The Kraken

Precisely. There were two options; back AP as the manager, bring in the players he needs and if it's not working after a month or so make the change. Or sack him with plenty of the window remaining so a new manager has plenty of time to make a mark. We did neither, and now have a squad 2 or 3 players short of where it needs to be, no new manager identified, and totally reliant on the loan market only for the new manager to complete the squad and make it his. All in, a total shambles that falls solely at the feet of Clotese.

For those who attend one-off games I wouldn't expect prices to come into it too much. It would more affect, in my eyes anyway, people like me who go to anywhere between 5 and 15 games a season. At the moment I'm just totally disinclined to spend out a non-inconsiderate sum for cup games which I have priorotised as very low in importance anyway.

Far too early to tell; until we bring a new man in it's totally up in the air. I'd say the longer we take to appoint a new man, the more it may hamper our promotion chances.

Sky Sports News still reporting that Saints have appointed Paul Hart for the manager's position.

I wonder if there's any restrictions placed on fans taking pictures inside the stadium and the local paper using those? Would seem a good way around the ban and also a good way to engage with the local readers.

For League 1 or 2 it's not so critical to have such a huge stadium; take the JPT final as an example where Carlisle only brought 20 odd thousand supporters. Only the likes of us, Sheff Wed and Charlton would justify the need for more than 30k tickets each. 60K at Emirates would be plenty for most sides.

Would be sensible to see who the teams are and make a decision from there; so either Emirates for southern teams or Old Trafford for Northern teams. But then this is the Football League, so common sense would go out of the window in that case....

Fair comment about the start of the season, but you'll find that if you discount the first 2 away games, whcih we lost, from then on to Xmas our form was very similar to the second half of the season (W4, D4, L2). Also, while we did play 4 of the top six before Xmas, in the second half of the season we also beat the Champions and played Millwall who went up, plus comprehensive wins over teams around us at the time in MK Dons and Bristol Rovers. Plus our run in the JPT. So I don't agreee that the second half of the season was much less impressive; I agree that it took us 3 or 4 games at the start of the season to get properly going but after that our away form was pretty much consistent for the rest of the campaign.

Actually, our overall form in the first half of the season and the second half were very similar. Up to Xmas we registered 16 points from 12 games (W4, D4, L4). After Xmas we registered 17 points from 11 games (W4, D5, L2). So you could even argue that we became more hard to beat away from home in the second half of the season.

Again, we're debating something that is an assumption. We have no idea exactly when they are being sent home. They could be doing routine fitness training with the entire squad for 90% of the training then are separated for specific tactical work. Wouldn't be a problem then. It could just be the development sqaud that are being sent home, i.e. young lads who won't be expected to break into the first team for another year or two at least. Again, I don't see the problem with that. It's an ideal world that we would have all of the squad vying for places, training together for everything etc etc, but in the real world it just doesn't work like that. Your analogy, while valid in its own right, is just not comparable to the demands of professional football. AP has spent a lifetime in football, as a top level player and manager. Whatever decisions he makes on the training ground are clearly ones steeped in the knowledge he has gained in that time of how things work within a football club. I find it strange for a man with 15 months experience of running a club to be so directly involved in day to day policy of team matters.

That doesn't really make sense though; no matter how successful or otherwise the current owners are they will always be credited with and thanked for saving the club when it was on its knees. And the Pinnacle group will always be remembered for the tyre-kicking non-entity they actually were. No amount of success or prolonged failure by the current incumbents will change people's opinion that Pinnacle almost destroyed SFC, and Liebherr/Cortese saved it.

This is the first time I've heard it and whether it's true I don't know, so we're debating something all based on an assumption. But they could be being sent home as they're not in the travelling squad for the next game, therefore don't need to be in a meeting to talk about specific tactics. Who knows? But they'd get their chance like any other player would do, as I said that approach to training is implemented by most if not all professional clubs, and they seem to get by just fine with it.

Fair enough point in itself Wade; though in this case we're being told that results weren't the main issue for the sacking, it was more to do with the division between the first team and development squad. Which fits in with the quotes attributed to the first team player. I find it strange that Rupert Lowe was castigated (and rightly so IMO) if he was seen as stepping on the toes of the management of the first team, yet Clotese is seemingly immune from this accusation as he saved the club and has mapped out a blueprint for our future.

I've been to see training a few times at Staplewood, before AP and after; it's often completely unproductive to have the whole squad training together (too many numbers) so they are split into first team and reserves. Nothing at all sinister in that, I'm sure it happens at many if not all clubs. And it's up to the manager and his coaches to decide how he conducts training, as that's what he's paid for. Not the chairman.

I'm alot more worried about the quotes attributed to a first team player. One first-teamer, who asked not to be named, said: "The chairman told us he felt the club had become too divided. "He said he was concerned that some players were not getting a chance and he wanted all the squad to feel part of the club, not just from one to 11 but from one to 30." That strikes me as Clotese interfering with team affairs, which is a massively dangerous route for a club chairman to start going down.

Cortese has never been onside with Pardew so this was bound to happen at some point. The timing is appalling but at least we have plenty of time left in the season for the new man to get his feet under the table. Cortese appointed Pardew on a recommendation in an effort to appoint a manager very quickly, so perhaps never considered him as "his" appointment. Now he has everything in place at the club with regards to the structure, AP clearly didn't fit in with the way Cortese wanted the whole club to be run. I simply can't believe that we don't have someone already lined up to step in; perhaps it won't be announced for a few days but I'd absolutely expect the new management and coaching team to be in place by the weekend.

Indeed.

This is exactly how I see it. The club statement alluded to that fact that the first team and development centre need to be more integrated so I can only see a young manager coming in who'll buy into that. I can see the manager only having a small role in future transfers etc so I can't see a more established manager wanting a part of that. I don't think Zola would be good for us, but I really think that's who we'll get.

I think 3 points today are absolutely vital for AP to stay in position; I could very easily see a defeat meaning the end of his tenure. So for that alone I'm doubly hoping we can put in a performance today and put some points on the table.

I think you're right about the first two, not sure about number three though. Edit to say: I agree If that happens.

My opinion is that you're bleating about someone pointing out that we're in the same league as Rochdale. They weren't for one minute saying that our club was the same as their's, simply that we're in the same league as them. You, however, seemed to twist that to say that we aspire to be in the same class as Rochdale, which clearly wasn't what was being inferred. And I credit you with enough wisdom to have known that in the first place, hence the childish moniker I ascribed you.

Stop being such a drama queen. He's pointing out that, as a club, it's no good resting on past glories or where you think your club should be. Right now we're in the third tier of English football, and so are Rochdale. It's up to the club to sort out that imbalance, but until that happens we can only "carry on and be like Rochdale" as, for now, they are our competitors. No amount of complaining how unfair it all is, and how we're above all that, is going to change it.

Rudi Skacel has signed for Saints.

Good news. But I wonder whether he'll actually start; I guess it depends on his fitness and what AP has seen from him in training. If he is fit, might make sense to start with him in a 451, with Barney available to come on for 2 up top if required.

And there you have a massively simplified analysis of the problem. Firstly, because no-one actually has any idea whatsoever of how high in the negotiations Cortese was prepared to, or did, go. Secondly, because it assumes that it's Antonio or nothing; tick tock, but there's still time to spend said amount on another player who could well have as much as or more impact as Antonio. And thirdly, because it identifies one position (and an impact player position at that) as the dividing factor between our poor form now and the guarantee of promotion.