Fowllyd

Yes indeed. I seem to recall that Pinnacle had apparently completed due diligence prior to gaining exclusivity. Many a slip 'twixt cup and lip and all that, eh.

Don't think his description of George Burley as "the impressive Scottish boss" would find much favour on here! Other than that, it reads rather oddly - are we safe and, if we are, is it in the short or long term? Do we have to rely on academy players or will there be money to spend? Is our purchase by Markus Liebherr a new beginning, or is it all too late? He seems to suggest all of these at the same time.

What, Bryan Adams? Actually, he'd probably be better than Bryan Robson. Or Tony Adams. And it might stop him making any records. Winner all round then.

I know - a few impressive numbers and I'm anybody's. Phwooaarrr - just look at that win ratio!!!

Bit unrealistic in my view - they'll never build anything as good as that!

Well said that man (or woman)! :smt023

Excellent post. I find myself warming more and more to the idea of Poyet, I have to say. Am I right in thinking he's available?

I know what you mean, but I'd say it's nothing compared to the harm that a full season (or even half a season) with the wrong manager could do. I know there are no guarantees, but a proper process of selection is far more likely to get us the right man for the job. Oh, and they haven't even been in control of the club for a week yet. Things always seem to drag when you're anticipating something - I remember how long last Wednesday morning seemed to last!

Well maybe we should actually have a strategy then, rather than simply appoint the first available hack who happens to be available. I'd far prefer to see an end to the managerial appointment/disappointment cycle we've been in for so many years. Who knows - we may just become a club which doesn't change manager every year or so.

Agreed. They made the decision and acted on it straight away. Keeping Wotte on would have been a sham, and a pretty unpleasant one at that. Looking at the Echo piece, it's clear that they want to make the appointment as soon as they can, but they won't be losing sleep if it takes longer than a few days. All of which sounds fine to me.

There's only so much that can be done until you actually own the club though, surely. My impression is that these people wouldn't have gone off talking to potential managers until they had completed the deal for the club - or before they'd made a decision about whether to retain Wotte's services or not. As I said earlier, I'd rather they took the time to get the right person for us; if that entails several interviews of several candidates then so be it. It's the single most important decision for this club - best not to rush it.

Very well said. All the indications so far are that things are being done properly - I know we have precious little experience of that, but it's certainly something I could get used to!

OK, fair enough. I think it's pretty clear that Pinnacle weren't what they claimed, and this is also a good indication of that. But the money was paid, which was what Mark Fry wanted as it allowed wages to be paid. The post I was answering suggested (well, stated actually) that Pinnacle had gained exclusivity without paying anything. Incidentally, was your information from the horse's mouth, as it were? Not doubting you on it, just wondering. I know you had some inside knowledge on what happened with the Pinnacle bid.

Good point. Personally, I think all this from Harris is just bluster and tantrums because he was looking at a nice commission for brokering a deal. Thanks, Keith, but we've already got one...

He didn't. He said that the football club wasn't in administration. It wasn't. Technicalities perhaps, but correct nonetheless.

Did Pinnacle get exclusivity without putting any money down then? Is that a fact or another 'allegedly'? And, given that the Harris consortium only emerged late in the day, after Pinnacle's exclusivity period had expired, at what point did they offer £0.5M for exclusivity? If you read the interview with Mark Fry from Saturday's Echo there are some answers in there which, I think, make sense, though there's no specific mention of the Harris consortium. You'll find the interview here: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/4487870.Mark_Fry_reveals_all_about_the_Saints_takeover/?ref=rss

Well, Wim Jansen did - I assume he was approached for comment as Adams had mentioned him specifically. Celtic as a club rubbished the idea by appointing Tony Mowbray. Nobody at Saints has said a word to confirm or deny approaches to any possible managers, so I'd read nothing at all into that - other than that they're going about the whole thing in a wholly professional manner, which is what I'd expect given the way things have been done so far.

Why does this worry you? The very first paragraph states that it's "according to reports in The Sun". So in other words it's just a rehash of a report (singular, not plural) in one of the world's least reliable newspapers. As others have pointed out, the "Adams in line for Celtic job" stories did the rounds for a few days, until it became quite clear that the possibility of such a thing happening only existed in Tony Adams' mind.

Possible, but I think it more likely that his contract was amended because the club still needed a manager, he was already doing that and we clearly weren't in a position to bring in anybody new. It also meant that any new owners would be free to do what they wanted, without burdening them with a manager on a long and/or expensive contract.

He wasn't given a new contract though - he already had a 12-month rolling contract as academy director. This was amended to make him manager. So he'd still have qualified for the pay-off on the old contract.

Top post.

I remember it well - it was the first match I ever went to! If memory serves we won 2-0, our second being a beautiful lob of his own keeper by Rangers' right back. Won't be there for Hearts though - I'll be at Lords... :)

Liebherr won't be CEO; Cortese is taking that role for the time being, but they'll no doubt be looking for someone on a permanent basis. And, unless the Swiss allow employees to choose their bosses, Oldknow won't have any say in the decision. I don't know where all this obsession with names from our past is coming from, unless of course it's down to Oldknow's return - but he was only ever a bit part player before. Liebherr and Cortese have no history here and I'm sure they'll choose CEO etc as they see fit, without trawling the SFC annals to see who's done similar things here in the past. Why would they even think of Cowen?

It must have taken you a very long time to get round all Saints supporters to elicit their views on Hoddle - elsewhere you suggest that 95% would have welcomed his return. I don't remember you asking my opinion though - perhaps I wasn't paying attention at the time, in which case I apologise unreservedly.

And why he may have been under that impression? Was he told he had the job, or did he simply assume it? I'd guess the latter. The takeover didn't even complete until Wednesday afternoon; you can hardly expect that the new owners would have been in a position to decide whether Wotte should stay, or have the chance to talk to him properly, that same day. As it is, the decision came towards the end of their first day in charge of the club, which has looked pretty damned quick to most people; I was certainly surprised at the swiftness of it. Oh, and given Wotte's track record in management he should never have been appointed in the first place.