Village Saint

Forget Lowe. He is an arse but please dont any of you who are threatening to boycott EVER come again to see Saints. Lowe/Wilde etc's mismanagemnt has put us in danger but it is this sort of attitude and its impact on gates/income that will probably destroy the club. Assuming we survive (unlikely) it really is not the issue whether or not particular individuals are involved.

I am sorry to harp on but this simply is not so. The Football League are the living embodiment as evil as we know it today. The simple fact is that we have broken no rules. The Football League know this. They set up an inquiry with the express remit of finding grounds for saying that we did. Their statement demonstrates succinctly and clearly that they did not. It also says that despite the fact that Saints clearly did not break any rules we will punish them anyway. This is the way that fascist dictatorships function. An appeal must surely be upheld and if the League appeal fails that to the FA or even the Court of Arbitration wont. This is not just a matter of Saints. I would feel exactly the same about any club. You simply cannot have an organisation flying in the face of its rules. It would be a recipe for chaos; prejudice and completely arbitrary decision making. The Saints have a duty to humanity and out of respect for the rule of law to appeal. Equally pertinent what sort of squalid erks run the football league? Shouldn't their interest be in supporting their members clubs through difficult times, not searching desparately for ways of punishing and damaging members who have broken no rules. Bizarre.

I dont think you can be serious. The reason we dont, as the League's mealy-mouthed statement makes clear, is that we have NOT broken any rules. It really is that simple. The League really are being absurd. We MUST challenge it if only to stop them punishing other clubs on a whim when they have broken no rules.

Youngsters like you may indeed not care that much but I can assure you that we older fans do. Okay going up to Maine Road and winning in the FA Cup; seeing Paine and Sydenham in their pomp; John Page and Tony Godfrey as the backbone of our defence all great moments but I still cant wait for 3.01 at Hillsboro on Saturday.

However, they are not in any sense behaving as fans of Saints. The obsession with Lowe is absurd. Of course he isn't a very nice bloke and has a huge ego. He is a capitalist businessman for F$%Js sake! Of course it would be better if the club was collectively owned and run like Barcelona. However, that can be debated at some time in the future. No real alternative to Lowe CURRENTLY exists. Certainly not Crouch who is an arrogant idiot with a huge ego who also ran us almost into administration. No the current need really is to get behind the TEAM - you know the players wearing the shirts. Anything else isn't just irrelevant - it runs the danger of distracting people; of undermining the atmosphere in the stadium. The original idea of marching away from the stadium was a good one but it would be better if they just went a lot further and stayed away for much longer - say the next 30 years or so.

I never understand why people using shouting as an alternative to thinking. Anyone with a smattering of knowledge of Skacel's career will know that he always was a left back as indeed is obvious from seeing him play. However when he played in the Blue Square Premier League (well the same standard) with Hearts he was was given a go in midfield and lo - against that quality of player - he did okay and even scored a few goals. It didn't make hime a midfielder.

Seems entirely reasonable comment by Wotte. Difficult to see how anyone could disagree.

Absolutely spot on. Lets just hope that thsoe who brave the slight dusting of sleet that seems to bother so many actually get involved in what really matters - the game.

Nice lad but selling him for an outrageous fee when he was crocked was probably the best bit of business we have ever done. Well done whoever set up the transfer. Games he has been fully fit for this season so far - 0! You can never say never but sadly I think this is one for the insurance company and to happen to one so young seems even more unfair than what has happened to killer.

Well in a diiferent sort of trouble. We would be in administration!

At least you are honest in your assessment of yourself in the signature at the end of your message. Sacking JP would be absurd and achieve absolutely nothing positive. It would be nice to have bought Kaka this year but for better or worse this club has opted for the only strategy available in its financial situation. Any club that then panics and changes manager after only half a season and when there is no realistic alternative strategy actually deserves to go down. If they hold their nerve there is no reason to think we will.

You are right. It isn't pointless. Indeed it seems to be designed to do maximum damage to the club that these idiots claim to love. All these demonstrations can possibly achieve is 1) to create a further sense of unrest that undermines the effort of the players and management to address the dire playing situation we are in and make it even more likely we will be relegated 2) annoy the majority of supporters 3) (possibly) drive Lowe and his cronies into an even more defensive posture that leads to the sort of absurd action take against David Armstrong. What exactly are people protesting about? The fact that we are in a desparate financial situation that has forced us to take the Dutch solution? Well its not news but it is way too late. Wa£$23s like Ewell have already been signed on ludicrous contracts; decent blokes like Rasiak and John have already been paid way way too much for a club with our income. We have been living beyond our means. That has not been helped by the number of fair weather supporters who have deserted us. Drastic measures have had to be taken to SAVE the club and yes its painful. Or are they protesting to get rid of Lowe? Not a bad medium term goal actually but not made more likely by these protests. Only if we have a stable club can we work towards that one. Removing him now would simply create more instability and possibly administration and all that would entail - including losing SMS and ground-sharing - presumably with Bournemouth.

Very sensible point of view from Nick Illingsworth which seems based in reality. The reply is typical of that rather vocal minority that posts on here without engaing their brains first. Sadly their actions contribute significantly to the sense of unrest that could yet drag this club down.

Uh no. At their current rate they will get 10 between them. However, there is a lad at Southampton who already has 9 and gets better with every game so will probably end up with 20. His name is David McGoldrick.

Well spotted. What is even more bizarre is that the original poster could not be more wrong in my not terrible humble opinion. Actually away we seem to play a more measured game and focus on keeping possession and as the games go on space opens up and our higher level of skill than many teams - even Reading who are big and strong and very intelligent but actually man for man aren't as skilful - pays off; we make chances and hey presto. At home to me we seem too gung ho ; pressing forward far too much and resorting to too many glory balls (possibly partly encourged by the crowd) and we get caught on the break with too many forward. I would like us to play a much more considered game at home again focussing on possession and not worry about scoring early (although its always nice if you do) but instead be patient and wear down the opposition (its seen Arsenal and Liverpool all right over the years). The simple if obvious fact is that if its 0-0 with 20 to go and you are still dominating, you should make chances and win but if its 0-1 and 20 to go the pressure is all on you.

You really have no grasp on reality have you? To spell it out very slowly for you this club is in a mess because of indulgences like employing Pearson and allowing him to pay salaries that were too high for the income we receive (though to be fair he was far from the worse culprit on this one). Yes Rupert is a c£$t but actually his Dutch experiement is the only way we could survive and have some hope. As it is the playoffs do now look beyond us but I would certainly expect with the extra experience they have gained, the current squad (hopefully minus Skacel and Ewell) should do better in the second half of the season and pull clear some time before the final weeks.

The problem is that they really do hate Lowe so much (and frankly who can blame them - he is a king tosser) that they are prepared to bury their heads in the sand and argue about who is and isn't to blame. The only salient point here is that these wages are scandalous. The idea that a washed up has been like Jason Ewell is being paid one and a half milllion for two years 'work' is beyond belief. It is an insult to people who are quite good at their jobs, earn a faction of this and no doubt will dig into their pockets to make the journey to Barnsley. At least they will get to see a team that will again try their hearts out and is all we can bloody afford thanks to the last few years of ridiculous excess. Its dull but I have said it before a Chmapionship team is a medium sized business with a very substantial income. It should not be rocket science to make it at least break even. One of the keys here, however, is to not pay people more than you can afford. Jason Ewell one and a half million. It beggars belief.

Which of course is almost certainly exactly what did happen and not in any way contradicted by this partial, translated article. Indeed I assume that Rudi can read and it is certainly what the club said on umpteen occasions on the website and in press releases! Please do slag Saints off at every conceivable opportunity. It is after all why most of the people in this thread are on the forum but al least base it on something real!

I tell you what try going to a game or two and you might learn something. We are playing the most entertaining football we have since Le Tiss was here. We have the most committed players we have had in years. It was an absolute privilege to see the way they battled back at Burnley. Against currently the strongest side in the Division we came back from 3 down with a completely different approach to put them to the sword and very nearly got something from the game. The side develops with every performance. Of course they aren't yet getting the results we ultimately want. They are kids. But the improvement with every game is obvious to anyone with an inkling about football. We are so reminiscent of the Wolves side from last season it is frightening.

Dont be silly. We have the best squad of players we have had since relegation by a street. They are more talented; they try harder and they are by a million miles more entertaining. Yes they are young and yes they and we are suffering from it. They remind me very much of the Wolves squad of 12 months ago. I think that says it all.

What an odd post. Surman hasn't suffered at all. He is 22 ffs. He has had a lot of chances; has done well but has particularly come on under JP to the point where yes as a CM in a Premier side he could do a good job. He won't be a regular starter and that's his dilemna. He can stay here; possibly become an even better player; earn much more money than makes sense and maybe one day get back in the Prem or he can go to Bolton; Stoke; Middlesboro now; earn more than is decently excusable for a few years as a squad player; and then eke out a pretty decent living as an ageing journeymen at a Championship side. Either way he hardly loses. This is probably why he committed himself to absolutely nothing in that interview. In a nutshell he said: if I stay here good; if I go to (Fulham/West ham/Spuds or indeed any mediocre Prem Side) good. No great insights there.

Brilliant manipulatiion of statistics. Omit one of the games where Pearson was manager and then say they more accurate poster was wrong. Priceless!

Indeed a chance to see some decent young players beating an overhyped set of prima donnas. Excellent .

You are proud of the thousands of stay away fans who are going to bring this club to an end by putting it into administation from which there is absolutely no chance of it emerging. My god.....

Whoever it was should be complimented on their good judgement in fact. After all he has never made it and instead is stuck in the League One standard Scottish League.