Nineteen Canteen

It may suggest he is desperate not to play Saga or Patterson. Even if Papa is injured Pardew does have other options bar the obvious ones and Lallana needs to be given the opportunity to prove himself in free roaming / attacking role because I think he is getting close to the end of the rope and needs to start delivering.

Bad news for our defence as with that back four last Saturday we at least don't look like we'll be letting in many so any weakening there is a major worry assuming Murty isn't fit. Can Perry or Trotman play at RB? Playing James there will give Carlisle the ability to get through a perceived weak link. I think we should give Lallana a free role up front behind Lambert. With Schneiderlin and Hammond in the centre assuming Gillett is still out of favour with Pardew but we have a major issues with width. Mills obviously but if you play Lallana in one of these roles he is ineffective and exposes the fullback by cutting in to often and worse still it means Saga or Patterson up front. Disinterested and unfit experience or gamble on a largely unknown and unproven inexperience? Gillett needs to play IMO and play Schneiderlin on the right but obviously don't know what the issue is with Gillett. I'm sure Pardew has the answers but a long trip to Carlisle will be a point well earned and nice as it would be I have no expectations of winning because of the injuries.

lbs?

Over the past few years one thing I have learned is not to trust businessmen who are happy to conduct 'some' of their business on internet forums where you have no idea who you are dealing with and in theory could even be divulging information to a competitor and thereby loosing your advantage. As TL is a friend of MLT then I would like to think he is doing this for all the right reasons but any answers he gives will have to be taken at face value and with the NDA's and third party disclosure agreements the things we really need to know are unlikely to be released, ever, let alone on an internet forum. This may even be attempt to help MLT restore his damaged reputation, who knows? If it is I would rather MLT give a full and frank admission with regard the issues arising from Pinnacle and his book but his silence at the moment speaks volumes unfortunately. I have to agree with Fitzhugh Fella on this and ask the question what is stopping Tony Lynam form telling you all anything you want to hear and what does he gain from doing so given he is so busy? The answers could be as unaccountable as the questions IMO and whilst I would like to know the answers to so many questions why give those involved with Pinnacle the time of day when we have a far better solution hitting the ground running at SMS now. OK just the one question for fun...Why did MLT say that Pinnacle had not considered Alan Pardew or any other manager other than those who were ex-Saints? His answer was Pinnacle wanted to go for a box office draw to immediately get in the crowds, why did you expect this to happen and what did you expect the crowds figures to be? Given the narrow band of people you could approach vs all the other managers did this blinkered approach to recruitment mirror the way the bid was put together and progressed through exclusivity and reflect your business plans post purchase? If not, convince us why not?

Stone or years of age? Those regular all day sessions have a habit of catching up PDB. You could go for title of 'heaviest fan'.

I can tell you of one pensioner who it won't be. (just as well, as he can't hold a candle to your folks - or do they get freebies on their pension?)

Lawrie McMenemy? Oh wait he doesn't want to buy a ticket allegedly so doesn't want to go anymore. Matt Le Tissier? Dodgy because he might take le tiss. How about standing outside the Megastore or in West Quay and for someone wearing a Saints shirt, they will be guaranteed to be a real fan with real opinions whether they are agreed with by others or not. You don't need a representative unless they have been elected by the fans to speak on their behalf. What happens if you want a quote from the general public with regard to city council issue, for example. The general public's self appointed representative? No, you go to WH Smiths and ask the first person who picks up a Daily Mail for a 'When in Rome' quote or similar.

So shrill Wes, I thought for a minute you were wearing a silk scarf tied around your head and changed your name to Lynda. I think you complain to much, Martin Samuel, and Anne Robinson back on Watchdog you must be on cloud 9 at the moment. Dear BBC......

That's where you are are different OSM. For example, I support and defend this country to the hilt but also recognise that there is much in it's past and present that are of concern and need to be addressed or accept with hindsight that past glories may not have been that great. I support Saints in a similar way and will always support them unstintingly as in 'I vow to thee my country' and all that. However, that support does not need to be blind as was proven by those who wanted Lowe out because they felt he was not right for the club. Those fans are not blind but some are clearly blinkered by the importance they attach to past reputations that in hindsight may not be as glorious as we first thought because of subsequent actions. Through all the turmoil I never decided to boycott because I thought Crouch was the wrong man or because we were relegated from the Premiership or Championship and I have purchased my STs through thick and thin. McMenemy has given a lot to this club but he has been rewarded well and with interest and as Influenced.com has said that if the new regime want to remove the politics from the club and that those in the directors box should pay for their ticket they should do so with pride and a sense of relief and thanks that Mr Liebherr saved their beloved club. For the sake of a few quid is McMenemy saying we are not worthy of his support? Personally, I find it surprising he is not as grateful as the rest of us and that he can drop us quite so easily as afterall paid or otherwise a seat in the directors box is still an honour IMO. Personally, it makes me question McMenemy's motives in the first place for attending games on a 'freebie' and I don't think I could drop the club quite so easily, if at all. Can you imagine being at home knowing your team are playing down the road? I can't.

Ironic he mentioned Sir Bobby Robson, had he done enough to earn an ego? An Everest compared to Snowdon but chose a more humble approach IMO.

Thank you for taking the time to read my posts.

Helps you understand Wes though don't you think?

In a word apathy and I agree with you 100%. The way forward is to approach the club to have a voluntary supporters group based at the club but independent of the club's management. They could act as a conduit between the fans and the club and take issues from both to be discussed and resolved /put forward for resolution in a quarterly meeting (or time to be determined). A lot of companies nowadays have customer focus groups so why not a fan's focus group and it would take away the nitty gritty from the club's management so they can concentrate on the big picture whilst also fulfilling some fans remit to have an independent voice. So for example the price of beer and disabled transport to away matches could be discussed and in turn the club could request feedback on potential changes / ideas before taking a decision to go ahead. The meeting would be minuted with the club providing the room and materials but that would be the extent of their involvement as to maintain the group's integrity both sides would need to be independent although if necessary to ensure the structure was the right perhaps a club employee could facilitate a few meetings to start with before leyting go of the leash so to speak. The problem I have is that I never knew how any of these fan associations were acting on our behalf and what they were discussing and how progress was being made. Having the focus group the meetings could be advertised on the OS and issues for discussion put forward and subsequently the minutes of the meeting published on the OS with actions etc so that fans at least knew their issues were being raised and hopefully an explanation as to why action was or was taken. Probably to utopian but better than what we have. We need a supporter association to work with the club and I haven't seen any evidence of that in the past.

Support for Lowe, over Crouch and Wilde and that makes me a holocaust denier? Offensive on so many levels it is just amazing. Insult me by all means Robbie if that is the only way you can make a point but be very careful what bait you choose to use. Makes you look somewhat immature.

His less than memorable interview on Solent post administration was I'm afraid toe curlingly awful and if SISA have any credibility then they need to carefully consider who speaks on their behalf. As it is they make Bob Crow sound like a cBBC presenter IMO.

Legend is a much over used word IMO apart from this case where it's connation of myth comes into play. I thought Weston made a very good summation of LM's recent record but lets go back to 1985 when McMenemy walked having got us to a position where we were comfortably holding our own in the top flight having just finished 5th and 2nd in '85 and '84 respectively. Apparently McMenemy felt he had taken the club far enough? Really? An FA Cup was far enough, how about league champions or 2 FA Cups? He felt at the time he needed a change well guess what? IMO this time the club have decided they needed a change. McMenemy is a managerial legend as much as George Burley or Gordon Strachan and they don't even register on the radar of the 100 managers this country has produced. I think we've paid our debt to McMenemy for that FA Cup and with interest.

Not forgetting the erudite Foley. Anyway they can't talk for Saints fans anymore as our new owner has two syllables in his surname. IMO it's why Crouch was a leading candidate after the tongue twisting Dulieu and perhaps why Hoos was retained and not Oldknow. Just a theory. Lowe was the perfect scapegoat in so many ways for such a fine collection of braincells to get to grips with Just a pity they don't appear to be in the same head. Still what's football without opinion.

Much appreciated, perhaps you can ask him if his pension will cover the cost of his ticket for the Rovers game. It's not the same without him and his little mate and their alleged 'without agenda' support for their beloved club.

Wes, can you tell the time using the 24 hour clock? Just checking.

Very irresponsible if you ask me. You could close the rail network in the South.

Superb, LOL. Thank you Victor you made my day - it does seem that way at times.

Agreed - that's why I suggested playing him in a different role. Pardew was full of praise for him though and was perhaps the one thing I had trouble accepting from him on Monday night at the fans forum.

Ok, this is the last I am going to say on the MLT betting scandal and if I am gutted it is because he felt it necessary to get involved in such a thing in the first place and second that he chose to tell us all about it, in his 'taking le tiss' dismissive style. This decision by the CPS does not IMO exonerate MLT in any way whatsoever from his admission. The real issue and reason to be gutted is that the police and the CPS seemingly don't have the resources in this country to bring a case against those suspected of crimes to account for their actions in a court of law. IMO these crimes can be from the low level nuisance variety through to more complex and historic fraud to give the term 'betting scam' it's more appropriate name IMO. If this had been a Porstmouth or a Man U player for example would we be so happy about it? It simply doubles the sadness not the relief or joy that it was one of own and probably the most lauded of them all. If the CPS had taken on the case, (the police must have been confident there was one otherwise why take it to the CPS?) then MLT would have had the opportunity to clear his name somewhat more satisfactorily than being allowed to keep his counsel under a 'public resource' issue. Perhaps those who feel hard done by Le Tissier's admission, made worse off the back of the Pinnacle debacle, is that whilst the carpet is being tacked back down the alleged objective of selling more books has to date backfired. How many of those 40 pages of messages from the general public were real and if so how many wish now they had changed the wording? Was it arrogant ego to publish those (never seen the like in other books from far bigger stars) or to give his fans a chance to have their say as he suggested? Personally, I won't be applauding the next time he walks into the stadium, I gave more and all before with regards to my respect for MLT and expected more in return. Overly principled? Maybe, but IMO a man without integrity is worse and in any walk of life supporting knowledge without integrity is foolish. Cheats should never prosper and MLT is no modern day Robin Hood IMO.

Not taken any further because he doesn't have a case to answer? Perhaps this debate should be moved over to the MLT betting scam thread.