saint1977

For me: Number 1 by a distance: Guy Askham - robbed from a vulnerable man (George Bowyer) and has done nowt but line his pockets and I blame him for today's mess as well. Appointed Branfoot, left a big overdraft and his treatment of Merrington summed him up as a sh!tty little man. - Adrian Heath - sorry Johnny FP but that goal made me sick as a young lad - Darren Anderton - how can anyone claim they are a Saints fan and start their career there? Bob Higgins was behind that, a disgruntled ex-SFC employee. Can remember being at WHL with about 3-4000 Saints fans and the stick was immense. Anderton had a poor game as well. - Keith Wiseman, Richards, Hunt - same as Askham. Wiseman even approved Euell's signing. What an idiot. I'd agree with Roger Milford and Gerald Ashby. I remember Dave Jones launching an astonishing rant against Ashby. - Steve Dunn - cheating little obese referee who disallowed Shipp's goal at OT in 1996 and also had a stinker V Villa in 2001. The fattest official ever. - Paul Davis - Thug who broke ****erill's jaw and also a Skate - Harry - Everything I don't like about football - Venables - See above - Abramovic - Destroyed English football - Scudamore (PL Chief Exec) - 39th game - need I say any more? - Mike Wilde - Judas and a snake. Almost toppled Askham at number 1. - Jim Hone - really didn't give a toss - Alan Smith - vastly overrated although he usually got sent off at SMS so worth a goal start to us if he played. Actually, he was even sent off at SMS playing for England. - Bill Archer/Bellotti/Robert Chase/Michael Knighton - for crimes against other clubs that surpass even Guy Askham's. I don't like Lowe but won't add him to this list as he did some good things for us 1997-03 which is more than can be said for most of our Directors since the late 80s. Having said that, he's still been a disaster area since 2004.

Trouble is Jonah, both sides are at it on here and objectivity has gone out of the window. Some of the stuff Duncan has posted about 2002/3 is a bit much as well, if we're going to criticise Lowe (rightly) for 2004-9 (barring 2 seasons where his friends sniped from the sidelines), let's give the bloke credit for 1999-2003 where he got things pretty right. Having said that, you'd do better at currying some favour on here by not always defending the indefensible from Lowe. His AGM behaviour was a joke and everyone knows it.

The events of the 70s are before my time but LM was not popular early on I understand. We also kept players like Osgood, Channon etc who would have kept the entertainment value up. Also, we did get to CWC QF season after the FA Cup - my parents went to Anderlecht away. Saints did actually invest in players after promotion it seems - Ball had already joined and George was an ambitious signing (albeit he was never fit). We also got to the League Cup final in 1979 and then Keegan was a stunning signing in 1980 - current European Footballer of the Year. Yes, Keegan and many others feel that with a bit more ambition, we'd have won the title and Keegan's departure caused a lot of anger at the time but remember, Shilton was signed on wages that I believe may have been the biggest in British football at the time. Heysel did for us and a number of medium-sized clubs that were regularly in the top 6 and the club stagnated a bit post-Woodforde although we brought high quality youngsters through and remained entertaining to watch. We were still signing good quality top flight players with the odd criticised signing - Forrest for example who actually wasn't too bad. Towards the end of Nicholl's time onwards was grotty and some shocking decisions were made and the greed really got going. Who was Chairman? Guy Askham. Who runs Lowe's share proxy? Guy Askham. Spot the link everybody? Askham is directly culpable for the last 6 points you make Jonah and I mean directly culpable. Heck, he even gave Branfoot a 3 year deal and then Branfoot nearly gave MLT to Chelsea in a part-ex for Robert Fleck and WE would have paid a cash adjustment to Chelsea. Thank f@ck MLT and Fleck weren't up for it! Regardless of everything else that is posted on here, I do not think it is reasonable to be asked by the club to support a candidate propped up by Guy Askham. That man should be banned from the club for life (and Wiseman and the others as well) after the George Bowyer incident and that will be Guy's grubby legacy. I hope when he snuffs it that the fans are not expected to observe a minute's silence for him?

Agree on the HP in a Bacon Sandwich - had that many a time after a hangover! Good quality tomato ketchup is good in a proper burger though and does contain lypocine (antioxidant - very good for you although tomato puree has the best beneficial effect). I'm not one of those people who puts it on everything though (or that many things at all really) - one of my friends does and it has to be Heinz as well.

This is correct in a direct sense but do remember that a lot of businesses put money into the club that are fans. Fullers Group, Draper Tools - if this dried up the club would really be in trouble. They are not going to want to anger customers for their products by tarnishing themselves with a poor regime. Look at the trouble Askham had finding Dimplex eventually in 1993/4 - we nearly began the season without a sponsor as a PL club because Askham and co had no credibility and business didn't want to be associated with the Branfoot turmoil and a regime that wouldn't make changes and rewarded failure with 3 year contracts.

This and Tamesaint's post below it are excellent. Actually, I do agree with C19 that administration is not something to be wished for at all and it's good to see him posting in a way that inspires proper debate rather than winding certain posters up. Long may it continue. I do disagree that Lowe is the best option post-admin - he's better than Wilde or Askham granted but then that would go for everyone on this forum! I'd like to see a new approach, not the Crouch/LM crowd either. Lowe's track record since 2003 would have got him sacked from every major company in the land (excluding the banks...) and his credibility with any stakeholders, let alone the fans, is zero. Football is heading for big problems though, the gap between the PL and CCC is now a Grand Canyon and it isn't healthy, unless of course UEFA/FIFA want to reduce major football to just a Champions League across W.Europe of just 15 or so clubs.

In hindsight although I've no time for Wilde at all and detest him as much as Askham, it might have been better for Leon to have given him his seat. Wilde would have been pretty absent anyway and it might have kept Lowe out.

As a lot of Local Authorities are Toomer. Tax revenues are down, benefits are up and Government policy is all over the shop. Not that the opposition looks any better either. It doesn't excuse years of SCC ineptitude (well poor Leadership really, the staff seem to try their best) as well but public services are not having a good time it seems. With this background, how anyone thinks SCC could buy SMS is beyond belief.

Sad but true. He's been found out though.

I've always liked you as a poster FC (and still do) but recently you do seem to have traded in your place on the fence yet are accusing others of lacking the balance you used to provide the forum with. We clearly could have used bargains from Leagues 1 and Europe (Sajis) as many CCC teams have done (Swansea) and mixed that up with the CREAM of the young players and some experience. I bet most of those teams have similar budgets to us now and some like Doncaster operate on even less) What Lowe opted for was half-baked and simplt not grounded in reality. Some kids won't cut it professional football.

Possibly only on Sturrock Frank, I don't think many fans would agree there was any business sense at all on any of the of the others. Lowe gets credit on Jones, Hoddle, WGS because they were good appointments and in the case of Hoddle and WGS inspired appointments. Those were the days when Lowe seemed to have a bit of go in him and livened up the old farts. Time has sadly made him more like Askham and foes. As for luck - City have missed penalties against us home and away. I don't think we can moan too much.

Pubs are far better in Salisbury. I once tried a Saturday night out in Eastleigh many years ago and it was even worse than Slough. Seriously.

Oh yes. Deacons - if it's still there, Haunch of Venison, Rai'Dor and many others. Rai'Dor does genuine Thai food as well.

Askham will rape this club for every last penny he can extract, even as the administrators are moving in the front door. Sordid little man - the Bowyer incident was the worst point the club's history and worse than any relegation could be and it marks the start of the rot. I don't agree with interrupting minutes silences for the deceased at games and have always observed them happily but I'd make an exception for Guy Askham should the club be stupid enough to hold one. In fact, a burst of "Guy Askham, what a w@nker" should be sung by a full SMS house getting their revenge.

Spot on, SCC have a financial black hole the size of the Grand Canyon. Whoever thought this up at the Trust must have been smoking crack.

Point is Sid, we wouldn't be top of ANY league with these idiots in charge. Particularly with Rupert insisting on McGoldrick playing, he couldn't score in 19 games at Port Vale last season at that level. If we did go top a few may go back but I don't think it would make a lot of difference to me - next season whether I go or not at all depends on what happens over the summer. The objective for me is to remove them by the end of the season, if not before. If they stay, we won't be top of any league Sid, we'll be recovering from a -10 points start.

It's not the PLC status per se TDD but the personnel behind it and Askham and co using it as a front to rape the club. Therefore, PLC status is badly damaged by the actions of a few former Directors.

Surman's heart is not at SFC anymore and after a promising start to this season, he's gone back to his bad old ways of last year. No upper body strength and won't tackle. He does pop up with useful goals from midfield but like Lallana, he is technically gifted player that has lost his way at this dump of a club and has been let down by poor coaching and management. He is experienced enough to know a bit better though.

That's 2 more crosses than we've seen at SMS all season.

Totally agree, make it 1-1 and force the WICB to resign en masse. It's pathetic, Sri Lanka isn't rolling in money either but if they can get a game on at Galle just 3 years after a Tsunami, what excuse is there for this? Particularly with the Stanford 20/20 money recently as well. In fact, the ICC should tell the WICB to resign or strip them of Test status but judging by the politics and pathetic inaction over Zimbabwe, there's no chance of that happening. Even so, the ICC ought to take WICB over for 12 months and bring in it's own team.

This is not the first time either - anyone remember Jamaica and the cracked pitch debacle? WI have a half-decent side emerging again but the administrators at WICB are not liked in the region and you can see why. Award the game to England and hopefully the uproar and hopefully the entire WICB will resign and do world cricket a favour. Look at the mess they made of the World Cup in 2007 - and that was with the Chinese putting big money in for the stadiums - and mugs like me had to pay well over the odds on tickets to subidise it as well when I watched England in 2004. They've also had numerous spats with Digicel, the main sponsor, which strong leadership should have avoided. Yes, the local Antigua CA has mucked up royally but WICB has oversight and the buck stops there. Imagine if someone had slipped on the outfield and done a Simon Jones at Brisbane? WICB is a bit like SFC and it's board and major shareholders - effing hopeless and need to go now. Such a pity that such a proud cricketing nation and set of fans are let down by imbeciles.

3-0 Bristol City. Ashton Gate can be a bit hostile which won't suit our current squad. At least John won't be able to play.

The Echo reported he was sporting a cut above his right eye.

Phew! Pleased about that. The East Anglian clubs and North East really seem to lose out on a lot of players for that reason. Also, a close mate of mine is a Carlisle fan and even though they've had a few great seasons, are well run and have a tidy fanbase, all they can recruit is players that have played in the North-West or North-East.

They've also investment from the Turner family to help them through the end of the parachute period. The Turners left in the summer which is why Norwich are struggling a bit as the Cullin takeover saga dragged on without resolution but thanks to that investment last season I'd still happily swap even if Delia is almost as bad at picking managers as Rupert.