InvictaSaint

Bears? Hedgehogs? Rupert Lowe?

Hi CB. This is the problem with the internet; subtleties and nuances are hard to convey! The questions I posed are more rhetorical in nature, as I too know the answers which you kindly provided. I agree - the truth is somewhere in between; my point is more that this [the lack of departures] is too convenient a rationale for Lowe apologists or indeed anybody else to lean on. There is no more validity in saying that a lack of departures = Lowe is the saviour of Saints than there is in blaming Lowe for everything that has gone on at SFC since 2004. As ever, the truth is somewhere in the middle....

I find it incredible that the apologists have been waiting for the cease-fire to poke their heads above the parapet and start spouting the usual nonsense. Why were you not demonstrating your confidence that we would not sell anybody whilst the window was actually open? Hmmm.... Let's test your confidence shall we? If things are not as bad as we were all allegedly stating, why did we get rid of Pearson? He was, we were told, "too expensive". Why did we send out our best players on loan? Why did we get in a poor excuse of a head coach? If things were all so rosy, why did we make these drastic cutbacks? You cannot have your cake and eat it; if we are financially fine, there can be no excuse or reason for such poor, potentially disastrous decisions.

At last a voice of reason amongst the tunnel-visioned....

In which case, why the hell did we employ a cheapskate Dutch coach rather than keep on the perfectly able one who was already employed by us?

Hyperbole abounds....it's hardly a myth; it is still a very real possibility. The other question which you ignore is that if our financial predicament is, like Mark Twain's demise, 'greatly exaggerated', why the hell did Lowe employ Poortvliet et al in the first place rather than keep the 'expensive' Pearson? Cake and eat it, and all that....

Dude, what does mine say? Sweet! What does mine say?

Kaiser Soze from The Usual Suspects A demonic hate-filled figure collects together a rag-tag bunch of no-goods and sends them on a mission that he knows will see them meet their end. Sound familiar?

"I freely admit I was verrrry, verrrry drunk"

5 inches and counting here in north Kent. All the local schools are closed and the minor roads unpassable. It is more a question of what is lurking off the east coast at the moment - the whole of Kent is expected to be under a blanket of snow this afternoon and that will spread northwestwards this evening. The Hampshire basin might be able to protect Southampton but as UP says, it may be more a question of public safety (paths, footways, stairs at SMS). Would be surprised if it's on at this rate.

Whilst coming back from 2-1 at home to an in-form, confident Swansea side is no mean achievement, and whilst Saga's goalscoring prowess seems to be returning at just the right time, we CANNOT ignore the bottom line which is one home win all season. That is what will ultimately get us relegated. Two points this week is passable, but we need to be winning home games not drawing them or losing them. Still exceptionally worried, as Lowe should be. He is very much up to his neck in the brown stuff, whatever his olfactory senses may be telling him.

Monday 8pm: Partisan Belgrade

After seeing the crock of sh*t team that Wotte has put out, 4-1 sounds about right to me.

Did you not receive an invitation?

If we don't... "Wotte silly billy" (For all you Dennis Healey fans out there)

Wotte mistake-a to make-a (For all you Allo, Allo fans out there)

I thought he was being quite sympathetic to be honest. His lad often comes to Saints games.

And Raziak has scored for Watford...

Note the use of the phrase towards the end: "for the time being"

Am I the only one seeing this? Look at what the OS statement says: "Mark Wotte has been asked by the Board to take over as Head Coach" (The OS) Where is the ambiguity (or the hope!)? He is a permanent successor. The moving of the deckchairs on the White Star Lines ocean vessel has begun...

"Mark Wotte has been asked by the Board to take over as Head Coach" (The OS) Sounds permanent to me. Yippee.

After guiding a strong reserve side to a 2-1 defeat against mighty Millwall, Wotte certainly seems the ideal man for the job.... :-(

But it says that Wotte has taken over as Head Coach, and nothing about it being temporary. So one joker for another.

Thanks Lordswoodsaints - do you know anymore? If true, then surely significant - perhaps yesterday was the result rather than the catalyst?

Just a thought, but much has been written about the reaction of the players to the substitutions during yesterday's game; Perry's utter confusion and dismay at being taken off, Saints players whistling to the bench for instructions and just shrugging their shoulders when nothing was forthcoming. Despite what has been written by many, Paul Wotton is still here. If he is as cheesed off as reports have suggested, surely he, Perry, Kelvin and others must be looking at what is going on and thinking "we can't go on like this"? If nothing else, these more experienced pros must be concerned about how this madness is affecting the kids in the squad - how their morale and self-belief must be in tatters. Only a few short years ago, we had stories of Dodd, Beattie and others allegedly going to Lowe and complaining about Sturrock - and that was when things were comparatively good! What price a player revolt now, when our need is that much greater?