Professor

if the Surman story is just that, a story manufactured by the press, of which there are hundreds every year, will those who immediately made comments as if it were true, agree not to post on here for at least a month? You know who you are.............

When you look at the clubs in this division this year, would anyone expect Saints to get their points this season against the relegated Prem clubs, or away to the FA cup finalists. All that has happened is that three of the difficult games have come up as the first fixtures ofthe season. That is no indication of how the team will do over the season as a whole, or how they will do against the bulk of the CCC. It is only people who have been predicting failure ever since JP was appointed who eagerly grasp at these results to try to pretend that they are representative of the average CCC matches, which they are obviously not. Not only that, but these defeats against two of the strongest sides, were extremely close. The team were not outplayed, despite only having played three competitive games together. The title of this thread says it all, and no true Saints fan should want or expect anything else.

At least the people who screwed up by signing him are no longer at the club, and how stupid it was of them not to see that six months later, Svensson would make a comeback. And letting Davies have a release clause in his contract - how mad is that! Just lucky that we still have Svensson, Perry, Thomas, Wooton, Lancashire, Racine or we could have trouble covering the CB role.

Nick, dont ask! You're not dealing with a balanced view. There's no point responding to something quite as ridiculous as the post that began this thread and personally, I haven't wasted any time reading all the other AS posts. This individual is in a fantasy world.

All the doom-mongers on this thread will either be right or wrong, and we will find out which indue course. But it does seem a bit of a wast of time spreading so much misery, when events will move on regardless of what is written here. Longshot's attempt to re-write the Nuremburg Trials (maybe a bit of over-reaction that, to compare running a football club to running a World War) suggests he could use another holiday - but I pity anyone who goes with him!

Its understandable that two defeats have left people feeling down, but it really is early days. These two games, and next week away to Derby, were games we might have expected to get one point frrom at best. It just happens they have come together at the start of the season - and that is bad as it could be damaging the confidence of the players, but as soon as they get a win attitudes will change. To lose 2-1, is a loss of points, as much as if it was 3-0, but it does not indicate that the team are being outplayed, despite the stronger opponents of Birmingham, or the home advantage of Cardiff. Both games could easily have been draws if fortune had been different. People should keep their confidence, at least until the end of Sept. If we are still in the bottom three by then, there will be reason to worry, but to predict doom after two games, is simply foolish as those who are doing it leave themselves open to looking exactly that, if the team start to get results against the less fancied sides.

Could we have attacking points and defending points, or only the attacker scoring, like in Real Tennis, and the attack then switching to the opponent.

Agree. The names above look accurate, which means with Davies we have 6 centre backs, which is about 6 more than we had this time last year! With Svensson's return having been unexpected, there seems to be scope to let one go without all the doom-laden predictions from some of the worried souls on here. If the speculation is correct, that Davies can activate a clause in his contract to enforce a move, the decision of which one should go is not under the club's control. But that is often the case as all moves involve at least three three parties, whereas some people seem to think that SFC have total control. They do not! (Fact) (end of) (unless someone else knows better).

Fact, as opposed to opinion is hard to argue against, isn't it. Its much easier just to resort to some juvenile name-calling.

This is true, but there are a few of these who post on here, as we all know! It is mildly amusing to see how rapidly some of them grasp at the most wild rumour to support their rather boring predictions of total disaster. Who will be first to jump off the Itchen Bridge if the rescue plan succeeds and the team have a good season?

Yes, the fact that he doesn't have to give any of his time to the club, or put himself in a position where the moronic fringe heap abuse on him. If he didn't mean well and have Saints future at heart, he'd spend his time doing something else. His role is also fairly obvious. Lowe is Chairman of WH Ireland a city Stock Brokering firm, based in Manchester, which has a turnover of more than £40m and which manages funds of £1.75bn. Lowe is clearly busy with his business commitments and needs support to run SFC, so that sharing the chairmanship role with Wilde, given that they need each other's shareholdings to control the club, not only makes sense but is probably essential to their partnership.

Another negative post fairly representative of a group on here who between them don't have a fraction of the football knowledge or experience of Jan Poortveit, but if I'm wrong and Snowballs is a qualified FIFA coach and a former World Cup international, then of course, I apologise.

And how much of your money are you going to donate? Should all 18,000 of us today have donated an extra tenner instead of going to the pub at lunchtime? Of course not, we've all got other things to spend on, and RL & MW are no different. If you expect the board members to pay for this out of their own pocket, what else do you expect the board to pay for. Sorry, but this is not the way that companies, or football clubs are run, with the possible exception of Chelsea. The board are there to maximise the income and to focus spending in the most effective way, with the prime objective of creating a winning team. They do this by managing the club's resources, not by spending their own money, because as even people like Madejski and Jordan have found, not even a millionaire has enough money to subsidise a football club.

Of course its too much to say that Kevin Phillips scored because of the chanting, but some people, mainly in the Northam, simply do fail to understand how home advantage works by motivating the players. You can motivate your own team by wholehearted support, but you can motivate the opposition and make them all the more determined. Who will know if Phillips would have been so fired up as to be in the right place if the crowd had been singing to him as an ex-saint, or just ignoring him? Too often, the noisy section in the Northam, who can do so much to create a truly supportive atmosphere, fail to use their power for the good of the club and the good of the team.

By all means, endorse the thanks to Graham and the new job certainly looks like a step up. I'm sure he will do it well. James has been writing for the OS for some time, so he is already up to speed. I wonder if it is down to James' new broom approach that the squad information on the OS is fully up to date for the first time in living memory! If so, well done James, its a good start.

Based on how close the first two games have been against teams probably better than Derby, a draw seems very realistic, and any game where scores are equal can always go either way, which is effectively what has happened so far. The team are not without points for having been outplayed so they have as good a chance of winning as Derby have. Derby have home advantage but we very nearly cancelled that out at Cardiff, so why not at Derby.

There is an element in a few of the reactions of people who wanted to say 'I told you so' grabbing at the result today to reinforce preconceived opinions. Fact is, we could have been 2 up just before the equaliser and overall it was a close game that either side could have said they deserved to win or draw. It was well understood that the first few games would be hard - Cardiff away, FA cup finalists and near the top of the table most of last season, and Birmingham at home, just down from the Prem but favourites to go straight back. There will be plenty of easier games than these, but in these two games Saints have not looked out of their league at all. If we are in the bottom 3 at the end of Sept that would be reason to worry, but certainly not yet. It is just 2 games and 8 other teams haven't had a win yet.

Despite all the talk about 'playing the kids' that is not what the club are doing. A small number of younger players have come into the first choice 11 but their ages are: James (20); Gillett (22); Lallana (20); MacGoldrick (20). Not a teenager amongst them. Schneiderlin is 18, but well experienced, as is Holmes (20) and Surman (22 next week). Alongside these we have Davis (31); Svensson (32); Perry (35) or Davies (23) and John (31). The youngest likely to get a game is Thomson (19). Even reserve GK, Bart, is now 21. This looks like a genuine mix of youth, age and experience, not a gamble on kids. Rasiak and Saga were simply not needed, neither is Skacel so letting them go isn't a fire sale, although it is more than just the selling off of surplus players freed up by rebuilding, because the money is needed, but money doesn't look like the primary motive.

Stern's name on the team sheet changes the whole look of the team and will give any opponents, including Birmingham today, cause to worry. But I do just wonder how a thread I started about Stern has turned into another Lowe debate... I do enjoy Lowe debates, but it is also nice to have football and player threads that are Lowe-free. I feel Stern will score today, and I can see him having another 20 goal season.

Is it my imagination, or has the OS improved? Looking at the player profiles, they appear to be up-to-date and accurate as to who is on the books and who is not - eg No Rasiak, but Skacel still here. The stories are looking more relevant as well, instead of just a quote, attributed to a player, about how well the team will do in the next game. Makes a nice change.

I've got an 'O' Level in English - does that help? Maybe I'm lucky to have got it......

Is a one game suspension, when there are two games a week, usually described as being 'out of the squad'? Maybe NickG is right, but I'm more inclined to think this means he and Rasiak were both available for sale on the basis that only one would be allowed to leave.

Lowe has the experience of relegation and ejection from the board to look back on now, whereas previously he'd ruled the roost at SFC for 10 years with little challenge, and he had moved into FA circles. Now, the indications from the news pages are that his commitments in the City have grown and that he is more deeply involved in high level business finance. This probably means he has less time to give to SFC, and maybe that is why Mike Wilde has the football club chair role. The comment I wondered about in that report was the mention of Lowe's response to the verbal abuse in the SMS. If the team do not do well, there will be those in the ground who will repeat that abuse, in fact some did that pre-season before a ball had been kicked in competition. There is a question as to why he puts himself in the position to be on the receiving end, as there is no reason to think that Lowe needs SFC except as a personal project. The anti-Lowe faction might think they would welcome him walking out, but without someone of his standing and experience waiting to take over, the club would be the worse off without him. Clearly, Lowe returned with a plan, and over this season we will see whether that plan can rescue the club from the dire situation it was in last April. Even the dedicated Lowe-hater would be well-advised to think hard about trying to force him out as the alternative could be a great deal worse. Unfortunately, many of those who join in chants against him at the SMS, don't actually think at all!

The OS quotes Poortvleit as saying that Stern could start against Birmingham. JP says Stern is 'back in the squad' from which we must conclude that up until this week, he was not. So what has changed. Stern's commitment in training is quoted as a reason, and his performance as sub at Exeter, but the other change could be Rasiak's move to Watford. Maybe that has cleared up who will be the other main striker with DMG.

Lets just get back to the point of this particulat thread, which is that Rupert Lowe is non-executive chairman of WH Ireland group plc, a stockbroking business with its HQ in Manchester and with offices in the City and elsewhere. Together with Lord Marland, former tory party chairman, Lowe has recently led a consortium that has made a major investment in the firm. According to WHI's website it is responsible for managing funds of £1.75bn. There can be no doubt that the finances of Southampton Football Club are small change compared to the funds managed by WHI and the regular theme that 'Lowe needs Southampton FC in order to line his pocket' is complete nonsense. It does seem that many fans have no concept of the financial standing of RL. It is inconceivable that Lowe would allow SLH to go into administration because of the reflection on his management skills. He is also better placed than many people realise to generate investment in the club once the financial base is stable. The unknown is 'why does he bother?' Maybe he cares for this club, despite the abuse heaped on him, but one thing is clear, if he does walk away, the opportunity that he represents to get saints back into the big time in the foreseeable future will walk away with him. All we fans will be left with, is the hope that some other unknown millionaire will choose our club as his plaything as Mandaric did with Pompy, but we could just as easily end up where ex Premier club, Luton Town, are now. The other question I suppose is, will Lowe raise money himself to plough into the club. Some club owners have done that, although Lowe does not own SLH, only a proportion of the plc shares. People such as Madejski, Jordan, Gillet/Hicks and others, have discovered that professional football can suck up money and still not guarantee success. As some other club owners walk away, spending your own money on players does not seem attractive, unless you are Abramovich, and even he will get fed up eventually. That Rupert Lowe is chairman of a major City institution is something that should not be underestimated for the positive impact it could have on the future of our club, as long as he retains the interest and incentive to stay with saints.