Many Southampton fans are far from happy after it was revealed that Kevin Friend will be the referee for their Premier League opener on Saturday against Everton at Goodison Park.
The Saints kick off their campaign in Merseyside as Ralph Hasenhuttl and co look to improve on their 15th-placed finish in the top flight last time out. After a slow start to the transfer window, the Saints have now brought in four new players – three from Chelsea in Danyl Simeu (chelseafc.com), Valentino Livramento (southamptonfc.com) and Armando Broja, as well as Romain Perraud from Brest – while they have had a bid accepted for Adam Armstrong (The Independent).
Friend will be the man in the middle against the Toffees on Saturday (premierleague.com), but he is not popular amongst Saints supporters, it seems – this is not the first time that some fans have been unhappy with his appointment (Read Southampton).
The south coast club have lost 11 of the 28 previous matches when the 50-year-old has been the man in the middle (Transfermarkt), including a 4-0 defeat to Everton’s neighbours Liverpool in February 2020 when, with the game at 0-0, he deemed contact from Fabinho on Danny Ings in the box to not be worthy of a penalty (BBC).
The news was shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.
Let’s see what these fans had to say about Friend’s appointment
“Opening day + Everton away + Kevin Friend. Our season starts on the 22nd”
Credit: @Conor_SFC
“That’s blown any hope I had!”
Credit: @ChrisBushby1
“We move to week 2”
Credit: @RahilMajid
“oh joy”
Credit: @BIDDS83
“We weren’t getting to get anything anyway as we never do there but definitely not now”
Credit: @guitar_last
“Well that’s the excuse sorted”
Credit: @JoshSFC13578
In other news, many Saints fans want the club to re-sign this midfielder.
