Saint 76er

Firstly, good luck to Southend. All Saints supporters will sympathize with their predicament. In any event let's hope it doesn't end with a winding up order, not only for Southend's sake, but for us too as our excellent three points at their place would be expunged if they go out of business. Of course if it's admin then perhaps we could put them in touch with a certain Mark Fry who could no doubt pop round to Roots Hall from his nearby office. Then again from what we hear maybe we might give that a miss, after all Southend have done us no harm! BTW, love the picture of their chairman on their website, he looks a proper Essex wide boy, and check out the ancient wooden seats with the crudely painted seat numbers he is sitting in. I remember seats like that at the Dell in the sixties! Hope it turns out okay for them, as clubs like Southend are the lifeblood of football in this country in many ways...

Eric was a legend in his day, a bit erratic but a great shot stopper and the fans loved him. Now, true story, a mate and I went to watch Saints reserves play a pre season friendly at Guildford City one time, and after the game we were talking to Eric in the players race alongside the main stand. Mick Channon had been injured with a nasty leg gash and Eric was telling us about it. Next thing was an almighty crash and rending of wood and glass on concrete as one of the side window panels on the stand simply fell out and crashed down only a few yards from where we were standing. Remarkably nothing dangerous showered over us but we stood in stunned silence for a few moments whilst all of us were clearly replaying in our heads the awful consequences had we been holding our conversation just a small distance away. With a collective shake of the head we simply turned away from the carnage and resumed our discussions as if nothing had ever happened...

I was really feeling quite sympathetic for you... Until I read your username

Isn't that what Aaron Martin is being lined up for... ?

Talking of idiots... didn't Lowe do exactly the same thing to Luggy, and after only three games that season IIRC?

On the road to redemption more like, after the last few years. Thank God Pardew and Cortese are turning us into a real football club again. Just shows how fooked we were by those previous clowns. Just brilliant to be winning games again, away games even. Still nerve wracking though! Busy week ahead for the ticket office I suspect...

Then you'd better pray the rest of them stack up okay. Buying a PL club is hardly an exercise in secrecy and you'd be mad to do so if your only desire was to remain incognito. The authorities are buying themselves trouble if they don't sort out this beneficial owner/convoluted company trail, that is starting to pass as "owners" of PL clubs. If people owning football clubs (who would normally be screaming it from the rooftops) insist on remaining unknown and refuse to divulge any details of themselves, then you have to make the general assumption they may possibly be up to no good, such as money laundering for example. You would presume that honest businessmen could prove their bone fides and all would be well. Any that don't come forward to do so must inevitably leave themselves open to serious doubts. This business with the skates should really be the test case for the Premier League to enact tough new measures and insist on knowing everything about everybody behind the deal and if it doesn't all stack up, then throw the book at them. Why on earth not? It would be as well to sort it out now, as if (when) relegation happens... a certain Lord of the realm will be waiting and his FL will not be anywhere near as benevolent as his PL counterparts.

Think of all the great games headlined in the Football Echo over the years... Man U 6-3, Wolves 9-3 and the Cup Final of course, to name but a few. Over the years, which sadly have passed so quickly, the Football Echo has been the one constant in bringing all the local football news to Saints supporters far and wide. As a kid I too remember the ritual cutting of the string in our local shop at East Cowes where I would await it's arrival. In those far off days it actually seemed exciting and I can still remember the smell of those freshly printed papers. I can also still vividly recall the smell of the vinegar soaked 6d of chips I'd have on the way home! First thing would be to check the stop press at the bottom of back page for all the Hants League full times to find out how the Vics had got on (if they were away). Then read everything about Saints and all the local reports. This was the only way to get such information in those days and the local press was held in high regard, but times change it seems. Growing up and moving away from the area I subscribed to the Football Echo and all it's subsequent guises for nearly 35 years, until the internet pretty much made it redundant. I guess that's the problem, old technology no longer keeping pace with the modern world. It's obvious reading this thread that many of us will feel a little emotional at the passing of a local icon that has been so much a part of our lives for so long, but sadly is probably no longer relevant. Thank you to all those at the Echo over the years who have contributed in some small way to getting the paper out so quickly on a saturday night. It may only have been newsprint on paper but I suspect it meant a great deal to a lot of people in the pre digital era...

That's an interesting article. Must say I remain unconvinced that the money is coming from Saudi. The new fake sheik has all the hallmarks of a front man, but for whom? Article says no one in the Arab world would lend Fahim money due to his dodgy property investments. Then Storrie produces an "Arab" with a company registered in the Virgin Islands (clearly with that name it is not referring to any of the islands around skatesmouth haha!). By their very nature companies registered in tax havens on obscure islands are often of the dubious kind. So what is going on here? Both this new bloke and his company seem veiled in secrecy and subterfuge giving the impression that we are not being told the whole story by a long way. Israeli money? Now that would be a twist to the tale. Is Storrie getting back into bed with the Gaydamaks again..... :confused:

Phil, secrecy may not be uncommon, but the simple fact is that apparently nobody either in or out of Saudi has ever heard of this guy, including the head of the Saudi football league! Trousers (as usual) did some searching and produced a link for somebody with the same name who appeared to be some sort of a Saudi Arabian bank manager. Could this actually be our man do you think, as such a position might facilitate the transfer of funds from other more financial consortium "sources"? Also, for interest sake, I notice that our old adversary Lord Mawthingy says today that he is now demanding to know true ownership of all FL clubs and that beneficial investors must be disclosed and proven or (and these are just about his exact words) he won't let them play in his league! Might be a problem there for the skates if (sorry when) they are relegated. You may laugh now Phil...

Phil, at times like this it's so comforting to have you scouring your middle eastern domain to keep us, your saintly brethren, so well informed. However, despite billionaire secrecy in Saudi, surely such a person must have some sort of traceable profile? Agreed his bank account details may remain private, but the existence of such a (presumably) high profile and wealthy businessman should be a matter of record even in that neck of the woods surely? He was initially said to be a big wheel in Sabic then apparently not. Even his age has gone from 50 to 40 to 39. Reality is no one, not even the press, can prove he actually exists and indeed neither can you Phil, which is much more worrying (for the skates that is). There is vague talk of a consortium, certainly from Storrie, but he doesn't admit to knowing much more about Al whatsisname than the rest of us, so the "consortium" remains an even bigger mystery. Do we have a fake sheik mk2 here, an arabian Walter Mitty, or could this chap be a front man in a convoluted chain that ends with financial arrangements emanating from, for example, a foreign exile from another asian country? In a way this whole business has frightening similarities to what we went through with Pinnacle and MJ, although I am not yet convinced the skates will land on their feet like we did! Has anyone thought to give Tony Lynan a call to check if he is fronting the "consortium"? Well you never know...

FFS, in all his years in the game Pulis has played so few times that anyone who has actually managed to see him play should be wearing the T shirt. Meetings of the "I saw Pulis play society" wouldn't need to hire a very big hall I should think. BTW good luck to the lad as we really need Lincoln to be impressed (well sort of) and sign him permanently. Shouldn't imagine any fee would be involved. PS does he only move to clubs in red and white stripes. Maybe it's a fetish?

Well it appears from this report that the wages are being paid by Storrie's arab consortia pals who sensibly have securitised the loan, but against what? Storrie says he doesn't know, but admits it is probably on the club (what else could it be against?). So, there seems little doubt IMO that the Storrie consortium are positioning for a takeover. If the bedridden one can't repay this loan he may have to hand over the keys to his arab rival or put the thing into administration. Must say it sounds a bit dodgy accepting a loan from a rival consortium (bit like MJ giving Pinnacle a loan!), but just goes to show how desperate things are down at Cowshed Park...

That's exactly how I see it Nick. Storrie gives every impression of giving whatsisname enough rope to hang himself and then PS and his arab mates will ride in as saviours and Storrie will have got what he wanted all along. Don't know why anyone would want to throw good money at that lot though. The amount required to keep them up and then provide necessary infrastructure beggars imagination. Far better to pick it up from an administrator in a fire sale IMO...

In principle or out of principle, if this 50m ever arrives it will surely bankrupt the skates, if they aren't so already! What is the man thinking of, as he has allegedly already lumped something similar on to the club to get the thing from Gaydamak. The interest repayments on that will stretch them to the limits, but now a 50m loan on top??? Why are the blue few acting as if their problems are over, have they no idea what it will cost to service such a debt, especially from the sources it's liable to have come from! Interestingly Storrie has been muttering about how good it will be to have the money, but therein lies a conflict of interest if ever there was one. A few weeks back Storrie was in a battle with the fake sheik for ownership and he lost out and was indeed a not very gracious loser. In those circumstances how on earth can Storrie continue to run the business as CEO? Presumably he will be trying to pull the magic carpet out from under the sheik at every opportunity and he certainly wastes no chance to lambast him in public. So how's that going to work and why ever doesn't aforementioned arabian gentleman give him the big A while the goings good? It all sounds as big a lunatic mess as anything even Rupert Lowe created, and that's saying something...

On reflection Milton we both had it wrong... clearly they are doing a pantomime version of "Carry on Laughing" down at Krap Nottarf (aka the field of Krap)! Sid James is nailed on as Storrie but where can we fit Hattie Jaques and Kenneth Williams into this laugh a minute charade? Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me.... :smt036

More like the potential of a Wimbledon I suspect... a fans club in the Wessex league seems likely. Can't see anyone wasting their money on them, even perhaps in admin, as the expenditure for infrastructure to make the thing viable again would be overwhelming. Unlike "Field of Dreams", if they build a new stadium will they come to fill it? No, I don't think so either, so why bother? Of course, there are still some opportunities to acquire a quality football set up at a bargain price with all the infrastructure in place, isn't that right Mr Liebherr?

Can't keep playing AL as a winger, it doesn't work and is wasting his talents. Adam is still learning and improving as a player, time to play him CM effectively in the 'hole' behind Rickie and Papa, with Hammo DM and the two wingers. Leaves us with a decent bench too with Morgan, James, Saga etc, but will AP drop all/any of these?

Yes, we need Papa playing up front alongside Rickie and yes we need two wingers to provide width and crosses. Mills looks good on the left, but do we have a right winger? Well yes, maybe, as I seem to recall that when he arrived here Lee Holmes stated in an interview that he was a natural right footer but had somehow ended up on the left wing! So, Mills left and Holmes on the right sounds pretty good to me. Should get some decent service to the front men happening then...

Cheers Whacko, you turned out to be a hero then! Who'd a thought it? And cheers Phil for marking Whacko's card about that arabian whacko! Now here's the funny thing... maybe the skates evolving protest movement will seek to draft in Rupert (yes him :mad:) as a better alternative to what Gaydamak has lumbered them with!!! I can see it all now as the protesters frogmarch their way down Frogmore Rd chanting their slogan loud and proud in their best chav voices, "We want Rupert IN, when do we want it NOW"... :D

Spot on comments Monk and not at all incongruous. In fact Cortese has previously stated that SD will be a board appointment, effectively the director in charge of all football matters. He (or she) will assist Cortese as well as report to the board on football related issues, which presumably would encompass the operations of under age sides through to the first team and related areas such as training ground requirements and pitch preparation as well as scouting and player contracts etc. Clearly this is to be an executive role for a bloke in a business suit rather than a training ground role for a bloke in a track suit. Partly it will be aimed at taking pressure off Pardew to let him get on with his primary role, rather than running the entire football operations as he is now and spreading himself a bit thin. No doubt the SD will be responsible for operating within the financial constraints of the agreed budget set by the board, so financial or commercial experience may be a requirement as well as football expertise. In which case it may well take some time to source an appropriate candidate. Hang on though, doesn't Steve Coppell have a university degree or two? Hmmm....

Is he Rupert in disguise... nah. You just happen to have got the one Arab who doesn't have any money. However, this does raise an interesting point Eyes, and I'm not sure it's going to totally reassure you. Thing is that, as we know only too well, if admin comes then it is a thundering great lottery for the club. Now Saints landed well and truly on their feet, but Christ on a bike it was a close run thing! You have no idea how helpless you feel as every tyre kicker and idiot in Christendom seems to descend from the woodwork and if no one buys you then it's all over. If you go into admin as a PL club then someone will buy you (probably Harry) for the PL licence alone. Don't bank on them spending big on new stadia though. Critically though you can't afford to get relegated (even though you probably will!) as that opens a can of worms you may not like. Firstly the option of no buyer will become realistic, not many buyers exist for clubs outside the PL. Our good facilities and infrastructure found us a buyer because ML knows he only has to fund decent players and he can ride a wave all the way back to the promised land (and big profits). Poopey meanwhile simply do not have PL facilities or crowd potential. It would cost a fortune to get them back there and particularly to keep them up. Ask Gaydamak, he spent a fortune as the club wasn't self sufficient, but eventually ran out of money. Now he's gone it's all downhill from here I fear. Now here's the rub, if you are up for sale as a CCC club be afraid, be very afraid, as all the idiots will be out of the woodwork again. If one of them manages to pull off a deal it will probably make the Arab bloke's tenure seem like nirvana. But Eyes, in response to your above post, you may not have to worry about disguises as the real thing may very well cast covetous eyes towards Krap Nottarf and then your problems will only just be starting, believe me! The dark lord may well think he can thumb his nose at us from a safe 27 mile distance and he is certain to think he can save money by disbanding almost everything you have in place and running the whole shabang by himself!! Actually, I think he may know where he can lay his hands on a couple of out of work Dutch coaches only too willing to implement a total football structure with your youth team players... Good luck if it comes to that and do watch out for the PR plants on your forums telling you to shut up should you dare to query their master.

In which case it will very likely come following administration IMO. With the current takeover allegedly being leveraged against future income (there goes the Sky money) there is no meat on the bones, only a mountain of debt. In fact it has been said that the takeover and the money they are currently spending requires a repayment of 50 million quid over 10 years. That's quite some debt to lump onto a club already drowning in it and whoever would be stupid enough to get the fake sheik out of trouble by wasting their own money? I would imagine no one would be, at least no one who would be acceptable to the football authorities. Then of course someone has to fund the stadium and training ground at some stage as well. It's hard not to see the whole shabang ending in tears for the blue few (sorry Eyes) with admin the most likely outcome. For the above reasons I don't imagine anyone will now buy it off the current "owner", especially as it will be available debt free for a relative song after admin, which will probably occur once the new bloke has finished spending some hedge fund's heavily leveraged monies. There's little doubt they are buying players for the Championship next year and they may very well find themselves starting life in that league on minus ten points!