Greenridge

Another false economy of the joke that has become Southampton Football Club.

The stats would support the feeling that we're missing Morgan. Still his club colleague from Strasbourg is fit and training with the first team and he's quoted as saying... 'The manager has said he's curious to see what I can do for the team...' So am I but I'd like to think JP would know what he can offer?!

I couldn't agree more. It will be a combination of events, both on and off the field, that get the crowds returning en masse.

First we had that wise old owl SunnyD claiming the current problems beset by the club were due to the fans, now we have claims from the same camp that fans are stopping other fans going by being negative. You couldn't make it up. I don't believe for a minute that there is one single over-riding factor that is determining our low attendance levels, it is a combination of many aspects that have been widely discussed on the forum and are all influential. These same points affect virtually every club in the land with the exception of the fractured fan base due to the boardroom shenanigans. Seems most people believe this accounting for around 3,000 upwards of 'missing' supporters. If these were to return we'd be at a level more in-line with our current status of CCC incumbence.

I think it's probably an archive photo but admittedly not the best one to chose in the circumstances.

I added it to the end of the thread and your post happened to be the last and most relevant of the slanging but it was aimed at the 'thread' and not a single individual. Not sure what the 'mates' reference is but I won't be drawn into this deteriorating thread further. Enjoy.

Thanks for the update Navyred - always appreciated. I was a little concerned when you referred to 'MW' jumping off his seat as I thought our Football Chairman was cutting further costs by running the reserves but then I twigged! How did the lad Smith from Leicester do? You didn't seem to mention him so I'm guessing he was quiet? And lastly, your point regarding the senior pro's is one that most of us can't seem to understand. They may well be off but you would think keeping them match fit and at the same time adding a balance of experience to the younger lads would be in the Clubs interest but it doesn't seem that way. Good win though and let's hope for continued development of the guys you've mentioned as they're more than likely to get their chance in the New Year.

Petty arguing makes the forum such a draw :smt084. Try PM or get a room.

Indeed it is and when the results return in a consistant manner then so will many of the missing supporters. You cannot force people to part with their money if they don't feel they are getting value for their pound and name-calling won't make any difference either other than to alienate them further. SFC is not unique in that the numbers have dwindled as the team dropped out of the premiership and performances have deteriorated. It's a fact of life, like it or not. Where SFC is unique is the hugely fractured fanbase due to the governing personel however I would be very surprised if more than 3, perhaps 4,000 are boycotting due to Lowe's incumbence.

It also somewhat tiresome that virtually every thread turns into a pro-Lowe versus anti-Lowe debate and with the the large majority of posters you know exactly what they will have written without the need to read the post itself It's a reflection on where we are right now at a very low ebb and a massively fractured support base.

Well I'm sure everyone on this board is enlightened by your 101 Accounting Course information. Thanks. Just out of interest, could you give us an idea of what asset value you are attributing to David James (38yrs) , Sol Campbell (34), Herman Hreidarsson (34) and Sylvan Distin (30) for example?

I would have thought actual attendance figures versus capacity percentages is a far more meaningful statistic.

Some interesting statistics there. Having watched the interview (and pre-match interview) I didn't think GB came across too well. I appreciate it's very subjective and down to personal opinion and that's all I have, no hard facts.

You really do talk a load of tosh, just as you did on the 'Bootboy' thread and were exposed for your inaccuracies.

Couldn't agree more. Spot on observation.

According to SSN they spent 90% of their turnover on wages (06/07 I believe) and only Wigan spent more (100%). With their summer acquisitions of Crouch etc you'd have to imagine this has changed again. So clearly it's not sustainable but then it's the case for virtually all teams.

That's an interesting way to spin things. Lucketti and Pericard came from CCC teams did they not? By the same token Forecast, Pekhart and Cork are from Premiership clubs I believe.

I believe posts #57 and #60 on this thread both give independant references from the OS site itself that this was a factor.

A few people seem to be missing the obvious here and that you have to address the 'cause' and not the 'sympton'. The cause appears to be a combination of the formation and the players in that formation giving little or no cover to the full backs. It wouldn't matter if we had Micah Richards or Gary Neville at right back, without cover they will be exposed and the same goes for down the left. Mills looks to have some potential, especially going forward however James is struggling in all aspects of that there is no doubt.

I expect RaWA will make an apology. It's disappointing to see we have a two page thread discussing a term used by the wind-up merchant which I'm sure he'll be loving but there we go. It's of course difficult to make any kind of objective argument as to whether Pearson would have been better than JP but he had many qualities to suggest he would have done a decent job as he's proving at Leicester.

Sorry but you've lost me there. The circumstances of the two are not even remotely similar. Pearson came in at the end of the season to someone else's team that was rapidly in freefall and had to hit the ground running. JP had the whole of preseason and a team made up of personnel of his own choice.

It's quite convenient that you recognise the mess Burley inherited from Redknapp but not the mess Pearson inherited from Burley / Gorman / Dodd. There ends any credibility to your post.

Yes, would agree with you there Foxy. It has to be a combination of formation and application. At the Norwich game in particular it seemed pretty clear that Roeder had sussed our formation and put two very good 'wingers' out who pushed right up the pitch and virtually every attack was from wide positions and not up through the middle. I would expect other managers to make the similar decisions thus the problem repeating itself.

I think the formation we are playing is compounding the problem. Look back to when Saints were doing so well under WGS and the key factor was 'defending from the front' with the likes of Beattie and Ormerod chasing down and harrying the oppositions defenders. With our 4-2-1-3 or whatever you want to call it formation we are great going forwards but if the wide up-front guys don't track back then we're in big trouble. From what I've seen of Mills and James then they need some help from the team. In fairness any fullback would need this help but James in particular is struggling. It might be time to adopt a more conventional 4-4-2 approach and see how this works. It just might be that the team does fine.

Maybe we both have perceptions of each other wrong - as we have in the past. I would consider myself very much 'middle ground' on the situation at the club in that I can see some positive elements in the work RL and his team have done but also see that there are many negatives ones also. I have no bias either way and am more than happy to debate and take on board contributions from all 'sides'. Surely that is what a forum is for? Like you, from my limited knowledge of such matters I see absolutely no positives for the case of administration which could easily be the end of the road for SFC. I guess we'll continue to disagree but as long as it is an adult manner then I for one have no problems and like you wish for a brighter future for our club. Financial strength and a united Club (Board, Staff, Players and Fans) is the way forward but as we all know from bitter experience there appears to be no easy route to this.