InvictaSaint

Thus spake Rupert Lowe at the AGM, in direct reference to the manager's / team's performance. Perhaps, in light of having won only once at home all season, with only 10 goals scored, and having now lost at home to 2 of our relegation rivals, Mr. Lowe would like to tell us how his review of the current situation could lead to anything other than the conclusion that his grandiose experiment has failed and that JP needs to go?

Micky, I wasn't ranting at you so apologies if it appeared that way; it was more a general rant at those who feel the situation can be salvaged or that there are positives to be taken. There simply aren't. I am just so angry at what has happened to our club.

How in the name of all that is holy did they "do what they had to do"???????!!!! Were they told to go out, go 2-0 down at home to a prime relegation rival, and only find the net in the last throes of the game? What a pathetic excuse for a manager - sorry, head coach - we have. A JOKE. GO NOW JAN WHILE YOUR DIGNITY IS JUST ABOUT INTACT

I'm sorry but that is apologist nonsense. We went into this game on the back of a (lucky) away win at Barnsley, and we knew EXACTLY what was needed - a win. Did we achieve that? No. What does that say about the mindset of the club? 2-0 down at home to yet another of our relegation rivals, until we finally pull a goal back in injury time, which is all too little too late. We have won ONE home game all seson - ONE!! It's beyond pathetic and if you think being two points off safety makes any ****ing difference at all with the clueless numpties in charge of football at SMS you are being seriously naive; what is going to turn our home form around after more than half the season? Nothing except a change of leadership. Otherwise, prepare for League 1; that's not hysteria, that's REALITY.

I sincerely hope that is intended to be ironic! ONE WIN at home ALL SEASON. Presumably all the other defeats were all unlucky too? JP OUT - LOWE OUT

Don't get me wrong - I agree with a lot of what you say. Philosophically, however, and perhaps even morally, is it 'right' for one person - irrespective of their job - to be earning more money than they can physically spend? This is what capitalism allows, of course and as you say there have always been the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. Marx would have a lot to say on this I would imagine! Perhaps if one moves away from the moral argument, the question of regulation is a more practicable one; our increasingly spineless European and national FAs are fiddling whilst Rome burns in that respect. This continuing lack of concern for what is happening to our national game is what will ultimately lead to its decline.

I bought a house I have decorated it and furnished it I tend to clean it myself I bought a car I have it maintained I eat out sometimes I but clothes I spend money (though not in Manchester) Why is nobody giving me a fanfare for being good for the economy? And why, despite a perfect credit score and regular monthly salary, will my bank of 26 years (LloydsTSB) not give me a £100 overdraft for one week? As you say, that is life. But I am sure Kaka's £200K a week or whatever it is makes his life a lot easier for him. Kicking a ball around for 90 minutes a week is, after all, hard work compared to the rest of us.

I wonder what they could have to be bitter about? The fact that we used to have a football club which punched above its weight, gave others a good game, treated its supporters with respect, entertained its fans perhaps? Or the fact that all that stability and solidity has been ****ed away by the current incumbents and their predecessors? The fact that Lowe's master plan now has us hovering above the trapdoor to League 1, the third tier of English football? Now who on earth could possibly feel any bitterness about that?

The single and most crucial difference being that Ted knew what he was doing, had a plan and could adapt where necessary; all of which qualities have been proven to be sadly lacking from the current incumbent.

"But I thought sometimes we gave them a difficult time". CLOUD.....CUCKOO.....LAND

Did you bother to read the post? If you had, you would have noticed that I said ignore it was against Man United - the comments those who were at the game are coming back with (niether you nor I were there, Adrian) are a microcosm of almost every other game this season - a season which has left us second from bottom of the CCC. This thread is not about the United game - but where we go from here given everything else which is now clearly falling apart.

As a season-ticket holder who did not go today, I have found it interesting to read others' comments on the game. The words/sentiments which keep coming up again and again, from those who were at the game primarily (but not exclusively), are: - no fight - no passion - no game plan / players not sure what is expected of them - poor team selection - players overly tired as too young and played too often - JP blaming everybody but himself - poor substitutions - occasional pretty football in the wrong (least effective) areas Ignore the fact that this was against Man United - these phrases mirror what I and others have been seeing all season. As somebody far wiser than me has already posted, I could appreciate a slow and gradual improvement over the season given our financial predicament and apparent need to rely on youth. However, that improvement has clearly not happened. I know we are fiscally screwed, I know this only too well. But are we all simply going to sit back and let this club of ours die in such a painful fashion? How much longer can/will we tolerate being told that this is the only way to do things and that everything is OK? To my mind, somebody with influence - or those wishing to become influential either through numbers or status - must now let RL know that we are heading inexorably for disaster; League 1 and probable administration. We need a manager with a canny eye for a cheap , experienced bargain player and a knack for getting the best out of young British players; we need a man with experience of this league and how to stay in it. To claim this is not possible is to go down the route of the biggest false economy in SFC history, for continuing with this mad experiment will lead to our demise, make no mistake. I don't blame the players - they will always have my support - but the owners and managers of this fine football club should now be taking a long, hard objective look at our situation and asking themselves what needs to be done to arrest our slide. How long can we afford to wait and sit idly by?

That would require getting a corner (we didn't manage a single one) and having a meaningful shot on goal, wouldn't you agree?

I love this phrase he uses - so many players do: "I don't read the papers". He doesn't read the papers?! What the hell does he do with all his free time?! Does he studiously avoid the plentiful copies of the Sun and the Mirror which litter the dressing room and training ground? What does Andrew read then - The Economist? The Spectator? It's almost as amusing a white lie as him saying he expects to be here at the end of January.

Would you like to reconsider that statement? How far does your experience of the education system run? Not very far, I would imagine. I like your posts, Stanley, but that statement is both ill-informed and insulting. I worked in industry - successfully - before becoming a teacher. I am now an Assistant Headteacher, a Head of Sixth Form (with responsibility for 330 students) and my school's timetabler. I stand in front of 30 plus teenagers up to five times a day, every day; and I am very good at my job, thank you. Walk a mile in my shoes and then tell me that I do not do a "proper job".

Oh please! Have you read the OS recently? It would make Pravda's editor blush. There are websites which are club's corporate mouthpiece....and then there is our site, which has only just stopped short of telling us that being second bottom of the league is actually a good thing because it's the bottom three who are promoted. Our site is a joke; often factually inaccurate, riddled with spelling errors and driven by one man who wants to make us all believe (yes, he thinks we are that gullible) that everything at SFC is sweetness and light. The articles are a joke, and the match 'verdicts' are just the game reports with a poorly written introductory paragraph. Graham Hiley would be ashamed to put his name to them.

You could not make it up; second bottom of a crap league, one win at home all season with a manager unable to hold his own, loan players deserting the sinking ship and still there are people who ask Rupert to keep up the good work. Excellent. By extension, I assume you will be content to see "the good work" see us swiftly into League 1 then?

And despite the fact it's on Chelsea's site, despite the fact that the Echo state clearly that JP was told TWO DAYS AGO, there is still nothing on Pravda (The OS for anybody under 25 :-) ). Brilliant, just brilliant. We are indeed mushrooms - kept in the dark and fed BS.

According to the Echo report JP was told two days ago! If this is the case, why the **** is there nothing on the OS? Pravda indeed.....

I shall be laughing at all the plastics turning up to see their heroes, only to be disappointed when Ronaldo, Rooney et al aren't even in the squad.

Apologies Mods - have just found it elsewhere. My bad. :-(

Found this on the Echo site - don't believe it has been posted elsewhere, but apologies if it has - and thought it was a rather well balanced, objective and fair analysis of the current situation and the crucial month ahead: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/4010892.The_biggest_month_of_all_for_Saints/

Would you like your t-shirts back?

Rupert Lowe August 2004: "It's a results driven business" Rupert Lowe December 2008: one win from 13 at home, 9 goals, manager not sacked Hypocrisy: the new perfume from Rupert Lowe

Post of the day! :-)