CHAPEL END CHARLIE

I shouldn't take too much notice of what that little sh*t Rod Liddle has to say - he has plenty of 'previous' regarding some inexplicable grudge against the Saints and the whole piece is little more than a lazy rehash of older similar rants . For those who take an interest the bloke is a Millwall fan - which should tell you everything you need to know about him . Disappointing that the Times should employ a hack of this quality , standards are most definitely slipping at 'The Thunderer' .

The proverbial straw that broke the camels back was this trifling amount of money - for the cost of a second hand Ford Mondeo Rupert put the business into Administration . http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/05/said-and-done It would have come to this sooner or later anyway to be honest but Barclay's haven't exactly covered themselves in glory have they ?

Can't do my usual post match ratings today as to be frank with the notable exceptions of Kelvin Davis and Jason Mule they'll all going to be in the 4 or 5 out of 10 range and it'll just get too repetitive . What I would like to say is that I left St Marys after the match today feeling utterly dejected and just about as low as I've ever felt in my footballing life . The truth is however loudly we cheer & sing , however many of us turn up it just doesn't make any difference if the players aren't good enough - I hold this to be self evident now . For so many reasons today's game was as crucial a match as it could possibly be and yet too many of our players just weren't up for the fight I'm sorry to say . Especially depressing was the fact that many of the most prominent non-performers of recent weeks have been the young players who have emerged from our academy , players like Drew Surman or Adam Lallana who you'd hope would sweet blood for their club just don't have the strength of character needed to express their undoubted ability properly when the 'big' games come along . In future (presuming we have one that is) we should select youngsters for the academy not only (or even primarily) on their talent or technical ability but also on that hard to define quality of mental toughness - call it 'bottle' if you will . One Paul Marsden or Jason Dodd is worth any number of pretty ball passers when the going gets tough IMO , I don't think you can really teach this either - you either got it or you haven't .

In the Telegraph we have not only the o-so-predictable 'it's not my fault' argument that will convince few on here but also the welcome news that our former chairman will definitely not be making a bid to buy the club off the Administrator - thank Christ for that I hear you say . http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/championship/southampton/5102649/Former-Southampton-chairman-Rupert-Lowe-claims-the-high-ground.html

Nice story - the whole atmosphere around the club seems to be changing for the better , in the last few days we've seen fans/players/ex shareholders all pulling in the same direction for once in a effort to save the club from oblivion . It's a pity we had to fall this low(e) for this sense of unity to reappear but there you go . On the main point of the story if £5m is all it will take to clear the stadium debt with Norwich Union than surely that will be a done deal before very long - that kind of number counts as little more than small change these days even during a recession .

I've always said that Leon Crouch was one of the good guys in this whole sorry business and this generous gesture just about proves it as far as I'm concerned .

Nice idea but we're still actually using the pitch for this football malarkey and we've only 4 weeks to find a buyer .

I reckon if someone come in with £5m or so , renegotiated the debt with Barclay's /Norwich Union (somethings always better than nothing after all) and we just might have a viable long term business . In the grand scheme of things this is not a lot of money which should give us grounds for believing that a buyer will be found , the fly in the ointment being we're trying to do this in the midst of the worst recession since 1929 ! Any new owners will have to find a way of balancing income with expenditure , the player wage bill still has further to fall this summer as the last of the big earners leave giving us a fighting chance of making the 'break-even' point in the foreseeable future . The difficult part is retaining a squad good enough to succeed on the field while simultaneously being cheap enough to keep us in business , that's easier said than done I think we can all agree . Precedent shows that football clubs generally seem to survive this kind of crisis in some form - they're almost indestructible in fact . Let's hope we're not the exception to the rule .

I remember reading in Admiral Andrew Cunningham's autobiography 'A Sailor’s Odyssey' that the great man always kept a photograph of the destroyer he had commanded during WWI on his desk - the ship was pictured stranded half way up a beach after he had ran her aground and the caption 'ALL MY OWN WORK' had been added underneath as a dire warning against arrogance/hubris . Add a picture of a boarded up derelict St Marys and 'All my own work' might well do as the title of Rupert's book . I won't be buying it though - I've suffered enough .

The money raised would probably go towards the day to day running costs of the business - principally players wages . There must be a real danger we will not be able to pay the wage bill at the end of the month , what chance then of avoiding relegation ?

I would have thought whatever happens in the next few weeks Wotte will remain in charge for the remainder of this season at least . Any new owners will have their own ideas regarding the managerial position but that's a question for another day .

Newsflash.....Saints fans bid Rupert Lowe a fond farewell

I'd like to help but I'm strapped for cash at the moment - but enough of my little piccadillos ........

I see no support for this unlikely story in the national or local press today - which means : A - The whole thing is a great pile of sloblock B - They're all keeping stum because of some 'insider dealing' / stock exchange regulations type situation thingy C - No one cares about little old Southampton FC anymore

Good news I'd say : http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/4241926.Perry_to_stay_a_Saint/ Mills , Boyle , and Paterson also to be offered new contracts .

I'd like to disassociate myself from the wave of ambivalence sweeping this thread , if we do get relegated I'm going to be as mad as hell about it - I will tell you this boy (in full Rab C Nesbitt mode now) that damn cat better start running now if it wants to avoid a bloody good kicking . :mad: NB - don't let my suave Bogart Avatar fool you , I scarily close to looking like Rab - but without the string vest .

Yeah but this isn't August or November , we're next to bottom of the table and we're running out of games - some sense of urgency would seem to be in order ! What would you do when we play Charlton at St Marys and it's 1-1 after 85 minutes ? - sitting back and settling for a point is a luxury we really can't afford anymore in our (perilous) situation . Wotte was right to gamble and throw everyone forward at Sheffield Utd looking for the win - it didn't work out on that occasion but he was still right to do it . God knows every visiting team that go behind at SMS try it against us and if memory serves more often than not they seem to get something . It's surprising how many fans have never fully grasped the implications of the 3 points for a win system and the fundamental difference it has made to the game . History shows that too many drawn home games can/do relegate a team almost as certainly as losing every week - just like they did to us in 2005 . If we are 1-1 against Charlton that just won't do as an acceptable result and I'd expect to see every Saints player in and around the opposition box for the last corner kick - and that includes Kelvin Davis .

'Public toilets'......'Chapham Common'......A man of myyyyy reputation !!!!!!!

I think our Fans Parliament should include a Saints equivalent of the 'Prime Minister's Questions' the real Parliament has - where we can ask any question we like to Rupert or Wilde and see how good they are at not answering them . I see this as a valuable use of everybody's time . In light of my record of distinguished service to the club I think my elevation to the House of Lords in the Fans Parliament is in order and I'd be grateful if you lot would now refer to me as Lord Charlie of Chapel - it's the very least I deserve .

This experienced out-of-contract player is available : http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11719_5072540,00.html Ummmm................no thanks .

So Fratton Park gets a lick of paint , a roof and a few more seats nailed on the end and suddenly it's the only possible south coast venue for the 2018 World Cup matches - I seem to remember reading somewhere that there's a modern , bigger & better stadium just up the M27 already in existance , perhaps they could use that ?

What you say may well be sensible in August or if we weren't in the relegation zone , but we are where we are and necessity is the mother of desperation . 1 point = of very little use to us in our current situation . 3 points = a significant step towards survival . Not only should JPS have played as an additional forward in the latter stages against QPR but Kelvin Davis should have come up for the last corner kick as well . We're in a awful situation now and we have to gamble when necessary .

Found this interesting comment regarding Admin in The Independent : If a League 2 club misses out on £130K then I'd assume a CCC club would lose maybe £300k or so of Football League money . It just shows what a complicated business this Administration malarkey is .

My ratings for Saints v QPR (0-0) K Davis 7 - Did nothing wrong & not terribly busy to be honest . L James 6 - Nothing flashy but has developed slowly into a decent enough Fullback . JPS 7.5 MOTM - Mr reliable again we're lucky to have him . A very good player at this level . C Perry 6 - His usual solid defensive game was marred by some truly awful distribution today . R Skacel 6 - Plenty of valuable experience but didn't really contribute much going forward IMO . I expect more from our senior players . A Lallana 6 - Occasionally threatening but he's struggling to live up to his full potential , subbed . A Surman 3.5 - Was having a pretty poor game then he missed a glorious opportunity to score for the second game running :mad: - shouldn't be in the team on this form . S Gillett 6.5 - A little terrier , you always get everything he's got from this player which is all you can ask for from anybody . DMG 5.5 - Harmless - to both sides . The Mule 7 - Missed a great early chance but subsequently made a bloody nuisance of himself to the QPR defence . Wins loads of ball in the air but is unlikly to be a regular scorer in my view . M Saganowski 5 - Not at the races again today I'm sorry to say , this player seems to be either in red hot form or next to useless with very little in between . Deservedly subbed for BWP . Substitutes : DMG 6 - On for Saga and a distinct improvement , I don't really like him but he put in a decent enough effort today . J Thomson 7 - On for Lallana he added some much needed width and pace to our attack , should be starting now ? Summary . The road to relegation is paved with results like we've seen this week , we're staring down the barrel now and the table makes grim reading . We were not unlucky today (& on Tuesday for that matter) - we got just what we deserved in my opinion . We all can sit back and spout cliches about consistency and not changing a winning team but there was plenty of evidence in the Birmingham & Derby games that the team needed shaking up - Mr Wotte decided to leave it be and now we've dropped 4 crucial points as a result . The only mitigating factor in Wotte's defence is the limited amount of talent available on the bench . Nevertheless today's substitutions were made too late and you almost got the impression we were happy with 1 point - an attitude your reviewer utterly fails to comprehend given the circumstances . It's not over yet but you know that 'Fat Lady' people are aways talking about - she's arrived at the opera house and she's getting ready to sing .

It's great fun seeing Pompey in the relegation zone but it seems to me they still have too many good players to be there at the end of the season . Next season on the other hand - now that's a different question .