Fowllyd

Good bit of coverage; I enjoyed it all the more because I'm clearly visible in the background while Gabriel Clark's talking to camera, walking down from the Bargate.

Just got home - can't make the game as I'll be elsewhere, but got to the demo. I'd say that 1,000 is on the low side as an estimate; when I got to the top of Kingsway the front of the march was way down Northam Road, while the back-markers had just left Hoglands Park. If anything, the numbers outside SMS were lower, as many people went off at that point, presumably to take their seats, meet friends or whatever. All in all, an excellent turnout - plenty of cameras there so there'll be TV coverage too.

Seriously? Looking at Nineteen Canteen's posts, he's so obviously Sundance (and earlier incarnations) that it almost hurts. The portentous, patronising style, the prolixity - and the downright nastiness above all else. I remember seeing his first few posts, in which he laid into Um Pahars and others (though mostly Um) and thinking that this was clearly the recently-banned Sundance back with a new alias. Let's face it, he has plenty of previous in all these areas. As for educated, well... His use of English is poor, and I'm not talking mere typos here - he constructs sentences badly and makes many grammatical mistakes. Furthermore, he can't hold a decent line of argument, as shown by Wes Tender's dismantling of one of his posts earlier in this thread. Personally, I'm not overly bothered by the grammatical stuff (though his readiness to slate others for similar mistakes does grate somewhat), but to describe his posts as educated is well wide of the mark. Incidentally, the reason you had hissy-fit posts from Flashman would, I'm sure, have been down to your support for Burley at a time when Flashman had a view which was directly opposed. Look at a few of his posts aimed at fellow posters in the short time he's been with us and you'll see plenty of resemblances to Flashdance Bear.

I'd have said Armstrong, on the basis that there actually was football (and life) before the Premiership.

Monday, 11pm - this will be a last-minute deal. And the team? Ipswich Town - they'll get their man yet...

Interesting to note this from the OS article: Is this a not-so-tacit acknowledgement of so many comments - not just on here - about our consistent lack of said Plan B?

Good post, Phil. All this reminds me in a way of the old days of the Cold War, when announcements from the Kremlin were always pored over in an attempt to find the deeper meaning hidden between the lines. Apparently bland statements often indicated serious things happening behind the scenes, and nothing was ever taken at face value. Yep, sounds familiar...

So, is he an agent then? He's not registered as one. According to the club he's an advisor - whatever that means. He's been seen at the training ground, at matches sitting next to Lowe, he's clearly been involved in bringing various players to the club - and probably Poortvliet and Wotte too. He appears to have a high degree of influence around the place. The problem here is that it's easy to hide behind the "he's not employed by the club, he's just an advisor" story. No need to explain his role or influence, or give details of how much he's been paid and for what. Are you telling me that you simply aren't bothered by all that? Now, I don't care who cleans the windows at St Mary's, but I certainly do care about the inadequately-explained role of van der Waals. Nice little straw man you built there, though.

As somebody said on another thread, how does this chap who nobody seems to have even heard of have such fabulous contacts in English football? Why's he been at Lowe's side at so many matches? What the hell's he doing at Staplewood? Just how much has he been paid, for what services, and is he still receiving money from the club? The club's statement tells us very little indeed. The Dutch article quoted on here suggests that he has a level of involvement and influence way beyond that which a casual 'advisor' might be expected to have. Now I don't know where the truth lies, but it seems to me that you'd have to be exceptionally trusting to be satisfied with the comments from the club, not least as they've only mentioned him now his name's been brought into the open.

Depends on whether he's remembered to pack his mobile phone I guess...

Exactly. We were losing at home to one of two teams then below us in the table, a team which was only promoted last season and is many people's hot favourite to go down; he changed the team line-up, going to a 3-man defence (with ONE centre-back, for god's sake), at which point many players by all accounts seemed totally unaware of how they should be lining up... And with all this he expects a positive reaction from the crowd?

Seconded on both counts.

No, you're not. That's exactly the way I read it too. And it's exactly what many people thought would happen if Poortvliet went. Plus ca change, eh... Be there at the Bargate next Saturday or be f*cking nowhere.

I think you're wrong. A demonstration will never change anything directly, but it can still have an effect. If several hundred people turn up on the 31st, it will be a newsworthy event (only in terms of local news, but then that's all that matters here anyway). And since when is a walking bus of fans to the stadium an ordinary, everyday occurrence? The national media don't matter one jot here - if Newcastle fans organised a march through the city to state their feelings about the way their club's being run would they care what Saints fans think? Hardly - it's a local issue. I haven't the foggiest about exactly what, if anything, we'll achieve next Saturday. But I do know that I'd rather be walking from the Bargate to St Mary's with everybody else who chooses to do so than sitting on my arse in Woolston wondering how many will turn up. Yes, if there are no more than 50-odd of us then I guess we'll look pretty feeble. But that's an argument for being there, not for absenting yourself. March to St Mary's or sleepwalk to oblivion? I know where I'll be next Saturday.

Try as he might, he just can't change that posting style, can he? Thanks for the reminder about The Third Bear - couldn't remember it. Come to that, I don't recall him raising hackles under that alias either, so maybe he was just finding his voice. But I really don't think he's prompted by Lowe - why would Rupert need anybody else to embarrass him, when he does it so well himself?

Well knock me down with a feather - I've just posted exactly the same thing on another thread. He seems to have a big thing for you at the moment Um - my but you're one lucky fella!

Nah, Canteen's posting style is much more akin to somebody else entirely. Let's see now - criticism of others' mistakes in English, while perpetrating plenty of his own; disparagement of those whose views he dislikes; pompous tone; support for Lowe masquerading as realism; refusal to stump up a fiver to give us more exposure to his erudite and enlightened thoughts... Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sundance Beast (formerly known as Flashman at the Charge and some other alias that I've forgotten). Yeah, I could be wrong...

This seems to fit somehow: Woke up this morning, got yourself a gun. Your mama always said you'd be the chosen one. She said you're one in a million, that you've got to burn to shine, That you were born under a bad sign with a blue moon in your eyes. Woke up this morning, all that love had gone. Your poppa never told you about right or wrong. But you're looking good, baby, I believe that you're feeling fine, (shame about it) Born under a bad sign with a blue moon in your eyes. Woke up this morning, world turned upside down, Things ain't been the same since the blues walked into town. But you're one in a million, you got that shotgun shine (shame about it) Born under a bad sign with a blue moon in your eyes, yeah... Just thought I'd share that with you... And if anybody doesn't recognise those words they've been watching the wrong TV programmes.

Hate to point this out, but the 23rd February isn't a Friday. There's the 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th to choose from if it's a Friday; if it's the 23rd it'll be a Monday. Minor detail, I know...

There was one - I remember seeing it, and Barcelona Saint confirming that it was the same bloke he'd spoken to months earlier about Poortvliet etc. Seems this bloke can't keep his mouth shut either then (van der Waals, that is, not Barcelona). But I have a sneaking suspicion the photo was posted pre-forum crash; if so it won't be available now. Can't recall just when the forum crashed though...

It seems then that if we're on the lookout for a Rasputin to Lowe's Nikolai, we need look no further. Or a Cheney to Lowe's Dubya, come to that... Is it just me, or does it all just get ever gloomier and grimmer?

Somebody once remarked that if Graeme Souness were a chocolate drop he'd eat himself (may have been WGS, and certainly does sound like his style!). The 'chocolate man' references here sound remarkably similar - though it's harder to see what Wotte's ever done to think so highly of himself.

Vaguely on the original topic, did the Dell's capacity decrease in 1982? Attendance figures dipped after that, so it must have done. More seats perhaps? Or the new Milton end? I can't remember exactly when these things happened, but I think the new Milton end was earlier than that. It does seem odd, though, that attendances in 1984 (our most successful year by a street or several) are below those of a couple of years before.

In his comments after Saturday's match he seemed to be blaming the fans, saying they were putting the players under too much pressure. And when he's not doing that his statements never amount to more than "I can't understand why this is happening." Hardly showing pride or carrying the can.

Feck me, this man is truly inspirational...