The Southern Daily Echo - The 'Pink'

The game was an exciting game which Southampton lost by four goals to two. The scoreline is slightly flattering for Reading because until a host of substitutions were made Saints were leading 2-1.

Back to the Echo and what was on the front page? No match report that is for sure. Inside the cover again there was no sign of a match report.

The question which will be on a lot of people's tongues is whether the ban fron the club means that the Echo will not be able to cover our games this season?

Hopefully this was just a case of there being no reason to report on the pre-season friendly but I have my doubts. If the ban is for all games at St Mary's I am disappointed.

It is time now surely, for the hatchet to be well and truly buried. Our fantastically astute chairman has done a remarkable job in securing the future of our club.

He has done so much in providing a base fom which we can progress. We have seen our manager backed with some great signings that should help propel us up into the Championship this season.

Meanwhile the Echo seems to have lost out as it struggles to overcome it's punishment for doing it's own thing instead of towing the line when asked.

I was really disappointed when I found out that there was no match report. Whether it was by design as we were not the only club not covered I do not know.

I do know that I would hope to be able to see the paper back in the fold come Plymouth. This whole sorry scenario should have been sorted long ago and could probably have been done so with a simple apology.

The Echo does not even need to right to the chairman personally as it could use it's ownpaper and run it on the front page.

Far from making the paper look weak it would, with a wholehearted apology, show that the Editor has the balls to make such a move and to do it publicly. IMO.

I may be wrong in my assumptions and everything has been sorted. I hope so because for a good few of us the highlight of sunday morning is reading the Pink. Or has been until recently.

Today we have articles about our prospects this season. There is also an article on Bournemouth and a brief coverage of the opponents that we will face this season.

There is also a great article on youngster Aaron Martin which I totally enjoyed. The paper always has a fair coverage of the non-league scene as well, as in today's copy.

So in general there is a lot of stuff in today's Echo that is good reading. good Saints related articles and plenty for us to get our teeth into.

I may be an old softy with many fond memories of the days gone by. I Have many such memories which I hope my family, and future generations of us Saints fans, will see replaced with new ones to remember.

So today I ask if it is possible for us to see normal service resume. Looking at the book produced by the Echo in honour of our 125 year anniversary, and the many photos inside, I hope that this will happen.

From a picture of our team in the 1887/8 season to the present day it shows us all of the strips our teams have worn over the years.
The Echo as the local rag to the club has to be allowed to prove that it can work with the club in further instances of news delivery.

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