@PompeyPedro I’m most disappointed by the arrogance and sense of entitlement that has crept in during the PL years. Fans – and the club – need to remember that top-flight status was first achieved only in 1966 and a top-flight title remains elusive. Saints are not Everton, Spurs or Villa.
@holland_tom Meeting Macca, victorious Villa… What’s next, Tom – a day trip around Ancient Athens atop an Argentinosaurus followed by a maiden five-fer against NZ?
@_ChrisLepkowski Indeed. The sense of entitlement and arrogance has put me off the club. Fans need to remember that Saints’ first year in the top flight was 1966 and they have never won it – and would have been relegated in the 1990s (just as the Sky money arrived) had it not been for Le Tiss.
@danielstorey85 Well said, Daniel. I’d add the general sense of arrogance/entitlement too. It should be remembered that Saints played in the top flight for the first time in 1966 and have never won it. They’re not Everton, Villa or Spurs.
Operation Humility:
PR officer to publicly apologise to the insulted Teesside reporter.
Hayward-Bellis to apologise for his disgraceful conduct.
The management team to be sacked as a point of principle.
Fans to be financially compensated as appropriate.
#saintsfc#spygate
@AlfieHouseEcho Hayward-Bellis has left a nasty taste and should offer a public apology for his conduct, especially given it celebrated the spying. An apology from the PR officer who insulted your Teesside counterpart is due too. And the management team must be sacked as a point of principle.
@AdamBlackmore Well said, Adam. It’s abstract-noun bingo! Humility wins for me. Hayward-Bellis should be encouraged by the media team to provide a public apology – his arrogant, distasteful behaviour has been a disgrace.
@SouthamptonFC Saints have brought the game into disrepute. Accepting the punishment is the only way of emerging from this with a shred of dignity intact. A precedent had to be set; punish the club lightly and the risk-reward calculation for other clubs would point to cheating too.
@VictoriaA_27 Well said, Tori. Had never been in the top flight until the 1960s. Only remained in the top flight during the financial avalanche of the 1990s because of improbable survivals year after year due to Le Tissier. Some humility is due.
@dankiz1 There’s been a disturbing lack of humility recently – from the press officer condemning the Boro news reporter to the disgraceful behaviour of a certain player.
The EFL *had* to throw the book. Promotion is worth so much that anything other than expulsion could encourage others to take the risk.
Talk of the players’ anger is laughable given Hayward-Bellis’s implicit endorsement, which none condemned.
#saintsfc
@SaintsDanSFC Bellis too. That celebration will haunt him for the rest of his career. He should be ashamed, and his teammates should feel embarrassed about not calling it out.