Southampton Dellivery

Last year I was blessed to be able to travel across the Atlantic Ocean (and the continental United States) and attend a match. Unfortunately, it was West Ham away. A 3-0 defeat, a poor showing, and a real problem when you consider the path to safety. That day I spent a lot of time (like almost 12 hours) with Freddie from The Ugly Inside. He made sure I got to the match, helped on the tube, in the pub and just made the whole thing work. After the match, we sat and recorded a podcast celebrating 30 years of the The Ugly Inside (You can find that episode here, if you are interested). And, after speaking over the course of the season, we decided to speak again after West Ham this year… because it couldn’t possibly get any worse.... Yeah. So, that is where we pick up this week. Freddie joins me to discuss the loss away at West Ham, answer some listener questions and look ahead to who could stay and who we probably won’t see around Staplewood next year. If you don’t already follow The Ugly Inside use the links bel

*Note- if you like the show, be sure to sign up for the weekly newsletter. It comes out Friday morning (8:15-ish UK time), isn't spam, and will help you enjoy the coming weekend a bit more. I almost promise. Check it out here.* Jake Hughes is a lot of fun to talk to. He is super honest, informed, hilarious, and this week we went deep. Jake and I spent the better part of two hours on Skype catching up on life, Saints, safety, writing and podcasting, home ownership, parenthood and more. We discuss Jake’s MMA freelance writing, as well as his Saints’ website St. Mary’s Musings, which you can also follow on Twitter at @StMarysMusings. If you’d like to follow Jake himself, he’s @JJHughes_. As I said previously, he’s fantastic, the site is fantastic, and you should definitely follow along if you are not already. In more pressing (and impressive) news, Franny Benali is making us all look like we’re lazy. He’s doing 7 Iron Man Triathlons in 7 days. He’s doing it to raise money for Cancer Research. You can support

I’m gone this week. We’re camping and it’s going to be great. I tried to set a few things up so we’d have a normal-ish length episode for the week, but a couple of things fell through and only one of them actually got done. That one thing was my conversation with Aydin Osman (@Aydin_Osman96 on Twitter) about his dissertation work on ticket pricing and the impact it has on fans and engagement. So, with Saints releasing their season ticket prices for the upcoming 2019/2020 season it felt like a good conversation to have. Hopefully you enjoy it. No matter what, it’s better than a mosquito bite in the eye (or anywhere, I guess). We’ll be back later this week with a Special Dellivery for Patreon supporters after the team play Watford on Tuesday. If you’d like to get that and the rest of the benefits and support the show, you can do that by visiting patreon.com/sfcdellivery. CONTACT the SHOW and SUBSCRIBE- Twitter (@SFCDell_ivery)- https://twitter.com/SFCDell_ivery Instagram (@sfcdell_ivery)- https://www.instagr

Inviting Wolves into your home is always risky... Just writing that brings back memories of news stories from my childhood, where ordinary people somehow decided having a Tiger or a Lion or a Wolf as a pet. Not to mention Little Red Riding Hood or any of the other fairy tales where Wolves represented danger or a threat. But, if I had to pick a fairy tale equivalent for last weekend’s match, it would have to be the Three Little Pigs. Wolves huffed and puffed, but could not blow the house down, as Saints defended well, stood up to the test, and came out 3-1 winners over the newly promoted, top half side. Whether they were distracted or not, the performance and the result were, dare I say, what we’ve come to expect. An organized, aggressive performance, with a lot of work done without the ball, a strong performance from an academy product, a Shane Long goal, and an enthusiastic manager who celebrated every goal with us. It’s a beautiful thing. As is seeing us go 8 points clear of the drop zone. Joining me to

Saints vs Liverpool. We are two years removed from the EFL Cup run that saw us deny Klopp’s LFC even one goal during the 2016/2017 season. I remember the tense night, under the lights, when, after missing several half chances, and after Forster clawed the ball off the line to keep the score at 1-0 to Saints,  Sims broke from an LFC corner and Shane Long made himself available for a pass to finish off Liverpool and send Saints through to Wembley. There was, at that moment, no better feeling. In a season of dour football, that was the light, the spark of joy in an otherwise miserable year. Unfortunately, this week didn’t pan out that way. Although the match was played at high intensity, and it was a respectable and entertaining watch for the neutral, ultimately Saints failed to take anything away from the match other than, perhaps, the belief that they can indeed play their game against almost anyone. Sure, the switch to a back five was defensive in a way, but there’s believing in your system and then there’

Inspiration comes from all around us. It’s different for each of us. It could be nature, a harrowing comeback late in a game, or a personal story of struggle. Inspiration sometimes it finds us when we least expect it, or when we need it most. People often spend time trying to find inspiration, and some go as far as taking time to try and inspire others. And that is where we find Michael Kurn. Michael Kurn  is a motivational speaker, Premier League TV presenter, Mint Yard gym goer, England Hockey announcer, and, now, a published author. His book Desire, Dream, Vision, is out now and available at desiredreamvision.com. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know him over the past 18 months, and am fortunate to have him join the podcast for the second time this week. Plus, as an added bonus, we’re giving a copy of the book away this week! All you have to do is head over to one of our social media channels and like the episode post and make sure you are following Michael Kurn and you’ll be entered for a chance to win.

*Quick note- the call quality this week isn’t great. I’m not sure why it is, and I’m not necessarily happy about it, but it’s nothing Chris or I did, it just is. So, I’ll likely spend too much time trying to figure out why it was so bad, but I hope you enjoy it. I’ll do better because you, and guests like Chris, deserve it. Sorry* The international break means no top-flight football for us to enjoy, but it doesn’t mean football itself has stopped. In addition to having the international action, of which Southampton sent several players out to take part, lower league and non-league matches were in full swing. Given that, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to chat with Chris Tuck, who runs the Non-League Programmes and the Saints Programmes accounts on Twitter. It something fairly foreign to me. I used to save a lot of stuff, but I never really collected much of anything, and I still don’t. So, to hear what inspires Chris to collect, capture, and share his programmes and the programmes sent in by other f

It’s always a pleasure to be able to meet other Saints fans and record an episode face to face. I love almost every aspect of doing the podcast but the people are the best part, and getting to see and meet people who love the same things I do really sets the experience apart. Dave Lee lives in Bakersfield, CA and is about the closest thing to Saints supporting neighbor I have. We were both looking forward to meeting, watching a match and recording an episode this weekend, but because of the FA Cup, it wasn’t in the cards. So, we sat down in the press room and had a chat… and went out for beers afterwards. Dave is truly a good friend, a fantastic podcaster, and hugh help and influence to me. I’m truly inspired by him and the work he and his family put into their shows and projects. You can follow Dave on Twitter and Instagram. The links are below. Twitter@aodavelee @intlpodcastday @thewavesoftech Instagram@aodavelee @internationalpodcastday @thewavesoftech CONTACT the SHOW and SUBSCRIBE- Twitter

Spurs stole our song, got (most of) the calls from our most recent enemy referee, and controlled the first half. But, we took all three points in a dramatic and impressive second half display. We did it with no striker on the pitch, relying on a teenage right back to crash the back post and poke home the equalizer before JWP beat the World Cup winning goalkeeper from a dead ball. It was truly a rollercoaster of emotions, but it was so nice to finish on a high. So often we’ve conceded late and lost some of the momentum or (more importantly after 38 weeks) the points. This week, though, we turned it around and we now walk into the three week break with our heads held high. Joining me to breakdown the match,  JWP’s right foot, Josh Sims face, and Hasenhuttl’s adjustments is Rob Maddox. Rob is a photographer, sport enthusiast, and Saints fan from Bath. In addition to analyzing the match, we discuss how Rob became a fan of the team, his photography process, some memorable moments from his time supporting Saints

The weekly newsletter from the show comes out each Friday morning. It contains articles and other features that will help you get ready for the upcoming weekend. It’s free, ad free, interesting and easy to read. Just sign up here if you’d like to give it a try. _________________________________________________________ All things considered, this week was a good week. Saints took three points from Fulham, pulled themselves out of the drop zone, and pushed one of the hottest teams in the league to the brink away from home, and were unlucky not to come away with at least a point. The goals, the grit, a bit of glamour, and some questionable refereeing, and you basically have the week in a nutshell. Joining me this week to talk about his coaching journey, his love of Saints, and the match against United (we did the Fulham match during the week for Patreon members) is Jody Rovers. Jody is the director of coaches at Matt Le Tissier Natural Coaching (Web, Twitter) as well as his newest coaching venture, Jody River

Arsenal is a big match for me. My son and my best friend both support the Gunners. We’ve given them fits in the past, and took three points off them earlier this season. Sunday didn’t go that way, and after going 2-0 down early, I decided 6:22am was the appropriate time to open up my good friend Mr. Guinness…fast forward, through the second half and past the Sunday school lesson I assisted with, by the podcast recording and homework, and you wind up with me taking NyQuil and attempting to edit. There’s a few minutes in the middle of the episode I don’t remember editing, so it should be a surprise to everyone. What wasn’t a surprise, though, was my guest, Christan Candler (on Twitter @candlerneuro and his writing is available at candler.us). Christian was, as always, level-headed and calm in his approach to the match, and it was exactly what was needed as we tried to deal with the Arsenal result (and him having to deal with me). We discuss everything from the Arsenal result to the board’s spending in recen

***Note, the weekly newsletter went out for the first time last week. If you are interested in signing up to get it, you can do that here. You can also read last week’s by clicking here and enjoy the website at southamptondellivery.com I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think!   The Premier League took a break this weekend while the fifth round of the FA Cup took place. Due to Saints exit from the competition against Derby County in the third round, Saints spent a week training in Tenerife where, by all accounts, they worked hard everywhere from the training pitch to the film room to the gym. I, and I’m sure almost everyone reading this, hope that Saints can take a good week of training into, yet another, important run of fixture, with three matches coming in the space of seven days beginning with Arsenal away on Sunday. With that all said, this week I caught up with Tom Murray (on Twitter @T214Murray), who is part of the team of commentators that provide audio commentary for blind and partially sig

*News: The show has a new website as a result of the support of the Patrons at patreon.com/sfcdellivery. Their support helped launch southamptondellivery.com, where you can find past and present episodes of the show, sign up for the weekly email newsletter- with one featured article per week, guest and show updates and more, delivered to your email inbox once a week. I’m really excited about both of these additions to the show, and hope you both enjoy them and get some value out of using them. Let me know what you think, please… okay, now for the rest of the stuff... Question: What do you get when you play a relegation rival in front of your home crowd, have ⅔’s of the possession, and have more attempts on target than the other team has total attempts, and score in the first minute of stoppage time? Answer: A statistically dominant, yet unconvincing, performance… oh, and 0 points. Saints failed to impress at the weekend, looking bereft of ideas and lacking creativity and spark at St. Mary’s on Saturday. Th

Daryl Grove gofundme- https://www.gofundme.com/team-daryl-grove Saints had a busy week (incoming transfers on deadline day aside) this week with the team hosting Crystal Palace midweek before traveling to Burnley for a 3:00pm GMT kickoff on Saturday. Saints entered the week even on points with both teams, and although the team drew both games, in the end the results were probably fair, all things considered. The team took two points from the matches, inching away from the relegation zone, remaining unbeaten in 2019, and somehow fans are still a little worried and found time to criticize some of the players, mainly Jack Stephens for a handball late on Saturday. All of that takes center stage on this week’s show when I spoke with Dan Adam, a Saints’ fan living in Malaysia (on Twitter @TwentyTwoRole and owner/admin of @PremWorldWide on Instagram).Given the time difference, we recorded the episode while about 60% of you were sleeping (That’s you, UK listeners), and I put together the rest of it before the “big

Saints were out of action this week but there was still plenty to talk about. We covered a bit of the transfer window with Dan from Prem Worldwide on Instagram (available to $5.00/month listeners on the Patreon page) and it was the perfect time for me to chat with Issy Foster of the Southampton Women’s Football Club. Issy is new to the club this season and it was nice to get a fresh perspective from someone new to both the south coast and the club. We discussed her move, playing in the US, the state of women’s football in the US and UK and more. If you’d like to help sponsor the football club, you can do so by visiting their website and contacting the club secretary. Links are below. Also, you can follow Issy on Twitter @IssyFoster93. Southampton Women’s FC- on Instagram at @sotonwomensfc Southampton Women’s FC- on Twitter at @sotonwomensfc Website- https://www.southamptonwfc.co.uk/ Club secretary, Amanda Burroughs- secretary@southamptonwfc.co.uk ScheduleFirst Team- https://www.southamptonwfc.co.uk/f

A busy week for the club, a disappointing result midweek against Derby County, but a valiant performance against Everton on the weekend means Saints picked up back-to-back Premier League wins, moved a bit up the tablet and played an attractive brand of football on top of it all. Joining me this week to discuss the matches, their dive into the Saints’ Podcasting pond and more, are the hosts of the In That Number Podcast, Ray and Kevin. They are both lifelong Saints supporters and friends, and it was fantastic to chat with them over the course of a few hours. If you have not given their podcast a listen, or you don’t already follow them on Twitter and Facebook, you should… details and links below. Twitter In That Number- @NumberPodcast- https://twitter.com/NumberPodcast Ray- @RayHunt84- https://twitter.com/RayHunt84 Kevin- @moscowmush - https://twitter.com/moscowmush Facebook In That Number- https://www.facebook.com/inthatnumberpodcast/ Listen to In That Number- iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/g

The Southampton Page is the longtime partner of the show. Jamie, who runs the page on Instagram and oversees the Twitter account, though he has some help from some wonderful guys on Twitter, has been a fantastic help to me over the time I’ve done the show. From setting me up with guests such as Antti Niemi and Tom Deacon, to helping get the show in front of the page’s 20,000 Instagram followers, I can’t really explain how much of a help he has been. This week, Jamie joins me to discuss the match against Leicester City… last time Jamie was on, we also played Leicester City. This week, a member of the team was shown a red card. Last time Jamie was on, a player on the team was shown a red card… however, this time, the result was different (thank goodness). The performance of the team this week was admirable to say the least. The organization, the effort, the refusal to fold under the pressure of playing with 10 men for so much of the match. It really was an extremely impressive performance, and one that sees

The festival fixtures are truly over, the initial matches of the FA Cup 3rd played, and, for the most part, normal day-to-day, week-to-week schedules are back for the foreseeable future…just ignore that replay at home to Frank Lampard’s Derby County. Saints came through the festival fixtures with a mixed results, but I, and I’m sure many other fans as well, are feeling pretty good about the direction things are going. The manager has a plan, and I actually agree with that plan. It’s simple, but ultimately that’s all it has taken. The youth are around the squad, the players are working hard during matches, and the club seem intent on thinning the squad and seeing where they stand in the transfer market. This week I’m joined by Aydin Osman (Twitter- @Aydin_Osman96, Instagram- @aydinosman96) of the Southampton Page (links- Twitter, Instagram and Facebook). We discuss the draw at the two draws, the debuts of academy products, and the departure of Steven Davis, which didn’t actually happen until after we were do

Chris Macchi’s story isn’t something he makes a lot of. But, from the outside, it’s a story of someone who loved soccer from an early age, and who found a way to make it a part of his life. Football and soccer go far beyond the lines on the pitch, the dugouts, the film rooms or the technical areas. Football has the ability to connect so many of us, no matter where we are, and Chris’ work has gone a long way to help spread the love that football can bring. I can’t explain to you how truly humbled I am to have him on the show. My only regret is that we were unable to have the conversation face to face. Luckily Skype is wonderful for that sort of thing. My first ever interaction with Chris Macchi came after I saw him on the Premier League in USA’s Instagram Story on a random Saturday about 18 months or so ago. The segment itself intrigued me. Here’s an American guy, living in London, and bringing me (and viewers throughout the US) along to each of the matches he attended. From tube station to train car, to pub

Christmas is here and it is, really, one of the most wonderful times of the year. It’s far from my favorite holiday, but I do love seeing my family.This year it’s especially hard to be a Scrooge with the way things are going on the pitch for Saints, who have won back to back Premier League matches for the first time since they last did it 20 months ago, 2017 under Claude Puel. The tactics are easier on the eye, the players look inspired, and it all got even better with both Redmond and Obafemi getting their first goals of the season (Obafemi becoming Saints youngest PL goal scorer ever). In all, it was a great time to talk to Tom Mason of Read Southampton. The combination of time with family and the improvement in Saints put us in good spirits, and the rest pretty much takes care of itself. Thanks to Tom for joining me this week, be sure to give him a follow on Twitter and Instagram below. From my family to yours, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season! Tom on Twitter- @tom_mason18 - https://t