Wes Tender

I thought that this was worth bumping as the thread continues to be a good source of amusement. Now we have Storrie telling the World that the Skates are in a state of complete limbo, neither Gaydamak or Fahim willing to spend a penny, while the club are forced into further selling of players just to keep afloat. The takeover by Fahim was supposed to have been completed ages ago but still hasn't happened, lending fear to the possibility that it might yet all fall through. Players they have targeted like Katalinic have signed elsewhere. Decent players are being replaced with unknowns and has beens. What a reverse of the situation of a couple of months ago when we envied their luck, supposedly being taken over by their third muti-millionaire in a row, whereas all we had in our history was mostly control by local accountants and solicitors and the occasional businessman who could be categorised as wealthy, but not mega rich. With the possibility growing ever more likely that we could actually both be in the Fizzy Pop league next year, or almost certainly the year after for us, our star is firmly in the ascendancy, whereas theirs is waning. We had to endure much gloating from them along the M27 when things looked bleak for us. It seems to have gone very quiet from their end of late.

So why didn't you just add your OP to one of them? I'm definitely with Thorpie in the optimistic camp and Nick summed it all up admirably. Reasons to be happy, 1,2,3.

Have you engaged your brain when typing this? Kindly explain to me how you have been robbed by the club? Did they force you to buy a ST or pay for tickets against your will? I agree that we haven't had value from the previous incumbents, but stop trying to make out that you never had the option to cease going if you didn't think that it was worth it.

Nobody in the team called Matt with Silky skills...

Anyway, the first rule of any successful business is that the customer is king. There's another area where I'm sure there will be a difference between this ex-banker and the last one, as the last incumbent didn't know that first rule, or if he did, he ignored it.

Ah, but there is a big difference here. In this case, that ex-banker is not spending his own money. He might obviously feel a moral obligation to spend our benefactor's money wisely and not profligately, but he doesn't need to pause over every pound spent and wonder whether he can afford it personally, does he?

P.S. I was never wronged at any stage, so quit the amateur psychology.

Is this me on the high horse, or you, John? I just stated the obvious and it is you that is analysing it to the nth degree. The simple answer is that if somebody cannot go to the match and hands the ticket over to somebody else in the same price category, I'm sure the club couldn't care less. However, if that ticket was bought at a big discount because the holder is either a child or a senior, then if somebody uses it who ought to have paid more for it, then they are depriving the club of additional revenue. It is a matter for the conscience of the individual on the one hand and the efficiency of the club's security measures on the other.

Sorry to be a killjoy, but if somebody uses a reduced price ticket when they are not entitled to, then they are depriving the club of money. In the case of the adult using the senior ticket, the issue isn't so clear cut, as the senior tickets start at 60 and the line is blurred between those close to that age, in that some look older than 60 when they're 50 and vice versa. Regarding adults using a child's ticket, then that's just plain wrong. Perhaps the club ought to have the tickets printed in different colours so that it is immediately obvious to the stewards on the turnstiles.

Skilful but lazy from what I hear. Poor man's Matt Le Tiss?

Loved it.

It amazes me Tim, that you were normally upbeat and positive throughout the reign of terror, but now that the bloodsucking vampires have been replaced with an avuncular billionaire, you get fidgety and morose.

Is Finnan their equivalent of our Thomas, then? Seemingly.

Some on here are little kids moaning that Santa hasn't brought them any presents when we haven't even reached Xmas day yet.

No. just a handful. I reckon that the entire stand will be STs

Big queues there this morning. I went to get a ST for my son. There'll be several extra hundred sold today, that's for sure.

So that will be another club recently in administration, then. Coincidence?

Wrong slant on things entirely. Under the old regime, we would have stumped up our dosh in March to get the best prices, whereas now we had until just a week before the new season to get good prices. Because our overheads would not have fallen under the old regime, it would undoubtedly have cost the same in this league as it did in the fizzy pop under the last shower, justified by us having another cup competition to enter. I'm bewidered at anybody thinking dire thoughts before a ball has even been kicked in anger in a meaningful match this season.

Will be useful to have the Chelsea connection with brother Butch. I'm imagining him picking up the phone and getting us some of their youngsters on loan.

Dino!!

No. It's 8 cms. Trust a referee's judgment to be faulty.

Compared to this time last season when we knew that Pearson had gone, Lowe and the Quisling ruled the roost, we had two Dutch minnows in charge and would be playing the kids, I am ecstatic at the transformation of our fortunes this season. I am happy that we have a new manager experienced at this level and above, successful in achieving promotions. We still have the remnants of a decent team at this level and just need some fine tuning and some strength in depth to make it viable. We have managed to keep the best goalkeeper in the division by far, against all expectations. Most would have predicted that Lallana would have gone too. Murty and Harding will strengthen the defence and other players introduced too early last season are developing into decent prospects. We are no longer in the position we had as paupers whereby we could not afford to either buy or keep the best players. We will buy sensibly, but secure in the knowledge that if we really want to buy or keep a player, money is no object within reason. If players like John, Rasiak and Saganowski choose to go elsewhere, they can be replaced by either better players nearing the end of their careers (as they are) from divions above, or the best young prospects from within this division. What's not to feel positive about?

Ifil wasn't bad when he was here, but he's got a long way to go to be considered anywhere as good as Murty has been or could still be, when he's fully match fit.

Well, he couldn't, could he Ottery? Firstly the letter was anonymous. Secondly, it was either written by Lowe himself, or his school fag, Cowan.

The trouble with the Skates at the moment, is that they are suffering Peter and the Wolf syndrome. Compiling a list of the players that they say they have got to the stage of just needing a signature on the contract and then seeing that somehow, unfortunately the deal has not gone through, indicates one of two things. Either they are extremely unlucky in picking those targets which end up being fraught with problems, or else they have been faking these targets, never seriously wishing to proceed with them at all. It has got to the stage now that most people, including some of their own fans, have concluded that the latter reason might have some substance behind it. The club is skint, the new owner is nowhere near as wealthy as originally thought, especially if those originally rumoured to be backing him have mysteriously withdrawn, presumably because there are doubts as to whether they would pass the right and proper persons criteria set by the FA. The old owner is still hanging around like a stale fart, attempting to get as much money back from the club as he can before it all goes belly-up. The top managers who were trumpeted, such as Sven and Mancini never materialised. Instead they got Hart whose previous profile made few ripples on most football fans' consciousness. Top imported strikers, Maradonna, all sufficient hot air to fuel another attempt at an around the World balloon flight. The veneer is wearing very thin. Any club who now recieves an enquiry for one of their best players, will soon be telling the Skates to go and annoy somebody else, as they will not be taken seriously.