The Observer's first paragraph....

[Fitzhugh Fella]

brought a nostalgic but rueful smile to my face.

 

"Samson drew strength from his mane of hair. Andrew Ridgeley got rich on George Michael's good looks and song writing ability. As for Southampton, well they had The Dell, that antiquated yet charismatic corner of Hampshire where others, including Sir Alex Ferguson among them, feared to tread. So long as The Dell was around, then Southampton were more than just an average team. They would win the FA Cup, qualify regularly for Europe and finished 2nd in the league to Liverpool in 1984. It was, in a nutshell, their power source. Then they moved. Bar a visit to the Millennium Stadium to face Arsenal in 2003, it's been pretty much downhill all the way since". - Spencer Vignes. 22/03/09

[Fitzhugh Fella]

He goes onto say "Southampton's recent decline has been particularly sad, a tale of worsening results set against a seemingly never ending backdrop of boardroom upheavel. One murmer doing the rounds has them going into imminent administration..."

[ladysaint]

brought a nostalgic but rueful smile to my face.

 

"Samson drew strength from his mane of hair. Andrew Ridgeley got rich on George Michael's good looks and song writing ability. As for Southampton, well they had The Dell, that antiquated yet charismatic corner of Hampshire where others, including Sir Alex Ferguson among them, feared to tread. So long as The Dell was around, then Southampton were more than just an average team. They would win the FA Cup, qualify regularly for Europe and finished 2nd in the league to Liverpool in 1984. It was, in a nutshell, their power source. Then they moved. Bar a visit to the Millennium Stadium to face Arsenal in 2003, it's been pretty much downhill all the way since". - Spencer Vignes. 22/03/09

 

Brought a tear to my eye that has.

[alpine_saint]

I dont buy this "blaming SMS" crap.

 

Everything was in place in the summer of 2003 to finally move up to the next level.

 

Then Rupert Lowe sold Wayne Bridge.

[saint_stevo]

I dont buy this "blaming SMS" crap.

 

Everything was in place in the summer of 2003 to finally move up to the next level.

 

Then Rupert Lowe sold Wayne Bridge.

 

......and failed to properly invest

[Saint_clark]

I dont buy this "blaming SMS" crap.

 

Everything was in place in the summer of 2003 to finally move up to the next level.

 

Then Rupert Lowe sold Wayne Bridge.

 

Agreed. The atmosphere is still decent at SMS, and was quite good when we were in the Prem.

[St Landrew]

Saints continuing problem is that, although they initially did the right thing to get out of The Dell, they have remained the small club to which The Dell was more suited. A flurry of success under Strachan was quickly brought back to earth by a lack of ambition, which has cost Saints dear, just as it has cost them success in the past. They must make up their minds. Either they want to be a successful football club, or become 2nd or 3rd rate for the forseeable future. If they decide on ambition, the fans will return. If they decide to be 3rd raters, more and more fans will eventually decide to do other things with their saturday afternoons. And then there'll be no need for a club at all.

[alpine_saint]

Saints continuing problem is that they initially did the right thing to get out of The Dell. But they have remained the small club to which The Dell was more suited. A flurry of success was quickly brought back to earth by a lack of ambition, which has cost Saints dear, just as it has cost them success in the past. They must make up their minds. Either they want to be a successful football club, or become 2nd or 3rd rate for the forseeable future. If they decide on ambition, the fans will return. If they decide to be 3rd raters, more and more fans will eventually decide to do other things with their saturday afternoons. And then there's no need for a club at all.

 

Agree. The board of SFC showed a shocking level of ambition after the FA Cup final and 8th-placed finish. They decided to do nothing through a combination of not wanting to leave their comfort zone and not wanting their power-base diluted by inward investment.

 

The club is paying a heavy price for that summer of lunacy..

[up and away]

Originally Posted by St Landrew

Saints continuing problem is that they initially did the right thing to get out of The Dell. But they have remained the small club to which The Dell was more suited. A flurry of success was quickly brought back to earth by a lack of ambition, which has cost Saints dear, just as it has cost them success in the past. They must make up their minds. Either they want to be a successful football club, or become 2nd or 3rd rate for the forseeable future. If they decide on ambition, the fans will return. If they decide to be 3rd raters, more and more fans will eventually decide to do other things with their saturday afternoons. And then there's no need for a club at all.

Agree. The board of SFC showed a shocking level of ambition after the FA Cup final and 8th-placed finish. They decided to do nothing through a combination of not wanting to leave their comfort zone and not wanting their power-base diluted by inward investment.

 

The club is paying a heavy price for that summer of lunacy..

 

Well You have the perfect example with Charlton, as the club that tried to push on to the next level. No club has exclusive membership to the Premier without exceptional financial backing, either from an individual or income. All this muppet speak only makes sense when you disregard all the fact behind the equation.

[Badger]

I dont buy this "blaming SMS" crap.

 

Everything was in place in the summer of 2003 to finally move up to the next level.

 

Then Rupert Lowe sold Wayne Bridge.

 

Agree with you.

 

The sale of Bridge itself was not the issue,but the lack of ambition to adequately replace the ageing players or bring in the quality to improve.

 

What might have happened had Lowe permitted WGS to spend the £11m he supposedly requested for Malbranque and Saha ?

[ottery st mary]

Well You have the perfect example with Charlton, as the club that tried to push on to the next level. No club has exclusive membership to the Premier without exceptional financial backing, either from an individual or income. All this muppet speak only makes sense when you disregard all the fact behind the equation.

 

Speak for yourself.:---).Similar arrogance to the muppets on our board of Directors. Your too close to be objective.:smt049

Sandie Shaw comes to mind with your posts..time after time. A Saints fan or a muppet?:smt017

You have continually slated Saints fans...Most of the Rupert are ...at least

[swannymere]

Mmm, because everybody knows that significant investment equals certain success:rolleyes:

[St Landrew]

Well You have the perfect example with Charlton, as the club that tried to push on to the next level. No club has exclusive membership to the Premier without exceptional financial backing, either from an individual or income. All this muppet speak only makes sense when you disregard all the fact behind the equation.

 

You really think so..? Yes they tried very hard to improve their old stadium, and the Valley is now a vast improvement. But push onto the next level with their team..? When they were relegated from the Premiership, I didn't see any huge ambition to stay, let alone any huge ambition to improve.

 

It's obvious that building a new, or improving an existing stadium redirects investment elsewhere from the main destination, i.e. success on the pitch. But Saints limiting factor was glaringly obvious in The Dell. Having built a new stadium, and moved to it, then the ambition really had to push on. Not to stumble, and continually point out that our catering is now top class with our new first rate facilities. It all comes to nothing unless the team on the pitch is as top class as the catering.

[70's Mike]

You really think so..? Yes they tried very hard to improve their old stadium, and the Valley is now a vast improvement. But push onto the next level with their team..? When they were relegated from the Premiership, I didn't see any huge ambition to stay, let alone any huge ambition to improve.

 

It's obvious that building a new, or improving an existing stadium redirects investment elsewhere from the main destination, i.e. success on the pitch. But Saints limiting factor was glaringly obvious in The Dell. Having built a new stadium, and moved to it, then the ambition really had to push on. Not to stumble, and continually point out that our catering is now top class with our new first rate facilities. It all comes to nothing unless the team on the pitch is as top class as the catering.

 

Your last sentence sums up the Lowe era , football came second in prioties

[sadoldgit]

Agree with you.

 

The sale of Bridge itself was not the issue,but the lack of ambition to adequately replace the ageing players or bring in the quality to improve.

 

What might have happened had Lowe permitted WGS to spend the £11m he supposedly requested for Malbranque and Saha ?

 

Administration sooner I expect! Really, where were we supposed to get that kind of money from?

[Kadeem Hardison]

Agree with you.

 

The sale of Bridge itself was not the issue,but the lack of ambition to adequately replace the ageing players or bring in the quality to improve.

 

What might have happened had Lowe permitted WGS to spend the £11m he supposedly requested for Malbranque and Saha ?

 

This simple modal verb tells it all. This whole argument is predicated on supposition. In fact it is based on a negative action; a non-action; nothing. It is not about an action that Lowe undertook; it is about something that he didn't do. He also didn't go around alpine saint's house and brutally rape him before distinguishing his life forever and p*ssing on his bruised and twisted corpse, but we don't make suppositions for what positive effect this may have on Saints had he done this. Because we simply don't know.

[Torrent Of Abuse]

Mmm, because everybody knows that significant investment equals certain success:rolleyes:

True, but it depends on your perspective.

 

If you're a club that spends 30m on players and they underachieve, chances are you miss out on a European place but you don't flirt with relegation. If you only spend 3m on players and they underachieve, chances are you're already relegated come Easter.

 

Remember when we sold Kevin Davies for 7m and then took the cheap option of buying in 6 players - most of whom spectacularly failed to even make a spark (*wink*), let alone set the world on fire? If you keep trying to do the same thing, chances are you'll get it wrong so badly once that you'll get the club relegated.

 

Unfortunately our relegation season saw bad sales, bad buys and an injury to Killer all coincide in a perfect (sh1t) storm. First problem was a patchwork squad of players who had been brought in by a number of different managers. Second problem was the large number of these who had been brought in as squad players - never likely to be good enough to get a game. Third problem was putting a heavy-spending manager like Harry Redknapp in but giving him the ever-tight Southampton budget.

 

Recipe for disaster IMHO.

 

Don't blame the bricks and mortar, blame the people who chose to run a circus there.

[Kadeem Hardison]

True, but it depends on your perspective.

 

If you're a club that spends 30m on players and they underachieve, chances are you miss out on a European place but you don't flirt with relegation. If you only spend 3m on players and they underachieve, chances are you're already relegated come Easter.

 

Yes, because the squad Newcastle have assembled for £80m certainly aren't fluttering a coquettish eyelid towards the Championship.

[lordswoodsaints]

SMS is sh1te,we had to move but i wish we never.

give me the old dell anyday.

[swannymere]

Yes, because the squad Newcastle have assembled for £80m certainly aren't fluttering a coquettish eyelid towards the Championship.

 

Or Sunderland, Portsmuff, Spurs etc.

[Wilko]

After Strachan left the unambitious wage cap resulted in a huge squad of average players.

 

We had something like 33 first teamers, all of whom were probably on a fair whack.

 

That's where it all went wrong.

 

Everything since then has been somewhat inevitable.

[Torrent Of Abuse]

Administration sooner I expect! Really, where were we supposed to get that kind of money from?

Same place that many of the clubs still in the Premiership did - from investors. After all, that WAS the whole crux of Michael Wilde's original pitch for the club. You know, before he realised he'd actually lost the contact details for all his investors when he dropped his phone down the toilet.

 

I believe some clubs still work under the idea of speculating with the aim of one day accumulating - or at the very least speculating a fairly large sum with the aim of not losing a very very large sum through relegation. Our club, however, has always worked under the principle that the only safe place for its money is in an old sock hidden under the bed.

[Torrent Of Abuse]

Or Sunderland, Portsmuff, Spurs etc.

True, but these are all clubs with other problems than just their budget. If you gave Newcastle an 8m budget instead of an 80m one, would it be in a worse position now or better? If P*mpey still had the wage bill they had pre-Redkn@pp, would they still be in the Premiership?

 

I don't think anyone was saying that money equals automatic success (as we all remember the failed attempt at promotion when we spent 7m under Burley) but I think it's not too outlandish to think that if you give a good manager more money to spend, chances are you'll get better results. We can all pick out managers who have failed to spend well but it doesn't mean it happens all the time.

 

As with the original post...

Don't blame the building, blame the way the club was run. Don't blame the money, blame the way the money was spent.

[dubai_phil]

After Strachan left the unambitious wage cap resulted in a huge squad of average players.

 

We had something like 33 first teamers, all of whom were probably on a fair whack.

 

That's where it all went wrong.

 

Everything since then has been somewhat inevitable.

 

Quantity and no quality. Then when you have changes at managerial level and playing style some who were playing get dropped and others come in, that unsettles the team dynamic and as football is a team game leads to a spiral.

33 players all cost money because a manager wanted to obtain them. When the manager goes and the new guy wants to be rid of players that haven't been getting a game, nobody wants them and you get no money back for them, in fact you often pay them to go away.

 

Sure we needed to back WGS, sure we needed to move on and failed dismally to grasp that nettle, but at the same time we spent a LOT of the money we DID have on rubbish....

 

It is a culmination of errors by many people, not just one person (although he made more than the rest put together of course)

[ART]

Agree. The board of SFC showed a shocking level of ambition after the FA Cup final and 8th-placed finish. They decided to do nothing through a combination of not wanting to leave their comfort zone and not wanting their power-base diluted by inward investment.

 

The club is paying a heavy price for that summer of lunacy..

Fat lot of good the powerful investments and purchasing did to the Skates in the identical position. They haven't been relegated just yet but there seems to be one common denominator to the demise of both teams despite taking completely different decisions on moving forward.

[Window Cleaner]

Fat lot of good the powerful investments and purchasing did to the Skates in the identical position. They haven't been relegated just yet but there seems to be one common denominator to the demise of both teams despite taking completely different decisions on moving forward.

 

Probably because neither can attract enough fans on a regular basis (for whatever reason) to support their ambitions.The south coast is no longer football territory, it's garden centre and golf land nowadays.

Saints got good crowds in the Prem, but not capacity crowds every week.

To pay players who demand 50K/week you need 5000 fans every week just to pay that single player.You need tyo sell 100,000 shirts with his name on them and 3 million saints bog roll holders every week.

We don't do that,it's straightforward enough. Match day receipts no longer pay for football teams, look at our accounts for last season and the season before. If we hadn't sold player every season since dinosaurs walked the earth we'd have gone under years ago.

Look at mike Ashley, pumped in hundreds of millions and then the fans turned him when he refused Keegan another 200 million to throw down the same drain.Big incentive to invest mega bucks in football because there is no guaranteed return.

[up and away]

Originally Posted by up and away

Well You have the perfect example with Charlton, as the club that tried to push on to the next level. No club has exclusive membership to the Premier without exceptional financial backing, either from an individual or income. All this muppet speak only makes sense when you disregard all the fact behind the equation.

You really think so..? Yes they tried very hard to improve their old stadium, and the Valley is now a vast improvement. But push onto the next level with their team..? When they were relegated from the Premiership, I didn't see any huge ambition to stay, let alone any huge ambition to improve.

 

It's obvious that building a new, or improving an existing stadium redirects investment elsewhere from the main destination, i.e. success on the pitch. But Saints limiting factor was glaringly obvious in The Dell. Having built a new stadium, and moved to it, then the ambition really had to push on. Not to stumble, and continually point out that our catering is now top class with our new first rate facilities. It all comes to nothing unless the team on the pitch is as top class as the catering.

 

Just look through all the teams that have spent money they do not have on the playing side to push on to the next level and won in the long term?

I can show you so many teams that have done that and lost with classic examples of Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and others like Coventry or Leicester who would be there but for private intervention. Even clubs like Norwich, Crystal Palace, Middlebrough etc find it tough going that route even with exceptional private sources of income.

 

History has shown us the only realistic way of pushing on to the next level in the long term is organically, by maximising your supporter level, the income recieved from that base and developing your own players. That is something that can establish a club long term, something Liverpool did decades ago. We were on that track but had not developed far enough to be able to fend off adversity when it found us. If we could have kept progressing within the Premier to about 2010, I feel we would then have been an established mid Premier club like Everton or Villa, strong enough to with stand the adversity that caused our relegation.

[trousers]

He goes onto say "Southampton's recent decline has been particularly sad, a tale of worsening results set against a seemingly never ending backdrop of boardroom upheavel. One murmer doing the rounds has them going into imminent administration..."

 

More than a murmer surely? Does he not read this site?

[trousers]

Mmm, because everybody knows that significant investment equals certain success:rolleyes:

 

I would venture it has more chance than the opposite. Just a hunch.

[Daren W]

Saints continuing problem is that, although they initially did the right thing to get out of The Dell, they have remained the small club to which The Dell was more suited. A flurry of success under Strachan was quickly brought back to earth by a lack of ambition, which has cost Saints dear, just as it has cost them success in the past. They must make up their minds. Either they want to be a successful football club, or become 2nd or 3rd rate for the forseeable future. If they decide on ambition, the fans will return. If they decide to be 3rd raters, more and more fans will eventually decide to do other things with their saturday afternoons. And then there'll be no need for a club at all.

 

Wow... Got to say the most succinct evaluation of our plight I've read on here in ages...

Top post fella...

[Daren W]

Yes, because the squad Newcastle have assembled for £80m certainly aren't fluttering a coquettish eyelid towards the Championship.

 

And they certainly don't have a circus at Newcastle do they?? (rolly eyed/sighing faced thingy)

[Daren W]

Or Sunderland, Portsmuff, Spurs etc.

 

Are any of those clubs going to be relegated? I'd say no, sadly....

[Badger]

Administration sooner I expect! Really, where were we supposed to get that kind of money from?

 

£7M of it from the sale of Bridge,on top of which we would no doubt have spent a further £2-3m on the back of the previous seasons ventures/income etc.Remember the £11m was an asking price from Fulham,no doubt we might have negotiated on payment timescales etc.

 

Even without the Malbranque/Saha transfer,the point I would emphasise is ambition or lack of it.Remember we signed (ageing and injury prone )Phillips and Neil McCann that summer, what does that tell you ?

[um pahars]

Spending money is no guarantee of success and similarly you can achieve success without spending loads.

 

However, there is enough evidence to show that there is a direct correlation between money spent on wages and relative success (the Deloittes Annual Report regularly shows this to be the case). There will always be anomalies and exceptions, but overall the correlation is statistically strong enough to prove there is a direct link.

 

Once you accept that, then you have to to everything possible to get as much bang for your buck, particularly if your funds are somewhat limited.

 

I have never had a problem living within our means, but for me our problem has been how we went about spending the finite amount of money we had.

 

When you're relatively financially challenged you have to make sure you get most of the big decisions right.

 

Sadly, I believe we got too many of those wrong in recent years, with the most damaging being our failure in the recruitment and retention of managers.

 

It's hard enough competing in such a competitive league without being hamstrung by poor leadership, poor decision making and an overall strategy that impedes your development as opposed to enhancing it.

 

It's a tough business, but handicapping yourself with poor decisions e.g. three managers in a season (4 in a calendar year - 5 if you include Wigley's caretaker stint) is just asking for trouble.

[Graffito]

brought a nostalgic but rueful smile to my face.

 

"Samson drew strength from his mane of hair. Andrew Ridgeley got rich on George Michael's good looks and song writing ability. As for Southampton, well they had The Dell, that antiquated yet charismatic corner of Hampshire where others, including Sir Alex Ferguson among them, feared to tread. So long as The Dell was around, then Southampton were more than just an average team. They would win the FA Cup, qualify regularly for Europe and finished 2nd in the league to Liverpool in 1984. It was, in a nutshell, their power source. Then they moved. Bar a visit to the Millennium Stadium to face Arsenal in 2003, it's been pretty much downhill all the way since". - Spencer Vignes. 22/03/09

 

So apparently it was all great when we were at the Dell and it's been all downhill since we moved to SMS. Our decline is all because we moved from the Dell and if we'd stayed, by implication, we'd have carried on winning the FA Cup (once, 33 years ago), finishing runners up (once 25 years ago) and qualifying regularly for Europe (what?). What a load of cr*p. It makes a nice neat story to fill half a column but it's complete cobblers.

[swannymere]

Are any of those clubs going to be relegated? I'd say no, sadly....

 

Probably not, but the one thing nobody ever answers is where was this mythical pot of gold coming from? I can just see Rupes walking into Barclays and asking for £50M because he wants a punt on winning something, although having said that it probably wasn't as much as a reach as some investments the banks have made! People need to be more realistic, there was never an chance of significant investment.

[Kenilworthy]

>So long as The Dell was around, then Southampton were more than just an average team. They would win the FA Cup, qualify regularly for Europe and finished 2nd in the league to Liverpool in 1984. It was, in a nutshell, their power source

 

So I must have imagined all those weary weekday evening journeys back after seeing us lose at the Dell. I loved the old ground but it only made a difference when we had a decent side. When we had an awful side it was still awful at the Dell - such as the game we went a goal down in the first minute to Sheffield Wednesday and didn't get a shot on target all game. But when we tried such as in the 3-1 comeback against Newcastle it did help.

 

SMS didn't seem to be holding us back for three consecutive seasons so you can't blame the stadium. What makes me laugh is that the journalists who like to get all teary eyed with nostalgia for the Dell are the very same ones who when it was in existence were constantly abusing its primitive facilities. I know because I had a seat right in front of the press box and I could hear them.

 

We had no choice but to leave the Dell as in may ways other than capacity it didn't meet Premiership standards. Had we been able to get it back up to about 20,000 capacity then maybe we could have stayed but major redevelopment never seemed an option.

[St Paul]

We missed the boat with investment because we did not have a forward looking board or CEO.I've no doubt that a Club that had been in the top flight for 20+ years, from a City as big as Southampton , a massive catchment area,and a lovely part of the Country near to London, would have attracted foregin investment once the foregin owners came calling. Add to that a new ground, a top ten team and a cup final and it becomes even more attractive.

There is no guarentee of sucsess, but we'd be a hell of a lot better off than we are now.

 

Personally I think the people involved in the Club wanted the riches and kudos for themselves, rather than hand it over to someone else.

 

A missed oppurtuinity this Club will never get again.

[um pahars]

Probably not, but the one thing nobody ever answers is where was this mythical pot of gold coming from?

 

Add up all the money wasted by a succession of managers all buying their own players to suit their own style of player (e.g. 4 in 2004 calendar year) and the fact that the strategy appeared to be similar to this pre season (i.e. a scattergun of quantity over quality) and you come to a nice tidy figure.

 

We actually spent quite a bit around that time, the problem was that IMHO it was on mediocrity and too often it didn't enhance the existing team.

[Daren W]

Probably not, but the one thing nobody ever answers is where was this mythical pot of gold coming from? I can just see Rupes walking into Barclays and asking for £50M because he wants a punt on winning something, although having said that it probably wasn't as much as a reach as some investments the banks have made! People need to be more realistic, there was never an chance of significant investment.

 

But that's not the point here, it's not where the money came from, it's where it should have gone.

If, in the Premiership, transfers in equalled transfers out then we're still a selling club and St Marys has taken us no further than the Dell. And if you take into account the amount of players we sold for big money, then with transfers in and out being equal, we must have given away a helluva lot of players.

Shop smart. Shop S Mart.

It's not a question of throwing money at problem but what would you rather have? Melbranque, Adebayor and Saha under Strachan for about £12 million or the usual 10 mediocre players who clog up the middle order, take money for not even warming the bench and stall the progression of the academy players?

And now Lowe looks to the youngsters?? Shame he didn't think of that whilst we had the likes of Yahia, McCann etc etc etc

[trousers]

So apparently it was all great when we were at the Dell and it's been all downhill since we moved to SMS. Our decline is all because we moved from the Dell and if we'd stayed, by implication, we'd have carried on winning the FA Cup (once, 33 years ago), finishing runners up (once 25 years ago) and qualifying regularly for Europe (what?). What a load of cr*p. It makes a nice neat story to fill half a column but it's complete cobblers.

 

I think you're confusing Southampton with Northampton.....

[70's Mike]

Probably not, but the one thing nobody ever answers is where was this mythical pot of gold coming from? I can just see Rupes walking into Barclays and asking for £50M because he wants a punt on winning something, although having said that it probably wasn't as much as a reach as some investments the banks have made! People need to be more realistic, there was never an chance of significant investment.

 

 

ever thought that Rupert and the Gang , could have put the club/business first and looked to dilute their control by bring in other people or even looking for them.

Our problem has been our owners saw the club as a way to make a living not as a way to enjoy their money making a successful club , because in premier league terms, even then, they were potless , they built a business, they gained by stealth, on sand

[eelpie]

I dont buy this "blaming SMS" crap.

 

Sorry mate, SMS has never been able to resonate the atmosphere of The Dell. Too laid back, too relaxing, too comfortable. Madjeski knew what he was doing when he built Reading's stadium. Steep high stands overlooking the pitch, with a terrific atmosphere. Rupert should have consulted the fans before buying the SMS flat pack.

[Thedelldays]

Sorry mate, SMS has never been able to resonate the atmosphere of The Dell. Too laid back, too relaxing, too comfortable. Madjeski knew what he was doing when he built Reading's stadium. Steep high stands overlooking the pitch, with a terrific atmosphere. Rupert should have consulted the fans before buying the SMS flat pack.

if you think reading has a a terrific atmosphere then you are wrong

 

 

no one moaned about SMS when we lost 2 home games all season (man u and liverpool)

 

something I never saw at the dell

[Lord Duckhunter]

Sorry mate, SMS has never been able to resonate the atmosphere of The Dell. Too laid back, too relaxing, too comfortable. Madjeski knew what he was doing when he built Reading's stadium. Steep high stands overlooking the pitch, with a terrific atmosphere. Rupert should have consulted the fans before buying the SMS flat pack.

 

I think we were so desperate for a new stadium we overlooked the obvious failings of SMS. Rupert had the chance to show some vision and foresight, and build a stadium to be proud of, but instead we've got a stadium looking tired already. As you say the stands are too far away, and unless packed to the rafters, it is rather souless. Another missed oppurtunity Rupert.

[Thedelldays]

I think we were so desperate for a new stadium we overlooked the obvious failings of SMS. Rupert had the chance to show some vision and foresight, and build a stadium to be proud of, but instead we've got a stadium looking tired already. As you say the stands are too far away, and unless packed to the rafters, it is rather souless. Another missed oppurtunity Rupert.

what should he have done then...?

[Neil]

The Dell v SMS factor is massively over-rated by people who don't really get to the crux of the matter (and I'm speaking as someone who loved the Dell).

 

The atmosphere at the Carling Cup game v Skates or Cup QF v Wolves were louder than anything I heard at the Dell, albeit I only started going to Dell in mid-to-late 80s. (When Pahars headed us into the lead v Charlton for the first SMS win the roar was massive)

 

With the right people running the club and enough people united behind the club I think we'd have won a lot more at SMS, and the perception of the Dell factor would have been a bit different.

[Thedelldays]

The Dell v SMS factor is massively over-rated by people who don't really get to the crux of the matter (and I'm speaking as someone who loved the Dell).

 

The atmosphere at the Carling Cup game v Skates or Cup QF v Wolves were louder than anything I heard at the Dell, albeit I only started going to Dell in mid-to-late 80s. (When Pahars headed us into the lead v Charlton for the first SMS win the roar was massive)

 

With the right people running the club and enough people united behind the club I think we'd have won a lot more at SMS, and the perception of the Dell factor would have been a bit different.

 

too right

 

that carling cup game against the skates was deafening...

 

i too was there for the first win and that was louder than anything ever at the dell that I had experienced

[Lord Duckhunter]

what should he have done then...?

 

Well I'm not an architect, but surely we could have done better. Personally I would have prefered the stands nearer the pitch creating a similar feeling as at the Dell.

 

Rupert had the chance to start a new era in a unique stadium,tailor made for us and tailored to our needs. He didn't have the vision to pull it off, nor would I have been able to, however, I wasn't paid to do so.

[Thedelldays]

Well I'm not an architect, but surely we could have done better. Personally I would have prefered the stands nearer the pitch creating a similar feeling as at the Dell.

 

Rupert had the chance to start a new era in a unique stadium,tailor made for us and tailored to our needs. He didn't have the vision to pull it off, nor would I have been able to, however, I wasn't paid to do so.

being unique would mean spending more money....which as we know, the legacy of which is killing us now...

 

the cost of SMS was great value for money IMO for the ground we have..