Fitzhugh Fella

John - in short No - now he has gone we are back to square 1.

Ian Mead? Saw him at Orient last week? We walk our dogs together sometimes. Wouldn't want to cross him mind you - he cuts a formidable sight even these days!

Quite prepared to respond to your points when you leave out the personal stuff. While I understand your point about not wanting scientifically perfect football matches I think in this day and age when many careers are delicately poised, a couple of bad offside decisions can affect a player's future. Waigo quite rightly got a lot of stick for his poor grasp of the offside law a month ago but it appears to me he has been working on it. To the best of my memory he did not get called offside once at Orient and last night he showed commendable restraint. When he was mistakenly pulled up when well-placed he could have scored and a goal would give him a lift at a time when he is being overshadowed by Antonio. There's there are a lot of rules that are hard to implement these days without technology but I think the offside law is a particular out-of-date law that no longer fulfills the function for which it was introduced. If we are going to keep it positioning the asst refs on the roofs of the stand might see an improvement. Sorry if you think me starting this thread as "grandstanding" - I am genuinely interested in fans' views on this. Especially those fans I respect.

Maybe I will try and meet NC when he is not busy I don't know. Will have to see! I know AO was not instrumental in bringing ML to the table because he told me.

Well it was introduced over 100 years ago to stop goal hanging and whilst I accept there might be a need to keep parts of it (maybe inside the penalty area) I can't see the point keeping a law that is physically impossible to implement correctly. Even if Charlton's goal was OK because we had a man on the line the asst ref wa sin no position to make a judgement as he was nowhere near up with play. Its a bit like the rule that states there is no standing in Premiership stadiums. Impossible to fully implement or police but rather than adjust the rule what do the governments and officials do? They pretend it isn't happening. Our stadia now are more unsafe than they were before all seaters, as standing amid rows of seats must be a hazard. I say it again - the offside rule is not being properly managed and unless they find some way of using technology I would rather do without - at least let's experiment.

Good to see you still resort to personal insults to emphasise your greater knowledge.

I had heard rumours that he had not been getting on with NC who I hear is a shrewd, tough cookie to deal with. He was appointed after NC rang the FA asking if they could recommend anyone for the position. He had nothing to do with the Swiss coming to the table. In a way I am personally a little saddened by the news because although he had a bad reputation with some of the staff I felt AO was a "football" man and also he showed a genuine interest in the history and traditions of the club when we held our one meeting on the future role for Hagiology and the club's 125th anniversary.

there were 2 incidences in the match last night that really brought it home to me just how modern football has outgrown the offside law. One incidence was an offside given when it shouldn't have been and another was one that wasn't given when it should have been. The first was when Waigo was flagged offside when replays showed he was at least a yard on. He had moved far too quickly and with perfect timing that the linesman just could not keep up. He was in a very likely goal scoring position and it must have been very frustrating for him. Certainly the benefit of doubt (which there must have been) was not given to him which is not following the rules. The second came just prior to Charlton's goal when their winger received the ball at least 2 yards offside but the linesman was about 5 or 6 yards back and as he was nowhere near level just did not have a clue and had no choice but to allow play to progress and they scored 30 seconds later. If the offside law is to stay then there must be a better way of judging it. Quite simply linesman or asst referees on the touchline are in a ridiculous position, perspective wise, to make correct decisions. It's hard enough further back even with a better global view from the stands and the modern game is just too fast. How can an asst ref expected to be level? Those two mistakes which both went against Saints could have been costly.

Good story I only went to Villa away because I was staying in the Gateway Hotel at the time and John Tubbs the manager was a big Saints fan and talked me into going in his car.

Just didn't think he contributed positively. He made some good tackles but his passing was crap. He is becoming an integral player but he needs to put a bit more thought into his game. Prefer him at right-back.

Thought Pardew's after match comment was spot on RE OUR PERFORMANCE - a bit "sloppy". Mind you, their goal was offside (the winger who made the original cross) but I still think Saints made hard work of the last 15 minutes. I like the way Pardew talks - everything he says makes sense and he doesn't mince his words. Very refreshing! Back to the game - positives - Waigo, a player I'm not keen on up to now but his defensive abilities stood out and I thought he looked good going forward. He and Antonio together should be an asset. Bart - did not put a foot wrong! Don't feel confident with him between the sticks but did OK tonight. A good confidence booster. Marcus Liebherr - good to see he is prepared to come to SMS for a minor cup-tie and he looked well-pleased with life when the Sky cameras picked him out. Connolly and Lambert - both class acts! Negatives - not sure about James in midfield, Schneiderlin's injury, Lallana's flouncing and Thomas's distribution. Still some work to do but Pardew has instilled a winning mentality and that is half the battle. Well done to the fans that turned up tonight - I took the weak option. TV!

Doesn't count then

There is not many who did - many missed the Villa away game. I know of myself, Jim Barnard, Kenny Gibson, Graham Kitcher, and Tim McGarry (sp?). Anyone want to add a name?

Was it Jim Barnard from Fair Oak you were talking about? I find it amazing that there were what 100 max saints fans at Villa Park for the replay and a lot of these did not make West Brom, Bradford and Stamford Bridge or even some home games and yet there are a lot of people claiming they went to all 8 games. Perhaps i will start a thread and you can put your names down and swear an oath.

Are you sure he went to every game? I must add him to my list. As far as I know there are only about 8 of us who did. I collected all the names in a little file. Most missed Villa away.

Now we have all had our official letter telling us our shares are worthless I was wondering if any on here had lost that much that they were unhappy with the outcome? Me.... I lost £50, but I have gladly settled for that to be where we are today from where we were a year ago or even 3 years ago. Any ex-shareholders unhappy? It must be a unique occurrance that a company goes bust and the shareholders are all smiles?

Agree - there has been some illuminating posts in this thread but I don't think that is the end of the matter although some more water may need to flow beneath the Itchen bridge before we are any wiser! Fry played a tricky hand and it got us where we all feel happy but could he have played it any better?

Appreciate you did!

Please do - apologies for my slackness!

Exactly

perhaps he was on his honeymoon?

Fair point but, it "begbies" the question was Liebherr even invited to pay for exclusivity?

I'm glad there has been some serious debate on this thread. Some questions still niggle away at me - I would still like to know why Fry gave Pinnacle exclusivity 3 days after Liebherr made his initial offer and just how did Lynam and Co manage to convince Fry they were genuine buyers with funds when the best they could do when it was time to put up or shut up was to push Fialka into the spotlight. I would also like to know just how far MLT investigated Pinnacle and who was behind them before he allowed his name to be put forward as their public face and also why Lynam was given permission to address the players at Staplewood. I think we are all delighted at what eventually happened with the purchase by Liebherr but I think there is a massive case of "there by the grace of God" about the whole debacle and Fry now picking up an award does seem a little bit fraudelent. I heard from an excellent source that Cortese and Liebherr were far from happy at the way the whole thing was handled, which fits in with Coretese's interview in the Echo and speaks volumes when compared to an award.

Who invited Jarvis ****er

That is an intersting and plausible scenario you paint but Cortese's comments in the Echo soon after Liebherr's arrival would indicate he at least felt Fry did not take the Swiss bid as seriously as he should have, expecially when it came to light that Pinnacle were not much more than speculators. I think Fry took the easy option, plumped for Pinnacle on the sole basis Leon Crouch had delivered hard cash up to that point. Leon was well-intentioned I am sure but his generosity gave Pinnacle the "clout and gravitas" they did not deserve or warrant.