SW11_Saint

Cheers. Oh f**k it - bought two adults, oh well more for the club coffers...

Totally agree. I am no massive Crouch fan, but in my view he is certainly the lesser of the two (three?) evils. Crouch must take his share of the blame for our financial position, but Lowe and Wilde take 100% of the responsibility for the coaching team f*** up, which in turn, had we got it right (i.e. left Pearson in situ) might have eased our financial worries with higher gates etc.

Cheers. Great, yes have just bought 2, and put both in the name of Luker. Great idea, let's hope it gives us a full house.

Can I buy more than one ticket for the "Luker friend" - ie if I buy one in my name, and one in his will they know I want to donate both to the scheme?

If only that punishment could be literal!!

Perhaps he'll triple the amount he put in before? So that'll be 3 x £0 then. £0. It's like an arsonist who has just burnt your house down and killed your family, turning up to the blaze with a cup of water and saying "can I help?".

Yet again comes down to knowing the price of everything, and the value of nothing...

Quite the most ludicrous thing I've heard all year and the falsest of all false economies!! Well done Rupert - seriously, could he have been any more stoopid...

And that was one of Lowe's biggest faults - believing that a manager (sorry *coach*) was just another "cog in the wheel" of the club, no more or less important that the other components. Hence his belief that anyone - Gray, Wigley, Poortvliet, possibly even Lowe himself - could pick up the reigns and succeed, as long as the overall 'system' was right. A fatal flaw that no one on the board ever challenged him on, and we fans just had to put up with - with the obvious results....

Not sure anyone is saying he's "brilliant" - although to be fair to him, I would argue he's done a "brilliant job" in a tough league (as we'll find out next season). I think we're just saying he's competent, sensible, hard-working, a decent enough tactician, seemingly a good motivator, and one who has used the loan system, and his wide contacts, well - just the obvious things you'd look for in a manager. The tragedy is that we had him, and we let him go - and again, this doesn't mean I think he's on par wtih Fergie or Wenger, just a good solid manager who I still believe would have got the squad we have into mid-table this year. Of course, that is conjecture - we'll never know. What we do know is that we are going to relegated, and Leicester are going to be promoted as champions. The thread is about congratulating Nigel Pearson and Leicester, and I do, wholeheartedly. In fact I'd like to see him get to the Premiership next year (I doubt that will happen by the way), I wish the fella only good luck. He seems like a gentleman and a professional. To answer your question, I'd have been mightly p*ssed off had we of gone down, but I do - hand on heart - think that I'd have wanted us to stick with him and he'd have given us a decent chance of promotion. And by the way, I don't think it was all luck last year - it played a massive part, not disputing that - but in the WBA game, I thought he got his subsitutions and tactics exactly right, and that point was vital. Anyway, what's done is done. Well done Nigel.

Did anyone say that? Aah.. those were the days, not many we'd look down our noses at now though eh?, after Lowe's latest couple of dudd's...! I think you're doing your fellow fans a disservice - after 10-15 years of blanket Sky TV coverage, plus MOTD etc. and NP playing for the most part in the top flight, and lifting a cup at Wembley for Sheff Weds (not to mention the "Jimmy Glass incident" at Carlisle) I think most people would know who he was - surprised at his appointment, no doubt, but know who he was... ...and what he looked like! That's not the same as not knowing who he is though, is it? I don't think anyone is claiming to be a "Pearson expert" - just we had some knowledge of him, and I think you have to forgive the frustration at the moment for us "throwing away" a very competent, promising manager who seemed to have turned the corner - for yet another "revolutionary idea" (God, I hope we've seen the last of them - whatever IS wrong with just appointing a sensible and hardworking manager?). Nor mine, but then neither was Branfoot, Jones, Gray, Strachan, Wigley, Sturrock, Redknapp, Poortvliet or Wotte. This is Saints remember... I just knew what I knew about him - his #2 record, this caretaker spells, Carlisle, the England set-up. No revisionism at all, just "facts, and stuff"...

Saved me a job Um, cheers. It really is the laziest of lazy arguments to just point to a figurehead and say "he's got money" (therefore they are successful). As we all know, that doesn't always work - and wasn't even the case with Leicester under Pearson. It's just their way of p*ssing on the success that NP has had this season, and does him (and those who spout it) a great disservice. Also a handy (albeit transparent!) smokescreen to avoid criticisim of Lowe/Wilde for getting rid of him, just when he couild have taken us forward, and appointing our 'revolutionary' dutch duo. Just admit the guy has done very well - through hard work, technical nous, and a good understanding of the English leagues - and he has succeeded.

Believe his exact quote was "he is still unproven" so I'm assuming he meant up to and including his latest success with Leicester (on top of keeping us up last season). I think he's done enough to prove himself, but perhaps I'm being too generous. Give me NP over JP/MW any day though - would you not agree?

Would you really say someone who had managed Carlisle, Saints and Leicester; caretaker managed WBA and Newcastle and been involved with the England set-up "unproven"? Not sure I would - when do you get to be proven?? Does his Leciester side running away with League 1 help at all? PS can you also claim that "no one knew who he was when he was appointed" a 'fact'? (just because you didn't know him, doesn't mean the rest of us didn't...). Or maybe that just the 'stuff' you refer to?

Leicester don't have unlimited funds - they have simply just kept key players, introduced youngsters at the right pace, and brought/loaned appropriately - putting it all down to Mandaric's millions is the laziest of lazy arguments (as well as being bow-locks). It all comes down to Lowe not understanding the difference between "cost" and "value". JP+Wotte cost We're now paying the price. Leicester have benefited from Lowe's stoopidity and short-sightedness. Good luck to them.

I think anyone who knew anything about English football in the last 10-15 years would know who Nigel Pearson was. You might not jump for joy at his appointment, but you'd know who he was - so I'd say about 9.5/10 fans would have known who he was (you presumably being among the 0.5!).

We've had enough jokers involved with running this club over the last 10 years...

I make no apology for congratulating a young english manager. Well done Nigel. Well done Leicester for appointing him - just where do you find this sort of grounded, sensible, knowledgeable, professional (and now successful) manager?

Why is it reasonable to assume that? Both have amassed a personal fortune, Wilde certainly. Interesting angle 19/Guided - trying to pin blame on Crouch now for Administration for not making this loan. Really fella, time to give it up and move on. He's gone. Have a cry if that helps, but he's gone.

He's not, but we all are...!

No, it's Dickie Attenborough my daaahling...

Who's the inscrutable looking chap on the left, inbetween the blonde and the guy in the scarf. My money's on him...

Or like inviting Rupert Lowe back to "help us out" of our current predicament!!

The other underlying issue in all of this is that we've known for years that without significant investment we were royally f00ked. So after Hone, Hoos, Crouch etc. openly kept the search going for new investors, why did Lowe, Wilde and co not do any proactive work in finding new investors? I remember remarking to friends, and posting on here, that Lowe's initial statement on coming back into power made no reference whatsoever to "looking for investment" - it was all about him (surprise surprise!) and his revolutionary new coaching set-up. I got the distinct feeling that he felt his bizarre plan could get us out of trouble, and no doubt he was looking forward to "proving us all wrong". I felt then that the die was cast and it was just a matter of time before the inevitable happened. And it did. So again, all of this could have been avoided if Lowe had put is ego to one side for once and openly stated that the club were still looking for investment, and had delegated someone to follow-up. We are now paying the price for this short-sighted failure.