up and away

I believe the original post was underlining the 5 year plan, in no way denigrating the proposal. As for being in serious trouble, we were that close to not even being awarded a place in the Blue Square. But what we are seeing now, I really doubt will be good enough for the Premier, with big changes being required if we aspire that high. Take someone like Mick Macarthy and co, have done an excellent job to this point. But I would not hesitate in getting rid of them if I was serious about staying in the Premier and advancing. Liebherr may have a different attitude to life, but I am not so sure about Cortese who is pulling all the strings.

"The sporting director will have direct responsibility for overseeing football matters, including sanctioning transfers. The appointment will be made by Cortese and will not be in consultation with Alan Pardew as the sporting director will effectively be his boss." From this statement I believe it will be slight more than your initial view. How things are going to pan out will largely be dictated by the sporting director. Cortese would be totally stupid to install someone with no synergy with Pardew, which I am sure will be clear from the start. As the sporting director will have final say over transfers, with the coaches / scouts reporting directly to him. Pardew will be one significant voice amongst others, but I cannot see him being the sole driving force from what has been laid out. I do expect a close symmetry between the two positions, but if push comes to shove there will be only one outcome here. And before anyone gives the example of Redknapp as being why you should not have a sporting director. Look closer and what do you have but a sporting director who picks the team. I don't think it will be anything like that at Saints and Pardew will have a big influence, but not an overriding one.

I believe it will only require 1 player who has the ability to pull the opposition out of shape and everyone else will pile in. Whether this is a forward or a midfielder, I don't think it much matters. Until we start playing like a team or find that individual, teams look too comfortable against us.

For this league, Lambert is about as good as it gets, just the pricing has gone out the window over the last couple of years. I don't argue with most of your analysis but I do get the feeling we will draw away from the relegation zone and it will be a distant memory by Christmas. A lot of this has to go down to Pardew, even Poortvliet had them playing it from the back, not hoofball. We need a player to create openings or generate pressure such that the other players are afforded more time and space, defences never look stretched against us. This could also be achieved by team play, but that looks a long way off for now. I don't know why, but am pinning all my hopes on Papa. Never seen him play but hope he could be the spark that lights up the team. There are several aspects to a manager and whilst Pardew has disappointed in some areas, his dealings in the transfer market look very good.

I like Lambert, he has something for this type of league that should not be underestimated, he will get you goals. Saga to me is an enigma, puts in the effort, makes some good runs and you keep saying to yourself that next week he will fill his boots, but it just never happens. You can look at Saga over various leagues and competitions, from Champions League to League 1 and he does not look totally out of place anywhere, but his goals / assists remain very similar. He is not your Teddy Sheringham, he does not know how to find the correct space to capitalise or killer pass when required. What he does do is make some very intelligent runs, but the main problem is that they require pace to deliver the end product or a killer pass, both of which are absent at present. Pardew thinks Saga is the answer and there is that possibility if we can start to dominate play. Personally I believe we need that little more from Saga to gain that position of dominance, something he has kept well hidden for a while now. I am not totally unhappy that Pardew will persist with Saga, that is the managers right and he could easily prove my point laughable. But I do feel that pace has to be part of the answer and all of these points and grumbles will be academic if Papa turns out to be the player I imagine. A large chunk of a managers success comes down to the dealings in the transfer market and Pardew looks to have a gold star in that respect.

We all crave stability, but only because that is normally shackled with success, dependent upon resources. If we drew every game that would certainly be stable, but I doubt many would find that acceptable. Even if the manager won every game going, I doubt we would have that fabled stability. He would then be applying his trade in a higher league no doubt. This is not a major issue at the moment, just some of the gloss has dropped off Pardew and his previous has come into the reckoning. The most important thing is that none of the gloss has dropped off Liebherr and that is the real stability we can hope for. Set up the sporting director and get in a system where we do have that longed for stability, irrespective of personnel movements.

Pardew has to be responsible for a big chunk of this, something not unknown in his recent history. In general the players he has brought in look very good and in the most part perform well individually, but there is a lot lacking as a team that he has failed to install. His post match comments claiming things would have been ok with Saga were lame, hardly done it previously. At the moment I feel he cannot see the wood for the trees, hopefully inspiration will not be a long time coming. I still believe Pardew will get us out of this mess, but I do feel we should be further down the road than where we are. As to wanting him to go, that would be impatient at this stage, but Mandaric would be looking already. Whatever Liebherr / Cortese decide will be fine with me, but I would not mind betting that the search for a sporting director has been cranked up. Like others have said, it would not surprise me to get something out of the Charlton game, equally failing to capatalise on Yeovil at home.

If I remember correctly when something similar happened in the 60's, it resulted in a fine of about 3 years salary, banned from any involvement in the game for life and several years in prison. And you don't think any laws were broken? Would not argue the moral stand point with every thing I have experienced with bookies, but to risk so much for so little reward is beyond dumb.

It was stupid enough to do it in the first place, but subsequently admitting it in public takes that stupidity to another level. For your sake Matty, just restrict your comments to the playing side of football. Your only real source of income lies in that Sky contract. Any business venture would be the equivalent of an OAP, complete with a letter from the Queen, negotiating with a pikey for getting his drive relaid. Matty is not the only one and the environment that is football just seems to nurture and breed these idiotics. You only have to look at the gains and losses of the original act and ask any sane individual would they risk so much for so little? Reminds me of George Graham living in the bubble that is football, such he took that as the norm, only to find out the truth once he had opened his mouth.

I don't agree with this, maybe the better team, not the far better team. If you have control of the game and are taking it to the opposition, you are going to create far more opportunities for the ref to agree with you. Let the opposition camp in your half and the possibilities will keep growing against you with each minute. You rarely get penalties given against you when the ball is not in your area. What we have to be able to do is control the game without putting in a level of effort we cannot maintain for the whole match. Every part of the team has to be in sync with what the others are doing or all of a sudden you are suddenly exposing areas that we have not had to deal with previously. It's great to totally dominate teams but if you can no longer keep it going and you have not created a big goal advantage, it is doubtful it's going to work in the long run.

Leeds in the CCC at SMS - 3-0 up seventy minutes on the clock, 3 pts in the bag.............. oh! we lost 4-3!!!! or you could have Tranmere away in the cup replay 3-0 up at half time and cruising........ oh lost 4-3!!!! this is an inherent problem that needs fixing - we need to be able to grind out results in tight games - in this div more than most. Tranmere! That was not an inherent problem, just a one off where the manager and team switched off at half time, being 3-0 up and the opposition got into a massive snow ball effect. That was a one off for Hoddle at Saints, not to be repeated. So many other games where we managed to get our head in front and it was all over for the opposition. I have never experienced that feeling of ease such when we went ahead under Hoddle, such was our ability to stay on top of the game mentally. WGS was similar and in some cases better, but not to the effect of Hoddle IMO. Younger players will always suffer from loss of concentration more than the senior players when tiredness sets in, experience will eventually sort that out. But additionally we have too many senior players who are equally guilty. Saga recently put in a good spell, lots of energy, lots of running, looking good but unfortunately not coming to anything. Then the one time that energy could have done us some good by continuing to track back, he gave in 3/4 of the way making things a lot easier for the opposition. It would be unfair to lay all this at the feet of Saga as there are many more subtle examples of senior players doing the same, but that recent incident highlighted the fact. You come to expect it more from the younger players because a lot is down to experience but we have too many senior players lazy in the head that perpetuate these actions and results. It's no good having 3/4 of a team switched on, you need everyone to enable us to close out those tight games. Pardew has also to accept his responsibility in all of this. I never associated mental discipline with Pardew whilst at West Ham, sometimes the opposite. I just wish Pardew had a full understanding of the performances players put in last season, which I feel could have given an edge. I don't want Pardew to go and that should only be an option if we get relegated this season, but I do feel the problem is still top to bottom at the moment. Once we fill in the main holes it should be far easier with the smaller fixes to get us as a consolidated unit. Pretty sure it will eventually happen, just not sure when.

In practical terms, just do the comparisons to then and now, what exactly is the difference? We can affors a lot more now then we could then, but it is just going to take time. I am not saying there will be no difference, in fact have already stated the opposite. What I am saying is without the good imports that Pardew has made, would anyone expect to see any difference from what we have seen so far in? I think Pardew is the right man and I am sure we will climb out of this mess eventually with what looks like excellent improvements to the squad. Poortvliet may well be the worst manager we have seen at Saints, but I am not totally sure we would be able to eventually differentiate Pardew without those excellent imports. Take those away and how would you then view our chances? We saw what Pardew was like at Chalrton under similar conditions to what we endured last season. Some managers just don't perform in that environment but he has clearly shown his class previously when given the resources. It's a completely different ball game for Pardew than when he was at Charlton and I expect him to do well. But compare the similar conditions with Saints and Charlton last season, can you say Poortvliet was any worse than Pardew in that environment, especially when we have this season so far at Saints to reference? DellDays is right in that we should really beat Stockport on paper, but until the team gels and Pardew figures out the exact problem and solution, we may have to wait that little bit longer. A lot of the problems that existed last season have still not yet been fixed. We have made the corrections to fix the problem and will just have to be patient for them to bear fruit.

LMFAO, the guy was a total failure whose level would be Blue Square (at best) or something like the Jewson Wessex!!!!! Would love to know who would argue that Poortvliet may be a better option for us given our current position. Any takers?????? No one can LOL to that degree. Just go back to last season at home to Birmingham in the cup, we even won that one with some great football. I am not arguing that Poortvliet is a credible manager, but he did manage to get some (limited) very good performances out of a dysfunctional team. But you can compare then to now and ask the question is there really any difference ? Nothing I have seen this season shows anything to be a whole lot better as yet, but I am sure it will come. The biggest problem with playing so many youngsters is getting any form of consistency because of the physical demands of the lower leagues. I fully expect us to get over this and move forward, but it is not that much of a stretch to compare last to this season and see any diffference at this point. You can quote as much ****** as you like about all the right words, actions what ever, but on the pitch it's virtually a repeat. Pardew looks to have brought in exactly the right players to make a difference when things eventually kick in. Take away those good, experienced professionals we could not afford previously and I am not so sure you can readily predict a turn around in fortunes.

indeed stockport have been in a complete mess...(guessing here) but I reckon their whole first team SQUAD costs about the same as lambert...probably less.. we have played a few games...time for the excuses to be over and start winning with our expensive team.. We have to be patient, even though you could argue Poortvliet may look the better option considering a league lower and far less to draw on. When I first heard Pardews name I cannot remember any positives about the appointment. Subsequent thought about his history and our position brought all those positives out with the realisation we have to give him a lot of time. All the problems we had last season are also evident this season. We all sat through it and can clearly see the similarities, Pardew is having to find this out the hard way. We will start winning and we will get out of the relegation zone at some point, but we have to be patient. If we start turning in on ourselves again it will only be self defeating. The play off's look a long way off but realistically this year is about consolidating and rebuilding the whole club from top to bottom. It's at times like these that Cortese will be even more pressed to get in the sporting director as soon as possible.

I sincerely hope you're wrong. The manager has to be responsible for winning matches and as a result, in my view, has to be the one who determines all the factors that contribute to first team success. Look at Arry and where Spurs are now. Take another look at "Arry". What you have is a DoF picking the team. He gets others to do ththe coaching.

Someone is definitely not listening. Cortese has promised us a sporting director who will be fully in charge of these aspects.

"First and foremost, what we've done has been done with the backing of the board, because it all costs money,"

Just cast your mind back to last season and James improved dramatically towards the end, such everyone felt that position was sorted. Not saying he did not revert to type last night but something I would expect him to sort out and do not see this as an issue.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Torres. Don't think there is much point of posting if that is the response. Don't insist you believe me, it's up to you but I know what I know, it came from a horse's mouth and is 100% fact. I am not going to say exactly when because someone could get into trouble. We may have been after Pulis, that definitely looked a possibility from all the rumours at the time. But equally Pulis knocked that on the head from the beginning, with full understanding of our financial position.

I disagree with your comment re. MLT but at the same time my expectations are low, so bang goes another of your presumptions ! I have a question for you "do you seriously think that MLT had any intention of harming the club at any time" ?My assertion is that he made a mistake by backing the wrong horse but that his intentions were at all times honourable !! I am not completely sure what his intentions were but agree mainly with your point of view. MLT has done so much for us as a club, it's difficult to see what he could do to seriously tarnish that. In my view the main fault goes down to the fans clamoring for MLT as chairman more than anything else. We all know Matty is so laid back that the amount of energy / thought given to anything is almost comatose, so the outcome should not come as that big a surprise. We all got caught up with everything good that MLT had done for us, was going to be extended with Pinnacle, but in reality he was totally unsuited with the skill sets required. The one thing that I do not accept is the interview he gave last week where he still tried to partly offset the fault down to the position of the FL, that I found dumb beyond dumb. It is very rare that hero's upon the pitch can translate that into management and for the sake of those memories I sometimes wonder if it is worth it. I look at Shearer at Newcastle and can only see that ending in tears. Certainly very passionate and really enjoyed the kick abouts in training, but it was difficult to spot the manager in there. Even when at the side of the pitch emotion seemed to be the over riding factor than structured analysis. Matty's heart will always be in the right place for Saints and in a slightly different way you can say the same thing about Crouch. But it's like getting Frank Spencer round to do your plumbing. We all know his intentions are well meant and and that he is doing it out of the goodness of his heart, but equally we all know that we will be knee high in water any time soon.

That about sums it up for me. Why should the team be vastly different from last season? the basic problems are still there. The one thing that impressed me the start of last season, was the way we played it from the back and our major downfall was not having a Lambert. We don't even have that now. Firstly the midfield has to give cover for the back four and that will require at least 2 changes. Wotton is your classic chocolate fireguard, totally useless unless no heat is being applied. Gillet we know will do a better job but still needs someone alongside of him, even then he could not keep it going for any length of games previously. Get decent cover in front of the back four and even Perry looks adequate. I would have thought Rasiak would do better in this league, but if you need the team to defend from the front to the back he is not your man and you would be better replacing him. Get control of the match and it may well be a different matter. As someone stated last season, if Wooton is the answer, the question must be relegation. Really surprised Pardew has failed to see this already, staff still remaining could easily have told him if questioned. We are always going to fold against a lively attack and a midfield that press, hopefully we will not find too many of the like of Huddersfield in this League.

I suppose really that's what i'm hoping - I don't want this new feeling of togetherness ruined by more divides at boardroom/management level. From what I can gather from other bits from the Echo, it's going to be the continental set up. Pardew will be reporting directly to the sporting director, no if's buts or ands there! I get the feeling they want it set up and working before going back into the Premier, so nothing immediate for a season or two. Bearing in mind the back ground of Cortese it does not come as that big a shock. Not so sure Pardew is going to be completely happy with this, but it also looks as that is not a factor in the decision. It's the old golden rule, the man with the gold makes the rule.

To be honest, the whole thing just smacked of typical upper class English arrogance from Lowe. They're both Dutch, they're bound to be able to work together. When it became obvious they both had their own agendas, we began to suffer even more. Surely, if you were to hire two coaches from abroad, you'd bring in people who'd worked together before not just chuck people together and expect them to work in perfect harmony. Particularly not when you pick a guy you considered for the manager's position previously as the assistant! FWIW I quite liked JP but we're so much better off without Lowe (goes without saying really!), JP and Wotte. Just for one minute take Lowe out of the equation and look at the facts at the time. When Pearson saved us on the last day of the season I was hopeful he would stay, equally I admitted we were odds on favourites for relegation the following season even with Pearson. When we failed to get rid of high salaries or manage fees for players we were cooked with a capital F. Our very, very slim chance of getting out of this mess was to get another Wallcott / Bale out of what we had and screw the lid down on the finances so the bank would not put us into admin. Because the logic of the situation revolved around the youth, there was some sense in the appointment and early play against West Ham and Stoke gave us some hope. Even if Pearson had managed to scrape us through to the end of the season and miraculously we had stayed up, that would have been nowhere near the end of things. We were still odds on to go into administration the following season and a fire sale of everything we held unless we could get mega money for any of our players. We were never going to get that from some old has been who could kick an attacker as far as some could kick a ball, we had to get the money from the youth. We were in a monumental stranglehold that would dictate virtually everything we did, yet I hear no one complaining about the facts that got us into this mess. As it is, we seem to have cashed all that momentous stupidity into one massive stroke of luck with Liebherr. You can see the Norwich board and fans looking in our direction as absolute proof there is no God.

If you really think he wasn't sacked then you are very naive I am afraid. I have known the Sturrock family for many years and this one was mutual. None of the ****** spouted at the time was correct, just an unfortunate collection of small incidents that steam rollered out of control. Luggy is free to comment on this one when he wishes, but I really doubt we will hear anything because that is the type of person he is!

Never mind the point, you have bypassed the planet. Admin was unavoidable because of the financial mess and subsequently not being able to move on players to reduce salaries and obtain fees. When it became clear that we were not going to drag in Walcott or Bale fees from the younger players, it was all a question of when not if. The Dutch gamble was just a last throw of the dice from an impossible position. This position was created beause of our over spending and without managing to find a way of plugging that financial hole, admin and relegation were always going to follow.