SFKA South Woodford

Not entirely true, the parent company also own, the event management company we hear so much about and have owned a commercial radio station. So can prove that they have or have had a portfolio of different businesses, rather than just having been the parent company of the football club. Technicalities can make all the difference in business.

Firstly, just what would Barclays be achieving by forcing us into administration, if we have avoided the drop? We all know that the club will be getting a 2.1 million pound windfall from the new tv deal, so I doubt very much, Barclays or Aviva, would want to miss out on their shares of that money. It's not as if they'll get anywhere near that amount back from us being a division one club. Secondly, according to the echo the other day, Barclays do not own the mortgage on the ground, Aviva AKA Norwich Union do.

I didn't know what the other results were at the time though.

As do all the best players, especially strikers! Just look at Shearer, Sheringham, Philips and Beattie, all supremely confident in their own ability, and all prolific scorers in the premiership. It's that supreme confidence that makes them a better player. I'd agree that as things stand, McG has a long way to go to match even half of the things that Brett did for Saints. But has been showing of late, that he does have talent, and is starting to add the workrate, that will make him a more complete player. I remember seeing him at Central and talking to him, after a game while we were still in the big league. He said that he had played for the youth team that morning and had scored a hat trick, and was waiting for Leon, as he was travelling home to Nottingham with him. I asked him then, whether he thought he would be as good as Dexter and Leon, who were playing well for the reserves, and his reply was that he was going to be a lot better than either of them. At which point Leon arrived and after some ribbing, said that McG was going to be a very good player for Saints one day. So give McG another full season of first team football and then judge him.

I was with them, as I couldn't get a ticket for the saints end, my cousin is a hammers fan, so got me a ticket with him and his friends. Then proceeded to tell everyone around us that I was a Saints fan when we got on the terrace. I remember going mental when we scored our goals, and how I wanted to be in with the rest of you celebrating, especially as I was getting some very nasty looks from the hammers fans around me. I was so disappointed when Ken scored that og, and seem to remember thinking that we were going down, until hearing that Sheff Utd hadn't got a result against Chelsea.

Yes, I remember those cruel b*stards, playing 'Show me the way to amarillo' over and over again on the tannoy to all of us locked inside that dump for over an hour, after the game in the relegation season. I think we should all get together and bring a civil action against the skates for intolerable cruelty.

Could have had something to do with the Derby full backs playing so high up the pitch. Derby obviously did their homework, and knew we like to play first time balls in from the wings, from James and Skacel, and pushed up on them. We couldn't play through them, and with two men to get around the ball down the wing woudn't have worked either.

It was a great atmosphere, with everyone in the ground joining in with some of the chants today, it felt great. I think the fans were almost as important as the players in getting the result. As has previously been said on this thread the players seemed to really respond at certain times and upped the perfomance and got back on top of Cardiff. Well played the twelfth man.

I remember a Paul Jones save from a Teddy Sheringham 3 yard whack in at Old Trafford in the 3-3 Taibi draw, which was a pretty damn special effort. No one could believe that he had kept it out. Unfortunately the bloody linesman was standing in front of me on Kelvin's save today, I saw the header, then nothing and then James helping it away round the post.

There were also loads of policemen around the Kingsland Tavern and The Eagle after the game. Did the police close all of the pubs in town for a period after the final whistle?

I may be being pessimistic, but I think it will take a 50 points plus total to ensure survival, with the points our rivals already have in the bag, and given that their slumps will not go on until the end of the season. So from our last thirteen games we will need to win six and draw one to stay up. I think the team can achieve it, even if we don't get anything from tomorrow's game. Should we pick up all three points from tomorrow, it will just seem that little bit easier to achieve. I think the team have at least a couple more away wins left in them this season as well.

One thing other than the obvious that I noticed yesterday, was they way that all of the team were talking, egging on and geeing each other up all the way through the match. Was almost as good to see and hear as the goals and the crowd being united.

He is the best finisher in the club, but have you seen him play as the lone frontman? On the occasions he has played up top alone, he hasn't set the world alight. He just doesn't have the ability to hold the ball long enough to bring others in to play. And before anyone jumps down my throat, I know that playing a lone striker is a nonsense in this league. Let's hope Wotte saw enough yesterday to continue with two up front for the remaining games.

I saw it on football first last night, and you could see him say 'have that you skate bastar*s' just as he was running over to them with his hand cupped to his ear. Loved his reaction. As we all know, if he'd stayed rather than left for Everton, we would have stayed up that season. He and Kenwyne have always been under rated, especially by some Saints fans.

Administration really would be the end of the Saints we all love so dearly. Woud we ever be able to see a Saints team back in the football league, let alone either the championship or premiership? Admin will mean the sale of all club assets first and foremost, which in all probability woud include St Mary's, with the only hope then being that the council could some how find the money and lease it back to whatever is left of the club after the process has ended. Without the stadium there is no base for recovery. Without a stadium and without a place in the football league, there is no longer the Southampton Football Club which has ruled our emotions for so much of our lives. Before anyone mentions Aldershot, their circumstances were different, they had a local businessman that could actually afford to buy the garden shed that is the Recreation ground. Without it, I doubt very much they would have managed the climb they have made, being such a small club probably aided their recovery, rather than hindered it. If none of our local businessmen can afford to buy the club at it's current worth, then none of them can afford to buy St Marys, it is after all the club's largest debt. So i'll say 'no thanks' to administration, if it's all the same to you guys.

Eureka, that's the answer. Get Southampton leisure holdings, listing and name reclassified to a bank, then announce that they are still going to pay the club staff massive bonuses, as the state the business is in, is not the fault of it's employees. Surely the government will step in nationalise it and provide a nice big cash injection to keep the business operating. All our problems solved.

Footballers in actually giving a cr*p about the team they play for shocker! I'm pretty sure they don't care who is running the club as long as they get paid each week. The only thing that's having a negative affect on them, is losing every week, and they are the ones that can do something about that, by putting in maximum effort for an entire 95 mins, not switching off at various points and pressing the opposition when they have possesion instead of allowing them to waltz through with the ball. They don't need to be nursed or 'understood', they need a kick up the backside!

I seem to remember that on a fair few occasions over the last few seasons, people have been advocating on message boards, that Saints should play the youth team players instead of the first teamers, as they would play for the pride of the shirt. Now that is the case, the same people are moaning again, you just can't please some people. Maybe Rupert did listen for a change.

The team also never attempt a near post corner routine, or getting a man making a run across the near post area on any crosses which come in. They cause teams problems defensively, yet the team never try either of them. Basic tactics, that could get us back into games, or break the stalemate in others. Also when we manage to get a toe hold in a match, the players never seem to want to press on, and always drop a notch and allow the other team back into the game.

Maybe, now is the time for us all to club together and buy the club from the administrators. We could then offer to do the £1 deal with someone who has the money to take the club forward, with a proviso of continuing investment for a set period of time. And yes, I do know that we couldn't furnish the clubs debts, or even offer a decent percentage in the pound, but it may be worth a shot. If 30,000 people could put in an average of £200, that would amount to a decent fund.

When Saints had just been thumped at Highbury, the lads turned up a a wine bar, where London Saints had laid on their end of season get together. Razor had to sit out the game for some reason, but travelled with the lads and had spent the afternoon enjoying a few drinks in the players lounge. Apparently Branfoot was furious and tore him off a strip when they were all on the coach. In the short time it took for the coach to make the trip from highbury, Razor fell asleep and Branfoot had him locked on the coach when everyone else was off of it, only letting him off to sign a few autographs for the last ten minutes before the team left for the trip back. I remember Branfoot watching Razor like a hawk for the time he was allowed into the bar.

Well said, been saying the same for years. Whilst I don't like the situation our team is in, I don't see a quick fix cash injection as the answer either. We need a firm base for stability for the future of our club for generations upon generations to come, not someone who is going to pull out after five to ten years at most, leaving the club in a worse position than it is in now, through a much bigger debt. The million dollar question is of course, how exactly do we and those in power at the club achieve this. Also agree on the future of our beautiful country and it's great people, once we lose the skills and abilities to be self sufficent, we lose all that is good about us and has made us what we are.

I've seen Smith twice now and thought he was too lightweight the first time I saw him play when he first arrived. However, I saw him against Plymouth, where he was head and shoulders above any of the other Saints players, his play down the wing was good and he had the defender in his pocket with pace and some exceptional skill. I spoke to a guy sitting behind me that day who said that he wasn't impressed the first time he saw him in action either, but had changed his mind on his performance on Boxing Day. I think he may well be another Fabrice, a very frustrating player, in that on his day he wouldn't be out of place in the premier, but on others would struggle to get in a non league team. Let's just hope he shows what he can do more often, than he fails to deliver.

And a hefty sell on clause! On the subject of administration. It would be better not to have a points deduction to contend with. Starting next season on -10 points does not bode well for a promotion campaign. Plus you then have to let the FA look at all of your accounts and if they find anything they don't like, we'll be facing an even bigger penalty of somewhere between 25 and 40 points, if the Rotherham and Luton debacle's are anything to go by. So Administration, no thanks! As it will mean non league football for a club with a 32,000 seat stadium that they can't afford the upkeep on, let alone paying off whatever is left of the percentage in the pound to any of their creditors.

I remember a few seasons ago, Rupert gave an attendance figure of just under 16,000, per home game as being the number needed for the club to be able to furnish all of it's debts in this division. However since ths was before the crunch and the increased debt of the last two seasons, balanced against the cost cutting which has taken place, that figure is likely to have increased by a few thousand. So if we could get back to a 22,000+ per game attendance, we should see the clubs worries eased slightly.