trousers

Indeed. Although at least the OS has now come full circle in that it is so blatantly obvious to see when it is 'covering up the truth' on occasions that it makes it easy for us to see through it. It was clear the second that the "international clearance" article was published that it fell into this category due to the number of holes in its logic.

Simple maths really... If Saga is deemed good enough to help save us from relegation (and one would have thought that a player who appeared at the world cup last year might just meet such criteria) then a £150,000 outlay is a "non-brainer". Interestingly, if Lowe doesn't deem him good enough to help Saints survive then he creates a paradox for himself in that he would effectively be reducing Saga's value and offload potential by declaring "he's not good enough to help us stave off relegation". What sort of message is that to send to potential new clubs? So, logic would suggest one sensible answer to the question...Yes, he should stay.

Stumbled across this thread from August 08 whilst tracing back through some posting history via the Man Utd post-match thread..... One question: What went wrong?

Two?

This club does not lie. FACT.

Dubious play-on-words aside, I believe the original poster was highlighting his foresight rather than hindsight..... He makes a good point if one scratches the surface. There was no apparent tactical changes from the manager, sorry - coach, in selection of the team to play Man Utd. It was very much "this is what we do, so we'll carry on doing it regardless". The quality of the opposition is neither here nor there. It's the principle under discussion here. One word: Worrying.

p.s. I trust you've switched off your mobile phone again until Feb?

The OS 'mysteriously' omits this Poortvliet quote: "Arsene Wenger has said United always get the 50-50 decisions and I agree. Alex stood up once to have a word and after that everything went their way"

Is it not possible for a bad board to affect the team? And if so, isn't any short term pain that helps remove said board a longer term benefit to th team? So, it could be said that whilst hurting the board may initially also hurt the team in the short term, it will actually help the team in the longer term? So, by renewing your season ticket (and thus, by association, endorsing an arguably 'bad' board) you could actually be damaging the team. An interesting paradox either way...

Alex Ferguson's post match comments are more telling IMHO.... "They're a very young side so you'd expect us to win. You don't want to humilate them because they have a tough programme ahead to survive in the championship". To me that reads that he actually instructed his players (overtly or otherwise) to take it easy on us. Puts a slighty different angle on 'only' losing 3 nil....

Good point. It's fine for people to say "It was Man Utd...we were hardly going to win were we?" when there was none of that 'lower league club - put the willies up them' spirit in evidence. It suggests an underlying lack of team spirit at the club.

...

Smugger than a smug man in smugshire

The scoreline v Man utd is arguably the worst result for speeding up any regime change. It hasn't been a complete white wash and we held out with 10 men for a fair while. Lowe will herald it as a plucky performance and a demonstration that we are "heading in the right direction". A more humilating defeat would have been better for the club in terms of regime change. More of the same beckons after this.... IMHO of course

Pehaps someone heard a shot outside the ground....we've had none inside....

This is going to be the worst result for speeding up any regime change. It hasn't been a complete white wash and we held out with 10 men for a fair while. Lowe will herald it as a plucky performance and a demonstration that we are "heading in the right direction". A more humilating defeat would have been better for the club in terms of regime change. More of the same beckons after this.... IMHO of course

Maybe so....but still desn;t expain why he went for it with his hand in the first place. The fact that he missed it with his hand doesn't explain what was going through his head....if anything...

No, its not you....

Who's to say that Lowe hasn't paid Riley to get the crowd on the referee's back and not his. Not something I'd suggest or accuse but might have crossed someone's mind...

bottled it

Indeed - why oh why put your arm up when jumping in a wall? Elimentary