St Landrew

Ta. And yes, I do get the significance. We just don't want to be herded together as if our opinions are the same as others.

True. I meant to add the description of those behind the goal... but it's not really about my error, is it..?

Read back up the thread. Not everyone.

A well written, personal story of the day this commentator was completely safe while those in the Leppings Lane died. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/stevewilson/2009/04/hillsborough.html

The Unbelieveable Truth - David Mitchell, Graeme Garden, Lucy Porter, Chris Addison, Clive Anderson. Good stuff.

Or perhaps he's just homesick. I seem to remember a famous Saints footballer who turned down a fortune because he wanted to stay where he was happy. Nobody accused him of madness. Indeed, we mostly applauded his free will.

How the hell do you people keep your mundane jobs. Surely your bosses can tell you aren't keen. Or are you superb actors..? As it happens, I may well be near the Island at the weekend. But on a boat.

Just this minute noticed how many stickies there are, myself. Uncanny that I found a post on it. Almost made my head spin. I look into the sticky issue.

But it's generally better than being poor.

And we know why don't we..? It's because Americans can't read subtitles while they watch, and they can't work out who the villian and victim is unless a typecast US actor/actress plays the role. God Bless America - cause they need it badly.

No, I don't think he is. He's just doing a bit of devil's advocate, and suggesting that Lowe's strengths could be used to the club's advantage. But then he knows why this couldn't happen anyway. It's a perfectly reasonable subject for debate, but the opinion is going to be rather one-sided, as Alpine knows.

Inspired by FF's thread, I've thought about this today. Having spent the last years being considered a customer, and not a fan, I've had a taste of what it is like to be a follower of some impersonal club. It's not cosy and clubby at all, like the sailing club I'm a member of. And in the worst incidences, say... if I got into difficulties out in the Solent, there's several people I could call upon before having to get the RNLI out. SFC are already far too big and impersonal for me to worry about whether they should be headed by local people who have barely got the pennies to scrape together to last a couple of seasons, as they limp from one false hope to another. Sure, in an ideal world, Richard Branson would see the error of his ways, give David Frost and Gavyn Davies a ring, and they'd ring their buddies, and we all be carried away on a sea of investment and fast tracked success. Not like QPR. But it isn't going to happen. So if I want to see Saints in the Premiership in the fastest possible time, and for other people to stop saying Southampton who..? Then we'd better have a billionnaire who loves to throw petty cash away because it's so much fun. And anyway, the landscape and weather is so much nicer here than oop north, which is undoubtedly why they are falling over themselves to be first in line.

Well I congratulate you on your patience and typically good timing, Pancake.

Did you just create this thread so that you could head it with that catchy title..? Hope he's in and out quickly. There's god knows how many enquiries to go through.

And that's exactly where the problem exists. You've answered your own question very well.

Now there's a question. The objection to Rupert Lowe is not his business prowess, which is undoubtedly considerable. True, he took his corporate eye off the ball in an amazing fashion, when it was clear that he considered other business acitivities within the club to be equal to success on the pitch. He forgot that all of those things are supported by, and are entirely secondary to football success. Perhaps he never learned that fundamental lesson of football in the first place. Leaving that aside, it's his attitude, man-management and PR that comes across as incredibly poor. Why don't people like Rupert..? Why does he make some people want to vomit..? Why didn't people want to invest so much as a single penny, and yet they're falling over themselves now..? [yes, I know it's cheaper now, but you get the idea] Personally, I could take years of his smooth treacle city charm, if it didn't put off the people that mattered, i.e. the people who bring in the money. If it is true that Southampton Football Cliub has got under his skin, then I pity him. Because it has got under the skin of everyone here, and we're tired from the last years of wrangling, largely caused by the way the club had been set up, which he helped to bring about. He can be rightly proud of his place in the building of St Marys [although I'm sure it will eventually prove to be too small, as I said when it was first completed], which is a fine stadium, and produces plenty of atmosphere when it is full - which it will return to being, given half a chance. He can be rightly proud of his ramping up of the already excellent Youth system into a full academy. I won't go into his errors, as they have been trawled over enough. Rupert was an employee and a tiny shareholder. Employees have a tendency to depart when their effective time is up. Either they retire, or they get the boot, with or without thanks. It's tough. Goodbye Rupert.

I could tell you about my Close Encounter..!

In a sense, I believe I alluded to that by suggesting I could appreciate the time, distances, etc.., although you are indeed saying more than that. These are unalterably manmade measurements on a dynamic universe. The universe appears to behave in a tick-tock way, and yet has no guide, aside from its beginning and continual flux. And if humankind was a flea riding on an elephant's back, we'd be hugely more influential in the universe, and have real presence. How long is it to 4th April 2063..?

I could look at that picture and consider the distances, time, and light speed. The matter, the strong and weak forces, etc.. but I can't divorce myself from an overriding feeling of how unimportant the human race is in terms of the universe. We're here by a random chance in evolution. The conditions became favourable, the tumblers clicked into place, and life got underway on a tiny speck of dirt that is 7/10ths blue on its surface. The odds against me typing this are astronomical [what else would you call it..?]; but flash forward the necessary 4.5 billion years, and suddenly I feel oddly special, instead of unimportant. I suppose, humble is the best descriptive word I can use.

I would like to change my one word summation of this season, after reading on the Crouch & McMenemy thread that the relegation of 2005 was unfortunate. So unfortunate is my new word for this season, seeing as unfortunate is now standing in for disaster.

If I suspend my critical side, and look kindly on Rupert, I can accept that he loves the club. But the football club clearly doesn't love him. It's a sad thing to know this, but Rupert could do SFC an almighty favour by not darkening the directorial doorstep again. Whether you are great with the books, or not, Rupes, just don't do it. As far as buying a ticket for himself and his family, I'd have no problem with that. But no more than that. I'm not vindictive by nature.

How in the hell are they going to be able to look over 34 enquiries with any level of detail..? There's a danger an opportunity could be missed by only having 20 odd days to mull things over.

Don't worry, there's plenty of fans out there with long memories. Lawrie McMenemy may not be the perfect person [who is..?], but he was certainly a heck of a manager for Saints. Remember, he was voted our top manager, over Ted Bates, in our recent Saints Greatest XI poll. He received brickbats in his early days at Saints for relegating the club when he was finding his feet, under Ted's guidance, I might add. He then proceeded to change the club's profile from alsoran to big hitter. Everything he did at the club was aimed to raise its status. Fans nowadays probably don't realise how minnow-like Saints were considered back in the 1960/70's. But within 5 seasons, Saints were becoming a big draw, and backing it up with success, not just show. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been following Saints through that period, and it's something I'll always thank LM for. After his brilliant contribution to the club's history, he could have walked out on Saints half a dozen times for all I care.

100% agreement. Which, incidentally is one of the reasons [there are more significant others] why I have never had SKY, and never will.

One question: Do all these enquiries have to be successfully wound up by the end of the season, and for SFC to be sold, for the club to keep from being docked 10 points..? 31 enquiries are a lot to trawl through.