Current Poor Situation

[John B]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

It is quite obvious with a team of youngsters the Club is going to struggle for points in the Championship and maybe indeed be relegated.

 

There was very little chance in the side being successful this season and probably next season too.

 

 

The reason we are in this position is purely financial so why cant the fans get behind the team and support them in the quest to finish at least 21st in the Championship with out demanding the board and the coaching staff to leave.

 

We are supposed to be supporters it cannot be ideal being a player reading this forum

Edited 24 September, 2008 by John B

[Iowsaintsfan]

I believe everyone should have a read on the 1st post on the thread in the lounge

After you thrashed Derby 1-0.......

[surrey1saint]

You are right John,but few on here will see it as it is.

[Guest Hacienda]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

Obviously.

[slickmick]

I predicted that no matter who was manager we would be in a relegation battle again but would just about survive. So my stance hasn't changed (even though I got a bit excited at our earlier performances) we are where most predicted we would be, but yet everyone is up in arms about it.

Get used to it, its going to be like this all season. My main worry is administration, we must avoid this at all costs.

[Navyred]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

It is quite obvious with a team of youngsters the Club is going to struggle for points in the Championship and maybe indeed be relegated.

 

There was very little chance in the side being successful this season and probably next season too.

 

 

The reason we are in this position is purely financial so why cant the fans get behind the team and support them in the quest to finish at least 21st in the Championship with out demanding the board and the coaching staff to leave.

 

We are supposed to be supporters it cannot be ideal being a player reading this forum

 

Succinct thread John B. I have really stopped posting on this site because I just cannot believe the negativity and almost assault on our players, manager and club. We have no finances, we have some very talented kids, and we have a support that wants to spend their whole time harranging and almost slaughtering them.

 

I will support SFC forever, through good and bad times - now is a bad time - but we must get behind these kids, encourage and give them confidence - confidence breeds success. I have seen these kids play brilliant football for the past two years in the Youth/Reserves - with our support they can show this for the first team.

 

Schneiderlein, Hatch, Paterson, Mills, Thomson, White, Davies, James all 18/19. McGoldrick, Gillet, Lallana and Dyer all early 20s, give them a chance - because in 2/3 years time they will be the spine of our team - regardless of what league we may be in.

 

COYR

[wild-saint]

Agree if we go down we go down, we can rebuild and come back at some stage. But if we go down and go into administration we get hit with a big points deduction ala Luton and Bournemouth and potentially go down again.

 

Clearly the side isnt good enough but most importantly its dirt cheap and there is a chance to stave off administration. That IMO is the most imortant thing. The question is have we got enough about us to reach 21st come May.

[Foxy]

I'm in agreement. Not a helluva lot else we could do. Unfortunate but we have to go for cost cutting - the alternative would be either administration (which puts us in exactly the same position but with Lallana, Surman and any other saleable assets gone) or, worse, liquidation.

 

I would be as pleased as the next man if someone can tell me how we sign Messi, Canavaro, David Villa, Gerrard or Uncle Tom Cobleigh or indeed how (despite the probable points points deduction their continued huge contracts would mean) the bunch of clowns who nearly got us relegated would suddenly become world-beaters; or, indeed, what anyone other than a gazillionaire who wants to reduce the burdens of extreme wealth by taking on a botoomless pit into which he can fire his ill-gotten gainswould want to invest for.

 

Meanwhile we find ourselves in a lose-lose situation. We're skint, we have to adopt a mighty cost control exercise so are unlikely to have the immediate success the fans (despite all reason) expect. So results are going to be tricky, we the fans add to the pressures, psychological and commercial by staying away or getting on the yougsters backs. It's too easy to see a downward spiral.

 

Twist it whichever way I might the only way I can see out of our current predicament (short of arrival of the aforementioned rich mug) is to take pretty much the approach we are and hope to build slowly for the future.

 

I'd love to hear an alternative, really would, but frankly I've not seen a realistic alternative on here, not come up with a sensible suggestion myself and not seen much in the way of alternatives suggested by media or anyone on the periphery of the club.

 

Pearson, Burley or even Morinho would I think struggle to do much better than Jan has done given the circumstances. I'd even go so far as to say that since WGS I can't feel sure we've had a coach who'd not have done worse.

 

OK, we can argue around team selections (I seem to remember that there was a strongcall for SJ throughout his absence from the starting XI but he turned out to be pretty ordinary) at present it's Rudi who's the magic fix, and there's some logic there, although he was not exactly a world-beater last term. But frankly it's all a bit conjectural. We are in a financial straight jacket and despite suggestions on other threads there's little enjoyment to be had from that. For my money (and there ain't enough of it to make any difference) the only thing we can do to make the whole thing work for us is a bit of expectation adjustment and try to enjoy such positives as there are - we have a young squad with some decent players, when playing well we play the most attractive stuff we have in a long time.

 

OK this is small change in the losing-to-Rotheram-drawing-with-Barnsley-never-get-to-look-forward-to-a-trip-to-the-Emirates equation but is it any more profitable to froth at the mouth, look for scapegoats and march to SMS to claim our club back (mind you that would work if you take £30-40million in cash, bearer bonds or gold ingots and have similar stashed back home in the biscuit tin for running expenses, I would imagine).

 

So, what's my point?

 

Well, unhappy though I am about where we find ourselves, I am not going to allow it to prevent me from getting whatever enjoyment I can out of the fact that I am cast in life as a Saints fan. It wasn't a matter of choice, it just happened to me. I've enjoyed cup finals, beating the mightiest teams in the land and (for the first 25 or 30 years of my football supporting life) looking down on our local rivals. The wheel has turned now but my allegience is still there. I'm still going to be following the team in my old age, whether they're back at the top table or eeking out an existence in non-league. But one thing's for certain, I will always be doing it because I want to, because somewhere amidst all the angst, nerves, frustration and conviction that I could do the whole thing better I'm going to want to take pleasure from the experience.

 

If I'm to do that (and maybe this only applies to me) I have to ignore the off-field shennanigens and support the team, buy into what's happening and try to take enjoyment from the positives. I will be as annoyed as the next man at lack of effort, bravery or commitment but if battling the odds with a bit of youthful flair and enthusiasm is what our lot is for the foreseeable future that's what I will be cheering for us to do. The alternative strikes me as being about as beneficial as tearing my hair out about my continued failure to scoop the Euro-millions.

 

If course if someone can suggest a reasonable alternative I am all ears......

Edited 24 September, 2008 by Foxy

[alpine_saint]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

It is quite obvious with a team of youngsters the Club is going to struggle for points in the Championship and maybe indeed be relegated.

 

There was very little chance in the side being successful this season and probably next season too.

 

 

The reason we are in this position is purely financial so why cant the fans get behind the team and support them in the quest to finish at least 21st in the Championship with out demanding the board and the coaching staff to leave.

 

We are supposed to be supporters it cannot be ideal being a player reading this forum

 

Wow, another Lecturing Luvvie thread, what a shock...

[John B]

Wow, another Lecturing Luvvie thread, what a shock...

 

That is the whole point of a forum putting accross other ideas.

 

Posting Comments like that proves that you are not objective and everything has to be Anti Lowe.

[alpine_saint]

That is the whole point of a forum putting accross other ideas.

 

Posting Comments like that proves that you are not objective and everything has to be Anti Lowe.

 

No, it means I am sick to death of seeing individual threads from attention-seeking ueber-fans, though I admit it is usually LGSC who starts them.

[John B]

No, it means I am sick to death of seeing individual threads from attention-seeking ueber-fans, though I admit it is usually LGSC who starts them.

 

Well I should calm down and let other more reasonable people post their comments without belittling their contributions.

 

Perhaps other people are sick to death of seeing numerous threads from attention-seeking negative and unrealistic so called fans

[alpine_saint]

Well I should calm down and let other more reasonable people post their comments without belittling their contributions.

 

Why not simply stop looking down your nose at fellow fed-up cash-strapped Saints fans ?

[iansouthstander]

Succinct thread John B. I have really stopped posting on this site because I just cannot believe the negativity and almost assault on our players, manager and club. We have no finances, we have some very talented kids, and we have a support that wants to spend their whole time harranging and almost slaughtering them.

 

I will support SFC forever, through good and bad times - now is a bad time - but we must get behind these kids, encourage and give them confidence - confidence breeds success. I have seen these kids play brilliant football for the past two years in the Youth/Reserves - with our support they can show this for the first team.

 

Schneiderlein, Hatch, Paterson, Mills, Thomson, White, Davies, James all 18/19. McGoldrick, Gillet, Lallana and Dyer all early 20s, give them a chance - because in 2/3 years time they will be the spine of our team - regardless of what league we may be in.

 

COYR

 

Sorry Navy , theres not a cat in hells chance that these kids will be the spine of the team in 2/3 years. They will be sold off , some as early as the january transfer window. If you want some idea as to what our side will look like in 2/3 years time , look at the current U16 squad.:mad:

[John B]

Sorry Navy , theres not a cat in hells chance that these kids will be the spine of the team in 2/3 years. They will be sold off , some as early as the january transfer window. If you want some idea as to what our side will look like in 2/3 years time , look at the current U16 squad.:mad:

 

Yes some will be sold but I cannot see many will be going as none of them appear to be outstanding if they were we would not be in the position we are now.

[Whitey Grandad]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

It is quite obvious with a team of youngsters the Club is going to struggle for points in the Championship and maybe indeed be relegated.

 

I think you'll find that the second statement is the reason for the first.

[John B]

I think you'll find that the second statement is the reason for the first.

 

Well it is going to be a long hard season for some posters as the team continues to struggle.

 

I must admit I have accepted where we are and now hope for the best it is no good getting upset .

 

Saints Fans expectations are probably too high and have been so for sometime

[solentstars]

I'm in agreement. Not a helluva lot else we could do. Unfortunate but we have to go for cost cutting - the alternative would be either administration (which puts us in exactly the same position but with Lallana, Surman and any other saleable assets gone) or, worse, liquidation.

 

I would be as pleased as the next man if someone can tell me how we sign Messi, Canavaro, David Villa, Gerrard or Uncle Tom Cobleigh or indeed how (despite the probable points points deduction their continued huge contracts would mean) the bunch of clowns who nearly got us relegated would suddenly become world-beaters; or, indeed, what anyone other than a gazillionaire who wants to reduce the burdens of extreme wealth by taking on a botoomless pit into which he can fire his ill-gotten gains.

 

Meanwhile we find ourselves in a lose-lose situation. We're skint, we have to adopt a mighty cost control exercise so are unlikely to have the immediate success the fans (despite all reason) expect. So results are going to be tricky, we the fans add to the pressures, psychological and commercial by staying away or getting on the yougsters backs. I|t's too easy to see a downward spiral.

 

Twist it whichever way I might the only way I can see out of our current predicament (short of arrival of the aforementioned rich mug) is to take pretty much the approach we are and hope to build slowly for the future.

 

I'd love to hear an alternative, really would, but frankly I've not seen a realistic alternative on here, not come up with a sensible suggestion myself and not seen much in the way of alternatives suggested by media or anypone on the periphery of the club.

 

Pearson, Burley or even Morinho would I think struggle to do much better than Jan has done given the cisrcumstances. I'd even go so fara s to say that since WGS I can't feel sure we've had a coach who'd not have done worse.

 

OK, we can argue around team selections (I seem to remember that there was a strongcall for SJ throughout his absence from the starting XI but he turned out to be pretty ordinary) at present it's Rudi who's the magic fix, and there's some logic there although he was not exactly a world-beater last term. But frankly it's all a bit conjectural. We are in a financial straight jacket and despite suggestions on other threads there's little enjoyment to be had from that. For my money (and there ain't enough of it to make any difference) the only thing we can do to make the whole thing work for us is a bit of expectation adjustment and try to enjoy such positives as there are - we have a young squad with some decent players, when playing well we play the most attractive stuff we have in a long time.

 

OK this is small change in the losing-to-Rotheram-drawing-with-Barnsley-never-get-to-look-forward-to-a-trip-to-the-Emirates equation but is it any more profitable to froth at the mouth, look for scapegoats and march to SMS to claim our club back (mind you that woudl work if you take £30-40million in cash, bearer bonds or gold ingots and have similar stashed back home in the biscuit tin for running expenses, I would imagine).

 

So, what's my point?

 

Well, unhappy though I am about where we find ourselves, I am not going to allow it to prevent me from getting whatever enjoyment I can out of the fact that I am cast in life as a Saints fan. It wasn't a matter of choice, it just happened to me, I've enjoyed cup finals, beating the mightiest teams in the land and (for the first 25 or 30 years of my football supporting life) looking down on our local rivals. The wheel has turned now but my allegience is still there. I'm still going to be following the team in my old age, whether they're back at the top table or eeking out an existence in non-league. But one thing's for certain, I will always be doing it because I want to, because somewhere amidst all the angst, nerves, frustration and conviction that I could do the whole thing better I'm going to want to take pleasure from the experience.

 

If I'm to do that (and maybe this only applies to me) I have to ignore the off-field shennanigens and support the team, buy into what's happening and try to take enjoyment from the positives. I will be as annoyed as the next man at lack of effort, bravery or commitment but if battling the odds with a bit of youthful flair and enthusiasm is what our lot is for the foreseeable future that's what I will be cheering for us to do. The alternative strikes me as being about as beneficial as tearing my hair out about my continued failure to scoop the Euro-millions.

 

If course if someone can suggest a reasonable alternative I am all ears......

good post you sum up how i feel,its nice to have a postive post instead of the usual drivel of negativity from the same posters time and time again.

[Guest Hacienda]

Well it is going to be a long hard season for some posters as the team continues to struggle.

 

I must admit I have accepted where we are and now hope for the best it is no good getting upset .

 

Saints Fans expectations are probably too high and have been so for sometime

 

My expectations, as posted on another thread, was for this season to be better than last and not to get relegated.

 

Far too high it would appear.

[Snowballs2]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

It is quite obvious with a team of youngsters the Club is going to struggle for points in the Championship and maybe indeed be relegated.

 

There was very little chance in the side being successful this season and probably next season too.

 

 

The reason we are in this position is purely financial so why cant the fans get behind the team and support them in the quest to finish at least 21st in the Championship with out demanding the board and the coaching staff to leave.

 

We are supposed to be supporters it cannot be ideal being a player reading this forum

 

Perhaps you need a course in appreciation of the game

[Snowballs2]

I'm in agreement. Not a helluva lot else we could do. Unfortunate but we have to go for cost cutting - the alternative would be either administration (which puts us in exactly the same position but with Lallana, Surman and any other saleable assets gone) or, worse, liquidation.

 

I would be as pleased as the next man if someone can tell me how we sign Messi, Canavaro, David Villa, Gerrard or Uncle Tom Cobleigh or indeed how (despite the probable points points deduction their continued huge contracts would mean) the bunch of clowns who nearly got us relegated would suddenly become world-beaters; or, indeed, what anyone other than a gazillionaire who wants to reduce the burdens of extreme wealth by taking on a botoomless pit into which he can fire his ill-gotten gainswould want to invest for.

 

Meanwhile we find ourselves in a lose-lose situation. We're skint, we have to adopt a mighty cost control exercise so are unlikely to have the immediate success the fans (despite all reason) expect. So results are going to be tricky, we the fans add to the pressures, psychological and commercial by staying away or getting on the yougsters backs. It's too easy to see a downward spiral.

 

Twist it whichever way I might the only way I can see out of our current predicament (short of arrival of the aforementioned rich mug) is to take pretty much the approach we are and hope to build slowly for the future.

 

I'd love to hear an alternative, really would, but frankly I've not seen a realistic alternative on here, not come up with a sensible suggestion myself and not seen much in the way of alternatives suggested by media or anyone on the periphery of the club.

 

Pearson, Burley or even Morinho would I think struggle to do much better than Jan has done given the circumstances. I'd even go so far as to say that since WGS I can't feel sure we've had a coach who'd not have done worse.

 

OK, we can argue around team selections (I seem to remember that there was a strongcall for SJ throughout his absence from the starting XI but he turned out to be pretty ordinary) at present it's Rudi who's the magic fix, and there's some logic there, although he was not exactly a world-beater last term. But frankly it's all a bit conjectural. We are in a financial straight jacket and despite suggestions on other threads there's little enjoyment to be had from that. For my money (and there ain't enough of it to make any difference) the only thing we can do to make the whole thing work for us is a bit of expectation adjustment and try to enjoy such positives as there are - we have a young squad with some decent players, when playing well we play the most attractive stuff we have in a long time.

 

OK this is small change in the losing-to-Rotheram-drawing-with-Barnsley-never-get-to-look-forward-to-a-trip-to-the-Emirates equation but is it any more profitable to froth at the mouth, look for scapegoats and march to SMS to claim our club back (mind you that would work if you take £30-40million in cash, bearer bonds or gold ingots and have similar stashed back home in the biscuit tin for running expenses, I would imagine).

 

So, what's my point?

 

Well, unhappy though I am about where we find ourselves, I am not going to allow it to prevent me from getting whatever enjoyment I can out of the fact that I am cast in life as a Saints fan. It wasn't a matter of choice, it just happened to me. I've enjoyed cup finals, beating the mightiest teams in the land and (for the first 25 or 30 years of my football supporting life) looking down on our local rivals. The wheel has turned now but my allegience is still there. I'm still going to be following the team in my old age, whether they're back at the top table or eeking out an existence in non-league. But one thing's for certain, I will always be doing it because I want to, because somewhere amidst all the angst, nerves, frustration and conviction that I could do the whole thing better I'm going to want to take pleasure from the experience.

 

If I'm to do that (and maybe this only applies to me) I have to ignore the off-field shennanigens and support the team, buy into what's happening and try to take enjoyment from the positives. I will be as annoyed as the next man at lack of effort, bravery or commitment but if battling the odds with a bit of youthful flair and enthusiasm is what our lot is for the foreseeable future that's what I will be cheering for us to do. The alternative strikes me as being about as beneficial as tearing my hair out about my continued failure to scoop the Euro-millions.

 

If course if someone can suggest a reasonable alternative I am all ears......

 

 

Yes...where is Plan B...no good company goes into business without a plan B

[Wes Tender]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

It is quite obvious with a team of youngsters the Club is going to struggle for points in the Championship and maybe indeed be relegated.

 

There was very little chance in the side being successful this season and probably next season too.

 

 

The reason we are in this position is purely financial so why cant the fans get behind the team and support them in the quest to finish at least 21st in the Championship with out demanding the board and the coaching staff to leave.

 

We are supposed to be supporters it cannot be ideal being a player reading this forum

 

It is obvious to you and to me that with a team of youngsters the club was going to struggle and may be relegated. Thank you for your admission.

 

But if it is obvious to us, who have diverse opinions on other things, why was it not obvious to Lowe and Co? Most would accept that economies were an imperative, but it was not necessarily the case that only young players command low wages; some older players in the twilight of their careers but with a season or two left in them also do not expect the wages they used to command. If we had a decent blend between the two groupings, we might not be in the position we are now.

 

But as Lowe and the board seemingly ignored the perceived wisdom that a decent blend of experience and youthful exuberance was the best option and instead opted for a bizarre experiment by borrowing a concept from another nation with a coach from their lower leagues to implement it, then why shouldn't any blame for it going wrong attach to the board, in the same way that they would naturally gain the plaudits for the experiment's success?

[John B]

Perhaps you need a course in appreciation of the game

 

Please could you explain your post as you seem to have no idea of the subject of the thread.

[John B]

It is obvious to you and to me that with a team of youngsters the club was going to struggle and may be relegated. Thank you for your admission.

 

But if it is obvious to us, who have diverse opinions on other things, why was it not obvious to Lowe and Co? Most would accept that economies were an imperative, but it was not necessarily the case that only young players command low wages; some older players in the twilight of their careers but with a season or two left in them also do not expect the wages they used to command. If we had a decent blend between the two groupings, we might not be in the position we are now.

 

But as Lowe and the board seemingly ignored the perceived wisdom that a decent blend of experience and youthful exuberance was the best option and instead opted for a bizarre experiment by borrowing a concept from another nation with a coach from their lower leagues to implement it, then why shouldn't any blame for it going wrong attach to the board, in the same way that they would naturally gain the plaudits for the experiment's success?

 

Are you saying the problem is that at the moment we have not got enough older players.

 

The problem as I see it is that we are not getting enough goals and putting too much pressure on the defence.

[Snowballs2]

Please could you explain your post as you seem to have no idea of the subject of the thread.

 

My point is your own lack of knowledge or understanding, it must have been obvious to Lowe / Wilde that fielding a team of untried youngsters would fail through lack of experience ability etc of this league.

People complain at lack of support, but if Lowe and Wilde knew that fielding an inexperienced or incapable players for this league would result in failure...then the average supporter has been conned into buying a season ticket.

False and missrepresentation has taken place as far as I am concerned, hence the massive downturn in supporters through the turnstiles

[Roman]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

They’re up in arms because it appears to many that a whole farmyard of chickens have come home to roost.

 

 

The team.

Jason Dodd, whatever you may think of him, made what could turn out to be a prescient observation on his way out the door at St Mary’s, that the kids ‘weren’t ready’. He wasn’t saying they ‘weren’t good enough’ – just not ready. Some may turn into real stars – and will be sold to bail the club out, no doubt; others will slip down the leagues.

 

After last night, it’s tempting to say, well, look at Arsenal – they had a younger team than ours and flattened a team of seasoned pros who, in their own minds at least, should still be in the Prem. But Wenger has been assembling that team of teenagers for a long time, spending a lot of money in the process, and has been extremely careful to bring them up to Prem speed in a way that brings out the best in them. Just look at Theo, and the way he’s been eased into the first team over a couple of years.

 

Our kids, on the other hand, have just been thrown in at the deep end – not just into the first team, but into a team that is under huge pressure to avoid the drop after a disastrous season with tougher and much more seasoned pros. The kids are being set up to fail, regardless of their quality.

 

The manager.

I’ll make one prediction right now – or two, to be precise. For all his efforts, Jan will be rewarded with the boot. I honestly don’t believe he could have done much else than he has so far, taking into account his own background and outlook on the game, and the several metaphorical straitjackets he’s been forced into – young, inexperienced players or varying quality; players bought by a chairman for no obvious reason (Forecast, Pulis…) in place, for example, of badly needed full backs; a chairman allegedly with delusions of dressing-room grandeur; etc.

 

When Pearson left, I think the anxiety – to put it mildly – on here was that the passion and commitment he’d injected into a team in freefall was being thrown away, just when it had been rediscovered after the barren Burley years. We were losing someone who had taught the team how to fight and to believe. So who will Lowe replace Jan with? I’d be surprised if it were Wotte Hendaday. And we can’t afford someone like Billy Davies (which I take to mean that we can’t afford any outside appointment).

 

Step forward, Killer. It’ll be a popular move with fans – at least as long as results start to turn around and he doesn’t morph into Dodd/Gorman; he’s already under contract; and it’ll also be an implicit admission by Lowe that he made a serious, and perhaps even fatal, mistake in getting rid of a like-minded Pearson. That, and it's just my guess, is Plan B.

 

The empty seats.

I’ll give Sundance and his strange little sidekick, Scooby, credit for consistency in their weirdness: if you believe them, the club is being brought to its knees by some kind of unannounced boycott by anything up to 10,000 fans. And their ‘selfishness’ will drive the club into oblivion.

 

These two really should check in with their lord and master on this one, because they appear to be seriously off-message. Lowe is on record as referring to Saints fans as ‘customers’. The clear implication is that we are rational economic actors – we’re consumers looking at the club simply as a part of the entertainment industry. And if we decide not to go, it’s because the football on offer just isn’t a very appealing prospect.

 

So for SunScoob to berate us for our appalling disloyalty is, by Lowe’s own definition, a bit like the manager at the local Sainsbury’s yelling insults at his customers as they defect to a newer, cheaper branch of Tescos.

 

Of course, many really don’t fit that description at all. From Yorkie, whose age I could guess at, to S4AINT, whose age I know, it’s come hell or high water – or has been until recently.

 

But Lowe was at least partly right: there IS a large minority of Saints ‘supporters’ who look at what entertainment is on offer and think: ‘Nope, I can do better elsewhere.’ As each home match creates a new record low in attendances, we’re about to find out how big that ‘minority’ is, and how hardy the diehards really are. I expect there is still some way down to go.

 

Lowe needs both sets of fans – the ‘diehards’ and the ‘customers’ – to survive. I would bet good money that the business plan he presented to the bank included projections of home attendances, and they were far higher than 15,000 and falling.

 

Now, at the best of times, a bank may look at this and start to think they’re throwing good money after bad. But these aren’t the best of times. We’re 100% dependent on a lifeline of credit from a bank – in the midst of the worst banking crisis since the Depression. If the credit crunch worsens, the bank could call in the credit line at a moment’s notice.

 

But even if it doesn’t, and even if the team is asset-stripped to service some of the debt, I can’t see how administration can be avoided. The club’s most important source of revenue, the fanbase, is melting away – possibly for years to come. The pros and cons of administration have been debated endlessly on here, but it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that it WILL happen, and almost certainly at some point this season or at its end. Hence the screaming and shouting from the Lowe proxies on here – blaming the victims of this unholy mess, in a pretty transparent attempt to deflect attention from one of the causes.

 

So, assuming they’re not full of it, could all this add up to an explanation for the time it’s taken for the Fulthorpe bidders to heave over the horizon? That the are waiting for the collapse?

 

 

PS. Sorry that this is interminably long – I’ve been away for a bit, so I’m still catching up with all the sturm and drang.

[ottery st mary]

They’re up in arms because it appears to many that a whole farmyard of chickens have come home to roost.

 

 

The team.

Jason Dodd, whatever you may think of him, made what could turn out to be a prescient observation on his way out the door at St Mary’s, that the kids ‘weren’t ready’. He wasn’t saying they ‘weren’t good enough’ – just not ready. Some may turn into real stars – and will be sold to bail the club out, no doubt; others will slip down the leagues.

 

After last night, it’s tempting to say, well, look at Arsenal – they had a younger team than ours and flattened a team of seasoned pros who, in their own minds at least, should still be in the Prem. But Wenger has been assembling that team of teenagers for a long time, spending a lot of money in the process, and has been extremely careful to bring them up to Prem speed in a way that brings out the best in them. Just look at Theo, and the way he’s been eased into the first team over a couple of years.

 

Our kids, on the other hand, have just been thrown in at the deep end – not just into the first team, but into a team that is under huge pressure to avoid the drop after a disastrous season with tougher and much more seasoned pros. The kids are being set up to fail, regardless of their quality.

 

The manager.

I’ll make one prediction right now – or two, to be precise. For all his efforts, Jan will be rewarded with the boot. I honestly don’t believe he could have done much else than he has so far, taking into account his own background and outlook on the game, and the several metaphorical straitjackets he’s been forced into – young, inexperienced players or varying quality; players bought by a chairman for no obvious reason (Forecast, Pulis…) in place, for example, of badly needed full backs; a chairman allegedly with delusions of dressing-room grandeur; etc.

 

When Pearson left, I think the anxiety – to put it mildly – on here was that the passion and commitment he’d injected into a team in freefall was being thrown away, just when it had been rediscovered after the barren Burley years. We were losing someone who had taught the team how to fight and to believe. So who will Lowe replace Jan with? I’d be surprised if it were Wotte Hendaday. And we can’t afford someone like Billy Davies (which I take to mean that we can’t afford any outside appointment).

 

Step forward, Killer. It’ll be a popular move with fans – at least as long as results start to turn around and he doesn’t morph into Dodd/Gorman; he’s already under contract; and it’ll also be an implicit admission by Lowe that he made a serious, and perhaps even fatal, mistake in getting rid of a like-minded Pearson. That, and it's just my guess, is Plan B.

 

The empty seats.

I’ll give Sundance and his strange little sidekick, Scooby, credit for consistency in their weirdness: if you believe them, the club is being brought to its knees by some kind of unannounced boycott by anything up to 10,000 fans. And their ‘selfishness’ will drive the club into oblivion.

 

These two really should check in with their lord and master on this one, because they appear to be seriously off-message. Lowe is on record as referring to Saints fans as ‘customers’. The clear implication is that we are rational economic actors – we’re consumers looking at the club simply as a part of the entertainment industry. And if we decide not to go, it’s because the football on offer just isn’t a very appealing prospect.

 

So for SunScoob to berate us for our appalling disloyalty is, by Lowe’s own definition, a bit like the manager at the local Sainsbury’s yelling insults at his customers as they defect to a newer, cheaper branch of Tescos.

 

Of course, many really don’t fit that description at all. From Yorkie, whose age I could guess at, to S4AINT, whose age I know, it’s come hell or high water – or has been until recently.

 

But Lowe was at least partly right: there IS a large minority of Saints ‘supporters’ who look at what entertainment is on offer and think: ‘Nope, I can do better elsewhere.’ As each home match creates a new record low in attendances, we’re about to find out how big that ‘minority’ is, and how hardy the diehards really are. I expect there is still some way down to go.

 

Lowe needs both sets of fans – the ‘diehards’ and the ‘customers’ – to survive. I would bet good money that the business plan he presented to the bank included projections of home attendances, and they were far higher than 15,000 and falling.

 

Now, at the best of times, a bank may look at this and start to think they’re throwing good money after bad. But these aren’t the best of times. We’re 100% dependent on a lifeline of credit from a bank – in the midst of the worst banking crisis since the Depression. If the credit crunch worsens, the bank could call in the credit line at a moment’s notice.

 

But even if it doesn’t, and even if the team is asset-stripped to service some of the debt, I can’t see how administration can be avoided. The club’s most important source of revenue, the fanbase, is melting away – possibly for years to come. The pros and cons of administration have been debated endlessly on here, but it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that it WILL happen, and almost certainly at some point this season or at its end. Hence the screaming and shouting from the Lowe proxies on here – blaming the victims of this unholy mess, in a pretty transparent attempt to deflect attention from one of the causes.

 

So, assuming they’re not full of it, could all this add up to an explanation for the time it’s taken for the Fulthorpe bidders to heave over the horizon? That the are waiting for the collapse?

 

 

PS. Sorry that this is interminably long – I’ve been away for a bit, so I’m still catching up with all the sturm and drang.

 

Thank you for the time and effort and for a very good recap on many areas that needed highlighting.

I particularly agree with the Svennson suggestion if he is finished as a player which would appear to be the case. Sorry for JP and team but the change should be now not later.

[Fan The Flames]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

It is quite obvious with a team of youngsters the Club is going to struggle for points in the Championship and maybe indeed be relegated.

 

There was very little chance in the side being successful this season and probably next season too.

 

 

The reason we are in this position is purely financial so why cant the fans get behind the team and support them in the quest to finish at least 21st in the Championship with out demanding the board and the coaching staff to leave.

 

We are supposed to be supporters it cannot be ideal being a player reading this forum

 

We are in this financial mess because we have gone down and our answer is to play with a team that may go down. This will heap more trouble on to a bad situation.

 

I see people are talking about rebuilding if we went down, we have heard that before a couple of years ago.

 

How about using all the squad members.

[hughieslastminutegoal]

You are right John,but few on here will see it as it is.

 

 

No he isn't right, its just his point of view.

 

Another point of view is that there are probably 15 or more sides in the CCC equally stapped for cash, and they are not all bewailing the fact and accepting that relegation may be inevitable.

 

This club has embarked on a course that was one option - not all the other hard-up clubs are following that course because however hard up a club is there are always alternatives. It all depends on how hard you try to find them and how flexible you are when one course of action seems to be failing.

 

Yes, you still might fail, but as they say, at leat die trying everything you can.

[alpine_saint]

They’re up in arms because it appears to many that a whole farmyard of chickens have come home to roost.

 

 

The team.

Jason Dodd, whatever you may think of him, made what could turn out to be a prescient observation on his way out the door at St Mary’s, that the kids ‘weren’t ready’. He wasn’t saying they ‘weren’t good enough’ – just not ready. Some may turn into real stars – and will be sold to bail the club out, no doubt; others will slip down the leagues.

 

After last night, it’s tempting to say, well, look at Arsenal – they had a younger team than ours and flattened a team of seasoned pros who, in their own minds at least, should still be in the Prem. But Wenger has been assembling that team of teenagers for a long time, spending a lot of money in the process, and has been extremely careful to bring them up to Prem speed in a way that brings out the best in them. Just look at Theo, and the way he’s been eased into the first team over a couple of years.

 

Our kids, on the other hand, have just been thrown in at the deep end – not just into the first team, but into a team that is under huge pressure to avoid the drop after a disastrous season with tougher and much more seasoned pros. The kids are being set up to fail, regardless of their quality.

 

The manager.

I’ll make one prediction right now – or two, to be precise. For all his efforts, Jan will be rewarded with the boot. I honestly don’t believe he could have done much else than he has so far, taking into account his own background and outlook on the game, and the several metaphorical straitjackets he’s been forced into – young, inexperienced players or varying quality; players bought by a chairman for no obvious reason (Forecast, Pulis…) in place, for example, of badly needed full backs; a chairman allegedly with delusions of dressing-room grandeur; etc.

 

When Pearson left, I think the anxiety – to put it mildly – on here was that the passion and commitment he’d injected into a team in freefall was being thrown away, just when it had been rediscovered after the barren Burley years. We were losing someone who had taught the team how to fight and to believe. So who will Lowe replace Jan with? I’d be surprised if it were Wotte Hendaday. And we can’t afford someone like Billy Davies (which I take to mean that we can’t afford any outside appointment).

 

Step forward, Killer. It’ll be a popular move with fans – at least as long as results start to turn around and he doesn’t morph into Dodd/Gorman; he’s already under contract; and it’ll also be an implicit admission by Lowe that he made a serious, and perhaps even fatal, mistake in getting rid of a like-minded Pearson. That, and it's just my guess, is Plan B.

 

The empty seats.

I’ll give Sundance and his strange little sidekick, Scooby, credit for consistency in their weirdness: if you believe them, the club is being brought to its knees by some kind of unannounced boycott by anything up to 10,000 fans. And their ‘selfishness’ will drive the club into oblivion.

 

These two really should check in with their lord and master on this one, because they appear to be seriously off-message. Lowe is on record as referring to Saints fans as ‘customers’. The clear implication is that we are rational economic actors – we’re consumers looking at the club simply as a part of the entertainment industry. And if we decide not to go, it’s because the football on offer just isn’t a very appealing prospect.

 

So for SunScoob to berate us for our appalling disloyalty is, by Lowe’s own definition, a bit like the manager at the local Sainsbury’s yelling insults at his customers as they defect to a newer, cheaper branch of Tescos.

 

Of course, many really don’t fit that description at all. From Yorkie, whose age I could guess at, to S4AINT, whose age I know, it’s come hell or high water – or has been until recently.

 

But Lowe was at least partly right: there IS a large minority of Saints ‘supporters’ who look at what entertainment is on offer and think: ‘Nope, I can do better elsewhere.’ As each home match creates a new record low in attendances, we’re about to find out how big that ‘minority’ is, and how hardy the diehards really are. I expect there is still some way down to go.

 

Lowe needs both sets of fans – the ‘diehards’ and the ‘customers’ – to survive. I would bet good money that the business plan he presented to the bank included projections of home attendances, and they were far higher than 15,000 and falling.

 

Now, at the best of times, a bank may look at this and start to think they’re throwing good money after bad. But these aren’t the best of times. We’re 100% dependent on a lifeline of credit from a bank – in the midst of the worst banking crisis since the Depression. If the credit crunch worsens, the bank could call in the credit line at a moment’s notice.

 

But even if it doesn’t, and even if the team is asset-stripped to service some of the debt, I can’t see how administration can be avoided. The club’s most important source of revenue, the fanbase, is melting away – possibly for years to come. The pros and cons of administration have been debated endlessly on here, but it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that it WILL happen, and almost certainly at some point this season or at its end. Hence the screaming and shouting from the Lowe proxies on here – blaming the victims of this unholy mess, in a pretty transparent attempt to deflect attention from one of the causes.

 

So, assuming they’re not full of it, could all this add up to an explanation for the time it’s taken for the Fulthorpe bidders to heave over the horizon? That the are waiting for the collapse?

 

 

PS. Sorry that this is interminably long – I’ve been away for a bit, so I’m still catching up with all the sturm and drang.

 

A very good summary, reflecting many of my own thoughts.

[Wes Tender]

Are you saying the problem is that at the moment we have not got enough older players.

 

The problem as I see it is that we are not getting enough goals and putting too much pressure on the defence.

 

Are you wishing to contradict your second sentence by asking that? Surely it was inherent in your statement that playing too many of the youngsters was a problem. But it is only one of the problems.

 

The other ones are fairly obvious, that a team goes nowhere when it doesn't score goals at one end and concedes too many at the other. Highlighting that point was easy in last night's match. The experienced and wily older striker scored a spectacular goal out of nothing, whereas the in favour youngsters up front ran around like headless chickens and didn't bother the defence all night. The young goallie flapped about and worried the defence in front of him with his nervous play while we might have actually won had KD been in goal, as seemingly two of their goals were down to mistakes that Bialkowski made

 

I think that unless the youngsters are the most talented amongst their generation as they are at Arsenal, it is generally more sensible to have a balance between the youngsters and the more experienced older players and that the youngsters should be blooded when ready, not thrown into the deep end to sink or swim.

[John B]

Are you wishing to contradict your second sentence by asking that? Surely it was inherent in your statement that playing too many of the youngsters was a problem. But it is only one of the problems.

 

The other ones are fairly obvious, that a team goes nowhere when it doesn't score goals at one end and concedes too many at the other. Highlighting that point was easy in last night's match. The experienced and wily older striker scored a spectacular goal out of nothing, whereas the in favour youngsters up front ran around like headless chickens and didn't bother the defence all night. The young goallie flapped about and worried the defence in front of him with his nervous play while we might have actually won had KD been in goal, as seemingly two of their goals were down to mistakes that Bialkowski made

 

I think that unless the youngsters are the most talented amongst their generation as they are at Arsenal, it is generally more sensible to have a balance between the youngsters and the more experienced older players and that the youngsters should be blooded when ready, not thrown into the deep end to sink or swim.

 

Yes I probably agree whatever the mix we are going to struggle.

 

I dont think we have complete novices young maybe.

 

Last Saturdays Team

 

Davis

Cork

Perry

Wotton

Mills (very novice)

 

Surman

Gillett (novice)

 

Lallana

BWP

Dyer

McGoldrick (novice)

 

 

but

 

We could have

 

Davis

Cork

Perry

Svensson

Skacel

 

 

Wotton

Schneiderlin

 

Lallana

Surman

John

McGoldrick

 

next week but I dont know how John and Skacel will play

 

Since his injury I do not rate Bart at all

Edited 24 September, 2008 by John B

[Wes Tender]

They’re up in arms because it appears to many that a whole farmyard of chickens have come home to roost.

 

 

The team.

Jason Dodd, whatever you may think of him, made what could turn out to be a prescient observation on his way out the door at St Mary’s, that the kids ‘weren’t ready’. He wasn’t saying they ‘weren’t good enough’ – just not ready. Some may turn into real stars – and will be sold to bail the club out, no doubt; others will slip down the leagues.

 

After last night, it’s tempting to say, well, look at Arsenal – they had a younger team than ours and flattened a team of seasoned pros who, in their own minds at least, should still be in the Prem. But Wenger has been assembling that team of teenagers for a long time, spending a lot of money in the process, and has been extremely careful to bring them up to Prem speed in a way that brings out the best in them. Just look at Theo, and the way he’s been eased into the first team over a couple of years.

 

Our kids, on the other hand, have just been thrown in at the deep end – not just into the first team, but into a team that is under huge pressure to avoid the drop after a disastrous season with tougher and much more seasoned pros. The kids are being set up to fail, regardless of their quality.

 

The manager.

I’ll make one prediction right now – or two, to be precise. For all his efforts, Jan will be rewarded with the boot. I honestly don’t believe he could have done much else than he has so far, taking into account his own background and outlook on the game, and the several metaphorical straitjackets he’s been forced into – young, inexperienced players or varying quality; players bought by a chairman for no obvious reason (Forecast, Pulis…) in place, for example, of badly needed full backs; a chairman allegedly with delusions of dressing-room grandeur; etc.

 

When Pearson left, I think the anxiety – to put it mildly – on here was that the passion and commitment he’d injected into a team in freefall was being thrown away, just when it had been rediscovered after the barren Burley years. We were losing someone who had taught the team how to fight and to believe. So who will Lowe replace Jan with? I’d be surprised if it were Wotte Hendaday. And we can’t afford someone like Billy Davies (which I take to mean that we can’t afford any outside appointment).

 

Step forward, Killer. It’ll be a popular move with fans – at least as long as results start to turn around and he doesn’t morph into Dodd/Gorman; he’s already under contract; and it’ll also be an implicit admission by Lowe that he made a serious, and perhaps even fatal, mistake in getting rid of a like-minded Pearson. That, and it's just my guess, is Plan B.

 

The empty seats.

I’ll give Sundance and his strange little sidekick, Scooby, credit for consistency in their weirdness: if you believe them, the club is being brought to its knees by some kind of unannounced boycott by anything up to 10,000 fans. And their ‘selfishness’ will drive the club into oblivion.

 

These two really should check in with their lord and master on this one, because they appear to be seriously off-message. Lowe is on record as referring to Saints fans as ‘customers’. The clear implication is that we are rational economic actors – we’re consumers looking at the club simply as a part of the entertainment industry. And if we decide not to go, it’s because the football on offer just isn’t a very appealing prospect.

 

So for SunScoob to berate us for our appalling disloyalty is, by Lowe’s own definition, a bit like the manager at the local Sainsbury’s yelling insults at his customers as they defect to a newer, cheaper branch of Tescos.

 

Of course, many really don’t fit that description at all. From Yorkie, whose age I could guess at, to S4AINT, whose age I know, it’s come hell or high water – or has been until recently.

 

But Lowe was at least partly right: there IS a large minority of Saints ‘supporters’ who look at what entertainment is on offer and think: ‘Nope, I can do better elsewhere.’ As each home match creates a new record low in attendances, we’re about to find out how big that ‘minority’ is, and how hardy the diehards really are. I expect there is still some way down to go.

 

Lowe needs both sets of fans – the ‘diehards’ and the ‘customers’ – to survive. I would bet good money that the business plan he presented to the bank included projections of home attendances, and they were far higher than 15,000 and falling.

 

Now, at the best of times, a bank may look at this and start to think they’re throwing good money after bad. But these aren’t the best of times. We’re 100% dependent on a lifeline of credit from a bank – in the midst of the worst banking crisis since the Depression. If the credit crunch worsens, the bank could call in the credit line at a moment’s notice.

 

But even if it doesn’t, and even if the team is asset-stripped to service some of the debt, I can’t see how administration can be avoided. The club’s most important source of revenue, the fanbase, is melting away – possibly for years to come. The pros and cons of administration have been debated endlessly on here, but it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that it WILL happen, and almost certainly at some point this season or at its end. Hence the screaming and shouting from the Lowe proxies on here – blaming the victims of this unholy mess, in a pretty transparent attempt to deflect attention from one of the causes.

 

So, assuming they’re not full of it, could all this add up to an explanation for the time it’s taken for the Fulthorpe bidders to heave over the horizon? That the are waiting for the collapse?

 

 

PS. Sorry that this is interminably long – I’ve been away for a bit, so I’m still catching up with all the sturm and drang.

 

Don't apologise for the length, as it covered a lot of ground, but was well reasoned and I agree with most of it. A bit surprised at your conclusion that Killer might be in the frame as a successor to JP though.

 

I also concluded that Fulthorpe might well have been biding his time to make an offer immediately before receivership.

[mulletsaint]

Gotta say guys one of the best threads in ages, despite what others might think. Good to see so many well reasoned arguments from both sides of the fence, enjoyed both Foxy's and Roman's. Pity we had to have the usual injection of egotism part way through.

[Weston Saint]

Last season when NavyRed was telling us how good many of our youngsters were and how most of them were ready for the first team I warned that they were losing games against good experienced reserve teams from other clubs. However, I bought into the "Lowe plan" because we were in a financial mess and it seemed the only option to me.

 

Early games suggested we would need time for the youth to gain experience and first team fitness to cope with the rigours of playing every week, sometimes more. I had hoped that some of our retained experienced failures of last season might still have been able to pass on some of their experience in training and more so on the pitch but again I was prepared to buy into youth experiment and bide time.

 

I am now becoming very concerned about our future. Our youth seem to be slipping into bad habits on the pitch. The confidence seems shot, the movement less, the positional play lost, the passing array and the lack of leaders on the field of play conspicuous by their absence. Add to this the reduction in income from supporters for various reasons and the veiled hint from our Team coach that we are just not good enough and it is not a happy picture.

 

I cannot see any light at the end of this particular tunnel. What worries me more is any light I might see could well be the express train hurtling towards impending doom at SMS.

 

I will continue my support......for now. Let’s hope I am rewarded for my patience.

[Roman]

A very good summary, reflecting many of my own thoughts.

 

Yikes! Gave me a bit of a fright there, Alps.

 

But thanks.

[slickmick]

Are their any other teams in the CCC on the verge of Admin ?

Might be our best hope.

[alpine_saint]

Gotta say guys one of the best threads in ages, despite what others might think. Good to see so many well reasoned arguments from both sides of the fence, enjoyed both Foxy's and Roman's. Pity we had to have the usual injection of egotism part way through.

 

And a latter attempt to trash it...

[Roman]

A bit surprised at your conclusion that Killer might be in the frame as a successor to JP though.

 

I know, it sounds a bit weird. But there are a couple of reasons for thinking it might happen.

 

One is I would guess that Wotte, Hockaday and Henderson are all too politically attuned within Lowe Towers to accept such a poisoned chalice.

 

But the second, much bigger reason, is Lowe's predilection for doing the opposite of what anyone might reasonably expect. And in any case, if he does wave goodbye to Jan, he has to conjure up a Plan B from virtually nothing.

 

I can see the announcement now - with the other Lowe, Wotte, Henderson and Hockaday all pledging their support and experience to back up Killer's commitment to the cause...etc.

[John B]

I know, it sounds a bit weird. But there are a couple of reasons for thinking it might happen.

 

One is I would guess that Wotte, Hockaday and Henderson are all too politically attuned within Lowe Towers to accept such a poisoned chalice.

 

But the second, much bigger reason, is Lowe's predilection for doing the opposite of what anyone might reasonably expect. And in any case, if he does wave goodbye to Jan, he has to conjure up a Plan B from virtually nothing.

 

I can see the announcement now - with the other Lowe, Wotte, Henderson and Hockaday all pledging their support and experience to back up Killer's commitment to the cause...etc.

 

Seems a little far fetched to me.

 

I think Jan P is here for the long run.

 

Why have we brought in five youngsters plus Cork on loan.

 

I think the whole plan may include contingency if we are relegated.

[Whitey Grandad]

I know, it sounds a bit weird. But there are a couple of reasons for thinking it might happen.

 

One is I would guess that Wotte, Hockaday and Henderson are all too politically attuned within Lowe Towers to accept such a poisoned chalice.

 

But the second, much bigger reason, is Lowe's predilection for doing the opposite of what anyone might reasonably expect. And in any case, if he does wave goodbye to Jan, he has to conjure up a Plan B from virtually nothing.

 

I can see the announcement now - with the other Lowe, Wotte, Henderson and Hockaday all pledging their support and experience to back up Killer's commitment to the cause...etc.

I'm beginning to see some strange logic in this suggestion. Killer has just been given a one-year contract so we are committed to paying him anyway. If his knee has gone then he would effectively come at zero net cost.

[The Godfather]

Their's very little difference to last season. We are still giving stupid goals away, struggling to create chance let alone score goals. The only thing different is the emphasis is on younger players and apart from the first few games where the football was better its now awful to watch just like last season which equates to one thing league one football next season.

[JustMike]

I dont understand why most of the fans are up in arms about the current situation.

 

 

It is quite obvious with a team of youngsters the Club is going to struggle for points in the Championship and maybe indeed be relegated.

 

There was very little chance in the side being successful this season and probably next season too.

 

 

The reason we are in this position is purely financial so why cant the fans get behind the team and support them in the quest to finish at least 21st in the Championship with out demanding the board and the coaching staff to leave.

 

We are supposed to be supporters it cannot be ideal being a player reading this forum

 

what part of it dont you understand. I go week in, week out to support the team. The current situation is bad, we need a drastic change of fortune to put this right. Unless we get investment / takeover / fairy godmother we will go down..thats what im up in arms about

[John B]

what part of it dont you understand. I go week in, week out to support the team. The current situation is bad, we need a drastic change of fortune to put this right. Unless we get investment / takeover / fairy godmother we will go down..thats what im up in arms about

 

Well we may go down that is football nothing is guarnteed .

 

That is what I cannot understand some teams are going to relegated that is the chance we take.

 

So why get so upset about it.

 

Are you sureyou go to support the team or go to see them succeed

[slickmick]

what part of it dont you understand. I go week in, week out to support the team. The current situation is bad, we need a drastic change of fortune to put this right. Unless we get investment / takeover / fairy godmother we will go down..thats what im up in arms about

 

 

But thats out of anyones control, what can we do other than try to urge the players to survival ?

 

Any chance of a poll to see what people think our chances are of staying up ? I will start, by saying we will stay up.

[JustMike]

Well we may go down that is football nothing is guarnteed .

 

That is what I cannot understand some teams are going to relegated that is the chance we take.

 

So why get so upset about it.

 

Are you sureyou go to support the team or go to see them succeed

 

i go for both reasons. Yes some teams may get relegated but i bet they will go down fighting. with our lot it appears they have given up already.

 

Why get upset? Ok, how does L1 football sound to you? How does lower crowds sound to you? How does a real threat of administration sound to you?

[Plumstead_Saint]

Killer has just been given a one-year contract so we are committed to paying him anyway. If his knee has gone then he would effectively come at zero net cost.

:confused:

I thought he played the full game last night, and has been decent in most games so far this season?

Is there a problem again?

[Whitey Grandad]

:confused:

I thought he played the full game last night, and has been decent in most games so far this season?

Is there a problem again?

It's just a concern at the moment. He obviously is not up to two games a week at present. He looked a bit off the pace against Blackpool but that is only to be expected

[NickG]

I know, it sounds a bit weird. But there are a couple of reasons for thinking it might happen.

 

One is I would guess that Wotte, Hockaday and Henderson are all too politically attuned within Lowe Towers to accept such a poisoned chalice.

 

But the second, much bigger reason, is Lowe's predilection for doing the opposite of what anyone might reasonably expect. And in any case, if he does wave goodbye to Jan, he has to conjure up a Plan B from virtually nothing.

 

I can see the announcement now - with the other Lowe, Wotte, Henderson and Hockaday all pledging their support and experience to back up Killer's commitment to the cause...etc.

 

I can see a flaw in your prediction - surely now Lowe must do the opposite?

[SaintRichmond]

Their's very little difference to last season. We are still giving stupid goals away, struggling to create chance let alone score goals. The only thing different is the emphasis is on younger players and apart from the first few games where the football was better its now awful to watch just like last season which equates to one thing league one football next season.

 

I agree with some of that, but would like to say ...

 

Up until this season, St Mary's was pretty well attended, and by and large, the crowd gave the players on the park good support

 

This season, gates have dipped to cirka 15000, and a lot of the support has gone

 

It is depressing for the "faithful" 15000 to be in a half empty Stadium, where it gets so quiet, you can almost hear a fart from the other side of the pitch

 

It must be at least TWICE as depressing from the players point of view, playing in front of a half empty Stadium, and knowing that they are on a hiding to nothing before they even kick a ball

 

If only the attendances this season were the same as last, I honestly think that the "extra" noise/support generated would lift our very young Team, and their morale would not have been shattered

 

I am firmly of the belief, that a very large percentage of "stayaways" have been influenced mainly by the return of Rupert Lowe and Michael Wilde. These two individuals are proven FAILURES, yet they formed a DEvils Alliance to get back in

 

Us Supporters, or as Lowe refers to us, "Customers" have had enough, and that is unequivically proven by the empty seats at St Mary's

 

I would venture to bet however, that if Lowe & Wilde were to leave tomorrow, the next home gate would show a dramatic improvement. Even under Branfoot, us Supporters managed to lift the Team, and of course, we had Le Tiss

 

It is alreadt time for Lowe & Wilde to RESIGN. It is blatently obvious that solely playing youngsters, with just the odd addition of an "experienced" head, is just not going to work

 

Do not wait until 15 matches in, or 20 matches in, or even 25 matches in ........... CHANGE MUST HAPPEN NOW .......... before the "confidence" of some very very good youngsters is shattered beyond repair.

 

When you are a young player, you never think you are going to lose, ( every match is a Cup Final, remember ?? )

 

But when you DO start to lose, you start to have the confidence drain from you, to be replaced by the Fear Factor

 

Don't let it get that bad

 

I really think that say 22000 could cheer OUR SAINTS on to Victory at St Mary's, with the addition of say two experienced heads ....... coupled with the permanent removal of Two other heads .... LOWE & WILDE

 

For those that say Administration is not the way I say ....... Why Not ??

Going on as we are will mean the Club gets poorer and poorer, the debts get higher and higher ...... nothing changes other than further Relegations, all endorsed by Lowe's Ruddy Grin, and his own belief that he is never wrong.

 

I really feel sorry for Poortvliet ... with just a few more seasoned, experienced, pros in the side, he would make it work, and then be able to blood the youngsters on a winning run, instead of having to watch them struggle to come out of a losing one

 

Go now Lowe & Wilde, you are the disaster many of us knew would happen