dubai_phil

Well, that's a good shout, after all you have an international celebrity flying in at absoluetly no expense as a manager But then it'll just get all political o here instead of SERIOUS (ok not the game but the drinking afterwards)

Mate, I've got this all sussed. Watched a coaches training video this afternoon - the benchwarmers - that Mike Ditka man he's got this footie lark all sown up Anyway you'll never be able to cope with our revolutionary formation. Hamster is already sorted at Wide Mid On, Disintegration 87 is in at Fine Leg and Steve Grant is a dead cert matchwinner at Silly Mid Off But, joking aside I'm gonna be taking this football malarky seriously, I'll be down the Debenhams perfume counter in the afternoon sorting out the late Thursday evening "roasting" dinner for the after party, you got NO chance dudes My ONLY worry about the game? I'm flying from Abu Dhabi and I have no idea if they sell Jaegermeister in Duty Free down there

Mark Fry stated clearly at the time of administration that he had 24 days to save the club.... A few people have been trying to make the point that without some cash the club will not exist long enough for any sale to be completed But's it's ok nobody can be arsed to domate in case it is used pay Skacel's wages, but why worry, because the team that will be decimated and gone in 2 weeks time and play no part in our future will be gone, but they'll still have been paid, if not by SFC Ltd then by the PFA Gang, we really truly are so used to spin and lies from SMS that we are not seeing the clear truth, we could be gone next week and we won't be coming back in most of our lifetimes

Well............. looking on the bright side Maybe now we will be able to pick up some discards from the PL academies who go on to be absolute jewels for us in the lower leagues, oh how the mighty have fallen

Well it's good to see we finally have an opposition manager - just like some of his defenders, arrives far to late for the challenge. Well as he is now a couple of weeks behind in his preparations, and of course the Home Team have really pushed on with and fully taken on board our whole sports science approach, I think it is time to hit him with our master plan. The superglue on his seat. Should work a treat We'll walk this boys - remember they don't have the secret Jaegermeister weapon!

BBB - if I was honest I think it would be only equitable if some of them gave back everything they have ever taken from the club in wages, and it's a fair point Certainly at this time a gesture from them would be helpful, if only to set an example. But, the other side is that I would expect that the entire coaching staff are repeatedly telling the players, don't worry about it, focus on the game coming up. Football at this level is as much about attitude as ability. Again, it comes back to my point, this is NOT a time to delegate responsibility, pass the blame or moan that others are not doing their bit. NOW is the time where every one of us who can, in any way possible, needs to help out. On the pitch we have seen (or listened to) so many examples of "passing the responsibility" as in "I thought you were marking him" at corners. Leaving it to someone else right now is not going to work, it just gives us someone or something else to moan about for the next 7 years or so while AFC Saints try to get back up the pyramid. We the fans have to set an example, maybe, just maybe that will shame some of the underperforming players into doing their bit, but we cannot afford the TIME to hold our breath.

The Football Club has no money. To avoid the Club itself being put into admin as well as the PLC it MUST pay it's way and must NOT become legally insolvent. Within the next few days it must by FL regulations pay it's salaries. EVERY indication is that it is tight on money to do that. Even IF Mark Fry met a buyer TOMORROW who is interested in buying the club, that buyer will still have to do due dilligence, examine the books, the players contracts and the costs of running the stadium. that would take at least a couple of days. Once an OFFER is made, Fry would have to speak to the creditors and get their approval, that would take several days as any reduction on a 24mil debt with Aviva would require senior management level approval as would Barclays. At BEST, if an offer came in this week it could take 2-3 weeks BEFORE any money came into the CLUB. And in that time the ONLY people who could have helped give the buyers and Mark Fry the time were us. Sure the team is a crock of sh1t, the players don't deserve to wear the shirt, they sure as hell don't deserve the stupid wages, but unfortunately right now, we HAVE to help Mark and give him time, that means buying the ticket for Saturday and then buying the ticket for Saints Aid. You don't have to DONATE, buy the ticket and don't turn UP if you want to still protest about our sorry state, but we HAVE to do all we can to get every extra 25 quid in NOW.. from any possible source whatsoever. 124 years down the drain because of apathy simply because we've been destroyed by one man who's already left the building - what a crap epitaph.

They better bl**dy well come in a brown paper bag in the car park then :smt040

I understand that there has been a transfer of a player without my knowledge as manager How the FOOK did RUPERT get to be in charge of this event

It took time, but Mark Wotte finally learnt what it had been like this season for the Saints Fans, being fed a continual diet of sh1t on the field

The only way we can be bought and have a secure future is to be stable and making a profit. The fundamental difference between Lowe and any new owners would be to understand that a Business MUST invest in order to produce improved profits With a fixed income - ie stadium capacity, broadcasting and 'non matchday" revenue streams, then that profit must come from elsewhere. In our case that means simply "creating footballers to sell" Lowe's problem was that he focused mainly on the latter, and not enough on SECURING the day to day operations of the club. He thought that the academy production line would produce the players to propel us into the upper echelons. It couldn't and it takes too long to produce enough players. So what we NEED is a BALANCE between the investment in the team and the academy. Investment means profit If it is run by wise leaders. You won't make much money these days running a business using machine tools that you bought in the 1970's, you have to invest in the best and most efficient tools you can afford. Lowe failed to grasp that - he saw the amount of money needed to be spent but didn't understand that careful acquisition of assets (eg Drogba & Adebayor) would bring improved profits. Instead he spent all his money buying cheap second hand 1970's machine tools to bloat out the production line Making a profit and running a club IS possible, it simply needs WISE leadership (and no Not fookin Dennis!)

Work it out Euell on 15k a week - puts him (and others) into "supertax" bracket. He takes a pay cheque we have to pay tax, end of whether in admin or not Our wage bill is what 7mil a year even with basic maths for tax & NI that would be around 40% as tax would be around 250k a MONTH.... taken off the salary and paid by the club to the tax man.... then of course employers NI stuff But hey what do I know about tax, I live down here

Yeah and like the FL would be getting all their debts paid back if they pulled this little stunt....

OK so this is taking a while. we can see why Can I throw a nasty spanner in the thought process? We're going to have to pay a lot of money in wages very soon, and with that comes the tax & NI. Life cannot be as easy as many on here would like to think it is

WHU was bought on leveraged money. Where did that debt end up? Liverpool got the lot slapped on them and pay 30mil a year in interest WHU have an issue at the top of their structure Let us not forget the issue at club level as well - a little matter of Sheffield United and compensation claims

This was discussed at great length on things like Sky News some time back and basically It's West Ham innit

Trousers This is a pretty p1ss poor effort. How on earth could you capture a shot of something possibly so important AND NOT GET A PHOTO OF THE EARLOBES You're FIRED

Rupert just seen coming out of SMS allegedly Suncrest Mental Health Sanatorium

I would just be happy to see our arrogance of the past few years gone. Obviously the arrogance at the top which got us where we are today, but also in many ways the arrogance of us fans, the constant expectation that we needed names rather than the right people for the job. Accepting that the players we will have will not be "PL quality" and will have off days and make mistakes. To loose the arrogance that fills us with the belief that we always deserve better because of our history without having to actually EARN it in today's world But most of all I hope that the team we build next season has no arrogance, that we create a TEAM of people who work for each other, for whom the next lump of bling or bottle of Crystal is not the reason for turning up to work, for a squad that want to hurt themselves if need be for the cause by pushing that extra mile in training and that extra inch on the pitch We lose that arrogance that other fans and Board members at other clubs have commented on then I would start to think that some good may come of it all and I would finally see that we can make it back to a standing in the game where we as fans don't feel embarrassed when asked by strangers who we support

That's why the Good Man above invented Duty Free

Somehow I preferred the old days of bitter divisions to this new metroman pseudo gay world we are evolving into. But what the heck, perhaps we just all need a hug If it's alright with you guys can I book the suite next door? you won't be upset if I bring Lucy P and chocolate flavoured squirty cream with me though will you?

lol coffee on monitor moment Either that or we drank it at Rock Bottom!

Like I said. relax Admin means you lose control over events, so get used to it. Now is absoluetly not the time, nor is it our role to dissect any of the potential bidders that have expressed an interest. The process is very clear and very simple, Mark Fry is the man and anyone SERIOUSLY interested must prove they have the FUNDS, and because of the NDA processs we will not be finding out any time soon. No serious bidder will want ANY leaks because if they FAIL it could have repurcussions on their other business interests (one reason I worry about Morph's group's validity) so anything on here would be speculation and cannot do any good what so ever. Right now, show me a saints fan who would complain if it was that **** Godwin from RBS as long as he has the funds to save us from extinction and to give us a chance of building a team to challenge next season. Why UP even commented he'd have Lowe back IF there was no other choice (although in a hold a gun to my family's head sort of way)

It was 8th March last year l believe that Andy Murray beat Roger Federer in the 1st round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis. I was "orgainsing" a dinner for 3 groups of visting business types. (only because I knew my way around town) In the group we had an ex PL manager working the local TV station and were joined by others of football, business and rugby, as well as a bunch of my local mates. One of the visitors took a call which gave a very clear indication of the news that IF we lost the following weekend away at Wolves the duo would call an EGM. We duly drew I think and the comeback was delayed. Now at the time, Pearson was NOT the popular choice, he had NOT proven himself, and even MLT appeared on TV "non-plussed" at the appointment. Of course, Pearson went on to prove himself and become highly popular. Now as we ALL know, Lowe has never been one for listening to advice or changing his plans. By the time he called the EGM from the little I know I am pretty sure that he had already had 2 months of waiting and I am sure in my reading of him that he would not have been ready to move in March UNLESS he had a plan. (A really BAD one as it turned out) So, no, IMHO he was never going to keep NP, his plan had not included him when he started his comeback bid and to be fair many did not expect NP to work out so well. NP was a success, he just did it too late to stop the avalanche that was coming and eventually buried us It was a bad decision, but also to be fair yet another one in an ever increasing series of bad timings and bad luck and complete CR*P that seem to have dogged us for years HTH The real issue now is no longer NP JP MW, it is all about who comes in with the new owners But again as I posted above, Nigel - well done, great job, wrong team

Good grief peeps - Relax! We had HOW MANY takeovers where everything was micro-analysed on here? And now we have a real takeover and we know nothing..... Anyone care to admit that could be because this time it is being done professionally?