Robsk II Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 There's just as much anti-Lowe vitriol flying around as ever, proving as divisive as usual. I'm not his greatest fan, but I can't honestly say I considered the iterim lot to have done any better at all, certainly not in taking the club any further forwards - in some regards, the opposite was true. Either way, one question remains in my mind about all this, as it did last time. If not Wupert - then who? Who has the savvy, experience and know-how to unite the fans behind them - at least most of us - and put an end to this culture of major splits regarding the club heriachy? Who would bring people together, and who could make a genuine impact to allow the club to get results, become financially solvent and away from continual concern in financial matters, and become, in short, a genuinely well regarded chairperson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Leon Crouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsk II Posted 23 November, 2008 Author Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Hypothetically, let's say that's not convincing. Who else? Any financial input? Etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Hypothetically, let's say that's not convincing. Who else? Any financial input? Etc. Hyperthecically, let's agree to disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsk II Posted 23 November, 2008 Author Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Fine. Still, if Crouch was not an option, what then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Fine. Still, if Crouch was not an option, what then? Well he is an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsk II Posted 23 November, 2008 Author Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Yeah.. but WHAT IF HE WASN'T? I'm wasting my time here with you, right? Also - OK, tell me why Leon Crouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Yeah.. but WHAT IF HE WASN'T? I'm wasting my time here with you, right? Also - OK, tell me why Leon Crouch. Why not Leon Crouch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Tel49 Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Why not Leon Crouch? Good answer -NOT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Good answer -NOT That expression is so 80's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robsk II Posted 23 November, 2008 Author Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Stanley, I'm asking you to forward people and support their case. Seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Tel49 Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 That expression is so 80's. Sorry - I pre-date that even!!!. I have nothing against Crouch as such - its just that I feel that yet another change of regime and management without solid funds to back it is just pointless and even more damaging than the status quo. And I happen to like the football we are playing - even if it does not always get the results it deserves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Stanley, I'm asking you to forward people and support their case. Seriously. Crouch's case has been put many many times and he's a far better option that than Lowe and snake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Farmer Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Board sack Lowe Board draft advert for applicants Board place advert in FT Board interviews candidates Board hires most suitable interviewee Call me old fashioned but it works for every other PLC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundance Beast Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Board sack Lowe Board draft advert for applicants Board place advert in FT Board interviews candidates Board hires most suitable interviewee Call me old fashioned but it works for every other PLC Call me old fashioned but I think you'll find they tend me either promoted from within, quietly head-hunted or appointed as a result of a merger or a takeover. FTSE 100 plc require chairman, send us your CV? No I don't think so. I agree with Robsk what has actually changed in the intervening period between Lowe leaving and Lowe returning. Now back, he is completely tied with the finances as to what he can do and I would challenge anyone in his position to have negogiated with our financiers and keep this club afloat any better than he has achieved. The matter of debate remains had Lowe not been ousted by Wilde & Co would we now be in this position? My opinion is that we unequiviocally would not be on the brink of administration and playing with a team made up of mainly apprentices had Lowe stayed. We would probably be a comfortably established, financially stable CCC club preparing for a return to the Premeirship as part of a 5 year rebuilding plan. Now we are in the survival game as a result of poorly managed gamble. Leon Crouch IMO is a comedian and should be on the stage, preferably the first one out of town. For someone who give the impression he is coated in Teflon when it comes to accepting responsibility for his role and decisions, it's surprising he needs by the looks of him to coat himself in oil. The last things this club need is Crouch and his henchman Trant doing one of their toe-curling press calls outside SMS. Stanley probably looking on and appluaidng. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Bones Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Crouch's case has been put many many times and he's a far better option that than Lowe and snake. What then is stopping him reclaiming the club ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Farmer Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Call me old fashioned but I think you'll find they tend me either promoted from within, quietly head-hunted or appointed as a result of a merger or a takeover. FTSE 100 plc require chairman, send us your CV? No I don't think so. I didnt say it was the norm, but it IS a viable method of recruiting if there is no-one in house or you havent got the money to head hunt someone. Lloyds TSB used the method twice while I was working for them between 1996 and 2003, so they would say you are talking out of somewhere the Sundance certainly don't shine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Tel49 Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Board sack Lowe Board draft advert for applicants Board place advert in FT Board interviews candidates Board hires most suitable interviewee Call me old fashioned but it works for every other PLC Yep - I can see that working. "Board needs Patsy to take flack for its incompetence. Previous applicants need not apply. With regard to salary please state how much money you can bring to the post" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Leon Crouch. Yep. Crouch and Pearson should have been given a season to try to turn things round in their own way. Yes, we would have still needed to make deep cost cuts, but there is absolutely no way they would have proven so divisive within the fan base or caused such a large drop in attendance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint in Paradise Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Sundance, Please excuse this senile old chap as I get confused very easily re the London Stock Market and stuff, but when did SLH become a FTSE 100 PLC ??? I didn't think that they were large enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wopper Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 If only the fans were stupid enough to accept an obnoxious toe rag running the club we might get somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faz Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Crouch's case has been put many many times and he's a far better option that than Lowe and snake. Except he does not have the backing of the majority of the shareholders and would, therefore, be divisive. It may have escaped the notice of many, but the only place the boardroom is being mentioned, is on here. Saints are only on the back pages these days, which is a good thing imo. Many may not like the regime, but there appears to be more stability, and at least we seem to have a plan. Both on and off the pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delmary Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Call me old fashioned but I think you'll find they tend me either promoted from within, quietly head-hunted or appointed as a result of a merger or a takeover. FTSE 100 plc require chairman, send us your CV? No I don't think so. I agree with Robsk what has actually changed in the intervening period between Lowe leaving and Lowe returning. Now back, he is completely tied with the finances as to what he can do and I would challenge anyone in his position to have negogiated with our financiers and keep this club afloat any better than he has achieved. The matter of debate remains had Lowe not been ousted by Wilde & Co would we now be in this position? My opinion is that we unequiviocally would not be on the brink of administration and playing with a team made up of mainly apprentices had Lowe stayed. We would probably be a comfortably established, financially stable CCC club preparing for a return to the Premeirship as part of a 5 year rebuilding plan. Now we are in the survival game as a result of poorly managed gamble. Leon Crouch IMO is a comedian and should be on the stage, preferably the first one out of town. For someone who give the impression he is coated in Teflon when it comes to accepting responsibility for his role and decisions, it's surprising he needs by the looks of him to coat himself in oil. The last things this club need is Crouch and his henchman Trant doing one of their toe-curling press calls outside SMS. Stanley probably looking on and appluaidng.It's all ifs. Who knows what would of happened; If Lowe had not appointed Wigley, if an unfit Steve Williams had not played the FA Cup semi-final, if the reverse takeover had not taken place etc etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Tender Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Except he does not have the backing of the majority of the shareholders and would, therefore, be divisive. It may have escaped the notice of many, but the only place the boardroom is being mentioned, is on here. Saints are only on the back pages these days, which is a good thing imo. Many may not like the regime, but there appears to be more stability, and at least we seem to have a plan. Both on and off the pitch. It may have also escaped your notice that the most devisive people in charge of the club in its entire history are Lowe and the Quisling acting in unison. It's also debateable whether they also have the backing of the majority of the shareholders either. The boardeoom is mentioned on here because we are fans that care enough about our club to discuss it, especially as the boardroom activities during the past decade have resulted in the near demise of our beloved club. There is no stability and furthermore the plan would be worthy of Walter Mitty, who Lowe is attempting to emulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 It's all ifs. Who knows what would of happened; If Lowe had not appointed Wigley, if an unfit Steve Williams had not played the FA Cup semi-final, if the reverse takeover had not taken place etc etc... What if Bobby Stokes was offside at Wembley in 1976 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 It may have also escaped your notice that the most devisive people in charge of the club in its entire history are Lowe and the Quisling acting in unison. It's also debateable whether they also have the backing of the majority of the shareholders either. The boardeoom is mentioned on here because we are fans that care enough about our club to discuss it, especially as the boardroom activities during the past decade have resulted in the near demise of our beloved club. There is no stability and furthermore the plan would be worthy of Walter Mitty, who Lowe is attempting to emulate. Get real the stuff happening at SFC is happening elsewhere as well Football Clubs go up and down. We do have a reasonable plan for the future and there is stability except for a rabble saying Lowe out for no sensible or intelligent reason Wilde and Lowe are not involved at Charlton and they are in a worse position than us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALWAYS_SFC Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 (edited) It's all ifs. Who knows what would of happened; If Lowe had not appointed Wigley, if an unfit Steve Williams had not played the FA Cup semi-final, if the reverse takeover had not taken place etc etc... If during our late premiership days lowe had have allowed serious investment in the playing squad instead of limiting us to small change for players who were simply not good enough we would still be with the big boys but no he wasted the money on a succesion of really poor management appointments,ex rugby coaches,wonderfull catering and radio station to name a few and lets not forget paying the dividends. The result of this is we stood still and everyone else moved on and left us behind,he should know being this wonderfull businessman he is supposed to be that if you stand still in business it is the same as going backwards. What really happpened to the money genersted by our position in the premier league? Afterall iT could not have all gone on the expense of wages and running costs etc ,don`t forget he made some very lucrative sales of our decent players during that time too. He has failed spectactularly once, yet lots of people seem to think he can be the savior now.....i don`t think so... Edited 23 November, 2008 by ALWAYS_SFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faz Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 It may have also escaped your notice that the most devisive people in charge of the club in its entire history are Lowe and the Quisling acting in unison. {b}It's also debateable whether they also have the backing of the majority of the shareholders either[/b]. The boardeoom is mentioned on here because we are fans that care enough about our club to discuss it, especially as the boardroom activities during the past decade have resulted in the near demise of our beloved club. There is no stability and furthermore the plan would be worthy of Walter Mitty, who Lowe is attempting to emulate. Wes, I don't know if its me or you, but one of us has a very bad memory. Did Lowe and Wilde not oust Crouch at the end of last season? It's also a bit rich calling Lowe Walter Mitty, when this place is (or has been) populated by the very definition of Walter Mitty like characters. You nor I may like it, but there is a plan. There is stability - or as much as any club outside the top 4 has. Finally I'm not talking about he last decade, I'm talking about today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Wes, I don't know if its me or you, but one of us has a very bad memory. Did Lowe and Wilde not oust Crouch at the end of last season? It's also a bit rich calling Lowe Walter Mitty, when this place is (or has been) populated by the very definition of Walter Mitty like characters. You nor I may like it, but there is a plan. There is stability - or as much as any club outside the top 4 has. Finally I'm not talking about he last decade, I'm talking about today. If by stability you mean stable attendances of 15000, then yes, we have stability. If you mean stability by having a first team squad butchered (as it will again in January), and stable monthly losses taking us on the brink of administration, then that is a bit different. We are far from stable. An extra 5k - 6k on the gate might do it but it won't happen while Lowe and Wilde are here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickG Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Yep. Crouch and Pearson should have been given a season to try to turn things round in their own way. Yes, we would have still needed to make deep cost cuts, but there is absolutely no way they would have proven so divisive within the fan base or caused such a large drop in attendance. he obviously didn't convince Wilde that he was a competant custodian of his investment. I think JP will turn out to be better than NP, but who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickG Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Board sack Lowe Board draft advert for applicants Board place advert in FT Board interviews candidates Board hires most suitable interviewee Call me old fashioned but it works for every other PLC which board members do you want to choose the chairman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faz Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 If by stability you mean stable attendances of 15000, then yes, we have stability. If you mean stability by having a first team squad butchered (as it will again in January), and stable monthly losses taking us on the brink of administration, then that is a bit different. We are far from stable. An extra 5k - 6k on the gate might do it but it won't happen while Lowe and Wilde are here. No, by stability I mean we don't have any boardroom wranglings and we have a strategy. Do tell me which of last years team you would have kept? Those 2/3 that may be worth it ability wise we simply cannot afford. The 5-6k stay away fans have very little to do with Lowe/Wilde being in charge directly, as will be verified if we put together a decent run. The 20 or so using Lowe/Wilde as an excuse are not material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgiesaint Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 We are far from stable. An extra 5k - 6k on the gate might do it but it won't happen while Lowe and Wilde are here. Spot on. However I doubt that Crouch is able to unite the club either, he is too tainted with Lowe & Wilde as the Three Ego's that are ruining the club. So it's back to the original question, who? The name that sticks out is Salz, but he appears to need the financial backing of others to be in a position & even then, would he want to be in that position? As for who will supply the money to buy out Lowe, Wilde & Crouch, who knows? In the short term, we are stuck with what we have. The interesting bit, as has been discussed already is what the accounts will says when they are published in the next week or so (are we a going concern?) and how many players we lose in the January window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALWAYS_SFC Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 (edited) No, by stability I mean we don't have any boardroom wranglings and we have a strategy. Do tell me which of last years team you would have kept? Those 2/3 that may be worth it ability wise we simply cannot afford. The 5-6k stay away fans have very little to do with Lowe/Wilde being in charge directly, as will be verified if we put together a decent run. The 20 or so using Lowe/Wilde as an excuse are not material. We have a board room filled with everyone who toes the line and obey Lowe`s instructions...yes men I think you will find its a lot,lot more than 20 Edited 23 November, 2008 by ALWAYS_SFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Board sack Lowe Board draft advert for applicants Board place advert in FT Board interviews candidates Board hires most suitable interviewee Call me old fashioned but it works for every other PLC That's the bloody problem, the fact we are a PLC. It is not appropriate for a football club. Additionally the FA's rules designed to protect how the club is run are circumvented by a PLC. No paid directors for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Landrew Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 (edited) ...I'm asking you to forward people and support their case. Seriously. The truth is, there is not a single candidate who can step in and unite the fans, boardroom, club. The only chance of that happening is if someone or a group comes to buy the club out with serious money. That way we start off with a clean slate - no grudges, no backstabbing, and look forward to a brighter future. The only other way of uniting the fans is for the current regime to stay in place and, over the medium term, Saints win promotion back to the Premiership, and surpass the heights of 5 years ago. Then, I believe, people will finally let Rupert off the hook, wherein the errors, he and his board made, back then is corrected. Would we forgive him the intervening years of mediocrity..? Yes, I would, because he will have tried his best. Could be a long wait though. Edited 23 November, 2008 by St Landrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washsaint Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 I don't get it....as Faz has pointed out the only place the Board is mentioned is on this forum - and with about 50 regular posters I don't see how this can be representative. Since Lowe has been back, he has made virtually no public utterances yet still he gets lambasted. The myopic few seem to have forgotten that the missing 1,000s were going to return once Lowe left....didn't happen though did it? Still I'm sure Morph will pop it's head up with some cryptic crap which people will wet their pants over as a sure sign everything is changing (again). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faz Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 We have a board room filled with everyone who toes the line and obey Lowe`s instructions...yes men I think you will find its a lot,lot more than 20 If we were to get to the play offs, how many of the "I'm not going because of Lowe" brigade would stand on their principles and not attend? My guess is SMS would be full. The 20 or so anti-lowe zealots on here do not carry as much weight as a decent or poor run of results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delmary Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 The truth is, there is not a single candidate who can step in and unite the fans, boardroom, club. The only chance of that happening is if someone or a group comes to buy the club out with serious money. That way we start off with a clean slate - no grudges, no backstabbing, and look forward to a brighter future. The only other way of uniting the fans is for the current regime to stay in place and, over the medium term, Saints win promotion back to the Premiership, and surpass the heights of 5 years ago. Then, I believe, people will finally let Rupert off the hook, wherein the errors, he and his board made, back then is corrected. Would we forgive him the intervening years of mediocrity..? Yes, I would, because he will have tried his best. Could be a long wait though.Best post of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickG Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 If we were to get to the play offs, how many of the "I'm not going because of Lowe" brigade would stand on their principles and not attend? My guess is SMS would be full. The 20 or so anti-lowe zealots on here do not carry as much weight as a decent or poor run of results. agree totally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delmary Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 If we were to get to the play offs, how many of the "I'm not going because of Lowe" brigade would stand on their principles and not attend? My guess is SMS would be full. The 20 or so anti-lowe zealots on here do not carry as much weight as a decent or poor run of results.You should do Mastermind. Specialised chosen subject 'The bleedin obvious' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickG Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 some deny the bleedin obvious tho! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delmary Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 some deny the bleedin obvious tho!But are we going to make the play-offs? IMHO, very unlikely unless Lowe and Wilde have found that allusive investment which the club is crying out for. Come Jan some key players will be sold to balance the books. Therefore the best we can hope for is survival in this league or mid-table mediocrity and crowds hovering around the break-even figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickG Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 agree, but even if board stays it may not always be that way and play offs are achievable, or good cup run -and my guess is that the likes of Chris Newman will decide that it is still good to support saints in good times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delmary Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 agree, but even if board stays it may not always be that way and play offs are achievable, or good cup run -and my guess is that the likes of Chris Newman will decide that it is still good to support saints in good times.As mentioned above by St Landrew we could be in for a long wait. Unfortunately the club's finances are dire. The best we can hope for is survival or mid-table mediocrity. We are in for a bumpy ride over the next few seasons. We will have to dodge relegation, the taxman and retain the support of our bank and bond holders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miserableoldgit Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 But are we going to make the play-offs? IMHO, very unlikely unless Lowe and Wilde have found that allusive investment which the club is crying out for. Come Jan some key players will be sold to balance the books. Therefore the best we can hope for is survival in this league or mid-table mediocrity and crowds hovering around the break-even figure. It is interesting that JP is now talking about survival in post-match interviews rather than any airy-fairy talk of still making the play-offs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamesaint Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 The matter of debate remains had Lowe not been ousted by Wilde & Co would we now be in this position? My opinion is that we unequiviocally would not be on the brink of administration and playing with a team made up of mainly apprentices had Lowe stayed. We would probably be a comfortably established, financially stable CCC club preparing for a return to the Premeirship as part of a 5 year rebuilding plan. What, pray,do you base this little gem on other than blind devotion to Lowe. The man had quite simply lost the plot in our last season in the Premiership. 3 managers by the start of December !!! No wonder we went down. Then in our first season down his "brilliant" masterstroke of cutting players wages by half meant that we missed our best chance of going back up. Instead of concentrating on doing what Birmingham seem to do so well of bouncing straight back up we spent most of the season getting rid of players who have subsequently shown that they could do a good job in the Premiership (Delap, Niemi etc ). 5 year rebuilding plan ??? You must be having a larff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Tender Posted 23 November, 2008 Share Posted 23 November, 2008 Faz and John B, you just carry on living in your cosy little blinkered world believing that there are no divisions and that there is a workable plan. Personally, I believe that come the January window, when we have sold off any quality and the funds realised have disappeared into the black hole that is our overdraught, we will not have enough decent players left to keep us in this division. We only have a matter of weeks to find out, then we will see whether there is stability and whether the plan was workable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintBobby Posted 24 November, 2008 Share Posted 24 November, 2008 I'm not a fan of Rupert Lowe particularly. Agonisingly for him most of his cheerleaders on here also do him more harm than good. BUT: 1. The behaviour of the last board was utterly comedic (although also tragic for fans). I have absolutely no idea how Crouch, Wilde etc. have made so much money in their professional careers. As far as Saints were concerned, they couldn't manage a calculator. The balance sheet - on player wages alone - last year is just horrific. 2. This may be (just) excusable - as a desperate gamble - if we had, for example, lost the play off final at Wembley on penalties. The truth was we struggled to stay in the division at all and our fate was out of our own hands on the final day. The money spent to results achieved was utterly appalling. 3. The financial position of the club - if not promoted - must have been obvious to a Key Stage I semi-competent 11 year old maths student. Yet there was no indication that the board realised this, even when promotion was a logical impossibility. 4. The Crouch-led board apparently had no Plan B. In event of relegation to the third tier (which they nearly presided over) the culling would have been even worse. But the only way to keep the show on the road was to start selling every asset that moved and quite a few that didn't. To suggest otherwise is eitehr fantasy or living int he past or both. 5. The suggestions that the club was about to be taken over by some billionaire were utterly laughable. It's not as if we JUST failed to be bought out by Paul Allen, there was never any serious interest on his part to buy the club. Or in the other various other absurd fantasies doing the rounds. There is some evidence to suggest that the previous board either fell for this schoolboy nonsense or used it for PR reasons to deflect from reality. That's dishonest, incompetent or both. 6. In normal circumstances, there just isn't going to be much "new" money in football for a while. We can all dream that some Russian oligarch or Abu Dhabi sheik is suddenly going to decide to through a billion in our direction for a bit of a giggle, but in the absence of such an intervention, we need to know where we are. 7. Fans don't have to make the tough financial choices. So often we will argue to push the envelope (example: the argument that we must sign Richard Wright if we possibly can, but now all singing about having the best keeper in the division). The truth is that we don't really know the size of the envelope or its "pushability". I count myself into this category. 8. Southampton FC - along with the overwhelming majority of football clubs in England - is a tiny enterprise. Haven't checked the lastest share prices, but I'm guessing the whole gig can be bought for about £10m. Maybe £20m to be sure and build in a buffer. This is nickel and dime stuff in business terms. 9. This makes a buyout by well-organised fans eminently possible. Probably not the case for the big Premiership clubs, but very easy for the smaller clubs. For Saints, it requires c.10,000 people to invest £1000 each. Or c. 2,000 to invest £5,000 each. This shouldn't be a big ask. 10. But it is a big ask. For all the talk about fans wanting to have a stake in things, not wanting to be treated as "consumers" etc when it actually comes to it, we want to witness the success of our club while others shoulder/manage the financial cost and risk. Because of points 1 - 6, Leon Crouch should not be allowed to return in any serious organisational capacity. Because of points 7 - 10, there is no serious current alternative to Lowe as Chairman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted 24 November, 2008 Share Posted 24 November, 2008 Faz and John B, you just carry on living in your cosy little blinkered world believing that there are no divisions and that there is a workable plan. Personally, I believe that come the January window, when we have sold off any quality and the funds realised have disappeared into the black hole that is our overdraught, we will not have enough decent players left to keep us in this division. We only have a matter of weeks to find out, then we will see whether there is stability and whether the plan was workable. What on earth are you talking about Live in the real world if we have no money we may well get relegated but on the other hand we may not. Nothing is certain except three teams will be relegated this season that are the rules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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