spyinthesky

Those supporters who have only followed Saints for a short time eg from 2003 and beyond. I have been a supporter since the old Third Div South days so started at the bottom and worked up. I have seen some wonderful performances, some great players and, of course, some difficult times. The 7-1 defeat at Watford was comparatively the worst altho we all knew this was a one off. And I have never seen Saints beaten against Pompey, except on the TV However the good days far outweighed the bad. Now it seems to be continual decline. If it wasnt for the good memories I would have given up by now. This is certainly the worst performing side I have ever seen and my sympathies go out to those who dont have the good times to fall back on. I will be there next year but in body not spirit.

Good news. Rupert will receive another letter of support from an unamed and satisfied shareholder in the post tomorrow and I hear Chris Iwelumo of Wolves is still waxing lyrical about the way we play the game. Only slight drawback is the food in corporate has not been up to the previous standard

Another possible dilemma Who plays RB if James unavailable? Personally I would consider Lancashire but without any degree of confidence.

The statement.....'watched for a SHORT time.. makes me extremely worried. Didnt we sign Ryan Smith after he 'impressed' in a reserve game v Millwall? Add this to Pulis/Forecast/Gasmi/Robertson/Pekhart (and possibly Molyneaux)and you wonder who is doing the scouting for our beloved club. Jack Cork was a good 'un I grant you but he is no longer with us. Oh I forgot about Jack Boyle (recommended by Mr Wilde)!!!

Normally that nice Mr Corps Ho keeps us updated on the likely targets for his favourite club and progress with issues off the field, new owners/manager/training facilities/stadium issues etc. Is he on holiday at the moment I wonder?

I actually put £100 at 14/1 for Pompey to win the cup when they beat Man Utd on the premise that I have never won anything from a bet. My plan that this would scupper Pompeys chances obviously didnt work. For the record I gave all of my ill gotten gains to charity, incl the £100 stake!! Whats the odds on Pompey/Saints & Bournemouth all being relgated? Or those three plus Brighton & Salisbury?

Off topic I know but Kim Wilde might have been pleasing on the eye when being offered up as a chanteuse (before her green finger conversion) but even the best studio technicians couldnt hide the number of bum notes she used to sing especially in 'Kids in America' (if that was the song title)

To be fair he has played all of his youth football in midfield and has been forced to learn to be a right back very quicky. Good points - committed/tackles OK/crosses very well Bad points - not wonderful in the air/very slow on the turn/not particularly quick However he also suffers dreadfully from consistent lack of support from the player in front of him, whoever that may be. Ryan Smith is an absolute nightmare when he plays on the right. Also Gillett was continually being dragged inside v Swansea and James was up against a decent winger and the Lard Arse full back (Hart?), who actually was made to look pretty decent too as his runs often went unchallenged. Wasn't it his shot that Kelvin fumbled for the 2nd goal? I reckon opposing Managers are aware of the lack of right hand side cover and target this weakness. In comparison, generally, our left side players link up reasonably well

David Good shouts on all bar Hughie Fisher. To my mind he was a far more creative player. What about Terry Hurlock instead? George Kirby (a centre forward)was the dirtiest player I have ever seen in a Saints shirt. Wouldnt have lasted 5 mins in todays football. A real gent off the field tho

Was actually in the Corporates and heard our Director of Football discussing the protests and 'death threat' (which came from a Soton Internet Cafe.) He seemed most worried about his offspring who have taken some flak on the matter. As I have mentioned in another post, it must be very difficult for family members and you have to feel sorry if the sins of fathers are visited on their sons. Also heard some (unsubstantiated) rumours about one of the management team which might bring further bad publicity for the club if proved to be true.

Dashed bad news. Exit2 is normally a good source

Would be interesting to know a bit about Mr Lowe's family background. Presumably Pater is still around as he holds shares in SFH. Is mater still around? Are there other siblings? Mrs Lowe appears to be sensible if rumours of her trying to persuade her Lord & Master, Mr Lowe (believe this is how he must be addressed around the country house) not to return to SMS. There are two male offspring's of Mr Lowe's loins. If they are a chip off the old block then they deserve their fate. If not my considerable sympathies go out to them and Mrs Lowe. Of course Mr Lowe may be the perfect family man, and I hope he is. However I would hate to have a father who was so reviled by so many people

And to think we giggled at the club down the road when they appointed Alain Perrain and brought in 5' tall Japanese 'keeper. We have the Dutch Duo and Ant Pulis!!

Forgive me for seeking clarification, as I am sure it has been answered elsewhere, but how did Mr Lowe get 95% of the shareholders votes at the AGM. Presume it was only votes cast that counted. So lots of small shareholders who were too lazy to vote (like me I am afraid to say) would not be counted. Interesting to know who are the Capital Management people. Presume any commercial organisation with any sense would not risk shareholders funds in a Championship football club

Another gamble was Sir Clive Woodward. However he wasn't a cheap option was he? Wonder how much he, Simon Clifford, the eye coach et al, all cost? BTW, Simon Clifford made a lot of noises about the future of Garforth Town 'his' club, destined for the Premiership. Garforth are making steady progress, currently 10th in the Unibond 1st Division North!!!

Florida Thanks for this. Very informative and illuminating. Interesting to have it confirmed that Rod Bransgrove is another person Lord Lowe appears to have fallen out with

Any significance that both Wilde and Abromovich left respective games with 15 mins remaining I'm guessing that they had arranged a video link to discuss Abromovitch selling Chelsea to Mid Eastern interests and using the dosh to buy Saints or the Channel Isles!!

Did anyone hear JP's response to a post match question from Radio Solent presenter. He was asked if he had praticed 3 at the back, the system employed when Perry was taken off. His initial response was to say 'Of courshse'. He then rambled on in his normal fashion and made it quite clear this was a gamble that the players had to adjust to. presumably they had to sort it out themselves as JP hardly ever seems to give any direction from the line

Time to give Simon Clifford another go. # Garforth Town are now up to the dizzy heights of 10th in the UniBond 1st Division North Soon be in the Premiership as Simon predicted when he was here with Sir Clive!!

Not a big cricket fan and appreciate that the structure of the two sports are different. However Hants CC was a mid/low ranking club in the cricket world with an old fashioned ground. They now have an excellent facility able to host international games and play in the top echelon. Bransgrove seems a forward thinking chairman, able to manage a budget and attract high profile players. Attendances are up. Interesting to speculate what would have happened to Saints/Hants CC if the interests of Lowe and Bransgrove had been different

To Pulis you can add Gasmi & Forecast plus the successful duo of Robertson & Pekhart.

I sit in the Itchen. Seems that a 'gentleman' and friend stood up to protest about Lowe, the team or both. After a while an older lady behind asked for him to sit down. He the appeared to turn round and verbally slaughter the lady who was with an older gent and younger girl (daughter?) and then started rowing with other supporters and a steward You can support your team but F'ing and blinding at a female is the sign of a the moral decline of this once great club and country. The bloke was brandishing a season ticket. I am ashamed to be associated with such a moron!!

Doncaster gave us a wonderful picture of a train when we won at the Keepmoat earlier in the season which has pride of place in the Board Room. What do you think that our Board (presumably missing Lowe & Wilde at the end of the game) gave Donnie Directors in return? Three easy points? A picture of a sinking ship? A book on how to win friendsand influence people?

I always thought that Stoneham would have been ideal due to proximity to Motorway/Rail and Air Links. Also would have been an iconic site viewable by millions of travellers a year. However, despite earlier reservations, St Mary's probably deals with traffic issues better than Stoneham would have done. Would have been interesting to see how the shape of Soton City Centre would have developed if the original plans for a new stadium on the Pirelli site had progressed. No West Quay Shopping, for example

Whilst playing for a local Sunday club, I played alongside Ken Jones/Stuart Williams/John Sydenham/Roger Fry/Lew Chatterley/Dennis Hollywood/Bill Beaney and Chris Mcmenemy. All good scouts altho latter rather dilatory in paying his match subs