Gloucester Saint

Alan Nixon to be precise. I’d trust Richard Nixon’s accuracy on football matters more, and he passed away in 1994.

Now that I can get behind.

Good and sad memories there. Good was David Hughes bicycle kick in a 2-2 draw under Bally. Sad was playing them the Saturday after their bright young striker Ray Jones was killed in a car accident that week. Won 3-0 but very subdued understandably by everyone.

I wasn’t calling you specifically pathetic. Let’s be clear about that. And it seems like there was some good ‘feedback’ given yesterday judging by Nathan Wood’s reaction, bit disappointing at the end but can’t blame people too much given how awful most of the last 8 years have been. The point I’m making still stands that this lot managing and running the club - that term used very loosely - don’t have clue until they either sell or recruit a DoF, CEO and manager/coaching staff who understand English football and give them autonomy. And it’s going to take a lot more days like yesterday and even more volume to do it. We are capable as a fanbase, we opposed Branfoot and Lowe respectively for years but it’s going to need to be consistent to have our club back as a football entity with its own identity that we recognise and love. A positive example is my local club. Protested loudly against Gary Johnson, a very unpopular DoF and the board. Now got Mike Garlick owning and legend Steve Cotterill back as manager. Their equivalent of Lawrie. And they are transformed. One of the aspects which turned Askham against Branfoot eventually being a finance man was the protests making it impossible to find a shirt sponsor. Dimplex as a local company and club guest helped out at the last minute in 93/94 to save the bacon but the gig was up.

Would have to agree to disagree at that point, unless a new manager performs a miracle and makes some of these players attractive to buying clubs again, they are worth a fraction of what we bought for them and the transition off parachute payment will be much harsher than 07-08 - and that was bumpy as a rural airport runway.

Danny apparently doesn’t like Ralph but as typical for players, he probably can’t see that the fitness work during the lockdowns got him fitter than he’d been for years and boy did it yield results. Danny Ings is in my top 25 Saints players as a result, superb, reminded me of one of my boyhood heroes Steve Moran and that’s some compliment to him, Ralph and the back room team.

Ings was a major risk with his knees but paid off staggeringly so well done Les on that one. Bar Stu, pity about the other £85m of the VVD fee he wasted including Carrillo….Unlike Stewart, at least Danny didn’t have a bad injury at the time we signed him. KWP didn’t look up to much before Covid on loan but came into his own over Project Re-Start. Unlike Ings who had been at Liverpool and scored for Burnley, I wouldn’t have called Kyle established at PL level at that point. But those two are the best signings we’ve made over the last decade amongst an ocean of mainly dross.

That reflects on how badly Still is doing, but also that we had Adams, the type of central/link up striker we severely lack (given Stewart’s wretched fitness record) plus Bednarek and KWP. Those three made a huge difference at this level. Martin is a better coach but that’s not saying much as Rangers fans will tell you. We still conceded 60+ goals which was a disgrace and thumped by 5 at Sunderland and Leicester. If we didn’t have those players, it would’ve been even more.

It has been since Pellegrino, that season was awful as well and where the club started to feel like a corporate soulless entity I didn’t recognise. Being taken over by a character who couldn’t pass FAPP probably contributed to that. Ralph lifted the club, reinventing JWP, plus Reed getting lucky on Ings and KWP stopped the rot for a while but it was only ever a couple of moments from going downhill again plus we had the 9-0s. SR have put the accelerator on towards Beachy Head, but the direction/lack of was already there. Nearly a decade now since top 6 PL, Europe, cup finals and pretty much decline since then with at least a plateau period thanks to Ralph.

Atherley’s just left a message, Mr Parson’s suit and shirts will be ready for collection on Monday morning.

Manning and Downes are also ex-Swansea and Russell Martin, boy does it show in terms of professionalism (lack of) and thinking they’re the dogs bits. When that cretin has been your manager it comes with the territory.

Mark Hughes and Carlisle ruined their manager’s first game yesterday.

Parsons must have quite a bit of dry cleaning ready for collection.

I’m very frustrated with Labour but Farage would rip up one of the better things they’ve done which is improve relations and trading with the EU. That’s worth £20-30bn over this Parliament. Take that out and considering there’s already a £100-140bn gap from in GDP from when we were in the Single Market, it’s impossible that they would have any ability to improve the everyday for working people who have a nationalist outlook even if the inclination was there.

Ditto Gapko in August 2022, this lot never learn. You could say the same for Reed and Promes as well.

I agree with you on a practical and rational basis but it has to be that the manager has fuelled it the pre-match press conferences. If he says he wants to play 4231 and then selects 5 ATB and gets outplayed and loses yet again to a team with 10% of the budget, that’s so messed up and confused that conspiracy theories about deeply unpopular and loathed owners becomes easy.

Did my bit during the Branfoot and Lowe years at the demos and marches and spent thousands - don’t even want to think about how much - watching them up and down the country. And as live a bit further away than Warsash and didn’t mind the £150-200 cost per match under Nigel, Poch, Ronakd, even Puel or Ralph, but renovating a house here ain’t cheap and I’m not spending that kind of cash every week unless I’m going to see some work rate and players who give a shit. And this house I type from which is part our pension fund does mean leisure activities have to be in some senses enjoyable. I’ve seen Saints get hit for cricket scores at times away in the 90s (Everton 99 comes to mind) but it was still a good day out with friends and affordable. Well done to you for keeping going, respect genuinely, but it won’t get better with Still or SR, same as it wouldn’t under Branfoot or Lowe. Your choice as to who you think can reverse this death spiral. If you believe Still and SR are the answer and you’re loyal to them then that’s your view. I just shrugged my shoulders now and laughed, no point expending emotional energy on the losers. They or the manager have no vision or purpose running the club and boy does it show. Just another ‘project’ and player trading arm. In a couple of years I’ll be able to watch them play Cheltenham at Whaddon Rad so there’s a silver lining,

Exactly, I like Cheltenham Town as my local club especially with Steve Cotterill returning who is their equivalent of Lawrie for us. And Torquay United having lived there for more than a decade. Paul Wotton in charge and Warnock as DoF. Now, if Neil was 15 years younger….ideal to sort out the players and SR. Half of them would packing their bags in January. I would classify them as subsidiary clubs I follow and interested in/care about but not the same as Saints having been born and grown up there, had STH, used to be home and away, Junior Saints, parents met at the Dell, mum played for women’s team, were both at Wembley in 1976, grandfather a steward and family worked at the club.

Missed the ball again at Northampton too.

Ah, the old Shane Warne quote about John Buchanan.

Spors and Parsons need to go with him. And all of the coaches.

At a club that’s had Mark Wright, Fonte, VVD, Michael Svensson, Dave Watson, Chris Nicholl, Toby, Dean Richards, Claus, McGrath, Monkou and so on in that position, he’s got some nerve. Not in our top 100 CBs, learn some humility.

He had a (nick) knack of getting people to run his errands.

The exec corridor dry cleaning still gets collected though tbf.