Alain Perrin

ORLY? In Lowe's day the club said the average ticket price was £14 (once you take into account OAPs, kids, comps etc.) 5000 * £14 gives you a mere £35000 per game which doesn't go very far when you've got people on £12K per week. Granted we don't know what their appearance / goal bonuses were but they weren't going to be £50 of M&S vouchers and a Mars Bar. We went bust because of a bounced cheque of £small - we were that close to the bone. Lowe's interference in the playing side was inevitable and not doing so would have been a dereliction of duty.

I'm not sure that, as historians go, you're clear of Pravda-esque revisionism... but FWIW, other than a) having a replacement pre-appointed or b) coughing up more compensation, Cortese could have done much more. That's based on what's in the public domain -the rest is based on rumour, conjecture and grinding axes.

My opinion: If the above is true, then Adkins will be announced as manager tomorrow and take training tomorrow. Either compensation has been agreed or he's resigned. It benefits neither club to be in limbo so I suggest the former. Making an announcement today serves no purpose (other than to cool the keyboards of some of the numpties on here). I for one will give him 100% support. I suspect some on here will struggle with that, but that's football.

I was at the game and thought Connolly was largely absent. Not surprising when we persist with hoofball (note to team: Ricky Lambert isn't that great in the air, keep it on the deck).

Deal was done yesterday. Announced tomorrow. Starts on Monday. No point in announcing yesterday or today, it'll have distracted from the glory of the performance at Swindon.

Yes. You're a ****.

I think this Twitter from FootballAgent46 may be relevant: "After all week on the south coast doing various I'm on M1 heading north to get things done. I hoped for break after the window shut " about 5 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® I wonder if he is Adkins agent. He seemed in the know about Adkins being one of the final two. He also posted about something breaking down 'out of [his] control' yesterday about the time it all was up in the air.....

Swiss bankers don't do anything without having a reason. They also don't talk to the press before or (usually) after they've done it. £500K (the figure is irrelevant) compensation is £500K we can't spend on Antonio or similar. Personally (and I have no evidence either way), I think the on/off is a negotiating ploy. Not getting Adkins doesn't work for either party: - Scunny have a manager who's agreed terms with another club. - Saints don't have a manager and whoever replaces him knows they're second choice. It will be interesting to see what happens now given that Cortese doesn't like doing his business in public.

That's what the HR people would like you to believe. More typically: 1) Create a Job Specification 1a) Speak 'off the record' with a suitable candidate. 1b) Re-shape Job spec to suit said candidate. 2) Follow HR process to satisfy Legal / Compliance (carry out some interviews to test the water) 3) Still happy with your choice? Appoint the guy you wanted.

If this is the case I fully expect the story to be in the Sun tomorrow.

Hmm. Not who you'd expect. Inspired. ... My money's on Pardew.

I think Saint's managers, and managers in general fall into three categories: - Motivators - who get the best out of a team through motivation and instill a will to win. - Tacticians - who can out think the opposition and make tactical changes to make a difference. - Transfer specialists - who can pick a player. I think Pardew has, on balance, signed good players. Yes he's had a lot of cash to spend, but that can always be spent on tatt. He's motivated the squad, not to a Gordan Strachan level, but got them out of a vicious circle of losing (we need to be careful that that doesn't embed itself again). I don't rate him as a tactician, we were too one dimensional and he was a 65 minute substituter (which I think marks out poor tactical managers - similar to Dave Jones and Strachan in this regard). Hoddle was a great tactician, you could guarantee that if we went in under the cosh, he'd change things at half time and we'd come out better for it. Hoddle though signed some right duffers and he wasn't a motivator. My point is Pardew wasn't all good, and wasn't all bad. At this level, without lucking out on a young manager, you're not going to get all three. Here's hoping whoever NC gets can score at least 2.5!

Wikipedia says "Meola is now coaching his son's U12 soccer club in Toms River, NJ." Sounds just what we need....

Conveniently there are two away games giving you a perfect reason to stand by your principles for the next few weeks....

Heard some gossip today from someone who met someone on Friday who was on the pitch for the Swindon game. Atmosphere in the dressing room was "like a morgue", many players disappointed that AP had gone. No one knows why, lots of rumours. But those rumours of a bust up / sex / drinking don't have anything behind them - the suggestion being they've been put about to justify the decision. It's an open secret inside the club that NC and AP weren't getting on. No news on the new guy but, judging by today, ASAP is necessary.

Agreed. We'll give him 3 games and then get on his back. It'll be a real test of character.

I agree with what up and away posted. What I don't get is why not wait another day until the transfer window closes? That way any signings in the pipeline would go through giving the squad a full complement. As it stands if I was close to signing on the dotted line, I wouldn't if I didn't know who the manager was going to be. Obviously the new man may not agree / want different players, but isn't having someone elses signings better than having none at all?

Rupert Lowe. Player manager.

Stand up.... if you've got a brazillian....

Great win although there are still times we seem asleep at the back (from the radio anyway - interested what those at the game thought). Perhaps understandable when it's such a one sided game but there's still a weakness there (corners and FKs). We're off though. COYS

Excellent point. Except there are two sentences. Two independent clauses. Unless of course you're claiming that we've played more than two league games; Orient and Bolton were drab, chance-less affairs. Then I suggest you shut the **** up.

Jesus. Two games iin. I'm not sure what's worse, 'doing a Leeds' and be top early, followed by months of you wrist slitters worrying about us blowing a lead every time we drop a point. Or dropping points early and having to sit through it now. Two games in. Two good and genuinely unlucky performances (Orient and Bolton). The majority of teams will come to SMS and park the bus in front of the goal. The team need to do what they're doing, keep plugging away, keep calm (ignoring you lot) and goals will come. With respect, the teletext warriors who don't / won't / can't make it to games just need to relax. We are playing well and the results will follow. .

Why did you spoil an interesting dig with an unnecessary post?

Obviously that was deliberate. However I salute your intention to detail.

Hold onto your hats then girls. I have it on the highest authority ("Se sai cosa intendo") that the club are considering renaming the stadium in memory of Markus. However I have heard that there is a proposal to recognise Rupert Lowe's involvement in the project. "The Liebherr Lowe Stadium" illiterates well but is likely to stick in some people's throats.