Saint 76er

But surely the Echo has reported that this alleged incident is the subject of a police investigation? That makes it highly newsworthy and the Echo would be derelict not to publish such details as are known. Likewise such apparent allegations against Saints players would be bound to be discussed on a fans forum such as this. We no longer live in the nineteenth century, or even the twentieth, so better get used to minute public scrutiny in all aspects of life with the instant communications available to most these days. For those in the public eye best to keep their noses clean, or at least not complain if found out. That's in no way to say our lads did anything wrong, of course, and no doubt the outcome will be suitably reported upon one way or the other once investigations are completed.

Must admit I do find this surprising that for such a serious matter nothing further has been heard, at least publicly. Whilst I appreciate the OB don't carry out investigations in public, it is hard to escape the conclusion that "someone" put all that stuff out in the media immediately before the demo march and it had the distinct whiff IMO of being leverage to discredit the "lunatic fringe". I sincerely hope the alleged threats against Wilde were in fact not true, however "Death threats against SFC chairman"... surely that must be the biggest story the Echo are going to run for a long time, but since breaking the story (just before the march)... nothing but silence. Maybe the police have clamped down on them, but no further word on such a dramatic story? Still, perhaps it's being held over until prior to the Preston march......

These two excellent posts will tell anybody everything they need to know about the catastrophic running of both SFC and SLH under the uber incompetent Lowe regime. It is indeed a 'train crash' as CEC says. I really am fed up with all this rubbish about who could take over from the poisonous Lowe. Clearly this was a line of attack dreamt up by his PR company to keep us on the back foot when they had run out of other avenues to defend the indefensible. Surely to God his PR people can't possibly keep a straight face when they type that garbage can they? It must be getting a bit past it's use by date even to them. If they need some help, let me explain something here. Lowe or his people have no right to query who may succeed him as Lowe himself is currently acting as a dictator after grabbing power in a hostile takeover and is universally despised by his customer base. The simple fact is that SFC/SLH cannot heal itself and start to move forward as a football club and start to produce some form of dividend and respectable share price for shareholders until Lowe and his cabal depart permanently from the scene. That is more important right now than exactly who would fill the breach. However, Leon Crouch has made no secret of his desire to be involved again and with Lowe gone it is perhaps likely that capable people such as Salz would become involved, which they apparently will not do whilst Lowe is still around. It is therefore important that we do not let the PR spin of 'who will replace him' divert the focus away from removing Lowe for good, as that is what the spin is meant to do.... All IMHO, of course

Home win??? ... and the white haired octogenarian Rupert Lowe rises from his wheelchair in the directors box and waves his cane at the players on the pitch. "You've all done very well" he yells, before young Mr Lowe wheels him away for his usual pureed vegetables in the chairman's lounge. On the pitch the victors stand in stunned silence whilst the vanquished Totton Reserves players troop off disconsolate at how they could have lost such a bankable away win at the now aging and decrepit St Marys stadium.....

Can somebody start a "Bring back Jan" thread please!

Thank you Duncan and I am humbled by your offer to march for me and all the overseas fans who can't be there today. If I were back home both my son Scott and I would not only be in the march we would be at the front of it and in loud voice in our damnation of the utter pillocks that have ruined, for their own worthless sake, what was once a wonderful family club and local icon that I had so much pride in supporting. The whole community once treated Saints like a part of the family and I still remember my old boss's elderly Scottish wife telling me how she had been shopping on the saturday "and I heard the roar from the Dell and knew the Saints had scored a goal, och aye they musta won agin". Yes it was a community club once and the fans must take it back again so that the city of Southampton and Saints wider family can again feel the pride in a much loved club that has meant so much to so many. Lowe and Wilde must NOT be allowed to kill off our club for good, it means too much to us for that. Lovely post Duncan, I am old enough to appreciate the comments made and the legends you mention and thank you again for marching as my proxy. Kind Regards Saint 76er

This all soooooo sounds like spin doctoring by Lowe's infamous PR crew, to try and discredit fans in the lead up to the protest march. I mean it's a helluva coincidence that this all crops up two days before the big event. Lowe and Wilde's track record of treating fans with utter contempt makes it hard to believe anything either say. Obviously death threats (if real) are a very serious matter and I personally wish no harm on Wilde...... but I suspect the proverbial "knife in the back" may turn out to be a more realistic problem for the aforementioned, but rarely seen, chairman of our beloved football club. BTW good luck to all the marchers. Be loud and proud (oh hell that sounds like a gay parade... well you all know what I meant!).

TBF Yorkie, I think you will find that Lowe has always acknowledged the bit about revolting customers.

"Before investing Crouch made sure his operatives carried out a thorough due diligence on Van Der Waals earlobes"

I doubt it too, but just for interests sake I believe Pardew is a bit of a devotee of the modern sports science approach to football and that SCW visited him at West Ham as part of his learning tour. I seem to recall that SCW spoke highly of him and his methods, and this viewpoint would no doubt have been passed on to Rupert. Possible connection therefore, but knowing Lowe he will stick with Wotte until the bailiffs come calling. After all the OS has announced Wotte's coaching staff already. Hope to God mondays presser brings better news, like a proper manager for example, but can't see it happening somehow. So, on with the protests it is then.....

Surely Aviva selling the stadium would only apply if the club folded outright in administration and the assets reverted to the 1st mortgage holder? If we are bought as a going concern in administration by some group (highly likely I would think) then presumably they would only need to continue making the annual loan payments to Aviva as per the current contract and it's all hunky dory stadium wise. After all Aviva are not expecting an immediate payout, they are expecting the loan to be paid up over the next 15-20 years in accordance with the terms renegotiated by a certain well known Scottish holiday lover. Aviva will make their money from the interest that will be paid over this period. Assuming we are taken over, then the new owners will surely have factored in such annual costings and will have enough funds available to pay debts and take the club forward. Why on earth would you even bother approaching the administrator if you couldn't do that? Furthermore, I think the logical time for an approach would be immediately before entering admin as Lowe and co would have little choice but to take what they could get, or wait another day to get nothing. That will be the cheapest price and you beat to the punch all those queueing up for admin to happen (and no points penalty either!). Obviously, there is huge supposition by all of us on the admin/takeover issue and who knows how the final cards will actually fall? I suspect many twists and turns are still to come, but a viable club with Lowe and Wilde banned for life is the only outcome I look forward to....

Surely Aviva selling the stadium would only apply if the club folded outright in administration and the assets reverted to the 1st mortgage holder? If we are bought as a going concern in administration by some group (highly likely I would think) then presumably they would only need to continue making the annual loan payments to Aviva as per the current contract and it's all hunky dory stadium wise. After all Aviva are not expecting an immediate payout, they are expecting the loan to be paid up over the next 15-20 years in accordance with the terms renegotiated by a certain well known Scottish holiday lover. Aviva will make their money from the interest that will be paid over this period. Assuming we are taken over, then the new owners will surely have factored in such annual costings and will have enough funds available to pay debts and take the club forward. Why on earth would you even bother approaching the administrator if you couldn't do that? Furthermore, I think the logical time for an approach would be immediately before entering admin as Lowe and co would have little choice but to take what they could get, or wait another day to get nothing. That will be the cheapest price and you beat to the punch all those queueing up for admin to happen (and no points penalty either!). Obviously, there is huge supposition by all of us on the admin/takeover issue and who knows how the final cards will actually fall? I suspect many twists and turns are still to come, but a viable club with Lowe and Wilde banned for life is the only outcome I look forward to....

You sound horribly like us, you poor sods....

"Now can you see that cloning MUST be banned?"

"Now can you see that cloning MUST be banned?"

The fear of imminent administration seems to be gripping most supporters at present, with our situation considered unsustainable and no viable answer at hand. Certainly Rupert Lowe is running the club into the ground apace, either through incompetence or possibly a pre planned administration which seems to be the current worry of many with Saints interests at heart. However, it seems to me that Leon Crouch has made it pretty well known that if Lowe and his cabal leave then Crouch will step in and not only arrange (hopefully) for competent management to be returned to the club (not necessarily with LC as chairman) but critically will be prepared to kick in enough money to stave off administration and, presumably with a new manager, give us reasonable hope of avoiding the drop as well. As there simply seems to be no other alternative out there I think we have to take Crouch at his word and support his return. Rather than there being no solution to our malaise, in reality it would seem a relatively simple matter of Lowe agreeing to an orderly transfer of power with Lowe withdrawing to "concentrate on other matters" and with his reputation (such as it is) intact if that is how he wants to do it. If Lowe has not the required expertise to solve our problems or money to invest, then surely for the sake of the club (an institution of 124 years standing) he should hand over without question to the one known person who apparently does have enough money available to maintain the club as a going concern? I would point out that if it all ends in administration shortly then Lowe's shares will be worthless so he doesn't seem to have a lot to lose by walking away and, if he's lucky, Crouch may even pay him a small amount for them. Of course IMO, if Lowe hangs on and continues driving us towards administration then those who fear he has a hidden and/or cynical agenda may possibly be proved correct....

Johnny, I totally agree with this point of view. All along I could never see why someone with means would not want to acquire Saints. Why buy rubbish like the skates when you would have to spend a fortune on facilities, when you could buy control of us for maybe 4-5 million if the current major shareholders played ball. Then you would have a club with superb facilities already in place and years of PL experience behind it and with a large and loyal supporter base. I don't see the debts as the problem many do, just pay the annual interest and everything is fine. All that would be needed is someone with football smarts running the show and an owner prepared to invest a few bob on the manager and team, not necessarily a fortune, and just as you say big money could be there to be made. It just needs a proper businessman to see the potential that has completely eluded the clueless Lowe....

I'd be happy with "The Rupert Lowe Memorial Stadium" right now....

Good post, sums up the frustration of most Saints supporters I should think. Yes, it really has got to the stage of SFC needing to be rid of Lowe before good things can start to happen again. We all know that no decent manager would contemplate this job whilst Lowe is here. We really are a laughing stock in the football world thanks to Lowe and therefore his departure would immediately give us some dignity back regardless of his replacement. Lowe out NOW is so imperative that things like succession plans, quite frankly, can be sorted after the event. This may not be the normal case, but we long since left normalcy behind and sheer desperation beckons if this club IMO is to be saved from ruination by a dictator who has simply lost the plot. Yes, it is time for protests and boycotts because Lowe feeds on inaction from his opponents. Why do you think he has so many PR operatives on here trying to persuade everyone to sit tight and do nothing? Lowe will not leave until his departure is forced upon him. In any event I'm not sure the 'who will replace him' line stacks up as Crouch would likely step straight into any power vacuum left by Lowe and his people or they will have sold their shares to a third party who would then assume control. I think most of us are past caring who that may be so long as his/her name is NOT Rupert Lowe....

Trousers, old chap, how on earth did you get advance notice of our new club badge? This wasn't meant to be publicly released until next week. Still the new badge perfectly suits our current day persona, don't you think?

There seems to be a telling quote on the OS from Jan re Dean Gorre's appointment, in which Jan talks of his passion for playing the Johan Cruyff style of football and indicates Gorre will assist him with this. Problem is, Jan, that Cruyff and Dutch football at that time were way ahead of the game and the others were always playing catch up to them. Guess what... everyone else has long since caught up and overtaken them. I agree that Cruyffian football was more beautiful to watch and it worked a treat in that small window of opportunity thirty years ago when it took a gob smacked world by surprise. However, it stands to reason that professional opponents would quickly learn to neutralize it for the sake of winning games. These days I would guess any decent junior coach could tactically circumvent what Saints are playing and for good measure we simply don't have any players fit to lace up Cruyff's boots so how were we ever going to be expected to emulate that level of play? The only reason we are slightly above relo spots is probably due to Kelvin and has little or nothing to do with Jan's coaching. IMO Lowe's vindictiveness in getting rid of Pearson could have terrible consequences (forget the lie about money, we have just added another coach FFS!) Lowe + Jan = Pipedream.... sort it quick you two with tactics and players applicable to this league or we are doomed. League 1 and administration will do nothing for your precious shareholding Rupert Lowe (and stay out of Jan's way prior to matches as well).

Have you heard the one about the St Marys catering outfit with football connections who may also be in deep financial trouble and Lowe is apparently the chairman (amongst other things)?

Thanks for this info LS and for clarifying the situation as you see it. I would be disappointed for Lowe and his cabal to get an armchair ride at the AGM. Some opposition would have made things interesting, but no doubt Mr 5% will be telling the world how grateful shareholders have re-elected him to his rightful position in the scheme of things. It really does seem as if he has hijacked the entire club and no one can challenge him without stumping up shedloads of dosh (which Lowe never has) to buy off the weakest link. Still, good luck to Jan though, in any future battle of wills he may have with the dark lord. Funny how from being seen as the very symbol of Lowe's control, Jan may perhaps end up as a cult figure for those opposed to that very situation!

Well LS, I have read the post and it just seems IMO a summation of Lowe's vengeful, dictatorial and failed regime. For what was once such a happy club the dark clouds over St Marys under Lowe have been almost palpable. Unfortunately under any showdown between Lowe and JP there can be only one winner, which is a shame as JP at least has the positive and respectful attitude that was in previous times expected of those in senior positions at our club. You know I can't help comparing us at present to Burnley, which is a relatively small town surrounded by big clubs and they get smaller gates than us and rarely buy anyone expensive but what they are achieving is in stark contrast to life under Lowe for us. So what have they got that we don't... perhaps a chairman who is also a fan and local businessman, who puts in enough cash to pay the bills (but not enough for fancy players) and who can make a very astute managerial decision. Now if only we had someone like that... BTW, a little while ago StanTheMan was telling us that LS was saying to watch this space for possible boardroom changes in early December. Whilst this is only hearsay I notice LS in above post is alluding to Lowe's continued presence in January regarding a potential showdown with JP. As this thread has clearly highlighted the deep despair of so many Saints fans at the continuing Lowe regime and it's perceived negative effect on the club, I wonder LS if you could please post an update as to whether you believe we should still be watching this space for boardroom action or if that was in fact only a red herring all along? Thanx in advance if you can do this...

Hi Mike, Yes it's sad when people who have loved their involvement with Saints for so many years are so utterly appalled by those who have got their grubby hands on what IMO is really and truly a community asset, that they feel compelled to turn their back on such a big part of their life and simply walk away. This must tell anyone all they need to know about the standing of the current regime amongst even the most dedicated of fan. As a matter of interest did Chris have any active involvement in SMS coming about? Now on to football matters... I presume you are referring to the promotion game at Leyton Orient, but I think that would have been 1965? I was only a young bloke then and couldn't get to the game that night, but can still remember a nerve wracking night by the radio in the attic of our home in East Cowes waiting for news of the game. When the result came through and I knew we were up, well I knew then I would be a Saints fan forever. It was exciting times knowing that my (relatively) small club would be mixing it with the big boys! I guess that's why I'm so upset about the ruination that Lowe has inflicted on my club as truly good people worked so hard for many years after that promotion to turn us from a small club into a stable and respected top flight outfit the envy of many... then along came Lowe. You know 4 or 5 years ago I spoke to MLT at a function and actually thanked him to his face for keeping us in the Premier league, off his own boot so to speak. Matt was modest and insisted he had little to do with it (he's such a nice guy), but when I look back on that conversation now I could cry at what's happened to us since. Poor Matty must wonder if it was ever worth pulling on that boot in the first place...