NEW Saints striker Peter Crouch was the subject of some booing from his own fans when he made his St Mary's bow against Chievo.

The 6ft 8in signing from Aston Villa was jeered by small sections of the crowd, presumably because of his Pompey connections, when he came on as a second-half substitute.

And a Saints fan who told a group of people booing Crouch to shut up was accused of being a Pompey fan!

Peter Jolliffe, from the Isle of Wight, said: "I want to vent my disgust at the few hundred Saints fans who booed Peter Crouch when he came on and at times when he got near goal.

"This disgraceful welcome for an honest player making his debut at St Mary's was almost unbelievable.

"Yes, he played for Pompey, but that was a few years back.

"He has been at Villa and Norwich since.

"People have a right to boo if a player plays badly over a period of time or doesn't put in the effort, but Crouch's treatment at the hands of a sizeable minority was totally out of order.

"When I dared to question the sense of booing our own player, I was accused of being a Pompey fan."

Jolliffe added: "I am sure these so-called fans won't mind if he comes off the bench and scores the winner at Villa next week.

"I felt ashamed to be a Saints fan on Saturday, so for heaven's sake give the lad a chance."

Beautiful South fanzine editor Daren Wheeler is also calling on the boo-boys to lay off the £2m striker.

"I don't care if he had come straight from Pompey - when he signs for Saints he's one of our players and should never be booed.

"You can't excuse that sort of behaviour.

"It was the same when a few idiots booed Neil McCann last season. You can't expect to boo someone and then expect them to play fantastically well.

"By all means slag someone off down the pub if they're not playing well - but don't boo them."