Alain Perrin

Surely Mark Hughes at the Dell where he rifled in a shot which hit the back of the net and rebounded off the advertising hoardings. Forget who it was against though? Everton?

Now I know one result is not a sign of things to come, but even the most distant fan must be impressed by the commitment and quality of the football on show. Like him or loathe him, Lowe's double Dutch plan might just be working. Is anyone else worried then that any Fulthorpe inspired takeover, if it installs Shearer, would be a backward step? Sure we need the money, but do we need a man with no coaching experience and (in my opinion) little obvious passion taking the helm? So Mr Fulthorpe, if you're reading this (and if your takeover is anything more than a 'friend of a friend' myth), please think carefully before dismantling our crazy little coaching set up - I'm enjoying football again. ps. feel free to pay off the debts though!

Lol - I'm not sure how old you are Rod, but I assume you haven't got a job yet. To players (all players) this is just a job - a bloody great one, but just a job. Getting a chance, whenever that arrives, to play in the top league is like getting a promotion at work. In my experience people will almost always take it unless a) they've no ambition b) they don't have confidence in their ability or c) personal circumstances. Loyalty rarely comes into it - personally I think Le Tis fell into a) and c), he was only loyal to Saints because it was convenient to be so. For Davies, clearly he's confident (as are we of him, otherwise we wouldn't be unhappy) and it's probably closer to his family and friends 'op Norf. No brainer really.

I thought I'd break my silence to bring you some unsubstantiated gossip. Got told by someone yesterday who spoke to someone who supposedly had a hour long meeting with Fulthrope on Saturday morning. He said Fulthrope was "full of himself" and said the Merrington consortium will take a 62% stake in the club on Wednesday. Also said that Shearer will come in as manager with 'significant' funding. Not sure how true that is and in two minds about Shearer, personally I would prefer to give J-lo more of a chance with funding. Having said that, Shearer might attract some names who wouldn't normally have come and funding from any source is welcome.