SW11_Saint

Surely you mean 10 years?

Ahem... wakey wakey... the "Dutch way" has already failed, please pay attention! The fact we now have a Dutch manager finally playing a very english formation, using our more experienced players as the spine and blending in the youngsters, shouldn't be confused with us playing "the Dutch way" with kids. Wotte has reverted to a much more sensible approach in this league - FINALLY someone has woken up to this! Please don't use the "financial mismanagement" smokescreen either - incidentally started by our relegation under Lowe - mere, anti-Crouch propoganda that doesn't wash I'm afraid. Crouch is just as culpable as Lowe is, no more, no less. Why are you so obsessed with Saejis? - is it just because it's the one signing that has worked? That's great, but what about all of the others who have come and gone this season? No mention of them? As for signing Dean Windass - if I thought he's score a dozen goals between now and the end of the season, yes I'd sign him in a heartbeat! But then perhaps that's where we differ - I'd be prepared to make some short-term decisons to keep us up, than stick to my (misguided) principals and watch us go down. Thank God JP quit when he did otherwise I have no doubt that Lowe would still be persisting with his ridiculous experiment. Mind, you'd be happy...

Ridiculous because he was immense in the run in last season? Don't quite follow? Would it also be rude to point out that we won the game he chose not to play in, and we stayed up? You're starting to embarrass yourself now 19 - ranting and raving about anything/everything Pearson ever did, and now resorting to personal attacks on posters. Pearson is a decent hard working manager - and he kept us up - get over it. Other people will have different opinions to you too - and many will be able to put their points more eloquent and logically. You need to get over that too and try to keep to making your points without resorting to personal insults, otherwise you just come across as somewhat immature...

Lordy lordy lordy... what colour is the sky on Planet Nineteen? Or perhaps it's a typo and you just mean IoW? Even that would be a stretch to believe though...!

I agree, but Saints being Saints, and our major shareholder being our major shareholders, it would be the best way. Perhaps the only way. I just can't see Lowe, Wilde, Crouch all agreeing on one person to take this role, particularly not Lowe as he see's this as his role exclusively. Whatever happened to Mark Palios? He was very well thought of at the FA, before getting involved in that office nookie...

I think phrases like "playing them off the park" and "awesome" are a bit over the top. What I saw in those early games was some considerable promise, but obvious frailties too. It was fairly clear that as the season wore on that we were going to start getting steam rollered if we persisted in that vein. The QPR away game was to my mind a microcosm of our season under JP - some of the neatest, prettiest football you'll see, but also some real naivety (notably Lancashire in that game), and lack of experience /nous - hence we end up losing, somewhat flatteringly for them, 4-1.

True LOL, 10 years is probably a little quick to expect him to pick it all up!

Of course we would have been - pretty much anything would have been preferable to the situation we are in now, but investment, sensible leadership and decent young manager like Coleman, and after a worrying finish last year like us, now sitting comfortably in mid-table and building sensibly. Yes please. Coleman was talking the other day on R5L about how good it was having a supportive Chairman, who also knew the game.

I think we got the answer to that, didn't we!

Erm, different team manager, different coaches, different team blend, different tactics, use of previously discarded loanees... Guess what - different results! To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.

I remember some discussion on the boards, but nothing more than that - certainly nothing you could describe as a "fan backlash"?!! In fairness, from the rumours I had heard at the time I thought they were going to appoint the Dutchies, and I remember being elated that they'd instead gone for Burley (who was just off the back of his incredible start with Hearts). Does seem incredibly bad form by our board "making offers" to both candidates - surely you decide who you want, act very swiftly, and if that doesn't pan out you immediately go for your #2 choice? (as Wotte correctly points out). Perhaps this hints at Lowe overstepping the mark and 'making promises' he wasn't able to follow through on due to a split boardroom. Although he also hints that Lowe was complicit in the Burley decision "Rupert told me his motivation...". Some of the remarks on Lowe do worry me too - although not sure why, we should know him by now! - for instance, seeing the Acadaemy Director role as "more responsible" (presumably than Team manager?). I'm not disputing that the production of young players is important, but at any football club THE most important person has to be the Team Manager. That Lowe seemingly doesn't understand this is no real surprise, but still very worrying. Wonder if Sir Alex has to go report into the United Academy Director each week...??!?

I don't think it's got anything to do with "hindsight" - rather common sense, and having a modicum of knowledge of the CC Championship. Sadly, and rather incredibly, our board seem to have neither!! You'd hope that its abject failure will have taught them a lesson, but with Lowe, I suspect not (in fact, given how deluded he is, it wouldn't surprise me if he saw what Wotte is doing now as some form of justification - even though it's almost the polar opposite of what Lowe originally intended!).

I think you've stumbled across Lowe's latest 'strategy' there...

Thank God someone has finally explained to 19C what proper "succession planning" is!!! Loved his use of the phrase "you've risked it all" - I can think of no better description of Lowe's M.O. !

Been thinking about this - how to show our total support for the team during the run-in, yet also get the point across to the board that we have had enough? What about a concerted effort to get everyone out to every remaining home game - I'm talking about getting our gates up to c.25k+ for every game left (if we can get to 30k so much the better). We can publicise this via local media so that the board understand it is a clear show of support to the team (and a reminder of the potential of SFC IF you get it right) and is in effect a positive protest against their running of the club. We could even do something around the red cards etc. as the board take their seats for the second half... Worth a thought?

Rick Parry is looking for work...

All of the above I suspect. Actually, these resemble some of our recent AGM's and/or board meetings... PS that second South Korea pic puts me in mind of a Madness album cover, but can't remember which one...

You took the words, and the haslet, out of my mouth...!

I'll resist the temptation for further comparison...

If we scrape through this year, then gates next year depend on what is being offered - a bit of ambition and the ability to move forward. I can't see that happening under Lowe, certainly not where he continues to jump into ill thought out "strategies" that have us moving backwards. His future will ultimately be decided by the shareholders - and his tenure is effectively reliant on the less than stable Wilde. I can see change happening, but let's get this season over with the deal with the problem. PS shouldn't you be getting back to more pressing issues, like 'pork haslet'??

Shareholders, season-ticket holders, fans/customers, rather than "powerless individuals". Most Chairman/CEO's would take their duty of care for these stakeholders seriously, but you're probably right about Lowe, given what we've experienced from him, he probably does hold us in total disdain. More fool him. Quack Quack!

Post of the week Um, in my humble opinion. Reading through this thread it still amazes me that some see Wotte's recent success as some form of vindication of Lowe's "strategy" - when it is patently the complete opposite. There is no point me re-listing the reasons for this as you've done that perfectly clearly. I will however say well done to Wotte - he has implemented some simple, yet effective changes (changes most of us having been crying out for all season!), but in fairness to him has clearly got the players onside and has instilled some confidence and passion in them. I wasn't happy with his appointment as I saw it as potentially "more of the same" (and we shouldn't totally ignore the fact that he was heavily involved in the earlier 2/3's of our season!), but since his original PR gaffe, he has for the most part said and done the right things. In truth I wasn't awfully happy about Pearson's appointment at the time either, but after an initial bout of whinging (about a days worth) decided to buckle down and just support him and his efforts. I will do the same with Wotte, as all other true fans will. If he pulls it off more power to him, he will deserve all the credit due to him (as did NP who achieved the same last year). If Wotte's efforts ultimately end up being fruitless, I won't blame him personally - he will have given it a fair crack from a desperate starting point (ignoring for a moment his role as JP's #2). Whatever the ultimate result this year, our board still need to come under very serious scrutiny for their role in this disaster of a season. The ridiculous gamble on the new coaching setup, when we already had a more than reasonable team in situ, had us plummeting towards League 1. They are very fortunate that JP finally did the honourable thing, that they were unable to offload Saga for the rest of the season, and that Wotte has, thus far, done the right things. This may get them out of jail this season (we hope!) but they won't just be judged on the final weeks of the season alone...

And wouldn't it be nice to be "doing well" - lest we all forget, we are still, despite 3 terrific wins, in the relegation places and facing the toughest relegation fight in our history. The work Wotte does in no way impacts the fans feelings about Lowe. It is his flawed 'strategy' that has got us into the godawful mess. Now Wotte has done what most fans have been crying out for (building on what Pearson started last year) - playing a sensible formation, mixing an experience spine with some younger players, and giving the players some belief. Fair play to Wotte (for now) but let's not see this as some sort of boardroom masterplan - Plan A died on it's arse and Lowe/Wilde etc. are accountable for that. Re. Lowe becoming invisible - on that we can agree, preferably permanently!

Only Le Tissier, Channon, Paine and Bates would qualify as "Sains legends" imo. Too many iconts to mention but Steele, Osgood, Stokes, Davies, Williams, Ball, Keegan, Moran, Armstrong, Shilton, Golac, McMenemy would be among them. Oh, and of course Ali Dia!