It was great to see a big crowd at St Mary's but some still havent grasped that patience is needed.
Lets be blunt, Saints were lambs to the slaughter on Saturday against Ajax, a club in turmoil, decimated playing squad bolstered by only one trialist and a manager appointed only the previous day, for their part Ajax had just destroyed a Bristol City side, who are far stronger than Saints.
Therefore I was amazed to see so many negative comments from Saints supporters both at the game and on various internet sites.
Perhaps the strangest thing was that Ajax's third goal sparked such an exodus in the stands, yes any goal against your team is a disapointment, but it was only a friendly and with nine minutes to go, all the indications were we would now see a Dutch masterclass in football, now no one likes to see their team taken apart, but given that this game meant nothing and after Ajax we dont exactly have, with respect to League 1 a plethora of International class teams heading for St Mary's I thought the fans might have stayed an enjoyed some quality football, I know I did, but sadly after the fourth goal there were less than half the crowd left with me, I did wonder what Markus Liebherr must have thought.
More surprising was some of the comments I saw deriding our squad, firstly we were beaten by one of the top club sides in Europe, a team whose standards demand Champions League football and whose idea of a crisis is only qualifying for the UEFA Cup, secondly we have only been out oi administration for a week and had a manager for 24 hours, no one was saying that this was the squad to tackle next season, merely this is what we have got, now let Pardew see what we need.
Truth is we do have the basis of a good squad, but in the main they are all youngsters, Alan Pardews job is to get in some experience quickly, however to be blunt, you cant build a team overnight and it may take several months whilst he tinkers with the squad.
However I truly believe that the foundations are in place, we have plenty of width, but what we lack is strength down the middle, we need two centre backs to give us height and pace, a midfield enforcer in the centre and a big strong centre forward, yes it could be said there are a couple of other weak areas, but fundamentally we need to strengthen our spine.
So lets banish the negative comments, lets give Alan Pardew the chance to assess and build his team, but lets realise that it will take time, it wont be an overnight fix, but lets also remember, fotballers need confidence and that often comes from knowing the crowd is right behind you, when its streaming out in droves during a meaningless friendly, some of those youngsters must have been disheartened, they must have though that nothing has changed from last season, the fact is it has, there is a more positive attitude amongst supporters, we need to develope a siege mentality if we do it will help the club take strides quicker and bigger than might otherwise be possible.
Im sorry if some take this as a dig at the fans, it really isnt, its just an observation as to what I have seen or heard.