Alain Perrin

No, that would be Crouch, Fuller, Bennett, Kelvin Davis etc. etc.

I am surprised. I'd have thought anyone who saw us play Birmingham off the park, and take (albeit a demoralised) Derby team apart in the first few games of the season would have thought... hang on, this might work. We were awesome in those fixtures, stroking the ball across the park and dominating. At that point I believed the hype. The only issue I would agree with is the lack of goals, the cutting edge wasn't there, even then. One player who really delivered in those games was Gillett, but then went off the boil. He seems to have got his mojo back recently and I'd credit him with some of our recent successes.

Somewhere to the right of the space bar there are two keys. Page Up / Page Down. If you don't want to read what someone's posted, use them. Happy to help.

Those gifted with 20:20 hindsight on this board 'always knew' that the revolutionary coaching set up / Dutch Experiment / JP would fail. I had scepticism (as I believe you should have with all new managers), but really began to believe after the Derby / Birmingham performances. I am interested if any of the people who were critical from the start had similar wobbles and thought, "**** me! This really could work!"?

The deals may have been notionally signed on different days, but I'd be amazed if they weren't negotiated in the same session. I also think the informal handshake was on a dual deal. Honest, I've no inside information to say that is the case , just that I think it is likely.

Yes. You can't let someone go on a free who you have under contract without paying up their contract. This situation benefits all three parties: - Pulis Jr moves closer to his home / opportunity at a new club. - Stoke get a surplus player off their books. - Saints get a subsidy towards a player in the form of an increased Davies transfer fee. I think it's likely.

I agree. He's a white Darren Moore...

Very important point - "let's see what you could have won..." Pulis was only ever a makeweight in the Andrew Davis deal. If Lowe is a penny pincher as described, and if he has full control over transfer policy as some suggest, then the only reason he would have taken Pulis on is if it made financial sense (i.e. we get £100K more for Davies and pay Pulis Jr £50K of it). Either way it is a winner. Personally I think he's the new Maradona....

Finally some are realising the value of our award winning catering.......

Although I hope not, my gut feeling is the same. A true test for Wotte is picking up the boysh when they've been on a big high and then lose.

I don't doubt you are, we all are. It just seems that all of your posts need to have a caveated dig at Lowe / JP / Nickh etc. 3 wins on the bounce is a good reason for putting politics (of whatever flavour) on the shelf in my opinion.

I've no problem with history informing what we do in the future, that's sensible. It just seems to me that certain posters are so obsessed by the past they almost forget that the present is happening. Unless we are adopting a one manager, one chairman policy, then we're going to see some good appointments and bad appointments under a chairman's tenure. At the moment Wotte seems to be working, so all power to him. JP didn't work, but perhaps the youth-centric approach he had let us save money that is paying for Euell / Saga without driving us to administration? I will still credit him with some of the exciting football I've seen at St Mary's for a long time (some rubbish too mind!)

Not a FACT. We could win the next game 42-0 and lose the rest 1-0 and be relegated. FACT is overused on this forum IMHO.

FFS, just enjoy it.

The answer would seem to be yes...

Did anything happen re. protests pre or post the Cardiff game? I am not trying to make any point, just wondering how much a win or two takes off the desire to huddle round a fire in an oil drum? I looked at the Cardiff Protest thread for an update but, as usual, it became a ***** fight between the usual suspects, with no news that I could see.

It's only a matter of time before this turns into a Rupert vs. Leon debate....

Lowe freezing him out for half a season may stop up going into administration and being relegated, que sera sera. Incidentally my Dad met one of the Charlton coaches on holiday and talked about JE. He said if you "put your arm around him he'll give his all to you". I don't think it was a gay thing....

Lowe had to make a decision and be judged by it - as opposed to having the gift of 20:20 hindsight / hypocrisy that many posters seem to have on here! What came before, influences today. The drastic (no other word for it) cut in the playing staff wages through playing youth, has presumably enabled the club to afford some of the high earners in the later part of the season (that and it is really **** or bust time). I know people like Um Pahars will argue that the player mix could have been different, but the question to me is did the percentage cut need to be as savage as it was? Was Lowe trying to solve the financial problem too quickly? I've said it before, but I think it is worth repeating. There is no point playing Saga all season and staying up by 9 pts, only to be relegated because his wages tip us into a ten point administration reduction. It's a balancing act that Lowe has to deliver on, and IF he gets it right this season then we should give him credit for it.

Which Scheiderlin is this then...... :)

Well that was £563K divided amongst the board that got kicked out. No-one knows what proportion Lowe got, but it was probably a couple of hundred thousand. So about £130K after tax. Or, to put it into perspective, 5 weeks of Rasiak and Stern John. But I suppose if you were made redundant and your employer subsequently got into financial problems, you'd pay back your severance pay?

Which of our boardroom are earning £10K a week? £5K a week? Lowe was on £420K in the Premiership and took a 50% cut on relegation, when he was working full time. He's now working 2 days a week.... which would work out at £84K a year. I don't know what he's on, but I reckon Saga would clear it in a couple of months.

Once Saga got his contract (after his end of season loan heroics), he was a complete waste of space. There was no case to keep him in my opinion. However, he's back and with fire in his belly to prove those that doubted him wrong - that's a good thing.

Money - and if you didn't know that already, you really need to wake up.

Naive position. Lowe has to balance the finances AND the results. I think 2008/2009 is about cutting the debt first, staying in the Championship second. Preferably both. However, there is no point staying up by 6 points because Saga played all season and scored you some more goals; then being relegated because of a 10 pt administration reduction, because Saga's wages tipped you over the edge. It is a balancing act that lots of posters don't seem to consider.