Whitey Grandad

We were talking about Davis, Skacel, Euell and Saga. As for the rest give me last season over this any day. Real football with real footballers.

Exactly! and we're not 'doing well', by the way.

That was certainly not my opinion at the time, and it has not changed since.

This has been a constant theme throughout this season, and with good reason. But what is often understated is the link between income through the turnstiles and performances on the pitch. Perhaps by now the bank can be persuaded that the overdraft would be reduced sooner if the better players were retained and played rather than cutting costs whatever the outcome.

Yes, really! I remember many more good performances (and wins) from last season than from this. I have never seen such ponderous crabby football as I have witnessed in the first half of this season. But that's just my opinion...

I'm self-employed so I see these matters from a different perspective. Compensation is for loss of employment so if someone were re-employed within a short timescale then I would expect the new remuneration to take account of the previous pay-off.

We're not prejudiced. There are perfectly valid reasons why we don't think that he's a very good chairman.

Give me last season over this one any day.

And of the two, who scores more goals? What would be interesting is the figure for Lowe's compensation when was forced out.

Technically it is as someone pointed out on another thread (apologies, I can't remember who). If we get at least a point from the Watford game, match Norwich and Charlton then all we have to do is beat Forest.

I agree absolutely. The ref controlled the game throughout, had a quiet word when necessary and kept his cards in his pocket (mostly). I thought he got a couple on decisions wrong, but I'm prepared to accept that his opinion may be different from mine. Both officials appear to have missed Perry's handball and I was too far away to have a view about Saga's penalty claim. On the whole I would be happy to see either of the last couple of refs back at St. Marys again (and please God, never Mike Riley).

Which youngsters might they be? Where has he been hiding them?

At the start of the season I seem to remember most people on here saying that they could understand why we were loaning out our first-choice front men but that we would be all right so long as we held on to Stern John. Then he went too and the rest is history.

We have budgeted for lower-league football and that is what we are likely to get. We've fiddled about with loans in and out that have disrupted the team from one game to the next. We should forget the academy and concentrate all our resources on the first team alone, nothing else matters. Our big overhead is also our big asset - the stadium. We should do everything we can to fill it for every home game. This would give us a considerable advantage over most other teams in this division. Just imagine what we could have achieved had we started with the current team and a couple more proven goalscorers. We've paid a lot of money for them and that value has been written off. Better results could have put 10,000 extra on every home gate building on the euphoria of the end of last season, which would have paid for more than the extra cost of keeping those players and would have increased their value to potential buyers. This club is not a factory with the first team as its shop window, it is the life and soul of the City and the region and it deserves far better that this.

The situation is a lot brighter but it's still going to be touch-and-go. The form table is a good indication The important results are the game in hand, home v. Charlton and away at Blackpool & Forest. I think that we will need at least 16 points from the last 12 games and at this rate it looks like it will all go to the last day of the season.

We would have had bigger crowds if they had all played in the first half of the season.

I thought he should have held it.

You've missed out motorbike scrambling. Does anybody still do that? And a pint of prawns from the whelk stall at the end of the road.

Can we set lions and tigers loose on them?

Let's just say that I shall be going to the game with a bit more optimism than previously. I still think that we're deep in the doggy-doos but with a fair wind, an early goal and a frenzied crowd screaming their support we're in with a chance. ok, I'll settle for an early goal.

Any one of those would be enough for me, tbh. You've left out a lot of others, how about abysmal man-management skills and no-existent motivational skills? We could go on, and I suspect that many will.

Last Saturday's win has certainly improved our chances and must have sent the willies up the other clubs. Another win tomorrow and then it'll be touch-and-go until the end of the season. The game in hand is probably the most significant because there we have a chance to gain points on all those around us. We live in 'interesting times'.

As I understand it, there are two parachutes just for having been in the Premiership. For many clubs it would be financially impossible to get up and stay up in one promotion. Rather than spending every penny to try and stay up (Derby?) another way is to get promoted and then use the money wisely to make sure that the club is in a healthier state than the other clubs in the Championship. It may take two or three promotions to secure a firm foothold in the Premiership. There's an interesting article about clubs that bounce straight back: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/aug/08/sport.comment1 If one bounces back then the football League get the saved parachute. If 2 bounce back the the Premier League keeps the second saved payment, but if all three bounce back then the third saved payment is also distributed lower down.

1. Apart from the odd exception, they have all been terrible. 2. The first lesson for a young supporter is that there is no satisfaction in following a successful team. You have to sit through years of mediocrity and dross in order to fully appreciate the rare bright shaft of sunlight. I remember leaving Old Trafford (it might have been Anfield) after we had been stuffed as usual and one Saints follower turned to his little boy who looked completely stunned and said "that's what it's all about, son". Think of it as a valuable lesson in life and disappointment that will help him navigate the storms and whirlpools that lie ahead of him. 3. Yup, I agree 100%.

Do you mean 'who wants ham and cheese? How many for bacon and tomato?'