um pahars

I can understand why he doesn't accept he came close to destroying the Club!!!!! He may not have succeeded in rescuing it with "his" Pinnacle bid, but that's a totally different thing from saying he was close to destroying it.

I thought he was only about half that, and at that half price thought he was a good buy for Brighton. I certainly would have been interested and would have him in front of Barnard, but in two minds about playing in front of Connoly who has started this season where he left off last season. Would he have been prepared to be third choice and battle for a start, would it have upset the balance, would he have fitted in with the squad, would he have got his chance with injuries suspensions, who knows??? Adkins was obviously looking for a striker, so would be interesting to know if he was ever considered.

But surely Lowe was last in charge, so he must have been complicit in this "complete shambles", the "time wasting staff" and "freeloading legends". I very much doubt Mark Fry introduced this profligate way of running the Club at a time when he was cutting things to the bone, so either it was there before he came in or it's been somewhat over exaggerated since then. So which one is it Manji?? Has it been somewhat overegged by some in recent arguments, or was it presided over by Lowe on his watch???

Much higher, but management may be a generational thing in that 20 years ago there were less black players in the game. I think it will take it's time to work through, but I would hate to think we would be having the same discussion in 10/20 years time!!

He did indeed have a few digs about Le Tissier's involvement and I've never really been sure what it was all about. I think NC intimated that it had cost them time regarding their involvement, but I couldn't really see the issue. As David says below your comment, MLT was certainly conned in to "fronting" the Pinnacle bid, but I'll afford him his naivety as I think he was only acting with the Club's best interests at heart (as in I saw him as willing to do anything to keep the Club going, as opposed to making a buck out of his involvement). Le Tissier's involvement may have put the Liebherr bid back a bit, but it wasn't terminal and should surely be seen in its context.

This spat already had two threads going on it a few hours following Cortese's interview in The Sun, one well in to its fourth page, before Stelling waded in with his size 12's. And this spat has had many threads, posts & debate in the past as each one of them (Cortese, MLT, Benali & Lawrie) has taken it in turns to have a little dig! Cortese, not Stelling, has given this sorry spat its legs this time I'm afraid.

And I may well be wrong, but I wouldn't say he was a rival in the sense of the term meaning he was in an opposing consortium vying to win, beat Marcus and being upset that he was outflanked (then again anyone could have outflanked Micky F!!!). He was merely doing anything in his power to try and save the Club from folding.

That's quite a damning indictment of Lowe's last season in charge.

You're more than welcome to that opinion, but I think subsequent events and comments would suggest that Cortese and Pardew had issues stemming from the back end of their first season which got worse over the close season and in to the start of the new one. Throw in Liebherrs untimely passing and it gets even more complicated. Those commenting on the situation were the symptons, certainly not the root cause of the underlying problems, so whilst some might not have liked the gossip and opinions, I think that's not the same as engineering the situation by their comments. I simply don't believe that either Cortese would sack Pardew because of third party's comments in the press, or Pardew would be unsettled by others tittle tattle. Both of them are too professional and hard nosed for that.

Interesting. Might not be enough in it given the sample size, but then again there might be something there to try and work on - travel arrangements, hotels, training facilities, psychological issues. In the current game where the magrin for error is so smal it might be worth trying to eek out those extra %s. What is the comparison with say, London games, or Southern away games (you'd imagine they would be stronger)?

You also forgot that the 1% are dark forces with an agenda.

I was thinking more of Rob Bransgrove, or a local businessman who still puts money in the Club, someone in the media who ahs links on both sides??

Indeed and does anyone know anyone in a position who could bring all these warring parties together and knock some sense in to them????

Are you really glad that the legends, stalwarts and giants of our Club are treated on a par with my mate Rob from Sholing? Surely the history, legacy and memories of the past are an integral part of a football club and the role it plays in many people's lives. So far this evening my Club has been compared to Tescos, the most famous player in recent times has been deemed to be irrelevant the minute he stopped playing and now our legends are relegated to the levels of us mere fans. It used to be a bit more than that the last time I pondered what impact my CLub had on me, others and its wider community. Maybe football really has changed over recent years!!!!!!!

I think everyone involved in this sorry affair needs to stand up, apologise and agree to try and work together for the greater good of the Club.

Don't be so bloody stupid. As View From The Top posted somehwere on these threads, 99.9% of fans are supportive of Cortese and his attempts to take us forward, but that doesn't mean some aren't happy at the way he is continuing in his *****fest with MLT.

The minute people start using the analogy of shopping at a supermarket and compare it to a football club is ZZZZZZZzzzzzzz time. Football clubs are somewhat different to our shopping habits (can't imagine the Tesco forum is as lively).

It would appear that Cortese still bears a grudge against Matty over a couple of issues, otherwise why bring his name up in today's interview. With so much positive news to focus on surely you should be asking why does Cortese have to mention his name??? He has been openly critical of Matty's role in the Pinnacle affair and he also had a go about Matty offering up his opinion about things at the Club (Inc the Pardew affair)

And if you had looked under the seats then you would have seen little holes in the concrete where they had planned to blow hot air through to keep you warm when it was first built!!!! I quite liked sitting in that stand a few years ago

I initially read that as you giving him 3 out of 10 and thinking what had gone wrong with my hero!!!!!!!

Really??? This club is built on the memories and contributions of many people over the past and I'm not sure we just forget about them when they move on, not least those who contribute so much and demonstrate such loyalty (that I doubt will ever be seen again). Many past players & managers up and down the country are still held in very high regard by their relative clubs and they are often approached by Clubs, the media and others to share their opinions with supporters. Given Matty's record and status with the CLub I'm just not sure that once his playing career was over then that was that (or should have been that)!

Cheers guys. Looking at those scores/analysis it would appear that our "going forward" play wasn't as good as it has been recently. Shame, but I'm still positive about taking a point up there (particularly after mounting a fightback).

To be fair to Cortese I don't think that is the case at all. He seemed very switched on to our 125 year anniversary, both commercially and emotionally and has recognised our past in a variety of other ways. I think he is acutely aware of our history and what went on in the decades before he rocked (but that doesn't mean he hasn't had a clash of egos woth some from that history).

Agenda, LMFAO you bedwetter. Next you'll be speaking of Dark Forces being at play. And I'm not forgetting Lawrie's months of whingeing (inc The Daily Mail piece when we played United earlier this year), nor am I forgetting Benali's totally unnecessary outburst on Soccer AM (mentioned earlier), nor Matty's constant gripes in various media outlets and have always said it works both ways (and have criticised all three of them for airing their grievances in public). But in this instance Cortese has raked it all up again and therefore the *****fest is on the agenda again and people are quite rightly criticising him for this unnecessary outburst (just as the others were criticised previously). But by doing that it doesn't mean people are saying "Cortese is the devil". Go and have a lie down if it's upsetting you that much (and don't forget to put the incontinence sheets down).

So you're saying this ultra sharp, savvy and shrewd businessman was tricked in to pouring his heart out by a super sneaky and snidey Sun journo and found it impossible to say "no comment on that one or "we've moved on from that issue now" or "let's concentrate on the good things"??? Because that's just what everyone is saying isn't it Amazing how some still seem to struggle with the concept of being supportive, appreciative and downright positive about the direction Cortese is taking us whilst being disappointed that this spat is still being played out in the media (by both sides I may add).