x

Will West Ham Protests Work For Or Against Saints On Saturday

If you think there is a lot wrong with Southampton FC then you should take a look at West Ham United who are truly unhappy with their club and Saints fans will have to sit back and watch on Saturday whilst they protest, but will it help or hinder us.

Those Saints supporters who think Saints are badly run should take a look at West Ham United and what their supporters think about their club, they feel that they have been evicted from their traditional home and moved into a soulless stadium by a board who care little about the fan base but want to make money fro the corporate side of things.

Indeed those who spend their time on social media criticising Gao should take a look at West Ham fans who have been organising protests for the last two years against owners David Gold & David Sullivan as well as vice Chairman Karren Brady.

This saw a supporter who had volunteered to wave one of those big pitchside flags so popular these days reveal a GSB OUT T shirt, GSB referring to the initials of the aforementioned trio.

At Liverpool on Monday night literally the entire away section of West Ham fans protesed against the owners with many flags and black balloons in view.

This is not new, this has been simmering for two years and at times has got very serious with death threats issued to supporters who have disagreed with certain fan groups stances.

You may recall we went to the London Stadium just under two years ago in similar circumstances after there had been pitch invasions and attempts to get to the directors box in the previous game.

Back then I said that our upcoming game was either going to see West Ham supporters drag their team down or it could spur them on to win the game.

It was sadly the latter with the Hone side 2-0 up inside 17 minutes that saw a massive change in atmosphere in the stadium and completing the rout on 45 minutes for a 3-0 scoreline, that saw Saints lie down and die with little fight, although they had the lions share of the possession, to illustrate how fans protests can sometimes galvanise a team as they did when the Southampton Independent Supporters Association organised protests against Ian Branfoot in 1993/94.

So what will Saturday bring ? will it make the Irons roar and the Saints cower or will it see Saints prosper.

Certainly there are a few players who started that game two years ago who won't play on Saturday, Cedric, Wesley Hoedt, Lemina, Charlie Austin, Dusan Tadic & Manolo Gabbiadini are all either out on loan or gone permanently, only Alex McCarthy, Jack Stephens, Pierre Emile Hojbjerg & Ryan Bertrand are likely to start of the starting XI that day with Nathan Redmond unavailable through injury.

So hopefully the revamped Saints will have more fight this time around and from this perspective we are a far better away team than we were back then, but the crucial element is going to be the West ham fans, will they inspire their team or break it.

The pressure is on West Ham this time around in a way it wasn't back then, they started the game 2 points ahead of us with 30 points from 30 games and we on 28 were 4th from bottom a point above Crystal Palace and Stoke City.

This game would either make us or break us and it certainly broke us , at least until the final few games of the season where two wins and a draw took us to safety with Swansea only getting two draws in their final 8 games to drop below us.

So what will happen on Saturday, hopefully we can capitalise, certainly our own support will be in a better mood than it was two years ago and the away support especially has been excellent, although to be blunt the West Ham stadium is open and soulless and it is hard for away supporters to make a great deal of noise due to the accoustics and the distance between the front and rear sections of the away section.

Most football fans will sympathise with West Ham fans, we might grumble against our own board, but that is all it has been a grumble on social media lacking the intensity that the Unhappy Hammers have shown over the past two years and at Anfield on Monday night, mind you we have far less to moan about than them.

Those that complain that Saints haven't spent money should note that since that game 2 years ago West Ham have spent over £200 million in the transfer market yet here they are on the verge of relegation despite big signings and high profile managers.

That shows that it isn't how much money that you spend it is how you spend it, Saints fans should take note our predicament's of the last two years have all been about who we have signed not who we have sold, they should also look at how West Ham's board have run their club and alienated fans and feel thankful that our owners have not shown such disdain to us.

What to read next:

Southampton V Birmingham City The Preview
A big game for both clubs, to kick off a big week for Saints who really need to keep winning if they are to mount a genuine push for the play offs, but there is good news pre match and Saints should have a strong squad out.
Southampton On Verge Of Managerial Appointment
Saints could announce the appointment of a new manager as early as 9am Friday morning, although reports suggest that there are a few things to iron out before the announcement is made, will the press conference this morning be that announcement or just the normal pre match briefing.
Southampton Set To Appoint New Manager Ahead of Birmingham Game
According to various media sources, Johannes Spors has made up his mind about who will succeed Will Still at St Mary's and he is set to make that appointment ahead of the clash with Birmingham City on Saturday and he could be the new Nigel Adkins
Tonda Eckert Set To Get More Time But Are Saints Biding Their Time For Their Man To Be Available
When Tonda Eckert took over as Southampton manager on an interim basis, if you had said then that he would win his first four games and only lose a fifth with a 97th injury time winner, most would have been delighted and now he looks set to continue, at least for the short term.
Southampton At Millwall The Verdict
Saints fell to their first defeat under Tonda Eckert at Millwall, in a game where they never really got going and looked to have fought for a hard earned point until with just about the last win of the game the home side scored a winner.
Millwall 3 - 2 Southampton - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Southampton At Millwall The Preview
Saints travel to South East London for the second time in a week hoping for a repeat of the performance at Charlton Athletic, but Millwall who will start the weekend in 4th place will be a tougher challenge than any of our 4 wins in a row so far.
German Club Considering Raiding Southampton
With the transfer window about to open in a months time, the season for speculation is starting, the latest reports from Germany suggest that one Bundesliga club has identified someone at St Mary's.
A Rough Guide To Millwall
It was late drama in our last visit in a competitive game two years ago and a bit chaotic afterwards due to issues with the trains between London Bridge & South Bermondsey, hopefully there will be no such issues this time around.
Southampton V Leicester City The Verdict
It was 4 in a row for Tonda Eckert & his Saints side, another polished performance that pushed us up to 11th but more importantly to the fringes of the play off spots, posing the question how a team and it's players who were so poor just 3 weeks or so ago can be so different now.