Frank's cousin

Ah the usual voice of balanced discussion.... or not, more like the voice who cant resist using droll sarcasm, when common sense would be a more meaningful and credibel response.... Maybe you have forgotten a fair bit, or simply chose to ignore key points to score cheap points, but either way, you are wide off the mark. YOu know as well as anyone else that the 'ambition' is there to build a self sustaining model that will be fuelled by youth and home grown talent - the question is not whether this is realistic or not, but whether we can create an environment and culture in which the better players want to stay at least for a first full term on their contract - say until 21/22 rather than leaving at 15-17 as soon as some top 4 club comewaving a cheque book. Get teh scouting right and get lucky with a crop, get teh environment right so they stay for a bit, and its possible to have cyclical success as seen in other countries - here we ned to get over the 'I want it now' attitude demonstrated by many younger players and fuelled by their arse wipe agents. Still even if we get this right, if we are self sustaining we will not have the money to have a 35+ 1st team squad of seasoned pros able to step in without noticing any fall in quality as the very top or biggets sides have - you know that as well as I do....

And that is the biggest problem... For some reason, in even if already with prem clubs, young players seem desperate to go as soon as a big club comes sniffing, and off they go at 16/17 for silly money and sit on the bench at their new club. Why does everything have to be now, now, now? On the continent, Germany especially, you see younger players stay at their clubs til around 21/22 at least, thus you see greater churn in terms of who the top teams arem, as clubs get cyclical success as they get a good crop of youngsters to add vitality and that confidence that comes with youth to their first teams - yes ther is teh danger of players leaving on frees at teh end of their first contract, but the value they have provided to their clubs is often worth it - If it gets you a season of CL football at 20-30mil revenue etc... Would just like to see agents feck off out teh game - I am sure heads are turned at too young an age by promises of bigger pay days for teenage kids turning tehir back on those that gave them their chance. The 'I want it now' culture has fecked things in this country....

A club of our size will never have the resources to have the strength in depth everyone craves - but we can and should do Ok when we have the best 11 out there - injuries have not helped so far, nor has the need to still find our best 11! Will rate Adkins after he has had 10 game sor so with his best side available.

.... suspect the bit missing from the interview is wher he added: or maybe something like that?

I thought it was on teh officila club release so no need to get all sarcy about it...

Fair enough - if we do indeed have one single owner and his name is Cortese (although I cant quite believe this to be the case) - then well he CAN as he likes

Maybe I am missing something, but it was stated that the Liebherrs converted the loans to equity - would they then just give that equity away to NC?

Suppose its possible, but why would the Liebherrs then convert the 33mil Markus 'loaned the club to buy it and support in in L1 and Champ' to equity if that was the case?

No point - just a point of clarification in that just although we dont have any official confirmation anywhere of who our owner is, the fact that this equity deal was done does suggest the probate issue was resolved and that we do have one, rather than the 'estate of ML'. NOw it may well be that given the closeness of NC to the Liebherrs, he is left alone to get on with it, but I daresay they would take note if his actions were to damage the value of their investment

Well they must have some and fair bit at that if they can convert 33mil of director loans (from Markus to buy and pump into the club) into equity? Certainly I would guess that teh ownership issue would need to be resolved for this to be done through teh proper leagl channels?

Good call - the problem is some cant seem to differentiate between what is a demandingand probably high pressure environment to work in for NIge and others which can be positive and make teh assumption that unless everyone is constantly smiling and happy, soething MUST be wrong and its all going to collapse in our faces... its a niave opinion IMHO - the paranoia on here at times is actually quite funny

Yes as a paid executive - the shareholders (Liebherrs) have no seat on the board - nothing unusual about that and does not imply NC has total free reign

... In your opinion.... yet you have no idea how much input NC had in many other of Markus's business interests, nor does your opinion take into account the fact that Markus placed faith in NC to run Saints, or that Markuses family have faith in NC to effctively run Mali... Sure NC has things to learn, as would anyone coming into football, but to dismiss his skill set as you have done is niave and a bit pathetic

..er dont think so. Markus's estate will have been divided and the club will be owned by his family who have £33 mil invested in it. NC is in effect a trustee of that investment and if it does not work and grow as any 'trust' then I would not be surprised to eventually a divestment... having said that, Markus's family will know how much the club meant to him and have shown by tehir equity conversion that they have to date supported Markus's and NC's decisions.

yes they could, but dont forget he is also on the board at Mali and is trusted by the Liebherrs. For me, I still come back to the fact he was a trsuted friend of Markus - if we agree that Markus was clearly an man of integrity and sound judgement and that they worked well together, then why do some then believe NC is far from the character and calibre that Markus believed his friend to be? Does not add up. Ok so there may be an element of the good cop/bad cop team they had and NC may miss the calming influence of his friend and mentor, but even so, Markus had faith in NC, and that IS good enough for me. NC will get it right - it may be a while and he will make plenty of mistakes along the way and **** off quite a few, but I do think his drive an ambition will dleiver Markus's vision.

Some I guess have expressed 'concern' because they dont agree with his methods or strategy, or that his driven ambitious nature probably makes him quite 'dictatorial' - and are less forgiving of the fact he is also learning... There are those that believe that a club should still be more fan orientated and managed with fans on the board, constant updates etc... an opinion they are entitled to, but one I feel is naive given what football has become in terms of a global business. Naturally when things were going well on the pitch those opinions were rare, but when up against it, more are drawn into the rumour gossip etc as it provides an 'explanation' for why we are not suddenly world beaters - 'its someones fault' etc, rather than simply accepting we aint there yet. Yes, I have my opinions on what NC could have done better, but they are not concerns or issues that detract from the what in my opinion is s sound approach to building a set up that will hopefully deliver a self sustaining youth driven model - at whatever level that may be. Am concerned he ****es staff off as is rumoured? No. The boss of any company will **** off certain staff, especially if they are let go in restructures. It would be nice to think that the Boss could keep everyone happy all the time, but I am happier when the Boss has a focus and strategy they stick to and believe in, even if it breaks a few eggs to get the best cake - yet whilst we struggle on the pitch, that view does not carry much weight with many which I accept. Unless we sit top of the pile, have cheap tickets and the best beer, any chairman is always going to criticised by certain sections of the fan base for whatever he does... stick with a manager and hes not reactive enough to ensuring performace, sack the manager and hes doing a rupert with no faith in stability, buy younger players with potential, and we are not buying 'experience', buy older journeymen (the better players with experience will want huge money to come to a newly promoted side) and we are wasting money at the expense of youth.... chairman cant win it seems. Look at the situation now: some want Adkins to go, others for him to stay, so whatever he decides he will **** off one section of the fans...

In a bizarre parallel universe, its was observed and interpreted as Employee getting hacked off with boss shocker, after several months of intensive pressure to succeed - the relief it was over, the fact that his herculean efforts might have been perceived as a bare minimum given the start we had (and the way it was also expected of Adkins to deliver from fans), would have made the employee feel a tad 'underwhelmed'.... yet after the cold light of day, the achievements sink in and employee looks forward to the new task...an even bigger one... sort of natural reaction to intensive months delivering promotion with a squad that was top 6 at best, but through shear graft, unity and team work exceeded expectations.... Interestingly in that parallel universe they also have fans who on the one hand were highly critical of the employee for 'nearly fecking it up at the end of the season' - yet also condemn the Boss for expecting the promotion as a minimum and putting the meployee under that pressure in the first place... 'go figure' as the yanks would say...

Forgeting the written off debt of 160 odd mil for a second .... it's their inability to even understand the simple concept of playing the cheapest squad you can under their circumstances that is mind boggling and makes them look like ignorant moronic ****s.... add to that their belief it's a right to be competitive 'for the sake of the itegrity of the league' and shaking ones head in bewilderment is all one can do - although, I dont expect those of such feeble brains as Allen to 'get' the irony in that statement; 'integrity of the competition' - to spell it out for him as I am sure he pops over to have a look and get some information - the only way pompey could show respect for the integriyty of the competition is to field the cheapest possible side (youth) whilst no one from the last CVA has been paid, and whilst 58mil is still outstanding from the current administration. Poor (financially) clubs tend not to be competitive - its a FACT of any division, and why some clubs never get promoted because they CANT AFFORD TO BE MORE COMPETITIVE you fricken ignorant ****s! What is there not to understand? Rant over, but the ignorance of their fans, manager and administrator to all this fuelled by the arselicking media is beyond any rational commprehension... suggestiing that being more competitive will attract more 'potential bidders' and thus potentially offer more to creditors has proven to be **** in the wind, and was speculative at best.... so why continue with such a policy now when they should be saving every penny to pay off debt is beyond any rational person's mind.

...would add. Typical saints fans 'someone always has to be to blame full stop'.... when sometimes we just need to accept we are not yet good enough - despite everyone working as hard as they can with the experience they have. For those who only ever get enjoyment from supporting a club when it wins, well its going to be a tough long season for them.... and they will believe every bit of negative gossip, find scapegaots etc if only to satisfy their egos that we would be far better if so-and-so was not in chrage/did things differently blah blah blah... For those that appreciate that supporting has its ups and downs as each new season brings fresh chellenges, especially after a double promotion, its simply easier to take, understand and live with. This is not burrying heads in sand, as defeat never tastes sweet, nor is it happy clappy bol ox. Problems will always manifest themselves when the club is not doing great, but its about being realistic and pragmatic - wind yourself up in to an angry frenzy based on little more than speculation, rumour, gossip and deep seated prejudices and look like fragile egoed school girls as a result, or accept that this jump/transition to the flight has come more rapidly than the club and its staff have the experience to deal with - and that we should cut them all more slack than some are wishing to do. Worrying about how other fans view us and thus they dents in the pathetically fragile egos is pretty pathetic from grown men. Being proud of what we have achieved despite our frailties in quality, and supporting one and all during what is a difficult and disruptive time, is surely what support is truely about... through thick and thin.

...only just noticed that the pedestrian at about 0.25 was nearly hit by an ambulance... Agre this is the sort of thing that should be shown in schools - no patronizing voice over, nothing just show it and let them stew on it.

Depends what you mean by 'not right' - is it some sort of conspiracy, major problem or deep roted infighting as some would suggest, or the 'simple' issue of intense pressure played out in the media spotlight (alot more so than in the championship) that any manager and club that us struggling will be under? Where the results and confidence has been shaken and as even players and staff are human, this is never going to lead to all 'happy days'. Depends in part on what you want to believe and whether you feel its an issue or not. Is NC driven, ambitious and possibly quite ruthlessly so? possibly, will this upset people, possibly, will the prssure he puts Nige under to deliver cause NIge some sleepless nights? probably... is this pretty normal for a club that seeks to progress rapidly? Would say so in my opinion. Alternatively, we can all assume that there is some deeply rooted problem which is hinted, rumoured and speculated about by 'fans' with some Agenda that they wont come clean about, nor substantiate with any real evidence...

The article says 'reports suggest' what part of that statement do you read as 'FACT' - its no different form the constant rumour you peddle - with no evidence forthcoming....

You start off fine then once again blow your reasoning with this boll ox - there is NO policy for 'yo yo' - there is simply building in safegurads into your strategy as nothing is guarranteed in football, especialy when newly promoted. Building longer term with young players is a strategy that has this safeguard built in - as younger talent can be sold on at a no loss rate should we need revenue.... but its not the intention when they are purchased, merely a bi-product of the youth strategy. We want to stay up - to think otherwise is naive and frankly ridiculous - but we can COPE with relegation finance wise, and provided we can retain enough talent to remain competitive in the short term in the Championship if it came to that

Says the funniest.... where have you been CB? Was surprised it took you so long to join in and add your 'wit'

you should leave the comedy to those that can do it well....