up and away

Very true. I don't know of any Saints fans who would not prefer Richard Wright to Kelvin. But as I kept saying at the time, Wright is not even Premier class. But Kelvin has done far better this season and deserves to be the first choice keeper and as long as his position is on merit alone, we can have no problem with that. He is not perfect, but neither are any of the others. A lot of my issues with Kelvin go back to paying so much for him and keeping his place irrespective of performance. Which to be fair are not his fault, but Burleys.

Disagree, I believe McGoldrick is lightweight, and a litttle inconsistent. Pekhart needs a chance, I reckon he has goals in him at this level. DMG has been and was good enough for the start. But knowing what Blackpool would come and do, we left very little room for manoeuvre. We should have started with John and MCG, with Pekhart on the bench to change things around. We never gave ourselves the option of being able to change things around significantly. One thing that stuck out like a sore thumb is having Svennson and Perry press a high line, dead in the water against moderate pace. Jan made several mistakes in this game, but you could see from his response that he recognised these problems and I fully expect him to correct them. He has already admitted that they cannot put in the amount of energy over 3 games in a week and it will have to be Jan who decides who plays in future, not the players themselves. The most concerning aspect was the mobility of Perry and Svennson and this has to be addressed. Certain games we will be able to get away with it, but others will be as we saw against Blackpool.

Not 100% sure on that for the moment. Against Brum at home he suffered with the goals scored. Blackpool played a 5 man midfield that pressed and harried our players and the central defenders were not up to stepping up to the mark, if someone broke through. Our midfield were not up to it today, but I put that down to a combination of Tuesday and the defence. We are going to have to get used to this as most teams will be looking at doing something similar. Grayson thought he had a fair chance against us from what he saw on Tuesday, so others will be picking up on it quick enough. Cork and Thomas would have been a far better pairing for what was required, Thomas looking after the c/f and Cork plugging the holes, all so very easy to see after the game.

After watching Schneiderin, most fans will be delirious for anything with a French connection after that. Stick a baguette up front and I fully expect the fans to have it down as favourite for first scorer.

I get the feeling this may be Jan's first pick. Perry and Holmes were down to Henderson and Hockaday. Schneiderlin came via Prost, with a nod on from the Dutch. But lets not kid ourselves here, he looks like back up for Wotton or filling in at one of the back slots. I hope the lad does well and as long as any player is picked on merit, I don't see there being a problem with the fans. There is no messing around with Jan, it's his way or the highway and his focus has been exemplorary, when considering everything that has been going on around him.

It's going to be a different type of game. I expect this to be our first game where the opposition sits back and defends, rather than all the other open games we have played. It's going to be interesting how we deal with this sort of team and Blackpool are not that bad in this respect. Can see John coming in for this game, possibly Pekhart at some stage because of the different type of problem Blackpool will pose. The one small point that is concerning me is that the players themselves are determining whether they play or not. In many ways a good sign, but these lads would be sticking their hands up even if totally knackered. I thought against Birmingham in the league that we showed the effects of Exeter in the second half, just hope we have enough gas in the tank. But winning takes far less out of you than losing and we do have the international break for a good recovery.

That's a good point, would make even more sense, if it was a loan or loan + option. This has obviously come from the performance he put in against us at St Mary's and a combination of the above. I can understand peeps reservations from his record, but I cannot argue with the players that have been brought in so far, under very difficult circumstances.

Nope, you have your wires crossed there. It was at or just before the Kevin Phillips signing, which puts him about 24 at the time. The youngest he could have been would be about 21, the year WSG came to Saints.

Could not agree more. Like a Jack Russel ratting, what a terrier. Without someone like Gillet none of what we have seen would work. So chuffed for the lad, who we could so easily have lost. We have a lot of players that have stepped up and made their mark, but to me Gillet epitomises what this team is all about. Before the West Ham game I was concerned that these young players could handle the physical side, but the continual bleating from their players about the likes of Lloyd JAmes and Gillets tackles soon put that to the back of the mind.

Too right. I want nothing more than have to continually sell players to keep our heads above water. Why would we want substantial investment into the club. Just think how much worse off we would be. You are right when you say the thread should be closed, and that we shouldn't worry about a takeover. We have no control over something that probably won't happen anyway. That is still very true, we are desperate for investment or we have to sell. But it also looks odds on that the Fulthorpe just does not have the money. And if it came down to increasing our borrowing, just so they can steer us from trouble with Alan Shearer? I would prefer our current situation, even knowing how precarious it is. The only thing Fulthorpe could do is to get us on the cheap if the wheels fall off, if he really wanted to help he could tie in with Lowe and Wilde and really do some good. The fact that certain wind chimes have gone silent and are even attending away games, makes me believe there is a further tie in.

After all the years of misery and disappointment we have had to put up with, I can't believe we seem to be having some luck at last. How we managed to get hold of the likes of Holmes and Schneiderlin, I will never know. Then the fact someone managed to persuade them to come here makes the mind boggle. Then the two "Dutch jokers", who would have believed that what only existed on paper, actually worked better on grass? I am in seventh heaven at the moment and still cannot believe what is happening. I don't know what made Wilde and Lowe kiss and make up, or why Wilde had the same vision as Lowe with the Dutch, but I do not care, I am just grateful. I knew our Academy products were good, but until these two Dutch jokers came along, I never knew how good and how much we had wasted them in the past. Happy days. Looking back there are all the tell tale signs that Lowe wanted to do this for a long time, but obviously the risk led elsewhere. Only because of the financial position we got ourselves in did all this make sense and the risk viable. This I believe is what turned Wilde around, nothing else gave any real hope due to our horrendous position. Every fan with teams who have been in our position, dream about about stars emerging from the youth and saving the club. Very few ever get the chance to see it happen.

He's stalking Hiley in his new job, seeing if he can do the double.

Agreed, very difficult. On one hand you want the same team for many positive reasons, on the other hand it is vital we do nor overdo it. I thought that we looked slightly jaded in the second half against Birmingham, believing that was mainly due to virtually the same team playing against Exeter. My preference would be to rest as many as possible, but others may not see it that way. I fully expect our young charges to go off the boil at various stages due to the physical commitment required for the CCC and we need to rest them at suitable opportunities.

What a load of ******. Based upon your theory and everything being stated previously, we should have seen an increase in the gate when Wilde took over. But surprise, surprise, gates dropped.

Good post, but I will argue that JP is getting the best of things, because of the set up. All these youngsters are used to playing a system very similar to what JP is employing and without that, I really doubt we would be seeing what we are now. The Lowe back slapping is equally as embarrassing as the Lowe back stabbing, lets hope the team make it all irrelevant.

That to me is the key in this league. Weather the storm in the first 20 minutes and get a good idea what they have to offer and impose our football when they start to tire. I just don't believe it is effective to go at it flat out from the very beginning, happy days.

Forget Shearer, JP wouldn't need £50million. Anyway does anyone seriously think it would happen. I think this young team is great to watch. I am happy to go with them . I'm beginning to see why Lowe went for him. It's a shame we didn't bring him in last time out. There's no way you can ignore £50M, the bank just will not allow it. But I do believe you have a very valid point. Just cannot see them getting that sort of money together, so it should be academic. The last couple of seasons I have felt removed from the team with very little bond because of all the things that have been going on. But the refreshing attitude of these youngsters has turned that around into the sort of feeling we used to experience at the Dell. In one way I feel that the financial situation that has forced us into playing all the youth has helped us. JP has a very clear goal and an unflinching drive towards that. When we have tried to integrate some of the senior pro's into the team (mainly midfield), they don't have the requisite skills to carry it off. So it was a case of the old system and trying to blend a couple of the youth into or the new system where a lot of the older pro's will not blend. As we just managed to escape the trap door with the old routine last season, i really doubt we would have fared much better this season, probably worse. It's a lot to ask, mainly because of the physical demand this league puts on players, but if we can maintain safety this season, the youngsters will be that much further advanced the next, when I feel we can really have a go at it.

Agreed. I'd be the first to say that Alpine has come out with some right rubbish in the past, but people are just jumping on his back for no reason nowadays. Yes he's still being a bit negative, but nothing Alpine is saying is that ridiculous, and it certainly doesn't warrant the abuse he's getting. Well you must be working on the principle that limited intelligence is an excuse for short comings. A very clear situation where all our high earning players are known to be for sale. Failure to obtain fees or move on those players means that becomes extended to other players we don't wish to sell. JP has stated several times he understands the conditions imposed upon him by our financial position, so where exactly is the misunderstanding?

Overall when Bart has had a spell in the first team he has out performed Kelvin at that time. The other thing is that if you take the Hollywood out of Kelvins performances I believe you see a different picture. By stature he is not that short, but the way he deals with events / situations give you the impression he is 6" shorter than he actually is. Take Tim Howard for example, exactly the opposite. I did not feel he was that good against Birmingham where some things went unnoticed by many, especially when he palmed that shoot out into the path of their forward when he should have put it behind for a corner. Not complaining about having him in goal, as overall it seems deserved at the present, but I do not believe it is that clear cut as you have made out. Always a risk in letting players go when you are uncertain to what exactly will follow, but for that sort of fee I would go for it.

Very good question and without knowing all the facts we will have to wait and see. I don't believe Davies will provide more capital than the profit on his transfer, as I said at the time i believe we had help with that fee, similar to what has happened with Schneiderlin. I don't know that we have done enough, unless we get capital in to offset our debt, so we still need far more than Surman can bring in on his own. The wage bill is still coming down but without capital from player sales I feel it needs to be more. It all depends if the club can offset some of our current debt onto a more long term basis, but I believe that would require greater cuts in the wage bill than has already occured. It will all come down to the man in Reading by the look of things.

Probably true with the bank in control, trouble is if we well any more we won't survive in the CCC and it's going to be hard enough as it is. These young players are really going to learn in the deep end - if they swim, SFC swims and properly establishes itself as CCC calibre club (sorry folks, that's where we are presently, it hurts after almost 30 years at the top level but it's true), if they sink it's -17 in League 1. I want option A but it's a huge ask on JP and the lads, I don't think a lot of the posters on here really understand how tough a season this will be. Fingers crossed we'll be OK. Before the team evolved, I felt we would be lucky to get near staying up with Pearson, let alone with double Dutch. But the West Ham and Birmingham games have shown me that we should be good enough to get away from relegation. If we were to stay up this season, I really believe we could push on from there and at least get into the play off's the following season. The big problem as I see it, is the number of games and level of stamina required from these youngsters. We have clearly seen previously with Bale and Surman that when fatigue hits them, they go off the boil for a while.That's why I feel JP made an error in playing virtually the same first team against Exeter and I thought that showed against Birmingham in the second half. But as you say, most fans will not even realise the full extent of the restrictions we are playing under.

I agree with your sentiments Weston. I don't see what anyone has to gain by bigging up another phantom bid. If the money doesn't come through, Merrington and Fulthorpe are going to look like a couple of melons. At the present time, I believe that Fulthorpe is the only option to actually get us of out of the crapper, but only if they turn to reality, rather than the stupidity they have been chasing. They do not have the finances to do anything unless the club goes into administration, but if that same money could be used before administration, we could all be winners. After administration, that sort of money would not put us in a better position than we were prior, but before administration could make a huge difference. We could all say that Lowe, Wilde etc should just give them their shares and let them save us, or alternatively the opposite, but it is not quite as simple as that. First it is not only Wilde and Lowe alone, but a total share holding of 75% required to make it happen. Also Wilde and Lowe must believe that what they intend to do has a reasonable chance of success, or we are better off continuing down our present road. Given some of the comments given out by the Billy Bull****ter of the group, I can readily understand those revervations. You only have to look back at what happened when Wilde took over the club, that the best for the club would have been for all parties to come together and do what is best for Saints, not serving their own personal interests. The same situation but with different circumstances could easily be coming up in the near future. What would wreck it again is personal ambitions or views that are not neccessarily for the good of the club, but for the individual. I am not singling out one side or individual here, as at the end of the day you could more than likely tar them all with the that brush.

After everything that has happened and been made public, this has to encapsulate all the dumb posts out there at the present. You singularly fail to understand that if the club refuse to cut costs or sell players, that is it! There is no economy, not even a false one. This short sighted and simplistic outlook of balancing the books! How the fook do you believe we got into this mess in the first place? We have ****ed against the wall getting on for £30M from player sales on your visionary stance and ignoring the books. You only have to look at the talent we have at present within the youth and imagine how much better that could be if we had the money to compliment them with experienced pro’s in the right ratio. Norwich and Crystal Palace did this an age ago, but we were still keenly following your policy of a visionary stance and ignoring the books. Then these creative ideas for increasing the revenue by reducing prices, absolutely priceless. Not long back we reduced the season ticket sales with this approach, only to watch our ticket revenue drop even further than the effect of the price cuts alone.

This has been JP's position from the begining. He only wanted to rely upon players he knew had a good chance of actually being here at the start of the season and beyond the window. Makes a lot of sense to build the team around your known resources, rather to work hard on them with the system and fitness to find they are moving on, then trying to shoe someone else in. But this logic forgoes the standard whinge, so I can see why you would never take to it.

This has all been as clear as day as soon as the last half year accounts were published, subsequently Lowe and Wilde reviewed the then current status and left everyone in no doubt. We need to get the wage bill down to match our income and we need to sell assets to counter the debt we are piling up from our operating losses. Shortly we will see the annual accounts and you will all get to see the full picture, but you will still get the idiots saying we should spend more. It's very simple, the bank has given us limits and if we fail to adhere to them, they will just bounce the cheque and along comes administration. We have to demonstrate to our lenders that they have more chance of a return by allowing the clubs current policy to continue, then if they pulled the plug. Most other businesses and the plug would already be pulled, but football clubs have had a charmed life in that respect up to now. Anyone who thinks administration is the better option is talking out of their arse. We have a chance, maybe not that great, but certainly better than administration.