League 1 Minus 10. #saintsfc Watford preamble

In the four years since they arriving at the club, the relationship between Sport Republic and transfer windows has been like the relationship between a elephants and laxatives. You just end up with a massive great pile of shit that takes years to clean up. It is one of football’s great truths that you can never judge a transfer window until at least a year down the line, because some players you sign will make promising starts and then fall away, others will do the opposite and some will look good on paper and provide absolutely nothing.

Penny for the thoughts of the Stoke fan bottom right When we played Stoke City at St Mary’s, it was the first reality check when we suddenly realized that, oh hang on a minute, we might in fact be a bit shit this season and Will Still is not the second coming. That defeat, where we basically got outplayed by a club that had finished consistently in the bottom half of the Championship over the last few seasons, was initially written off as a blip until we had a few more.

A Predicted Scene from Saturday When we played Stoke City at St Mary’s, it was the first reality check when we suddenly realized that, oh hang on a minute, we might in fact be a bit shit this season and Will Still is not the second coming. That defeat, where we basically got outplayed by a club that had finished consistently in the bottom half of the Championship over the last few seasons, was initially written off as a blip until we had a few more.

Honours even once again in the South Coast Derby, as Saints and Pompey play out a fiery 1–1 draw at Fratton Park.This week, the panel break down a bruising derby that had chances, controversy, se...

As If We Could Love Him Any More South Coast Derby trips to Fratton Park seem to be all about the narratives. Those narratives of course are all about Pompey, the bestest fans, the bestest ground, the bestest atmosphere, the bested hostility and the bestest soap dodging c*** with the bell and all that. You can’t read an article about this particular game without it being some sort of massive rim job with those from the East side of Hampshire on the receiving end.

South Coast Derby trips to Fratton Park seem to be all about the narratives. Those narratives of course are all about Pompey, the bestest fans, the bestest ground, the bestest atmosphere, the bested hostility and the bestest soap dodging c*** with the bell and all that. You can’t read an article about this particular game without it being some sort of massive rim job with those from the East side of Hampshire on the receiving end.

Last Time at Fratton Time for the return fixture against that lot from down the road. This latest installment follows the damp squib that was the game at St Mary's back in September that of course ended 0-0, with virtually no goalmouth incident. This is an updated version of the blog entry on the last 50 years of the South Coast Derby, in the hope that the red half of Hampshire will be happy come Sunday afternoon.

Leo cares not about deflections Sheffield United of course play in red and white stripes and there are many other similarities between them and us this season. Like us, they were expected to be up near the top of the league and challenging at least for the playoffs. Like us however, they are having somewhat of a wasted season. The only reason they are not in the Premier League this season is because they lost in the last minute of the play-off final to Sunderland last year and the new owners decided to go in a different direction and sack Chris Wilder, after winning 92 points last season.

TSP 355 – Live at St Mary’s StadiumThe Total Saints Podcast heads to St Mary’s for a special live show, recorded in front of a packed Halo Lounge in support of the Saints Foundation.We break ...

I Am the Resurrection Sheffield United of course play in red and white stripes and there are many other similarities between them and us this season. Like us, they were expected to be up near the top of the league and challenging at least for the playoffs. Like us however, they are having somewhat of a wasted season. The only reason they are not in the Premier League this season is because they lost in the last minute of the play-off final to Sunderland last year and the new owners decided to go in a different direction and sack Chris Wilder, after winning 92 points last season.

Permanently Injured Striker The Only Crumb of Comfort The away game against Hull City earlier on this season was one of the more pivotal games that Saints have had so far. To refresh your memory, Saints, managed by Will Still, were abominably shit and got beaten 3-1, which was a scoreline that flattered us given that our consalation goal was scored in the 95th minute.

Come to our live show at St Mary's! featuring James Beattie and Mark DennisTickets here: https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/TotalSaintsPodcastxSaintsFoundationLiveEventSeven without a win. Same ...

4th Round That Way! Fifty years ago we embarked on an FA Cup run which ultimately led to us winning the whole damn thing at Wembley Stadium on May 1st 1976. I was 7, you do the maths. With us being a Second Division side now and our away kit being yellow and blue (ish), I see no reason to doubt that come May, we won’t be celebrating lifting the FA Cup again.

The Legend of Hugh Fisher is born... Fifty years ago we embarked on an FA Cup run which ultimately led to us winning the whole damn thing at Wembley Stadium on May 1st 1976.  I was 7, you do the maths.  With us being a Second Division side now and our away kit being yellow and blue (ish), I see no reason to doubt that come May, we won’t be celebrating lifting the FA Cup again.

Exit Finn, Pondering his life choices With no goals in their last seven hours of football, Middlesbrough must be licking their lips with anticipation at playing Southampton this Sunday afternoon. Saints of course kept to clean sheet in their last game, so it’s all adding up to there being absolutely no chance of that being repeated. Middlesbrough have been in the top two all the season, having maybe been expected to be aiming for the playoffs this season, but these four games without a goal have seen them dropped to 3rd place as Ipswich have overhauled them.

Welcome to Episode 352 of the Total Saints Podcast - your home for all things Southampton FC!A miserable end to the festive fixtures as Saints are thrashed 4–0 away at Middlesbrough — a side th...

Baz... No Good With His Hands When Tonda Eckert took over from Will Still as the interim manager, we of course went on a four game winning run but the fifth game was away at Millwall. We knew at that point with the Tonda was going to be appointed and it was just a matter of time, but that game at The Den provided a bit of a reality check as Millwall basically beat us up for 97 minutes and dealt our new manager his first experience of defeat.

Cam heads towards his adoring Birmingham public A few weeks ago, we comfortably beat Birmingham at St Mary’s so it’s a slightly ridiculous quirk of the fixture computer and that the return game at St Andrews has come around so quickly. It’s not really a quirk as such, more like it’s an absolute joke. I mean, how hard can it be to put the first half of the fixtures and the second half of the fixtures in roughly the same order.

Tonda - probably Thinking About Birmingham On Monday Oxford United are a team that I know very little about. The only recent memory I have of them was playing them in a preseason friendly before the start of last season and losing 2-0. In the same way than the preseason performances this season told us that the Will Still appointment might not go particularly well, that Oxford performance told us was the forerunner of the Premier League campaign being a 12 point murder of a campaign.

Get in there Woody Frank Lampard's Coventry. Every time I hear Coventry described as such, I roll my eyes into my head and remind myself of the time that Sky turned football into a game all about individuals rather than about teams. That isn't his fault of course but Frank Lampard was one of the huge players of that particular time.

Frank, during the worst day of his managerial career Frank Lampard's Coventry. Every time I hear Coventry described as such, I roll my eyes into my head and remind myself of the time that Sky turned football into a game all about individuals rather than about teams. That isn't his fault of course but Frank Lampard was one of the huge players of that particular time.

The one 2nd Half Highlight In the normal scheme of things, when you go to Carrow Road in the Championship, you are going to one of the teams up near the top of the division who will be challenging for promotion. Norwich have always been one of the yo-yo teams before Leicester on ourselves got in on the act but they are parachute payment free now and having made a succession of bad decisions over the past couple of seasons are languishing in 23rd place, even lower than Portsmouth.

Russell Martin Will Not Be Managing Either Team Today In the normal scheme of things, when you go to Carrow Road in the Championship, you are going to one of the teams up near the top of the division who will be challenging for promotion. Norwich have always been one of the yo-yo teams before Leicester on ourselves got in on the act but they are parachute payment free now and having made a succession of bad decisions over the past couple of seasons are languishing in 23rd place, even lower than Portsmouth.