It’s time for everyone at Saints to kick in the same direction as we approach the play-offs. In recent months, a lot of events and issues have divided opinion and separated the fan base.
Supporters of Southampton have been very divided. From the beginning of the season, some have criticized Russell Martin and what they called his Tippy Tappy style of football; others have criticized specific players, sometimes for valid reasons and other times not.
Then there was Russell Martin, who assembled a side with a strong sense of cohesion, character, and fight before making some odd choices for the starting lineup and subs.
To top it all off, the team itself decided to push through their intention to build a wall of red and white at Northam End, causing some Saints fans to be displaced from their seats and creating an unnecessary rift in opinion as we neared a crucial point in the season.
However, for the time being at least, all of these matters have been resolved. If Southampton is to have any hope of making it to the play-offs, the club, its owners and administration, Russell Martin, his players and coaching staff, and probably most crucially, its supporters, must all work together.
We battled relegation campaigns in 1994 and 1999, during which we were, for the most part, terrible on the field and lost more games than we won. However, at the conclusion of the season, we rallied as fans and the team responded by winning some crucial final games, which allowed us to avoid relegation.
The sentiment remains the same, even if we are currently attempting to return to the Premier League rather than simply remain there. We must rally around our players, manager, and club to rekindle what was once referred to as “The Spirit of Southampton” thirty years ago.
If we follow through on that, we will be able to fulfill our ultimate club ambition, which was to make it back to the Premier
That is still very much attainable, so why wouldn’t we want to support our team?
The Leeds match is not crucial, but we have two play-off matches left, and no matter who we play, our fantastic away support will undoubtedly travel in large numbers and be boisterous throughout the away leg.
However, we must also accomplish that in the home leg, where St. Mary’s must be packed with enthusiastic Southampton fans cheering their team on.
We need to repeat what we did in 2010 when we won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy—that is, the half of the stadium with the wall of red and white that our CEO wants to see—in the hopes that the players would react and we will be granted a trip to Wembley.
These are just games to appreciate our team pushing for anything; neither of them is the time for cynicism or sarcasm.
It’s time for all of us to get up and be counted. Whether you’re a fan who likes to cheer and stand up or whether you’d rather watch in peace, we should all be proud of Southampton FC and want to support the team rather than undermine it.
After the season is over, there will be plenty of time for accusations; nevertheless, if we all have The Spirit Of Southampton, it can still be a glorious one.