dubai_phil

Ref Ashley & the discount - he was hawking Newcastle over here during Ramadan and asking for 340mil. He fooked up by going to a bar instead of to the meeting, was all over the press.......

As a CONCEPT, without a sugar daddy, there is nothing wrong with having a system that produces the income a club needs to compete by raising and selling players, the PROBLEM with that is the money HAS to be re-invested each time to improve the rest of the squad (ie sell a youngster and one of the weakest players gets imporved) Unfortunately 1) We only used the money to buy cr*p "squad players" 2) the overall decisions that were made always seemed to be the wrong ones. But whether Bassett is bitter or not is irrelevant, the statement is now out there in the public domain and needs to be refuted OR explained in a way that stops all of us simply giving up and sitting in a darkened corner and crying with the sheer horror of what is and has gone on

Selling a potential star player = bad news Getting a media circus hyped up = good news Getting 5mil for a player when from all reports our overdraft limit was 4mil and is now sitting at 8mil may save our necks financially Then getting a mil in for ONE of our loaned out strikers That would be great IF we also used some of the money to bring in the experience that we desperately need to turn in some results (or even KEEP one of the strikers) and get some fans drifting back into SMS. (and by that experience on the pitch or by the side of it that adopts our tactics to the situation & team we are playing not to a formula) But don't see it happening like that somehow

Scooby side Lowe "but 'Arry we're still crap" Arry "no we ain't we got Fuller Lowe "but what about Theo?" Then you have the SaintRichmond side Lowe "but 'Arry we're still crap" Arry "no we ain't we got Fuller Lowe "but what about Theo?" Arry "you sold him" I agree GM actually given me the first lol/smirk/grin on here for ages. If it wasn't so expected it would be horrific, but now the cat is out and the blast zone is where the action's at. Sweet Dreams TSW'ers 'cos you're gonna be losing sleep for days over this. Good grief:smt073

Oh boy, today's gonna be fun. At least somebody is likely to make some money out of SLH even if we are skint.... The lawyers

I rest my case......... Obviously, one successful way to employ people is to hire people who are experts and then listen to their advice. Then there appears to be our way at the moment Either Lowe is the anti-Christ or the Messiah, but as most on here tend towards the former I think it would make my point pretty close to the consensus truth on here.

Scarily I did exactly what I planned to do in the weekend fred. That's never happened before and I am extremely concerned because the planned weekend involved enormous amounts of alcohol and I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. Weird 6/10 (would have been an 8 but for having to watch the game on Saturday which was ....)

Newcastle at that price would be about a 35% discount.... and then the exchange rate drop will make it a better deal than it appeared three months ago. I can confirm that a number of Middle Eastern consortiums are interested in buying into English Football using differing approaches. Even if you take out the fact that it is discussed in business & social meetings down here (because of the Abu Dhabi mob as much as anything), but the REASON I can state this confidently is the fact it IS in the media and Zabeel themselves said something similar when they did their pull out from Charlton. "Focus on local projects and opportunities" at the moment. So my point is that they may not be doing it THIS month..... Which is why I advocate we try and survive as long as possible

Well put FC.. What we need now is some way to give us back Faith, Hope and a heck of a lot of Charity...

yes, but the point was that it wasn't a shock to the fans on the day, we all KNEW we'd win, it was the outside world that believed we'd be mashed. For example Derby away this season was a shock. No way did many of us expect to get a result up there. Beating Marseilles at home in '76 what was it 3-1 or 4-1? now that was a shock result...

Does JP know what he is doing? Yep. He is doing what everybody else on the planet does in order to keep being employed. He's doing what his boss tells him.....

Let's do lunch.....

I do not know that JP is a good coach.... I THINK he is a good coach... Equally pedantic I know, but as an example, I THINK NP is going to become a very good manager. I don't know it yet and neither does anyone else. Oh and before you class me in the wrong box, I have said that I think JP needs a mentor, a wise experienced head. I also haven't gone fully in support for our structure. A good coach can work for a good manager. Burley's best spell with us co-incided with an assistant manager/coach working alongside him - Glyn Snodin....... Then we had Jason Dodd... On that basis I think Snodin was a better coach than Dodd, but I have no way of KNOWING

SURVIVAL SURVIVAL SURVIVAL.... Keeping the "stratgegy" part out of the loop at the moment, I am convinced that Football in the UK hit a peak with the Abu Dhabi purchase of Man City. Then with the global crash, people started to become much more realistic about the present and "probably" the future. Football will change, not dramatically but running up billions of dirhams or dollars in debt won't be quite as easy for a few years yet. I know from speaking to many businessmen & women here that they are all worried about the turmoil and despite the "rescue packages" there still is a fear that another round of "asset deflation" could happen. These people have all adopted a wait and see strategy. They have ideas, plans and projects that are ALL being cancelled or simply put on hold (oh and are all laughing at the Man City deal - they lost 15% on exchange rates alone already!). This means that for any business, the market (be it fans through the gate, clients for their IT systems or motor cars or property) is also at a virtual standstill. For those people it is at the moment simply a case of cutting back, working extra hard and simply doing whatever is needed to survive. Business activity and confidence WILL return, but will it be one month or one year? I hate to say it but it COULD be argued that hanging on and hoping that 3 of your competitors go bust first is actually a sound strategy in any business and especially ours at the moment! So simply at this time the mess on the pitch needs investment, the bank needs the OD reducing and fans aren't coming, that will take MILLIONS to resolve the way many on here want (so it AIN'T going to happen this month!). So we HAVE to survive. That means looking at EVERY possible angle. And, at the end of the day, I come back to my first point. Leon and the others NEED to have a proposal. At this point, all I am seeing is ITK style point scoring. Management training course day one tells you to ask the critical question - "What do you propse?". It is damned hard to say yes or no to a moan and so far as I can see there isn't anything sensible being put even close to a table. Simply phoning up Lowe and saying "you fooked it up again, get out & I'll put some money in" just won't hack it. It will need a PROFESIONAL approach and a "Compelling reason to Act" as we used to say in MNC land (ie stop speculating on the internet and start THINKING and TALKING) And before we get the string of "Lowe won't listen because..." replies, there are plenty of middle ground routes to do this, not least the Bank and the fact that they AREN'T being used is why I still think all the Morph/LS style stuff is deckchair moving cr*p and about undermining this month's regime. (And how many times has THAT worked in the last 3 years??) Who was it who said "Once you have eliminated all possibilities, only the impossible is left"? I know it was not in this context but I think people need to examine EVERY single option to get out of this. Working together may be impossible, but if it keeps us alive through the crash, then it has to be done. Otherwise we're left with LLS & Father Christmas as our only hopes............:rolleyes::rolleyes: as you would say!

That is sort of what I said - use his money for the club, not the shareholders and of course have strings attached. Trouble is with the overdraft now so big, even simply reducing it will notallow the surgery we need, but a forced strategy change to a BALANCED side would be the first on the list - ie stop loaning kids and get some old pros in. As for what Lowe currently is bringing - no idea - but what he DID bring at the start of the season was to bet the "farm" on Black. The predecessors bet it on Red. All of them lost

Perfect image and summary of current situation Except Bruce actually managed to do stuff :-)

Others were canvassed about the independent role, they did try but with their blinkers on unfortunately... Rewind back a few months and Lowe and Wilde's attacks in the press as we were fighting a relegation battle was nothing about a compromise. That is because the decision had already been made by then, Leon's FAILING at the time was not to take it seriously and mount an EFFECTIVE defence, he continued to play the "white knight will come" card up until the last day (remember how shocked Morph was? Others weren't it had been obvious for a long while) Taking it a mini step further. Barclays raised capital without touching the shareholders. (As did HMG) Buying existing shares does the club no good whatsoever. A rights issue is a possibility but the cost, length of time and take up is difficult, it would need some kind of underwriting deal and I am no expert on that stuff. It's about the approach, the club is almost on it's knees, so will be the local Barclays account manager. Use that strength but throw away the ego

Can't be arsed to read all the way back through the threads, but I was sure I saw Mike Richards proposed. Look, we all know there isn't a really a snowballs chance in hell of any of the 3 working together voluntarily, but at the MOMENT, Saints need MONEY to be able to change any of the mess we are now in, and the only player around at the moment who MAY have some seems to be Crouch. I just do not see ANY point in him blowing that cash simply to get rid of the incumbents (again) when a compromise THAT THE CLUB NEEDS could ring-fence a preferential loan from Leon to keep us afloat and get us through the worst of thre recession until investors start to have loose cash around OR can sell existing assets to buy new ones. Sure they had positions, but the meeting never quite found the RIGHT compromise candidate that took ALL their interests into account - ie a TRUE independent. Whether Salz is now seen as being in the Crouch camp or could be that man we just don't know. Wishful thinking on this is probably less depressing on wishful thinking of our formation and tactics at home.....

Yep but when all is down the most critical thing to keep you going is hope. The faithful keep going but are slowly seeing the performances go from can we stay in the bottom half to will we ever win a game at home and slowly the hope that the kids will turn it around goes. With the mess we are in and Lowe in charge, it could stay like this for the next 50 years. That is where some hope needs to come from, that maybe we can get out of this. We all know January is coming and what it will mean to the playing side... Walcott being offered an improved 12mil 4 year contract rumoured today. Jeez HE could buy us with that AND have some change, even IF he kept playing for Arsenal.....

According to Wiki he ceased to exist when he packed in playing in Sheffield Wednesday in 2005, so not exactly a high profile managerial career so far

Or Hoddle when he was a washed out weirdo.... I think JP is a good coach. Unfortunately in England football teams need to be run by Managers working with good coaches UP is our guru. He led the "worried about the cv" campaign I actually think JP could be a good coach/manager for us, but as I said at the time of his appointment, Lowe took a heck of a lot of gambles all at the same time, for whatever reasons, untried manager with untried kids just seemed one leap of faith too many....

Good plan, let's replace an inexperienced coach with an inexperienced coach.... Like the sentiment behind the idea but really, and yes one day he could make damned fine manager, but for a first job in English Football??? did you not see Dodd in charge last season?

(So in other words, put up or STFU because it just keeps dripping away on the morale of everyone) Oh BTW - I don't mean you mate I mean "the others" Oh and yes Mike Bassett approach please

Wes I'm with you word for word in terms of sentiment, but I would stick my neck out on one thing, Which I accept takes a really big leap of faith, but everything I have seen or heard of late actually tells me that the guys really ARE trying every contact and avenue to find ways to keep things together and solve the core problem we are facing - we're broke and nobody wants to give us any more money. What we HAVE to be very careful of is falling into the old "anything is better" trap. I've already suggested that both Lowe AND Crouch need to eat some humble pie and sit down, but the PROBLEM as I see and hear it at this moment it is still ONLY about "leaks plants and politics". I feel that Leon (and Salz) have a part to play and urgently, but I am actually not yet sure whether he and the "team" of supporters they boast on here have actually put together ANY concrete idea yet EXCEPT for the "I could do better" argument. That IMHO is bull, because Wes, you and I could also both say that, and in all honestly probably COULD do a better job, but NOT one good enough to break this vicious circle we are in. So enough of the clever point scoring people - get some IDEAS and MONEY together, then let's get moving and DEMAND they work together for OUR CLUB! IF we had something that resembled a plan then I think we could ALL get behind it instantly. But at the moment everything just seems to be a bit Baldrick. (So in other words, put up or STFU because it just keeps dripping away on the morale of everyone)

The kids then went awol leaving both Cork & Skacel exposed. At NO time was there any semblance of a Marsden/bridge overlap with the two players working together. I know our FB's get a lot of stick at the moment, but again yesterday there were far too many occassions that there was simply no Red shirt between them and the opposition corner flag. That is just plain wrong, leaves them with 20 acres to mark and up to 3 players at a time converging on them. The problem also is that on TV Skacel looked more like MLT than I have ever seen him before. Unfortunately only in the way he seemed to fill his shirt compared to the kids, so I am not sure he'd actually have the pace and energy now to work as a left winger even IF he was picked there. Surman in the hole, Lallana on one wing and Euell in the centre MAY be an idea but again, Euell looked so far off the pace when he came on....