Fitzhugh Fella

From Today's Guardian (22.07.09) - front page of the Sports section -for the attn of Hypo PREMIER LEAGUE STILL NOT HAPPY WITH AL-FAHIM'S PORTSMOUTH TAKEOVER "The PL will block Sulaiman Al-Fahim's supposed £60m takeover of Portsmouth despite his installation as the club's chairman yesterday, subject to more investigations". So the fat lady may have cleared her throat but her song is far from being sung. Hypo will be getting nervous.

the ghost of Lowe will take a while to be exorcised.

Like I said DD, we may not be able to match Ajax like sides with skill, etc etc but we can match them for fitness and effort.

Yea of course I do, but its all about mentality - if you think you're gonna get hammered before you start then you sure as hell will. We really have got to change our way of thinking. The whole club from players through to fans need to start believing again. I accept its not easy and patience will be needed but let's start as we intend to go on. Christ it wasn't that long ago we were a Premiership club. And every player is capable of 100% effort no matter how crap they are.

our expectations have lowered considerably - expecting to concede 4 at home is a trait that AP must address.

And there was me thinking is was a prestige match - with a trophy awarded to the winners - to honour one of Saints finest managers. Pardew has already talked about getting a "winning mentality" and imo that includes friendlies against one of Europe's better sides. Had we won there would have been a lot of chest thumping.

To be fair to Hunt and Gordon neither of them had a position under Lowe - they were against his return. Both men were part of the reverse takeover it is true but were minor players. Both men are fervent fans and have served the club well for many years. While I think it right for ML to cut out the complimentaries for those who did not contribute to the club in any way it would be nice to think that ex players are welcomed back - perhaps being given discounted tickets.

Agree - it has been dire the last 3 or 4 years and the sooner someone starts kicking a few arses the better. Thanks Pilchards - will visit you in prison after you get caught.

No need to apologise Paul. I think the difference with football managers they often have late night duties (reserve, youth games etc) and getting home to their beds and families at the end of the day make them happier and more stable which in turn makes him more effective the next day. Living in a hotel or long commuting takes its toll and as I regard the manager to be the most important person at a football club these days it is good to know they themselves are domestically happy in their set up. Less time worrying about hold ups on the M3 and all that and more time spent at Staplewood planning our next big signing or spotting talent in the Academy.

It makes perfect sense to expect a manager to live in the environs of the club he manages. Indeed all players are encouraged to actually do the same as it aids team spirit etc etc. No player could expect to be made to move if the manager hadn't. Not living locally also shows a lack of committment. Moving your family into the area shows you are in it for the long run, it sends a message to the fans and also means you can participate in the community at large. There has been a complete lack of team spirit at Southampton over the last few seasons with a lack of leadership off and on the pitch. Burley never lived locally and there was a distinct lack of discipline and harmony throughout his final year in situ. This club needs to get back to basics, develop a bunch of players who want to be here, who are proud of the shirt and respect the loyalty of the fans. The SMS has got to become like the Dell and players have got to play like they care and defeat hurts. All of this has been sadly lacking since Strachan left and the players took over the asylum and the subsequent managers were too weak to regain control. I am very glad Draganov is not doing the Saturday team talks.

Thomas runs for cover at the first sign of trouble or feigns injury. No way a captain. One area we need to splash a little cash on imo. Buy a talismanic player, pay him decent money plus and make him capt. A James Beattie type who doesn't mind dropping a division for a year and who would lead from the front.

thanks for the report - interesting stuff

A very backward step - couldn't even get near Leeds' first team last seaon. I hear he is a nice genuine fella but his day has come and gone.

Consolidation = mid table, year one play offs or automatic into CCC, year two play offs/fail, year three auto promotion to Prem, year 4 who knows year 5 but will need sugar daddy style money to compete

Can't think what would be a worse scenario Tony Adams or the return of George. I think Pardew becoming our new manager is very indicative of the way our future is mapped out over the next few seasons. We will sign some good honest pros who can graft and we will consolidate slowly. By all intents we should not need too much of ML's cash because as a club standing on its own we have no debt/mortgage to service and all income can therefore be spent on the team. Can't see us chasing propomtion this year as the -10 points and the disarray of the current squad will take a good 6 months to put right but next season should see us as favourites. After that if we are serious about getting back and staying in the PL then we may well need a bigger cash injection from Mr Liebherr. Let's hope he is in it for the long run and he enjoys his pie and pint tomorrow.

John Mortimore

From what I am hearing they are not into "charity" right now with all people who used to get comps etc being asked to buy their own STs - this includes the President!

Ta, Richard, Did you look them up when you were out there, btw?

Tim, if he had 2 tickets in business class would Ron be fit enough to travel to the UK?

The longer there is no appointment the more I think they are waiting for Strachan's return

and if they don't????????? don't see why passing on a rumour from an excellent source should make me look foolish. By your reasoning the'd be plenty of fools on here. Seem to remember you've been caught with your pants down once or twice too

I wonder if Dr Al Fahim knows Tony Lynam?

I wouldn't say his praise for Rupert was "strong" - there are parts in the book when he is quite critical. One instance mentioned was just before the start of last season, after ringing Rupert up to enquire after a Saints player Lowe had boasted that "with his youth Saints were going to storm the league". Jones found that quite amusing I gather. In his first day at Saints he met 3 members of SISA in the car park who virtually threatened him if he ever dropped MLT. He went to say, in his opinion SISA had too big an input in the running of Saints. Quite an odd thing to say I thought.

Can someone tell me why so many Pompey fans contribute on a Saints forum? Haven't they got their own to inhabit?

Like the man said - go follow cricket or at least get a sense of humour.