Fitzhugh Fella

The worrying thing is that this guy is still getting people to believe him.

you should see my mobile phone Frank

Ouch!

From what I hear you are spot on - a last minute hitch with the main money man pulling the plug - now there is a surprise. I think it is now down to Pinnacle/MLT - if that flounders we are in trouble.

I think you can now forget the Jackson initiated bid as there seems (surprisingly) to have been a last minute hitch yesterday which to me is suspicious. If I was Fry I would quickly go with the Pinnacle bid (assuming it has come in).

I think you can now forget the Jackson initiated bid as there seems (surprisingly) to have been a last minute hitch yesterday which to me is suspicious. If I was Fry I would quickly go with the Pinnacle bid (assuming it has come in).

I knew Wacko Jacko was sniffing around but he was not part of any of the two consortiums I was /am aware of.

Oh my God - I can't believe this is happening. These guys tricked us once before and we ended up with Barry the briefcase - don't you remember how ridiculous that all was? I am seriously concerned at the involvement of these two. Oh and what a surprise they are blabbing it all over the place too - and a last minute hitch too.

Nick I don't doubt Marc Jackson is a nice bloke but you should ask StLee about the fantasies he was spinning him the summer before last. It was all a load of old poppy****. This will end in tears - he is nothing more than an affable dabbler. This has just put things back another week or so - I could weep.

Having spoken to Marc Jackson a few times he comes across as a likeable enough bloke but to be frank I wouldn't want him anywhere near our club no matter how bad things are. He is a "Walter Mitty" who will only harm whatever progress was made with other consortiums. Well intentioned maybe but a fantasist - only last March he was telling me that he was still in touch with Paul Allan. People like Marc can't help dabbling but really should get out of the way and leave such serious matters to serious investors.

Jogging in a cage? I knew I saw you in the London Marathon!

No thanks Bern - did you like my little "SoG" name dropping in the article - I am sure Nickh never spotted his name in lights. Perhaps he will now!!

Nice tie-in Badger.

I did but then I failed my English A level I hated Chaucer and TS Eliott

Good article by Jeremy Wilson

Tbh without a mega rich sugar daddy you have no choice apart from (3)

Where did it all go wrong I hear so many Saints fans ask? Today's Echo has started to spill some beans but I believe we have to go back to 1939 to really get to the root of the cause and so I have this morning especially written this for Ponty. I blame Hitler for the demise of Southampton FC If there had never been a second World War, there would never have been the austerity and then the backlash which morphed into the swinging but decadent sixties. Dwindling discipline, the end of National Service, Pans People and liberal parenting led to a social breakdown and an increase in violent gang culture which festered itself our national game. Football violence originating with the late 60’s skinhead movement, grew in the 70s and then nearly destroyed football in the 80s with Mrs Thatcher and the Chairman of Luton Town leading the charge. Consequently our stadiums were turned into zoos with fencing, pens and barbed wire and the beautiful game was watched by only the committed or the insane. Then came Heysel, Bradford and Hillsborough which caused a rethink and before we knew it came the siren call for newer safer, sterile all sitting stadia. That was the death knell for The Dell and although we didn’t know it at the time, the beginning of the end. The 1980s was Saints most successful decade, we competed with the country’s elite but as soon as The Dell became a liability in the wake of the Justice Taylor report we were on the slippery slope which ended at Mark Fry's door. The gentlemen Saints directors grew anxious, there was still plenty of red wine in the Board room cabinet but The Dell could not hold more than 15,000 all seated not enough to sustain a top-flight club for very long. We had to move but we had been unsuccessfully trying to find a site for a new home for nigh on half a century and even if we found somewhere who would finance it. Something had to give and, so it was, Guy Askham and his merry band of "director fans" decided the way forward was to turn Southampton into a PLC and raise funds through the big financial institutions in the City. A reverse takeover was the quickest route to accomplish this and before we knew it a Cotswold farmer with little knowledge of the workings of the game arrived in our midst to be our saviour. Rupert Lowe may not have known his way around a football pitch but he knew a bit about leisure homes and the way the City worked and in 2001 St Marys was unveiled to an impressed fan base. “We build it you fill it” was the bullish challenge from the ruddy cheeked Chairman but the fans responded and for a brief period it looked as if we would financially flourish in our new home. But football was changing, Sky money and the formation of the Premiership widened the gap between the “haves and the have nots. Smaller clubs like Wigan and Fulham got "sugar daddy" investment from outside and grew bigger. Income from gate revenue became of secondary importance – owning a stadium good enough to host a competitive England international was no longer the biggest criteria in becoming successful or even sustainable. Football was now an incendiary business to be in and without a Russian billionaire you needed a steady, capable hand on the tiller. Rupert Lowe was not that man. He had qualities but he had weaknesses. He also had some bad luck. The false accusations levelled at David Jones were very unfortunate but Lowe knew he had to act and so we lost a good manager and the merry-go-round that started turning when Souness quit grew in pace. Jones’s replacement, Glenn Hoddle did well but again misfortune in the shape of a predatory yobbish Tottenham board intervened and we had lost a second good manager in as many years. Hoddle’s departure was a big blow to Lowe who decided there and then not to be a repeat performance. He would take a more active involvement in football decisions and instead appoint a Head Coach type figure as a manager so when he then left for pastures new there would not be the disruption experienced when Hoddle left for his spiritual home. There then followed some bad managerial appointments. If you leave the Strachan appointment to one side and with the benefit of hindsight Stuart Gray, Steve Wigley, Paul Sturrock, Harry Redknapp and even George Burley all failed to live up to expectations and no club survives in the Premiership when they change their managers twice in one season. If you then throw into the Staplewood mix a forthright, opinionated ex England rugby coach and a clown called Clifford, then it is a little wonder our last season in the top flight and first season in the CCC was so disastrous. Lowe had to go and, go he did but it got worse. His main adversary was Michael Wilde, a plausible (to most except Jonah, SoG, GM and Nickh) wealthy fan who promised investment but instead delivered a completely wasteful executive team who showed little care and attention when belt tightening time came around. It was left to one time Wilde ally, Leon Crouch to then oust the executives which was done at considerable cost while meanwhile the club under the now totally disinterested Burley plummeted towards Division One. Rather belatedly Crouch took off his rose coloured spectacles but avoiding relegation was a close shave. Crouch had made a mistake of not inviting the highly unpopular and mistrusted Wilde back onto the Board and so the inevitable happened – Lowe and Wilde returned promising a Dutch revolution…… and you know the rest. Lets hope that nice Mr Fry can deliver us!

Good question - probably to make a point to Webster

perhaps the Echo might tell you later, but don't tell Minty or Ponty they are not interested

Then why are you on this thread Nick?

Not me too biased but I know someone who is considering it. Ponty and Minty might not want to look back but unfortunately what happened in the past affects our future. I give you, for example, one Tommy Forecast who was given a 5 and a half year contract 6 months ago. People who don't like to look back are just frightened of what they might see imo and of course they might also be proved wrong.

Stanley the world is full of spin - you spin on here, your above post is spin of sorts, everybody spins their angles but to say, as you do, "if Pinnacle get in it is going to be a disaster" is ridiculous. I admire your tenacity and determination at times but let's just give these people a chance before we rip them or anyone else to shreds. As you said earlier beggars can't be choosers. I am nervous of their motives but with a couple of ex employees (non political) of SFC involved I would expect an element of investment in our club which is what we need so desperately. The alternative is no club so for now let them spin to their hearts content.

Well it ended up with Webster on gardening leave - so you can probably work it out yourself now but I wonder how long a contract Forecast got?

The Forecast signing is a good story but not mine to tell!

TbH Hypo - I don't think anyone really know who (if either) would be best -we will have to wait and a) hope at least one of the 2 bids (if both eventually bid) are acceptable to Fry and b) they are then prepared to invest in the team. I think I know the identities of both but apart from the fact one has MLT on board and the other doesn't at this stage I would if pushed, I suppose, favour the MLT group under the assumption that presumably Matt would have done a little diligence himself!! But who knows? The good thing it seems there is at least one and probably two interested parties but as Exit 2 and Weston Saint have quite rightly pointed out nothing has been signed yet and too much prying at this stage could potentially jeopardise what must be quite awkward negotiations.