Alan Pearson

A retired train driver, photographer and matelot who follows the Saints and is old enough to know better but young enough not to give a s...

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

@SaintsExtra Does it come with daggers in the back, or do we have to earn them as the season goes on?

[Nick @Nick_SO19]

#Saintsfc

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

@AdamBlackmore I have an overriding feeling of 'meh!', nothingness, after last seasons disastrous Premier campaign, tge poor start to the season, now this, nothing surprises me with my team anymore. But I know, deep down, it is still my team, our team, not theirs, they'll all leave, we won't!

[Vfynn_🥷🏼 𐙚 @Vfynn_]

🚨🎙️Thierry Henry on Southampton expelled for spying drama against Middlesbrough:

“I have to be honest, this is a difficult one. Spying on another team’s training is wrong. Full stop. It crosses a line, it undermines the trust that should exist between clubs, and I understand why Middlesbrough are furious and why the EFL felt they had to act strongly. Integrity matters in this game.

At the same time, I find myself questioning whether expulsion from the play-offs is the right punishment. It feels… heavy. Almost like using a sledgehammer when a precise scalpel was needed.

Let’s be clear: this wasn’t match-fixing or doping. It was analysts pushing boundaries for tactical information, something that, sadly, has happened in different forms across the game for years.

Marcelo Bielsa did it openly at Derby and Leeds, admitted it, and people called him a genius, not a criminal. Drones, analysts in trees, whatever, in the modern game with data and marginal gains everywhere, clubs push boundaries.

Southampton admitted it, yes, and they deserve punishment. A heavy fine, points deduction, maybe even a ban for the staff involved. But kicking the entire club out after they earned their place on the pitch? That punishes players, coaches, and fans who had nothing to do with one or two analysts doing something stupid.

What troubles me most is the collateral damage. The players who battled through a tough Championship season after relegation, who went to extra time and scored that late goal to beat Middlesbrough on the pitch, they earned their place in the final through merit.

Now that achievement is being erased because of actions taken by a small number of staff members. That feels disproportionate to me. A significant fine, a points deduction for next season, and sanctions against the individuals responsible, those would be strong, meaningful punishments that address the breach without nullifying an entire season’s competitive work.

Sport has to balance two things: protecting fairness and recognising that human error and ambition sometimes lead people astray. If every rules breach in high-stakes moments leads to rewriting results, we risk turning the disciplinary process into something more powerful than the football itself. I’ve sat in dressing rooms where we prepared meticulously for opponents. Everyone does. The difference is getting caught.

I hope Southampton appeal and that the final decision finds a better equilibrium. Middlesbrough deserve respect, they were wronged but the players of Southampton also deserve not to have their legitimate efforts wiped away. Football is emotional, passionate, and imperfect.

The response to this should reflect wisdom as much as outrage. We need clearer rules going forward so incidents like this become rare, but we must be careful not to let one mistake destroy what was built legitimately on the grass.

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

@AdamBlackmore Mentions contrition, but doesn't sound the least bit contrite himself.
I feel like we are being talked at, rather than apologised to.

[🔴Rhys⚪️ @RhysTheSaint]

#SaintsFC fans must stick together now. This is such an important time to be a fan of this football club.

Remember... Players go, Managers go, but we are here forever🔴⚪️ Up the Saints mush

[Ross @RossW44]

@EFL_Comms “Week one of my new job organising the EFL Championship play off final has been a huge success”

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

@henrywinter Why not apologise at the start, especially as they pleaded guilty, as a fan, I've spent money and heard nothing!
Any other industry, I'd be thinking I've been scammed.
It's us fans that will receive vitriol and abuse from opposing fans for the next however many years, disgusted!

[CJ @FlynnJonas2]

16 years on from this hero’s Passing ….

And look what this club has become since …

Never before have I been so angry/ashamed/embarrassed to be a #SaintsFC fan ….

😔

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

@adamleitchsport Thank you, so eloquently put and so true. 54 years following Saints, it's sickening we have been taken for mugs by people who don't care about us or the club.
Im not ashamed of the team, I'm not ashamed of the fans.
The Board and their cronies need to go, asap.
COYSs

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

@TractorSaint Third and third and third *delete as appropriate

[Josh Middleton @joshmids1]

Man city and their 115 charges, not spoken about anymore

Bournemouth having a nonce play for them, already forgotten

Saints watching a training session.... worst thing to ever happen in football 🤣

#SaintsFC

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

Me and my book have made it into the local paper,of where I no longer live. And it was Covid that left me in a coma then with Long Covid.

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

@clairew12073357 Happy birthday x x

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

Cattle perform alchemy that no technology can replicate:

Input:
- Grass (humans can't digest)
- Marginal land (can't grow crops)
- Rainfall (falling anyway)
- Sunlight (free)

Output:
- Meat (complete nutrition)
- Leather (clothing, goods)
- Tallow (cooking, soap, candles)
- Bone (tools, gelatin)
- Manure (fertilizer)
- Milk (nutrition, cheese, butter)

Byproducts:
- Improved soil carbon
- Enhanced biodiversity
- Water retention
- Nutrient cycling

If you invented a machine that did this, you'd win the Nobel Prize.

Because it's a cow, environmental groups want it banned.

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

Are you in a book club, wishing to dominate a self-published engaging tale of one person's adventures within their own head inside a covid coma?
DM me for more details.

[Defense of Ukraine @DefenceU]

Overnight, russia launched a massive air attack at Ukraine. The aggressor used 464 Shahed-type UAVs, 4 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, 3 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 8 Kalibr cruise missiles, 7 Iskander-K cruise missiles.

Ukrainian air defenders shot down:
◾️438 enemy UAVs
◾️1 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile
◾️5 Kalibr cruise missiles
◾️5 Iskander-K cruise missiles
◾️3 Iskander-M ballistic missiles

Thank you to air defenders for protecting the skies! Ukraine needs more air defense to protect our people from russian terror.

[Kira Rudik @kiraincongress]

Targeting residential buildings in the heart of Kyiv, peaceful people in their beds – this is pure terror that the free world has literally allowed russia to continue.

[Alan Pearson @Aphlred]

A compelling read, of a journey into the mind of a covid coma patient, battling unseen foes, fighting for survival, trying to stay sane!
Available on Amazon and ebook.