Nineteen Canteen

Sorry, but someone will have to translate this rubbish. It doesn't make any sense not even as a worthy opinion let alone one with any basis in fact. For anyone who belives ousting lowe was a good idea even though administration was the price their muddled thinking must be along the same lines. I am a ST holder of many years and those that matter on either side know that and appreciate it. I've done my fundraising all season pity a few more of our fanbase didn't follow suit. Word of advice, I always delete my posts or log out if I find myself spitting as I type.

Wes, I agree wholeheartedly with your last sentence and for the record I have never been in the Lowe camp in any official capacity and have never even met the man. I'm just a life long supporter and season ticket holder who witnessed the most crass mismanagement and failed promises during Lowe's exile that frankly I welcomed him back as the only option to try and save this club from hitting the rocks. He failed in the final analysis but the damage was already done and I'm convinced had we stayed with the populist obsessed Crouch in charge we wouldn't have made Christmas IMO. Of course if only half of those who turned out to support the club last Saturday had stuck by the club more regularly then we would still be in charge of our own future. I don't think you can seriously welcome administration as a means to ridding the club of its recent history with regard to ex-board members if anything there is a greater risk of them returning. It has deconstructed the plc which probably is a good thing but it seems to me a very heavy price to pay and we could still be in League 2 within 16 months once the ditherers at the FL make a decision. I wanted the removal of all of them as you know but Lowe should have been supported until economically at least it may have been easier to find a buyer. To place ourselves at the mercy of our creditors was always and now is the worst possible place to be but it seems to me many didn't listen. People will point to the fact Lowe didn't attract his customers with a product worth supporting and ridicule him as an uncaring and poor businessman who didn't support the Saints. Fact is I think he did nothing else but act in the best interests of the club albeit perhaps cynically to protect his shareholder value. If that was the reason at least he tried and surely better than have some idiot glibly and publicly kiss goodbye to £1.9m or whatever the amount was and tell us in difficult times he didn't care about the money. You're right Wes we are well rid but the worry must remain its only temporary and whilst one is putting across his side of events the other is telling anyone who cares to listen what a super fan he is and how much he's putting in to help. Given his alledged resources its kind of insulting really and Lowe is best of out of it. I know we love a quote so avoiding the infamous C K Chesterton (sic) how about George Bernard Shaw's apt quote: 'Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get' Fund raising Panel shows don't cut it for me now when the need to raise funds in the first place could and should have been avoided. I certainly have no desire to help fund something I will be forced to like and hope our creditors are kind in their final analysis as ultimately they will decide. We need another body SUFSOS. Save us From Save our Saints and any other fan led consortium as they are doomed to failure as interest wains just like The Saints Trust never able to achieve critical mass a bit like our match day fan base.

Seriously, you could buy into this theory? Trousers give up the day job and start writing books the fantasists will love it.

Or 5/6ths of Rudi's weekly wage.

There were many more idiots boycotting games prior to administration when with a bit of support this mess could have been avoided according to our bankers. Enjoy your soiree and talk about the good old days.

That's unlike you Trousers, mind you at this rate judging by the reaction of some to the more reasonable assessments of our situation the Holy Grail maybe easier to find than a investor that meets everyone's requirements. Perhaps we should merge with Salisbury. The last thing we need now apparently is a businessman or a Saints fan. Going to be tough.

My guess is that he was to busy trying to avoid administration and working hard to get unconditional investment that didn't require him to invest personally what we didn't have. In the situation we were in I would have been a bit miffed if he had done the look at me self-promotion act at football matches instead of working behind the scenes. Given the gravity of the situation he and Jones were probably downstairs helping to cash up. Sit on the panel? There is a logic of 'give a dog a bad name and then hang him' and this is not a discussion panel but a lynch mob so why bother. I personally believe Rupert Lowe did everything he could to save this club over the past 10 months and would question why Crouch wasn't so robust in his approach as soon as he was given the role instead of telling us we we're financially secure, really? Do you believe that? Managing a football club is not always a popularity contest and its more aligned with modern businesses than the football clubs of the 1970's and early 80's but many seem to forget that. I think your final guess is right he would rather not be there and I don't blame him but whilst everyone celebrates Ha ha the King is dead they take their eye of the ball. This night serves zero purposes other than to massage a few ego's and opporunists. At least it saves any embarrassment and someone asking Leon to sit down or leave when he acts like a petulant little child, definitely one of the few bright spots of the seasons I'm sure you'll agree

It's free of charge though, fact.

'Hated by fools and fools to hate'

Free? Without wage? Without expenses? Without a free expensive dining experience with fine wine? How much of your payment will actually go to the club? Anyone know? Bet it's less than 100%. The only people who will pay to see a no holds barred Q&A session manned solely by anti-lowes are anti-lowes. So where's the unity of the brave new world? Where is the balance of recent Lowe employees like Benali? Frightening that many want to wallow in a slagging off Lowe session instead of trying at least to unite a deeply divided fan base that must scare any worthwhile investor sh1tless.

OTH, ever stop and ask yourself how we all know so much about Crouch's donations? Is it because he tell's us? The man is a parasite.

Crouch is very good at admitting how much he has given. Did the interviewer attach thumb screws to extract this loathsome act of self-publication, what a great fan he is. To be fair £50k to Crouch is no different than a mere mortal dropping a score anonomously in a bucket on the way to the game. The only difference one will not mention it again and forego a programme, burger, pint or whatever whilst the other has to admit on the radio he contributed £50k to help rescue/resurrect instead of what he could have done to save the club in the first place. Seems to me Crouch only makes offers of real worth (£2m) when he adds conditions that he knows others cannot match. He must be mistaken in his belief that this shows him to be a real fan who is totally committed to the club. Of course the real hero would be the man who gave it anonomously without conditions but where is the self-promotion in that? As for McMenemy? What can you say? He has used this club as a meal ticket since his misguided adventure to the North East and I personally am sick of him being wheeled out as the 'godfather' of Saints. Someone who knows whatt is good for the club when all he has done since his management days is take, take and take. Both Crouch and McMenemy could learn a lesson in magnamitity from Ted Bates and if only one good thing comes out of administration it must be to disfranchise these two self-adulating publicists from Southampton FC for good.

How much is McMenemy charging for his time or is it just an expenses paid gig? This club even in administration can't learn that what we need going foward is balance and this will just promote division given even some of MLT's recent comments. Is Benali on the panel? Going forward are those who were supportive of Lowe or even just ambivalent, going to have to prove their hatred towards him just to get a match ticket in the future? Ironic the ferevent stay away's promoting a SOS campaign and alienating those who supported the club whilst we still had a chance of remaining in control of our destiny.

He'll be looking forward to the Hartlepool game next season. Not many others will be. No doubt his kids have started a countdown.

Reach out to the fans? Yeah good one that, an importnat percentage of the fans haven't listened for nearly a year so why should they now?

Or a petulant/vulgar show of I've got more money than you. I cannot believe for one minute Lowe can afford to lose or even have £2m to pump into the club and god knows about Wilde. So no it's not prudent but Lowe should have taken his money in return for giving him Chairman of the football club.

Probably just want's to ensure he puts across his side of the story and ego wise no doubt get one over his old parochial friend Leon. Talksport, BBC, Times, Sky vs. Echo, Radio Hampshire, Gardeners Question time (sorry Solent). Um mentioned a hole that needed filling - is that the same hole who always boasts he doesn't care about losing his share money and willing to invest with conditions he knows cannot be met. Time to fill the hole I guess Leon and turn a few heads.

Rupert didn't put us in administration, the bank and not enough loyal fans sealed our fate. Lowe kept his end of the bargain by cutting costs to the bone and trying to stay focused and upbeat on delivering this club to some reasonable level of safety. Its a sad tale and one where we have all let eachother down. Crouch had £2m so why didn't he simply invest it in the club to reduce Barclays exposure rather than the macho act of demanding Lowe and Wilde to match it? He may as well have asked me for the likliehood they had £2m going spare.

Um, that seals it IMO. They will recognise the loophole and close it and then using their exceptional circumstances provision deduct us 10 points and maybe more pending any prospective buy out regardless of past attendances. Regrettably, they don't appear to have any choice.

On reflection WC, I suppose the answer is not buy them in the first place. Skacel has been a dreadful signing and contributed diddly squat considering his fee and weekly wage and Euell? The past 3 years we became a pension fund top up scheme for aging has-been players. A disgrace really, would have been better off limiting our spending to £90k. Ricardo Fuller has done well at Stoke despite being an unlikeable fellow.

He's only matched by those fans who chose to boycott the season and therefore equally culpable. :smt049

Indeed, do people know how obsessed you are with this forum? You have quite a retentive personality Um. You can't seem to understand a simple concept for fear of losing your grasp of reality. Average attendances declined game on game during Crouch's tenure - you seem obsessed with comparing it with other periods in time, please desist.

Wes, I suspect Lowe is doing the rounds to ensure the full story is told in the interests of balance and not just by those who now try to seek political capital out of the situation. Crouch and McMenemy were nauseating on Saturday and Crouch is certainly doing the rounds locally so why shouldn't Lowe do the rounds nationally? Who is the better connected based on their media contacts and for that matter the more assured? Who in the long run would have been better for the club if some of those like yourself who strangely believed a boycott would be a good thing actually supported the team at teh turnstiles? All water under the bridge now and surely the only way forward is to progress with no director of the last 15 years within a hint of the most tenuous link to any successful bid otherwise the circus will just keep rolling if it is allowed to of course. We have shot ourselves in the foot bigtime though but most are to embarrassed to admit it for fear of being lynched. Lowe was our best option short of a deep pocketed investor with 10's of millions.

Um you just don't get it. Crouch started off with a crowd average of x after his first game in charge, ignoring what went before his reign and discounting his last game (Sheff Utd) he ended up presiding over a falling average attendance on his watch. Perhaps this was down to his false promises about investment, lies about the need to sell players for financial reasons (ok we loaned them) and repeated comments that the play offs were still a firm belief in the club for last season throughout January. Numbers under Lowe dropped initially because of some severely misguided fans but crowd numbers actually held up quite well despite being hamstrung by cost cuts. As you're the accountant shall we now discuss players wages during Lowe's wilderness years as a percentage of total revenue. You start.