Nineteen Canteen

Have a look at the thread title, does it say Pearson doing well? I'm just playing along.

All money well spent with the possible exception of SCW but then that was more to do with a beligerant Redknapp than anybofy else IMO. Still, whichever way you look at it it was a coup getting SCW at the club and we blew the opportunity. Sometimes it's good to set the trend than simply follow and in Sports Science we could have learned a lot more than we did than the likes of old school Redknapp and Strachan oh and Mr I'm not Buying a Ticket. As for Wotte I agree we should have paid him £120k from that start and I don't understand the JP appointment and Wotte proved his mettle in far more difficult circumstance than Boot Boy. As for Wotton and Schneiderlin they have taken a while to prove themselves but now are making a contribution as valuable as Lallana who hasn't exactly set the world on fire until this season. Schneiderlin, like giving McGoldrick a 3 year contract may prove to be exceptionally shrewd. If you don't have players you could pay a half decent manager £6m pa and it won't make one iota of a difference. If we wanted to employ the one person who saved us from relegation shouldn't we have employed Richard Wright a recruitment that would not have seen the light day had Boot Boy's 3 goalkeepers all got injured at the same time or are you suggesting he was so great he manufactured that event as well, as part of his grand plan? Your argument doesn't stack up with hind sight let alone back then.

Being grateful for your support Ponty doesn't remove my right to complain about what I and others consider an unnecessary change. A number of complaints shouldn't force the change, only if those complaints are reasonable and can be upheld. Baj commented that he was hooked in under a misapprehension but didn't feel the need to change it after about 5 posts so why when we are in the 200s? Nothing personal but I don't understand it even given your explanation but I don't want to turn this into Pompey/Fitzhugh thread mark II, as Bexy mentioned but it is disappointing nonetheless. Yours Hard Done By of Hampshire

Bet he wouldn't have accepted the £60k Poortvliet was alleged to be on. Also just because we received £250k compensation from the Scottish FA for Burley given the perilious state of our finances wtf was Crouch doing blowing it all and more on Pearson who at the time wasn't exactly tested at this level and club management experience was a handful of games for Carlisle about 8 years ago when he nearly managed their exit from the football league all bar a minute or two of injury time. The real question is when we appointed Pearson there must have been cheaper alternatives than Pearson (with more experience) who when offered £300k must have thought all his Christmases had come at once! Who was his agent? Very shrewd whoever it was.

I agree with your second paragraph but it was the economic climate at the time that was the most worrying and I have to say I didn't share your confidence at all. Couple of years earlier then perhaps things would have been different but nobody was interested seriously with the level of debt we had. SISU would have been just musical chairs in the boardroom IMO. As for Pompey I enjoy watching the farce play out on the news but I absolutely would not want to see them fold. I appreciate you're not saying that but whilst I enjoy it (if that's the right phrase - not sure it is), it's also with the hope they will be ok in the long run. They are not a Premier League club and if they get relegated lets hope they go down with the like of Hull and Wigan. Football on the South Coast would be poorer without them and we would miss those derbies especially if they remain rare events because we are in a league above them!

A few trips to Waterstones or Borders whilst the wife was shoe shopping - ample time, Tame. If you're married you'll know what I mean. Convieniently some stores stupidly put coffee shops in their stores making them even more like a library. A Library, you know the place where you can go and borrow books for a couple of weeks once you've read them. No risk of a fine with MLT's tome.

Ridiculous, MLT is culpable as Pinnacle IMO and if your theory is correct we can only be very grateful indeed that they didn't succeed. If to win an contract or player or manager etc under MLT's leadership you just need to be first through the door then it has failure written across the entrance. Lets face it, MLT had already admitted he was only considering managers with an ex-Saints background - why? Was it because they were already in his contacts on his mobile and to save him doing some extra work with agents? He suggested it was for 'box office appeal' - good grief, why narrow the field by about 99%? Let's stop making excuses for le Tissier until he has provided some answers as we want answers from everyone else. Sorry but your defence of MLT on this basis is indefensibe IMO.

ESB you don't know categorically that he was led by his love of the club and if he was then he should have taken a little more care about it IMO. Reading MLT's book you get the picture of a very casual personality and he was at best casual supporting Pinnacle at the start but still supporting them towards the end? I think that beggars belief and it would be good to hear his side of the story other than some very carefully crafted answers which anyone with the slightest knowledge of the transcation could have drawn up to deflect critcism. Lets face it i only ever heard Simon Mayo question him and he didn't sound at all interested in the first place and wasn't exactly the Spanish Inquistion that afternoon, especially not nailing MLT when he made an audible groan when Mayo mentioned Pinnacle. Surely, a good interviewer would be saying to himself - hello, we may be one to something here - but Mayo asked if it was ok to proceed! Not exactly Paxman. IMO I don't think he was blinded I just think he was complacent and under estimated the gravity of what he was taking on. He's a big lad and it was his reponsibility to check - no one else's. What came to light in his book has only exacerbated the situation if you ask me - which I appreciate you didn't.

In hindsight Wes you are right but at the time facing administration was a bit like making the decision of jumping into a deep crevasse without any equipment (administration) or get buried by the mother of all avalanches (slim chance of survival). The outcome is better than we could have hoped but a process you wouldn't wish on your worse enemy (even Pompey). I'm pleased Duncan and others are asking questions because I think it is wrong that Fry x 2, the board of SLHplc, Crouch and MLT have to date provided very little justifcation for their action or post administration report, if such a thing is a requirement. As I've said before MLT did answer some questions from Simon Mayo that frankly wouldn't have tested Noddy.

Ponty, if that was the case programmes like the 'Peep Show' would never get aired on TV or even 'Desperate Housewives', 'Loose Women' or one for the really sick 'Watchdog' etc. If the less fortunate can't be bothered to read the thread like those Dear BBC types who just jump on the disgusted bandwagon then you're censorship is misguided IMO and prevents posters from actually thinking about and contributing thought provoking threads and titles. Early on in this thread Baj made comment about the title and presumably ok'd it so why change it now so far in? There is a lack of consistency and too much influence of a moderators personal opinion/influence going into some of these decisions.

I would certainly agree with the last comment because as an acknowledged and passionate supporter of this club before Liebherr I doubt he would be that churlish. Real fans support their clubs through many things they don't agree with and Crouch didn't walk away during Lowe's tenure. As for McMenemy IMO it is all about the price of the ticket and it has been mentioned as such on this forum from people who have or know someone who has allegedly asked him. I don't understand Crouch's antics this year and I remain unconvinced he helped more than he hindered but compare him with McMenemy and his pettiness then perhaps IMO (once again) Crouch's biggest mistake was aligning himself with a footballing anachronism.

Well he was alledgedly prepared to stump up the cash with restrictions when Lowe was there and save the club from administration and I don't think that mean't Lowe leaving. I still don't understand how a man can fund the club like Crouch did and then simply walk away when it was saved by Liebherr. Did Crouch get repaid under some conditions added to his investement or was he purely focused on being a prominient director? IMO the answer to your rhetorical question is IMO I think Crouch would have done anything to get on board, so the answer is YES and you just have to look at his track record before and since IMO, to reach the same conclusion.

Very happy and reassured to read this post.

I see the moderation police have decided to change a clever twist on a well known book to suggest I have simply copied the title of that book instead of developing a hook to get people to read this thread - very sad but that's unnecessary censorship for you. The thread was called Le God Delusion and to my knowledge a thread name without copyright.

Just an opinion based on the way he talks. As someone has already posted he comes across as an enigma and IMO it is a persona Strachan is trying to develop with his 'witty' one-liners and playing up his mumbling Scottish manager roots. At times I think he chooses to be deliberatley difficult and obtuse but is not at the stage of his career where the likes of Ferguson and Clough were that enabled them to get away with it.

Chairman clash? It happens.

Agreed because IMO he was comfortable and didn't want to move out of that zone. I have no problem with that and we benefitted but ultimately he underachieved through lack of ambition and left a question mark over his career that didn't need to be there. If he had left and been prepared to work harder then I have no doubt he would have been a greater success whereas IMO with Strachan and McMenemy there were obvious doubts about the need to move and what they could achieve elsewhere that they couldn't by staying put.

As long as it's not Bury as we only just managed to see them off at home 2 seasons ago under the watchful guidance of Crouch and his right hand man. What was the statement? Something like 'Dodd and Gorman are the right decision for this club...........' as decisions go it wasn't right for long.

Agreed but we rest the whole first 11 for risk of injury from a bunch of non-league kickers. Frankly lets ditch this and the JPT to focus on consolidation and rebuild for a foundation to storm this league next season. For the first time in a long time cup games simply hold no interest whatsoever and I wince seeing the likes of a fragile Connolly playing on Friday night. He is one of the players who could possibly help us achieve a slim chance of 6th this season as he has looked different class with his movement and anticipation. Why put in an aggressive cup run and destroy our absolute No 1 priority?

Please save it by any means you like. Leicester will not finish in the top 6 and I think their arch rivals Forest will finish above them because they have the better manager for this league.

Down to 6th after no gifts from a team with a bit of quality. Boot Boy won't make the play-offs and they certainly didn't deserve to beat Reading or QPR. If Fryatt gets injured they will drop off the leaders quite significantly. Look what Holloway is doing at Blackpool and on buttons and you can see that Pearson isn't in his class.

What is the one reason you can think of as to why Fry at the time may have thought Pinnacle was the stronger bid and had the greater chance of success? Lynam's sweet talk, Le Tissier's endorsement or Crouch's back up money? Perhaps the fact a Saints Leg end was with the bid and safe in the knowledge of the interest this would generate in the fanbase may have influenced his decision, just a thought. It's not just Fry who needs to provide some answers or should be given some golden **** award IMO.

IMO Stachan like McMenemy didn't know they had it so good at Saints and perhaps didn't go public with their real reasons for leaving which is fair enough - who does in any walk of life? I believe with due time and patience Pardew will surpass them all. (It says so in the Bible)

Washing up Liquid - means I've got the remote for 30 minutes.