Dark Munster

Also known as the "Pahars Clause".

Norwich 4 Saints 5 (The start of one of the greatest escapes). Listened to the result on a crackling short wave radio. I had no idea what the score was that day, and I heard "Norwich 4..." and my Saints supporting life flashed before my eyes. Visions of Saints definitely doomed and financial ruin (err, a bit like today). And then after what seemed an eternity "... Southampton 5". Cue dizziness and total disbelief.

Sturrock's record at Saints: P13 W5 D2 L6 (1.3 points per game = 50 for a season in prem). In some of those matches he had virtually the whole first team out injured. Agree with the comment about Wigley though.

Yes. KD and Bart were out, and third-choice Poke played while injured. Reasonable excuse for NP's only tonking as manager.

But watch that self gratifying smug grin vanish (along with his shares) when Saints plunge into administration!

Spot on. Followed closely by getting rid of Nige and replacing him with Jan. Notice the similarities? In both cases man he got rid of was a competent manager (for Saints) but wasn't "Lowe's man", and so was replaced by Lowe's man (an amateur). Relegation will possibly be the final outcome in both cases.

It goes from bad to worse, doesn't it?

... and Lallana?

It does make you wonder why he was offered a 1-year deal (with an optional 2nd year), when he was already on a perfectly good (for both parties) pay-as-you-play contract? :smt017 Oh, maybe to placate us idiot fans by being offered three days before Andrew Davies was sold. :mad:

It wasn't just giving up, Kent made a ridiculously generous declaration if I remember correctly. Kent losing to Durham, and Hants drawing/beating Notts will deny Notts the title. And as a bonus, Kent get relegated. Talk about poetic justice! Don't declare Dimi! Provided Durham win, why give Notts an even microscopic chance of a win?

Well let's see after 13 games if JP has a better league record than W 3, D 7, L 3. (16 points).

This was posted (not by me) on saintslist during the PA saga. I hope the author doesn't mind me pasting it here: It seems to be very quiet on the List at present so I thought I would give you something to think about. Don't take this too seriously, but what would you say to Paul Allen or indeed any potential investor to make him think saints would be the right club to invest in? We are given to understand that PA is not exactly glory hunting but rather looking (or was) for a 'family club' to invest in. So first I would point to our history..∑..we started out as a Church Youth Club, and now have a new stadium within sight of St Mary‚s Church, the Mother Church of Southampton, and it was from that Church's Youth team that saints were formed in 1885. I would tell the story of Ted Bates, surely a story to underline the family values of SFC. I would tell of the saints discovery of a youngish Alf Ramsey, and how he went on to lead England to World Cup glory in 1966 as the England team Manager, there is the Terry Paine story that epitomises loyalty, John Sydenham's loyalty and success at Saints, Mick Channon's rise to England status after starting out as a young lad at the Dell. A video of the 1976 Cup Final with pictures of the rapturous saint‚s fans would be a must, and of course follow that with the crowd scenes at Cardiff in 2003. Another video must, would be the Matt Le Tissier's goals video and explain that Matt could have gone to any club in Britain but stayed loyal to his first love, SFC. A video of the last game at the Dell v Arsenal and the 6-3 defeat of Man United might also whet his appetite! I would point out the success of the Youth policy at Southampton that has produced the likes of Alan Shearer and Wayne Bridge for England, Gareth Bale for Wales, and Chris Bale for Ireland, plus lots of youngsters who have or are playing first team football around the country after coming through the ranks at SFC including 17 year old Theo Walcott at Arsenal. I would explain that we would have been able to keep more of our talented youngsters had we had the money to compete with the so called bigger clubs who can offer better wages. I would put him in touch with the President of Dallas FC in the USA who would testify not only to the talent of our youth team playing in Dallas recently, but to their sporting behaviour and behaviour in general during their visit. I would then invite Mr Allen to join me on a stadium tour without revealing who he was to anyone else! I would explain the good road, rail and air links to Southampton. I would reveal that once saints became the success he wants for us the stadium could be enlarged relatively easily due to the foresight of ensuring that the pile driving was done deep enough, and foundations strong enough, to allow for expansion to something like a 50,000 seater stadium. I would get my map of the UK out and draw a line under London, right across the uk and point out that we have a bigger stadium that either Reading or Portsmouth, the only teams of note under that line, the rest of the South of England is our catchment area. I would sell the club to him. Then I would sell the fans to him; I would sit him down and tell him about the great saint‚s fans, tell him the story about young Ben and his granddad's visit, about the terminally ill patients from the Oakhaven Hospice who we adopted a few years ago and about the fun we had. Of course the six years of hosting the Chernobyl Kids Fun day at St Mary's, all paid for by saints fans, would underline the spirit and generosity of Saints fans. He could join us on July 26th if he wanted to. I could tell him lots more stories of the loyalty of saints supporters, about the world wide support on this saintslist web-site and the pilgrimages paid to St Mary's by many of you overseas fans from, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, USA, Hong Kong , Singapore, Costa Rica, Canada, Scandinavia, Spain and so on. I am sure you could all add other things, but to me SFC is the best club in the world and a worthy place for Mr Allen to invest and enjoy himself. But the problem is he is not talking to us fans is he? I doubt if the powers that be in any discussions have even mentioned the saints fan base, or even our history. Why not take one of us out to meet him? Lets talk football as well as business. Let me get at him!! Let‚s hear what you would tell him, or is it really too late now.

And the same "Professor" who (along with Sundance Beast and Schoolboy) vociferously backed Pearson's sacking, because of NP's record of "only 3 wins". W 3, D 7, L 3 doesn't seem so bad now eh, Professor? Sacking Sturrock and replacing him with Wigley cost us relegation IMHO. I think history is about to repeat itself with NP and JP. In both cases Lowe wanted to get rid of the man who wasn't "his manager". Hopefully JP can turn this disaster around, but if not, and the unthinkable happens, will this mean the end of Lowe? Will he finally fall on his sword, or will he blame it all on Crouch and stay put, as Saints sink to league 1 and possibly lower?

And, unless the last pair have a partnership of 211, Hants now can't win the title. :cool:

Indeed that's true, but unfortunately Lowe sacked him and he's now under contract at Leicester.

I've corrected it for you.

Correct, and Hants do need to have at least one more point: if Notts and Hants finish on the same number of points, Notts win the tie-breaker (same number of wins, but fewer losses, 3 vs. 4). But I think Hants are almost safe from relegation. Rules: The side which has the highest aggregate of points gained at the end of the season shall be the Champion County of their respective Division. Should any sides in the Championship table be equal on points, the following tie-breakers will be applied in the order stated: most wins, fewest losses, team achieving most points in contests between teams level on points, most wickets taken, most runs scored. At the end of the season, the top two teams from the Second Division will be promoted and the bottom two teams from the First Division will be relegated.

But has he signed yet?

Yes.

It's a whopping £44,000 for first place, so maybe £4,000 and 11 packets of crisps? :cool:

Sussex have beaten Middlesex, so that's that. Hants can only finish as high as 2nd. Shame not to win that massive £44,000 prize money.

Phew, the half of the world containing San Diego survives. :smt023 Bit of a bummer for the airline industry over here though.

So now if Sussex v. Middlesex, Gloucestershire v. Durham, and Notts v. Sussex are all washed out, Hants are Champs! :smt038

There's a glimmer of hope: Nottinghamshire v Lancashire Sussex v Middlesex (Middlesex win, or draw/abandoned is ok if BOTH Lancs beat Notts AND Notts/Sussex ends in a draw/abandoned> Durham v Gloucestershire Nottinghamshire v Sussex Then at worst Hants and Sussex finish on top with 10 points each, and with 4 wins each. Hants win tiebreaker (head to head). Hants are fooked if Notts beat Lancs or Sussex, or Sussex beat Middlesex, or Gloucestershire beat Durham.

And if they get 2 more points they will finish above Hants: Tiebreaker rules for teams finishing on the same number of points, in order: 1) Most wins (Notts and Hants have 4 each at the moment) 2) Head to head (Notts beat Hants earlier in the season)