John Smith

I knew you didn't mean to come across quite so harsh as you did. I've read your posts in the past and I know we often agree. I think, like I said, us fans are divided on this issue. And, if you could direct your passionate derision against Cortese rather than the Liebherrs, I think it'll be better. However, on your point of moving the team or whatever, I think you'll foind that the Liebherrs have no interest whatsoever in 'moving' this club. It is exactly where it needs to be. Remeber that ML was quite religios, St Mary's church just down the road, Saint Mary's stadium, The Saints, it aint gonna happen. Also, don't be misguided in believing that people like me and others, are not 'fawning' over Cortese, but, are do in fact feel the same as you. We just think that to make this a family club, a supporters club, and basically a club again, we need to look at ourselves. Forget the meaningless moaning of some about Cortese this, Cortese that, he is the boss, if your boss was weak willed, weak minded and pampered to those that needed to be consulted on here every time he needed a fart, the 'business' wouldn't move anywhere. So, what we're saying is give him a chance to run the 'business' and we should concentrate on making this a family club again. And remember, it is ONLY the fans that can do this, not Cortese. The photography ban, does not effect the family club, the withdrawal of the installments was a decision based on those that ripped this family club off, and yes, we suffered for that, but don;t blame Cortese for the would be criminals on here. As for the £3 surcharge, I'm torn, I understand the need for it, I just question the diplomacy in it. However, If you were a season ticket holder, you wouldn;t be effected by it. But, family, does the £3 effect the family? Some on here would say it out priced the family and it is now more expensive, blah blah, BUT, when I was a nipper, I have stated this in the past, before even Cortese was known to us, I watched Saints once a season, this was my birthday present. And if my parents couldn;t afford to come as well, my uncle would pay for my cousin (who was 10 years older), to bring me instead. I could NEVER afford to go to the games until I was 14 and I got a milk round, I worked every week end, from 3am til 1pm, got paid and went straight to the game. But, I'm not looking for sympathy, I enjoyed it, it was special and yes it was a family club. But, it was the fans that made it that way, not the Chairman. And, it's the fans that can make it that way again. So, criticise Cortese where it's deserved, but do it respectfully, like you;re part of a family. Leave the business to him, and leave the supporting to us. And stop believing all what you hear, believe me, if you think your boss is a tool, it's probably because you don;t work hard enough. Bosses should be tough, that's why they're the boss. But don;t confuse tough with tool, as some on here seem to. Also, a lot of 'fans' have an axe to grind, don;t listen to them, they will talk to ANYBODY that will listen, they are hurt and bitter, and in my mind, cry babies who have had they're toys taken away, boo hoo and all that. Lastly, whatever the price, whatever the reason, they didn;t con anybody, anybody could've put in a higher bid, they didn't, we have what we have now. Allow them to do their jobs, because they believe we will do ours, only, it seems that they're doing their job, but the fans and the players aren;t doing theirs. Think it's time we ALL started trying, don't you?

Interesting stance. FWIW, I generally agreed with you that Ap needed time at the beginning of the season. Why keep him here if to only sack him 4 games in, didn't make sense? And because of the NDA's OR the unwillingness to communicate (Cortese & Pardew equally), us fans are left scatching our heads and wondering WTF! Basically, the fans are divided (on here anyway), between AP must have done something to deserve being sacked and it's a good job he went as he was the reason we were not performing, whereas others believe that Cortese is a power crazed fool that sacks people on a whim and employee's avoid him like the plague. I think this is a fair split. BUT, I also think we have to seperate our feelings of Cortese from our understanding of the Liebherr family. Yes, business is business, but our owners have lost their husband/father and family member, I think telling them to f**k off is very much OTT. You are clearly confusing your dislike for Cortese with your dislike for someone who has been laid to rest and his remaining family members that didn't want this club for themselves anyway. Also, I don;t think it's about profit. I believe the club was originally an investment. We all knew Saints were an opportunity with someone with enough money. Cortese convinced Liebherr that he was the man to take that opportunity. And let's face it, this time last year, we nearly (laughably) had that other mob in charge of us but, they failed and Liebherr picked up the chalice and carried us forward. A year on, let's not tell them to F**k off, that's not right. For all Cortese's failings, communication being one of them, I think some on here have missed the whole point of this business. It was to be self sustaining. We weren't promised millions of investment. We believed that come January last season, if we were in with a shout of promotion, funds would be made available. Opinion was split, would we challenge for a play-off spot or not? AP believed we would, NC convinced ML to release the purse strings, high profile players were brought in, BUT we failed, fell short. Can we blame AP? I think so. Can we blame the players? Probably. Can we blame NC or ML? I don;t think so, they delivered where his manager and team did not. So, this summer, I thought we all knew there would be no BIG signings and a massive influx of players. We resorted to plan A, self sustaining. This is why it has gauled me when I hear people demanding this player or this amount of money or cry when there is a £3 surcharge or the installment plan that was abused by us, was taken away. This is what happens when you are wanting to become self sustaining, particularly in the economic situation we are ALL in. And, the players we had on the opening day of the season, were not being questioned. The training was, the pre-season friendlies were, but not the ability of these players. As it has turned out, many of these players have underperformed AND Liebherr passed away, very sadly, AND AP was let go (like I said, who knows why). So why oh why oh why, do Liebherr's family deserve, or have offended you so much whereby you feel that, through your angst I'm guessing, you can disrespect them so. In other words, what did they do to you? And don;t say Cortese, that was ML and he is not here to defend himself or his actions or his decisions. If you are upset with Cortese, then so be it, FWIW I think you shouldn't be. If you are upset that AP has gone, then so be it, but again, FWIW, looking forward, maybe NA is the man for us in this period of our history, but only time will tell. But, don;t get agro with the Liebherr family. ML passing was not planned, it wasn't a slight against you or any other fan, and I'm sure they didn;t want this to happen. So, where does this leave us. IMO, it leaves us exactly where we were at the end of last season, just missing our. The circumstances have changes, some of the personnle has changed, but, we have lucked out 'again'. But, I believe, rather than all pointing fingers, sla**ing off Cortese, bad mouthing the Liebherrs, demanding money, stamping our feet for loanee's, criticising the back room staff, airing personal stories on here to cause unwanted conjecture, I believe, we need to club together. For good or for bad, this season, we need to become a club again. Cortese is trying to make this so, the staff are working hard to achieve this, the Liebherrs have not pulled the plug and the position we are in is where we deserve to be. So, what this club needs right now, is not for anyone to F**k Off, BUT, for EVERYONE to pull together and move forward, that includes the players AND the fans. This includes you, this includes me. And the more 'stories' that I hear on this website about Cortese this and Cortese that, reminds me just how far people will go t o advance their own agenda rather than joining forces for the GOOD OF THIS CLUB, burying that agenda and supporting Saints. Let's review this again next year. We are in League 1, we are in season 2 of NC's reign, he just lost his friend and mentor, let's just give the guy a chance. If he messes up, let's 'help' him put them right, let's be positive not negative, let's be fans.

OK, I'll try another way. Seeing as you despise this 'no mark' and 'liar' (lyer or lier?) and you believe Reed to be washed up and despised by just about all he has come into contact with, what are your thoughts on Nigel Adkins? What does Howard Wilkinson say about him? Surely if Reed and Cortese are so useless in their respective roles, if Adkins has any quality about him, he wouldn't have been appointed. Your knowledge of Hart, again through Wilkinson, seems a little too blue. Tell me, was the information, happily advanced to you by Wilkinson (again), particularly the drinking part and qpr link, at the same dinner that you received the information about Cortese? Seems like a long conversation. That is unless you were at a Sports writers dinner or something very similar. I here Wilkinson represents well at those do's, doesn't do public events very often and certainly not lately. Little more info please, I am very curious.

You know what, I wouldn't blame the Liebherr family members for selling up. If this forum is a representation of our fanbase, I'd leave as well. It's quite disgusting how people act and speak of people on here. How spoilt so many are and have very little value of money. How so many claim to speak for me or on behalf of Saints fans and don;t actually turn up on a Saturday. If I was the Liebherr family and I did a search on our club and found this site, read some of the posts, I think I'd be in tears, tthinking about why Markus bothered to invest his money into such ungrateful, snivveling wrethces of the human race. This game used to be for the working class, people who were supposed to have values and when we were looking for buyers, many on here wanted the debt gone but didn;t want a sugar daddy to buy our way back up again, but to rebuild from scratch and do it the hard way, restore our values, our club and our sense of pride! Well, I am ashamed to be associated with some of you on this site and I can;t believe you are the same people that wanted these things over a year ago. You are strangers to me, I have nothing in common with. In fact, most of those who I agree with, can;t be bothered to voice their opinions anymore, mainly through not wanting to repeat themselves over and over again. But, that doesn;t apply to the haters. They start thread after thread of hatred against Cortese, Pardew (when he was manager) and player after player. It won't be too many games in when the anti-Adkins threads begin, questionning every decision, not debating, but 'hating'. If the Liebherr family do happen to read this post, I want you to know, I thank Markus and Nicola for rescuing this club, taking it out of debt and restoring my pride. I wish you well in everything you do and hope that you can see your way past these faceless internet warriors and continue to enable this club to operate without huge injections of cash. I don;t want your money, but I would love to have your support and guidance. Southampton FC means a lot to me, I hope it will mean something to you in time. But, if you do leave, please do so without any regrets and with only my best wishes and hope for the future, yours, mine and this clubs. I do hope these rumours are unfounded and that these people that are trying to run this club into the ground give up. I think those of us that truly support this club need to be a bit tighter in the future to stop this disease from spreading like woodworm and making us rotten from the core.

You are very tedious. I'm sorry that you are so up your own ar*e that you can't/won't see the bigger picture. The rubbish, sorry theories that you are spouting off, maybe you should read the libel thread before thinking you are untouchable. Not that I think NC will bother to sue a 'no mark' like you, but, the admin should really ban you. Unless of course you have any evidence whatsoever to support your claims. Your language is very strong and direct, so I'm guessing you have the information right at your fingertips, don;t hang about, back up those claims now. Reason being, I'm pretty sure you know nothing first hand and at best have heard it from someone with an axe to grinde but most likely it is your own ipinion based on nothing whatsoever, maybe frustration. But, if it was frustration, you'd know what it was like to be a Saints fan, we've had a lifetime of it, so why spit the dummy now? This forum is becoming rotten to the core. It has become a breeding ground for rumour mongers, people with axes to grind, ex ITKers and most hit the target of NC, because he seems to be an easy target. I wish you lot would put some energy into supporting our team. What's that? You're from Poopey or you don't go, or you're not a football fan? Souds about right for most on here now. And, just to make it clear, this last comment wasn;t directed at you leftback.

Absolutely, and it does my head in, that even after all this investment, from what was an absolutely dire situation and aside from Morgan, Lallana, Kelvin and Bart, ML and NC have purchased a whole new squad, 'fans' are still moaning and whinging and talking about Lowe and wanting to get rid of NC and selling or rather dropping our best players. ML did want this club to be self sustaining, and it is. We have a very good team, thanks to ML (RIP)! And now it is up to Adkins and the players WITH OUR SUPPORT to fulfill the dream! The ball is in our court. And so I call for unity and support during these difficult times. Stop crying like babies about the 'lack of investment' you spoilt little brats. We have the best team possible, especially if you compare us to where we were 15 months ago! So, buy a ticket and shout your lungs off in Support of our team. After all , we are 'supporters' aren't we? Although I think we need a new section of fans called the 'moaners'! Oh, and to answert the OP, could've been a good debate if you hadn't gone on about Lowe so much. Let it lie, move on. Yes we have come forward, yes it is a new dawn, because under Lowe, there was no tomorrow, no dawn whatsoever, we were dead in the water, cut adrift and entering liquidation. So, every Saturday, thanks to Cortese primarily and ML (RIP) for backing his man, we have a team to SUPPORT, so I suggest you do it!

Maybe, if you took a leaf out of your own book, I directed a direct answer to your post in the Huddersfield reposte. I notice you didn;t bother to reply, as this was the only thing I was commenting on in your well constructed post, which, I felt fell apart at the first hurdle of you not remembering one game where Hammond played well last season. Again, I respond to you by pointing out the link I posted just afterwards, and if you remember the game, I'm sure you'll apologise. As for the 'scum' part, well if your surname is 'People', I think you'll find that it was a generalisation against the idiots on here that just bad mouth players without any substance or layalty. I hadn't originally included you in that, and for your confusion, I apologise. However, I had made several valid points and 'other' posters on this thread have ignored ALL relevant points, hence the 'scum' labelling. There is little point debating with scum, again, not directed at you, I have a better chance in the playground of thelocal primary school. I mean, with Conolly and probably barnard out, and Lambert 'apparently' sh*te, according to our fans, and with Lallana out and Puncheon apparently sh*te, coupled with both Hammond and Morgan and Pulis and Wotton all sh*te, according to our fans, we have no midfield or forwards. Then theirs the defenders, apparently Jaidi and Harding were sh*te last season and this, Butterfield was only ever cover and is sh*te, then ther's Dickson, who's really a midfielder and sh*te in that position anyway. Plus Davis was sh*te a long time ago and never got better, with Bartoz being sh*te when he should've taken his chance, we only have Fonte, who, according to some on here was sh*te against Rotherham. So, my Saints loving friends, with our entire team being sh*te, according to you lot, why the f*ck to you bother. My opinion, because you're all sh*te!

So, all you;re saying is, that because, 'in your opinion', not Pardews, not Wilkins, not Adkins, but 'your' opinion, he 'ain't performing' (like a performing seal I'm guessing, because it ain't all about what you do with the ball), we should slate the guy by saying he ain't good enough. And rather than support the guy, who was brilliant last season, consistent last season, a goal scoring, box to box player last season, we should humiliate him by dropping him. Not work with him in training, not build his confidence, not sing his name from the terraces, but, leave him at home. BRILLIANT. So, thanks for all the hard work and effort you put in last seaon, or in your words, 'he can be a good player', now, because death, sackings, 3 managers and a sh*t pre-season and rubbish training, you're out, not good enough. Well, I'm glad you;re not on my team. Look, this isn;t directed just at you and yes there was another thread on this already and no, it didn;t need another pathetic loser starting another one. But, it is against all the idiots on here who really can;t see the bigger picture and really think buying in someone new or replacing him (or Puncheon or lambert), with someone else we've sl*gged off like Pulis or Wotton, there has been something amiss, it is absolutely clear. And maybe it is just the fact that death messes with your head, or maybe it's something more to do with Pardew, or something else, but, you do not become a bad player over night and seriously, as a professional, being 'dropped' is a massive thing, when maybe all you need is a bit of confidence, you know, the kind of 'support' that 'supporters' give. I am happy to say, I could see that Hammond didn't have a good game yesterday, BUT, I tell you what, he played the pass of the game which put Lambert clean through on goal, but he fluffed his lines. You know the pass, where he burst though from midfield, beating his man and lobbing it over the CB's head, straight to Lambert, who didn;t have the killer touch to take him away from the defence! No, don;t remember that, you know, the important things? Also, whereas everyone has sla**ed hammond off for one particular glaring mistake, where he mistimed getting to the bouncing ball, where he got there first, another player, Butterfield, took their player down, got a yellow card and their free-kick was one of the worst I've ever seen. Where were the Butterfield haters when he deserved praise for bailing out his captain? Thank god it's a team game eh? As for the 'keep calm', get lost. I am sick and tired of you Premiership plaerys coming on here and sla**ing off players such as hammond, Lambert, Jaidi, Harding and Puncheon, when there is absolutely no need for it. We could all see Hammond wasn't at his best yesterday, we don't need you telling us this. How about trying to understand why? Now, that would take some brain power wouldn't it, some intelligence, some thought. So, I'll to you what, I'll chill out if you use your brain, but I won;t hold my breath. What's that? You;re not a Premiership player? No sh*t

Like I said, school playground. Tell you what people, why don;t you all read the Match Report on the Huddersfield game last season, here's the link: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10280~47939,00.html Then, if you were there, if you go to the games, if you've watched Hammond play, you'll remember what a f*cking good player he is. He, like Lambert and Puncheon (who is playing on the wrong side), are off form, it could be for a myriad of reasons, I believe they had a poor pre-season, I think the training was wrong, I think Pardew hit their confidence, and I think the death of ML (RIP) effected these players more than we will ever know. So, after you've reminded yourselves how Hammond controls games, sets up goals and scores them, remember that you're SUPPORTERS, so stop complaining and do YOUR job better and start SUPPORTING.

Huddersfield at home when we scored 5! Plus several others that we could mention. Particularly at the beginning of the season. He played far too many games last season and covered Morgans ars* when he was off form. Look, yesterday, Hammond was poor. This season he has been out of sorts but nothing like what people, sorry, 'scum' on here liken him to. And if you think 'scum' is a bit strong, try reading some of the comments made about the 'Captain' of this club. It is a disgrace the 'scum' can moan and whinge and cry about somebody not playing well. If you think he is a cr*p player then you didn't watch saints last season as he was THE most consistent player in our team which is EXACTLY what you want from a centre Mid, especially a captain. I think it should stop here, right now. Let's try SUPPORTING our team and our players through these tough, tough times. In fact, if you ain't got nothing good to say, don;t say anything at all. It's all well and good having a forum where you can say what you like and make your points, but whatever happened to criticism, all we get on here is a sla*ging off, really, really bitter, spiteful fools, mouthing off and thinking it's big and clever to bad mouth OUR captain. Where are we? The school playground. You lot make me wanna puke.

We have to stop bashing our players FFS! If you check out the stats on chances created, shots taken and attempts on goal, we are right up there! It isn't about wide men getting to the line, we didn't do it last season either, christ, the amount of moaning that went on about it on here was endless. Antonio and Waigo were often brough on in the last 15 mins or so when their defence was knackered and ours needed an outlet. Oxlaide Chamberlain, at home at least, has got to the line more times than anyone this season, and there is no difference in a negative way. Lallana never got to the by-line last season, he won't this season either. Puncheon wasn't signed until January FFS! Barnard and Lambert have only played a couple together this season, Barnard is suspended and Lambert isn;t fit, isn't sharp, just not on his game. Hammond has created as many this season as he did last. When Connolly has come in both Hammond and Morgan have played it out wide or into the channels for Connolly. Truth is, we started off sluggish, I think we laboured in the first couple of games and weren't ruthless enough. Then ML passed away (RIP) and this rocked our football club massively. Never underestimate the effect on morale when a member of the club dies. It is shocking and horrific and devastating and puts a different aspect on life and football. Then we've had Pardew gate, and yes whatever the reasons for his dismissal, it has disrupted the players, but that be the reason for the sacking, we don;t know, but it has been a destraction. Caretaker manager bringing nothing new and not being able to lift the players, new manager in, not enough time to make a difference yet. Our players have had a tough ride so far, ML passing and Ap being sacked. We shouldn't feel sorry for them as they should be professionals, BUT, they are fu**ing human, so stop fu**ing moaning! Let's get behind them because, I believe, what they lack is DESIRE and PASSION. I see why they have lost it, but we can help them get it back. And as for SISA and the TRust, dis-fu**ing-graceful, LEAVE ML's family alone and stop bemoaning them to have apoke at Cortese. NI, needs to f**k right off after that, are we surprised he didn't get a ST, disrespectful MF!

Like I said, leave that stuff aside, but, nope brought up again. Look, we didn't turn up against Plymouth or Leyton Orient either. Sometimes, as a player, you have to look at yourself. Stop putting blame on everyone else, they simply haven't done it this season, with or without Pardew, it goes deeper than that, and no, I don't mean NC, I mean DESIRE!

Agree with you '76. These are worrying times for a Saints supporter, and, although you would've been foolish to think we'd run away with this league, few, if any, would've thought we'd be looking at relegation! Let's put the back room stuff aside for one moment, as you have, things weren't right from day one. We have laboured, we have toiled, we have passed and looked pretty, but, where is the bite, the zest, the belief? Where is the heart, the sweat, the DESIRE! If you guys don't want to play for Saints, please, don't turn up for our new boss, as you haven't turned up this season. Let the new guy, whoever it is, select a team from players that want to be here, that want to win and that want to be a Saint!

I am totally with you on this phil. Some of the comments from 'fans' are just vile. The way these rumours, conjecture and bull***t are being regurgitated time and again so that they become as read and that those that are trying to debate, open up and consider the opinion, is then thrown back in their face as the event did happen or that this wouldn;t have been accepteable under Lowe's blah blah blah, it is MAKING ME PHYSICALLY SICK. The time has come for the mods to put a stop to these non-saints coming on this site and posting. I want ST numbers taken, membership numbers recorded, some sort of questionnaire answered to prove you're not a poopey fan on a wind up. Why? Because half of you don;t seem to have the first f**king clue about football, nor one smidhing of a clue when it comes to business and may as well be a peguine in the sahara when you put the two together because it is so alien to you. I am sick of it, and I hope you're glad. You have turned this website in to bull***t! And it has no worth anymore. There is no debate here, no like minded souls coming together to share opinions, just a lot of old tosh from idiots who haven't got a f**king clue. P**s off back to fratton and back to your tabloids, stop screwing with my club, we don't need you, scum!

Well, I just think calling Nc a ******, comparing to Rupert Lowe and claiming he has already 'ruined' this club, is more 'catch all' than what Toadhall has stated. In fact, if you break down both 'catch all' statements, Cestrian saints statment is probably a bit further off the facts than Toadhalls. I mean, you'd have to be totally anti Cotese to remark on Toahall's statement, which, although may not be absolutely acurate, it is feasible, whereas, you fail to comment on Cestrian 'saints' comments about NC being a ******, in the mould of Rupoert AND that he HAS ruinbed this club ALREADY. wow, I'm astonished at you steve.

And this is why therenis a split in the fanbase; 1. didn;t bother me 2. didn't bother me 3. didn't bother me 4. matter of opinion, and didn't bother me 5. based on what the bournemouth chairman says and, didn't bother me 6. In your opinion and didn't bother me as I believe this was not the reason foir getting rid of Pardew, which, yep, you guessed it, didn't bother me.

I just can't believe the absolute cr*p I've read on here today. It is quite clear we have outsiders posting on this website, again. It is also clear that some that despise NC over this photography ban (sigh), so much, that they are hurling abuse, feeling embarassed, etc, etc. But what has he actually done? Interviewd a couple of guys for a job BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. Now, I am a disappointed that NC sacked AP, BUT, hang on, NONE of us no why. If it WAS down to AP, I hop all you cretins go grovelling to NC and beg forgiveness, because a lot of you have been vile. If it was NC doing it on a power trip and a whim, then I'd be disappointed in NC, but, Ap wasn't brilliant, no, I'd be disappointed because I think we may have missed an opportunity to gain some real momentum and get a real injection of charisma at the top levels of this club. Kevin Keegan or Stuart Pearce, not saying these exactly, but this club needs an adrenalin injection. BUT, that is my opinion, and I am certainly not going to blame the burning of the koran and the fllods in Pakistan on NC, as this is the kind of reaction you guys are dishing out, like NC is some sort of devil worshipping witch that controls the world for the purpose of his own personal gain. get a grip people, and you non saints, do one, you're not funny and certainly not ITK. Over the next few weeks, I will certainly be trawling back over some of your posts and outing the non-itk'ers. It's been like a witch hunt on here and being a saints fan whilst the press make up lies, outsiders distabalise this club and some of our own idiotic fans, rock the boat, I'll be glad when normal service is resumed, we win a few games, get promoted at the end of the season and those that hate this club so much, p*ss off. I can't believe some of you are swallowing every piece of 'journalism' every word of mouth, horses mouth, posters with friends 'inside' the club, itk'ers, have we not been here before, have you learned NOTHING?????? Anyway, I'm going to have my dinner now, why, because it's dinner time. And when Saints announce the new manager, I will hope he does well. And next game we play at SMS, I will be there, supporting the team, if you support the Saints, I guess this is what you'll be doing as well, that is, unless you've already eaten.

Looks like I was just about spot on.

To be fair, am a little dissappointed that it will be adkins, but, I am happy to see the results change before I get upset. However, this is not a f**k up by NC. In fact, he's done it exactly right. Do youreally think that when NC spoke to Scunny Chairman (and this is the important part) BEFORE he offered the role to Adkins, that compensation WASN'T discussed, not mentioned, no hints at all, just NC goin, can I speak to your first team manager, scunny chairman, yeah, ok! You dooshbag! Compensation would have already been talked about, even if ball park figure, scunny chairman hoped Adkins would stay and if he agreed to the Saints role, would try and get a bit more cash to make it seem better. However, verbally at least it had already been agreed. The reason he quotes Adkins is because of what he said BEFORE he agreed with Saints. The reason he can't get hold of Saints is because comp had already been agreed, no longer warrents a discussion. Reason Scunny chairman is in the news is that he is publically asking for more money because he can't reneg on his previous agreement. This isn't, as much as you want it to be, NC's fault. Like I said, don't necessarily agree with appointment, don't know the facts behind Pardew dismissal, BUT, that's not NC's fault either. Get over it. Sure, dislike NC, but find a reason first, not because Scunny chairman is on the scrounge! (as he probably should do by the way)

I think the Exeter comparrison wasa good one. However, their system has been in place longer than ours and both parties have grown to mutually respect and trust the others role and position. This doesn't seem to be the case here. In fact, I have no idea how strained the Pardew and Reed relationship would be or become. If they had a falling out or disagreemnt, and it didn;t have to be about first team selection, one of them could certainly create a circle of trust in his direct reports and make it tough for the other to be included in the decision making, in effect, forcing them out and alienating them from the process, undermining them. For example, if I were to have a 'committee' meeting about first team 'tactics', I could hold it after hours and in a 'public' location, and if that 'pub'lic location wasn't local, this may make the relationship difficult to maintain.

Someone with experience, maybe an adkins or another like minded manager that has gained promotion from the lower leagues, Pearson for example or Mowbrey, all big names, they demand respect. BUT, if Reed is pulling the strings and they are aware of this, then they aren't as big a name as I thought, or what they thought. If they come in thinking they have autonomy and then Reed starts rocking the boat and they can't put him in his place then Cortese got it wrong. If the knew manager leaves because of it, then the manager was not a big name. Eddie Howe, no, not done it, would've been interesting last season if he had already got Bournemouth promoted, but he just isn't experienced enough. What I'm saying is, there is going to be a very fine line for Cortese and if he goes small and the guy gets swallowed up by this club and its staff and our results get worse, there will be even worse times ahead for us (the supporters). Therefore, Cortese needs to go big, someone who covers all the basis, he MUST get this right, if that means Pearson, do it, if that means KK, do it, if that means Martin O neil, do it! HE MUST GHET THIS RIGHT or it's the end of the dream..... for now anyway.

2 things, once it is announced: 1. we need to go back through all these ITK posts and ban them from this site. 2. Whoever the new manager is, they need to hit the ground running, get the players on side and not have any in fighting amongst other coach's If this manager is not a big name and is not in charge fully and someone else is pulling his strings (Mr Reed), then there will be sooooooo much pain coming their way, it will be the end of Cortese. I'm not sure if Cortese realises just how in the balance things are at the moment, and if he gets this wrong and we apppoint Mr Wrong, then, well, it doesn't bare thinking about. Some on here would call me a Cortese supporter, I just wasn't put off by his decisions, they didn't effect the first team. Getting rid of Pardew? Well, Pardew was ok, but, if it was down to unprofessional behaviour, then I'm more upset with Pardew than Cortese reacting to the situation, and let's face it, Pardew has got previous. BUT, if this decision is wrong and we go from a very decent appointment of Pardew, did as well as you would expect, from Pardew to some untried and tested manager who just falls flat on his face, well, I will lose hope in promotion this year. Again, if we hadn't achieved that under Pardew, I could have accepted that he'd done as good as he coul've done, but time to go and pass this dream team onto someone else. But, for all the reasons Pardew may or may not have gone, this is THE perfect opportunity to get the right guy in, Cortese's guy, let's hope he doesn't f*ck it up!

Sorry guys, have to disagree. Not saying he hasn;t got talent and that he didn't play well enough on Saturday, but, their first goal, he allowed the player running through the middle too much time. He opened up the pass to be slid in. If he had experience, he would've forced the player into running to our left side where we had Harding coming back. He allowed the pass to be simple and to the guys feet and the first time shot easily beat Kelvin, although it did seema rather poor effort. Hey, not saying he can;t improve or won't improve, just that experience would have told him the direct route was the wrong route. Also, some on here slating Jaidi, even though he didn't play, jeesh. FWIW, Fonte had his hands full with their forward. He was awkward and strong. IMO, Jaidi would've done a better job on him purely because he would've out muscled him. However, their atttcks were so few and far between, it didn't really have an influence on the game. Martin effectively played sweeper to Fonte forcing the issueby being shirt tight on their attacker, worked well in my opinion, but, like I said, Jaidi is the man when we need to defend against a big lump. Also, Butterfield played very well, very supportive of whoever he had in front of him. Delivered some decent crosses into the box.

I tell you what, I am gutted with todays result, absolutely gutted. To tell the truth, I was expecting to come on here and read about how we shouldn;t have got rid of AP and that Wilkins (other than the strange subs) was the reason we lost today. However, I am slightly surprised, in a good way. For some weeks now, I have been agast at this forum for not realiing the 'football' reasons we didn;t win previous games, well today, most of you seem to have got it spot on, Lambert. Not blaming him directly for not scoring, but, he did not have a single shot, may have had a half chance header, but that was it all game! He just didn;t get himself in the positions he was last season and he just isn;t sharp enough. On the plus side, Morgan, in the first half really tried to control the tempo, zipped out some passes and changed direction very well. First half, he did well, some improvement needed still, but hey, so much better than against Leyton Orient. Hammond, again, people slagging him off. I watched him very closely, played pure Cm, and made some good runs into the box first half. However, the crossing from both sides went back stick every time, Hammond was central or near post, so, many of you may not have noticed his runs. So, on the crossing, and Lambert, i think it was a tactical decision to play back post to Lambert every time, knock back to Connolly. I think this is a training ground move. However, didn;t work, nearly did once but Connolly fluffed his lines. On Connolly, played the hole beautifully. His control was a bit suspect on occasion, but he was there and demanded the ball. Morgan, Hammond, Fonte and martin all used a ball to Connolly's feet. Superb! I thought this worked so nearly, so many times. A firm pass in, a little turn or flick and Hammond or Morgan were running through on goal. Or a little lay back and Oxlaider or Puncheon were hit with zippy passes along the deck, enbling them to beat their men and deliver crosses. Puncheon fluffed his lines 3 or 4 times and was a bit frustrating, but Oxlaide was superb, either beat the man and whip it in or check and lay it off to Butterfield to deliver, very happy with this. So, where did it all go wrong? We conceeded a goal just as we were getting into a good shape. Then half time. Then, we came out without the dedication and professionalism that we should have. We have very good players at this level, they forgot they also have to commit themselves. 90% given for the first 15mins of the second half and we concede a second. Good strike but what a mess down in the corner, culminating in an air shot from Fonte, why? because he wasn;t 100%committed, a little off the pace and it was toed away from him and he didn;t even expect that to be possible. And like him, that the feeling I get, these players, when their backs are against the wall, expect teams to stand off and respect them! This is deadly. Yes we have got good footballers, but I am suspect of their commitment to the team. I'm not blaming Wilkins, this was there last season (particulalry away), some of this is down to Pardew and looking at the display today, I am really glad he's gone, because the players had no excuses first half, they should have scored (where was Lambert), and they shouldn't have conceeded (3 on 2!). We need a man manager, if not Martin O Neal, then someone of his type. Someone who deires football, yes a keegan would do me, maybe zola, not sure, as I don;t know him too well, but the last few games for West Ham, he got more out of them than they had been delivering, so maybe. Don't want an Eddie Howe, no disrespect, but this is too big for someone that hasn't had the experience or been around primadonna's! overall, very, very deflated about today, congrats to Rochdale, 1 good counter attack and one good strike, 3 points away and 200 happy northerners, I wish I were them! Anyway, we need to move forward, looking forward to barnard coming back, looked very lively first few games and just needed that goal, got it against Brizzle, needs o come back firing, he looked up for it. Hammond and Morgan, need to step it up one more gear, let's start off more quickly, we're taking too long to get going and giving the opposition too much confidence. Puncheon, pass the f**king Ball, jeesh! Someone give Lambert a slap! We're not a million miles of, BUT, we are a long way off when we concede, heads go down, we expect respect and we're unwilling to fight and be cultured. If we are to be as good as we believe we are, we need to dig deeper to find it, I believe it's there, but do the players and can the players do it? I f**king hope so...

The only fact here is that the only reason you posted this utter tosh was because you are attention seeking. Because, what you have just told people that were at the Bristol game is that lalana fainrd injury as he knew Pardew would be sacked and that he would be disciplined. lallana broke down with an injury many suspected could cause this brek down. You have just made up the other, just as ludicrous rumours to show how in needc of attention you are. i am fed up of 'so-called' Southampton supporters spreading such rumours because they think it makes them look good, it is funny or they just want the attention. We are struggling at the moment and we don;t need the likes of you acting like this just because you weren't paid enough attention when you turned 16. get a life