NickG

wish football was this simple!

when we first signed him, for about 2 games, thought he was exactly the character in CM we needed. however, after that was very disappointed in him. we have been missing a big character in CM to grab hold of a game for years and to me is by far our biggest weakness - much much more than resigning a winger for the bench. If we had a Robbie Savage type for last two seasons think things would be looking different. Schneiderlin was poor yesterday as well, but has shown last season he is good enough easily for first 11 - and think he would be even better with the Savage type signing along side him

You probably know I am not one to criticise player but thought he was very poor today - on the ground, in the air and distribution.

Thought Dickson was better against Plymouth, but not so good against cherries

agree, he showed he could turn things around and had a good team for the majority of last season, if we get into under performing rut something will have to give - as it would for any manager.

in last 10 years we have had 14 managers, probably all with their own preparation. Numerous players. A lot of it has to be coincidence - there is no consistent factor over those years... apart from us!

think he has been poor in both league games - although know some rated him against Plymouth

sounds fair summary 4 or 5 big players not up to their game - Hammond, Lambert, Jaidi and Fonte - all should do better

Worth remembering tho.. hit post twice their keeper was probably mom 3 or 4 other very near misses.

Disappointing. +ve , start of game we looked unplayable - did not last long enough. As well as the goal we had 3 other near misses - Barnard hitting post keeper well beaten, Barnard just failing to get to header when goalie beaten and Lambert downward header. When we had them on back foot team played well - Puncheon was beating players with ease, Butterfield joining up well. -ve key thing for me is we are losing the battle in CM. Hammond was not in the game at all, Schneiderlin was nothing like the player last season showing odd moments only. No Case / Marsden to grab hold of the game, pick up scraps when they clear it or fight back when their pressure came. CM to me remains my first choice of a quality signing. Next biggest problem was CBs. Fonte had his worst game for us and Jaidi was appalling. At one stage he was about 3m from the ball, the forward about 7m and still the forward got to it first. Although never fast he is normally commanding - he wasn't, lost a lot of headers and the booking was typicial - making up for his slow reactions. But what really effected the team is the amount of possession he gave away. Cortesse was not in the box by the end of the game. Although Juilan and Andrew Lloyd Webber were! Don't get the Puncheon slating at all

Didn't think Puncheon was that bad - worse for me today were - Hammond, Jaidi, Fonte, and Lambert apart from the goal.

Did you just make that up? If so why don't you answer last bit as well!

1) They were wrong. 2) Wasn't what it was about, people are building myths about this MLT slating NC has done.

agreed

is this not fair summary of him Stu?

why do you and Stu spend so much time slagging him off!

it does get silly, like the lowe luvvie thing - if you don't castigate him for everything, according to the poster with two profiles, you love him. most, I guess, think he comes across as aloof, has made mistakes but is generally doing well

would rather chairman didn't keep give interviews etc - got on with running club well - like now really. not there to be liked.

maybe not you, not suggesting it was, but sure we all know who.

as Cortesse said - they are entitled to their opinion and also says they are ill-informed. The truth? Who knows but Pardew is still here.

not quite the character assassination of our hero some often suggest.

Here is Cortesse's statement in full, which folklore has now changed to be saying the MLT is the son of the devil!! It was a proud moment for Markus and me when we acquired ownership of this great football club and the pace of positive change over the last ten months has been impressive. First, and very importantly, we stabilised the Club on and off the pitch and began to provide the business with the direction it had lacked for so long. I have since appointed a new First Team Manager, strengthened the playing squad and, more recently, established a Football Development and Support Centre. Behind the scenes a huge amount of work is being carried out to improve every facet of the Club's operations. Reflecting on the season just ended, we finished 7th in League One, thereby missing out on the play-offs which was obviously disappointing despite the ten point deduction. Nevertheless, we made good progress, particularly in the second half of the season, and we won the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on a special day at the home of world football. In recent days, there has been much speculation in some of the tabloid national and local press about the position of our First Team Manager, Alan Pardew. This speculation could be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to unsettle both the Club and Alan. Without exception it has been ill-informed. In addition to this, various figures with past associations to the Club have been quick to voice their opinions, among them a long time former manager, and former players, one of whom was associated with a so-called consortium which delayed for an important few weeks last summer our plans to stabilise the Club. These commentators are each entitled to their opinions of course. However, I must tell them that running a major football club such as Southampton is a rather different matter from writing about doing so. I am sure that readers of this message will reach their own conclusions. One of my early actions was to eradicate the politics that had cast a shadow over Southampton for so long. However, it seems that those same people are trying to continue behind the scenes. I can assure the supporters of Southampton Football Club that I will not be influenced or driven by people who seek to harm the Club in the pursuit of personal agendas - whoever they are. Our fans and staff should be reassured that I will only make decisions affecting our future based on sound football and business thinking and not on the whims of a local newspaper keen to maximise readership or pundits whose agendas are unclear. Furthermore, I will not respond to every piece of idle speculation. We have too much development work to do to waste time on such pursuits, and my time is dedicated to that work. As a local paper, I would have hoped that it would provide the local community with news, rather than gossip. However, I am not so naïve as to expect such speculation to stop. I spoke in January of how I feel this Club to be my baby. Southampton Football Club has been my way of life for over a year now and I have seen what started as my vision for this Club begin to develop into reality. I will continue to follow my principles with the same conviction, vision and ambition that I applied when I attracted a meaningful source of finance to save the Club and take it forward, and will not be deterred from that. So, for the avoidance of any doubt, our policies and decisions will only be made by me and the Club's Executive Committee and only in the interests of the Club as a whole. This is our guiding principle. Yesterday I completed a thorough review of the First Team with Alan and we are clear and agreed on our plans and objectives for the coming season. Any significant developments affecting the First Team will, as usual, be announced in a timely way on the Club website. We will also be making announcements soon via the website on season tickets, match tickets and packages, together with news on the new home kit, which next season will not carry the name of a commercial sponsor. Beyond next season, reaching the Premier League remains our stated and primary objective. We are also committed to developing a style of play that is compelling to watch - a style that ultimately becomes known as the Southampton Style. Inevitably, this will take time, patience and diligent application, but everything we are doing is geared to achieving this. To get there will require open minds, expertise and clear thinking and we have that. Both Alan and I share these objectives and targets. Although getting the football side right is a serious business, Alan and I have a lot of fun doing it and we are developing a mutual trust. We also intend to devote meaningful resources to developing our own playing talent and to have a seamless approach to our football from the youngest players through to the First Team. In the business, our executive management has been strengthened and our staff numbers have been increased. We will soon start on the work to turn our training ground into a state-of-the-art facility. The new Football Development and Support Centre is beginning to take shape. Further physical enhancements are soon to start within the stadium. There will be an array of commercial initiatives designed to strengthen the Club and give improved service to our fans and customers. In fact, every aspect of the Club is now subject to a programme of continuous improvement. Everyone at the Club will now be working hard to prepare for a critical new season in which expectations across the fans, our staff, the management and the owner will be high - mine and Alan's included. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff throughout the Club for their tireless efforts during a very demanding time for all concerned. May I also wish you all a great summer as we look forward to the new season and further success for the Saints.

reminder from another club forum: On May 4th, the Mail headed to the Hampshire coast and picked out Southampton for their attention. They claimed that Saints boss Alan Pardew was on his way out, starting their article with "Alan Pardew is fighting to cling on to his job at Southampton" and claiming he was collecting his P45 when they captioned his photo: "P45: Alan Pardew was given hansom finance in January as Southampton pushed for the playoffs. We're not quite sure what "hamsom finance" is - a "hamsom" is a 19th Century horse drawn carriage - go figure! Later that same day, the Southampton Daily Echo, apparently without any additional information or source material, repeated the same suggestion that Pardew was out on his ear, citing the Mail's suggestion that Chairman Nicola Cortese was unhappy with the club "only" finishing 7th this season - a fairly nonsensical suggestion given that Pardew was fresh from bringing home the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, and would have got into the play-offs were it not for Southampton going into administration and almost folding last summer. This didn't stop the now mutual pairing of the Mail and the Daily Echo, who were now working in tandem. By May 12th, the Daily Mail had claimed that Pardew "is expected to leave the club today after being summoned to a meeting with chairman Nicola Cortese". They even roped in another poor unwitting club and manager into the equation, claiming that Notts County were about to lose their manager Steve Cotterill to St Mary's, only a week after guiding them to the League Two title. Meanwhile the Echo contacted Matt Le Tissier, Lawrie McMenemy, Francis Benali and even Mrs Miggins down at the local street cafe (OK we may have made that bit up) to ask them their opinion of this imminent sacking. This was D-Day, he was going to be gone on Wednesday, and the truth was going to be out! Except that instead, there was total silence. No statement from St Mary's. Nothing on their official site, so what had happened? All hail the Southampton Daily Echo and the Daily Mail who revealed that talks between Pardew and Cortese had been postponed until Thursday. The sacking would take place then, and according to the reliable Mail, Pardew had been "given a stay of execution as Southampton boss as talks postponed". Except that they hadn't been postponed. The one reliable and factual bit in this farce was that Pardew and Cortese were actually meeting. And they still met on Wednesday as planned. And rather like all good Football Managers and Chairmen around this time of the season, they talked about planning for next season. This morning a statement on the Saints official site gave a very detailed analysis of Southampton's past, present and future penned by Cortese and stated that: "Yesterday I completed a thorough review of the First Team with Alan and we are clear and agreed on our plans and objectives for the coming season. Although getting the football side right is a serious business, Alan and I have a lot of fun doing it and we are developing a mutual trust." But wait! Where is the sacking that the Mail and the Echo claimed was forthcoming? Cortese had a few words to say about that: "In recent days, there has been much speculation in some of the tabloid national and local press about the position of our First Team Manager, Alan Pardew. This speculation could be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to unsettle both the Club and Alan. Without exception it has been ill-informed. Our fans and staff should be reassured that I will only make decisions affecting our future based on sound football and business thinking and not on the whims of a local newspaper keen to maximise readership or pundits whose agendas are unclear. Furthermore, I will not respond to every piece of idle speculation. We have too much development work to do to waste time on such pursuits. As a local paper, I would have hoped that it would provide the local community with news, rather than gossip. However, I am not so naïve as to expect such speculation to stop." So in other words, complete and utter bunkum from the Daily Mail and Daily Echo. But not before they'd managed to sucker the likes of the Daily Telegraph into belatedly joining in with the rumourmongering. You'd think at this stage that both papers - in particular the local rag - would be falling down on their knees to apologise to Alan Pardew, Nicola Cortese, Southampton FC, and most of all their fans for having created increasing anxiety over the situation. But no, the Echo beligerantly writes that Cortese has "finally broken his silence" and attempts to firmly wash its hands of the situation claiming that the report "initially appeared in the national media". They also quote Cortese who criticises Le Tissier and McMenemy for getting involved by commenting on the situation with the article headlined as "Cortese Hits Out At Saints Legends". But conspicuous by its absence is any mention of the Saints Chairman's fairly cutting attack on the Echo itself. Not a word of the hammering they took in Southampton's statement. Equally, the Daily Mail headlines that "Southampton Insist Alan Pardew Is Staying Put" claiming that he has "has survived the sack" making absolutely no admission that they were the ones who started the whole thing off in the first place. It has to be said, when it comes to filling column inches, then starting and ending your own rumour is a great way to do it. Needless to say, the Daily Echo is taking a bit of a battering from Saints fans today. And fair play to the unofficial Southampton Vital Site for sticking its neck out in the middle of it all, and before the club's official statement by putting a headline on the Vital site of "Southern Daily Echo Lies Again". For Saints fans, this hasn't just been the Silly Season - it's been the Downright Stupid Season. And we're not even a week into the summer break yet. The moral of this tale is to show just how badly a national paper and a major regional paper can get something wrong. No matter how many times someone may say something on the rumourmill this summer, treat it with skepticism, treat it with caution. It might be true. But then again, it may be horse manure.

Cortesse is it the helm

is this going to be the longest ever thread to predict a crowd?