Junior Mullet

Sorry mate, but I don't think you're a very good judge of a player then. Patterson is good in the air but other than that has very little about him. His scoring record is always going to be a lot less than DMGs. Further, he can't be utilised on the right wing or attacking central midfield like DMG - he's just nowhere near as versatile.

Because its only £1m but it sounds better if Saints present it to the fans as "a seven figure sum" as it keeps us guessing. There will no doubt be add ons such as payments after appearances and goals and hopefully a decent sell-on clause. The sum of these clauses may add up to £1m although the initial sum payable I would expect to be somewhere in the region of £500k given our predicament.

I think this is a very positive moment in the history of saints. I was one of the first and most ardent advocates of moving from the PLC structure to single person/small group ownership and the removal of Lowe. I do not think this group will prove to be around long-term. I don't know why, I suppose it has something to do with the apparent lack of pocket depth compared to many of those who own Premiership clubs. Therefore I see the Pinnacle group selling in a few years to someone who may truly be able to provide the funds necessary to compete at the highest level in this day and age - something we were prevented from doing as a result of the wretched PLC structure. This is a means to an ends, not the ends in itself I believe. That said I wish Pinnacle every success and hope that their gamble pays off for themselves and us fans who really have endured enough cr@p in the last few years to last us a life time.

If my speculation is correct the FL would have a massive claim on their hands if SFC were illegally unable to register this season - you could imagine how the claim for damages would be huge given the conseuquences of that. In those circumstances it seems the FL would have as much to gain as us from allowing an independent panel to hear an appeal.

Here's a slight slant for you that as a lawyer has been going through my mind for a while now....... Suppose the FL were wrong to deduct the 10 points because it was the PLC not the club that went into admin, we should not have to reapply for this football licence that is holding things up, therefore we would not have to agree to the FL's demand that waive the right to appeal their decision. The whole thing becomes circular, because we would be claiming that our registration should never have been cancelled because the club was never in admin. I have a funny feeling that this is the line being pursued by Pinnacle at the moment.....

Reminded me of a poor mans Fabrice Fernandez - looked decent enough at times but lacked end product, especially the nearer the penalty box he got.

Possibly, although I suspect this is not the best thing to aim at. I still believe that the FL's interpretation and useage of their own rules was irrational and vexatious and our appeals should be based on that rather than possibly weaker arguments that vould dilute our main attack. I have said throughout that if the FL don't like the way we got around their rules, they should change their rules to stop it happening, yet it seems they're either not bright enough or too lazy to do that. For me, the PLC going into admin was no different from an individual owner being declared insolvent. Yet we all know full well that Norwich, for example, would not be deducted 10 points if Delia were to declare herself insolvent - nor would I expect them to be deducted poiknts on that basis. The principal of companies being separate legal entities is enshrined in corporate law and provides a corner stone for companies operating the world over. It is sheer arrogance and vindictiveness that the FL should ignore this in favour of their own crass determination. I am not sure of the jurisdiction or whether a decision from these guys is binding on the FL: *************The Court of Arbitration for Sport.************ I am too tired and messed up from my stag do to do any real research on the net, although they were who I was thinking of when I said above that we may have right to appeal the decision of the FL. It would seem fair that there should be an independent appeals body to consider situations like ours, especially where the 'judges' to the first decision are so clearly biased. There is so much money and emotion involved that it would be completely justified for there to be an independent body

Isnt there a sports tribunal we could go to, even if we sign up to what the FL are demanding, by signing up under protest because surely the FL's demand, if true, is itself surely wrong.

If Pinacle really are being asked to waive their right to appeal, we must all fight that. I don't understand why anyone would suggest we just lay down - we don't like it when our team roll over do we. Let's roll out the real spirit of Southampton and fight the spineless idiots whose initial decision was utterly wrong in the first place.

Begbies would allow Pinacle a few more days to complete the deal if completion appeared imminent and there were no problems. They would not give a new period of exclusivity to a different party in those circumstances - only if they reasonably believed that the Pinacle deal was not going to happen or that the other bidder was as sound and could proceed to compeltion quicker.

Correct.

it will happen

Sparv always reminded me of a World War 1 officer - classy, aloof, cultured and not prepared to get his hands dirty. IMO he would not have hacked it in the CCC. Many people moan at Surman for not being more physical etc. and yet people say we should have kept Sparv. Come on guys get real.

Wotte has had a haircut - about the most interesting thing on that interview.

Took the words out of my mouth mate! Preceded by a march on St Marys.

I understand that Clapham and that would seem to me to be the simplest route by far, but Lynham has said that they are going to delist it.

It takes time to delist a PLC. It takes time to settle matters and reach legally binding settlements with creditors. It could take time to get funds in place. There will be a lot of things out of the hands of the Pinacle Group and their lawyers - people with less of a vested interest and less of a desire to get it sorted quickly. Calm down guys, this is all perfectly normal. It will go close to the deadline but I would expect nothing less.

I would think so, yes. It's typical to have such a non-refundable deposit paid in return for exclusivity for a set period for deals like this.

The real announcement will come at the end of the allotted period.

Looking forward to the Southend love-in more!

I managed to Eastleigh into the Prem in season 2025/2026. I then managed to keep them up by finishing 17th (and losing in the FA Cup Final after an easy run to get there) and this next season we are 11th with two months to go. By now all but one or two players are regens, which is the way I like it. Give me a couple of years to introduce a few more wonderkids to the team and the Spitfires should be absolutely flying.

Anyone buying will need to get us to the CCC and possibly the Prem before seeing any real return on their investment and so I would expect them to be prepared to stump up some cash for purchases / staff etc to do just that. They will need to speculate to accumulate. The letter from Lynham says just that and that the individual is prepared to do so. I'm not sure where your negative slant comes from other than conjecture as to the reason behind these two want-aways. The other explanations, ie career progression and fulfilment seem much more plausible.

I am forever calling mates cheeky monkies, little monkies etc but always think twice saying it to my black mates, but why? I would not be saying it in a racist sense. It's all about tone and context. I expect it will be very difficult to prove JVD said it in a racist manner to cause offence if he says otherwise.

If I were good enough I would not want to play in Div 1. If they're contractually entitled to leave if relegated or throw hissy fits, better to cash in now rather than keep paying their wages and leave them to go for free. Beggars can't be choosers in Div 1.

I am not sure it's that simple. I think it was a culmination of factors that lead to Barclays losing faith in Lowe and calling time on a disasterous few years. There is no doubt in my mind however that the protests played a part (not sure how major a part though) in the same way that the stand up if you want Lowe out protests a few years ago (I think Stu claims responsibility for the most successful and memorable of these) gave the impetus to Wilde etc to oust him then. Fan power should never be underestimated - especially outside of the Prem when the club is so reliant on our cash and support.