Frank's cousin

Yes and you could argue that chucking 3-4 mil at it last year, which is a huge amount for L1, was doing just that, without success. Ok we had the disadvantgae of -10 points but even then the impact of that spend should still be seen now... our poor form is probably down to many things, Lallana injured, fitness issues, the loss of waigo and Antonio, and some sort of general malaise - I think the importance of players probably being sucked into the 'walk this league' mentality has also had an effect, and feet need to be firmly planted on the ground. Clubs have shown that with the right attitude, work ethic, and collective spirit, alot cvan be achieved. Add to that the spend we have already seen last year and we should be capable of getting out of thi league, without massive spending. I really feel that this atttitude that many fans have towards success, that we should buy it because we can, (and i am not saying you believe that) is pretty crap. Its the same principle as players who want short cuts to success by simply upping sticks the moment a more successful club comes calling, rather than working hard with the current side to win things on their own merit. Its symptomatic of the 'want it now, pay later' culture. BUt its also true when clubs talk about waht their fans really want. If we had enough fans determined to see us progress rapidly, we would sell out each week and enjoy the financial advantage that brings to the club - but what seems to happen is that the fans want the club to spend first, get success and THEN they will come and fill the ground. Its this attitude that keeps so many clubs in permanent mid table.... or with very slow progress. If we sell out each game we would probably have in teh region of an additional 2-3 mil a year for players in this league. Why do we expect the clud to spend this first?

Hypo Thing with owners is you never know what you are going to get, and its to easy to think we would be 'attractive' to a variety of potential owners 'who would not do what Cortese does' Being realist, if we were up for sale, what kind of owner do you tyhink we would get? I would guess we might get a consortium of local businessmen, who between them dont really have a pot to **** in, borrow against the club to raise the purchase price and because they have a ego driven approach - eg are doing iot to 'save the club' and for Kudos of being involved, end up trying too hard to please fans and spending money in hope rather than in wisdom....hang on, we have been there before (with the exception of the borrowing to buythe club)... Its extremely unlikely we would get owners like the Liebherrs again, we were v lucky. The flip side is that with owners who are naturally cautious, who understand the potential money pit that is football...but also want to ensiure the club is sustainable as a business without the constant need for extra cash or loans to finance progress, there always be a need for a sterner and more business centric approach to the the operating decisons, including transfers and contracts to ensure that stabilty is not undermined. It may not fit the traditional 'values' and expectations of supporters, but remember these values and traditions were established in a time before the current financial hideousness of football - even up to a time when a small provincial club could sign the twice European footballer of the year, without breaking the bank and within its normal balance sheet... So its no wonder that many find the business model and strategy and decisons taken at clubs that DO follow a strict fiscal policy difficult to digest. But look at the clubs where you see fans greedily enjoying their transfer coups, and glut of talent, that are not stupidly backed as teh billionnaires toy, and show me one that is not in debt or skating with the thin ice of relegation.. Sure there is room for compromise, or a balance, but why are fans so unwilling to accept that just because mistakes are possibly made, or decsions which we find at odds with our own perceptions of 'how things should be', that this means the man in charge is somehow wrong? If you take the emotions out of it, and look at it logically, I cant see what Cortese is doing that is so unexpected, or irrational. Sure I can see why it might sit uneasily with some, but as we have seen in the past, teh alternatives are far from ideal, and I would suggest a lot worse.

Uhm.. How much of this though is just the natural desire to recapture the lost days of youth? ;-) We always have a tendency to look back nostalgically and it tends to be through a rose tinted retrospectoscope! For me, it’s not stadia that create atmosphere but the people in it. Sure there are structural issues re sound and closeness to the pitch, but anyone who was at SMS for the home 4-3 against Norwich in the prem relegation season will KNOW it’s possible to create an amazing atmosphere at SMS - it’s just not that common anymore. For me this is more to do with the finance in football, which has changed the culture - the player power, frequent transfers, and in particular agents who encourage more moves - the association fans had with their club was enhanced because of a closer bond to the team - clubs could compete on an equal level if they got it right, whereas now without finance, you can’t win consistently and if you have a lucky break with a talented bunch of youth, they don’t stay and help build success they feck off the moment someone offering more cash comes calling - its symptomatic of the modern culture - no one wants to work hard anymore to achieve greatness, just short cuts to fame and fortune and no real affinity to their club. So for me, I am not so much worried about the Stadium, but would want a return to a more stable transfer time, wage levels that meant clubs like Saints, if attractive enough could get the European footballer of the year within its wage structure, the coups of old and the excitement that could generate - sadly that will never return simply because greed has over taken 'real' success in terms of what players and their agents want and expect.

LOL... there is always a first Duncs! I was once (politely) asked why I felt NC was right for SFC... Naturally you can never be 100% about these things, and its true if we are not offered explanations, it leaves the imagination/media/speculation rumour mill to run riot and Saints fans do seem to bask in the negative stories that this evolves, rather than any equally valid positive spin you could put on things... but, my rational was really quite simple: Markus Liebherr. Sure no one is 'holier than thou' - but I think we all came to respect Markus for being a man of integrity, a decent man, who was committed in everything he did. The fact he gave up his share of Liebherr to make his own mark with MALI, rather than just sit on the board of the family firm, implies a lot of character - so I asked myself, if NC is really the 'tyrannical, miserable beast' that he was being made out to be, why would someone like Markus, not just work with him, but actually be a close and trusted friend? The two did not add up. Sure some might spin this and say he was Markus's foil or bad cop, but I simply don’t buy that. The media shyness has been criticized, yet ironically that was something we all wished a chairman would have when the previous incumbents were in the hot seat, not least Lowe. Add to this that we knew they would work confidentially when it came to the more sensitive matters (the buy out from the administrators showed that - we knew nothing about the deal or who they were until it was tied up) AND that in Switzerland the kind of media interest is not seen, and we should be able to understand the lack of comfort in the media spotlight. He will make mistakes, some of which will be interpreted by the more negative, as ignorance and naivety, and in some aspects that may be true, but the important thing is I think we know the INTENTION is good, the ambition fierce and desire to achieve success matches that of the fans. We just need to be less aggressive and personal in attacking what we see as mistakes, especially when we do NOT have the rational behind the decisions. Time will Judge NC, and how that success is achieved. He will be a hard task master for any manager, some will not see eye to eye, but be able to work together, we hope we can get someone who understands fully the strategy and does not just accept it, but actually sees the logic in it and embraces it... which is why Adkins for me looked a good choice, intelligent, and not full of ego or set in 'traditional ways' yet knows what it takes to do well in this tier... seems to me NC knows what he is doing, and had the Scunny chairman remained quiet, we would not have had all this rubbish yesterday... seems to me its him who wanted to scupper it... we shall see.

Lest just all calm down and look at the facts: 1. Does look likely that NA hasd agreed terms with NC - but as is typical of the Swiss, they like to act professionally and do this all behind closed doors until a deal is confirmed - If it does not happen, nothing will be released which is the professional way of doing things. 2. Need to negotiate the compensation - NC wants to play hardball - afterall its all part of the negotitions. 3. Scunny chairman goes to the Torygraph, saying he cant get hold of NC and compensation not agreed - toys are thrown out the pram - SFC stays silent as they should 4. BBC/SSN other media pick up the story and suddenly its ' offer withdrawn' there is no evidence for this , as indeed there is no evidence that terms wer agreed in the first place. 5. Saints fans react to the above calling NC all sorts of names, and siding with Scunny chairman against Cortese 6. Saints issue formal statement say no truth in 'ransom demands' and thats all we will say until a deal is done - like I said professional and teh way of the swiss 7. saints fan continue to rant that Cortese is an arse.. 8. Press conference/interview with Adkins suggests still in negotiation - which to me ties in with the Saints statement... Now look at the above and how stupid does it make 5 and 7 appear?

Frankly fecking astonishing that this is even being debated... Saints the only club where their own fans are not happy until they can slag their own chairman based o rumour, gossip, media speculation - because they are often more concerned eith tehir own egos being challenged by 'public' perception of tehir clubs... FFS get a grip. The club want new manager The club speak to folk Offers are possibly made negotiations take place - not always go through THAT IS FECKIN LIFE The fact its played out in the media by one party suggests many things, including Scunny wanting to put pressure on the deal, or scupper it whatever - but why teh flying feck do we always believe teh negative about Saints, the board, the chairman, just because we see some ****e in teh press and we want to conduct things confidentially, behind closed doors... have we forgotten already ho the swiss deal was negotiated in the first place?FECKIN PROFESSIONALLY that was how, in confidence - yet now when we Cortese tries to do the same, but teh Scunny Chairman, goes public, we side with the Scunny chairman ????? What the ***** is wrong with you people?

.... come on, read that back to yourself and ask yourself a few of questions: 1. When has a 'manager tap up' ever gone smoothly? 2. Why should Saints not get the best possible deal - yes, in a 'nice'world we would just give Scunny loads of cash, but its surely in our interests to play hard ball and get that compensation figure down? 3. We all agree (or seem to) tha Markus was a decent, honurable man of high integrity - do you think he would hang have formed such a partnership and trust with a 'nasty piece of work' This is just playing hardball and whilst its easy to sit in our own ivory towers and judge the morals/ethics of business practice... in teh real world, thats simply how the game is played

Make that 2! ;-)

...uhm ... in over 1000s post the most accurate thing about this thread is the title.... ;-)

LOL - Piut it this way - If I were to guess with my track record NI's name would be as good a guess as any! ;-)

NFI - and my guesses are usually wide off the mark... Q is whether Cortese goes foreign because they will be more aligned with the structure and less ossessed with controlling every aspect of the footballing side of things, or whether he sees someone who understand the L1, CCC needs as a priority - its not an easy question to answer, as obvious benefits and draw backs to both?

UHM... why are we still so obsessed by 'big names'? We are a L1 club that has gone through a massive fall and are slowly starting to rebuild thanks in no small part to Cortese bringing the sadly departed Markus to the table. My question is less about why Pards was dismissed - because whatever footballing rationale there was for continuity, its never good when there is friction (whoever is the cause or right or wrong)... but more why they appointed him in the first place if there were doubts or potential issues ahead. I am going to speculate here... in that Pards was probably appointed after he gave ML and Cortese assurances - give me the money and I will get us out of L1 this year - probably as simple as that. Once it was clear it was not going to happen, the axe was going to fall, but for the intervention of the 'fan voice' - which stayed the execution, but did further damage to the relationship + Pards digs in the press, which whether right or wrong in their assessment was not the 'style' of the Swiss who are very vigorous in what is given to the media - contol freakish maybe, but possibly a combination of the 'Swiss culture' (they are not obsesseed with media/celebrity culture as we are) and a reaction to the way the club was often citicised from the outside, by ex staff, who did not really have the information to make informed comment - For all Le Tiss's/LMs Greatness, and as valid as their opinions are, it did not help having them comment on the situation when they were not in possesion of all the facts - as it naturally divided fans further. I appreciate they were just venting their own frustration re the club they love, but it was still an unnecessary and unwanted distraction.... anyway I digress.. Back to the matter at hand. What we need most is a manager who is ambitious, not stuck in some old school rut, likes to see sides play with flair and entertain, but with the steel and edge necessary to combat some of the more 'assertive' sides in at this level. Someone who is also 100% behind the approach - the u21 thing, the strategy etc and is not so worried about ego, but commands a generous respect that is earned by their working with the staff and players.... nice and easy then? ;-) I just want to see someone who has the potential to take us all the way - not a stop gap until we get to the prem who is then replaced by a 'name' who would not consider us when we were in 'lowly L1' - someone who becomes part of the Saints family and understands the culture - someone whose ambition and personal goals will be more satisfied by acheiving success with Saints than taking a shortcut to the prem, the moment someone bigger comes calling - in that way, if at all possible, we are looking for someone who is already in the championship (or level) and willing to take the step back down because he sees what we are doing, understands it fully and is also in the SAME mindset. Season write off? We should not be such drama queens - win the game in hand and we are only 3 points off the top which is nothing. Undoubtedly whoever is appointed will disappoint some - those who seem more concerned about the perception of the club in the media or amongst other fans than anything else. Whoever comes in, whatever name is irrelevent if we have success. We should remmeber that even a big name can fail - lose interest or be poached - none of which will give us the continuity we crave. Finally, lets stop this 'cortese fans v cortese haters' tag rubbish. You dont need to agree with everything he does, but we should at least try and understand why he is doing it before jumping on the soapbox. Sure he is quiet on the explanation front, but we need to accept that's his style. He will not have earned the trust of someone as well respected as Markus without doing things right more often than not. Our frustration is that we feel we are in the dark too often and that would be my message to Nicola - just help us understand, and that frustration which manifests itself in negativity will begin to disappear.

You are right, not forever, but certainly until we see how things pan out under his leadership. Re the manager, I know what you mean, but it needs to be looked at from the perspective of the friction that was there... Re SCW and teh 'dutch experiment - in a way I was intrigued and positive about both. The problem in both cases was NOT the principle of the approaches, but the execution - in the dutch duo case the quality of those implementing it, and the fact that it was expected to work overnight - eg, we had sold all the experienced players and the duo were expected to draft kids into the first team from day 1... With SCW, Lowe failed in clear definition of roles, and integration into the structure that complemented the 1st team system... and Redknapp was never going to be receptive to it - in fact hell would probably freeze over before that relic adopted change

Sorry If I was ranting a little... but it really gets me rattled. I appreciate what you are saying in that if you look at it from a purely footballing perspective, after a recent good win, it appears on the surface to be a very strange and odd decision. Add to this the fact that we raely hear much from Nicola (and nothing infuriates the masses like being 'in the dark') and its no great surprize to see this reaction. BUT, its completely OTT, because we knew there was a problem between the two/three and naturally 90% seem to side with Pards because we were doing 'OK' on the pitch. I just happen to think that its maybe, just maybe about time to give the 'non-footballing' folk a break. Let Cortese get on with his plan - surely he is owed that chance - now in an ideal world he and Pards would have got on like a house on fire and all would have been rosey - but what if in 3 years time, standing on the cusp of promotion to the prem, pards was simply not good enough... would we then have a go at Cortese for not having got rid sooner, for perhaps putting friendship ahead of the interests of the club? We need to finally just for once give something the chance - for the full term. Not keep changing alliegences everytime something happens we dont personally agree with - and thats different from not having an opinion on things - Thats normal, but the reactionary scorn, and vitriol that is spouted everytime someone is a little 'upset' at Cortese's decisions does little to unite the fans. I have absolutely no doubt that Cortese will make genuine mistakes during his tenure. And those genuine mistakes, I suspect he will learn from - afterall, he is a successful man and I know no succesful folk whio have not learned from their errors.... but we seem hell bent on calling everything a mistake simply because a) dont agree with it, and b) dont know why it was done (or speculate x rumour x gossip = urban legend of negativity) It may be as you say that this decison has a negative impact on results in the short term, but its the long term impact that concerns me, and I suspect the decison was made with that in mind - the fact remains, as harsh as it might be for Pards, that if they did not get on, long term it was never going to work, so surely better to make the chnage sooner rather than later. I know that many may now say, 'well if he was going to do it, why did he not do it at th end of teh season and give the knew man a chance?' well good question - I just point you in the direction of the fans thats that take pride in the fact that their reaction to the rumours of just that prevented it then... seems we want it both ways It may be that he does fail. And that in 4 years we may just have scraped a promotion to the CCC - then I am happy to accept the flak for my opinion. But I am just fed up with this constant search for new ways to undermine what is a new era and a new approach, just because some dont necessarily agree with it.

Feck what a bunch of whinging school girls and drama queens we have as fans... Jeez. Why are we SOOOOoooo afraid of strong leadership that demands the highest standards? Why are we so ingrained with old school mentalities of what we believe the management structure of a club should look like, despite, the simple fact that much of Europe has chnaged to a more modern coaching structure and policy? FFS, we have in a charge a man who brought Markus Liebherr to the club, who, has set an ambitious target of what is now Premiership football in 4 years time, he has eensured we have invested heavily for our league status and is has initiated plan of 'succession' with the U21 set up that is mirrored on the continent. What the feck is this obssession with what are frankly outdated principles where the only justification and rationale for them is...'its the way it is in the lower leagues?' - ****** I say, if you have that mentality, you are preparing yourself for being established in the lower leagues. There is this archaic, nostalgic sentimentality about British football that has hindered our progress, ******ed any long term development and was starkly shown to be out dated by the poor quality showing of the national side... Chris Waddle was right with his rant about the stuufed shirts at the FA, but it seems to me that mentality is not restricted to those old farts bbut is rife in the fans throughout the game. We had the same kind of neighsaying, scaremongering panic with SCW, driven out by the usual smear and lynch mob mentality of those too frightened of anything new, frightened to give things a chance.. I mean afterall we had done nothing but have success and win loads under teh 'traditional system' so what was the point of trying alternatives.... Same crap is heard when dicussing anything to do with business in football... as if it has no place, as if unless you are a die hard socialist (and I speak as someone very much left of centre) there was no room for you in football - how these prejudices are so blatent in many posters anti Cortese rants... Sure I was surprized by Pards is sacking. I happened to think he was a decent bloke, maybe a little tactically naive, but doing an OK job on the field... but the fact reamins that there was friction - the reason for which is already being speculated, but it wa sthere and REGARDLESS of the reasons behind it, it could not continue. Cortese or Pards? Simple choice. Those that think we would be better off without cortese, should consider what would happen... the club sold, possibly to some tin pot who borrowed loads and landed the club with the debt of purchase - but hey thats OK, it might be a 'real' football man, and a local...oh sorry did we not have a couple of those types before? FFS. Cortese is driven by us achieving success quickly - he is doing it his way - as he has probably always done. If he fails in 4 years, then we can all question his methods and approach. Until then its time that we got behind the club we say we support, sure raise the odd eyebrow when things happen which we think are a bit left field, but just because things are different, does not make them wrong...and that attitude is IMHO sadly reflected in alot of these whinging posts.

Sorry crap spelling as have consumed rather alot of vino this evening..... apologies to all fellow posters of that are into their grammar like...

Alps, I think the reason why you are sort of misinterpreted and given a fair bit of stick, is you seem to try and find, what I think ate a bit odd or irrational reasons for yor opinions. Your opinions ARE AS VALIP as anyone elses, but most of us will say it a bit more open...eg, Derry does not like pards because he believes on the evidence he sees, week in week out that Pards is tactically lacking... that is an opinion which Having met and discussed these things with Derrty, I can respect. I think the problem for you is that too often, you are misinterpreted because often its very reactionary... eg, pards is crap after 2 games because of the points we lack or in this thread, because you cant see us getting a reasonable total from teh first nine games... a fair enough comment, and valid opinion, but the difference is that there is no REASON presented as to why you assume this. Derry, for example, does not like pards, because he feels he is tactically poor, and has not got us playing consistently at the level he believes this side is capable of. That is a valid opinion based on an evaluation from seeming each home game. You, have been quite down on pards as well, a VALID opinion, but the reason you get stick is because you dont present your rationale behind it... that is all. If you dont like pards, fair play to you, but give us your reason without the spleen venting, and folk will appreciate your insight and contribution far more. I know we whave not alwats got on, mainly because our opinions differ, but I DO respect alot of what you say and agree with it, but cant support your posts because you dont provide a rationale that makes logical sense..

Oh well... always teh bloody same... you have this weird feeling and you never get to the betting shop in time....! ;-)

Very true, and dont get me wrong, I am no all out purist, and understand that at this level with these players (and sadly at most premier clubs with the exception of the top sides) their is a limit to what we can expect and we must play to our strengths...how often have we heard comentators discuss sides that play 'nice' football, when referring to those who sit mid table... but I digress. Derry goes week in week out - sadly given that I am 500 miles away now my ST has been given up and I will only get to 3-4 games a season now, so dont have the advantage of seeing the full games. He rightly points pout that we often seem to go long and narrow, and Pards seems to give the impression that this is what he expects from his players... I do think its limited, as we struggle to find a way through defensive sides, which as we see more and more often, the fear of losing is what directs the modern game for most sides, so its park the bus away from home. Some clubs succeed by simply muscling their way through, and i am glad we dont go down that route, but as fans we have to decide what we want. Success at any price, or a desire to see the best possible football that our players are capable of? Does Pards have enough tactical nous? I dont know, but I agree with Derry in that he perhaps needs to show more variation in our play and he is not giving the impression that he chnages things depending on the circumstances. I still feel his job is to get us out of this division and if he does that we cant complain, so will see where we are at Christmas... Have a feeling, very soon all those chances are going to be taken and we will give someone a spanking... could it be this wekend?

Hi Must admit, have always been frustrated by Davis and his distribution. I can only assume that the players are not good enough to pass the ball forward and break quickly... I know its a completely different level, but its what I like about the German's in the WC, width, speed of the break, controlled passing and their keeper (only 21) hardly ever booted the ball in a very attacking, yet flexible 4 -2 -3-1... I know you need decent players to play that way, but I would like to see us try and do a bit more to... I know you have looked at this at many a game, and can understand the frustration, but my qestion is, is this a tactical naiviety from Pards, or that we over estimate what this group of players is capable of in terms of controlling a game at pace, from the back? Afterall we always struggled to break down sides that played a 4-5-1 defensive way, let alone those that parked the bus. I think there have been glimpses of better play, and even watching the highlights, one or two moves seem promising. The media reports dont seem that bad, in that they simply highlight the lack of finishing as the reason for lack of points so welcome your thoughts. Thing is though, are we too expectant of what is possible with these players or just Pards?

Going a long way back to TTs original post.... We need firstly to find some sort of acceptance that: 1) we are in L1 because that is the level we have attained/sunk to in the last 5 years, 2) Its not the late 70s and early 80s anymore. Yes mistakes were made by board and management, but the realitty is that when clubs stopped sharing the gate, wages rocketed fuelled by Sky and UEFA cash, the big got bigger and the rest fought it out amongst themselves... things have changed so much. We will never see a time when the curent European footballer of the year signs for Southampton. (I read that at the time Keegan came on £152,000 a year - about £2500 a week in todays terms, how much would a Messi cost in wages now?) We still in many respects think of ourselves as a 'bigger club' with some devine right to win everything at this level and 'get back where we belong' - well right now we belong where we are - and promotion needs to BE EARNED, not justified based on the average of teh last 30 years or so. Yes we have had good luck with Markus helping to drag us out of the financial mire and his investment has helped create a reasonable side. But as he and NIcola have said WE MUST LIVE WITHIN OUR MEANS and if we want more, we need to fill teh ground week in week out, every game. If we can not do that, we have no right to expect more investment and better players. If we look at the slow start objectively, sure its dissapointing, but when did we ever start well? I can only think of the Strachan year in which we followed 3 draws with 3 wins and so were 4th in teh prem after 6 games.... still started with 3 draws and 3 points from 9, a win on Saturady will see us with 4/9... I know Derry quite well and we could debate the width and tactical stuff for quite some time...all in good humour and pleasent frustration. ;-) And I do agree to some extent that Pards does seem to maybe not see soem of the things that seem obvious to us in the stands... but what if its the players that simply forget, or in the pressure of the game make wrong decisions? We have to remember that we are talking about L1 players here, who despite what we want to believe are in L1 for a reason and being able to implement a full tactical plan week in week out with the pressure of the favourites tag - was never going to be easy...afterall were not England one of the WC favourites? I know its frustrating, I know our expectations are rightly high, and so dissapointment is natural when we dont see the results we 'should be getting with this squad' - but i will stick with what I said this time last year in that Pards had 18 months - and its where we are at the other end of the season that counts. All being as it should we will be promoted, but it will be hard faught, not easy and expect some oddities along the way. The debate about whether Pards is right for the next stages is another one all together, and we should avoid perhaps letting that cloud the current judgement? Markus, may he RIP, has only just sadly left us. I hope we do him proud not in just what we achieve, but in how we do it. And thats not just the way we play, but the way us as fans respond to 'triumph and diaster' and 'treat those imposters...' May sound corny and pretentious, but it does not diminish the sentiment.

Two games....yup TWO games, and yesterday we played well and with the chances we had should have been 3 nil up buy HT... BUT that is football, so not sure why folk are panicking.. enjoy the ride. If we are not good enough for promotion, we will know about it by Christmas, but does this mean we should all start slating the board, manager and players again? Come on, the club, Markus' family and NC have had a dreadful 10 days, and that will ahve had an impact no matter what folk believe. This team will come good.. Believe!

Weston was merely senibily mentioning a note of caution that Markus's family long term may not have the same passion for saints as Markus did, and I merely added as fans the culture we create form now on could have a positive impact on that... so maybe we shoudl give it a try?

Markus would fully understand why with Holidays, folk away and back to school expense the game may not see a sell out... not sure what the fuss is about... afterall its about numbers not percentage of ground filled... what if we had 40,000 capacity, 50,000 or flip side still only 15k? Make no difference. Markus saw 50,000 at Wembley. He knew what we were about, and was the kind of man who would understand the current financial issues, and hope that those struggling, woudl save their pennies and fill the ground as we move into the business end of the season to secure promotion...

My twopenneth worth: 1. Great statement, showed class and also highlights the MOST important things... what the club meant to Markus and how inmportant it is to continue to fulfil what was his dream and ambition 2. As Weston has mentioned, there will long term be more fragilty...however, I would add the following: Fans and the attitude we display, the maturity with which we deal with issues and challenges - especially where we often dont see teh bigger picture and react to the personal impact of decisons, the atmosphere we create and the 'family' of Saints and culture that is truely representative of the club... can have a major impact on how Markus's family view the long term. If we create the right culture, a ne culture based on the shear joy of the game and love for the club that Markus displayed, and taht have defined his short but impressive spell as owner, then it woudl be no surprise tio me if his family come to hold the club with same deep affection that Markus did... I am sure we all know fans who maybe were not really into football, but after being taken to games, and experiencing the passion, the culture and the atmosphere, get hooked, and that seed then grows to full out support. If we get this right, use this sad event as the catalyst for FINALLY letting the past squabbles go, I believe we will see a bright future WITH Markus's family and Nicola fulfilling his dreams - and that woudl be the best way to remember all this great man did for our club. 3. Yes there will be decsions that some dont agree with (although I suspect a few of those that fuel those debates are not actually saints fans, but others ona wind up - so simply ignore), and yes some of thsoe decsions do have a personal impact, but NIcola wont be able to please everybody all the time, and mistakes will be made... afterall everyone is fallable. But we should at least acknowledge that the strategy and approach Nicola has taken is for the long term and with Markus's blessing. Be CONSTRUCTIVE in our debate and discussion and we might be pleasently surprised by the way in which teh club responds, but also be patient in that often what we conside to be major issues, are simply under the radar for the management looking to implement a long term strateggy that is in teh best interests of the club. As I mentioned, The best way we can respect Markus's contribution and legacy is to create a spirit and unity that defines the Saints family and brings us all together; Nicola, Markus's family, staff, players and importantly fans and acheive the success that he would have wanted.