MarkSFC

He wouldn't be my first choice but he is definitely a good option. As others have said on here, he has ties down here and it would probably be an excellent job for him to build a club up from scratch. If he's serious about being a top manager one day then where better to start?!! Even if in two or three seasons he went back to the Toon, it would mean he'd have done a great job for us. With a good owner with a proper vision and plan he would be a good choice because it would certainly be easier to get players. But...lets worry about having a club first!!

I didn't actually say "excited" because I agree that some if not all of our potential signings will be relatively unknown to most of us. Signings will be the indicative of the new manager and available funds so "the feelgood factor" will come from the trust and popularity of the new manager, hopefully Tisdale and the new owner(s). I doubt we will get "excited" about a signing for 2 or 3 years at least!!!

http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/Andy_Lou_l-poster-little-britain.jpg

The start of season attendances will be based on several things; 1) Who takes over ownership, and their percieved wealth/ambition. 2) Who is Manager 3) Who the players are and whether there is any feel good factor about signings 4) The ST and MD price As far as pricing is concerned, the new owner(s) should offer a decent price, say £253 per season (£11 per game), if you purchase a two year ticket. A one year ticket 2009/10 should be £299 (£13 per game). A MD ticket should then be £16 per game in advance or £20 on the day Based on these prices I believ there would be in the region of 10-12K TWO YEAR ST holders and 4-6K ONE YEAR ST holders. So, on the lower estimate that would generate attendances of 14K and revenue form tickets of at least £3.73million. At the upper estimates it would generate attendances of 18K and revenue of £4.83 million. Attendances between 14 and 18K are very realistic and would still create a reasonble atmoshere because those figures do not include any away support, of which we will probably do well on because of SMS and thappeal to away fans. With a wealthy owner, a good manager and two or three "nice" signings I can see our attendances average over 20K next season BUT IMHO the owners have to get the prices right to start with! They need to recognise the S*** we've had to put up with and the climate we are in and be fan centric. Any new owner worth his salt needs to have a five year plan to return to the Premiership before he can even begin to think abouth making any ROI, and so he needs to get the fan base built up very quickly to help in that plan. We will see..........hopefully!

Been saying Tisdale for weeks!! Be very happy if he does turn up, cravate and all!! Hopefully bring Perryman too

These are things you would expect any decent manager to do. He's "telling the world" to sell himself to any potential new owner and more probably a potential new employee at another club. He will no doubt IMO be thinking that his time is limited so he's "obviously" going to spin himself, so to speak! God luck to him but if he's our first team manager next season, we're doomed!!!

17th June

There are definitely ways round mob rule, by putting in stringent election rules, but its not going to come to that...I hope! Couldn't agree more with these sentiments, EVERYONE previously involved in any decision-making capacity should go in a total clean sweep. The only ties to the past should be the fans and ex-players.

NC, I agree with your statement of poor judgement but it was merely a target fugure based on sell-out. I think it was made in hope rather than expecatation. His silence is relieving, but because of my impression of his motives and desire for the survival of Saints, my instincts are that something is afoot. My "role" at the meeting as you put it was nothing more than an invitee as part of the SOS group. There was no agenda produced, either before or on the night. The meeting was not very well run, and there were one or two egos on show, which led to, IMO, a break down in what could and should have been a very constructive event. I have no idea who you are so I will not lay bare on here all my feelings, suffice it to say, and I have posted on here previously a summary of events as I saw it, there were people at the meeting who let themselves down and missed an opportunity to - at least temporarily -unite (albeit very unlikely if not impossible) the different fractions of supporters, in our hour of need. There was no doubting that every person in the room is a passionate "fan" of SFC, but IMO, there were hidden agendas dictating. As someone who believes a fan-owned club in the truest sense could work ( but doesnt ideally want one) the meeting made me realise why such a project is so verhemently oppossed by some, because there are certain fans who couldnt organise the preverbial P*** up in a brewery. The future will hopefully be with a new "very wealthy" owner (I live in eternal optimism!!) BUT I am worried that if this does not happen, and the club doe shave to be re-formed then the right "FANS" need to be in control, not "the lunatic fringe" as someone once put it. I mean it in the literal sense, not in describing the masses. HTH

The fact that Leon Crouch is "lending" the football club money is an admirable gesture from someone who I believe wholeheartedly (having spoken in length to him about Saints on 2 or 3 occassions) loves the club as much as the next fan. I do ahve a balanced opinion of LC and think that he has made some poor decisions and publically let himself and the club down. I just hope he is not made to look a fool again. What excites me though is why he has gone so "quiet" over the last two weeks. At the meeting (and I use that term loosely) which was held a few weeks ago with LM,ST,SOS,SISA,AW, and local councillors, he was desperate for funds to be raised. He and Lawrie were very passionate about the legends game, suggesting it could raise upto £600K. BUT, as we know it wasnt publicised very well and fell by the wayside. Now, if I was him, I would have done everything in my powers to promote the game AND THE REASONS for it, and even have contemplated reducing the tickets to £15. By the way I am not criticising him for not doing more Im just wondering what he knows, because at that meeting he made it very clear that money was needed and you could tell he was worried. My instincts are that he is now preety confident that a buyer will be found, and fairly quickly. Why else would he gamble what could be anything upto £500K ? Some may answer that by saying (and you have speculated on here already) that its for his own reasons, i.e. future board involvement, or just to boost his image amongst Saints Fans. BUT, he could easily have done that by under-writing the legends game, which would have been a far safer bet if promoted properly!! On a side issue I blame the Echo for their "exposees" over that time, rather than being positive and pro-active, but thats a totally different thread!! Therefore, because of his actions I am quietly confident that we will be bought in the next few days, and the club will live on.

In the literal sense of the word we are rivals to every single club, but I think as a "collective fanbase" there is only one rival. Individually, everyone will like/dislike/even hate other teams for very different and sometimes personal reasons. It would be fair to assume that you could find fans at every club who hate saints and fans that like saints, and the same is true of us. E.G. I hate Everton (although I admire Moyes), simply because of Highbury 1984. In fact I hate Adrian Heath for (possibly) being the only player in the world short enough to have headed that goal...also hate sandpits!!! Irrational but thats how these things develop! Most people I know like Everton! I grew up hating Leeds because my father hated them because of the infamous "p*** take" in 1971 (or whatever date it was!). This was compounded by Alan Smith at the Dell in 1999/2000?? (Im not good with dates!). The point being that when you sign up to support Saints, there is only one rule regarding rivalry....hate or dislike the Skates, no-one else matters....simples!

R.I.P. Dean remember him from very early school years and his sister was in my class. Condolences to all his family and friends

Me too......great place

arrr!! the good 'ol days!!

It would be great to see some good incentives from the new owners, to encourage high attendances this season and reward those with gaurentees for season 10/11, when we could (be positive!!) be back in CCC. E.G. £15 per game, advance purchase, (£20 on the day) for all except Under 16's which could be £10 (or £15) Season Tickets could then be say £253 for all (saving at least £4/game) or £138 for U16's (saving at least £3 per game). The gauranteed prices for ST's could then be "the same" if still in L1 or "plus £69" (£3 increase per game) if in CCC. Not even going to contemplete the worst possibility!!. Anyone who buys tickets on a game by game basis next season could be gauranteed MD prices at "the same" in L1 or "£5 off" in CCC, for as many games as you went to in season 09/10.

Maybe that was Lowes' dream...what with Woodward....but it was probably him who ****** that up as well!!

Thanks FF

I couldn't agree more with all the "no fans-owned club at any cost" brigade. I have hoped for a takeover by a wealthy investor for 3 or 4 years but the truth of the matter is, they have not managed to do so. Thats probably due to a mixture of the complexity of share-ownership, Lowe and his cronies, and the seemingly continuous change of board. I still have the belief that a new owner will appear and I think it will now happen quite quickly. Originally, and Im sure some of you will put this down, the idea of the SOSFour was to raise funds to purchase enough shares to initiate "change" on the board. I.E. get Lowe and Cowan out. Administration changed this. As we already had the basis of a plan, we took the decision to amend our plan and be a possible solution, IF no buyer emerged. Our plan would not and never did include having "the lunatics running the asylum" to quote someone on here. It would be democratic but with very strict conditions of appointment and suitability to carry out the job. Believe it or not, some "fans" are very capable of serving on the board of a football club. Its probably not a great comparison, and apart from Hone and Hoos (no comment there) who else, who has ever served on the board had run a football club prior to their appointment. Excluding Leon who I believe was involved with Lymington, I suspect theres one or two Ive not realised, but you get my drift! IF, and this is a MASSIVE IF, the real only option is "some sort of fans owned club" I am not totally oppossed to it. BUT, as someone who may be in a position to initiate such an initiative, I would NEVER work with or back ANY of the SISA group. In my humble opinion, and in spite of their voice, they only have one reason for wanting a fans based club...their own egos. They would in my opinion, effectively be the ones who put the final nail in the coffin if it ever got to that point. They wont though. As for Saints Trust, I think they are somewhere in betweeen a rock and a hard place. Whatever they do NOW, will split opinion. What they do seem to have in their favour is a legal identity, bank account already functioning, and association with FansDirect, that should such an initiative occur, would add much weight and advice. This is not to say that FansDirect would not support any one else though, I dont know. My overall opinion on the situation is simple. Everyone who cares about Southampton Football Club should do all they can, financially and personally, NOW. And then when the dust settles after what will hopefully be an exciting takeover, the state of Supporters groups should be reviewed. At the risk of ridicule and abuse, I would like to see Saints Trust publically disown SISA. I would then like the Saints Trust to disband. As the original Trust was (or at least was advertised as) just for SLH shareholders, it effectively has no real purpose now. This does not mean that certain individuals who have been involved have nothing to add in the future, I just think that a completely fresh start is required. I would like to see the new owners adopt a new structure for fans. This could involve a standard constitution for all groups (with "local rules" so to speak, for groups like London Saints, Northern Saints etc, who by geography, will probably have other aspects to discuss) which were then each represented on a Saints Fans Board. This board would then facilitate ideas and discussions and subject to the new owners acceptance feed their concerns and thoughts upwardly. The connection between the new owner(s) and the fans should be created quickly. All groups would need to have a minimum membership to exist. Well these are ideas, that clearly can be debated!! I hope this clearly states mine, and SOS's position in regard to Fans Takeover bids. My comments regarding SISA and the trust are wholly mine. So, I hope all damnation of FansOwnership can be put to bed, and eveyone can focus on the next few days which could either be spectacular or disastrous. I believe in the spectacular......

Brilliant original point...love it!! Totally agree Saint Fan CaM

The only egos on display from my point of view were SISA. Derry's summary is preety much as it was. An opening statement which lasted for ages...it osunded like a sermon...which as Derry said, could easily been summed up in just a few minutes. This opening statement from Richard Chorley was listened to in complete silence, literally no questions during it. As the meeting moved on, there were more interuptions while people were talking and mainly but not all the time it was a member of SISA who did so. Having never really spoken to any os SISA I went there willing to give them a chance to prove my pre-judged opinion of them (formed by listening to their retarich over the last 13 years - but the let me down. I think they had a great chance to "come in from the cold" but failed to wind in their methods. Its ashame that they havnt realised that their way of doing things isnt suitable in this situation and this day and age. In the BRanfoot years, it was more suited and for me that was the only good they did. You cannot deny though that they love Southampton Football Club. To answer Q1 if I may...the original thread by Derry was "How much would you donate to OWN your club"? and not donate, so although a great figure I think it would/will change in this scenario. SFC (NOT SLH) NEED £250K+ NOW!!! We are now in a seriously desperate situation where the facts are as far as we were told last night is that if the Football Club goes to Administration...IT FOLDS, then its Wessex league or whatever!! In relation to Q2, I agree and it would be great if they did defer. My concern is that by letting the frustration of putting money in the pockets of players (something I totally agree with however) we are missing the point. Players will get other jobs (well most of them) BUT the "normal" employees jobs are at risk. For these people sake we MUST keep the club afloat. We were assured that the money will go directly into SFC.

"normal"..me too!! learnt my lesson on here to be carful!

without knowing who you are, I prefer not to comment on here!!

From what LM,LC, and MC said tonight, if THE FOOTBALL CLUB went into Administration, it would effectively fold immediately. Its not actually in a financial position to go into Admin

I asked this question tonight....Apparently, the club cant sell STs because they cannot gaurantee that they can be fullfilled, either because there is literally no club, and also because new owners dont (strangely) neccessarily have to honour them

Thanks FC...all good points noted...