CB Fry

Pretty obvious this was staged by the government, and all the participants are actors. Pap is busy at the moment so thought I'd start the ball (t)rolling.

You clearly haven't been a Saints fan for thirty years. I haven't either but I can remember... Chris Nicholl's 424 ZDS Cup Final Alan Ball's reign Everything MLT ever did Several great escapes Dellhurst park Ekelund, Berkovic, Pahars, Beattie Twelfth under Dave Jones Beating Man U three seasons in a row Moving to SMS Eighth under Strachan FA Cup final Comprehensive one match European tour Play off semi heartbreak Great escape (Championship edition) Walcott, Bale, Alex O-C, Bridge etc and on to the Liebherr era. Others might mention the fact we used to challenge for the frigging league title. How tedious.

"I want to be back in the Champions League with Southampton and I believe it is not unreal." Why do people get tetchy when the papers report our top four ambitions, when "shoot for the moon"-based horsesh it is on this forum seven days a week?

That's your new material, is it? Oh, my aching sides.

But they didn't. Not sure we were ever above them all season. And five points adrift is plenty. As many as we were to Wigan.

....and led Bolton to eighth, sixth, eighth, seventh in four straight seasons. Phenomenal. Can you imagine the response if MP did that? Even two seasons at eighth would have half this forum pulling down the Bates statue and replacing it with a solid gold Cortese. Big Sam gets results. He left us for dust this year, anyway.

I would suggest we have already outspent WBA and Swansea in one season back up. I honestly don't get where they have needed "investment" that we couldn't match. In theory Saints could finish mid table and be sustainable. Lowe (calm down everyone) achieved it for several seasons, even turning a small profit, and that was in an era of lower TV money. It can be done. Probably won't get you top four, but you could compete.

Both bigger than we are, so stands to reason they would be on TV more.

So we've "progressed" and "adapted" from scoring goals and letting in loads to tightening up, but scoring hardly any goals. Neither route resulted in a successful start or finish to the season.

Pretty despicable to issue those kind of veiled threats through the press. Isn't it, everyone?

Wayne Rooney said he wanted to leave Man U because he wasn't playing and not scoring as many goals/helping the team to success. So not just self interest either. Just like Nicola.

Errr - you do realise the entire "Cortese to quit" story was based on Nicola briefing selected members of the press with "snippets" of "info"? None of us needed to know the "ins and outs" of that situation. We found out because Cortese spoke to the press "behind the back of" the owners. "Sacking on the spot" offence is it? Really?

No, it isn't. What Nicola did was not great PR, it was tactical briefing of the media for his own (and the clubs) ends. Several days of fan uncertainty is not great PR. It's sh it PR to acheive another end result. Really don't agree about the unity in the fanbase thing. I don't remember any disunity anyway - fans already chant his name every match. He's used the press very well but he hasn't played the PR card well. Unless you want all future player contract negotiations played out in public ( "I will go as the club don't match my ambitions" etc etc) then if I were you I wouldn't wish for much more "great PR" like this.

In my monochrome world, our chairman uses tactical press briefing to seed a story to strenghten his position and secure long term support (and we presume financial backing) from the clubs owners. Everyone's a winner. In your multicoloured world our chairman is a bumbling oaf allowing himself to be misquoted, letting a false story run unchallenged for few days, upsetting a lot of fans who don't want him to go. And allowing his own staff to perpetuate this pack of lies with on the record quotes, further panicking some fans. Even at the end this bumbling oaf of a chairman doesn't ask for an apology or attempt to rubbish the story. I think I'll stick to monochrome. Nicola's played an effing blinder. Shame you can't see it.

This is like a Disney production meeting. Welcome to fairytale land. If any of that was remotely true why on earth did MP need to speak out about him going if NC went? If it was made up by a journo, then NC would have told MP just that and no comments would be required. And what we have seen in NC's "tenure" is plenty of put downs to journalists when they have been wrong, and proven wrong. If anything it's a hallmark of how NC works. No such response this time round. I wonder why?

Yesterday's announcement was great news. No one is denying that (maybe one or two mentalists). What some are saying is the days of uncertainty was "brilliant PR" on its own. ...meanwhile others are claiming that the previously publicity averse Leibherr family now decided to play "let's-pretend" games with a jolly tale that they have fallen out with the chief executive, and then they made up, but they were all in on it all along. Not entirely sure why on earth they would bother but thats the theory. And an awfully funny one it is at that. Sorry, not funny. Plausible. Like, really plausible.

It's not in the slightest bit plausible. This isn't the World Wrestling Federation. Forum expert earlier in thread making out only one person on the forum subscribed to the "Leibherrs in on it all along" theory. Maybe just a few more than that....

You do realise there are people on here saying that the Leibherrs were "in on it" the whole time and it was all a PR masterplan? In my Morgan example he wasn't not going to sign. The ten days of uncertainty would have been planned by the club as brilliant PR. Ask Katalanic why it is better to have a mediash it storm rather than a simple agreement/announcement. He knows. He's, like, intelligent.

Of course. You have no explanation apart from "Cortese did it so it was brilliant." A simple announcement about future plans with the Leibherrs is nowhere near as good as three days of media bullshi t. Of course not.

I was going to post something similar. We really co cked up Morgan's contract extension. He should have threatened to quit because the club "don't match his ambitions", got his agent on the radio and SSN to hawk him round the Champions League clubs, got a few players to say how terrible it would be if he left, issued a few "come and get me" pleas in The Sun, let it all drag on for about ten days, made sure the topic completely dominated the build up to a key game, issue an ultimatum, and then signed for us anyway. That would have been much better PR for us. Much better PR. After all, whats the point of doing it all behind closed doors? And great to be on the telly loads too. Its the club they remember, not the content.

What was it then? I'll plump up a cushion while you make some sh it up. Fire away.

Has it? A few days of significant fan uncertainty about the future of the chief exec, the manager, and key players. Brilliant PR. Quite, quite brilliant. Yeah, a week ago it was, what, 70% anti-Cortese. Thank god he threatened to walk, and the manager threatened to walk. Obviously that, and that alone, bumped it to 93%. Brilliant PR. Really, no.

Yes, because the last few days have been an absolute PR masterclass. Jesus.

Except, of course, it wasn't made up. It was Cortese briefing his chums in the press, who duly ramped up the fear in the fanbase.

I think you need to put the likely spend bit in bold, mate. Otherwise it doesn't count.