sadoldgit

In retrospect I think that Wotte might have been a better bet for 1st team coach and JP below him...but the damage is done. At Christmas I thought we might be able to scrap our way out of it, but the other teams, apart frpm Charlton, seem more able than us to get the points needed. I think that Wotte will do slightly better than JP but I can't see us winning enough matches sadly.

What amazes me is that how something that is printed on an inernet chat forum instatly becomes fact. Perhaps we should debate these things as and when it is proven that the attack happened or that Lallana did actually burst into tears?

In some ways it is like who is your favourite Bond. A lot of people would go with the won who did the best when they were younger. Bates managed when I started suporting Saints but I saw more football under Lawrie Mac and he did build some of the best squads we ever had. Both enjoyed long career with us and both were given time, something that doesn't happen nowdays. STrachan did well briefyly but looked like he had lost the plot after Christmas. Ok, he took us to a Final (by virtue of some kind draws) but bottled the team selection for the Final big time agter The Arse had ripped us aprt in the league just before. Burely in his one full season wasn't able to find the level of conistency to top the league, but did give us some great winds, not least putting 6 past Wolves away. Chris Nicholl was not the right choice to take over from LM and failed to build on his legacy. Only three manager maged to average a win every other game, Burley, McMenemy and Hoddle. Ted Bates was just under with 1.42 points per game but of course managed an awful lot more than anyone else. We have had two great managers, Lawrie Mac and Ted Bates and you can argue who was the better until the cows come home. The rest came and went and some did okay in patches but I don't think that anyone else came close to those two. The most enjoyment I have had being Saints fan came under those two. I enjoyed Strachan for about half a season (his post match interviews were always worth watching even if the result didn't go our way), Burley's play off season and Dave Jones's Great Escape. It was good to see Bally give Le Tiss his total support but the results were not fantastic in that period, it was more about enjoying Le Tiss.

Of course Lowe has made mistakes. Everyone on the planet makes mistakes. It is called being human. What I don't understand is that why Lowe's mistakes seem to be worthy of daily dissection more so than those of Crouch, Wilde or maybe the people who run Charlton etc? Okay, so maybe some people would feel better about him if he took out a section on The Saints website to wear a hairshirt every day. Frankly I would much prefer that he spent his time looking after the finances and supporting his manager and staff (and keeping out of the spotlight). As for being DoF. What is that exactly? Someone who negotiates contracts etc? I have no problem with that. Now if you were suggesting he made himself Head Coach then yes, I would have a problem with that. As for all the commotion about Lowe knowing nothing about football - he seems to have a better eye for goalkeepers than WGS! The bloke has run a football club for over a decade which means that he has over a decades experience of running a football club more than anyone on this site. In hindight it wasn't the best decision in the wrold to bring in JP but if you look back and follow the thought process and see the bigger picture you could see why it happened. In hinsight what was thought to be a very pragmatic and good decision (to bring in Redknapp) also backfired. Unfortunetly for Lowe and SFC he does not share the crystal ball that many on here seem to have. LOwe currently runs the club, I think he is entitled to get involved in any decsions that affect the club - just as Wilde and Crouch did. CEOs at every club make decsions about who comes and who goes - why should LOwe be any different? Because he is a "toff"? because people don't like him? Running a club of our size and dealing with the expecations of the fans of a club of our size is no easy matter - as Wilde and Crouch found out and as the bloke who replaces Lowe will find out. No one is saying that Lowe (or Crouch or Wilde or anybody else) is above critisism, but when when it goes to the depths that it frquently does here (and involves death threats) then it goes way too far (IMHO). Things are cr*p. Things were often cr*p wen we were in The Premiership. Things are even worse for Charlton right now. Sh*t happens but this is just football. To wake up in the morning hating someone you have probably never met is not a very healthy situation to be in.

Wasn't Euell seen as a total donkey by TSW not so long ago? Wasn't the perceivd wisdom here to play the kids because they couldn't do any worse than the journeymen like Euell? Whoever picks the team, whether it is Wotte, Lowe or Steve Godwin's nephew, there are 11 people out on the pitch who earn their money by playing professional football and have to be held to account. Whoever picks the team, if they lose and are doing badly various people on here will say it is because we are picking various wrong players. Even when we were in the frame for the play offs there were still arguements about why Wright and Davis were playing. I don't recall anyone saying that Lowe picked the team then.

Jonah posted very frequently casting doubt on the Wilde Bunch but he was roundly slagged off by the Anyone But Lowe brigade.

Yep, very sad but I am surprised that he manage what he did. Here's hoping he is a good a coach as he was player.

He should feel really at home in the CCC then!

If you only post cr*p in the heat of the moment you are doing better than most of us!!! Thing is, when Lowe goes, as he will, if the next bloke doesn't set the world alight he too will get a roasting, and so it wil go on.....still it keeps us of the streets!!!

Player in and none out, result!!! Not sure whether that is a good thing re the financial situation but not unhappy that Rudi is staying and we have another big centre half.

So no Killer for the rest of the season then, if at all....

Oo-er misses, very nice but pricey

At least he would bring the average age of the team up to about 16.

Commentators nightmare.....

The transfer deadline remains at 5 pm but if clubs can prove a deal has been struck they will allow medicals and personal terms to go through later. This was from a FL official earlier today.

We have now Saga has returned.

Well said Frank. I think there are a lot of lurkers here who will agree with you but are put off posting because of the way that anyone who tries to post reasonable things get slated by those who only see one way forward, and that is their way. Disunity rules ok.

Hola, I agree that many people see this in balck and white. I don't. I also don't se myself as a fence sitter. Why do you HAVE to take sides? My side has always been SFC. There are times when I think decsions have been made that are good for SFC and times when I think they are not so good. That is the big plus about taking a broader view, you don't paint yourself into a corner. There are some people here who hate Lowe so much they actually think he is deliberatly trying to ruin the club. I am sorry but I think that is ridiculous. I do believe that he really thinks that he is doing the right thing for the future of the club - why fault him for that? He obviously made a mistake with JP and has changed things around. Whether Wotte is any betyter it remains to be seen, but if Lowe was out to destroy SFC wouldn't he have left JP in charge? Once you get yourself an agenda it is very difficult to see the situation in an objective light. If you had read an earlier mail you would have seen that I was surprised that Lowe came back and didn't think it was a good idea. Now he is back I also think that he is a better bet to run things for now (better than Wilde or Crouch that is). I would much rather the club had found a financier and someone else to run it. There, not black and white but hardly a fence sitter either.

Then we have heard different things Duncan, who is to say which is true? I suppose only the backers know for sure. But you have answered my question, Crouch was no great shakes either. I think we can both agree that SFC deserves something better eh?

Genuine questiom for all of those who think that Crouch is the answer to our prayers - do you think he should stop playing games? If he has £2m to put into SFC shouldn't he do it now without baiting the others? Surely his hero status would go off the scale? Or perhaps he is just stirring it and laying to the mob and has no intention of parting with £2m readies?

This happened on another forum There were a few who were very (rabidly) anti Lowe and a few others of us who took the middle ground. Week after week we were labelled Lowe Luvvies. It was done to deflect from any meaningful discussion as it is now.

Of coures he doesn't. I was trying to make a point that it is money (or lack of) that is playing a huge part in this. If Crouch and Pearson had managed to get us well away from relegation before 20 mins before the end of the season I might agree with you. If the wage bill had not been so high ditto.

Blame blame blame blame blame.....as if it matters now. Perhaps if Wilde and Crouch had kept Woodward on to work with the younger players, perhaps if they had kept some money back for the Christmas transfer window, perhaps if they hadn't bothered in the first place, perhaps if Hoddle had come back..... Unless we get Steve Godwin's nephew in or the crystal ball that so many here seem to posess, decsions will continue to be made, some good some bad. When they are bad we can all come back and slate the bloke who made them because as we know, it will make a huge difference to the situation we are in.

I would agree with a couple, as for the rest, as I said bfore, if you are not part of the witch hunt then you are deemed to be a so called Luvvie.

Okay lets try this one. Lowe goes but we have no money Lowe stays and we get £35m to spend In which scenario do you HONESTLY think we shall survive in? Lowe wasn't here last year was he? How did we do? Any better? How would we had done if Crouch had £35m to spend?