stthrobber

Pretty rough on Gunn to be honest, they certainly rallied a bit when he took over, despite the fact they still went down. He put some fight into them. The fact that he got the boot this early on suggests there's more to the matter than meets the eye. Still just for once, it's not us that has to worry, Pards said Saints was the only job he'd drop down a division or 2 for, so he won't be a target for Norwich

I have nothing against womens football but I would neither watch nor support them just because they had a loose affiliation to our club

We are always impatient for new signings during the close season, but even after we've signed new players we want more. I'm sure negotiations are in hand to bring in his backroom staff, and I'm also pretty sure that he is working to a limited budget, so that means it might take a little time to get the right players. He's only been here a dogwatch, he needs to identify the weaknesses, then bring in the players to strengthen. It won't happen overnight mate, so whilst I'm keen to see signings like you, I'm happy to be a little more patient than I would have been if Pardew had been here at the end of last season

I fail to see the point of them going to the lengths they did knowing that they would ultimately fail. Therefore I believe that the initial bid was genuine, but they should have withdrawn immediately it became clear that their was no money forthcoming. It certainly didn't help matters when they unveiled something akin to a chimp as the money man. It may have been ******** from the start, but if it was, what was the point of it all? That's what I can't understand

There's no doubt that it will certainly affect the start of the season as there will be players that Pardew is yet to sign who will not have had a pre season build up (if they are out of contract) and it will take time for them to build that fitness up and gel into the team. Strachan always used to say that pre-season training was vital for players to be match fit and ready when the season started and if they missed out, then it could affect their season long term. Having said that, a lot of players will train with clubs to stay fit in the hope of a bid. In the grand scheme of things it's a short term blip and I do not think that if the club now has a 5 year plan (let's say for the sake of argument) that it will affect things too much. It certainly hasn't helped us, but overall, it's just like a train that's slightly late... or not as the case may be

I think the word rape is a bit over the top but or once in my life I'm going to agree with you Richmond. It wasn't JP's or Mw's strategy, it was Lowe's. He did it with perhaps the best of intentions but it was a flawed strategy, he was told as much, and wouldn't listen. Maybe Barclay's made it so that he wouldn't listen. The idea was a mix of youth and experience, but the emphasis was far too much on youth. MW did his best after JP left but let's face it, we were f*cked from the start Either way, it's done, it's dusted we are where we are, rock bottom has come, and hopefully gone now.

I think the club's recent history has a lot to do with both fans and team being low in confidence, but luckily for us, as the two go hand in hand, then a few home wins will change that mentality for both. Thinking back to our relegation season, then I can remember several occasions where misplaced passes and goals given away would result in the crowd getting on the team's back. I think with a new owner at the club and all politics removed from the equation, all we really need to worry about is getting behind the team, and the team in turn will respond to that support. The only downside is that since Lynam and Michael Mitty dragged the takeover to new extremes of tedium for no apparent reason, Alan Pardew has had to hit the ground running and it will take a few games for our new team to gel.

I read this comment with interest too Trousers. To me it means he has been given a limited budget and therefore he has to use it wisely. There is nothing wrong with this at all. Whatever people think, there is no such thing as a Bosman free transfer. They cost wages and signing on fees, so it makes sense to see what he can get in that market before he looks at spending on transfer fees on top. His budget may be limited, but at least he has one

Throwing money at a situation is not always the best way. Notts County have traditionally been the worst club to support in the history of the football league. Their fans in a recent survey have suffered the most over the years. I've never been to Nottingham so I don't know how big it is as a city but few big cities in this country have been able to sustain 2 or more successful football clubs. Whilst Nottingham may have 2 clubs, County has always been in the shadow of Forest as long as I can remember and I doubt the support base is there. I suspect much like Wimbledon, even if Sven does get them promotion to a decent level, the gates won't be there and once the owners realise that they can't make a Manchester United out of a traditionally small club, they will take their money and leave County well in the cack.

Must admit I've never heard of him, but concensus is that he's a good signing, so happy with that.

I'm just off to play squash mate, so haven't got time to reply in full, but it was during his time as DoF that Bally didn't know which way to turn. On the one hand Ted Bates told him one thing and Lawrie told him another, and he was stuck in the middle. I was advised too by someone that worked for the club at the time that absolutely nothing happened at that club without LM's say so, and he was a bit of a bully, and accordingly not well liked. I've only ever spoken to him once and I found him a gentleman, deeply saddened by what had happened with the club and Lowe, but then both men are too stubborn and pig headed to draw a line under their history and move on.

But equally you could argue that the angle from ALL is same old same old. For his achievements as a club manager at Southampton he should be rightly revered. His actions as Director of Football during the 90's, didn't exactly bathe him glory unfortunately. There are then the largely unsubstantiated rumours of interference during the Wilde/Hone years, the demand for the club car, office at the training ground and 75k salary. I say unsubstantiated because I genuinely don't know the truth, and they do say there is no smoke without fire (unless you're at M. Jackson's cremation) Therefore people's opinions won't change because it is unlikely that we will ever find out the truth. If he was in the directors box yesterday then I do hope it was as a guest of Markus Liebherr. I think he should be a guest at every home match for life

Think you can probably write this result and maybe next week's off as we all know the squad needs new blood, but I think Pardew will be able to attract exactly the right players we need. Ajax are a quality side and er, we aren't, so I can't read much into the result

But beyond Andy Oldknow, they haven't hired anyone (have they?) and the only person that has been sacked is Wotte. Given that ML only bought the club on Thursday, and Wotte had signed a new contract a few days earlier, it suggests to me that Fry awarded the new contract and not ML. It is far too early to pass judgement on the new team

He's a name. Pure and simple. He was a top player but has not as yet transferred his success as a player to his managerial career I believe that he is destined to be a really good head coach under a manager as opposed to a manager in his own right. He seems to have had a fairly solid coaching career thus far. Sadly the downside of his managerial career outweighs the upside, so whilst I see you want only positives on this thread, it's not easy to find that many. I too don't care if he was at Pompey, except to say that whenever we have borrowed their staff, we tend to hit a downturn in fortunes and we've been as low as we can get I think.

The problem is for these clubs, as it will be for any club, is that promotion is one thing, but you then need a huge outlay to bring the CCC squad up to Prem level. As Stoke are finding, many foreign players want to play for big named established clubs, not provincial outfits like theirs. Phil Brown was touted as a possible manager for us a couple of years back and dismissed by many as inexperienced and not good enough. The former was true at the time, but not now. He's proved his worth amply. I would like to see a British manager because if our clubs keep appointing foreign all the time, then our own coaching systems will become irrelevant. We can learn so much from the continent without doubt, but we need to learn from them, and teach our own coaches so that we don't struggle to think of capable, good quality British guys. (the same goes for our young players too) The fact that the big clubs appoint foreign coaches before considering Brits is a sad indictment on our own system. Having said that, if a club appoints a foreign coach and backs him with unlimited funds, then a reasonable level of success can be guaranteed. Notice the decline in Arsenal's success levels since the move to the Emirates and decline in funding too. The Dutch experiment was a disaster last season because neither of the appointed coaches had experience at this level. It might have worked if Boothroyd had been appointed for example. It also failed because whilst the idea of youth and experience was a decent one, the cuts made were too swingeing and the blend was all wrong.

I know what you mean, but Marsden thrived under Strachan, but like many others I thought he was a poor acquisition when Dave Jones bought him in. He used to run a lot, but tw#t the other player when he got there rather than make a play for the ball. Under Strachan he became a different player, so much so that our hopes of winning the FA Cup were in many people's eyes, dashed by the fact that he had been out injured and was rushed back in before he was fit enough. Who can forget his goal against Ipswich, even with the scuffed finish. Quashie was bought to fulfil that role, but it seems he was a sh!t stirrer and we stayed sh!t. It's feasible that Wotton could fulfil that Marsden role, but I'm not sure about his fitness, as the Argyle fans felt he was past his best when we signed him, but then Luggy isn't a manager known for instilling discipline in his players. If we had a manager who would make our players work harder in training, then maybe Wotton could still do a job for us.

For one thing he was interviewed by the BBC this morning and he was clearly under the impression that he was remaining as manager for the next 12 months, yet only a couple of hours later, he's out on his ear. Sorry but in my book that's poor treatment. I know it's the nature of the game these days, but I do think it shows us in a poor light. Given his track record, they should have let him know yesterday that he was not to be taking the club forward.

Because the club has to win a lot of fans back, success on the field is part of it of course, a well known team of coaches backed with some cash would help too. The previous regimes have destroyed communication links with the fans and driven many away, not just because of the personalities involved but because of a lack of information, inflated prices etc etc. The feelgood factor in itself is only a start, and when people can see tangible progress on and off the field, I think the lost fans will return. My colleague, a Swansea jack was asking me today about what size crowds he thought I would expect and I think that a good start sustained will see crowds of 20k+ As for the Trust, nice to see Nick stop short of empire building in the statement as most fans see the organisation as an irrelevance now

I agree he's been badly treated. I think it wouldn't have been quite so bad if he hadn't signed a year's contract last week, but I do think he's been pretty dignified and I don't blame him for talking to the Egyptians, he was perfectly correct in that he was bench warming for someone else with the Pinnacle bid. Poor sod now finds out he was doing likewise for the Swiss. The sad fact is that if a big name manager with a proven track record is appointed, we'll all forget Wotte and the way he was treated, such is the nature of our game.

Genuine question, how do you know he wasn't liked by the players?

If we got Fergie in as manager he wouldn't be good enough for some on here. After all, he only got the Champions League cup twice and was "tactically naive" against Barca. More seriously I think Wotte has been pretty loyal and dignified over the past few weeks and would be happy to see what he can do given a different set of circumstances, ie a little money backing him

He was brought in by Hone as whilst Steve Davies was marketing manager. I think his title then was commercial manager or similar, and within minutes, Steve was on garden leave whilst they looked for an excuse to sack him, which they never got. They paid Steve off in the end before they were taken to a tribunal. He was then invited on to the board having got the trusts affiliate membership numbers up to 1650. When Hone resigned etc I'm not sure what happened with AO, but I would guess guilty by association would be a fair comment to make. I remember asking an Everton website his feelings on AO and he thought he had done a decent enough job at Goodison. He shall be judged on what happens now, not what happened previously as it would appear that Hone had a lot to answer for. I wish him well and sincerely hope that he can connect with the fans this time around because without tv money etc, the commercial opportunities for a league 1 club are limited. We are not customers, we are fans. There is a vast difference

On a personal level I didn't take to Andy Oldknow because I don't think he understood football fans, in the same way that people level that accusation at Lowe. On his arrival at the club, he didn't wish to go visiting and speaking to fans, he wanted to be out getting money into the club and the fans were merely a marketing tool to be exploited. Having said that, I found him pretty flexible in his approach when he was appointed to get the membership of the Trust up to the 1650 figure that the club had asked for in order for the Fan on the Board to be appointed. Having done the job, I always thought he shafted us by reneging on the deal, but I'm told I do him a disservice by levelling that accusation, and in fact, he also got shafted by Jim Hone, and it was the latter who was the villain of the piece. I was told that AO felt utterly gutted by Hone's behaviour, as if he had been knifed in the back. If AO has been a major player in bringing this deal to a completion, then fair play to him, but I do feel that he was one of the reasons the fans felt cut off from the club and I hope he will do something quickly to restore links between the club and fans, and I don't just mean fans groups. We all need to move forward as one, club and fans together, and this won't happen unless the fans feel that connection again. Over to you Andy

Good post Daren, nice of you to take time off watching Jeremy Kyle and GMTV to post it The problems you describe though, are not just restricted to our own club, it's rife throughout football. A Clark's pie at Ninian Park last season was £1.50, still overpriced for a pie you can get for 60p in a chippie. With the move to the new Cardiff City Stadium, the Bluebirds hiked the price up to £2.70. The fans have complained, and the price has been reduced. We need more fans to step up to the mark and stop buying stuff until the prices for tickets, food and merchandise is more realistically priced. All clubs have been reliant on fan loyalty. In our case, under the last 3 regimes, the fans have become isolated from the club and despite attempts by people to get them to reduce prices, it didn't happen. If this takeover does finally end our misery today, then I honestly hope, that club and fans together can stop looking back and move forward. It won't be easy, we still have only the barebones of a squad and we still have to win 3 matches and draw 1 to get to nil points, but Leeds have done it from further back, so have Bournemouth, and so can we.