Nineteen Canteen

Excellent and heart felt post Landford and it does make you wonder given your fair and accurate summary how fans can complain after such a short period of time. John B's comment about where were they when Wilde and Crouch were looking for buyers/investors I guess somes up the mentality of those who expect others to give millions for little in return. The fact Mr Liebherr waited (if that was the case) until administration and picked us up for a song and a chance to wipe the slate clean is shrewd business and all the while the club was being desperately hawked around any buyer would have got a bad whiff of the underlying problems lying in wait. My only concern is his clear family doctrine to spend only what you earn and whilst he is very wealthy I don't believe we should be calling for him or alluding to a hope that he will splash the cash and certainly not at this stage. There is a collective responsibility on us all to follow your example and encourage others to attend as the greater the revenue the greater our options and if Mr Liebherr can see a long term investment opportunity and return on his initial expense then the longer he will want to stick around. My guess, should he be aware of it, is that the current moaning and ungrateful reaction is more likely to encourage him to cut and run Gaydamak style. Some of us are playing a ridiculous and dangerous game, afterall where else are we going to get a better chairman and owner? Leon Crouch and some studious debt ramping because if we fail to reward the board for their support with our own we will be open to a new owner keen to mortgage us to the hilt. Money doesn't buy success, shrewd business heads do.

Don't confuse bullying with exasperation

I think Pardew is part of the plan and Cortese will not take action or need to. He may be concerned but i suspect it's the panic and unreasonableness that seems to pervade the thoughts of supporters like yourself than the considered actions and development of the team by Pardew. Only those who don't go to games and rely on the jaundiced views of others cannot recognise the positive difference in the team over the past 10 games. The improvement is a fact Alpine and an indisputable one but unfortunately results haven't been kind but they will turn against a run of games against teams of dubious quality.

We only need to win games this season to survive and rebuild John. Promotion is targetted for next season so why go on and on and on about winning games regularly 10 games into a season and after a 6 game unbeaten run bought ro end by a thrilling game in which we looked champions elect at times albeit for next season. Seriously, your point will have some relevance next season but not this as we probably only need to win another 17 of our remaining 36 matches and Cortese's plan will still be on track. With the following teams still need to be played against and twice then plenty of wins still to come, namely against: Wycombe, Tranmere, Brighton, Walsall, Exeter, Orient and we have already played 5 of the top 7. Stop the panic as you have been shrewd in your past views but 'regular wins' will come and look at November and December where apart from two tough games we will do nothing but win.

The thing is, this is no different than what he and his colleagues have been saying from Day 1 and no different than what was said at the Solent Fans Forum but apparently one unlucky result and everyone suddenly has short memories.

Is it? if Cortese was that impressive, as you say, would he put up with a manager that is letting him down, as you like to say. Management who stand by their decisions even though it's obviously not working to those who share your insight have no respect for the club. At least that is what we have become use to being told isn't it? My guess is Alpine that Cortese will be next on your hit list.

Quite and back at you regarding most things we have discussed in the past year. There is definitely an increase in fans standing throughout the Itchen and more stewarding activity. Why can't fans simply abide by the rules of the club and stop ruining the game for everyone else. As always it's seems to me to be the vocal and well fuelled minority who think they are better and above everyone else who are adhering to club policy and respecting those fans who wish to sit behind them. If you want to see evidence of all the social ills that inflict life in this country then attend a football match and you see most of what is wrong mainly an inability to live a life respecting the laws of the land and the lives of others. Contemptible.

I find your post a contradiction as it suggests you are impressed with Cortese but not his decision making.

I was under the impression Oldknow brought Mr Liebherr to the table if that was via Cortese who knows but as I have said before in the world of Corporate Finance it's who you know not what you know that matters. Also Oldknow said right at the start funds would be available in league 1 but funds in line with the level we are operating at and I don't think that has changed. I doubt very much if Mr Cortese will need to be practicing writing noughts just yet, unless he starts analysing and rating some of the posters on this forum and their unreasonable rants and creation of unrest towards Pardew and his team.

Not bad really just the 394 posts before the usual Nazi analogy starts. We must be getting a far more liberal and tolerant bunch. Far more than some would like obviously.

Don't start them on the mowing patterns. Personally, I enjoy the circular ones as it reminds me of most of the arguments posted on here.

Your 30s or the 1930's?

Ironic isn't it and now the most rabid anti-Loweites are all for adopting his manager merry-go-round just 10 games into a debt free and sure footed season! The brief answer to your final question is no, why do you ask? Need advice?

Have we not improved since the well beaten team that played Huddersfiled back in August? So results haven't gone as we hoped but there is plenty of evidence to suggest they will.

Agree 100% and in this instance anyone with far higher expectations and calling for the manager's head are simply wrong and dangerously so as the reality has ever been anymore than Junction 9's accurate view of proceedings. How do the dissenters think that after 10 games the owner and directors are going to view such negativity and at best such an unreasonable reaction? My guess is that Mr Liebherr needs Southampton FC a lot less than the some of us who seem to have forgotten the word 'grateful'.

Why? I don't expect you to agree with everything I say anymore than we expect Pardew to win every game between here and May 2014. I think cool heads are needed so perhaps we should start calling ourselves the lunatic fridge?

After our home game against Southend. That will be the time to assess how Pardew has performed and until then any talk of 'sacking timeframes' is alarmist, counterproductive and frankly the impatient ramblings of the quick fix brigade who not content with having someone save our club now expect them to put up with their whinging, 10 games into a brand new area. Not sure if it's sad, pathetic or moronic or any combination of the three. I just hope against hope that none of the more idiotic posts get back to the management and owner of this club. If I was Mr Liebherr and read some of these comments about the team he has put together I would walk away, wondering what the small dent in my pension was. Get a reality check some of you please and quick.

Tame, IMO reverence like respect has to be earned and continued to be earned, like OBE's and MBE's reverence and respect are not simple gifts, given and forgotten about and like those honours I mentioned can be withdrawn if those who bestowed them feel the actions of the great and good have fallen below their level of expectation.

Exactly, and for those already trying to write Pardew's obituary for his time at Saints will struggle to find a better epitaph. The skateboard analogy is particularly relevent as some fans need to grow up a bit IMO.

Funny you should mention that - I thought the same. I thought he was continually trying his best to beat the offside by stepping up and back to unsettle their back 4 but the ball was never played early enough for him and so his anticipation looked wrong when perhaps we was stepping up into an onside position but the edleivery was either delayed or poor as a result we was more often than not caught offside or fighting for scraps. My only complaint is that like Mellis he looks a tad lightweight in his challenges and as defence should start in attack an ability to win the ball back is an asset especially in this league of scrappers and fighters.

Our left side is a real concern but it was not helped by Harding charging forward at every opportunity with little or no understanding with the left midfield that kept changing continually. Does this require a another loan signing or something that just needs to be worked on in a training game? Harding had looked a great acquisition up until the Yeovil game so IMO it's about regaining his focus on his primary responsibilities and identifying and working with a first choice left midfield. Last night it was at times watching a game of singles tennis and no one telling us we could on this occassion use the tram lines whilst our opponents exploited it at every opportunity. That said we still completed plenty of clear cut chances against a team riding high in the league and one with a few talented individuals who proved a handful and overall a very physical side which we were able to match and without retaliation. If they are in the top 3 at the end of the season or even the top 6 I am confident Pardew will produce a championship winning team next season and have us comfortably clear of the relegation zone by February.

The whole self belief issue has been evident both this season and in our recent past and can be summed up in 3 words: Composure, confidence and collectivity. 3 words that need to be ingrained into the club and all those connected with it from Directors, players, supporters and those in the community. Without the shared faith in ourselves we only deliver angst and apprehension and a major dose of the collywobbles. They say football is a religion but we don't mirror any worthy congregation that offers hope and support in trouble times and thanks and reverence in good. At times it's more like the mourning of a lost opportunity to gloat rather than draw out the positives, which is odd as football, like life, has it ups and downs and expecting to win all the time is a bit like holding the firm belief that some government agency will always bale you out. That last sentence rightly or wrongly is directed at some of the more rabid laden posts full of bile and more expletives than their considered thoughts and thoughts not exclusive to football. Personally, nothing would switch me off this club more than if Mr Liebherr threw £100m at us and tried to buy success. I don't want and have never believed in the get something for nothing (or as little as possible) culture that has pervaded this country in a post Camelot and Reality TV age. Success is earned and when achieved well is far more satisfying but sadly not everyone agrees.

If Alps was chairman he would insist that for every game his entire sub's bench consisted solely of out of work managers. Game would pan out as follows; 0-1 - Pardew get out of that technical area, Coppell your on, 0-2 - ffs Coppell you useless **** what are you playing at, wheres the width and why can't we finish, ref! sub - Dowie you're on, now get it sorted the defence is the least of our worries. 0-3 aaarrggghh, christ on a bike Dowie how long did you need 3 mins of your management and we let in another goal. 'Arry your on, no you can't have any money, what do you mean you can't improve the team unless you have a minimum budget of £30m it's League 1 ffs, and so on and before long it will be in George we trust. Alpine's only justice lies in berating the manager of the day. Sometimes it's judged insightful as in Burley and others it's just a case of if he starts early enough on every manager that walks through the door then sometimes he can afford to look smug and sometimes we can drop the 's' as in Strachan's case and no doubt Pardew's. Ironic some fans on here are displaying one of the most hated traits about Lowe and his managerial merry-go-around. Perhaps that was the problem those calling for Pardew are too similar to Lowe and hence their hatred of him, as it's well known opposites attract.

I read the first 50 posts and it felt like I was reading remarks about a club in crisis on the verge of going bust and with 10 games to play (not played) and 4 wins from a survival bid. Unbelievable the moaners on here and I apologise in advance if anything I write has already been in posted in the subsequent 200 posts but I was losing to the will to live. Was it just me who came out of the stadium feeling massively disappointed but also encouraged that we gave a very physical and in parts talented team a good game and mostly held our own? For want of a bit more confidence in front of goal and some brilliant saves by the Rovers keeper in the 2nd half we should have won that game 4-3 but our finishing let us down. Also we were undone by a wonder strike of pinpoint placement in injury time. Their first goal we were found ourselves wanting on the left and Davis caught in nomansland but it still required a classy angled shot to just hit the inside netting nearest the post. One iota of a degree of error and it would have probably hit the post and come back out as it was it was a nice piece of skill. Their second goal was woeful from our point of view and again our left side has questions to answer with Mellis seemingly running away along the bye line and looking over his shoulder at the Rovers player with the ball as oppose to standing his ground and making the player at least work to get around him. Anyway where was Harding? Mellis is very weak in his challenges and was found wanting against a very physical side so my complaint to Pardew would be why bring him on second half as he was non-descript in the first. All in all a very entertaining game and still positives to come out of it but the main negative being our left side with Harding being too reckless at times and both our left and right midfielders tucking in. Harding for me has been the player of the season although signs of cracks showed in his performance at Yeovil and he was even more gung ho tonight when he could at least afford it with a weak Mellis in front and stronger opposition and his over exuberance may be reason why all the goals were scored down their right our left. Pardew is a good man and has a good coach with Downes in tow and those who are calling him to be sacked have not considered the position we started in and Coppell, Keegan, Pearson or Mcmenemy couldn't have done any better in the circumstances IMO. Those same fans no doubt expected us to walk the league or steam into the play offs which was always a false hope given them by themselves and no one at the club has ever mentioned anything other than consolidation and rebuild and a promotion push next year as part of the 5 year plan. To the delusioned fans please stop moaning and start listening and watching a bit more objectively and adjust your sights for success this season and you will start enjoying the ride. We didn't get hammered tonight and in fact should have won it and that is a lot better than the team that ran out against Huddersfield back in the middle of August. Progress is and will be slow but it has been positive and improving and tonight our unbeaten run of 6 games in the league has just ended it wasn't our 7th consecutive defeat. We seem to be plotting a similar course to Bournemouth during last season, except I don't think we will require a change of manager and look how they are doing at the moment. Survival and consolidation this season for next we feast on our first trophy for a while, League One Champions. Rabid and ridiculous fan apathy and delusion is our only risk to success.