Saint 76er

Come on now Alps, you know Lowe did a good(ish) job really don't you?... Well, admittedly there were the few minor points you mentioned above... oh and then the three Dutch coaches this season (notice how Rupes refrained from sacking any more managers by calling them all coaches ) and some Dutch agent who mangled our player recruitment. Some unkind supporters did seem to have a problem with loaning out our best players to our rivals and playing the youth team in their place whilst spending what money we did have on a bunch of loans that even I would admit were the biggest pile of sh*te I can ever remember gracing our club. Still what do I know, I'm sure it was all for the best if Rupert says so. Strangely, even more criticism was leveled at our football maestro for his inspirational replacement of possibly the best young manager outside the premiership with some sort of Dutch amateur coach who knew nothing about English football and proceeded to prove it with the most bizarre tactics or lack of them ever seen on the hallowed playing fields of this great and sceptre'd isle. Those same critics even blame Rupert for not replacing him until we were all but relegated, thus proving that some people are never satisfied. Rupert Lowe is, of course, utterly blameless (in his own mind) and he has even condescended to allow his minions onto this board to point out the error of our ways and to point the finger at the real culprits... the clubs (long suffering) fans and that arch villain Crouch. Thank you Saint Rupert....

Reading through all this stuff on Swindon & Tranmere takeover deals, this Portuguese mob sound decidedly dodgy to me and the Rubenstein fella sounds like a Portuguese version of Rupert Lowe combined with Arfur Daily.... No thanks big time to that!!! 8-[

It's all becoming clear now, as the reincarnationists among us must surely have known... Rupert Lowe was obviously the captain of the Titanic in his previous life and returned to Southampton but ended up with the same disastrous result. :(

Ah, you see that's where Rod Stewart comes into it. We know he has the requisite garden, having trained there previously under his wee Scottish pal.....

That really is a crazy level of debt and you wonder how it could possibly be sustainable. Thing is, the debt appears to belong to the MUFC "parent company" which is presumably their equivalent of SLH. So if it all goes tits up, and with that level of debt it possibly could even for them, what will be the response of the football authorities then? Does anyone seriously think the PL will be sending in forensic accountants to try and find a way to dock THEM points, even though they haven't actually broken any rules?.....

Au contraire on the rumour front... The rather exotic Dutch lady whose father owned a brewery (the kind of lady I had in actual fact hoped to meet myself one day ). Rocking Rod + WGS, which takes care of the pre game entertainment then. Every game will be like the Superbowl. As a personal opinion I might add David Beckham to this crew, feeling fairly sure Rod would have been having kickabouts with old golden balls over in LaLa land and Becks did mention us as a potential takeover target. Then there is the jewish brothers from Iraq who moved to Iran (talk about out of the frying pan for a pair of jews!) before hot footing it to London to make their fortune. Even that nice Mr Souness is apparently keen to grace us with his presence once again, and he actually knows something about football (which is admittedly an unlikely qualification for a Saints owner). So there you have it, a veritable potpourri of highly credible rumours indicating the high powered negotiations that must surely be taking place behind closed doors even as I type....

"St Fatima's Stadium", anyone...

Wotte has to go, he's too intrinsically linked to Lowe. Can you imagine the distrust that he would be relaying inside info back to his master who may in turn use Wotte to plan his return? Now this may not be the case but plenty of people will fear it and this place is almost drowning in paranoia as it is. In any event it must be obvious to all that Wotte has nothing to offer in English football (other than slagging off fans like his master)... get rid of, simple as. I like Sean O'Driscoll, he used to write a column in the "Sports Echo" and he seriously knew his stuff. He was well qualified and very tactically aware with excellent man management skills (no wonder Rupes never employed him then ). He could of course be teamed with the up and coming Eddie Howe who hasn't put a foot wrong in his short tenure at Bomo. Both are local men and would be ideal, however in truth can't see SO'D wanting to drop down a division, although he may be tempted to return to God's own country, you never know! My alternative would be Jim Gannon from Stockport. By all reports he is a hot shot L1 manager destined for better things. He would very probably accept and his broad experience of L1 would be invaluable. Don't think we would get Darren Ferguson but Aidy Boothroyd would also be a good call. It has to be an up and coming manager hungry for success who wants to grow with us. None of the tired old gravy train mob thanks...

"The idiots guide to running a football club"

Well that's probably f*cked what little chance we did have of staying up then. I'm not happy I might add, as this just seems like the icing on the cake of a monumental c*ck up of a season featuring amateurish and utterly lunatic decisions on tactics, coaches and players. Seriously, there is not one poster on this site who would have done even remotely as bad had they been in charge. But we get the chairman from hell and look at the mess we are in. There is at least one unexpected chance for the cfh to make a small atonement in our hour of need though, as apparently both Chris Lucketti and David Unsworth have just been released by Huddersfield and would presumably be available to sign as free agents. We know how good Lucketti was at this time last season and Unsworth has all the experience in the world. Perhaps a six week deal for both to help see us through a crisis.....

Thanks for this info Trousers. An 8 million turnaround is not good news even in the present climate. I am therefore wondering if this perhaps means it is less likely now that Lowe could put together a consortium of his WHI pals with a view to a post admin takeover, as genuinely feared by many on this forum?

Can't see the problem, just send him back to Notts County et voila panic over. What's that ..... we can't afford his train fare? Oh....

Unfortunately Lowe would be, at least on the evidence of this season. Best he not be here next season methinks....

WTF did we swop JP for Wotte for then? We were all of these things under JP, so any new manager has to bring something new and improved to the setup.... right? Wrong apparently, as we get the other Dutchman under Lowe's grand vision who was overseeing the original failure anyway. The three wins may have been new manager syndrome but it did have the feeling that the players were playing for themselves rather than for Wotte necessarily. However, it has all quickly reverted to type and you seriously wonder if the players will have the bottle for what is to come and Wotte seems devoid of an idea of how to fix it. Desperately hoping I am wrong, but it doesn't look good right now. We have just drawn three matches that were easily winnable and that form simply won't keep us in this division unfortunately. I think everyone should hope for the best, but prepare themselves for the worst.....

Please everyone read the above post and, as the man says, think about it. We are hurtling towards oblivion at the hands of Lowe and Wilde, the same people who have wreaked utter devastation on our club for the last several years and now a complete wipeout may be only just around the corner. Meanwhile they throw a few tidbits on the ground and I cannot believe the number of erudite posters who seem to be taking this boloney seriously whilst earnestly trying to pick their favoured representatives. To use a well worn TSW phrase... wake up and smell the coffee guys!!! When the protests started to bite L+W needed a distraction and I guess this is it and it bugs me that Lowe's PR machine should be able to outwit the might of the collective TSW intellect. Surely we are better than that and should now quickly refocus on the real issues at hand, before Lowe quietly slips administration under the door while no one is looking.....

Why has Wilde suddenly come out of the woodwork with this PR nonsense, which is probably only meant to control and divide fans, and where meanwhile has the previously omnipresent Lowe disappeared to, I wonder? Surely the big issue for the future good of the club is to continue efforts to seek Lowe's removal, not to give credence to a handful of Lowe approved fans meeting three monthly to talk about shop merchandising lines and the like? What worries me with this matter is that it appears to suggest that Lowe and Wilde are digging in for a long stay and indicates that they expect to still be around next season, either as is or perhaps after administration. Now that really is something to worry about....

Excellent post and sums up the situation very succinctly. The whole point that the PR crew are trying to deflect attention away from is that this club has no realistic future under Lowe and can only begin to repair itself once he has left for good. Therefore any attempt to hasten his departure is being done for the long term betterment of the club, not the opposite, and I would suggest ignoring any PR abuse about 'bad fans' for not propping up Lowe's regime to enable him to still be here next season. Regarding Lowe and next season, since our three wins there have been calls for all protests to be put on hold until the summer, but what can be done then? Lowe will likely be away on another holiday and the club will be in summer close down mode. So who are you going to protest to at that time? I sincerely hope that protesters will continue their actions for the rest of this season as Lowe does seem to be feeling the pressure and I really do believe that removing him is the key to the future of SFC, regardless of what league we are in or even administration....

Please don't keep using finance as an apology for everything that Lowe has done to our football club. There has been plenty of money along the way, it's a question of what happened to it. Wilde's people wasted some certainly, but Lowe was in control when much of it passed through. I haven't done the maths but prior to the Swansea game I think Garry Monk said we had received 52 million in transfer monies in recent years and he couldn't understand why we had fallen so far. There was parachute payments as well of course. Lowe did not spend much of this on the team whist he was in control and giving Harry just 90000 pre season (for Fuller) was a catalyst to where we are now. It seriously looked like he wanted Harry to fail and indeed we duly got relegated. How anyone can now come out and defend Lowe is beyond me, and as for demanding that long suffering fans continue to fork out their hard earned to prop up his failing regime... well Saints preserve us. I'll tell you this, if you want fans through the gate to inject funds into the club then get Lowe out NOW. If he goes the joy will come back into supporting Saints for so many, and in whatever league, the true fans of this club will return and put money into the coffers once more. Lowe is the problem, not the solution.....

Make no mistake, Wotte has turned himself into Rupert's mouthpiece since the latter has ducked (clever play on words there! ) for cover and withdrawn from public speaking since the protests started up. Presumably Lowe has been filling his head with all this anti fan stuff and Wotte may indeed think it smart to toe the party line. However, our head coach may do well to understand that action taken by disaffected fans is because they are REAL fans who love the club and simply can't bear to sit back and watch it's demise (read train wreck) under the present administration dominated by Lowe. Surely only those with a specific Lowe agenda could possibly think this club would be better off continuing with him at the helm? In his two tenures since the cup final I cannot conceive that anyone could possibly have performed his role so disastrously as that man has. We are now on the edge of oblivion, when post cup final it seemed we could have achieved almost anything with the right leadership. Like most of you, I could simply weep when I think of it. This is the reason, Mr Wotte, why fans will not support the current board and fans actions are with a view to saving this great club, not destroying it. I think you may have gotten your facts wrong on that one and you might like to refer the matter back to your mate Rupert for clarification perhaps.....

I agree, it must be some sort of world record. It's hard to know if it is vindictiveness or just plain old incompetence. Either way we are stuffed. All the perpetrator had to do was keep NP and let him bring in sensible loans, like last year, not the complete sh*te some unknown Dutchman has saddled us with. To add insult to injury the four (yes count em!) Dutchman plus JP's coming and going expenses, plus the wages and fees for so much rubbish on loan absolutely MUST add up to far more than NP and his loans would have cost. Meanwhile what good players we have are shipped out on loan to our rivals! Seriously you couldn't make this stuff up and you have to wonder what regulations are in place to reign in those who prove to be failures at running a PLC. Unfortunately that's how the world got in the mess it's currently in, so the answer is probably no meaningful regulations at all. Meanwhile we all sit here waiting for relegation or administration or worse. Such a sad waste for a great city and a great football club. Thanks for nothing..... (All IMHO of course)

This week does seem to be turning into something of a watershed. The team have gone back to being sh*te and don't look as if they care now. This seems to have filtered through to the fans who have likewise gone cold and it is starting to look as if the fans in the stadium have all but given up on this annus horribilus at Saints (that has nothing to do with bottoms btw). Clearly decisions will have to be made on the question of administration. I don't know what Barclays view is on putting us in, or Lowe's view on voluntarily doing so. However, if the latter I am hoping Lowe will adopt the Coventry model and give a week or so of notice so that any interested party may strike a deal to take over (at a rock bottom price) and keep us solvent, thus saving any points deduction. This assumes any party would be interested, but by this stage if there is anyone out there they must just be waiting for an admin announcement before perhaps acting. However, I am still doubtful Lowe will go voluntary as what's in it for him? It would be a clear admission of his failure and he would have done his and his mates dough. Doesn't sound like Lowe does it? Maybe it's all down to Barclays in the next couple of weeks, but will they care less about timing when we get to take a 10 point penalty ???

I fear it will soon require a requiem....

I fear it will soon require a requiem....

Er... No!!! Wolves have a rich owner, not mega rich but he funds the club and their fans are probably not complaining at their league position and presumably are quite happy with him. If they want a love in to decide on a better class of pie on sale in the concourse or whatever that's their business, but we have bigger issues to resolve unfortunately. Quite simply we MUST have Lowe and Wilde out of our club period, not cozying up to them re pies etc. It is a complete insult to our collective intelligence that Wilde has conjured up this latest piece of PR spin to try and take the heat out of the growing unrest from disaffected fans. As another poster pointed out SB joined up in 2007 so his credentials as a real Wolves fan must be in serious doubt. In reality it sounds like a login a certain someone has been sitting on waiting for just such a moment as this.... in which case IMO it's all Sodden Bulls*it.

In years past I used to drive down to home games from Guildford in my old mini van. It had a starter button on the floor and sometimes it would start and sometimes it wouldn't. No mechanic could fix this so every trip was a gamble. Anyway, returning once from a night match in p*ssing rain, whilst the starter was on it's best behaviour, unfortunately the windscreen wipers packed up! I had two mates with me, one having to lay in the tray at the back and he was an older bloke. Don't know why we put him in the tray, but he seemed quite happy back there. Alas, it was an adventurous trip home as on what was then little more than country roads in pitch darkness I had to keep stopping what seemed like every mile and get out of the vehicle in the pouring rain to wipe the excess water off the windscreen when I could no longer see where I was going. It took an age to get home that night and very wet, but we all turned up for the next match. I can also remember hanging off the back of a bus in West Bromich one day (we lost 1-0) with arm outstretched to pull in said older gentleman who was valiantly sprinting after the departing bus which was crucial to us catching our train home. Happily the plucky old fella made it and we all lived to follow Saints another day. Like most real supporters on here those were such happy days following Saints at home and away and yes we did some crazy things along the way and drunk the occasional ale but that experience and camaraderie made us Saints supporters for life and is why so many get so upset at the complete mismanagement of OUR club by the present day shysters....