SW11_Saint

Well said Alehouse - Game, Set and Match!!

The point about 'wasted potential' is on-point. My wife, who is not from the area at all, had a walk down the waterfront from Ocean Village to Mayflower park the other day, and commented on "how much more could be done to attract tourists" - around the port history, Titanic etc. She also pointed out (for those literary types!) that Jane Austen lived for some time in Southampton and the surrounding area - Bath bases much of it's tourism on the Austen connection, but it was the first I had ever heard that she lived here (and I am a born and bred Sotonian!). So it's not all doom and gloom from me - I always think, as I drive down the Avenue towards SMS, what a beautiful City it is (well, in parts!), certainly the parks and gardens are wonderful. Also of course the Rose Bowl is a cracking ground, as is SMS. In fact, watching South Today tonight the sports bulletin had an OB from Fratton, and then showed SMS when mentioning Saints - no comparison, and it really emphasised who the bigger club is - just need to get through these tough tough times!!

Has there every been a bigger contrast in the fortunes of the two main south coast clubs? On the day one announces a new billionairre owner, the other admits that it cannot afford to pay it's staff or players. One looking forward to the new season in the Premiership with a potentially huge transfer budget, and the other starting life in League 1 for the first time in 50 years, on -10 points, albeit with new owners (we hope!). Not sure I've ever felt so depressed about the state of our club, and so envious of the blue few down the road. Let's hope though that we are starting on the road to recovery and will one day take our rightful place again as the premiere side in the South (and that their plans to tits up naturally!). It did get me wondering about the wider context though. As someone who has lived outside the area for some time now it does seem to me that Portsmouth as a City seems to have a better focus on development - in terms of attracting commerce, global events, and developing tourist attractions. The Spinnaker Tower seems to pull in crowds, and gives the City an identifiable landmark, and I only hear good things about Gunwharf Quay and Port Solent (compare and contrast to "Ocean Village"!), and they've also taken notable and long-standing industry from Southampton (the cross-channel ferry business, Vospers etc.). All I have heard recently from Southampton in terms of development is about the "new Ikea". It might be chicken and egg - has Premiership football woken up the City to it's potential, or are their council just more forward thinking that ours? Am I being unfair to my home town, and does Southampton actually have more to offer than seems to be the case? It all does seem sadly reflected in the state of our clubs - while Peter Storrie was clearly off his @rse looking for investment, our latest board never made a mention of looking for investment - it was all about downsizing. And here we are...

I think he'd do a good job for them and he clearly isn't going to want to play in League 1 at this stage of his career, so a good move I'd say for both parties.

Admins - can we award a "Stupid Thread/Post of the week" award please? Honestly, what a waste of everyone's time. PS I've also thought why do we need "kits" - why can't our players just dress in vest and pants...?

Perhaps he's issuing his bill? Let's hope it is - for the RIGHT reasons!

Sounds fantastic, as long as they don't move us to Dublin - "Dublin Saints" a la "Dublin Dons" that was mooted a few years ago... Great news. Hope it comes off. Get that green away kit in too...

Possibly, he is Celtic mad. Tony Mowbray may be a decent outside bet - half decent managerial credentials, ex-Celtic player, and has managed in Scotland before. Also, it'll be a nice change from "boing-boing-ing" between the Prem and CCC with WBA...

Still, better than 'anyone including Lowe'!!!

Yes, but if they get this rumoured injection of £200m, and they want him, then he has the potential to take the club onto the 'next level'. I may be wrong, but all of the rumours currently seem to point to him going there. We'll see. Sadly, we can safely say he won't be making a return to Saints!

We can only hope - could Gavyn be the White Knight we need...? Would be perfect, but he probably has far too much sense to get too heavily involved in football.

Actually, wouldn't surprise me at all if Pompey aren't after his services - a few will be, but I reckon Sunderland will win out. Fits with their wish for a "bigger name" and can see him and Quinn getting on. Good luck to him, oh those were the days...

I wish... he's on his way to Sunderland. Put your mortgage on it...

Out of nowhere, the shop-keeper appeared...

Now you're starting to sound like the frenchman on the castle in Monty Python & the Holy Grail - "I farrtt in yeur generale directsion..". Time for a lie down I think GM, you've started an argumentative, and rather silly, thread, and seem to have worked yourself up into a right old tizzy... Toodle pip!

Now now GM, try to keep it civil - difficult for you I know - but please try.

In a word - NO. The fan base is there, the potential is there, we just need an ambitious owner, with a reasonable business head, to match that potential (something we have never had at the club in the past). PS Isn't it time you gave up on the "it's all the fans fault" theme GM?, all getting a bit tiresome... and no one bar you and a couple of others (19C, Jonah etc.) believe it. PPS I believe GD was in fact one of those fans who 'boycotted' during the latest catastrophic Lowe tenure...

Why haven't we got any super rich fans like Brighton who fancy getting involved? Come on, WHY...

The only thing I'm thinking is 'you stupid ****'!

What a ***t. Sounds like the stories about his "problem" may be true then. Hopefully no one was hurt and this might make him sort himself out.

All sounds a bit Mickey Mouse to me...

Like it - and did Eurovision one year... think they replaced Canute with some bird though...

Yeah, got that - but it's like King Canute and those waves...

Dear Rev. Tone, Thanks for the sermon, very nice. Although I agree that the most important thing now is to focus on the future and sealing a deal for the club, I think it is naive, to say the least, to expect people on an Internet message board - especially in the absence of any concrete information on what the future holds - to NOT get into conversations about "how we got here", or moreover, to start to wonder "why we got here?" and "who got us here?". I for one am still very f*cked off, very very f*cked off in fact, that we're in this position at all. Now, you might think that childish, useless or just a waste of my own time, but it still doesn't stop me being f*cked off, very very f*cked off in fact (have I already said that?), at our predicament. I wonder if those who were lucky enough to survive the Titanic thought - "Blimey, that was close! - oh well, let's just row back and get on with our lives...". Or I wonder if they thought "F*ck! Why did that happen?". Likewise, should everyone post WWII, have packed up their old kit bags, shrugged their shoulders, and got on with life without asking a few questions of Adolf's boys? ("Ere Tommy, who was behind all that Nazi nonsense?", "Aw, what difference does it make Ernie, let's 'av a pint".). My (ridiculously laboured) point being that you cannot expect people to go through a traumatic experience and expect them not to ask questions about how it came about, or who was involved in getting us there, who had accountability etc. and, imo, nor should you - it's not healthy. You also cannot expect people to contain these 'discussion' to one or two posts - since they're germaine to pretty much everything going on at the club right now and just, well, seep out. So, ignore those of us who might dare to throw in a name or two when the red mist descends and just get on with whatever you want to talk about. Perhaps there will be a time for "truth & reconciliation" in the future, but I gotta tell you - I'm not ready for it yet... Yours, nowhere near as holy as thou, SW11