sadoldgit

Well it look sas though Duncan was right. Can't say I am surprised but ceratinly the timing is crazy and this is another in an ever growing long line of stpide decsions by Cortese. I used to say that you didn't have to be a "football man" to run a football club. I was wrong. You do need to understand who sport works. Cortese, seemingly, does not know and does not care. His eye is permanently on the bottom line, and that does not mean just money. Pardew showed last season that he could do this job. Without the minus 10 we would have been in the play offs and a good bet to win them. He won us a cup and finally gave this club something to cheer about. If we win our game in hand we are straight up there in the play off spots. So let's sack the manager and most of his team. Defies belief. Cortese may well have a cunning plan and may well succeed in getting us back to the Premiership in 5 years. But if he also manages to turn us into one of the most hated and disrespected clubs in the country in the process, I would rather stay where we are thanks.

I don't think that he "focusses" on the cups, he said he wanted both. As for Lowe, not true until the Dutch experiment when we had to save cash anyway - otherwise he would have kept Wigley and Grey.

I really don't care where we were at the start, it is where we are at the finish that matters.

This is a marathon not a sprint. The papers didn't used to print league tables until 6 games had been played because that is when a more reasonable picture starts to emerge. Those teams out in front in the first couple of weeks can and often do fall away. The trouble here is that the season hinges on the last game, every game. It is one thing to talk about the game just played, another to write of a player, manager, whatever because of a couple of less than great results. There are some that don't like Pardew and will take every dropped point as another nail in his coffin and those people are going to take the joy out of the season for many. There is one poster who is already sharpening his knife for the next home game. We need to move past this blame game and stop heaping piles of negativity on all and sundry whenever there is a minor setback.

It is indeed, and if you run out after 2 league games perhaps you have some issues! If we win our game in hand we are right up in the play off spots after 4 games yet how much time and effort has been spent on the woe is me the season is all over already threads?

JUst as the two previous league games have been built on Alpy. It is an ongoing process as I am sure you realise. Pardew will know that just as we weren't the worst team in the league after the first two games we are not the best now. There is a long lomg way to go and that is why the threads slagging off Pardew and talking about ddom and gloom after TWO league matches were way too previous. As Pardew rightly says, lets see where we are after 10 league matches before we start to judge the seasons progress.

Chelsea have had a huge advantage and were supposed to be Kings of Europe by now. Unfortunately you have to earn it, you can't buy it.

Alps were are no more world beaters today than we were the worst team in the world yesterday. But can't you at least take some pleasure from todays result without looking forward with doom and gloom to the next home game? We were talking earlier about the pressure being off away from home. Today validated that to some extent but hopefully the strong win will add some confidence.

Huge, medium or small, we still have to win a lot of football matches just like the other clubs.

Indeed, which puts a lot of the recent negative threads into context. Still it is good to get the first win under our belt. The season starts here.

I agree MIke, it should be shared around.

One season, but on the whole I think we had better results at The Dell than we have at St Marys. I have only seen one home defeat and that was at St Marys. I know that doesn't prove anything but I don't think that SM has ever been a fortress in the way The Dell usually was.

I am not saying that they don't get flak, but the discussion now immediately revolves around the manager whereas years back it was the players first and foremost.

Because it is easier to sack a manager than a whole team perhaps? Ferguson was close to the sack before he turned things around. Burley did a great job at Ipswich and did well at Herts.

At which point did the responsibility for poor results move from the players to the manager? When I started chatting about football online most of the trafic was about the players and their performances. Gradually now all fingers seem to point at the manager when results are poor. I accept that the manager buys the players, decides tactics etc, but at the point when the team crosses the white line it is down to them. We were relegated from the Premiership with many players who still play in the Premiership. We had a strong squad last season and this yet most of the flak heads the way of the manager. Perhaps it is time to move the forensic dissecting back to the people who carry the expectation of the fans on their shoulders: the players? Chances have been made and missed. Pardew's fault or the players? Soft goals conceded, same question.

We are talking about the stick he has had about transfers/lack of transfers all this summer.

The Dell was worth many points a season to us and whilst St Mary's is a vastly superior stadium we have never really made it the "fortress" that the Dell often was through a succesion of managers. I can see Pardew's point in the same way that England also suffer from the weight of expectations playing at Wembley in recent times. A of sport goes on in the head. If players/teams aren't atttuned mentally they can be the difference in a match. Everyone at the club knows what the expectations are this season and that can be a huge burden. We are expected to be the Norwich this year but with the strength in the squad. For all the talk of spending we have only really pushed the boat out on Lambert and Fonte. I think we are a top 6 side but never believed the hype about firm favourites to go up. I am sure Pards is right, a few away games with the pressure off a bit will help. But any one who really believes that we were going to walk this league from day 1 is delusional.

If it is true that Pardew and Cortese sit on a 4 man transfer committee, why does Pardew get all the stick?

Agreed, if we haven't won in 6 games then that is very poor and changes need to be made. Hopefully the new guy will make a difference and we will get another wide player in soon. Hopefully also the chances we are making will turn into goals. Let's see. Pardew won't be happy with the start either but at least he is not panicking.

Well it appears that Reading had an extension clause in their original contract so nothing we could do about that if they want to extend. As has been said before, the reason clubs loan players out is for their development. If they develop then why not keep them? There are better players out there than Antonio though. (Alps, I assume that Cortese did this deal, how do you feel about that?).

Reasons/excuses. It is a bit like one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. So far we have only played 2 league games yet the season by some has been written off. To me a slow start means lack of success in a lot more games. If we win the next two does that mean we have had a slow start? Lets wait until we have got a few more league games under our belt before we throw a collective dummy out of the pram shall we?

We are not and have never been a "big club." We are currently a third tier club with Premiership aspirations. Even at our peak in the 80's we were not a "big club." How other clubs perceive us who knows (and to be honest, who cares). It is all very well getting impatient with getting out of League 1 but it took a "big club" (and they are more than us) in Leeds a while to get out too. There is no magic wand, just hard work and an element of luck. If we make it this year, fantastic, if we don't we are just yet another club with aspirations who have not been successful in acheiving them.

Some people's excuses are other people's reasons. The thread says, me I am out of pateince. Thing is with you Alps you never had any to start with. The good times? Yeah, because we won everything going in the past. Last year we won a cup, had a competitive team and but for the minus 10 points would have been strong contenders. THis season is only 2 league games old but you have us written off already. You have it all down to Pardew right? If what FF tells us is true and Pardew is one of 4 people on the transfer committe, and you think a lot of the problems are down to lack of transfer activity so far, logic dictates that the infamous Alpine spleen should be vented in the direction of the 4 man transfer committee. Thing is, Cortese sits on that committee, and he is fireproof, right? You need to get some persepctive mate. I know you don't go to matches but those that do say that the main problem is not converting chances. Me, I'd be more worried if we were not making chances. In the summer you moaned that we had sorted out the defence. Within days the defence was sorted. Now you moan about midfield. Guly has signed. Give these people (and us) a break. Pardew and Cortese ar professional people working to a budget. The decisions they make will either bring success or not. If the answer is not, I suspect that thobbing purple vein on your forehead will explode but do you know what, the world will keep turning. Tell us Alps, what will make you happy? Even when we were in the promised land of the Premiership you found plenty to complain about. "Ain't looking good" - last season was our most competitive for years. Most people here enjoyed it and saw that the manager was working hard and taking us in the right direction. To say it is all doom and gloom after 2 league games is crazy, even by your standards Alps.

No it won't, he can still bring in loans. Cast your mind back, when have we last been left with "nothing?"

TT, we are where we are. We don't have a divine right to be anywhere and you only have to look at all of the other teams who have fallen on hard times to see that SFC is not immune to the outrageous fortunes of the football league. The beauty of sport is that there are no givens. If there were, what would be the point. Pardew has his work cut out, as do the players. They need support but many here have already decided that Pardew is useless and the squad poor. I am looking forward to things turning round but if they don't, life goes on.