Every
Southampton fan had been looking forward to the new season in the Premier
League for the first time since 2005. After an incredible and brave performance
in the 3-2 defeat to Manchester City, the Saints were given a reality check on
Saturday in their first home match of the season, by losing 2-0 to Wigan. Many fans, including myself, were thinking that Southampton would get their first points of the campaign. However, a classy performance from Wigan showed the Saints what it takes to establish themselves as a top flight club. It doesn't get any easier for Southampton, as their next two fixtures are really challenging with a home game
against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon before travelling to Arsenal two weeks later.
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| Arouna Kone scores Wigan's second goal at St. Mary's on Saturday. |
It is disappointing for any fan to see their club open with two straight defeats. However, Southampton are usually slow starters to the new season excluding last season's terrific start in the Championship. At the beginning of the 1997/1998 season, Southampton lost their opening three league matches and still managed to finish 12th in the Premier League. This statistic does show optimism, but it seems that a minority of Saints fans are unhappy with the current situation at the club after the defeat to Roberto Martinez's Wigan. They took to the social networking site Twitter to vent their views which included "Adkins Out!", and that some of the players are not good enough for the Premier League. It is a shame to view the virtual altercation amongst a few fans, especially as Southampton have only played two league games. What some Saints fans need to realize is the fact that Nigel Adkins, Nicola Cortese and the backroom staff work their socks off to achieve the best for the club. The negativity surrounding Adkins' future from a minority of fans is just absurd, despite the fact he has led the club to back-to-back promotions.
The
transfer window is an exciting time for football fans across the world, with the
possibility of new additions to their respective clubs. With the finances now
stable at Southampton, the club decide on the future in terms of bringing in
new blood, and there have been plenty of rumours spreading around. Uruguayan
international Gastón Ramírez has been the centre of attention as the move for
the Bologna playmaker has been on and off more times than a light switch. The
figure for Ramírez was agreed at almost £12m two weeks ago between the Italians
and Saints, but Ramírez's former club, Penarol, are entitled to 30% of his
rights. The gossip of the possible move for the 21-year-old has frustrated a
few of Saints fans which is quite understandable, but the constant rants from
those respective fans do not represent the club in a positive manner.
Southampton is known as a family club and with the disagreements among fans, it doesn't
reflect the family connotations at all.
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| Gast-ON? Gast-OFF? |
Personally, I think every Saints fan
should be patient in terms of possible transfers and get behind the team on the
pitch. The fans have played a huge part in getting the club to where it is
today and it would be a shame to see a minority of fans falling out over
different opinions. Everybody has their own views on various issues, but for a set of fans to clash over transfers and individual players in particular, does ruin the experience for other fans. In my 13 years of supporting the Saints, I have never seen this much tension between one set of fans before, and I hope everybody can move on and get behind the lads. With two days to go until the close of the summer transfer window, it promises to be an exciting 48 hours or so for Southampton fans. There is a possibility of three new signings at club after Zambian striker, Emmanuel Mayuka, signed for the club last night. When the transfer window ends, it will be a relief for everybody at the club and the majority of Saints fans where they can soon concentrate on the football, and start collecting points on the board.
Remember how far we have come!
Good post - I really do despise those fans on twitter. It really does prove that they are plastic fans who only support the club when we are winning.
ReplyDeletewrong, they probably moan when we do win!
DeleteYou wouldn't have seen this much interaction before, mainly due to rise in social media especially twitter. The shame is, it will likely get worse. But each to their own and their own opinion, it's difficult but just ignore them.
ReplyDeleteThe flip side is social media really has put a buzz into the world of #saintsfc. I remember as a kid, you knew the names of the players, the manager & maybe the trainer, that was it. No chairmen no agents, it was simple and easy then. Sometimes the first you knew about a new signing was when they run onto the pitch in a Saints shirt and the announcer told you who it was!
Good blog, keep 'em coming
Really enjoyed your blog. Get fed up with those fans who find it impossible to be patient and give the players and manager time to mould the team at this level. The premiership is a different animal- we have to get used to the different pace and realise that we can't possibly win every time we step on the pitch! Finishing above the bottom three will be good, and half-way, brilliant.
ReplyDelete