Wes Tender

OK. I'll rise to the bait so that you can have your fix of trying to belittle the reputation of one of the club's heroes. Now let's see your list of 20 more successful managers since you started watching football in the early 70s. And give reasons to back up your choice too. And naturally send the list to the Guinness people also and tell them what idiots they are.

He certainly was a good keeper, but perhaps the defence in front of him made him look better than he was (apart from those matches I mentioned). Whether he would have looked quite so good with our defence in front of him is debateable.

This will be the same Schmeichel who conceded 5 goals to Newcastle on 16.10.96, then 6 to us on 26.10.96, 1 to Fenerbahce on 30.10.96 and another 2 to Chelsea on 2.11.96. Four losses on the trot and 14 goals conceded in 4 matches, 11 in 2. How many Premiership goalkeepers shipped 11 goals in two matches? I can't think of any.

Is he? Even Grimsby don't rate him.

Nicola Cortese was a fan of Lowe's?

This is what they have in mind. http://www.footballspotter.com/worst-football/

Shouldn't that be Wildely wrong? The appointment of Poortvliet and Wotte probably represents the lowest point in our long history. It demonstrated a level of incompetence hard to equal, not only in the Chairman, but also in the manager he appointed. Together, they were the football equivalent of British Leyland and the Austin Allegro. But often in life, that rock bottom point is followed by an upturn and we have emerged from the wreckage of the Lowe regime with an owner that 95% of clubs will envy us having. He in turn has put in place a totally professional management structure that will turn around our fortunes in the league hierarchy and restore us back to the elite level again within 5 years. Because of Lowe and Poortvliet, we had become a laughing stock. Now we have been given respectability and are taken seriously once more. All the clowns are gone, but it is no laughing matter for Poortvliet's current club. No doubt there are those amongst their fanbase urging that he be given more time, that they don't indulge in knee-jerk reactions. He's probably meeting some of them in a bar and they are saying on their forum what a nice guy he is. Like most fans, I couldn't care a toss whether the manager was nice or not. I'll always prefer a successful bastard.

I don't recall hearing about this aspect of things. What exactly does it all mean? Had he lost the ability to lick Rupe's arse, or something?

But basically Derry is right in what he says. Swearing to the extent that every other word is f*ck is the domain of those not intelligent enough to express themselves without it. What has it really got to do with whether one enjoys the match or not? I go to watch the football and I enjoy the chanting and the banter as a release, an opportunity to let off steam. If you think that the matchday experience is enhanced by foul and abusive language, that's up to you, but I don't have much respect for those who seem incapable of existing without it.

I had heard that it was called Serge de Nimes. But after I took the guy to task, he earnestly made notes and informed me that they would do some research and correct his spiel if it was proven to be wrong. Granted that nowadays most of their Denim might indeed come from India or the Far East, but the point is that this village was an historical reconstruction much as Ironbridge is today, so everything should be accurate. As you say though, our American cousins do need to be corrected often on historical matters. It is a constant battle because Hollywood often rewrites our history to suit their own agendas. Classic examples often star our Antipodean friend Mel Gibson in anti-English propaganda on behalf of the American Scottish or Irish immigrants communities. Watch 101 Dalmations as a Yank and you'll even believe that the Cotswolds had racoons running wild about the place. They really must rate highly in the thick population stakes. And of course, Plymouth has wrongly been associated with them as the place that the Pilgrim Fathers left from, instead of Southampton.

+3 We all know that Lowe couldn't stomach that Pearson was Crouch's appointment. As I pointed out at the time, Lowe was onto a win/win situation. He could have persevered with Pearson and had it worked out well, he would have taken the plaudits for being big enough to have stuck with him. If Pearson had failed, Lowe could have blamed Crouch. But typical of the man, he had to go his own way and embark on the bizarre experiment, hoping against hope that it would work so that he could be hailed as an innovator able to think outside the box. As it turned out, he holed his own ship below the waterline and thankfully he and his cohorts are no more as a result of his crass stupidity.

Pardew's signings have been very good so far, so whatever he believes in the way of good prospects, he has my confidence in his judgement.

A very good summary, sensible and balanced. I agree with it all.

In the previous post, you set out comprehensively several examples of history being rewritten in Japan and Germany as recently as after the last great war. It is therefore not a great leap of imagination to assume that exactly the same thing has happened here, where over centuries a myth has arisen over this gate, to fit the Bible quotation. As the article and Stephen Fry said on QI, there was no evidence of this gate's existence and it only came to be mentioned at all since the 9th Century. Undoubtedly crowds of visitors since that time have been regaled with the tale and it has mistakenly become legend. Easy to see how these things come about and illustrated well by an example I had personal experience of. In a mocked-up village in New Hampshire, local volunteers had formed an historical society and acted out the parts of the storekeeper, teacher, banker, etc in the authentic period costume of the early settlers . In the store, we were told that they stocked Denim from India. I had to correct him and inform him that it came from Nime in France, but there must have been several thousands of visitors who believe that it came from India.

Chapter and verse.... http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelneedle.htm Why do you think that they might call the gate "eye of a needle?"

This was debated by no less an authority than Stephen Fry, the most learned man on Earth on his IQ programme and he agrees with your conclusion that the Gate at Jerusalem theory was a myth.

Citing Markus Liebherr as a religious man, makes it pertinent to mention that of course our beloved ex-chairman was also a religious person. He was in the habit of enquiring of his detractors whether they read the good book. Mind you, he was also prone to make mention of the Klingons too, something I'd be most surprised to hear Markus do.

Anybody would have been excused for being negative about our prospects throughout last season and the closed season when we were in administration contemplating our very survival. Many could be excused for feeling a bit nervous about our start to the season, bearing in mind our traditional mindset historically and the appointment of a new manager. However, there is currently cause for some cautious optimism in the short term, which will hopefully translate with success into full-blown happy-clappy bravado for the first time in many, many years.

Wasn't it wet and windy at Southend? It didn't seem to bother Lallana much.

Of course we would have had the extra debt of the Stadium mortgage and the overdraft last season, but it is still debateable as to whether we could have managed, as the increased costs of having this team could well have been covered by the extra revenue generated by the attendance figures being comfortably above 17,000. It's not something I'm over concerned about except as mild speculation, as I loathed and detested that regime more than most and I'm not losing any sleep wondering whether they could have kept us going with this manager and this team.

I'm blissfully happy at our situation, compared to what we had to endure in the previous decade or so. Trouble is, our situation of management as a club by true professionals makes for a boring scene on here. I can't believe that many on here would envy Notts County over us.

I liked Gillett last season, mainly for his gutsy wholehearted performances. However, as he possibly doesn't fit Pardew's plans and hasn't had much of a chance since Hammond signed anyway, it is good sense for him to be sent out on loan. I think that his confidence might have taken a knock and if he plays regularly for Doncaster, it might get a boost, as will his fitness. I think that if he comes back fit and confident, he could be decent cover in midfield in the event of injury or suspension to others.

If the Bank could see that football itself was a viable way that the debt could be reduced, then I'm sure that they would be delighted, especially as they are sponsors of the Premier League and many of their customers are Saints fans too. But even Mr Fry (not to be confused with the Administrator, even though he went on to work for them too) who was the Bank's advisor on football matters, could probably see at the start of last season that the bizarre experiment would end in disaster. It was against the background of impending relegation through increasingly poor results and falling attendances that he pulled the plug on us. I suppose to be fair, although the players only cost £1.7 million, their wages are also a factor, although I doubt that they are high compared to second division wages. As it was it was rumoured that we required an attendance figure of 17,000 to break even. Well, that is currently being achieved with no trouble. Now, it is certainly possible that many stayed away under Lowe who have returned to the fold now that he is gone. But there were also quite a few who stopped coming because they lost hope of seeing a home win. So I don't think that it is cut and dried that we might not have survived with this team, for the sake of really quite a low outlay, but with the right manager being capable of selecting the right players to do the job.

It's a good point and one worthy of some speculation. Surely even in our pauperdom last season under Lowe and Wilde, £1.7 million would not have been beyond the bounds of possibility, especially if it meant the difference between staying up and avoiding administration, which we might have managed given the higher attendances we may have achieved. The only problem is that whereas Pearson might well have identified these players or similar ones, the double Dutch wouldn't have had a clue on them, or how to play them to the best advantage. I am certainly coming round to the belief that this team could have hacked it in the Fizzy Pop last season.

Yes, it was a juicy little titbit, but it's been sucked drier than a corpse at a vampire's convention, hasn't it? I suspect that the reason that it continues is that there is little else to talk about on here apart from football matters, which is after all the main reason for the existence of this forum and others like it. Things were much more exciting when the club was run by incompetent amateurs, but they have all gone and have been replaced by professionals with ability and financial clout. They have not put a foot wrong since they arrived. Even appointing Pardew raised one or two eyebrows, but again, after a faltering start entirely excusable by most sensible posters considering the circumstances of our plight, he has steadied the ship, addressed our shortcomings and looks like he has stopped the rot and turned us around. He has replaced most of the team and again seems to have been spot on in the players he has selected and also the appointments of his backroom team look good too. Even players here from the previous regime who were worth a moan for lack of ability or effort, have begun to shine and look decent players. So no real point in moaning much recently about the owners, the manager or the players. Even the skates seem to have become less of a joke now that the fake Sheik has sold out to somebody who might have two bob to rub together and Avram Grant is somebody hard to poke fun at since he proved a very good manager at Chelski. What else is there apart from the football match by match? Even then, it is inevitable that there will be differences of opinion, win or lose, but so what? Even if we have a gripe about one or two players, Pardew is likely to agree and replace them, or get them to improve. It's becoming very much less controversial and therefore more boring on here.