greg_hill

I'm confused. From looking at the stats and live text commentary, it seems we dominated parts of the game (an extra man, yes I know) and had ten shots on target but no killer blow. Well, surely then that makes us a team very close to being good? So if that team had three key players hopefully set to play in the next match, shouldn't we wait to see what happens before slating the manager and declaring the season a disaster?

Who cares? It's a stupid, pointless competition. Play Forecast, Wotton, Pulis and the rest and give them a chance to prove themselves.

Feel sorry for the lad. It's not his fault if the deal we made for him was dodgy.

No doubt a source Pards trusts has recommended him. And I don't think it's an Ali Dia moment judging by this (especially considering the opposition): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q60eH7rauWU

That was before he took over. I thought it went towards starving off the wind up of the club. As I understand it, ML cleared the debts, then gave us the cash for Lambert.

I disagree. The players will naturally get fitter as they play more games, and the dysfunctionality should hopefully decrease as the coaches and new signings settle in. Surely we'll get a good run of wins at some stage of the season?

I think you underestimate the depth of the exodus and the obvious desperation in the choice of replacements. Don't forget even the four new signings were made possible only by the sale of their best defender. If James does go today, that would surely seal their fate.

Chin up. We had more efforts on goal and were screwed by all the injury time. Plenty more games to go and hopefully a couple more new faces still to come. This is sickening but at least we showed some potential.

And most of us would have been very happy to see Henri Camara or Kasey Keller stay on long term, though the other two loans that year did not work out. Guess it proves the point, some work, some don't......

Usually I miss being in the UK, but when I read stuff like this, I'm glad my kids are over here.

OK so the first team is still having massive problems but of the four signings so far by AP, two have been solid, one has been OK and the other is struggling but has not really had a proper run yet. If there is anything in this Cox rumour, then I trust AP and co. to do their research and get the right players in. So if we sign him, I'm happy.

In general, like most on here, I would voice opposition to panic signings. Right now though, I would love to see AP sign De Seijs - who WANTS to play for us - on a short term contract while we look for soemthing else.

This is the post I am most in agreement with. Whilst the observations about attitude may be true, I think we are jumping to conclusions in our urgency to make sense of two poor team displays. Yes, they may want out but that doesn't automatically mean they are behaving totally unprofessionally on or off the pitch. Perhaps they have better ethics than that. (Yes I know that's unlikely with pro-footballers :-0. ) As has been noted, there were a whole bunch of players displaying poor body language in the last game, they don't all want out, they just lack the right frame of mind right now. Besides, bad attitude does not totally remove talent and Rasiak and Saga are still two of the best. I'm hoping that one or both of them will bag a couple, feel good about it, go on a run and have second thoughts about leaving. Of course, if I'm wrong and they ARE being totally negative and affecting the rest of the squad, then yes, punish them and sell them.

But add to that we already have the best 'keeper and (if either stays) another of the best strikers in Rasiak or Saga. WT would probably rank in the top ten CBs of this league, too. He desperately needs a defensive partner, though.

Mods, don't you actually DO anything about prats like this?

Glad to see the reaction here has been mostly sensible. Indeed, it sounds like Cortese may have a slightly inflated opinion of himself (as we will if he and Alan guide us back to the Prem!) but as has been noted, the point he is making is natural, the executive has the final say.

Presumably our lack of preparation is incorporated into his prediction of a 'play offs at best' prediction. Notice he also didn't mention the fluoride value of the water the players drink and it's affect on their dental health? You see, he is paid to be concise. You find it disrespectful that people criticise you, but you don't see the disrespect in singling out one error of judgment in someone who has done so much for the club and repeating it ad nauseum.

Also interesting he didn't mention he is one of the greatest players of our history, who has never shown anything but loyalty and good intentions towards the club who happened to make a human error of judgment whilst doing everything possible to help the club, and that ninety nine point nine percent of fans realise and appreciate that whilst a miniscule number seem small minded and pathetic enough to make an issue of it, but those people are selfish, ungrateful, spiteful and ignorant idiots. But then, I guess that would be a little long winded for Sporting Bet, which is why I said it here for him instead.

Following on from my previous post, your director stated at the fans forum "The Sky money is not paid in one lump sum, it is paid in installments over the season". That was in response to a question asking why the Sky money can't clear the debts.

Do Sky actually pay all that much up front? It just sounds too easy and simple to be true. I acknowledge your point about the relatively low debt but surely the issue is the urgency. As I understand it, you have up until early September to pay off your debts or it's administration time. Other clubs may have greater debts, but have the assets and timescale to reduce the urgency of them.

Finally someone points this out. Even mature players can improve or change their game, look how Claus evolved (not always an improvement! :-) ) during his time with us. And for the person implying JDS was poor just becuse no CCC clubs were queuing up to sign him, well that just doesn't make sense to me. By that logic, every player is rubbish unless he receives multiple bids from CCC teams every month. Hmmm....

Get him in ASAP. He would be a very good squad player at the very least.

1-5 You could be setting yourself up for a terrible fall here, how many of these players will still be around if the takeover doesn't go through very soon? No 7, you win. No 8 is a non sequitur, why would we envy your income, weighed aginst your net value compared to ours? No 9 is a friendly, give us a break. No 10 you surely meant as a joke. I don't think any sensible fan thought it 'was never going to end'? Football, like most things in life, runs in cycles, and when you are up, the only way is down. But it does seem - right now at least - that your period of dominance will be far shorter than ours.

Quick question: does anyone know if ML was a Saints fan before the purchase? Does he have a history of interest in Saints or football in general? I read somewhere he has some offices in Soton, maybe that sparked his interest?

Great news, let's hope it goes through with no problems. We are bound to lose at least one of the Polish duo but if we can hold them until we get one more striker in, then we'll have a very strong attacking line: Lambert, Paterson and one more.