Alain Perrin

The two things are mutually exclusive though, only after survival can come the ambition. It is in Lowe's interest for Saints to do well (ego, financially, "I told you so" etc.) and he stands to gain most by getting us back to the Premiership. I have absolutely no problem with us getting rid of Lowe, but it needs to be done with a strategy and an alternative, not because he's not liked. My personal opinion is that the survival strategy is the only game in town at the moment and that getting rid of Lowe/JP now (at this stage in a crucial season) would hinder rather than help that. What no one knows (because there is so much spin/counter spin) is how ambitious Lowe is being in cutting the cloth? Say, for example, if he is aiming to break even in 1 year, rather than 3 years - if so, is he taking more risks with player quality etc. than we need to? Either way it is going to be a long hard season but I've seen promise in some of the performances this season, hopefully enough to enable us to stay up.

Or changing radio station? You don't know the facts. Pressing 'Next' on an Ipod in a cradle, same as changing a radio station. Composing a playlist or searching for a particular Abba track, dangerous.

Excellent! I think it is particularly creative the way that you've introduced mobile phones (note, something I didn't mention and abhor) into the equation to back up your strange stance. I assume that (if you drive) you've got a car without a heater, stereo, never eaten or drunk anything whilst driving and remain in a Zen like focus not ever being distracted by anything inside or out of your vehicle. Otherwise you are a hypocrite. When typing Fritzel I umm'd and ahh'd about Fritzel or Fritzl - I guess when dealing with a pedant like yourself I should use Google, but somehow for a paedophile, it didn't seem worth it. You comprehended, if not understood anyway.

Not fishing. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king - and I don't see a viable alternative to Rupert Lowe. Whoever runs Saints has a difficult job to do. For example, we could retain Rasiak / John et al., play 442 and stay up by 9 points (remember, they were here last year) - then go into Administration and get relegated through a points deduction. We aren't relegated yet, we're not even close, there are 20 games to go. I hope we survive both on the pitch and off the pitch, and I think Lowe leaving makes both LESS likely. Doubtless it will be close though.

The irony is the problem isn't the club, its the fans. For example, if I got hit in the face with a football, breaking my nose and causing my male model career to stall, I could sue the club (where there's a blame there's a claim) for not warning me appropriately. The sign insulates against that. I agree it is ridiculous, but the blame lies with the litigious culture we live in, not the club.

You are a **** aren't you. How is changing your ipod / fiddling with your stereo / changing the aircon / eating a sandwich, the same as being multiple times over the drink drive limit? It isn't and never will be. If you can't differentiate between the two then you need to spend more time in the real world and less time in the cellar (after all Fritzel's crime is the same as Robertson's isn't it?)

Thanks for trying. There will always be people who find fault in what you are trying to do. My advice is keep your head down and steady the ship as best possible. Make the hard decisions and try to balance getting the books straight and staying in the Championship. Don't cut the cloth too tight. Alternatively leave and let the club sink without a viable alternative (ps. they'll still blame you for that too - basically you're ****ed either way)

Ignore the knobheads

Yes. We were dominant over Reading, lacking telegenic clear cut chances as usual but far more of the play, crosses etc. I do not think the highlights reflect the game I saw. Saints were unlucky not to take all three points (no penalty appeal, no McGoldrick hitting the bar either (unless I missed that)). In my opinion, the highlights and the commentator reflect the game they thought they were going to see, not the one that actually happened.

No it must be a deliberate cover up by that nasty man Mr Lowe. My thoughts go to all those involved, including Jordan. Having a death on your conscience is not something he will ever forget. As someone rightly said above, there but for the grace of God.

Stanley is a ****

Nope, I'm thinking "****"

Remind me who got relegated last season you bunch of defeatist numpties

I do believe they were verbatim. For two reasons 1) They appeared from an "independent" source (regardless of what you believe, Journo's won't shirk a good story if it comes their way). 2) If there was so much as a comma out of place there would have been post after post claiming cover up and spin from the PR Plant Paranoia Patrol. Are you suggesting parts of the transcript were inaccurate, misleading or false? If so which? I wasn't there, and understand than a transcript cannot convey the emotion, passion or heat of the moment. That said, viewing this debate without emotion can be very useful and many should try that occasionally. Read the transcript for me and, be honest - how do you think LC came across? Lowe's a pompous *****, but we're talking about viable alternatives here. All I saw (read) from the alternatives was Nero/Rome/Fiddle-like behaviour - a childish hissy fit, and an argument about a 30 year old photo (a photo ffs! We're looking over the abyss and people are arguing about a photo).

Snowballs2, it is not about how many months or who did what, when, for how long. Lowe may drive my Porsche erratically, even dangerously, but Leon got behind the wheel for 5 minutes and thrashed the nuts off it and crashed it into a wall. Sure I want Lewis Hamilton to drive it, but if my options are Lowe and Wilde or Crouch, I'll choose Lowe and Wilde. Fulthorpe, I'm afraid, is still just trying to scrape together the money for petrol!

TBH Morph, you could quite easily replace the Leon with Wilde and you'd have the a post that wouldn't look out of place the first time Lowe was ousted. The "very good and influential" people didn't step up to the plate then, and I don't think they will now. Personally in the Lowe vs Wilde vs Crouch debate I usually offer qualified support for Lowe. That said if someone could step up who could unite the support I'd be over them like a rash. All I want is for Saints to do well and (in the short term) avoid administration. On previous evidence I don't see that potential in Crouch and, if you look at the transcript of the AGM, he came across like a reactionary hothead. I'm less likely to support him than ever. To survive, Saints need cool heads and action (and preferably cash!), not vitriol and emotion. I cannot argue that the strategy that Lowe is responsible for is doing a good job on the pitch, clearly it isn't. That said I'm not sure what can be done (either with the players in the squad) or the manager. As someone who saw Pearson's Waterloo (Sheffield Utd) as well as his capitulation at Hull and at home to Burnley (neither of which were Dunkirk like in defeat), I refuse to accept that he would have done better - differently yes, better no. The big question for me is do we have money to change things sufficiently? I'm as disappointed as the next fan, because although I thought we'd struggle this year, my expectations were raised immeasurably due to the early promise (false dawn) of the early games against Derby and Birmingham - be honest, who didn't think "**** me this might work" after that. I think that is what hurts more than anything. It feels to me that we have been close to cracking it, but it is clearly not there. Sure we could get a hoof ball manager in and play the league that way (but I'd suggest you can't do that with youngsters, and you probably can't do that in half a season). Would I support a change at the top (chairman or manager), yes I would. Do I think it will make much difference, no I don't.

People need to wake up and smell the coffee. If we go into administration we are royally shafted. There's no money in the global economy, people are contracting everywhere. People won't be interested in a failing club with a divided fanbase, no assets over the age of 14 and a bag load of debt. People like Fulthorpe are taking the **** with there "money's almost there" mantra. Tell that to Woolworths, MFI or Zavvi staff - if KPMG can't find buyers for stores with prime retail sites like that, where are they going to find buyers for a stadium next to a gasworks and a load of ropey prostitutes. The only way Saints will survive is by hanging on until the economy picks up, hanging on financially and in the Championship. Just my opinion though.... if you've got £50million to spunk up the wall, be my guest (by the way the fans will hate you after 25 minutes if you haven't bought Ronaldo and delivered 10 wins in a row)

Just goes to show that our players can't keep secrets as well as not being able to keep a lead....

How about cheering on the team FFS!

How about "No Alternative"?

Deluded he may be, saviour he may not be, what is certain is he is trying to solve the mess that is Southampton. You may not agree with what he's doing, how he's doing it or why he's doing it - but he is doing it. That's my problem with the alternatives, all they do is moan about the positioning of photos in the boardroom, stand up and rant at AGM's or post vitriol on messageboards. Build it and they will come. Bring us an alternative (a real one, not an imagined Salz / Davis / ANO) and people will support them. Other than that it is just **** and wind.

That's a myth. 30 people (tops, and I suspect 25) x 2 nights @ £150 pp/night = £9000. Where do you get £30K from???

Glad to see this forum is a hot bed of ideas on how to improve things....

I don't disagree that division will destroy this club. Where it falls down is it is yet another rant that is big on vitriol, short on ideas (i.e. none). Getting "Lowe out" is like Iraq, a fine moral principle, but you better have an idea what you are going to do when Saddam is toppled. My opinion is we've played our last hand. There's no money in the cookie jar to pay for a new manager or new players. We'll either die a slow lingering death in the Championship or, by some miracle, survive to fight another day. What no-one can dispute (even Lowe) is that the current performances/results aren't acceptable. We should at least unite on that.

Nope. No doubting his talent but he hardly made the most of it. People dress up his staying with Saints as loyalty. Personally I saw it as the comfortable and easy option. Fine, his decision and our benefit - I just think his talent deserved more. He was more interested in pies than success which I think was a pity for anyone who loves football. Cross MLT with say a Frank Lampard (for his alleged workrate and dedication) and you'd have a player who would have rivalled Pele or Best in my opinion. As it was you had a player who was mercurial but lazy.