Fowllyd

Nice to see that you've found a thread which gives you the chance to burnish that old obsession. But you know, you really shouldn't have bothered.

Yes, but on a long-forgotten thread he posted this link: http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/cgi-bin/seigmiaow.pl - for this alone Trousers has my eternal gratitude.

Wanting/hoping and expecting are different things, n'est-ce pas? My point was that Pardew's comments were general rather than specific. I'd agree that it was daft of the OS to fuel the speculation yesterday morning though - best to keep one's counsel until the ink's dry on the contract I reckon.

Pardew said he was looking to strengthen in a couple of areas, nothing more than that. No specific names or targets were mentioned, they've all just been speculation here and elsewhere. Apart from Jaidi, who'd been training with the squad for some time. In what sense is that 'going public'? And what does it matter anyway? And when the hell are you going to lose your obsession with CAPITALS, ........s and 8)s?

The purchase of the club was completed on the 8th July; Wotte was removed on the 9th; Pardew was appointed late on the 16th (the OS announced the appointment first thing on the 17th). That's all of a week between removing the incumbent and appointing his successor. How quickly would you expect such an important appointment to be made?

Wow! You must know him really well!

When I was living in Gateshead a few years ago, and doing some courier work here and there, I had a delivery from Sunderland to a bar in Whitby - a few kegs of beer and some bottles of spirits. When the manager of the bar saw the Saints stickers on the back windows of my van, he asked if the van was mine, then (on my answer) said he was himself a Saints man. Didn't give me a free beer though!

Well, there's one a bit further up this thread!

I think you'll find that in Wes' excellent analogy Phileas Fogg represents Sacha Gaydamak and the boat Pompey. So, according to your reading of it Gaydamak will skip happily away to greater things, as did Fogg. As for the boat, it is simply sacrificed to allow Fogg/Gaydamak to achieve his aim. Still, it's nice that Wes' picture makes you feel optimistic...

Quite right too. Wotte may have a record of managerial failure which would make lesser men blush, but by god he can shake a hand when it's thrust in his general direction. How could the new owners have been so short-sighted?

Who says he did? I see no reason to think so. The only quote in that piece is the one that's been quoted everywhere, just after he'd been confirmed as the new manager. If he'd spoken to the Star they'd have quoted what he said to them. Tabloids attribute thoughts and wishes to footballers, managers etc all the time; only very rarely do they actually talk to them first.

And one other thing - there's no need for the OS to massage his CV!

Excellent appointment - as TDD has said, he must be easily the most experienced and successful manager in our division. Let's face it, he's managed successfully at this level, CCC level and Premiership level. Has that lean and hungry look too. Also indicates just how little leaks out of St Mary's nowadays!

Can't you get postal orders any more? BTW, I'm with those who'll donate their contribution to Saints in the Community if we don't raise the minimum amount - though it looks highly unlikely that we'll fail to do so at the current rate.

That may be true, but if it is then why does he persist in trying? Maybe because he doesn't know what else to do, or because he's scared of his dad's reaction if he knocks it on the head? Seems odd one way or another. I saw him in a reserve match last autumn (against Swansea I think) and from that viewing I'd have to agree with the thread title.

What, from Brittany? I've got good distance vision, but that's truly impressive.

Well, it is a perfect number.

Or, of course, that he's never been offered a job here at all. After all, how easy is it to say you turned down a job you were never actually offered in the first place - and quite possibly never even considered for? Very easy indeed I'd say, especially given that our new management team are highly unlikely to comment.

Well, that'll be a lot of sewing for someone's old gran to be doing...

As a matter of interest, how much betting activity does it take to alter the odds on Skybet? My guess is that it's not very much at all, especially for a book with as little interest (relatively speaking) as this one. Cetrainly, that would explain the wild fluctuations in odds we keep seeing. It would also mean, of course, that basing one's view of who our manager will be on the Skybet favourite is more than somewhat daft.

Or Paterson...

The Echo piece doesn't really say anything authoritative though. A statement from a club spokesman about hoping players remain with us until the new manager arrives, but that's about it. The comment about when it may happen sounds like the Echo just guessing - just like us on here then... Maybe I'll point my bike wheels past St Mary's on my way to work around 11:30 - if there's a phalanx of TV vans there I'll let everybody know just as soon as I'm in the office!

Many would say he'd be an excellent choice, but then he's just signed a shiny new four-year contract at Peterborough, so he also looks an unlikely one.

Well, Cortese did an interview with the Echo, which is a pretty controlled environment in that you get to choose which questions you want to answer (or even which questions can be asked). I get the impression (though that's all it is) that the current management will communicate with the press etc as and when it suits them to do so - in other words, when they have something to say which they want to be heard. There's certainly been a total absence of leaks from the Swiss side of things - both before and since the takeover was completed.

Why can't you have bacon like everyone else?