EastleighSoulBoy

You don't say! I'm glad that you explained that for us all otherwise we would not have got your 'joke'! :cool:

Meh, it'll never catch on.

29 seconds is also when I realised that the event is sponsored by McDonalds. Well, the arches in the background suggest so! Maybe Pewka pies are also on their way out?

Classic FM have booked a date for the performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem.

Should this be on the takeover thread? :confused:

Thank you St L, your pedantry makes my day!

Yeeeeeeeeeeouch! You rotter!

Although I believe you I find it difficult to envisage someone standing 'shoulder to shoulder' with Big Jake, he was a man mountain! Surely there wasn't enough room at the bar? Oh those were the days!

No you don't!

How do you know for sure that Michelle was stood still when she posted the message?

I'm not being sarcastic when I say 'what a wonderful idea', it's more in wonderment that nobody contemplated it! Which really leads back to the way the players are 'managed' or rather the lack of it. Mention has been made of WGS 'kicking players out of bars'. Didn't Pearson also do that and thereby instill some discipline?

I see your point, which is really why I used the link function. No offence intended. I apologise!

They certainly don't make them like this anymore. Read this and if it's true, weep.

If this is true then thay are a disgrace and should read about previous players. Those who were not only deserving of our support but were men! http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=9631

This shows you how not just Ron but other players of that era were 'normal' and were prepared to meet and mix with the fans. I couldn't see many of today's players being prepared to do this. In fact a lot of them seem to be surrounded by an entourage of their own mates and sometimes 'heavies' prepared to intervene the moment their 'star' gets stressed by over indulgent fans. In Ron's day they gave their fans respect and obviously earned it back!

Yup!

Well! you're one up on some of our current team members then!

More than likely the Wolves fan has visited this board. He's seen how desperate most of us are and thought us ripe for a good old wind up. Can hardly blame him really.

Just listening now and that hit me like a punch on the nose! All these years we have had this misunderstanding!

FWIW I thought that Baroness Barmy was a good leader, more balls than Blair in my opinion. The big BUT is I hated her for her policies and her legacy. As a Labour voter I was totally disenchanted with Blair toward his end.

Thanks. As it is I'm now a contractor. I'm lucky to be rather less affected because my job is aligned with providing plant cover for safety and insurance purposes. So until they change their minds (which could be overnight!) my position is relatively safe. Although I'm not crowing about it, just counting my blessings. This recession/depression has a long while to run yet I fear. Again, thanks.

The piece of paper I have in front of me talks of 'between 400 and 500 Ford employees'. It makes no mention of contract employees so I wouldn't know for sure if that figure does include contract staff. None can have applied for the package as yet. I am informed that the voluntary redundancy application forms are being sent out to each employee's home by mail. The application needs to be in by the end of March. Although a closing date of April 14th is also mentioned. Separation to be concluded by May 5th. Although I have no doubt, in my estimation, that the 500 may well be exceeded. In fact if that figure is slightly over I reckon they might let those extra ones go also. The underlying problem will be sorting out those that can go and those who the company will need to retain for 'operational requirements'. That's where the push and shove will start.

I can't for the life of me think who's pulling his strings then?

Pedantic

In all fairness I do have to say that something like this was coming our way. It has been hastened and exacerbated by people in the financial world gambling on movements of large sums of money/shareholdings. The whole money market of the last twenty odd years does seem to have been built like a deck of cards with them being far too adventurous with investments and the like. Like any other employer Ford are going to make the decisions that are best for their shareholders etc. We always said that Ford are not in the business to make vehicles, they are in it to make money. Along the way they made an awful lot of motors and an even more extreme amount of money. They are not in it, at this stage, for their employees. Although they do recognise that they will need to retain some of the skills that they have built their empire on. If they let too many go then when the upturn comes (I have no idea when) they will have nothing to build with. This is the thin end of the wedge for Ford Assembly in the U.K. I fear that if they move to far, in an already fragile environment, it will reach the point of no return for Southampton. They are talking 450 to 500 job losses. I am due in to work later and then I may find out if that is a figure which encompasses contracting staff also. If not then be assured that some of those will also lose their jobs. But don't just think of those within the Ford gates. What about staff in small local companies who support the Ford Plant? Small metal pressings, the seat makers adjacent to the plant and even the local baker who supplies rolls to the canteen. Then what about those who can't (or will not) find work? They will be entitled to benefits. So your council tax takes a hit. The country, as a whole, has to fund payments to however many families are hit this way. Free school meals, uniform subsidies, free travel. Local shops will suffer, where people cut back also. Importantly relevant to this forum, how many will no longer be able to buy season tickets or game by game tickets for Saints? And so it rolls out. Not a good time for anyone I think. And, as I said earlier, there's probably more to come.