Midfield_General

That's an excellent piece. Spot on, and absolutely right about the bigger picture.

The way it works in any competent organisation is that the CEO sets the message in partnership with the Head of Comms and potentially an external PR agency/specialist, gets it approved by the Chairman, and then the Head of Comms and his/ her team cascades it out through the relevant media touchpoints - official statement on the OS, club social media channels, briefings to friendly local journalists (e.g. Blackmore at Solent, Alfie at the Echo) etc. Then with a story of this size the national media pick it up from there and you should have a spokesperson in place and ready to go agreeing to do interviews with selected targeted sources to fight your corner. Normally at least one of the broadsheets (Saints have traditionally had good relationships with the Telegraph and Guardian), at least one of the major radio stations (e.g. TalkSport or BBC 5Live), and Sky. As CEO, setting that narrative is a key part of Parsons' role, and as Head of Comms, advising on that and then getting it out there is basically the entire point of Sibley. The fact that even Blackmore and Alfie have turned on the club saying they're completely in the dark shows that Parsons and Sibley can't even do the basics right. Giving local journalists 'our side of the story' and getting them to go in to bat for you should be the easiest thing in the world because it's a relationship where the two parties need each other. They haven't even managed to do that. Obviously when things get legal you have to be more careful with what you say, but people with skill and experience know how to do what they need to do while staying the right side of the line. Look at how Boro's machine went into overdrive. They won the spin war (and nationwide media support, which then influences all the neutrals) instantly because Saints just stayed completely mute and let Boro fill the demand for content with their narrative. Even now, they're still letting everyone else dictate what people think. Saints are a complete joke from top to bottom. They simply don't know what they're doing, it's as clear as day.

Yeah I think the implication is three bottles = Boro bottled it three times (which could be read as bottled autos, semis and final, or first leg, second leg and final).

Aaaaah.... gotcha Good man THB 😆

Just out of interest, how do you infer how THB is feeling about the situation from him posting a photo of a pint of Guinness?

The stage I’m at is that right now they don’t deserve my support. They need to earn it back by showing leadership and taking action to show that they appreciate just how much damage they have done and that they want to put it right. Signs of that so far? Zero. I just feel totally disillusioned with the whole thing and totally disconnected. The lack of leadership and communication gets more and more staggering with each day that slips by. Apart from anything it shows a complete contempt for the fans who give so much to the club through thick and thin and who they have royally fucked over. Well, two can play at that game. You don’t give a shit about me? Then why should I give a shit about you. This is 100% on them, so until they show that they understand what they’ve done and make it clear they’re going to put it right, they can go fuck themselves.

Volcano 🤣 He’s a complete drip who has surrounded himself with incompetent goons and yes men and watched silently while they’ve spunked his millions up the wall and decimated his asset. He’s as much of a joke as the rest of them

I've actually just heard from a source who is usually spot on that Parsons is making a statement at 5pm tonight to reveal the All New Five Pledges, which I'm told are: 1. Serve the Public Trust 2. Protect the Innocent 3. Uphold the Law* 4. Play Three at the Back 5. Classified (* apparently this one "still needs a bit of work", according to Phil)

Personally I want Five Pledges from Parsons, and I want them now.

It would never have happened on Eric Black's watch, let me tell you

We're the only club in the world that could go from 'inoffensive, friendly family club and a bit of a soft touch' to 'evil incarnate and cheating so badly as to get thrown out of major competitions' in the blink of an eye. It reminds me of this timeline: 25th October 2019: Lose 0-9 at home in a league game. 9th November 2020: Go top of the Premier League. 2nd Feb 2021: Lose 9-0 in a league game. Never any middle ground with Saints. Absolutely mental club. Oh well, in theory it should mean that the pendulum will swing back the other way next season and new first team manager Adam Lallana will probably stumble across a global cure for Ebola or something.

Not quiet enough

I think it's pretty obvious by now that the club have absolutely no idea how to handle the media Fuck knows what Sibley's doing, it's literally his job. He's another one who should be feeling very nervous. As 'Group Head of Communications and PR' he has spectacularly failed to provide any sort of counter narrative in this whole sorry affair. Our PR has been as utterly appalling as every other aspect of how this has been handled.

Fair enough. We probably have very different views on it, but as you say, that's the point of a forum and life would be boring if we all agreed on everything... Personally I just want to see some sort of action from the club. Either come out swinging, back people, adopt a siege mentality and try and use it to our advantage somehow, or go scorched earth, start cleaning house and try to turn the page. This current radio silence and limbo is the worst of both worlds and isn't getting anyone anywhere. Get your act together Dragan (Although I do also suspect Dragan's probably waiting for the result of the FA investigation to see if he can sack Tonda/ the rest of those responsible without pay.)

Quite

You would also have to question just what exactly the the point of Dragan is, other than as an investor. Fair enough as the Chairman/ Owner you hand over day-to-day responsibility to your CEO, but when your CEO then fucks it up to the astonishing extent that Henry the Hoover has, you take control back pretty sharpish and get hands-on to steady the ship and protect your asset. I can only assume that Dragan came by his billions in, shall we say, 'alternative' ways, because he sure as hell doesn't appear to know how to run a successful business or put together a competent management team. The whole thing has been an absolute shambles from the moment he and his goons first arrived. He's a joke.

.

Being thrown out of the play-offs, potentially losing £200m, getting a 4 point deduction, being found unanimously guilty by an independent panel, being found unanimously guilty by an appeal panel, having individuals investigated and almost certainly charged by the FA, being vilified in the world's media and it probably leading to the decimation of our management, coaching and playing staff would suggest that ‘but it’s not cheating!!!11!’ isn’t a view that’s widely shared. And ‘thorough and conscientious’ aren’t the words that spring to mind when I read the facts of how he and his crack team went about their brilliant plan, personally. Putting the rights and wrongs of it aside, the whole thing was staggeringly amateurish and inept from start to finish. He's a fucking moron, and so is everyone who enabled him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DYjo8xFsFli/

It actually wasn't Jim White this time, it was someone on the afternoon show, but it could still have been fed into them that way and it seems that a few different sources have reported the same thing so yeah it's probably happening. It would be weirder if he didn't show his face to be honest, given everything that's gone on. No detail as to why he's there though. Could be because he wants to try and galvanise people, could be because he wants to do the firing face-to-face. If it was my potential £200m that had just been spunked and my business's reputation which had been decimated, I know which one I'd be doing, but let's see.

TalkShite (yes, I know) reporter saying that Dragan has called a 'big meeting' at Staplewood this afternoon and that Tonda has been told to be at it. No idea if true, no further details, just sharing what they just said

You forgot to add the one player we had who literally everyone thought was amazing, and who was Saints through and through, publicly losing his fucking marbles and becoming a laughing stock. You don't get to choose your club though, do you. Once you're in, that's it. There's no other option and the only way out is in a wooden box. It's like being in the mafia.

Careful now, you'll have that tinfoil nutter on here losing his marbles again. Actually on second thoughts, crack on, watching that meltdown was amazing entertainment