CB Fry

If there is one thing you can rely on on this forum, it's people just slinging any old accusation at Lowe even if it has no basis in reality whatsoever. So here's someone saying Lowe went out of his way to court popularity and curry favour. Yeah, he always went for the popular option old Rupert, didn't he? Always trying to be everyone's friend, wasn't he? Christ. Slag him off for what he did wrong, there is plenty to go on, so why on earth to people have to make stuff up?

That would be the "as it stands" table, which updates as goals go in.

The gelling thing is just an excuse that the grizzling "positive" people use to make out we are the hardest done by club in Britain, and that every other club have it easy. The best example was in Burley's play off season. Our stuttering start was attributed to "gelling" and oh we don't stand a chance we've signed all these players they take months to gel etc etc we're so hard done by. Derby under Billy Davies barely signed anyone in that summer. But he did sign a swath of new players that January, and Saints didn't. And what did the grizzlers come back with.....? Oh why didn't we strengthen in January, Davies has signed lots of players to refresh the squad, we haven't added anyone, we're so hard done by. Gelling didn't seem to be quite the same issue when it's another club signing players. If we sign players, the whingers moan about gelling. If another club signs players, the whingers moan about other teams strengthening. It's the so called "positive" posters on this forum who just see Saints as Britains most hard done by club regardless of our circumstance. They're still at it, jealously looking on at the tremendous advantages the likes of Swindon and Millwall have over us and how we don't stand a chance against them and their uninterupted pre-season and squads put together of free transfers.

Thank god we've got positive people like you, eh? So, we're no bigger than Swindon and Millwall and all our players our manager has signed aren't good enough. And the thousands turning up for every match are wasting their time because it all means squat. We are a bigger football club than Swindon and Millwall. Learn to deal with it because we are. What a barrell of laughs you are. Stay positive, won't you

Well, we are in League One.

Don't worry. There will be an excuse next season. The "we had no pre season" thing is being flogged to death because the so-called positive people have to have something that makes us out to be Britains most hard done by team. We're owned by a billionaire, have the biggest backroom team in the lower leagues, buying players above our station left right and centre, some of the biggest attendances in the country, we've got two of the top scorers in the division playing for us. But we had no pre season so we don't stand a chance against the footballing megagiants like Swindon and Millwall - third tier stalwarts with teams cobbled together of frees, loans and kids playing infront of 10,000 or fewer. Yeah, Swindon and Millwall - they got it easy because they had a pre season. If only doomed Saints could get it all on a plate like them. Saints are so hard done by. And these people call themselves the positive posters - no preseason, we're doomed.

Nailed on for the play offs now.

They all count.

Not great listening. However, I imagine Stockport had a full and uninterrupted pre-season meaning we don't stand a chance.

Alan Pardew. I'm delighted that TDD and myself are shoulder to shoulder with the manager of our football club. You lot of defeatist p i sswipes can carry on making out that this team is no better than mid table, but our manager wants more than you. And he's right, and you lot are wrong.

The arrival of ML was a miracle. But what has happened on the pitch is not. It's good, fine, okay, but not a miracle by any means. There are plenty of teams with nowhere near the resources we have who are sitting pretty in the League one play off zone. We're going in the right direction but there has been no miracles, except maybe spending £1.5m on a CCC centre back and all the other transfer deals that the likes of Swindon, Colchester and Millwall could only dream of.

The Echo has a lot of content on Saints that isn't on their website and isn't anywhere else. Not denying the dinosaur bit though. The local press is a dying beast everywhere. Anyone that reads my posts here know I will always support the press against lazy sniping on these forums but today's Echo article is unhelpful and petty. The two parties should be looking for a resolution as both parties need each other as both are key parts of the community. The Echo aren't helping anyone now with this dopey new stance.

And neither is anyone on this forum. Stop being a big old fanny and desperately trying to make this a "you want the manager sacked" debate so you can wheel out your arse-achingly boring "what about Lawrie Mac" horseshi t. TDD and me and others state we should be winning more, you and your lot wet your pants and pretend we want the manager sacked. And the manager comes out and says.....we should be winning more. We should be winning more. I'm shoulder to shoulder with Pardew. You're mincing about telling Pardew he shouldn't get ideas above his station like beating Brentford. If I was Pardew hearing you say that I'd tell you where to get off. Shoulder to shoulder with Pardew. We should be winning more. How about you supporting the manager too?

Is he dressed as Sammy Saint?

It is staggering that some decide Leeds on minus fifteen in the middle of their gigantic Ken Bates s h it-storm had more things in their favour than we did. On minus ten (five points less). And owned by a gazillionaire.

Quite. Grumbling about current form is allowed and doesn't need to be sledghammered with the usual "how dare you demand the head of the manager what-about-Lawrie-Mac-and-Ferguson-and-blah-blah-kids-these-days-blah-blah". We don't want to sack the manager. Get over it.

But Pre-season is the most precious commodity in the whole of football. Or basically, find something Saints didn't have and flog it to death. Anything to make out how hard done by we are more than any other club. If only Pardew had had the pre season that Boothroyd and Paul Lambert had. Or the millions and millions to spend that Swindon and Millwall have. Or the gigantic fanbase that MK Dons have. Next season we'll have our pre-season, but there will be something else for the whiners to latch on to. Whatever happens to us and whatever we get to some Southampton FC are always the most hard-done-by club in British Football and we don't ever stand a chance of acheiving anything because we battle impossible odds and everyone else has it easy.

Trust me, you wouldn't. I'm sure there would be some other excuse. Like how much easier Leeds United had it when they were minus fifteen as others are saying.

And started the season 15 points down, not ten. But yeah, they had it really, really easy compared to us. Easy.

Signing the best two available strikers in the division and a £1.5m centre back from the league above suggests an expectation in my book. It's hilarious thinking back to our Prem days and the non stop belly-aching about if only we'd "invested in the team" and signed this player or that player. Because when spending big is a reality no-one wants us to push on at all, and we're all happy to scrape clear of relegation with a multi-multi million pound squad. Because it seems we need a multi million pound squad just to compete with Brentford and didn't we do well?. But Swindon don't need a multi million squad. And neither do Colchester. Or Millwall. And they're all in the play-offs. Funny how money guarantees success only when it isn't spent in the world of "if only". As soon as it is spent some fans think we just plod along as we did before. It's odd.

The rebuilding season bit for a start. The aim this season was and is the play offs.

You've ruined SOG's evening. He was about to launch into it.

Who is insinuating that then? Cortese and Pardew are trying to get into the play offs this season. I know people on here try and pretend they aren't, but they are. But to achieve it we really need to win lots of games, and games like Brentford away is the type of game we need to win. Can't anyone say "this is putting us off-track" without dopey old women ranting about "mongs insinuating Pardew is doing a sh*t job". Get over it. We can moan about falling behind without demanding the manager be sacked. Get off your high horse. Go on, tell us how long Alex Ferguson was given. Go on. Give us that lecture. We've never heard it before.

Quite. If we were skint SOG would be lecturing left right and centre about how impossible it is for us and how we could never dream of competing with teams with more resources. But then he is always looking to have it both ways.

Didn't stop you squinneying like a bit ch when Georgie boy had fewer resources in his second season, though. Funny in your world not having resources is a massive handicap and oh how can we ever compete but having loads of money makes no difference on the pitch at all.