| Aren’t football fans so fickle 21:47 - Jan 13 with 6928 views | areasix |
I just looked back to see which of the forum members in Sept were calling for RM , Wilcox and the board for sackings and it’s interesting to see many are claiming how great a buzz it is at present yet if some people at the club had listened to them ( thank god they didn’t) so early into his Management term at SFC RM would of been on his bike and some journeyman manager who had failed with many clubs would of been given the job.
Instead we are watching exciting football which has been missing at St Mary’s for so long whether it’s good enough to gain automatic promotion only time will tell but if we sell Adams we need another goal scorer to come in that’s for sure.
I just hope that when we get into choppy waters again the clamber to get rid of everyone at the top is not lead by the same ones again who know who they are as they have gone on record on this forum with comments in September.
As a club we all need to pull in the same direction which I think is the way we are going at present in good times as well as bad.
I have said before games in the Championship are the best when we were here last time and this time, no VAR , away support is tremendous and it’s so good to be a supporter at present after so many hard times.
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 22:00 - Jan 13 with 5568 views | bendybob |
I was one of them…… and I apologise |  | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 22:07 - Jan 13 with 5550 views | 1teeminants |
Yep I remember exactly who they are. shame on them . I guess they feel a bit stupid at the moment. |  |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 23:25 - Jan 13 with 5446 views | SFC_Referee |
I wanted to give him the chance when we first signed him, and didn’t want him gone after the 4 losses, but tbf I did say he should’ve gone after the draw against Rotherham (as that was something like 4 points from like 7 games, and being knocked outta the EFL Cup), but I certainly hold my hands up for that as I sure was wrong and am happy the club ignored many after that incident. |  |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 23:38 - Jan 13 with 5438 views | PatfromPoole |
Get over yourself. |  |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 23:43 - Jan 13 with 5434 views | PatfromPoole |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 22:07 - Jan 13 by 1teeminants |
Yep I remember exactly who they are. shame on them . I guess they feel a bit stupid at the moment. |
Bloody hell Tim. I thought you were better than that.
We were bloody terrible in September. I was at Sunderland; we should have lost by 8 that day.
He had to adapt, as we were letting in goals left, right and centre.
Russell Martin isn’t a miracle worker; he is just achieving what he should with a budget that is higher than 90% of this League.
If you think I should be ashamed of myself, then you will be waiting a long time. | |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 05:03 - Jan 14 with 5310 views | 1teeminants |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 23:43 - Jan 13 by PatfromPoole |
Bloody hell Tim. I thought you were better than that.
We were bloody terrible in September. I was at Sunderland; we should have lost by 8 that day.
He had to adapt, as we were letting in goals left, right and centre.
Russell Martin isn’t a miracle worker; he is just achieving what he should with a budget that is higher than 90% of this League.
If you think I should be ashamed of myself, then you will be waiting a long time. |
Pat mate many were not giving him a chance which was ridiculous after 4 defeats, some wanted him sacked immediately and they called him an imposter or words to that effect. I was ridiculed and insulted for actually saying give him a chance as he’s a new manager with new ideas working with a new squad therefore I’m not going to apologise for standing up for myself.
I and others said let the players get used to his ideas and see what happens. I saw he had done pretty well getting Swansea to where they were with little money and I just thought with more money and better players let’s see what happens.
I am thoroughly enjoying watching my team play football again and that is all down to one man Russell Martin.
I just feel Sometimes in life it’s best not to give knee jerk reactions maybe sit back and be patient . Up The Saints . [Post edited 14 Jan 5:20]
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 07:01 - Jan 14 with 5258 views | Berber |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 23:43 - Jan 13 by PatfromPoole |
Bloody hell Tim. I thought you were better than that.
We were bloody terrible in September. I was at Sunderland; we should have lost by 8 that day.
He had to adapt, as we were letting in goals left, right and centre.
Russell Martin isn’t a miracle worker; he is just achieving what he should with a budget that is higher than 90% of this League.
If you think I should be ashamed of myself, then you will be waiting a long time. |
Plus one, we are toe to toe with a team that has just been promoted from League 1. The majority of Championship sides will never survive the PL. The game last night between Newcastle and Man City shows what football is all about and KDB summed it up, Commitment. |  | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 07:58 - Jan 14 with 5208 views | Butty101 |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 23:43 - Jan 13 by PatfromPoole |
Bloody hell Tim. I thought you were better than that.
We were bloody terrible in September. I was at Sunderland; we should have lost by 8 that day.
He had to adapt, as we were letting in goals left, right and centre.
Russell Martin isn’t a miracle worker; he is just achieving what he should with a budget that is higher than 90% of this League.
If you think I should be ashamed of myself, then you will be waiting a long time. |
Well said Pat. We have infinitely more resources than all the other clubs in the league. The unbeaten run is impressive but our league position in below par.
What other club in the league can spend 20mill on two players that can’t get a game? |  |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 08:59 - Jan 14 with 5136 views | 1teeminants |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 07:58 - Jan 14 by Butty101 |
Well said Pat. We have infinitely more resources than all the other clubs in the league. The unbeaten run is impressive but our league position in below par.
What other club in the league can spend 20mill on two players that can’t get a game? |
I agree to a point but let’s keep this on topic. What has any of that got to do with people wanting Martin hung drawn and quartered after 4 defeats ? [Post edited 14 Jan 9:04]
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 09:24 - Jan 14 with 5093 views | Andylad63 |
In fairness, I wanted us to give Martin a chance, mainly because there didn't appear to be an obvious replacement. However, the run of games before and after as well as the 4 losses stretched my patience. It was all very seat of the pants stuff with little orno control you would have thought the possession percentages would have given us. Compounded to that R.M.'s ridiculous comments about scar tissue did not help. Obvious I'm very pleased SFC board had more foresight than some on this board. |  | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 09:49 - Jan 14 with 5045 views | saint22 |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 08:59 - Jan 14 by 1teeminants |
I agree to a point but let’s keep this on topic. What has any of that got to do with people wanting Martin hung drawn and quartered after 4 defeats ? [Post edited 14 Jan 9:04]
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At the time after 4 abysmal performances and defeats he could easily have been sacked BUT credit where it’s due he is proving a lot wrong (me inc)
If only we would sign a decent striker then maybe we can get that 2nd spot | | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 09:50 - Jan 14 with 5054 views | davidargyll |
I freely admit I was one of those calling for Russel Martin’s head after the debacle in September.
So yes I am eating a huge amount of humble pie because yesterday’s performance was terrific, really entertaining and four great goals. And it’s thanks to him that the team is playing a system which they are increasingly more confident about and better at. So yes IM SORRY TO HAVE DOUBTED YOU AND YOUR METHODS RUSSELL. OK? I’ve said it.
But…and yes there has to be a but… I still do feel that, as, and hopefully when, we get promoted, we will likely struggle in the PL. Because what happened yesterday in the first minute is an example of how any team in the top tier will get at us throughout the full 90 minutes. Tippy tippy around our box has been (more than?) fine against championship teams especially those in the relegation spots and/or with few resources and depth of squad. But will we get away with it against the best teams in the land? We shall see. But in the meantime, the real tests in the current season are going to come in the return fixtures vs the other promotion candidates As for next season let’s worry about that when we get there. | | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 10:31 - Jan 14 with 4986 views | MytchettSaint |
We were woeful in September, apart from the Middlesbrough game we weren’t even close to the other teams we played and at that point Middlesbrough had yet to register a point I think.
Getting caught in possession by over playing it had cost us numerous times.
A few points.
I wonder what would have happened had we not beaten Leeds. A real sliding doors moment.
I wonder if failure to adapt sooner during that run will ultimately cost us as Leicester and Ipswich are effectively looking like 6 pointers (after that 4 game run Bazunu was instructed to not take as many chances in the quest to retain possession)
And finally, I can’t believe someone has got up on a Sunday morning and thought to go back to Septembers posts on a forum with about 20/30 people posting on to do this  |  |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 10:41 - Jan 14 with 4962 views | felly1 |
We're all Saints fans at the end of the day.
Some people are by their nature inclined to knee jerk reactions or a negative slant.. That's the same for every clubs fan base. | | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 10:52 - Jan 14 with 4942 views | Chesham_Saint |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 23:43 - Jan 13 by PatfromPoole |
Bloody hell Tim. I thought you were better than that.
We were bloody terrible in September. I was at Sunderland; we should have lost by 8 that day.
He had to adapt, as we were letting in goals left, right and centre.
Russell Martin isn’t a miracle worker; he is just achieving what he should with a budget that is higher than 90% of this League.
If you think I should be ashamed of myself, then you will be waiting a long time. |
I’m with you Pat. I didn’t like his appointment and still don’t warm to him. As a minimum he really should be doing well with the squad he has and he’s clearly now exceeding that, which is great (and well done to him) but let’s not forget context. He joined with a mediocre record after the farce of our previous two or three managers and was in charge of a string of awful performances compounding what had gone before.
Football fans are often fickle - and always will be. If he takes us up there’s every chance we’d struggle and struggle badly, what do we think would happen then? |  |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 10:57 - Jan 14 with 4929 views | SaintNick |
The real point should be that we should learn from our mistakes, even at our greatest moment of the season the fans are divided and sniping at each other.
As I said at the start of the season, I thought that we had the best squad in the division, but that because of uncertainty it was going to be tough in the first couple of months.
Yes Russell Martin's squad is worth more than most in this division, but most of it has been inherited, 7 of the starting XI were Southampton players last season ( Yes I know Smallbone was out on loan) 4 of the 5 players who came on were Southampton players last season as well.
These were players whose confidence was shot and needed organisation back in their footballing lives and to be fair that is what Martin has done.
Of the four players in the starting line up, Harwood bellis has been a great signing, Ryan Fraser as well, Smallbone is never going to get plaudits as he is not that sort of players, he does the basics.
Now we come to Ryan manning, lambasted in some quarters from the start, he struggled in the early games, but that was not all his fault.
You don't go 19 games unbeaten carrying passengers, you dont become the tightest defence in the division with a quarter of the defence being rubbish, since coming back into the side at QPR he has been as good as any of our other players, he is a crucial part of our ability to get forward quickly.
Yes if we go up he is not Premier League standard, but he has benefitted from having a disciplined winger in front of him be it Edozie or Fraser and I would put a lot of his problems down to the fact that Sulemana rarely covered for him.
We have a united team and manager we now need a united fan base, we all know who said what 5 months ago, let it go lets all kick in the same direction for once |  |
| Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 11:13 - Jan 14 with 4896 views | Meonsaint |
This forum is surely about people’s opinions isn’t it ? The fans are never going to all agree that is human nature.
After last year’s disastrous season and the debacle of hiring Jones and then the aftermath of Selles trying to salvage the already doomed wreckage it’s understandable after 4 straight defeats and leaking goals for fun in September that some Saints fans had enough. Thank goodness we have this board to air our frustrations.
I am old enough to remember Lawrie Mc having hot dogs, coffee and all sorts of rubbish being chucked at him when he made his way past the West Stand Dockers to the dug out back in the mid 70s after he took us down. What we all didn’t realise at the time that only a couple of years later we we would be on the global football stage with Pedro Rodrigues collecting the FA Cup off HRH The Queen.
In September I was critical of Martin’s style of football as it was just not achieving the results and success that us long suffering fans deserve.
Give credit where it’s due Russell Martin is turning the club around. |  | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 11:29 - Jan 14 with 4832 views | Ron11 |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 11:13 - Jan 14 by Meonsaint |
This forum is surely about people’s opinions isn’t it ? The fans are never going to all agree that is human nature.
After last year’s disastrous season and the debacle of hiring Jones and then the aftermath of Selles trying to salvage the already doomed wreckage it’s understandable after 4 straight defeats and leaking goals for fun in September that some Saints fans had enough. Thank goodness we have this board to air our frustrations.
I am old enough to remember Lawrie Mc having hot dogs, coffee and all sorts of rubbish being chucked at him when he made his way past the West Stand Dockers to the dug out back in the mid 70s after he took us down. What we all didn’t realise at the time that only a couple of years later we we would be on the global football stage with Pedro Rodrigues collecting the FA Cup off HRH The Queen.
In September I was critical of Martin’s style of football as it was just not achieving the results and success that us long suffering fans deserve.
Give credit where it’s due Russell Martin is turning the club around. |
Well put.
After last season's carnage which included the sideways stuff and slow, poor passing from the back, the four defeats just had some thinking 'here we go again' including me.
Russell Martin has actually had the humility to maybe listen to comments and has fine tuned their game, getting the ball forward a lot quicker, actually making use of that possession.
And for that, he deserves recognition. He's finally brought football back to St. Mary's. | | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 11:34 - Jan 14 with 4825 views | kingslandstand1 |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 10:57 - Jan 14 by SaintNick |
The real point should be that we should learn from our mistakes, even at our greatest moment of the season the fans are divided and sniping at each other.
As I said at the start of the season, I thought that we had the best squad in the division, but that because of uncertainty it was going to be tough in the first couple of months.
Yes Russell Martin's squad is worth more than most in this division, but most of it has been inherited, 7 of the starting XI were Southampton players last season ( Yes I know Smallbone was out on loan) 4 of the 5 players who came on were Southampton players last season as well.
These were players whose confidence was shot and needed organisation back in their footballing lives and to be fair that is what Martin has done.
Of the four players in the starting line up, Harwood bellis has been a great signing, Ryan Fraser as well, Smallbone is never going to get plaudits as he is not that sort of players, he does the basics.
Now we come to Ryan manning, lambasted in some quarters from the start, he struggled in the early games, but that was not all his fault.
You don't go 19 games unbeaten carrying passengers, you dont become the tightest defence in the division with a quarter of the defence being rubbish, since coming back into the side at QPR he has been as good as any of our other players, he is a crucial part of our ability to get forward quickly.
Yes if we go up he is not Premier League standard, but he has benefitted from having a disciplined winger in front of him be it Edozie or Fraser and I would put a lot of his problems down to the fact that Sulemana rarely covered for him.
We have a united team and manager we now need a united fan base, we all know who said what 5 months ago, let it go lets all kick in the same direction for once |
Good shout Nick and it looks like RM has learnt something since those dark September days, but is it not a worry that IF we do go straight back up we will struggle again unless there are major personnel changes on the pitch noting also the number of loanees within the squad as Pat has alluded to elsewhere? |  | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 11:54 - Jan 14 with 4789 views | Ifonly |
I was not calling for RM to be sacked - I said he would only be sacked if we were facing relegation and he would have to be the worst manager in the world to be relegated with our squad, so it won't happen. But I was against his appointment - and I still am. I give full credit to how he has learned and adapted (we do not play exactly as we did at the start of the season) and for how he has improved the players, but the bottom line for me is that I believe this style will fail in the PL, so it is pointless getting promoted by playing it.
Possession football works if you are the team with the best technical players (Man City) or if you add an extra dimension to it (Brighton). It doesn't work if you have below average players and just pass it sideways endlessly. We have the best, or second best squad in this league so we're winning. Next year, if we go up, we'll have below average players and these tactics won't work anything like as well.
But, as I say, respect to RM for what he's achieved and I hope he gets us promoted and proves me wrong in the PL. | | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 12:27 - Jan 14 with 4749 views | PatfromPoole |
I just think we’ve recruited pretty well this season.
Harwood-Bellis, Downes and Fraser have all been excellent. | |
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 12:52 - Jan 14 with 4706 views | UmPahars |
I think some of the criticism (and scepticism) were as a result of the absolute mare of the previous season!! Think fans were at their lowest ebb and generally (and rightly) pissed off with everything.
I have to say hats off to him as he was worked wonders getting the players to play this way (I had my doubts some of them could manage it). I also think he has been man enough to tweak where required.
Yes, we have a decent squad, but think the heart had been ripped out of the club in the previous season.
Need to go up in 2nd as not sure I could handle the play offs and wouldn’t fancy West Brom or Leeds over two legs! | | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 13:41 - Jan 14 with 4661 views | Berber |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 11:13 - Jan 14 by Meonsaint |
This forum is surely about people’s opinions isn’t it ? The fans are never going to all agree that is human nature.
After last year’s disastrous season and the debacle of hiring Jones and then the aftermath of Selles trying to salvage the already doomed wreckage it’s understandable after 4 straight defeats and leaking goals for fun in September that some Saints fans had enough. Thank goodness we have this board to air our frustrations.
I am old enough to remember Lawrie Mc having hot dogs, coffee and all sorts of rubbish being chucked at him when he made his way past the West Stand Dockers to the dug out back in the mid 70s after he took us down. What we all didn’t realise at the time that only a couple of years later we we would be on the global football stage with Pedro Rodrigues collecting the FA Cup off HRH The Queen.
In September I was critical of Martin’s style of football as it was just not achieving the results and success that us long suffering fans deserve.
Give credit where it’s due Russell Martin is turning the club around. |
I really do hope he is turning the playing side around. RH got us to the top of the PL, but there was not a lot to fallback on after that. I will be delighted if we were to get 2nd spot on the last day of the season. I’ll be delighted too if we have to slug it out and get promotion from the play offs. There is a lot to prove in the second half of the season though, and some of the key players in our side are not actually ours either. | | | |
| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 13:57 - Jan 14 with 4647 views | Southamptonfan |
The meltdown after the 4 defeats was understandable. RM came in when the morale amongst the fans was at an all time low. The fans suffered years of struggle before he arrived and it looked like we were heading for even more lows.
But, RM deserves credit for sorting everything out and producing this exciting, winning team. Yes we are in the championship, but Adam Armstrong is a new man, Adams is even looking reinvented, Walker-Peters, Bazunu, Stephens and yes dare I say it, even Mara are complete new players since RM,'s appointment.
The reasons for the doubts are understandable, we were all battered after the last few seasons, but as Nick says it doesn't matter now. We are playing super football, winning games convincingly, this is down to RM. Get behind the team and the manager. And in the stadium , they are. RM is the manger at a time where we are breaking records for the longest run without defeat. The team is playing some great stuff, RM deserves great credit. It's been the most positive atmosphere at St Mary's since the Koeman years,.so enjoy it!!! 9 home wins in a row, don't come along often!!! [Post edited 14 Jan 14:00]
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| Aren’t football fans so fickle on 16:27 - Jan 14 with 4566 views | grumpy |
'The meltdown after the 4 defeats was understandable. RM came in when the morale amongst the fans was at an all time low. The fans suffered years of struggle before he arrived and it looked like we were heading for even more lows'
I totally agree with this.
When Russell arrived I was underwhelmed to say the least.
He has done well in constructing a team with spirit and confidence.
Adam Armstrong and Fraser have been outstanding.
KWP and Harwood-Bellis are Premiership standard.
My main concern is unless we get a good forward in we will fall short of Promotion.
If that happens I can see us losing our best players.
We should have never been relegated in the first place,we just managed to find 2 poor managers who weren't up to the task.
Our young players are improving and that is down to Russell and his team.
So here's hoping we get that forward(particularly if Adams goes) and return to where we belong. |  | | |
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