Secret Site Agent

No, my great revelation is that the man I hate is not selling all and sundery for the money, but is actually trying to keep hold of the ones that are part of Jan's master plan. If you would have asked me last week if he would have sold Lallana and Surman, I would have said in a heartbeat. Hope this clarifies

To right, I had a run in with my QS today. One thing that I have to point out though, as I have been likening Construction with Football is that when QS's in smaller and medium sized companies have made construction and programming decisions, the companies have lost A LOT of money, and a few have gone bust. As I mentioned in my thread early today, Money Men cannot be alowed to make decisions as they have no inside knowledge or skillbase beyond their basic knowledge, and do not like to take measured risks. Trust me, I fight them every day.

Oh, and I disagree. I actually DON'T believe Lowe is trying to sell the family silver, where as a lot do. Remember, I am not keen on the man, nor do I find myself in a forgiving mood where he is concerned. My thread is mearly due to the fact that I have been able to draw some conclusions from my own personal experience.

It is a strange misconception of the travelling public when they say, 'Why can't you do it a night?' Well, believe it or not, most road jobs are done either at night or are 24/7, 7 days a week, (and you'll be glad to know that I am back at work after working today). If you see cones in the day it is because the road is not safe to drive on as it hasn't been finished. A lot of repairs are done over night and the road is open in the morning and you just drive over it without realising. And as I said above, the cost is very heavy for me as if we go over our target cost, we, (the contractor) pay the rest. The time factor is also very tight for me because if I am late, I have to write a report to explain why I am late, and finally my companies performance is measured and if I am late and over budget, that ius another nail in our coffin and too many nails and we get thrown off the Framework, which is a lot of money to us. Bloodsy hell, isn't that the same as relegation? Construction and Football with similarities. All we need now are a few brown envelopes, and crook or two, and some back door shinanigans....OH, wait a minute,(for another time and another thread maybe) Anyway, I am glad I have got the old juices flowing with you all though. I can't help but feel that THIS must be part of the plan. If it isn't then Oh, and Legod you are showing your age as it's the Highways Agency now, not the Ministry of Transport.

Sorry to be a bit pedantic but....... There is no such thing as a 'Technicality' in the British Justice System. If there is not a prima facie case then there is no case to answer. In this instance the charges were not able to be proved, therefore he is, to all intense and purposes, not the thieving lying scumbag that we all think he is. Allegedly.

The Sub-Contractors will eat into my budget for the job and reduce the margin, but it will finish within the alloted time, and with minimum defects as they are used to doing this type of works. To finish late will cost me much more, not only financially but with standing with the client. And as it involves those lovely cones on the road, you lot too.

Well, for a Wembly it would cost about £750 million, or a Majeski, (which I worked on in my yoof), cost would be about £50 million. Our Current ground cost us around £33 million, which was about 3-5 miilion too much but that is what you get for employing sweaty socks and pompey labour. I could have resourced that job locally and got it built for love However I would willingly knock of 10 % for cash. And I always wondered why the ladies of the night never offer the same discount, alegedly.

I have passed this onto my estimating department.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, freedom from the Health and Safety at work act. It is very tempting, but no, I don't know if my conscience would let me sleep at night.

That is the point I am making. Lallana and Surman are still here 'because' of the grand plan.

Please, one quarter of my management team are Poles, and half the Subbies boys are East European. And trust me, they aint cheap anymore!!!!!!!

Whilst sitting here in my lunch break and having a heated discussion with my QS, (which is a construction money man, or in my case a woman) and then reading this thread: http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1240 I realised that some of my choices in my job actually reflect some of Lowe and Jans'. Let tell you a quick story. I am on a construction job. I have a limited workforce that are the wrong side of fifty, and a few in experienced youngsters, so I have 'bought in' a number of labourers from a sub-contractor to finish a section of the work. My QS wants to get rid of them all as they are a little expensive, and there are other sites with bigger budgets than mine that want them, as the subbie boys are pretty experienced and work really hard. As I explained politly, if I get rid of them all I will be reliant on older and less experienced operatives and I will not be able to complete on time, within my budget as the quality will go down, and the cost go up. Suddenly I had a bit of a lightbulb moment. Now, I don't really like Lowe or Wilde, to be fair, and I am a long way off forgiving or forgetting. But this is my revelation. Just like Saul on the road to Damascus it hit me. If Lowe is the proported financial wizz that he is supposed to be, and Jan is the 'I can work within a shoe string and youngsters to grater glory' master he is supposed to be, doesn't it boil down to the fact that Saints, even though they have to cut costs, would have an EVEN bigger financial problem if they got relegated? Therefore my conclusion is this: Lowe may want to sell all and sundary to make money, and clear debt, but if you reduce the capability of the 'workforce', you reduce the ability to keep to your projected cost target. In other words if the target for Saints is to reduce costs they CANNOT afford to be relegated, therefore a comfortable mid table place would be needed, and you cannot achieve a mid table place in the CC with Div 1 and past their best players. Is this the plan? Is this what they are aiming for? Please discuss using rational, cogent and well thought out constructive remarks. And also please remember, I could build you a bridge/Road/Sewage Treatment Works/Tunnel/House/office block/sports standium etc. any where you like, within time,within budget and with minimum defects, but I can't predict the scoreline on any Saints match in the last year.

And add this to my answer as well.

The way I see it, (and I have commented on this several times,) is that i compare it to the game, FM,(insert your favorite year here). You can choose to play one of the big 4, with plenty cash, and become bored because you win most games and it is too easy. Or you could pick a team like Eastliegh and, with a real challenge and no money, try to improve and expand, and find it more enjoyable. In the CC anyone can win, there are six slots to play for, four of which need another push. There is plenty to play for, more fun and a young lad can come onto the stage and wow the crowd. It is also more enjoyable than the premiership. If only a cable channel, properly organised, could, with assistaqnce from the CC clubs, have a go at promoting proper TV rights. Also, with all the money in the Premiership, there should be a BIGGER levy of money to filter it down to grass roots. I know it is a dream, but it isn't a bad dream, and it is mine. So be nice.

And may i say JAN POOVLIET'S RED AND WHITE BIRIANI

I have been saying this for years and years. And a manager with the guts to drop players who don't perform and not choose them based on reputation and popularism. Take it upto England level. (OH no, how DARE he not choose Owen. I say YES Bdrop the bastard because he is not performing on the international stage. And drop bloody Rooney as well, and give McG a chance.) Wow, high on Fumes.

Precisly the way I feel. Thye need to be encouraged not shouted down. This is a different set of rules we are playing with now, and we ALL, including those that have a perpensity to boo and cat call, need to get a bit of perspective of WHO our team now contains and to do their bit to try and keep confidence high. A quick analogy, if you will. Your child is learning to walk. S/He has been toddling along for a few days now walking from one end of the room to the other. You say, 'Well done, keep going' and you tell everyone how well your child is walking and your family see it. The you invite evryone to see it again and, on this day, your child has problems standing and when he falls over, you of course say, ' You stupid ****ing little ****, How dare you fall down in front of everyone, I going to kick the **** out of you for that, you little *****. I ****ing knew you would let me down. I hate you you little bastard'. No you don't. You give your child encouragement to do well, and when they fall, you encourage them to pick themselves up and try again. If you are the former, go and join another team, you are not welcome. If you are the latter then please carry on. And this doesn't include constructive critisism, and venting feelings of disappointment, and upset at those who are being lazy, as these are still valid. It just a case of giving the team the chance to bounce back. I'm Frasier Crane, good mental health to you, Soputhampton

So we are not only a bunch of short term ingrates who embarrass the team on National Television, we are also fickle. Well that makes all the difference.

Hope he is OK. All the best, Mick.

No he's not!!!!!!!!!!! Jan is vindicated, and the youngsters are showing that not using them was the big mistake. We are still here in the Championship because of Lowe and until he commits to getting us back to the top flight, proves he has the clubs best interests at heart and is not on some ego trip to reek revenge and prove he shouldn't have been oisted, then I will not give any credit his way. I still personally believe he blocked investment to ensure his return. Do the above, and I will support him again.

I have said this before, especially with regard to the overpaid pampered shamefull England team we have, so I should really follow this through. I would prefer, and be prouder, of a team filled with youngsters who played their hearts out, showed some decent football and promised, and put 100 % into playing for their team, and fail, than a bunch of lazy underperforming expensive glory boys who only get picked because of who they are, not how they play, i.e. if they are playing ****, drop them and make them prove they deserve their place in the first team. Also I would like a manager with the guts to do the above, and drop those that don't perform, and peanuts to anyone who moans about what he is doing, to do what he thinks best. make up your own mind to whom I refer. Now please discuss using only well thought out and cogent arguments please, but remember to be constructive boys and girls.

Even if he was fit I doubt if he would. Trouble being split loyalties would be playing on his mind.

****** and piffle. Don't try and re write history. They, (Wilde Hone and Crouch) weren't in charge when we got relegated, they didn't sell the family silver they were just misguided and actually thought they could make a difference, and tried and failed. If this is what you choose to believe, then I choose to believe that Lowe and his cabal put the stops to the many take over bids we recieved, and if he wasn't hoisted we definatly would have been relegated last season.

Hopefully a bit of good news. God knows we need some