Cabrone

I'll look forward to Adkins if he does finally turn up. He has a track record of getting out of this league with scant resources and comes across as a decent, intelligent and honorable guy. I really like the sound of him. To those of you who question whether he is prem material may I remind you that we are in league 1 and will never get to the prem if we don't get out of league 1. One step at at time please folks. The trouble is we have already messed up our first 5 games and with confidence so low will probably need another 2-3 to get back up and running so even if he joined today we have a huge challenge to get top 2 now. I can't believe how much of a **** up we've made of this season so far.

When I first hear of him I wasn't blown away but he's grown on me. Seems like a decent bloke and has a track record of league 1 promotion. I just hope we can land him now (as long as he stops talking in the 3rd person).

If NA has not agreed because he thinks that Scunny need to be better compensated then he sounds like a principled guy. Just a shame that we might not be getting him. If the shoe was on the other foot and he was our manager refusing to go to say Man Unt because they didn't want to pay proper compensation then we'd love him for it. Good on you NA, I just hope NC learns from this experience.

If NA has not agreed because he thinks that Scunny need to be better compensated then he sounds like a principled guy. Shame we might not be getting him. If the shoe was on the other foot and he was our manager refusing to go to say Man Unt because they didn't want to pay proper compensation then we'd love him for it. Good on you NA, I just hope NC learns from this experience.

If it's their job on the line then it's perfectly understandable that they'd want to control the football side of things. How would you like to work in a structure where your work colleague could meddle with your job and get you the sack whilst he remained in place? No manager worth his salt would agree to this.

Don't agree with this power structure and if this is how NC is going to set things up then it will lead to instability. Why should Reed have the same authority as the manager when it's the manager's neck on the chopping block if it goes badly? If the manager is the one that pays the price for failure then the manager must be given total authority to manage - Reed gets to interfere and meddle but doesn't get the sack if things turn out bad? This would indicate to me that the manager has LESS status than Reed and that is daft, don't blame AP for leaving if he wasn't happy with this! An independent minded good manager is pivotal for success but I struggle to see any decent manager accepting this structure. We'd end up with yes men all the time.

If that is true then no stability will ever be achieved. The manager MUST have authority over his no.2 - any other arrangement will not work. If NC were to pull that elusive rabbit out of the hat and get a top manager like MoN (not saying it's likely - just an IF) then I'd be fairly sure that the new manager would let NC know in no uncertain terms just how the power structure would work. That all said I can't believe that NC wouldn't know this already and that's why I don't believe this piece of gossip in the first place.

MoN is a maverick in the Clough mould and as such I could see him, like Clough, doing the unexpected and joining us. The job at SMS has 'potential' written all over it - maybe MoN sees it as a tasty challenge??

Good up and coming manager who seems to tick quite a few boxes. I'm warming to this one. I really like the fact that he has got Scunny of of lge 1 not once but twice. He obviously knows how to get promoted out of this league.

Really, you couldn't have timed this any worse if you tried. Decent manager sacked just as the transfer door slams shut. There must be more to this than mets the eye - surely??? I thought AP would deliver top 2 - now it depends on how the new guy can adapt but he's already going to start with one hand tied behind his back and a disgruntled fan base. That said, Lambert did it at Norwich and there's still a long way to go but my expectations have now dropped down to playoffs. What a crazy mess.

If the sightings of O'Neill at St Marys watching Saints v Orient are correct then I'd imagine it wasn't a random occurence.

The only name mentioned that would genuinely excite me from all those suggested is O'Neill. Keegan would be fun too but I'd struggle to justify why he's any better than AP. Just shows what a difficult position NC has now put himself into. If he doesn't have a top name lined up the vast majority of the fan base are going to be disappointed as AP was already good enough. NC - you have put yourself into a corner, I just hope you can pull the rabbit out of this particular hat.

Crazy decision, I felt confident that AP was going to deliver top 2 so why sack him when pre-season has finished and this season's hostilities are just starting. When will we ever learn - stability is key. I just hope NC has someone better lined up, I'd like to see an out and out winner installed (like Lambert at Norwich was) , not just some razzmatazz name. BTW I wouldn't dismiss O'Neill out of hand, he's a bit of a maverick and might just be tempted to take on a squad already good enough to get out of this league and a decent infrastructure + transfer kitty in place. It might just appeal to his sense of adventure and give him a chance to really build something good at this club (and become a hero to boot). Commiserations to AP and if it's any consolation I think many fans will feel that he's been hard done by.

Great result and performance by the sounds of it, should do the player's confidence the world of good too. Also a bit relieved as I suspect Wednesday and Peterborough might be threatening to take off. This win + our game in hand should mean that even with our mediocre start we'll be right on their shoulders, ready to pounce when they screw up.

I do, we're all a little frustrated by the start we've made (I think the pre-season was questionable) but we have no other option than to be patient. Being self employed experience has taught me to only strike when the right opportunity comes up. Believe me, it takes a fair bit of discipline to hold back when you know you could instantly get a lesser deal and I'm willing to give AP some slack on this one. He might not even get it right but at least he's not wading into the transfer market hoovering up lesser players in a knee-jerk fashion. That's what we used to do and it cost us dearly. My patience is not inexhaustible but as many have said we are still in the embryonic stages of the season and we are creating hatfuls of chances. This team will come good IMO.

I agree with that, the dynamics of the transfer market have changed and the smart managers will be keeping an eye out for bargains to drop down into the murky depths of lge 1. AP is keeping his powder dry because he thinks that we can pick up some tasty goodies as squads are pruned. The reality is that we want top 2 this year and already have a decent squad (despite the hysterics on here). Therefore it follows that we have to sign better players than teams lower down the league. That means we have to be more patient as better players can afford to be more choosy - we are competing with Coke outfits in many cases. Being as one of APs biggest strengths IMO has been his signings why don't we just wait and see what he can get.

Alpine gives a team talk....... LOL.

On the plus side he's always been a model pro and I'd be confident that if he did come here he'd honestly give it his all, esp as we are looking to get promoted. Also he would be very good at this level, the legs might not be what they once were but he was never quick anyway. However his footballing brain would be a darn site better than the average lge 1 player. On the negative side, £20k p.w would be disruptive and is ridiculous for a player that is not going to feature any more than 1 season for us. How would Rickie feel if we parachuted a 35/36 year old on twice his wages? Not too chuffed i'd expect. If he could accept a deal based on appearances which would pay no more than Rickie then maybe he'd be a good piece of short term business but if it turns out to be a no-go I won't be too disappointed.

We'll be top 2 and motoring along, having clocked up 12 points from the last 15. AP will be manager and things will be looking good for auto promotion.

Blimey, not sure how we got him but yet another cracking looking signing! http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2131709,00.html

With a track record like ours you really have to question pre season at SFC, the whole point is to get the 1st team fit, gelled and ready to go yet we never seem to be anywhere near the required standard. I always got the whiff that this Swiss trip was a bit of a jolly to big up the players but wasn't really what they needed i.e. a set of fixtures in increasing difficulty that got the team ready fighting fit and match ready for the long slog ahead. I guess you could come up with excuses in years gone by but not now - no excuses whatsoever. It whiffs of a lack of professionalism\desire to me. On the plus side it's only 2 games and there is a long way to go BUT why do we have to instantaneously put pressure on ourselves when its a hard enough task as it is.

But by all accounts the team looked great up until they scored the goal then they fell away. That to me indicates that the performance was by and large the fault of the players - if they can perform well before scoring why can't they maintain that same level of consistency after they have scored? AP can't change their mentality during the game - they really do have to take that responsibility themselves.

A team with pretensions of top 2 simply shouldn't go into limp mode. You need heart and character to achieve top 2 - pussies do not get promoted. Whatever the result is the least I expect from SFC is heart and grit.

One of the best if not the best owners out there. Gutted, really really gutted.

Wow what a shock. I'd just like to say thanks, you saved our club. I just hope that someone in the family will keep on going with the club as it was doing so well under his ownership.