saint1977

Sadly I have to agree to some extent and whilst LM is a legend for what he did as manager and kept us afloat as DOF, he has been too close to Askham over the years. They might be on different sides now but history tells us LM behind the scenes is dangerous, a bit like Shearer at Newcastle. That's why no Newcastle manager will have Shearer anywhere near the club. It's been bad enough having to watch the disasterous and incompetent interference from Rupert Lowe.

Totally agree on those changes, Panesar is stuck in a rut and actually seems to prefer bowling on greener pitches. Rashid will need careful treatment though, Gayle and Chanderpaul could be brutal. Anderson should have been playing ahead of Sidebottom anyway, Sidebottom has lost any pace he had and Bell is looking a cert to be dropped. About time too, one of my least favourite England players over the years.

Probably so, Saga is a popular player. Hope he can get another scoring run going though.

Agreed, MLT would improve this lot even having not trained for 8 years! I don't like Euell but he can head a ball on and hold it up and we're desperate. McG doesn't run, doesn't use the upper body strength he has, is weak in the air and isn't the greatest finisher. In fact, Colin Clarke as a middle-aged man would be probably be more effective than McG, even Mick Channon would be! Clarke has to be the worst stand-in goalkeeper I've ever seen though.

Agree with starting XI but Lancashire needs some loan experience in League 2 or BSP. God knows what Liptak is like but he can't be worse than Lancashire surely? Good to see McG hasn't featured again! Wonder if we could persaude someone like MK Dons or Leeds to take BWP on loan for the rest of season so we never have to endure him again?

Spot on and WGS did really well in tackling the drinking culture. Sure, Beatts went off the rails but it was dealt with and he went on to score 25 goals that season. I just think the players should stay out of the city's more notorious nightspots at the moment. I can remember an Ipswich-supporting friend telling me about David Johnson drinking champagne in a nightclub straight after they'd been knocked out the play-offs. Consequently, Johnson took a lot of flak in the local media and from fans. It's ok when you are doing well but given the current performances and effort shown, the players must know they are not the city's favourite sons right now. Don't know why anyone would attack Saganowski though, he's one of the few players in the squad who is performing and seems to give a toss.

Thanks Stu - I saw a Sky Sports piece on these guys and I was very impressed by them. Adam Pearson also did a tremendous job and laid the foundations for Hull - God, I wish we'd had a CEO like that. Unlike Mr Lowe, he also knew at Hull when he'd taken it as far as he could and handed over to Paul Duffy. Sadly, Mr Lowe has been the only one in Askham's cabal with a brain that processes anything other than asset stripping, hence we had success 1997-2003 despite that group holding us back in general. Sadly, with less than a 6% stake, he's only been their puppet and after a few dreadful mistakes, continues to have Askham's hand up his arse whilst taking the heat off of them.

I agree on Lowe/Wilde continuing not being an option but by putting Corbett and Crouch back on the podium we are just recycling problems. The party that isn't in the boardroom will p!ss back inside the boardroom when they are ousted, we already know this. Someone with a bit more gravitas and less baggage like Salz - if he could be talked into it - might be a compromise and might keep the bank sweet. Local politicians commenting on sporting matters is always a bit dubious - I can remember that group of MPs that wanted Danny Wilson sacked from Sheff Wed. Agree totally on Points 5 & 6, I'd replace Wotte tommorrow with Cotterill or any number of candidates. Also, I don't think Rupert would be allowed anywhere near SFC post-administration as his track-record of 2 relegations rules him out. What I would like when the dust finally settles is a life ban for Askham (and others) for the Bowyer affair.

I think he pretty much did on Soccer Saturday not long ago. In fact, he had a pop at all the major shareholders for failing the club and chronic mismanagement.

I agree with the overwhelming majority of that, I still think that Lowe is easy to replace as a club employee. Who could replace him? Put a decent advert in one of the broadsheets and see who you get. In the current climate, there are some seriously good people that were unfortunate enough to go down on rotten ships. The standard may well be higher than 2006. Also, I'm not keen on Crouch as a Chairman but what about Salz? Much more gravitas and likely to know the right people to negotiate us through the stormiest of short-term waters. Doesn't come with the baggage of the other candidates as well. Perhaps he is overestimated but he can't do any worse than Wilde or Askham!

Cheers buddy, glad to see fans having some sensible exchanges of opinion rather than shouts of "Lowe Luvvie" or the Sundance approach. I can understand the position of those who are wary of replacing Lowe, we jumped on the Wilde horse last time and came a real cropper. That said, I do get frustrated when I read that we need to buy Rupert out or that there needs to be an alternative. In the short-term, there doesn't but obviously at some stage we do need to unpick the share gridlock created by Askham and people are going to have to sit down in the same room who frankly can't stand each other. Actually, if the main shareholders did that now, we really could avoid administration. Judging by the behaviour of all concerned at the AGM, I don't hold out much hope. Meanwhile, as has been the case at SFC since the late 1980s, the fans are somewhere down in 100th place on the club's (and those sniping from the sidelines) list of priorities. The whole club is like a once close-knit family that has gone really bad. The fans could be the only element left that could make something of it.

See my post below. Lowe owns less than 6% so the alternative in the short-term is simple - hire a better CEO. This is the responsibility of Wilde and Askham's sharebases but as ever, responsibility is what they lack (as well as backbone). Much easier to have Rupert struggling in the headlights taking the flak whilst the juggernaut approaches... In the medium-to-long term, I do agree with you, we need an alternative to ALL the major shareholders, including Leon Crouch. Lowe doesn't need to be bought out though, can we just lay that myth to rest? No having a pop at you OB but I see it posted often on here and it's simply nonsense.

I'm not a Leon Crouch fan for the record but I have to say there is little evidence to back that statement up. Hone did most of the damage and he was Wilde's man, until that was he realised Mikey was a Walter Mitty and booted him off the Board. Crouch was left with a right mess - granted the Dodd/Gorman appointment was straight out of Rupert's book of stupid appointments - but he did at least get fans onside and seemed to have the bank's backing. If he didn't, Barclays would have pulled the plug. He was also less engaged with Tommac that I thought, Askham's cabal were allegedly engaged as well. He was already priming us for cost-cutting as well. The daft spending on wages for Safri and Euell was opposed by Crouch and in the case of Euell a respected poster on here - one that is neutral on this whole business - says Wiseman signed it off and Crouch was outvoted by Hone et al. I think some of the things Leon says - "we'd be in the top 6 etc" are daft and he doesn't totally convince me but let's actually judge the man on what he did in the short-time he DID have at the helm? It was a feck sight better than Mike Wilde, that's for sure.

I think the type of investment Micky would be different now to what it would have been in say 2003 given the world economy. It would need to be about simply stabilising the club first and building up gradually over 2-3 years to be able to have a go at the CCC top 6, assuming we could stay up this year. The big issue isn't Rupert at all - those "anyone could buy me out for £25m" quotes at the fans forum were Rupert blowing his chest out - but the tangled web of shareholdings. Wilde will try to save his shares until the last moment he can and Askham's group seem lost in the headlights, just like they always were. Crouch talks the talk but for me, hasn't walked the walk as yet. Until we unravel the share maze, we'll never know what the real options on the table might be - as you've identified, there are plenty of clubs out there that come with less hassle (but often more debt than us). Marcus Evans clearly found Ipswich easier to deal with for example! I feel that it suits the above to have Lowe as target practice at this moment but Wilde could turn in an instant. What we do have in our favour is a proven ability to sustain PL level once the silly overseas money subsides - and it's starting to - and the fanbase to go with it. The past XIs are a whos-who of football and our geographical location and the need to regenerate Southampton the city which has decayed badly in the last few years also make a good case. Having a decent regional airport shouldn't be overlooked either.

I very much agree with your first 2 paragraphs Barfy. Shah and Bopara deserve a run but I'm not sure they will go any better than Bellend, Cook or Collingwood. What disturbs me and it's a bad legacy Moores left is how players like Cook and Panesar who enjoyed sparkling starts to their England careers have stood still and then gone into sharp decline. Sidebottom's little slow left-arm seamers were tidy but he never looked like taking a wicket unless a WI inside-edged it and has lost his nip. Harmy hasn't been the same since Cooley left but again, he's better than what's out there. Only Broad, KP, Freddie and Prior are international standard at present. Swann is no great shakes but can at least hold a bat. Your last paragraph is where I agree with the gist of your statemen but actually, we've been abysmal in 20/20 and ODIs and need to play more of it. The problem lies in the counties relying on the national team to recruit Kolpak players and bring through **** poor medium pace rubbish and batters that can't play straight. Too many counties are full-time, make it 3 divisions with 2 full-time and the best prospect of playing for England means you need to be in Div 1. Division 3 would be the likes of Leics and Derbyshire going part-time like the Australian state system. Ideally, I'd like to merge most of the midland counties - we only need Warwickshire and Notts. Look at the area Durham cover and they'e got a catchment area that covers the Midlands counties and they get good gates.

Good post.

Totally agree with those who have posted to say a boycott is the best way, allied to marches. Askham only got rid of Branfoot as he hit him in the pocket which is the only thing he understands. Some of the football 1992-4 was shocking and God knows where we'd be now if it wasn't for MLT. Yet Askham, Wiseman and all the other old fools stuck with him and even gave him a 3 year contract. These people still have a large say in how SFC runs and if you want to get to the heart of why we are in such a hole, you have your answer!

Trouble is Micky, his holding is neither here nor there at less than 6%. There would be better qualified CEOs out there, it's just that Saints haven't had a decent one since Alan Woodford. Our only benchmarks are Askham, Hone and Wilde who all make Robert Chase from Norwich and Bill Archer from Brighton look like Steve Gibson in comparison, so dreadful were they. No wonder people think Rupert is preferable! Rupert did pretty well 1997-03 but you can't rely on past glories and he's dropped some howlers with managers since then and wasted the first parachute season in the CCC on bullsh!t and gibberish and increased the overheads when income had slumped. Not smart when the Sky money has run out. Hone then built on 3 years of poor performance from Rupert beautifully and really acclerated the decline. Wilde could fire Lowe tommorrow but we'd still be stuck with the main shareholders although at least we wouldn't have hopefully to put up with any more JP/Wotte brainwaves. The advantage might be that with such a divisive figure gone - and he really lost the plot at the AGM - the fans might start to engage again. Remember, us fans turned out in large numbers for the stadium rallies in the 1990s and we backed him for the majority of the time so his advocates can't get away with saying the fans didn't back him. We also filled SMS as promised and briefly, we did get a team under WGS to grace it.

Thanks Florida, you have clearly have know him better than most on here and there was some good balance there. I find any claims that Lowe is evil a bit daft - he's a misinformed man doing his job not particularly well. If you want the nearest thing you'll get to evil in an SFC context, look at Askham and Wiseman and Bowyer's shares - that was seriously unpleasant. Lowe isn't anywhere near as bad as those two or Richards et al but I still want him gone as his decision-making since 2003 has been appalling. By the way, to the person who posted that he needed "buying out" - we've all been over this millions of times before but he is an appointed CEO with a barely 6% share. If Wilde or Askham's share proxy told him to go tommorrow, you wouldn't see him again.

Do I want him to stay? No Do I think that he is the best - or only - option for us? No Do I like him? I haven't met him so cannot say. I've met Andrew Cowen a couple of times and he came across well. Not impressed by Askham at all but never met Rupert.

Totally agree, Skacel at LM for me. Holmes looked decent early on but has been poor since returning from injury, probably rushed back too soon by the buffoons who run the club. Not sure about Surman in CM - he cannot tackle to save his life and is more of a forward-minded player but the thought of sticking to Wotton is truly awful. Morgan S should be the answer but he's been dreadful recently and reminds me of Eugene Bopp, who came to Forest at a similar age with a big reputation and now plays for Rotherham. Dyer should be playing at RM although James could be left even more exposed because we've never procured an effing RB! Yet we've got Molyneux in Mills' way for the LB spot, those wages should have been used to bring in a RB. Smith showed ability in flashes V Man U but has also produced a couple of the worst displays I've ever seen from a RM recently so jury is out on him. The other RM option if he pulls his finger out and makes the best of his huge talent is Lallana. Forget this 'in the hole' position - that requires us holding the ball up and not much chance of that from McG! Thank God for Kelvin, Saga and Sajies - the 3 players we can rely on to give 100% in games at the moment.

With a stadium similar to the Dell that won't be much income - not having a pop but pointing out facts. We certainly couldn't have signed Sol Campbell on huge wages let alone some of the other players in your squad. I think even if you survive this year you are in a huge drop battle next year from minute one and when we were at the Dell on a 15k limited capacity 1994-2001, we didn't have 15 odd clubs with billionaires to compete with. Prepare for some really tough times ahead - we are a lesson in what can happen if you drop out of the PL bubble. The only way you can stay in the current PL at Fratton is by going back into huge debt to pay even moderate wages. I'm not convinced that selling Diarra and Defoe has cleared the debt either - you've still signed players.

That could be a positive but we'll have to win games to overhaul them with or without him and I'm not sure we'll win many more this season.

I agree totally on Cranie, thought he looked awful in the few PL and CCC games he played and one decent game at Pride Park didn't change that. I laughed when the Skates had to pay us money for him! Mills was influenced by Wigley to Man City and given how things have worked out for him, he won't be too unhappy.

I'd pull it Ponty - not a great deal to see.