um pahars

Rubbish. I was more than happy to give him some time, and I will still give him some more time to prove himself one way or the other. That's not to say that my first thoughts weren't pessimistic and that currently those doubts are starten to firm up with each passing game, but he still has time to turn it round. You would have to be extremely optimistic to give Jan anything other than a must do better in a quarter season review. Maybe recent performances has finally made him see sense that you need a balance of youth and experience in this division. Of course the problem with seeing this now is that a quarter of the season has gone and so has the ability to bring players in that would make this work.

Ahem, it's more to do with the fact that it's taken some fckuking horrendous performances for the penny to drop and Jan to realise that 9 youngsters plus Davis and A N Other will not work in this division. So why has Perry come back in, why is John now getting a start, how come DMG is not playing, why is Skacel finally getting a game etc etc etc???? Because IMHO Jan has finally cottoned on to what is needed in this league. That means I have little confidence in him.

This bloke does not fill me with confidence!!!!

Maybe someone's realised it was a false economy to have someone like Skacel on the bench when we're getting thumped and attendances are plummeting.

To e fair, that competition is a joke and I'd be interested to know what sort of a team Sheff Utd put out.

Jan was up watching the Sheffield derby, so hopefully he's done his homework. I reckon Stern will start, Rudi to make the bench and DM to still get a game:rolleyes:. 1-1 with John scoring late in the game.

So maybe the next question should be directed at the manager as to why he has not managed to get Skacel playing, particularly when we've been crying out for some experience in the team.

Definitely worth taking you off igore for that. LOL. For the record I reckon we'll get a draw tonight. Can feel it in my fluoride water.

Can someone dig out that reply from the Club, because I have to say that when I read it, I thought it was fairly ambiguous. It said something like "I am not aware of any contractual dispute involving Skacel", which was neither a denial or admission that he has appearance fees in his contract that someone deems prohibitive. I certainly don't think the Club have specifically denied there is an issue over appearance fees and I keep hearing it is one of the reasons why he is not playing (the other being he is still ****5ed off at being fropzen out and then touted around to anyone who declared an interest in him in the close season).

Let's not try and rewrite history SOG. There were many on here cooing at the prospect of Total Football and what the Revolutionary Coaching set up would bring us. The OS, and it's sister mouthpiece The Echo, were shouting from the rooftops about the glorious footballing revolution and many fell for the propaganda hook, line and sinker.

Should read: £16m went out the door in our first year down (if you exclude the one off parachute payment) and even now we're still losing money hand over fist. PS Granty sort out the editing problem.:smt110

As our current Football Club Chairman pointed out a little while back, all of our problems were generated from being relegated and having a cost base and structure that cannot work in the long term in this division. £19m went out the door in our first year down and even now we're still losing money hand over fist. Feel free to outline what happened in that short period that crippled this Club.:rolleyes:

Oh, indeed it does, but there is a masive difference between the two. And there is massive diference in the underlying cause. One is a conscious decision to boycott on principle, which IMHO is a small minority, whilst the other is a sub conscious decision which is a direct result of the way the Club has performed on and off the pitch in recent months. Football has changed in recent years and for many it has become an entertainment business. There will always be a hard core who will come what may, but others need to be convinced that they will be entertained and will enjoy the experience. Indeed, those in charge now refer to us as customers and I don't know of any other business that blames it's customers for not trading with it. Get the product ight and people will buy it, serve up shtye and they will not fall for it. With the odd exception, every club that underperforms sees a drop in attendances. Some may hold up that decline by generating a spirit of unity, pride, respect and trust, others have the decline accelerated for all the opposites of the above. IMHO, we're crrently in the second group.

I think that if anything, this post has actually highlighted some of the problems at the Club at the moment. Firstly, the Chairman and Head Coach must have been very naive to expect Thomas and Svennson to play any major role this season. We should have been planning for life without them, not building a team around them. For some reason we have stupidly ignored our defensive frailties and we are continuing to pay the price for that ignorance. Secondly, Skacel is on our books and we are paying his wages. The manager needs to start earning his wages and getting the best out of our players (I'm no apologist for Skacel, but we are in the shtye right now and we need our best players on the pitch). Thirdly, I agree Perry should be in the staring line up, so why the fckuk was he not playing on Saturday. We then have John not getting a regular slot and instead loanees and McGoldrick being favoured instead. The above are decisions taken by the "revolutionary coaching set up", so it's no wonder that some people are beginning to question the logic and judgement of those in charge. Lastly, fans aren't boycotting in any great numbers. Quite simply, they do not feel that the team is worth watching at the current time with performaces and a lack of home wins being the main factors for low attendances.

Absolutely spot on. This shambles was what many of us feared and despite what some are trying to say, it was totally avoidable. We didn't have to go for such a "revolutionary coaching set up", neither did we have to flood the first team with youngsters, some of whom in all honesty wouldn't make the first team of other Championship teams. The priority should have been some experienced players to augment the youngsters who are quite good (and given the 10 odd players we have brought in - and the other thngs we could have done - there was leeway to do this). But instead for some reason the priority ws deemed to bring in other youngsters, and keep adding to the midfield and attack. I fear there was some also misplaced logic that getting in utility players was a cure for all our ills, when in fact you really need players who are specialists in their own areas.

Well you had better resign yourself to the inevitable happening then. Some costs may have been cut, but we are still running at a loss and racking up debt. Player sales were always going to happen (just as they have done since we came down) and I reckon we still need a few million brought in in January to keep us going. Of course there are many players who could command a fee, but I don't really see anyone outside of Surman and Lallana who could land us the few million we need to survive.

Agreed. There seems to be so much stuff coming from various sources for this all to be horeshyrit. I have been hearing snippets for ages now on how Lowe is actively involved in footballing decisions (and I just don't mean telling the manager who we can afford as would be perhaps more normal), and his previous doesn't give me any comfort. My biggest worry with regards Lowe coming back was that he would get involved, undermine the manager (Head Coach) and as a Club we would suffer. Are my fears being confirmed??? Did Lowe order an extra training session on Thursday??? Did one of our star youngsters complain and feel it was tantamount to burn out??? What does our Football Club Chairman think of this??? Is he aware (i.e. he gets the Football Club Chairman position and as a trade off Lowe gets the DOF), or is he being duped???

Who is the "they" that are "in fact owners"???? Certainly not Lowe with just over 5%. And even Wilde as the largest single shareholder only has 16%. They had support back in the summer, so what does that support think now???? What is Wilde thinking now (particularly with these stories circulating about how Lowe is deeply involved in the footballing side)????? Wilde said the Coventry capitualtion was out of character in the matchday progamme, so what about yesterdays performance and result???

I do hope you're being ironic there!!!!!! The two missed penalties gloss over a very poor performance, with serious deficiencies in many areas of the team (for a start we need to sort the defence out PDQ). Throw in questionable team selections & tactics, and luck (or lack of it) goes out the window. With all due respect to Watford, they were poor (1 point away from home all season) and yet they spanked us 3-0. What does that say about us???? The harsh reality is that many of those who played yesterday aren't up to it, and the manager is beginning to be put under the microscope.

When the final whistle went the place was half full. I looked around me and the Itchen was just full of despondent people, the Northam was half empty with many leaving well before the final whistle. There was a resigned air about the place and most people were so apathetic that no one really did anything when the whistle went (neither clapped nor booed - although there were a few boos). This experiment is slowly strangling the life and passion out of this Club. I just don't think people care anymore, which is really depressing because I fear we will all need to be in this together in the coming months as I am growing increasingly concerned about the invitability of administration. Is there any spirit to rally round and get the Club going again????

And you could say exactly the same of Wigley when he was offered the job when he was clearly not up to it. I never had a problem with Wigley per se, just the man ho installed him as manager.

The Runnymede minutes certainly confirmed there was a move to bring him back into the fold as Director of Football, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise. But how much influence has he really got with regards first team affairs????? Given that Poortvliet owes everything to Lowe, I can't see him kicking up a stink if Lowe is pulling some strings. Is it time for those with some inside info to blow the lid on just how much Lowe is involved in first team affairs?????

I'm here!!!!!!!!!!!!! Think he was found wanting again today!!!!!!!! For starters, where was Perry?????? As for McGoldrick, no subs, tactics, motivation etc etc etc, maybe, just maybe he is out of his depth.

Have you seen McGoldrick play?????????????

Terrible, truly terrible. Can we please have no more mention about total football blah, blah, blah. We have just been stuffed by a very poor Watford side. That's no criticism of Watford, it's just a true opinion of them and reflects on how poor we are. Davis - 7 - Too much expected of him behind a back four that Shilton would have struggled with. James - 2 - Bless him, he's just not up to it. Why can't the manager se this. Lancashire - 4 - They had a 20 year old at centre half who took the pi655. Poor performance, second to the ball too much, no presence. Wotton - 5 - Not a centre half, so no idea why he was being played there. Mills - 4 - Again, not up to it. Full backs have been a problem since day one, why hasn't it been addressed. Surman - 6 - OK, but outmuscled too many times. Cork - 6 - Tried his best, but he's just too lightweight for this division. I bet he can't wait to get back to Chelsea Smith - 5 - Wasn't too sure if it was David Gest or Lewis Hamilton, but both would have probably put in an equivalent performance. Lallana - 6- My favourite, but he can't do it every week. Felt sorry for him today. Robertson - 4 - A shadow of his home debut. Didn't really do anything. McGoldrick - minus 2 - A fciucking disgrace. Don't like slagging off players, btu how he gets a game, ****c knows. Subs : Thomson - 5 - dotn know what to say Pekhart - 5 - Dont know what to say. I have now seen 1 good game in about 6 or 7. We're in a relegation battle and a whisker away from administration, so please no more let's wit and see. Why wasn't Cork playing???? Tactics and shape looked poor ???? How did McGoldrick stay on???? Why no changes earlier???? The manager looked shell shocked in the second half???? Don't want to slag the manager off, but he was found wanting today. (PS I'm sure some will come on here and blame the supporters](*,)](*,)](*,))