Miltonaggro

I see that in the middle of the 'consortium' photograph David Baddiel, erstwhile promoter of Matt Le Tiss and well known member of the Golders Green massive, takes pride of place. The plot thickens...

Quite clearly there are issues over equity and justice here, and such a panel would be seen as at best biased and at worst illegal in any formal context. I am very sure that the lawyers advising Pinnacle are aware of this...

Methinks that players who depart SFC to places like Plymouth and Swansea may regret their lack of committment in the long run...

Lord Mawhinney grimaces and suffers an anal prolapse as he waits for the masked member of the Illuminati who nailed his right hand to the crossbar to return with the nails for his left hand and both feet; ignorant of the fact it is actually Leon 'Hilti' Crouch in a balaclava...

Gemmel, I will be on the 17.05 today so early evening sherbert in the Rose & Crown to discuss the installed owner, chairman, and manager of SFC would be pleasant! Nice day for a resurrection and coronation isn't it...

Although Keegan is seen by many 'pundits' as a quitter, the vast majority of the fans at the clubs he has managed are full of praise for his style and verve. His record in all leagues is very good, and enthusiasm is an infectious gift. If he happens to be unveiled at SMS at midday tomorrow with MLT as his Chairman and the excellent John Carver as assistant manager I for one will be very pleased indeed...

Stranger things have happened ;-)...

Yes Sotonianproud, the Golden Bates (as it is known in artistic and scrap metal circles) will be the new face of SFC public relations and host the breakfast show on the revamped radio station. At present the Golden Bates is residing in Leon Crouch's luxury beach hut at Calshot...

Apparently, the polish trainer has undercut the existing Saints coaching staff by 40% and is prepared to work Saturday and Sunday with no overtime rate (supski value); this is a symptom of the free market economy but then again the club must cut its cloth accordingly at the present time. Lettuces, damp proof courses, or fitness, we are in a recession. Frankly, Nigel Farage must be delighted...

The new owner is Phil Spector and the manager is Kevin Keegan with the Krankies as first and reserve team coaches. Imagine the stress, but what glorious entertainment...

Knowing our luck it was Osama Bin Laden in his pre-Jihad days! i would take him as manager over Wotte too, very good with public relations and team talks...

I'd take David Puckett over Mark Wotte any day of the week. Good utility man...

Agreed, much better from the OS. It may be that Pinnacle are preparing the ground to unveil Kevin Keegan as manager next Friday ; - ) stranger things have happened...

Tony Head or Arthur Mullard, depending on whether I was typecast...

The group that head-hunted Nigel Pearson should be consulted; as that appointment was clearly a masterstroke...

Davies can indeed do whatever he likes with his hard earned money, and will. I'm not sure that attending any school within Southampton can result in an individual being labelled a 'toff' - Winchester is the County's only recognised public school and even they let proletarian riff-raff in these days. The point I was making is that his 'outing' as a lifelong Saints fan coincided with a move from merchant banking to the public sector - nothing to do with fashion, lots to do with positiive PR for mass consumption. Furthermore, his vocal backing for Wilde et al. led many long term fans to reasonably believe that he held the club dear, and with that in mind it's reasonable to think he might act positively at the present time. Gavyn may be plotting a takeover or making donations to the club (though he's absent from the prestigious £1000+ club on the official site) as we write, but my money is that he's editing the 'Marseille Mayhem and my years with the Inside Crew' chapter of his biography...

Davies (said to have been a 'fan' whilst at King Edwards in the 70s!) jumped on the prawn sandwich 'soccer' bandwagon in the 1990s in tune with other multi-millionaires and celebs looking for a common touch to their PR portfolio. He has made overtures about his love of SFC several times in the press, which given his immense wealth sticks in the craw somewhat at the present time. Very much a paper tiger...

To be fair Merrington never really had a chance as Saints manager and I feel he was very much a stop-gap at that time, great youth coach though (long before Rupert's groundbreaking 'fame academy') . During his season in charge he had little money and his wife was seriously ill, so to keep us up was an achievement in itself. Dave Armstrong as a player was magnificent and should have won 50 England caps. Both are Red and White through and through but are probably not the answer at present, although preferable to Hertz Van Rental et al. If we went for an ex-player right now I would take Chris Nicholl, with a younger man as his number two (perhaps Le Tiss, Benali, or at a stretch Dodd). All were members of his youth set up, and Chris certainly has unfinished business at SFC...

If it could happen the morale of the players and the city would be sky high for the run in...

The precedent that Luton should look to; and the one that the Football League are very concerned about is Derby County when Burley was manager in 2003. After Derby's 'holding company' entered administration with debts far greater than Saints following relegation, it was found that a number of Directors had acted fraudulently - thus, the 'crime' was far greater than that of Saints and NO points were deducted...

Unfortunately, the Dutch brigade brought in by Lowe and Wilde are chancers; and this filtered down to the senior players very quickly. In any walk of life senior pros can spot the difference between sh*t and shinola within seconds. Pearson during his short tenure garnered respect and stopped the bullsh*t, and like him or loathe him Billy Davies would have done the same, it would have been put up or shut up. The perennial problem is that Rupert Lowe has no understanding of football, or football people, and after a decade it's obvious that he never will. He is a sucker for 'innovative coaches' who promise him that they are able to turn also-rans into world beaters, nags into thoroughbreds - a skill tantamount to suggesting you are able to polish turds. A diminishing handful of fans see him as somehow credible, but as a leader he is less Wellington or Beaverbrook and more a combination of General Melchett and Terry Thomas. In his early years at SFC he was lucky - lucky to have found Askham as intermediary and bully, lucky that his takeover coincided with the rise of the Premiership, lucky to have players who cared, lucky to have fans that were tolerant and realistic, lucky to have a City Council that provided a plan B when his plan A failed, lucky to have had the chance to work with the likes of Strachan. His luck has know evaporated along with the goodwill of something like 90% of the fans. Admitting a mistake now, and appointing a Dowie, Ince, or Curbishley might give Saints a fighting chance to allow him and Wilde to resign with some dignity. Sacking the Edam Cartel and the inevitable attendance increase would pay the salary of a football manager. Whatever happens it wont save Lowe and Wilde...

Bally (dynamo, enough said); Case (the inspiration and mentor of so may good youngsters in Nicholl's side); Williams (grew massively in stature and got capped when made captain). That's some midfield...

Bristol City 2 Southampton 2...

I have it on good authority that Wotte is also partial to Dutch ovens! Coming to an OS near you, soon...

Lowe and Co. out of the picture, some investment, and an experienced 'minder' as his number 2 or DoF, and Matt could be the man! It's that easy...