um pahars

When did you go all Alanis Morrissette???? Maybe the plan is that as we speed towards the season everything becomes inverted and we'll end up being paid to go and watch. Cortese will just have hitch up a line to Harbour House and get the flux capacitor charged up. Back to The Future (1977) and £10.00 season tickets

Would have thought we have a decent chance of pulling this one off. I know he enjoyed his time down here (even though he was a part of the Total Football debacle) and given his London connections, a short trip down the M3 must be tempting!!!! That said, like most things nowadays I imagine it might come down to ££££££'s. However, as someone else has mentioned, I'm not overly sure I'd play him alongside Schneiderlin in the middle of the park (just that I would prefer an older "clogger" in there with him!!!).

Que????? Bally must have made something around 200 appearances and only ever played in midfield. Surely some mistake!!!!!!!!!!1

I know where your tongue is stuck Turkish LOL!!!!! And having taken that on board I have to say that my thoughts here is not how quickly can I part with my money (which as you say goes against the norm), but instead perhaps thinking what this delay will have on season ticket take ups and the related knock ons in terms of attendances and revenue generated (although there's also a dash of intrigue and anticipation as to what the prices will be). I certainly want to see my Club play in the biggest attendances possible and I just can't help but think that this delay might have an impact on that. I'm sure blazing football and a winning start will attract the punters, but also feel that season tickets underpin attendances and we should be doing all we can to attract people to part with their money. The Club may spring something sensational on us, but I can't help but think that we should have been trading off the euphoria of promotion and giving people every chance to get regular bums on seats.

In a way comparing the figures is meaningless anyway as neither faced the same test. That said, I think you can get an idea of whether someone might be half decent (or an absolutely dinny). As for Pearson's arrival, I think you and a few others have hit the nail on the head in that the context of the time has to be taken in to account. It's meaningless to state where we were when we arrived, without referring to the shambles he inherited. The days prior to Burley going and then the D & G show were very dark days and with someone highlighting the rag tag bunch of players we had, the injury crisis and the general malaise around the place just took me back to how bad a situation it was (I can also remember the initial stories of how bad things were on the money front). NickG hasn't got his facts right with regards 3 wins in previous 13 league games (we only managed 2). Pearson popped up mid February and in recent games we had managed one win at home to Scunny in mid January with the previous win to that being back in early December. We were on a downward fall big time.

Presuming that includes his Championship figures.

Although I wouldn't say Adkins scraped 2nd place (in the end it was quite comfortable and given the start he inherited, he did well), I do think you have a good point. Adkins' success is lauded on here, as begrudgingly is Poyets, and Pearson emulated them both. If Adkins can emulate Pearson next season and get us in the play offs then I would be very happy.

LMFAO you bedwetter. Where has anyone suggested he was making the ultimate self sacrifice and where are those getting misty eyed??? Some, including his brother, have just pointed out that he was getting paid for doing a gig at SMS (in much the same way as those before and after him have got paid-even Rofey got a bit extra for doing his half time stint at The Dell) and you then string it in to a risible rant. The turning down gigs bit was solely as a justification for him being paid, but personally I think if anyone does a bona fide job for the Club then they deserve to be recompensed. I just hope Stewart Dennis has got thick skin, as I'm sure he'll be next in your firing line.

Global warming might help us on the climate front. Maybe we should go the opposite way to the rest of the world and look to increase our carbon footprint.

I don't think anyone would have an issue over trying to emulate the Ajax model (or even the Barcelona model), but with Lowe I think it went further. He truly believed that he was different to the footballing establishment, that he could teach them all a trick or two and it was his ego that drove him on (the money wasn't that bad either). We definitely had a choice and the most obvious choice was with regards the manager. There wouldn't be much between two Dutch guys on the cheap and Pearson (certainly Pulis and Forecast would have funded it!!!). I have never suggested that money wasn't tight, but even the little but we had was spent unwisely. Get a decent manager in would have been my first shout (and then I wouldn't have gone and speculated on a French teenager - however much he cost - as that was not our priority. Pearson proved himself the season after that he could work with youngsters (his team at Leicester was predominantly a very young side - I remember one game he had something like 11 out of 15 players under 20 playing for him). It was a false economy that cost us even more when you consider the revenue lost through falling attendances. Lowe's return, coupled with **** poor results saw attendances diminish quickly (I reckon our ave attendance was about 16,000 before those last few games). Close to 100,000 less punters through the door (£2million in revenue???). That extra money would have been nice!!!! No one was suggesting spending loads on experienced players, instead they were asking why we hadn't gone with an experienced manager, with good contacts who had enjoyed a modicum of success? He did indeed make that judgement, one which in hindsight looks to have been found severely wanting. Poortvliet was an unmitigated disaster and the whole set up was as much to blame. The interviews and snippets that came out after show that the season was a complete sham. I've never held Pearson up to be the next Mourinho, but he did enough at the back end of the previous season to be given a shout. He certainly had the support of the fanbase and when we dispensed with him he quickly went on to show us what we might have been missing as we traded places come the following May. Of course there were brief moments of sunshine, but just as when Wigley was appointed, I just could not see it working!!! And no one will ever be able to say with any degree of certainty what might have happened had we gone with Pearson over Poortvliet (that's the beauty of football, with us all having our own opinions), but I know which one I would have appointed!!!!

Are you suggesting that Adkins is similar to the guy who made the role of Penguin his own??? And that down at Staplewood we should have a chicken coup and get Lambert and co chasing after them??? I believe

I believe I can touch the sky (then again didn't Icarus think the same??).

I think we all give up an enormous amount of our time to raise money for ourselves. It's called working. HTH

If we didn't need his work, then you should be aiming your barbed comments on those who engaged him. Saying he milked Saints just because he accepted a gig for them is risible. Go join Manji in berating Stewart Dennis and the new bald guy.

What a bedwetter. Equating that because he does quite a bit of work for local and national charities for free, then he should have offered us the same deal. Behave yourself (and if you're still frothing at the mouth, go have a pop at Stewart Dennis and the new bald headed guy doing pitchside stuff).

Keeping it short as we really should move on from Lowe (was going to ignore it completely, until you name checked me!!!!). I totally agree that Lowe had zero interest in us going in to Admin for a number of reasons. You of course allude to the most obvious one which was financial and the loss of his investment (and loss of potential income from being CEO had we moved upwards), but I also think an important factor was ego and his desire to be proved right. It wasn't only his reputation within the "city", but also the need to fuel his own personal ego with his belief that he was always right.If anything, IMHO it was more his ego than his quest for cash that caused most of the problems. You are of course entitled to that opinion, but I am still of the opinion that there were other choices. The most obvious one would be to stick with a manager who had shown a modicum of success and who knew the English game (and who has gone on to show more success in recent seasons). It really was a false economy to go with Poortvliet. I never saw the choices as young novices with an inexperienced Dutch manager vs seasoned pros & high wages & transfer fees. Instead, I always felt there was a middle way, even if it meant a number of decisions were constrained by the financial straight jacket we found ourselves in.

I believe that children are our future, treat them well .............................. and we might win the Champions League ;-)

In one word: Not a cat in Hell's chance.

Looking for someone to knock out 70ish Orders Of Service for the upcoming wedding and wondered if anyone is a printer, has any good contacts or could recommend anyone????? Would rather put the business the way of a fellow Saints fan. CHEERS

Happy to leave it there.

Did Benali give his approval????

I thought the feedback from the Club (via one of those dinners???) was "hundreds"????? Where did you get your 28 figure from???

So what is the reason behind these crazy prices???? Is the big increase (on top of getting £50m in from SKY) due to the huge increase in QPR's wages this season???? OR Is it down to pure supply and demand and guaging that people will pay these huge prices to watch the Premiership matches????

Oh, he complained alright!!!!!!!!

Oh I think a lot do understand what you are getting at, it's just that they don't think what you are getting at is correct. Many of us think you're tilting at windmills my friend.