Bailey

For me, it's a tie between Saeijs' equaliser at Watford and the away win at Reading. The fans reaction to both was unreal. Good times!

Realistically I didn't expect us to stay up, and therefore I always assumed we'd start League One on -10, so no surprises for me. That aside, I thought the performance was decent. There was a lot of passion and pride on display, and it's just a shame it took so long into the season for us to start playing like that. Had we performed like that week in week out this season, then we wouldn't be in the position we find ourselves in now. I thought Davis, Perry and Saeijs were as reliable as ever, and James and Surman did a decent job in the full-back positions. Gillett will be a useful player for us next season too. His tenacity and work rate are real plus points and for a little lad he never seems to shy away from a tackle. Wotton protected the defence well and was his usual committed self. Lallana worked his socks off once again and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. McGoldrick took his goal well but will no doubt be disappointed not to have converted the penalty. On the whole, there were a number of positives to take from the game, but unfortunately we won't be seeing the majority of yesterday's line-up next season. A large percentage of the players are either out of contract or will be bought by better sides, but that's just the way it is for us at the minute. For now, we need to focus on finding a decent buyer for the club, and then we can really start to re-build and start the long fight to get back into The Championship. COYR!

All you need to know on the OS article below . . . http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/?page_id=11701

And to be fair to Saeijs, the two games you've seen must be the two games where he has been poor. Apart from that, he's been nothing short of superb. When he came into the side, we were leaking goals but he really helped to steady the ship. I'd be delighted if Saeijs remained a Saint next season, would be a massive boost IMO!

Even if the club struggle to distribute all of the tickets that people have donated, at least people can be safe in the knowledge that the club has been provided with extra funds to keep it going in the short-term. Fair play to those who got this idea up and running. Tremendous idea and a fantastic chance for local children to go and watch a Saints game when normal circumstances may prevent them from doing so. Very much looking forward to the game today! Well done to all!

Isn't it weird how there seems to be more honesty and transparency coming from the OS these days . . . ? The club seem to be making the effort to keep the fans more informed and 'in the loop' as it were. Fair play to them!

Thinking about it, the only way we'll sign Saeijs on a permanent deal is if we get new owners with a bit of money, and if Wotte remains in charge of the first-team. Seems pretty unlikely in truth, but only time will tell. I'd have thought that the new owners, if there are any, would want to bring their own man in with experience in the lower divisions.

I think our new owners would be wanting to bring their own man in, and that's fair enough IMO. We could do with someone who knows the lower divisions a bit better and has the ability to get the best out of his players. Whilst I think Wotte has been OK, a complete fresh start from top to bottom could be what we need.

Assuming we get a decent buyer who's willing to spend a bit of money on the first-team, then I'd love both Kelvin and Saeijs to stay. Kelvin has been nothing short of fantastic throughout the season, and he really was the only candidate for the 'POTS' award. Whilst Saeijs has had a couple of poor games, generally he's been first-class and has given his all in every match he's played. Would be absolutely delighted if we could get Davis to sign a new contract and secure Saeijs on a permanent deal.

These ones are decent, and would be easy to get all of the Northam signing.

A consortium headed by Anthony Salz IMO.

I don't think that the rules included a points deduction at the time for the club's parent company entering administration. That 'loophole' was quickly changed. Expect the same to happen here.

We'll either overwhelm Burnley and win resoundingly, or the players will bottle it and get battered. At the end of the day, Saturday's game is almost a sideshow, we need to focus on finding a buyer for the club. We can fight the Football League's point deduction all we want, but they will never revoke their decision. The way I see it, is that we're going to be playing in League One next season, providing we can find a buyer, and so we should just focus on securing our long-term future.

At the end of the day, both the club and the Administrators need to decide if appealing the decision is worth the risk. The risk being that the Football League are likely to punish us further for contesting their decision. If they (Administators and the club) genuinely believe that we have valid reasons to appeal, then go ahead, but if the chances are that the deduction will be upheld, with the possibility of further punishment, then is it worth the hassle. Whatever happens, it looks as though this is going to get very messy!

Like has been discussed in another thread, we just have to hope that the new owners, if there are any, have a bit of money that they're willing to invest in the first-team, otherwise I fear you will be right.

I can understand this, and I (sort of) agree. However, I just can't see the Football League revoking their decision, and the chances of them coming down even harder on us for contesting their ruling is pretty high. I just think we'd be better off biting our tongue and accepting relegation to League One, possibly starting on -10, and start rebuilding.

However, if the statement released on the official site is true, then the Football League's conduct has been nothing short of a disgrace and they need to have a long, hard look at themselves. Despite this, the fact remains that Southampton Leisure Holdings and Southampton FC are linked, and so I can understand why the Football League have decided to impose this points deduction on us. The loophole needs to be closed so this doesn't happen again in the future. As I've said, if the statement on the OS is true, then you can understand why both the Administrators and the club are angry and wanting to contest the decision, I just fear that any appeal will result in the Football League hitting us with a further points deduction, one that our club may struggle to come back from.

So could today's 10-point penalty speed up negotiations? Every cloud . . .

To be honest, what Mawhinney is saying is true. The parent company and the club are both 'inextricably' linked, and so I suppose we do deserve the penalty. Even the most biased of Southampton fans would have to admit that that is the case. However, the rules need to be changed in order to prevent this from happening again in the future. What I don't understand is why we'd bother contesting the decision. The Football League would never revoke their decision, and any appeal would put us at risk of being handed a further punishment. The last thing we'd want is to start on -17, or worse, -30! In my opinion, we should just accept the decision, continue our search for a potential buyer and look to rebuild our club. To appeal and drag this whole thing out just seems a waste of both time and money.

To be honest, what Mawhinney is saying is true. The parent company and the club are both linked. You can't argue with that. What I don't understand is why we'd bother contesting the decision. The Football League would never revoke their decision, and any appeal would put us at risk of being handed a further punishment. The last thing we'd want is to start on -17, or worse -30! In my opinion, we should just accept the decision, continue our search for a potential buyer and look to rebuild our club. To appeal and drag this whole thing out just seems a waste of both time and money.

I thought it was made public knowledge that Neil wouldn't be able to have say due to his Norwich connections? Did I make that up or is this true? Not that it really matters at the end of the day.

My gut feeling is that they are 'readying' a statement as we speak, possibly publicising the fact that they plan to appeal the decision.

I'm of the opinion that we should just accept this punishment in the hope that any potential investor will now be able to come up with an offer knowing all the facts. Starting life in League One on -10. If we appeal or contest the decision, the chances are that this whole saga will drag on even more, and the Football League are unlikely to change their decision based on the fact that other clubs such as Bournemouth and Luton will be considering their own legal action. There are too many ramifications should the Football League go back on their decision, and I fully expect them to close up this 'loop-hole' so that this scenario doesn't arise again in the future. I'm absolutely gutted to hear this news, but not in the least bit surprised. Still hurts hearing it confirmed though. No we all need to just show our support to the club in the hope that someone is willing to take us over and begin rebuilding our once great club.

Also confirmation from Martinez that Swansea are looking to sign Dyer permanently before the end of the season. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_5227047,00.html

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_5223982,00.html We need to sign Mills on a long-term contract. He's definitely got potential and would be our first-choice left-back next season in my opinion. Shows just how far we have fallen when a youngster could opt to join Scunny over Saints!