzkill of the Internationals doesn't help. I find the whole reactionary attitudes of both supporters and the media just a complete ballache to listen to and it drags the whole thing down. If a team wins 4 games, the 'experts' then spend two weeks telling us that team is going to win the league... similarly with supporters who buy all the boloks.

 

It's as if memories are only a maximum of 3 weeks long in the prem circus and no proper rational thought can be placed behind it or intelligent analysis. This whole attitude of immediacy of success makes the whole thing unstable and stupid and it bleeds into the core of the game and its teams, bonkers managerial sackings, ridiculously expensive signings because X player has been good in 4 games, the international team being selected based on the combination of who the Media and pundits currently fancies rather than a season of form (Rashford clamourings at the moment for example).

 

The dodgy referreeing from before has become so much worse rather than better as if they are playing up to the whole thing and getting kicks out of 'the drama'. It's starting to feel at times like a WWE script both behind the scenes and on the field just so it can be called the most dramatic league in the world.

 

In short the whole thing has become a mad parody of itself.

 

 

This was what I was going to post yesterday, but right now I don't feel llike anything is missing because I'm just really fecking excited to finally attend my first live UEFA Cup game proper and for it to be at SMS with Saints. Long to smash one in, Van Dijk with a thunderous free kick and Austin to get a poachers special. 3-0 annhilation by Puel's warriors as the Diamond cuts through Sparta prague. COYR's

Edited 15 September, 2016 by Mallagroth