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Reply | The Hythe Ferry
at 12:38 5 Feb 2026
"I can only remember going on it once"
That's more than I have. You can understand why they're having to close it. |
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Reply | Football Is Gone
at 12:03 5 Feb 2026
We're getting old. I'm also bored with Man City winning things, but I was also bored with Liverpool winning them in the 80s and Man United winning them in the 90s. There willl be another club we'll get bored with winning things next, maybe Arsenal. Imagine how Spanish fans who don't support Real Madrid or Barcelona must feel or German fans who don't support Bayern Munich.
With regard to Man City's crowds, you might be surprised to see just how much they've grown over the years from the 20,000+ averages they got in the 80s and 90s. Winning trophies does that:
https://european-football-stat
We all view the days of our youth through rose-tinted glasses now. Youngsters today will be doing the same when they get old. Nothing's like it used to be. [Post edited 5 Feb 12:13]
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Reply | 5th February
at 09:49 5 Feb 2026
On 5th February 1966, I was in the Fratton end to watch Saints beat Pompey 5-2 (Dean 3, Chivers 2). In those days the Saints' mob was led by Dougal, who nobody ever got the better of. I remember standing near him in February 1977, when Man United fans invaded the pitch and ran towards the Milton Road end, knocking over stewards along the way. He stood on the pitch in front of the wall and grabbed 2 of them in headlocks, one under each arm. The rest of them stopped and turned back.
On 4th February, 1967, I was in the 30,123 crowd at the Dell to see Saints beat West Ham, with their World Cup winners, Moore, Hurst and Peters, 6-2. (Chivers 2, Paine 2, Davies, Hollywood). Bobby Moore was always terrible at the Dell. In fact at club level he wasn't a very good defender at all, which is why his team conceded so many goals. He certainly couldn't cope with Chivers and Davies that day. We drew 2-2 at Upton Park earlier that season, also with goals from Chivers and Davies, and I ran across the pitch seconds before the players ran out, as I'd gone up with my uncle ,who liked to stand near the halfway line, and I wanted to be behind the goal with the main Saints mob. Our away support that season was very impressive. 10,000 of us took over the Park Lane End at Tottenham.
On 5th February, 2008, I was in the 31,473 crowd at St Mary's to see England U21s beat Ireland U21s 3-0, with Theo Walcott scoring the 3rd goal, although a young James Milner was the star that night. He scored one, but from where I was, it looked as though he'd scored another direct from a corner, but it was deflected in off an Irish defender. There was a big cheer when Andrew Surman came on as a late sub.
On 5th February, 2022, I was in the 30,512 crowd at St Mary's for the FA Cup tie v Coventry, in which we were lucky to scrape through 2-1 in extra time, after Coventry had taken the lead through their impressive striker, Victor Gyökeres. He played all alone up front but was a constant threat. Quite a few fans said, "We should sign him." It was also one of only 5 games the Argentine international goalkeeper, Willy Caballero, played in goal for us. He never kept a clean sheet in any of them.
[Post edited 5 Feb 14:04]
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Reply | New Players : Dont knock him until he has had a go
at 22:52 3 Feb 2026
At least we can all agree he's an upgrade on McCarthy and he is the alternative now. (Personally, I also think he's probably better than Bazunu, but, although it's unfortunate for Stoke, we're lucky Bazunu's injury occurred there and not here, which would have meant McCarthy would still have been our only alternative).
We can but hope that Larin is an upgrade on Damion Downs. [Post edited 4 Feb 10:28]
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Reply | Watching Arsenal Chelsea Semi Final
at 22:17 3 Feb 2026
Neither of those teams has been in any of the last 4 League Cup finals; Newcastle and Chelsea have both been in 2 of the last 4. It's been 33 years since Arsenal won a League Cup final.
In every country the big clubs are going to win most of the trophies. It would be strange if they didn't. But, at least in this country, we've got 8 or more big clubs; in most other countries it's just 1 or 2.
About your original point, Hedge End, I agree. Even if you leave one player on the halfway line when defending a corner, the opposition won't risk 1 on 1 so they'll leave 2 defenders back. Any team defending a corner that doesn't do that is then missing out on the man advantage it would give them in the penalty area.
Let's face it, if a defender gets the ball from a corner, it would mean his team would very likely score if they have a man advantage on the halfway line. Haven't we conceded 1 or 2 like that from our corners? [Post edited 3 Feb 22:36]
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Reply | New Players : Dont knock him until he has had a go
at 11:08 3 Feb 2026
Pelle had scored 50 goals in 57 games for Feyenoord when he came here. How many goals has Larin scored for Feyenoord?
Pelle was in the form of his life when we signed him; Larin isn't. In fact if you look at how his form has declined and the goals have dried up, there is obviously something wrong. Apart from the Sport Republic recruitment team, anyone would notice these red flags:
Fitness issues, unknown injuries
https://www.transfermarkt.com/ [Post edited 3 Feb 11:40]
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Reply | Tonda Eckert Stats
at 11:01 3 Feb 2026
Yes, pity he wasn't manager from the beginning of the season, but he was an unknown quantity then.
The lack of a fit goalscoring centre forward is still going to be difficult to overcome. [Post edited 3 Feb 11:02]
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Reply | New Players : Dont knock him until he has had a go
at 10:54 3 Feb 2026
Did Evans look as unhealthy as Larin does when he arrived? There are obvious signs of 'lifestyle issues' with this one, which would explain why his career has nosedived.
Even in his DUI arrest video he looked a lot healthier than he does now. [Post edited 3 Feb 11:15]
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Reply | With the huge potential Saints have
at 19:50 2 Feb 2026
They certainly know how to sign dud strikers.
"Sport Republic have signed 45 players for the Southampton first-team –– none have scored double figures & joint-top scorer among them is centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis (9)."
[Post edited 4 Feb 10:55]
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Reply | With the huge potential Saints have
at 18:39 2 Feb 2026
I guess the way it works is this: Eckert says, "I need a centre forward". Ankersen tells Spors, just find the cheapest option out there so we can say we've done it. Spors asks, "Does it matter if he's any good?" Ankersen: "No, not really." |
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Reply | Looks like we're stuck with Archer.
at 18:17 2 Feb 2026
Archer is one of those players, like McCarthy, who it's hard to believe any other club would ever take. The talk of Rangers interest was inevitably doomed to failure. They've found someone better now in the German Third Division, which is about National League level.
On the bright side, at least we didn't get stuck with Cyle Larin, who's possibly even worse.
In a mad moment of naive optimism, I wrote "Transfer Deadline Day" in my diary. What on earth was I thinking? [Post edited 2 Feb 20:47]
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Reply | What a month this could be
at 12:53 2 Feb 2026
Including getting 3 Premier League players on loan, as both Coventry (Rushworth, Esse, Min-hyeok Yang) and Middlesbrough (Targett, Sarmiento, Nypan) have done. Man City are taking Nypan back now, so Boro will be looking for another one.
If you don't take advantage of those Premier League loanees, your chances of promotion are severely reduced. [Post edited 2 Feb 12:55]
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Reply | First records 45 or 33 RPM
at 12:41 2 Feb 2026
Written by Cher's husband, Sonny Bono. They had to sing 'Needles and Pinza' to make the lyrics fit the tune. |
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Reply | Can Cyle Larin Delight Southampton Supporters
at 12:03 2 Feb 2026
Every time we think, oh great we're finally getting rid of a poor player, Sport Republic replace him with someone who's even worse. Perhaps Larin would have been as good as Archer a few years ago, but injuries and lifestyle issues have clearly caught up with him. We're getting rid of players who were OK a few years ago, like Aribo, so we don't want more of them. [Post edited 2 Feb 12:24]
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Reply | New striker - Cyle Larin
at 19:15 1 Feb 2026
Yes, 50 goals in 57 games for Feyenoord when he joined us. He didn't score as many for us, but the Dutch league is easier.
Both playing for Feyenoord when they joined us. He's going to be the new Pelle!
So, anyway, what is Larin's scoring record at Feyenoord? Of course, we wouldn't expect him to score as many here. [Post edited 1 Feb 20:50]
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Reply | New striker - Cyle Larin
at 17:46 1 Feb 2026
1teem, I admire your positivity about all of our new managers and players, and sometimes I agree with you. I really hope you're right this time and can see more than the rest of us can because we need a good centre forward now, more than ever. [Post edited 1 Feb 17:47]
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