Guided Missile

He quite rightly ripped the sh !t out of Wiseman, saying that he should wait until Saints are dead before he carried out an inquest. A lot more besides, but basically called for everyone to shut the **** up and get behind the club. I suggest that every fan reads the piece carefully...

I don't think that the money you spend with Ryanair once a season, to get away from your mother-in-law, really counts, does it? Now get back to the washing up, before I put you on ignore....

Must be one of the questions the Saints Trust is trying to answer, but I have to disagree that this particular organisation can claim to represent the fans. I don't think the demonstration of an ability to string a few words together on a website gives you any particular claim, nor the desire to march to the stadium behind a few wannabe shop stewards. I also don't think that holding a position within the club or owning shares gives you that right. In these times of adversity, a quick glance at the average attendances will tell anyone who makes up the bulk of the support. It is the ST holders, the scarf and flask brigade that cheer and laugh, boo and cry, but whatever the circumstances, populate the stadium when the casuals head for the hills. So, when is a representative body going to talk on their behalf? The silent 10,000, drowned out by the agitators, many of whom never go to St. Marys, but just need something to replace the shop steward's role they had at the docks. So this is how it could work. When the ST renewal forms come round, there is a box to tick on whether you are willing to donate a tenner to this organisation. The club collects the money and distributes voting forms, with the undertaking that the ST holder voted for, gets a seat on the football board to represent the fans views. The rest of the fans? They get to whinge on here....

Only you could slag someone off, using a parable....I can't wait for the story of the camel and the eye of a needle.

I know how much you like slagging people off, from your Austrian bunker, so here's a previous post of mine that you can use. I'm sure you'll get a hard-on in no time, thinking of a biting reposte.

I love to read the words of wisdom, on what the true state of the club's finances are, from people without the benefit of up to date management figures. I also love to read how the highly qualified, university graduates provide us with an insight into how exactly the board should be running the club. I just have one question for these clever people whose only wish is to see our club prosper. If they are so clever, why aren't they rich? Rich, as in rich enough to buy the club and solve our problems. My guess is that they are not rich, or successful and because of that, their only option is to try and belittle other peoples efforts in the unpredictable and highly difficult job of running a business....

Posted by the chairman of the Saint's Trust during the "Going Wilde" and Ted Bates statue period, I will have to defer to your extensive experience in bumbling incompetency.

I have a feeling that Dalek 2003 will be posting shortly...

True, although I'd prefer to call it God's country...

15 times? I doubt you turned up once, to see if it worked....

Fan power, in the form of the Saints Trust, et al, bought us the Wilde revolution, arguably the most financially damaging period in the club's history. Now, instead of the Trust, we have a spotty faced 16 year old student, behind whom the "fans" have lined up. We must have the largest number of brainless sheep in our fanbase than any other club in the country. I searched the Charlton fansites for any sign that in East London they have anything approaching our sad moaning, excuses for supporters, but all I found was this. I like the early replies to the blog, which sum it up for me. "Medium sized club, did well, stupid fans living in cloud cuckoo land always demand more. Same story that always happens, it just took longer to play out at Charlton. There are over 50 clubs in the league who's fans think they should be in the premier league within 5 years" "We were not guilty of over-ambition or unrealistic expectations. Curbishley did a magnificent job for the club, but his time had come and as Southampton and others before us found, if you have a limited ground capacity and resources you only need one bad season in the Premiership and you're in trouble. Stability is great, but it was soon clear that Dowie was the wrong choice (the potential candidates for the job were not exactly impressive). Pardew came close to keeping Charlton in the Premiership but failed to shape a team for a bounce back, despite good backing from the board. That paved the way for inevitable cutbacks/player sales for this season and continued turmoil. Yes, this is a tough time for the club. But administration is not likely, we own our own ground, have a very strong bond between the fans and the board (it is wrong to suggest that the fans' director was axed because of his actions, it was a sensible move to replace a fans' director with a consultative fans forum), and continue to stand out for community relations. We may struggle for some years, whether or not we stay up this season, but we won't lose our sense of identity and when we come back it will be with a retained sense of the real meaning of success and failure." Saints have a crap board and crap fans, IMHO...

I look at your post count and can't help thinking that the need for this thread is to prove how unfair life is, when anyone is made redundant ahead of you. (Alpine nervously glances behind him, as he hides this website with a random spreadsheet)

The MD and FD resigned on the 10th October, 2007!! The last director, S.C. Wren (apart from Wilde) resigned on December 1st, 2007, a resignation that was not authorised by the company secretary and notified to Companies House until January 9th, 2009!!! Wilde is now the last man standing at Merlion Group Limited. I think that if administrators are appointed, there will be some very interesting questions asked of his conduct since then....

For anyone that's interested, here's some information on the duties and responsibilities of a director of a company and with that, I'm off to have a stiff brandy.... "It is important to be able to identify if your company or business is insolvent. The directors of an insolvent company have a duty to protect creditors’ interests and maximise funds for creditors. If as a director you fail to take correct action you may be found to be in breach of your duty of care to the company. This could result in you being required to make a contribution out of your private funds to the company’s assets or disqualified from acting as a director."

As Warren Buffet observed: "It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked"

A re-read shows me that the highest paid director of Merlion Group paid himself £940K in 2006, compared with £183,740 in 2005. Who could justify that type of pay, whilst the company is losing over £2.5M? I think I'll now look up the penalties for directors of companies who trade whilst insolvent. I should think they're pretty severe...

It wasn't his cash, actually....it was the company's, which had, during the 12 months to the 31st December, 2006, increased the amount of money it owed, by over a million (creditors due within 12 months increased from £15.4M to £16.5M). Strange year to increase director's wages by nearly £1.3M. That strategy is beginning to sound very familiar.....

One fact jumped out of the accounts. Remuneration is respect of the Directors was £1,747,507 in 2006 compared with £468,575 in 2005, despite the loss increasing from over £700K to over £2.5M. The remuneration of the highest director was £940K!!!!!! No dividend was paid in 2006, unsuprisingly, but, given the above "remuneration" who needs a divi. ?

No real suprises, but the long awaited accounts for the Merlion Group for the 2006 year have been filed at Company's House. 15 months overdue, reading them explains why Wilde himself is unwilling to commit a cent to his investment in Southampton. He signed them on January 29th, 2009, only 15 months late and they read like a train wreck. To quote the auditors: "The group incurred a loss after tax of £2,597,149 during the year that ended 31st December, 2006 and, at that date, the group's liabilities exceeded its total assets by £2,253,781. These conditions.....indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a going concern." Jeez, why the hell he used his money to invest in a football club whilst his own company needed every penny at the same time, says everything about the man....

Brought to mind this article: "In 1980, callow and fresh out of grammar school, I wanted to become a "squaddie". My background - rare among recruits of that era - meant I came in for some fearful abuse from my training corporals. They made my life hell. And that was part of their job. They realised that if I left training and went to my regiment with my grammar-school mores and methods still intact then I would not have lasted five minutes. They had to make me change - in essence, conform - while I was still in their "care". It was better by far that the corrective bullying be done by those training corporals rather than by others once in the regiment. I thank them for not having a "zero tolerance of bullying". The army needs soldiers who can hack it when the chips are down and who can put up with any amount of pain, discomfort, provocation and stress when they arrive in the Iraqs and Afghanistans of this world. Any recruit who cannot take "instances of abuse" in training should not be in the army. And those who cannot take the abuse will leave while still in training. Both the individual and the army are then better off."

I think a corporate bond may be the answer, which is redeemable when/if we return to the Premiership. Payment of a free signed home shirt or item of similar value could be attractive instead of an interest payment and the bonds could be sold or transferred by the owners.

The game is on, according to the Sheffield local rag, this morning. "BREAKING: Owls and Blades games to go ahead Published Date: 03 February 2009 BOTH SHEFFIELD United and Sheffield Wednesday's games are still on...so far."

Local businesses would support the club and it's players, not Crouch, or any other individual. I decided a couple of weeks ago that £400 to sponsor Saga for the rest of the season was good value. The (presumably) lovely and (definitely) efficient Danielle Lewis, the sponsorship executive at the club responded quickly to my email and even before I had signed the agreement, she had made sure that my companies name and logo appeared after Saga's name at the Donnie game. We lost, he scored, but, I tell you what, with my son next to me jumping into the air when he stuck the ball in the back of the net, while most of the stadium were fighting with each other or moaning, was one of the best moments I've enjoyed at the ground. In addition to the enjoyment of having a player that is "mine" I get a signed shirt and two tickets to the presentation dinner at the end of the season and a chance to meet Saga with my son. What a bargain and even with the recession, without doubt the best £400 I've spent since my last visit to "Your Eyes Only". Leon might be trying to rally the local businessmen behind some sort of power play, but why ruin the investment by further dividing the club. Phone Danielle up at the club up and tell her what you can afford to spend on sponsorship. In my opinion she'll try and involve you in the club and who knows, in addition to helping the club, you may feel part of it again.

I think Wilde should have read Alan Sugar's biography, particularly this part: "In 1991, Sugar along with Terry Venables bought Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Sugar's relationship with Venables turned acrimonous and court battle ensures. Alan Sugar stated that his time spent at Spurs was a "waste of my life". In 2001, after several death threats towards him and his family, Sugar sold most of his shares to ENIC Sports Ltd, represented by Daniel Levy - effectively the current chairman of the club." It was all bound to end in tears. The nature of football, I'm afraid.

The graph shows average, not total attendances....