SaintDonkey

I would defend the football we saw at the start of the season, those first half a dozen games we saw good entertaining attacking football. However football is a results game and when the results didn't come the youngsters performance dipped but not before the crowds did. Just 15k turned up to watch the Blackpool game, and this was after probably our best performance of the season against Birmingham in the cup. So people stopped coming way before the football got bad. Arguably they stopped coming before even the results got bad. It would be nice to try and argue that people were boycotting Lowe but that doesn't seem to be the case, he's gone and despite £15 tickets, kids for a quid and the desperate straights the club finds itself in we haven't sold out yet. We might get a full house for Burnley - but it looks like that will only happen if we beat Wednesday and are still in the hunt. It will be papering over the cracks at most. Aside from the core 15k who I applaud (I'm not one of them) we're **** fans

I have a niggling fear that a fair proportion of the fabled 34 interested parties are only interested in assets like Staplewood and Jackson's farm and not in SFC. We could easily see Saints being the left overs that noone wants with no ground and training facilities.

So lose against Wednesday and Saints go bust before the end of the season because of poor ticket sales for the Burnley match Come on folks pull your fingers out and buy those tickets come what may!

Anyone have an idea of how many are sold now? I'm guessing from the plea on the OS that sales are 'disappointing'

Isn't Exeter City still owned by the supporters trust?

Well the other rich James I can find are James Caan (of Dragon's Den) and James Packer (son of Kerry Packer). I suspect Huffton would have mentioned if the 'James' was asian or Australian [edit] Ah now I've found the handy "Sunday Times guide to rich people called James" http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_search/?l=17&list_name=Rich+List+2008&advsearch=1&t=1&n=james&k=&a=&r=&g=&i=&new=&x=30&y=10 Take your pick!

Okay rich person called James... local connections... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Benamor worth 77 million, born in Bournemouth...

which ones are they?

Central defender (according to wiipedia) - been virtually ever present this season so good news

Saints hoped their new strips for the 2009-10 season would help McGoldrick to lose his marker more often

It does seem bizarre that they're giving season ticket holders a full week before they allow anyone else to purchase tickets. I don't know what the deadline for requesting the second allocation is. But surely this means that if take up by the season ticket holders is poor or if they just leave it until after the Sheffield Wednesday game before making up their minds, then we'll miss the deadline? Surely we're missing a trick here. Perhaps the ticket office could take pre-orders from members and people on the database (oh why did I let my membership lapse)?

I reckon it'll be Reading vs Birmingham. Reading needing a win to be in the play offs, Brum needing a win for automatic promotion. After that though it's less clear, quite possibly ours if the issue isn't resolved by then.

He was the player wheeled out in front of the corporates yesterday. Said he was disappointed not to be in the squadbut it was "the gaffer's decision". He reckoned that with all the recovery work he was the fittest now of all the time he had been at the Saints. I'd like to see him back on that left wing - especially with Surman off the boil in recent games.

Reading's form - or lack of it - is looking critical to our run in. If they beat Barnsley and Derby they'll be secure in the play offs by the time they face Norwich. So ideally we need them to beat Barnsley, but then screw up against Derby so they need a win against Norwich. On the other hand we'd like Burnley to be safe in a play off place by the time we play the, but that only happens if they beat Sheffield United and Swansea and Preston both lose. However that would mean that Reading wouldn't need a win again Norwich. So to get to a laboured point. Which is prefereable - a motivated Reading side needing a win against Norwich? Or a demotivated Burnley coasting against us? I'd probably go for a demotivated Burnley myself - safe in a play off position - since Reading are looking so hopeless at the minute I reckon Norwich will beat then at Carrow Road whatever.

Of course with Turner and Earnshaw out it just makes it more likely we'll be hit by the ghosts of Saints past, in the form of Paul Smith and Dexter Blackstock come the last day of the season.

I think it's disgraceful what the administrators have done to Luton. However my sympathy is tempered by the number of Luton fans on 606 last night who were saying that Saints should be hit by as harsh a penalty as they were.

Not really, unless you're saying that seeing Man U play is more of a draw than saving Saints so they can actually exist next season! If that is what you're saying then you're just self labeling as a complete plastic I'm afraid. Your money's still welcome though

Sorry to burst your bubble but the best comparason is the Forest game. Same price as the Charlton game - differences being that Lowe had gone, the side were playing better in the run up to the Charlton game and the fans knew a big turn out was needed to keep Saints alive. Nottingham Forest - 26,580 Charlton Athletic - 27,228 I make that a maximum 648 fans staying away because of Lowe - less probably since I'd guess that most of them were responding to call to save Southampton. In fact that's what it's all about now. We need to save our club, that means going to the matches, buying stuff in the club shop ad generally throwing whatever we can spare at Soutampton. COYR

I shall be lambasted for being a Lowe luvie for saying this but isn't it a matter of public record that what went wrong was that Lowe and Cowan were ousted and spending spiralled out of control under the stewardship of those who followed?

whisper it very quietly but just maybe all the fans weren't just staying away because of lowe. and maybe, just maybe, we should be putting a bit of the blame against the plastic stay away fans...

Right now I'd accept a take over by Osama Bin Laden if it guaranteed Saints survival! Actually come to think of it Bin Laden would be perfect - he's supposed to be worth a few bob or to and he's unlikely to interfere in team affairs from his cave. Although some people might have a few issues with the half time entertainment...

Okay obsessing about this as I wind down before the long weekend I thought I'd see what would happen based purely on the form tables. Looking at the home and way sides form over the last 5 games. If one side is more than 2 places in the table above the other then they win, within 2 places a draw. E.g. Plymouth lose at home to Coventry because Plymouth are 20th in the home form table and Coventry are 15th in the away form table. PLYMOUTH: Coventry (H) Lose; Birmingham (A) Lose; Doncaster (H) Lose; QPR (A) Draw; BARNSLEY(H) Draw. 2 points BARNSLEY: Watford (A) Lose; Swansea (H) Win; Reading (A) Win; Coventry (A) Lose; Wolves (H) Lose; PLYMOUTH (A) Draw. 7 points NORWICH: Swansea (A) L ; Watford (H) L; Ipswich (A) L; Reading (H) L; CHARLTON(A) D. 1 point NOTT'M FOREST: Bristol City (H) D; Sheff United (A) L; Coventry (H) L; Blackpool (A) D; SAINTS (H) L. 2 points SAINTS: Wolves (A) Lose; Crystal Palace (H) Win; Sheff Wed (A) Win; Burnley (H) Lose; FOREST (A) Win. 9 points CHARLTON: Birmingham (H) Draw; Coventry (A) Draw; Blackpool (H) Lose; Cardiff (H) Draw; Derby (A) Draw; NORWICH (H) Draw. 5 points So the final table would be: 20 Barnsley 52 23 Southampton 50 19 Plymouth 48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 Norwich 44 22 Nottm Forest 44 24 Charlton 37 So taking a totally dispassionate measurement Saints survive! Honestly when I started this exercise I had no idea how it would turn out (in fact in my head I had Saints and Barnsley joining Charlton in League 1). Obviously this would make the last game of the season very interesting since Forest would need to beat Southampton to end up with the same number of points - and how much they beat us by would determine who went down. I know it's all meaningless but it's cheered me up a bit!

No Alps I think you'll find the reason so many argued against administration was this: There's lots of talk of interested parties but so far this is just talk - and remember being an 'interested party' in SLH doesn't necessarily mean you're interested in Southampton Football club. Both Staplewood and the fabled Jackson's farm might look like a long term investment to a property dealer, with Saints being just an annoying unwanted extra to be wound down.

Get over yourself! I realise that for some of you coming on here day after day creating anti Lowe threads is your reason for living, but that's over, gone, past, finito. I swear when he came back last time the ones who were happiest were the obsessive Lowe haters because it gave them something to post about again. The guy is out there admitting he was at least partially to blame for the state Saints are in now and asking the world not to let Saints die. Do you have some problem with that message? Get a grip and get behind the Saints. At the moment Lowe is lloking like more than a fan than you are.

And well done Euell - two players who've got a hell of a lot of stick from certain fans but are still fighting for Saints survival. Just wish Jason would spend more time in shooting practise!