Alain Perrin

Some people don't listen to the news. I know some people harbour prejudices about Lowe, but to drag this up at this time is just malicious.

I doubt he goes in the Junior Saints section....

I personally think the club should not allow Northam fans to go to the JPT final (if we get there). In the main they are hooligan yoof who bring shame, yes, shame, on this club. The sooner we eradicate these scum from our fanbase the better.

Merci, je ne sais pas ca! I never managed to take zee Skates down did I - zut alors! I am a **** manager It is natural though that I would rate Morgan, him being a countryman and all. My fundamental problem with (most) football opinion is it is based on show and flair, not on reality. In every team you need a mixture of thugs (Wotten), blockers (Trotman), opportunists (Lambert), speedsters (Waigo), inventives (Lallana) and link men (Schneiderlin/Hammond). The trouble is that most fans want every player to be everything - and that doesn't happen (even if - as is rarely the case - the player is capable, the role they are assigned in system in which they play won't let them). There's merit in the comment that Schneiderlin and Hammond are similar, but the roles they play are different. Morgan links the defense to the Midfield, Hammond does the same for the midfield to the attack. For what it's worth I think we should be praising Pardew for brave substitutions. It takes a good read of the game to sub your sub, once the match starts to go against you.

Most of those knocking Morgan are probably the same people who knocked Matt Oakley. I.e. They do not appreciate the value of a holding / defensive midfield player. Morgan is probably the player with most potential in our team. He still has a lot to learn, but much of what he is involved in is good. Ps. Although I rate Perry, I think he struggled in the air against their attackers. Better in the second half though.

Can't wait for the aeroplane style manouvre..... On a side note, just because a fan doesn't know about Shilton or Keegan, doesn't make them less of a fan. It just makes you (us) old

No extras though

Sorry! I meant "staying in the league"

I wonder how Jan Portvliet would have done if we'd had someone like Rickie up front? In the early days of his tenure we seemed to create lots of chances, but lacked the fire power to put it away. There still would have been problems in the team (muscle in defence), but it could have made the difference between promotion and relegation.

Hmmm, maybe he was responsible the global financial crisis - maybe not. I think this is SOG's point. Lowe gets/got blamed for far more than he was responsible and in response some of the 'luvvies' responded by crediting him for more than he was ever responsible for. I am a 'luvvie' or what I would prefer to call a realist. I don't think Lowe was the anti-christ, nor do I think he was Jesus Christ. I'm posting less because the Lowe debate/subscription charge killed this board. 90% of posts were about that, not about football and the posters like me who were football first (hmm, nice slogan!), politics second lost the will to live/post. Hence why there are fewer posters/posts on here than there ever were.

Ah Norwich. I swear I nearly had a heart attack when Camera (sp?) scored. Probably the most dramatic single moment I have experienced as a Saints fan. I believed.

Pointless. You'll just get the rustle of crisp packets from the Kingsland. Regardless. What right does Thorpie-the-**** have to tell anyone how they should support their club? If you don't like it, go and stand next to that bloke with the bell at Pompey - I guess he's a proper 'football person'....

Not sure what it was to be honest. I always think that offsides where the ball has been played a long way (like the one described) are very difficult to judge. Unlike the linesman, our interest is at the other end of the pitch. We should have a rule on this forum that, if you sit in the Chapel or the Northam, you can't have a (valid) opinion on an offside decision. There is no way that you can judge when perpendicular to the action. Officials get a bad name too often because fans make proclamations about things they, at best, have a compromised view of (and that's before you bring in the bias!). Officials are human and will make mistakes, it's part of what makes football fun. And whilst I don't agree with replaying games after dubious decisions, I do think the FA/FIFA should be punishing players that try and kid the referee. Honest mistakes vs. dishonest behaviour.

Sorry matey, he was three yards off side. Wait for the TV to see what I mean. I thought the officials were generally good today (especially given the conditions). I thought the KD goal kick offside was dubious though

Ratings, smatings. It's all opinions. If you could accurately reflect a player's performance in a mark out of ten, then you might as well not play the match and just let the statistics decide a la Championship Manager. I thought James was always a threat going forward, he did deliver some good balls into the box, but also some duff ones too. He also made himself available for attacking moves. Personally I think his weakness is his lack of pace. We get very exposed on the right and all he can do is slow the defender, he doesn't have the speed to recover his position quick enough. Brighton bested us in heart and desire, and with an injection of pace at crucial times. Saints showed up late and were always playing catch up.

Touchy feely is fine if you are in social work, teaching or group therapy. Man up. This is business. Different world Missed your sales targets? "Awww... come and have a hug", rarely works. In my experience you need a mix, in the example I gave, the current CEO is the 'good cop' (he's the friendly guy, your buddy, the man with the personality), current COO is the 'bad cop' (the terrier who the CEO sends in to sort out crap and tear someone a new arsehole). Damn right I'd leave if the Bad Cop became CEO, but in balance it works.

Hmmmm a thread without Lowe being mentioned (aawww nuts!). I support the view that footaball should be playable in a park with jumpers for goalposts. The sooner you introduce rules dependent on technology then you'll kill that spirit. If you remove the uncertainty and (perceived) injustice from football, it'll just sanitise it too much. There will be nothing to talk about.

Rubbish. At my company the COO is complete tosser. However, he gets results like you wouldn't believe. No friends, just results. Any company needs a mixture of good cops and bad cops.

I think we should trust Pardew to tailor the formation to fit the opposition and the passage of play. The point of scouting is that we should use that information, to pick players who counteract the opposition's strengths and exploit their weaknesses. That's why the keyboard warriors who say "we should pick X over Y", actually know **** all. Sometime's Wooton is the best choice to counteract their hulk of a CM, sometimes you need someone more cultured to pass around them. Horses for courses. Any game is over 90 minutes and, in my opinion, 4-5-1 is a useful tactic to stifle the opposition and run them around a bit, followed by 4-4-2 to sucker puch them in the last third of the match.

I'll freely admit I didn't think Pearson was the man for Saints last season and, despite his success, I still don't. There is a world of difference being in league with cash (as Leicester were in Division 1) and being in a league with a youth team and no cash (as Saints were last season). Based on the fact he'd struggled (albeit over a limited number of games) to keep Saints up the previous season with a Gucci squad, you can see why Lowe made the judgement he wouldn't be able to do it with a Primark squad. I think it easy to get caught up in the emotion of the Sheffield United match and forget the Burnley and Hull debacles. We survived, just. Make no mistake, Pearson is proving to be a good manager. I just don't think the end result for Saints last season would have been any different with him at the helm. Personally, If I was Lowe I'd have done the same and replaced him. If he didn't, and the patchy (or worse) form continued, then the same people crowing now about how good Pearson is/could have been, would be criticising Lowe for 'employing a boot boy'. Best to live or die by your own decisions, rather than other peoples. IMHO.

Bizarre over reaction to what was a sensible post by Dubai Phil. I assume that your strong belief in complementary tickets would stretch to Rupert Lowe. After all, he had a significant hand in getting the stadium built that the freeloaders are all wanting to sit in.... None of these guys should be short of a quid, and if they have any loyalty to SFC I am sure they'd willingly buy a ticket.

Fair play. But are we long ball?

I think there's a world of difference between 'slap' and 'head stamped on'. Personally I'd not arrest them, I'd parade them round St Marys bollock naked with the Saintettes ridiculing their tiny ****s. No matter how you try and justify it, there's no need to stamp on someone's head.

I expect he'll slice his first drive into the rough only for it to bounce off Neil Shipperly back into play.....

What a bizarre comment! The more moronic posters see players as being ****e if they're not performing Ronaldo-like, week on week. When the team isn't performing, even the most skilled player struggles to make a mark. Wotton does a job, mainly around muscle and motivation. Properly deployed he's effective, not spectacular, but effective. He certainly doesn't deserve the grief he got, just as he hasn't become Ronaldo overnight. Personally I think anyone who uses the 'worst player to pull on a Saints shirt" moniker should be kicked to death in the centre circle as half time entertainment. Extreme, yes, but a player can only play in the role assigned to him and with the players around him.