Wes Tender

It might be the start of their working week, but it doesn't make it Monday.

Don't be an idiot. It's about 1 o'clock in the afternoon there currently, Sunday.

I can't see that Crouch would be prepared to put any more of his money into the club unless it was on the basis that Wilde and Lowe had no place on the board. Why would he prop up a regime he detests? And John B, getting rid of Lowe and Wilde is not pointless provided that what replaces them saves us from administration and relegation. That is something that Lowe and Wilde seem to be doing pretty well themselves by their inept policies.

You can see from the responses that your contention that the poor home form is the result of poor home support from the fans is wide of the mark, so you are attempting to change direction by bringing in other issues to cloud the waters. I've been to every home game except the Doncaster one and can agree that despite our lowly position, the support has been consistently goodish. Certainly there has not been much in the way of negativity expressed vocally. Many reasons have been given as to why our home results are so pants, although our away results are tailing off too as we are in freefall. I tend to side with the opinion that we were too one dimensional under JP, the same formation home or away, easy for any half astute rival manager to counteract. As has also been pointed out, most opposition let us play our pretty passing football in two thirds of the pitch, sat back and defended everything thrown on them, then when we were really stretched, merely punted the ball forwards where we were weak defensively. Otherwise, they just shut us out and scored their goals from set pieces against our small or young, inexperienced defenders. Beating us was hardly rocket science. Unless you can provide more convincing reasons yourself for our poor home performances, then you will be forced to accept that some of the other reasons given here are correct, unless of course you can disparage them by irrefutable counter arguments.

In normal circumstances, stating that no valid judgement can realistically be made without watching teams of his play would be fair enough comment. However, we do know many things about Wotte that enable a reasonable assessment of how things might turn out under him, as he has been at the club the same amount of time as JP, will work under the same restraints as JP, has no additional knowledge of British football over JP's and was his subordinate, suggesting that his qualities and abilities are also inferior to JPs if that is possible. If most feel inclined towards him as I do, that we do not have time to fanny about with untested and inexperienced managers at this time of crisis, then regrettably for Wotte, he ought to understand why he might not get the support he would normally deserve. Lowe has had his throw of the dice on his mad experiment and it has failed dismally and our league position is testament to that. Lowe appointing Wotte is tantamount to the gambler who has lost heavily, pleading for double or quits. Well, Rupert, I'm afraid that your time has passed and we don't want you or your cronies having anything to do the club one second longer than necessary. You are the weakest link. Goodbye.

Let's get shot of the whole sorry bunch of money-grubbing, bent charlatans.

Not really a very valid comparison. Although I was one of the doubters myself, I realise that there were extenuating circumstances surrounding Coventry's relegation, notably that their Chairman, rather like our very own dear Rupert, had forced him to sell any player that looked half decent. At the time of their relegation, you could make up a very creditable team of those players he was forced to sell and that team would probably have been sufficiently good to have maintained a Premiership place in its own right. But as with Pearson, who also had his share of doubters when appointed, he soon demonstrated that he was capable of motivating a demoralised squad and increasing their levels of fitness. But both of them have a very strong advantage over both Wotte and Poortvliet; both were very experienced with football in this country and at this level. It has become obvious that Poortvliet has not been able to motivate the team, nor has the squad been notably fit either. But JP 's biggest failing was his naivety about how to play a team to maximum advantage in this league and lack of knowledge about the signings that might have made a difference. What is there to suggest that Wotte will have these abilities if he was brought in as Poortvliet's subordinate? Nothing. Lowe is a total idiot and I hope that this major error of judgment will be the final straw that unites the fan base into action that continues until we get rid of him and his cronies for good. If that means administration, then so be it; I'm almost past caring.

Hehe. Who says satire is dead?

Welcome to the dark side, Frank. You're obviously a decent human being, always wishing to see the good side in everybody, whereas I'm too obviously a cynical old sod who sussed out Lowe, Askham, Richards and the other charlatans a decade ago because of the immorality of the reverse takeover. I suspected then that there would come a time when it would all go horribly wrong and fall apart. The Quisling Wilde had me fooled though. I totally misjudged him. I'm pretty certain like you that there will not come a time whereby you or I have to apologise to Lowe for misjudging him over the appointment of Wotte. Like you, I believe that it will be just another mistake to place beside those of Poortvliet, Gray and Wigley. The stubborn sod never learns, does he, which is a major failing in a Chairman of a PLC.

If what you say is true and you have indeed been a Saints fan for 45 years, then you really ought to realise that protests can be successful if supported by the majority of the fan base. Take the Branfoot episode for example. I am also a shareholder, but instead of believing that protesting about the directors will achieve nothing like you, I am savvy enough about the world of business to know that a business without customers will not survive for long. There is no way that the current financial shortfall could sustain the club's continuance for long if attendances fell below 10,000 The protest march is just the opening shot across the bows. Personally, I would have gone straight for the mass boycott and stopped farting about with the marches. But when the directors ignore it, the anger will grow amongst the fans so that very soon the motivation will be there to stage the mass boycott. This would be a reality once there have been pursuasive arguments given that the result would be the removal of Lowe and the other current directors by the quickest route. Of course, it would very soon not be in Lowe and Wilde's hands as to whether they stay or go; that would be decided by Barclays and Norwich Union, as it will be made plain to them that Lowe and Wilde's departure will be the only way that the fan base can be united. The brief of the alternative strategy once Lowe and Wilde have departed has been extensively debated on other threads, so instead of repeating them again, perhaps you can do some more reading yourself.

I've often wondered whether you only post on here to wind people up, but stating that you'd rather not miss your matchday pints than take part in a protest that would assist the campaign to rid the club of Lowe and all his cronies shows you to be rather shallow and unprincipled. If you want to rid the club of these charlatans, then ridiculing attempts to achieve that end seem petty and negative unless viable alternatives are suggested. Saying that any protests would preferably be spontaneous does not qualify. As to saying that the march will not be well attended, nor well enough publicised, well, of course if many others shared your attitude, then it wouldn't be. If you want these berks to continue running our club into oblivion, then carry on as you are; I'm sure that Lowe will be eternally grateful to you and all the others that will pay their hard earned dosh into the club's coffers regardless of how they misrun the club, just moaning on the internet, but afraid that if they joined a protest march they might miss their matchday booze. Pathetic.

Lowe has blundered badly by appointing Wotte instead of an experienced British manager. This will intensify the protests, not lessen them. Once again, the useless tw*t has badly misjudged the mood of the fans.

I hadn't been on last night when this news broke, so what a surprise this morning. All I can do is reiterate what most have said. Sorry for Poortvliet who is a decent bloke, but decent blokes don't often seem to earn the respect and gain the best from their players. Anyway, it was plain right from the start that he was totally out of his depth, so all the blame falls on the shoulders of Lowe for indulging his personal whims and proving yet again that he has not the slightest idea how to run the playing side of a football club. As for replacing him with Wotte, why? Has Wotte shone so much under the shadow of JP? Or more likely, is Lowe's character so flawed by an inability to ever admit that he is wrong that he cannot rid us of all of this lower league Dutch dross? Rhetorical question, that; of course he can never admit that he is wrong, we all know that, as he has not one ounce of humility in his body. So Lowe is prepared to repeat the mistakes he made previously and appoint from within yet again, except that Wotte, like JP had nil previous experince of English football, so what's the point? As pointed out already, Lowe's been back less than a year and a further two notches on his bedstead. Is he aiming for notoriety via the Guiness Book of Records? When Wotte is found to be equally useless, there's still time for the hat trick. If Lowe believes that getting shot of Poortvliet will buy him time by placating the fans, then he had better have a rethink if the thoughts of the contributors to this thread are indicative of the general mood of the fans. I believe that the mood against Lowe has hardened considerably, not for sacking JP, but for appointing Wotte instead of a British manager experienced in this division and this situation. The time for the mass boycott is now upon us. We have to get rid of Lowe, Wilde and all the other charlatans whilst we still have a club to save.

No offence taken. Thanks for the apology. We're all Saints fans in this together and share the pain of our current sorry state. Naturally I would prefer to believe that my previous stance was one of realism rather than negativity and it doesn't give me any pleasure that things have turned out the way that I suspected they might. If we can rid the club of Lowe and all his cronies, the pain will have been worthwhile.

Lowe might not be an amateur when it comes to any sort of normal business, but he has absolutely no idea of running a business in the entertainment industry. There is sufficient expertise within the ranks of the fan base to organise and galvanise the support and it will emerge to make useful contributions. Probably a plus that this isn't being organised by past antagonists who have blotted their copybooks.

If you mean by that getting rid of Lowe as a shareholder, then maybe. If you meant getting rid of Lowe (and indeed Wilde) from the board, then there is obviously another way of achieving that. The only effective way to achieve that end is to put the gun against his head by staging the mass boycott that would have him gone in a very short time, as if he didn't fall on his sword, administration and total loss of his share value would concentrate his mind wonderfully. It could be done as a form of Russian roulette, one match boycott after another until he goes. I reckon he'd be gone after the second boycott if numbers fell below 10,000. Even if he was stubborn, the bank and loan note holder would tell him to go, to be replaced by a less divisive Chairman and Board. This would be more effective of course if the bank and loan note holder had an idea of who would take over those roles, or they might even have people in mind already in the event of such a happening. Also helpful if they had assurances that the campaigners would return after his departure and that many would also be renewing lapsed STs.

Read it again as your comprehension is faulty. Bungle pointed out that he hadn't said it would be supported by a handful of chavvy kids, nor ran by them.

Well, sadly I voted that we would be relegated and it gives me little pleasure to know that I will probably be proved right.

Addressed to Nineteen-Canteen, Bungle, Stu Romsey and a few other nay-sayers... This is early days yet, but at least somebody has had the balls to get off their backsides and do something about the parlous situation we find ourselves in. Mock the slightly amateurish way that the thing has been planned, but unless you can come up with something better, or give constructive advice as to how things can be improved, your mocking or apathy will be treated with the contempt it deserves. This demonstration is a seed that is germinating fast and it will grow and flourish with support and media attention. As more people get to hear about it, it will gain momentum and more sage minds will attach themselves to it, people experienced in organisational and media skills will give valuable advice as to how it can be made more effective. There will also be an element of people being enthused by the march who will attach themselves to it in town, so a smaller nucleus at the start of the march might be considerably bigger by the time it reaches the stadium. Personally, my own viewpoint is that the most effective and immediate results will come from a mass boycott, but this could be the precursor for that; a warning shot across the bows. It should be made clear to Lowe and the board that the next concerted action will be the boycott at the next home match after Swansea, if they have not resigned.

I voted Curbishley, as he is head and shoulders more able than any of the others; precisely why we could never hope to get him here.

I'll probably be there and also my son I suspect, who might well get several of his Saints supporting friends along too.

There are two good reasons why he would be a fit and proper person to take over Saints that immediately spring to mind. Firstly he is stinking rich. Secondly, he is not Rupert Lowe.

I have a suspicion that if Lowe allowed the club to go into administration, the loss of face that he would suffer as a result would hurt his ego too much and also affect his credibility in the financial circles that he also moves in. He would lose the value of his shares too, but if he could buy the club on the cheap, then that would comensate. But on the other hand, there is absolutely no guarantee that he could be the highest bidder for the club from the receivers. Others involved in the club's recent history might also wish to bid, or indeed others might come into the equation who have not so far been involved with the club. So Rupert has no real certainty that he could buy the club on the cheap. And if he did, I for one would never put one penny more into the club's coffers whilst he remained.

So you conclude that Mike Richards or Andrew Cowen have better things to do all day, but somehow an equally busy businessman such as Wilde doesn't? Unless his lifestyle has changed more recently, Richards spent a lot of his spare time in his hotel room in St. Peter's Port, Guernsey. Somebody also mentioned that Crouch had posted before under a pseudonym. Presumably he had nothing better to do also. Why are you so sure that Richards would use his own name? All that would achieve is lots on here taking him to task about what he has ever done for the club in return for his cheap shares. As for the really educated man bit, then it is possible to be well educated but not too hot on your writing style. For example, there are brilliant mathematicians out there whose thought processes when it comes to expressing themselves in writing are all over the place.

I agree that it didn't appear like Sundance's style and I had plenty of experience of crossing swords with him; I almost miss him. If I had to guess as to an identity, I'd have imagined that one of Lowe's associates like Richards or Cowen would write in this style. It's certainly an educated and well expressed viewpoint, although very much biased along the lines that there is no viable alternative to Lowe in charge of the club and that nothing he has done could have been done better or differently by anybody else.