Here we go again

Southampton has had 13 managers in the last ten years and six in the last five.

A high management turnover was once thought to have aided our relegation from the Premiership in 2005, so it is no wonder that fans are worried that history may repeat itself.

The knee-jerk brigade is out in force, convinced the board is to blame, and that we will sell all of our players. But, realise this...

When uncertainty and passion collide – panic takes over.

Disappointment is understandable. Mauricio Pochettino has stated in the past that he doesn’t walk away from contracts, and he has.

Only time will tell whether his decision to accept the Spurs job is the right one. Personally, I don’t think it is, but it is HIS decision and what’s done is done. Bitterness and hatred will get us nowhere.

We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and carry-on.

The last five years have seen us keep moving forward, even when some of the decisions didn’t feel like we were moving forward. And we have to trust that will continue.

If you don’t want to renew your season ticket this year because you have to work, can’t afford to, or for any other motive – that’s your choice. Not renewing your season ticket because your manager has quit is not a valid reason.

It’s like not leaving the house because it’s raining. You have to have a little rain now and again to appreciate the sunshine. Rain allows growth.

Southampton Football Club runs through my veins and into my heart. It doesn’t matter who owns it, who runs it, who manages it, or who plays for it. It is a part of me, and it always will be.

We, as fans, will not agree with every decision that is made about our club. Let alone the ones that feel so wrong, like this one. But, if Pochettino did not want to be part of our future, then best he goes now.

And for anyone else who feels the same way – don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Relationships rarely end by mutual consent. There is usually one party who feels they had unfinished business - like a small part of them has been ripped away before its time.

Today, we are that party.

So for all of you who feel this way, I have a little advice...

Turn off social media, stay away from the sports pages in the newspapers and go to sleep.

Tomorrow is another day.

The end of an era

As we approach the end of the transfer window, football fans countrywide are waiting with baited breath to see if their teams will strengthen where needed.

For Southampton it has been a funny month.

The departure of chairman, Nicola Cortese, rumours that Katharina Liebherr wanted to sell and a training ground bust up between Dani Osvaldo and José Fonte left the club in the middle of a media free-for-all that took weeks to settle down.

With Osvaldo suspended and the supporter's favourite first team players Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana being linked with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, it is no wonder that, today, many fans would have breathed a sigh of relief when they read that it was Danny Fox who was to be shipped out.

Along with Billy Sharp to Doncaster, and Lee Barnard to Southend - Fox has gone on loan (with a view to buy) to Nottingham Forest.

The left back has not had an easy time from the Southampton crowds lately. A little unfairly, no a LOT unfairly - Fox has come under fire from the fans and found himself on the receiving end of some pretty harsh criticisms.

He may not be the best defender in the league and yes, the Premier League may just be slightly too high a level for him.

But it is not Fox who should be criticised for that - it's the manager. He picks the team.

Saints fans would also do well to remember that Fox was an integral part of the squad that gained promotion from the Championship, and for that he should be respected.

Of course, that doesn't mean we, as fans, should applaud him if he makes a mistake, but it certainly doesn't mean that he should be abused whilst wearing a Southampton shirt.

And neither should Guly Do Prado. The striker has been through similar abuse in his career with us, and his dry spell in front of goal didn't do him any favours, until he converted from the penalty spot in the FA cup fourth round tie with Yeovil.

So, Danny, I would like to thank you, Billy and Lee for your contribution during your time with us, and it will certainly be interesting to see who the fan's next scapegoat will be, after all.....

"If Guly scores, we're on the pitch."

Farewell Adkins

Football fans are a fickle bunch. Just a few months ago many people were calling for Nigel Adkins to be sacked after a bad start to Southampton’s first season back in the Premier League.

A run of decent results and all that seemed to have been forgotten, which may go some way to explain the shock that most Saints fans are feeling at yesterday’s sacking of Nigel Adkins and subsequent appointment of Mauricio Pochettino.

And that is all that it is – shock.

The knee-jerk reaction, that comes so easily to some, is calling for boycotts and protests. But what will that achieve? Nothing but a split in the fan base, and we would all do well to remember how that feels from the last time.

Nigel Adkins has given the fans an amazing two years, including back to back promotions. He has had some good games, some amazing games and some games when even the most tolerant of fans have questioned his decisions.

Whether it was because he insisted on sticking with 4-5-1 when it obviously wasn’t working, refusing to make a substitution until 85 minutes whilst losing, or dropping Lambert to the bench. At some point, most fans will have looked at the person next to them with a look on their face that can only be described as WTF??

And there must be some people who feel a little bit of relief that Adkins has been ‘relieved of his duties’ now?

Glad in a way that he has gone out on a high, with the fans singing his praises. Not many managers are given that opportunity these days and Adkins could not have been held in a much higher regard in most fan’s estimations, the only way for his relationship to go with them – was down.

Adkins is a nice guy, and nobody would want to end up having to hate him. He needs to be remembered as the man who brought Southampton back to the top flight of English football at the very first opportunity.

Of course the timing of his sacking could have been better, and it is possible that it could have been carried out in a better manner. But nobody knows what has gone on behind closed doors, nobody knows if Adkins was aware of the planned change, or if he was disappointed, maybe, just maybe he was relieved.

Many rumours are flying about, including him apparently being escorted from the stadium in tears, and a note left for the players, encouraging them to continue to believe in themselves. But it has to be remembered that these are just rumours, not confirmed nor denied. Rumours.

 There is also much being made of new signing, Vegard Forren, commenting that he had met the new manager the day before Adkins left.  And Pochettino’s own comments, in his first press conference, that he had been doing his research on the team for weeks.

This makes it easy to make assumptions that Adkins did not know what was going on, and everything was done behind his back. But, remember what they say about that: Asume makes an ass out of you and me.

So, even though it feels like a tiny part of you has been ripped away, even though you are grieving for a loss that you never saw coming, even though you are not really ready to move on. It is time to accept the change and move forward.

It is not the new manager’s fault and it is not the teams fault. They need the support of the fans, now and always.

So get back on the bus, stand shoulder to shoulder and sing your hearts out for the lads.

Together as one!

Rock Bottom

Southampton find themselves with the weight of the Premier League on their shoulders, quite literally.

Having played a quarter of the season’s games since their return to the top flight of English football, they are propping up the rest of the teams from the bottom.

Nobody could have thought it would be an easy return to glory, but nobody would have thought it would be quite this hard to settle back in.

So who is to blame?

Nigel Adkins, is the favourite to be the first Premier League manager sacked and that can come as no surprise after losing eight of the opening ten games.

The manager of any team knows that when things go wrong they are held accountable, just as when things go right they are adorned.

Nigel picks the team, he chooses the formation and he makes the changes needed to ensure that ‘his’ squad go out and do their job.

In saying that, some of his decisions this season have been questionable, his insistence on sticking with 4-3-3 (or 4-5-1) when it does not appear to be working, for one.

But should he shoulder the fault alone or should some of the players never be graced with wearing the shirt again.

After all, football is a game of passion and that has certainly been lacking from some of the performances on the pitch recently.

Unless you count Artur Boruc’s alleged bottle throwing incident that is.

Whether you agree with his reaction to conceding a goal and being abused by his own fans or not, it was his passion that showed through.

For Southampton fans, it is easy to forget that the team has played six out of the top seven teams and only one from the bottom seven.

The majority of them have not yet turned on their manager, their constant chanting for him despite losing 2-0 to West Bromwich Albion on Monday evening could be heard on any tv or radio station covering the game.

And maybe they are right not to turn on him.

It is worth remembering that Southampton had a five-year-plan and are only three years into it, who knows what will happen in the next two years?

I need to scream!

There are many things we associate with being British: tea, fish and chips, and depending who you ask – queuing.

I think everyone understands the concept of queuing, without it where would we be? How would we know when our turn to be served had arrived?

It is a distinct possibility that we would stand in bewilderment in McDonalds for hours on end, possibly wasting away until we collapse of starvation, ok I’m exaggerating but you get the jist.

I have nothing against queuing, as I said it serves a point. What I do raise objection to, no, strike that, what I hate with a passion is the people at the front of the queue who appear to have forgotten why they are there.

Imagine the situation:

Your day starts out fine, you pop to the shops in your break to grab some lunch, stopping to take some money out of the bank on route.

There are three cashpoint machines, of course two of them are out of action, as they always appear to be, so a queue of around three people are waiting.

Not too bad, not too bad at all you think. How wrong can you be?

The first person is using the cashpoint to check the balance of every account they own, fair enough, that’s what they are for. The second draws their cash and leaves.

The end is in sight, or so you thought, but then the third person can’t find their bank card, why is it not in their hand ready? Did they not realise five minutes ago when they joined the queue that it would be needed?

Tensions are rising.

What feels like a few minutes (but is possibly just 40 seconds or so) of scrambling in their bag produces the purse in which the card is housed and inserted into the machine, cash out and away. At last.

On to the supermarket to get some milk for the office. A scan of the queues reveals the shortest one and you make your way to it.

You arrive a split second behind a woman pushing a months worth of groceries in a trolley. Does she use a little common sense and allow you to just nip in front whilst she is unpacking?

Does she hell? Ten minutes later you finally get to pay.

A quick stop at a fast food restaurant (fast food and restaurant, isn’t that joke in itself? Don’t even get me started on that) to get something to eat before returning to work should be simple enough.

You decide what you are going to have on the drive there so you are ready to order. Don’t you?

However, everybody else in the queue must have been transported there by some form of materialisation where they didn’t even know where they were going by the sound of all the: “Ummm” and “Ahhh, I’m not sure what to order” comments.

Did you have your car on auto drive? Did you black out and wake up at the front of the queue in KFC thinking you had gone to get a newspaper. Order the damn chicken and move on!

Who has a favourite film?

My favourite film is a tough call, it has to be dependant on what mood I am in at the time of the question, I’m not even sure I could pick just one at any given point in time.

As a general rule, I’m not keen on films, I find myself distracted easily and tend to wander off to do the washing or load the dishwasher half way through, much to the family’s annoyance.

I don’t ask them to pause it, so I’m not really sure what their problem is.

I could narrow it down and give a top 3 and that’s probably as good as it is going to get. So, in no particular order, here goes:

1. Disney’s Aladdin, I’m not really sure why I like it, maybe it is the upbeat songs that keep my attention through it.

Or maybe it stems from the sleep deprivation of having 2 boys under the age of 2 when it was released and the few hours of grasped sleep during video time, of which this was played – a lot! Maybe I’m brainwashed.

2. Homeward Bound, a heart warming tale of family pets, Shadow (Golden Retriever), Chance (American Bulldog) and Sassy the cat that get lost and have to find there way back across country terrains to their home. 

More importantly they talk, I always wanted a dog that could talk, who didn’t?

3.  Hocus Pocus, Bette Midler stars in this humorous take on Halloween, aimed more at children maybe, but hey if the cap fits.

I’m beginning to see a pattern developing here, if I analysed it it would probably be quite worrying, I can imagine sitting opposite a psychotherapist now – So Catherine, what is it exactly that you are scared about, why won’t you grow up?

The Saints are coming.....

There is something special about night games for a football fan. The sight of the pitch under floodlights in the winter has a way of making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

With temperatures tonight set to be around -1, I am hoping Southampton and Cardiff will manage to put on a performance that will allow me to forget that I am so cold I can no longer feel my fingers or toes.

There is nothing worse than spending the whole ninety minutes checking your watch every few seconds in anticipation of the final whistle just so that you can return to the warmth of home, and I know because I’ve been there.

Sitting second in the Championship, 3 points behind West Ham and just 1 ahead of Cardiff, we certainly can’t afford to drop any points, so goals are a must. Let’s just hope they are at the right end.

I’m also looking forward to seeing our new signings home debut, Tadanari Lee and Billy Sharp (assuming he plays). Adding to our already strong strike trio of Lambert, Guly and Connolly.

A goal for Southampton will enable the synchronised roar of 30,000 people and the subsequent celebrations to make the solid concrete beneath my feet tremble.

Try telling anyone who has not felt it before that is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. The look that ensues is, quite simply, one of pure disbelief.

The feeling of being one part of a crowd of thousands of people with one joint goal, excusing the pun, is something that cannot compare.

With no belief in religion, I can only imagine the similarities that a congregation would feel in their worship of a God. St Mary’s is my church and football is my religion.