I spoke to John Burridge many years ago, who also played for the Saints, and I asked his opinion of the difference of the fans: "Newcastle is football - at Southampton all the fans talk about is boats and cricket."
Alan Pardew: “I am certainly looking forward to seeing some of my old players, who have done absolutely brilliantly – Jose Fonte, Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Morgan Schneiderlin were all there in the first division with me and I loved working with them.
“I am looking forward to seeing them. I am over the moon Lambert and Lallana have got international recognition.
“But certainly on a personal level, it’s a game I really want to win.
“I have tried to be consistent with my message to the players, and sometimes it’s difficult to do that when you have had a really tough day.
“We have had a lot tougher days than Swansea here and you have to endure those, but it always makes up for it when you get fantastic results.
“If someone had said to me, ‘You will be Newcastle manager and you will beat Manchester United 3-0 at home and you will win at Old Trafford 1-0 and deserve to win’, I would have taken that and lost all the others, probably.
“Joking aside, it’s something you have to get used to because it’s a big city and it’s a city that lives and breathes the game, so therefore it is all around you and you have to get used to that.”