Is Chairman Lowe Mk II any different to Chairman Lowe Mk I?

[TopGun]

Have times altered Rupert? Or is he is the same beast?

 

Here's an interesting interview he gave to the Independent in March 2005. (Don't go on at me for the length of it BTW)

 

Rupert Lowe: 'Public schoolboys and ****neys get along fine ... we're as thick as each other'

 

By Brian Viner

Monday, 21 March 2005

 

Let me begin at the end, if that's not too much of a conundrum. My interview with the Southampton FC chairman, Rupert Lowe, has finished, and he is leading The Independent's photographer, Robert Hallam, and me through a maze of corridors inside St Mary's stadium. He's sorry about rushing us, he says, but he has an important meeting to attend. Then he pauses before a pair of swing doors. "Would either of you like the loo before you go," he asks, with the impeccable solicitude of the upper middle classes.

 

It is hard to think of anyone else in football who would have expressed such concern for our bladders; hard, indeed, to think of anyone else in football called Rupert (as Graeme Souness pointedly observed). And this is significant because a lot of the media interest in Lowe concerns his poshness, even to the extent of trying to make him seem posher than he is. "It has been widely reported that I'm an Old Etonian," he says. "I'm not. I'm an Old Radleian."

 

Also widely reported is that he is a hockey-playing toff who wasn't the slightest bit interested in football until he joined the Southampton board. "They still say that I went to a football match for the first time six months before I joined Southampton," he says. "Incorrect. I used to go with friends regularly to watch Ipswich Town, although as a boy I supported West Ham. I played football at the Dragon School in Oxford. And I remember being very keen on my Soccer Stars album. When you bought stuff from the school tuck shop you got the stickers."

 

That Lowe should cite the Dragon School tuck shop in his counterblast to those who dismiss him as a toff with no pedigree as a football lover seems to me rather sweet. But I wouldn't want to patronise him with inverted snobbery. Besides, far from his public-school background being a handicap, his experience of loneliness and petty cruelties has probably helped him cope.

 

"I remember being at The Dell one evening when we lost 2-0 to Leeds United. We had one point after 10 games, and the whole stadium was chanting 'Rupert Lowe's a ******!' That's not nice. I did wake up one night and say to my wife, 'What am I doing this for?' But I am not someone who backs away from a situation."

 

His stoicism may be tested over the next weeks and months.

 

Southampton's Premiership status is in greater peril than it has been for years, and however much starch there is publicly in Lowe's upper lip, privately he must be fretting terribly over the implications of relegation. He denies it, of course. "If the worst happens, we have managed it so the club will financially survive. We have a fairly sound formula in place which will serve us well. The key if we do go down is to maintain our squad. But I should add that we have no intention of going down, and I don't think we will, because under Harry Redknapp we have a new-found confidence.

 

"Things are on the mend. Earlier this season people doubted Peter Crouch; now I hear him being talked about as a possible England player. And our youth set-up is one of the best in the League. However, the truth is that as a club we have outboxed our weight for a long time. When I sat down for my Christmas turkey just over a year ago we were in fourth place. That raised expectations, and when expectations are raised they have further to fall."

 

Which is indubitably true, but so is the fact that since Lowe became chairman in 1995, the Saints have had nine managers. As a point of comparison, if you go nine managers back at yesterday's opponents, Middlesbrough, you reach John Neal in 1977. So Lowe's tenure has hardly been a model of continuity. On the other hand, he very bullishly hands me the club's annual report to prove that with him at the head of the boardroom table the club has prospered mightily. And sure enough, the report shows that annual turnover, boosted by the move from The Dell to St Mary's, has climbed from £5m to £50m. Moreover, he says, the circumstances that led to most of the managers leaving were beyond his control.

 

This is fair enough: it is hard, for example, to see what else he could have done in the case of Dave Jones, wrongly accused of child abuse, other than suspend him on full pay while he fought to prove his innocence.

 

And Gordon Strachan left for "family" reasons. On the other hand, it could be argued that replacing Paul Sturrock (main handicap: no managerial experience at Premiership level) with Steve Wigley (main handicap: no managerial experience at any level) was, at best, naïve. Not that it's an argument Lowe will countenance. "I make no apology for giving people a go," he says. "If you don't give people a go then you end up with an ageing pool of managers, and nobody gaining the experience to take English football forward."

 

Laudable words, I say, but Southampton aren't a charity. Surely it's not his board's policy to appoint managers for the greater good of English football?

 

"No, but I believe that Steve Wigley - who is back, incidentally, as director of youth football - could have done it if people, the board and the supporters, had had a greater degree of belief in him."

 

All the same, Wigley went, whereupon Lowe was all for reappointing Glenn Hoddle, despite Hoddle's "betrayal" of the club when Tottenham Hotspur came calling in 2001. "Yes, he walked out on the club, but I think he realises now that he might have been better staying here than going to Spurs. Everyone makes mistakes; the art is to learn from them. And I have a very high regard for Glenn's coaching. I worked with him for 15 months and found him extremely well-organised. I would have been quite comfortable having him back, but not everyone on the board agreed, and it is better to have a club with togetherness."

 

So Harry Redknapp was appointed, not that there was togetherness among the fans, some of whom resented a former Portsmouth manager taking charge.

 

That they have embraced Redknapp is perhaps due not least to the faintly absurd name-calling that persists between him and the Pompey owner, Milan Mandaric. On the very morning I visit Lowe, in fact, the sports pages are full of a fresh set of mutual insults. The chairman is beginning to find it all pretty wearisome.

 

"It's one of those things," he says, with a sigh. "It's obviously important to both of them and they find it difficult to put it behind them. As far as I'm concerned, the fact that both clubs are in the Premier League is a good thing, and there is quite enough historical rivalry without fanning the flame."

 

This is clearly an implied criticism of his manager, and I have heard that Lowe and Redknapp do not see eye to eye. After all, when did chalk ever look cheese in the eye? But Lowe insists that they get along fine.

 

"Public schoolboys and ****neys have always got along pretty well," he says. "On the whole they're just about as thick as each other." I laugh, dutifully. "I work well with Harry and I can see what a big contribution he, and his son Jamie, make to people's self-belief. Also, he's very highly regarded by the media. So instead of negative media every day, which unfortunately was the case under Paul Sturrock, it's mostly positive. That's important, because if enough negative things are written about a football club, they start to be accepted as correct."

 

I ask him whether Redknapp is likely to be manager next season? After all, there have been suggestions that Lowe has offered Sir Clive Woodward a role in the running of Southampton next season, and I would guess, just to take a wild stab in the dark, that Woodward's arrival might not sit too comfortably with Redknapp and his assistant, Jim Smith.

 

"Harry's made it quite clear that if we remain in the Premier League, he's keen to stay. He is less keen to stay here if we don't."

 

Which would open the door, I venture, for Lowe's dream ticket of Glenn Hoddle and Woodward? I wait for a furious rebuttal. Instead, I get a faint smile. "Clive sat next to me at a football match, the next thing I hear is that he's our new manager. But it's public knowledge that he would like to get into football, so who knows what will happen after the Lions tour?"

 

Maybe you do, I say. Another smile, although laced with irritation.

 

"Clive is not qualified to be a football manager. But I have no doubt that he has skills that we as a club can learn from. It is not very often England win a World Cup in any sport, beating nations we previously never believed we could beat. Team games are about creating a team ethic, and clearly there are skill sets which will cross over from rugby to football. And vice versa; the reason I got to know Clive was because he came to see how our academy worked.

 

"Unfortunately, we have this media which puts football on a pedestal, but to say that you cannot transfer skills from rugby or hockey to football is rubbish, as any thinking person knows. If Clive can make a contribution here then I will encourage that. I think he's a great leader and I like him very much. But I'm not prepared to talk about conversations we may have had or not had."

 

"Look, the key management problem in football is to maintain the same outlook when you're fourth in the table as when you're 18th, 19th or 20th. Otherwise, when you're fourth you make bullish, stupid decisions, and when you're bottom you make panic-related, bad decisions.

 

"We won't do that, nor will we make the mistake, as some clubs have, of loading all investment on short-term measures. If I spend all our money on this generation of players, how are we going to pay the next generation?"

 

Now there's a question for me to mull over in the loo.

Edited 15 August, 2008 by TopGun

[eurosaint]

I think I'll stick to War and Peace as it's a bit shorter !

[TopGun]

I think I'll stick to War and Peace as it's a bit shorter !

 

You won't believe it but I edited it down by chopping out all the stuff that Lowe was asked about Sven.

 

Clearly Saints were getting a good amount of newsprint coverage that day.

 

Anyway I warned you!

[Tamesaint]

Lowe Mk 1 used to pay highly skilled, expensive PR people to sing his praises.

 

Lowe Mk 2 uses the likes of Sundance Beast and Professor. Just shows how the credit crunch is even affecting him!!

[tiger]

AS Lowe says in the article "everyone makes mistakes"

[slickmick]

Sure Scooby will tell us his views of his master.

[krissyboy31]

Same animal, just different words to sum him up.

 

Lowe Mk 1, in the premiership with money - no real investment in the team - MISERLY

Lowe Mk 2, in the CCC with no money - no real investment in the team - PRUDENT

[Legod Second Coming]

I read it all and sadly find myself agreeing with a lot of what he says and bizarrely liking him for his honesty.

 

I disagree vehemently with the way he views management of football clubs but he is nothing if not consistent in his beliefs.

 

And who knows, the way football is going with clubs going bust every day he could eventually be proven right...

[alpine_saint]

lowe mk 1 used to pay highly skilled, expensive pr people to sing his praises.

 

Lowe mk 2 uses the likes of sundance beast and professor. Just shows how the credit crunch is even affecting him!!

 

lol !

[Professor]

Lowe has the experience of relegation and ejection from the board to look back on now, whereas previously he'd ruled the roost at SFC for 10 years with little challenge, and he had moved into FA circles.

Now, the indications from the news pages are that his commitments in the City have grown and that he is more deeply involved in high level business finance. This probably means he has less time to give to SFC, and maybe that is why Mike Wilde has the football club chair role.

The comment I wondered about in that report was the mention of Lowe's response to the verbal abuse in the SMS. If the team do not do well, there will be those in the ground who will repeat that abuse, in fact some did that pre-season before a ball had been kicked in competition.

There is a question as to why he puts himself in the position to be on the receiving end, as there is no reason to think that Lowe needs SFC except as a personal project. The anti-Lowe faction might think they would welcome him walking out, but without someone of his standing and experience waiting to take over, the club would be the worse off without him. Clearly, Lowe returned with a plan, and over this season we will see whether that plan can rescue the club from the dire situation it was in last April.

Even the dedicated Lowe-hater would be well-advised to think hard about trying to force him out as the alternative could be a great deal worse. Unfortunately, many of those who join in chants against him at the SMS, don't actually think at all!

[James_O_Mac]

I do believe in what he's saying this time around, its just in the premiership, his lack of investment in the team - especially after the cup final - was criminal.

 

I will never forget reading a newspaper in Spain and seeing, Saints sign McCann. My first thought was "ah, Gavin McCann (who wasn't too bad for Villa at the time) he'll do well for us"

 

I finished reading the article and was a little bemused..

[ottery st mary]

Lowe has the experience of relegation and ejection from the board to look back on now, whereas previously he'd ruled the roost at SFC for 10 years with little challenge, and he had moved into FA circles.

Now, the indications from the news pages are that his commitments in the City have grown and that he is more deeply involved in high level business finance. This probably means he has less time to give to SFC, and maybe that is why Mike Wilde has the football club chair role.

The comment I wondered about in that report was the mention of Lowe's response to the verbal abuse in the SMS. If the team do not do well, there will be those in the ground who will repeat that abuse, in fact some did that pre-season before a ball had been kicked in competition.

There is a question as to why he puts himself in the position to be on the receiving end, as there is no reason to think that Lowe needs SFC except as a personal project. The anti-Lowe faction might think they would welcome him walking out, but without someone of his standing and experience waiting to take over, the club would be the worse off without him. Clearly, Lowe returned with a plan, and over this season we will see whether that plan can rescue the club from the dire situation it was in last April.

Even the dedicated Lowe-hater would be well-advised to think hard about trying to force him out as the alternative could be a great deal worse. Unfortunately, many of those who join in chants against him at the SMS, don't actually think at all!

 

Once again you let yourself down in your last sentence and therefore in my opinion your not a Saints supporter, a football supporter but a supporter of Mr Lowe and Mr Lowe alone.

Some would suggest you may even have a nasty streak by comments like that. But then again people like me I don't think and I am one who has never chanted against him and more often than not suggested to fellow fans he should leave the football side to others and concentrate on financial business for which he obviously brings great expertise to the benefit of the club for which I thank him for.

No offence meant but please refrain from belittling your many co supporters as you will end up in the same boat as Mr Lowe.

[EastleighSoulBoy]

A. Leopard. Never. Changes. It's. Spots.

[alpine_saint]

A. Leopard. Never. Changes. It's. Spots.

 

Aye. Amazing so many have forgotten that. Especially as the person in question always blames others and demonstrates very little humility or guilt about past events.

[holepuncture]

RL must really be humbled when he looks on this site to see all these cherished thoughts regarding him from his faithfull!

[Saint Charlie]

Good article and most of it is pretty spot on IMO.

 

People think we had some sort of right to be in the Prem but the truth is that of all the team there now, near to half will be relegated at some point in the next 10 years.

 

We need to move on from that, its been a while, maybe Lowe has learned from his mistakes, hopefully he has, but he did also do good things and he can continue to do so.

[derry]

Probably not, but the circumstances have.

[Bartosz Bialkowski]

A. Leopard. Never. Changes. It's. Spots.

 

Good. I was happy before, even happier now.

[Mowgli]

Once again you let yourself down in your last sentence and therefore in my opinion your not a Saints supporter, a football supporter but a supporter of Mr Lowe and Mr Lowe alone.

Some would suggest you may even have a nasty streak by comments like that. But then again people like me I don't think and I am one who has never chanted against him and more often than not suggested to fellow fans he should leave the football side to others and concentrate on financial business for which he obviously brings great expertise to the benefit of the club for which I thank him for.

No offence meant but please refrain from belittling your many co supporters as you will end up in the same boat as Mr Lowe.

 

Eh? Hardly a personal attack. As long as I can remember chants have developed at football grounds that do not necessarily reflect true feelings of fans. On a lighter note 'it's just like watching Brazil' has always been sung tongue in cheek. I think it is a fair comment to say some (particularly younger) fans do join in chants without thinking - I don't think it belittles them, it's just an indication how the atmosphere at football games pulls people along. A cynic would call it sheep mentality. A realist would just describe it as people having fun.

[Mowgli]

The article is pretty good and does illustrate a very fine line between arrogance and consistency of thinking. The bit that intrigued me most was making the same decisions when you're 4th as 18th. He may be right and it may explain why we did not invest after the Cup Final. I hate to keep beating the man with that stick but it did seem to be a turning point in our fortunes. Easy for me though to look back and say that - he was the one with the responsibility at the time.

[scooby]

A. Leopard. Never. Changes. It's. Spots.

 

Good. Glad of that. As Lowe was the most progressive chairman in the game during his last tenure with us, that assures me that the new regime will be just as successful.

[Mowgli]

A. Leopard. Never. Changes. It's. Spots.

 

A flawed argument. Anyone who has worked with animals will know that markings change considerably over time. Leopards are no exception. Leopard cubs have simple spots when they are kittens but are more like rosettes when they mature. There, you'll sleep easier knowing that won't you?

[Psycrow]

Is Chairman Lowe Mk II any different to Chairman Lowe Mk I?

 

His balls have dropped

[ottery st mary]

Eh? Hardly a personal attack. As long as I can remember chants have developed at football grounds that do not necessarily reflect true feelings of fans. On a lighter note 'it's just like watching Brazil' has always been sung tongue in cheek. I think it is a fair comment to say some (particularly younger) fans do join in chants without thinking - I don't think it belittles them, it's just an indication how the atmosphere at football games pulls people along. A cynic would call it sheep mentality. A realist would just describe it as people having fun.

 

Point taken and with hindsight I should have let it go. I do not normally respond to those who attack or continually ridicule fellow Saints supporters, especially when they are often not true supporters. I agree most supporters joining in with the singing or chanting are having fun with no real personal interest in our Directors.

In future I will leave the proff and his like to there own agenda and comment on the players who play for the mighty Saints.

cheers.

[EastleighSoulBoy]

Fairly depressing view on the world isn't it.

 

If true they should give up on prison rehabilitation programmes f'sure. And they should just shoot Joey Barton.

 

That last point is probably true regardless.

 

In relation to football in general and Saints in particular it can be viewed as depressing. Then again you have to tell it how you see it?

 

As football is not my life then the depression is only relative to the importance that I place on Saints and their position in my priorities.

 

Therefore I can say that I feel that all in all I am a happy chappy!

 

Lowe is probably the best that we can do at this moment in time, seeing as no other bugger is either interested in Saints, or cannot raise the relevant funds to take over. I am just wondering what will happen if :

 

A. This Youth/total football works OR

 

B. This Youth/total football fails

 

I'm not totally decrying Lowe either. I am no judge of business acumen but he does seem to be slowly turning the slide around. Albeit because of his vested interests which anyone would attempt!

 

Historically he was not a footballing success for Saints due to the merry-go-round of managers. Some leaving for reasons that can only be construed as strange. Others being appointed for reasons that can only be construed as even stranger!

 

I do, however, have an issue with how he comes across. Which to me seems arrogant and dismissive of anyone who attempts to put an opposing view.

 

For me?

 

THE. LEOPARD. HAS. YET. TO. DEMONSTRATE. HE. HAS. CHANGED. HIS. SPOTS.

[EastleighSoulBoy]

A flawed argument. Anyone who has worked with animals will know that markings change considerably over time. Leopards are no exception. Leopard cubs have simple spots when they are kittens but are more like rosettes when they mature. There, you'll sleep easier knowing that won't you?

 

And you'll sleep easier knowing that your pedantry is noted, but totally dismissed for the reason that I used an old saying to demonstrate my mistrust of the man.

[Causer]

Laudable words, I say, but Southampton aren't a charity. Surely it's not his board's policy to appoint managers for the greater good of English football

 

Thatis what i always felt was the problem he sees southampton as a tool to save english football instead of just doing what is best for the club and making safer appointments