RobM

Is the catering any good though?

Odd, as there is some bloke with his name that looks an awful lot like him running around SMS in a B'Ham shirt

We really need to start bossing this game again ASAP! If we don't get a hold of it sooner rather than later, we're stuck. Stern John just coming on now for Schneiderpig will hopefully help

Looking good for us tonight then :smt104

Good to see Cork starting. For some reason, I'm very worried about Bart being in goal though. I've lost all confidence in him over the last season or so. Surprised to see BWP and Dyer not starting too, as I thought this would be a good chance for them to prove themselves.

It's a good deal in that respect, Andy Porter. If he does well, Spurs will be keen for him to stay here I'm sure. If he doesn't deliver, we aren't stuck with him. The only worry, in a twisted kind of way, is he does so well for us they want him for themselves!

Couldn't have said it better myself It's always nice to be able to bring a little happiness into a desperately sad situation. Well done SFC, and whilst I'm extremely sorry for your loss, I'm pleased you and your family could do this for your father

Both our OS and the Spurs site says January, so I'm going for January Good signing. Well, I say that, but in all honesty I know nothing about him at all. But he is big, has scored for fun in the reserves according to reports and seems highly rated by all who know him. So that's good enough for me to give him my support

He has to be a little realistic though, or else nobody will take him seriously. With teams like Birmingham in the league, the chances of achieving automatic promotion is very slim with a team that's playing only it's first season together with a manager who is still learning the league. The playoffs is realistic, if everything goes according to plan and the entire squad act as a team. It's something to aim for, without making JP sound like a loon

I don't agree that we should play him because we are paying him. I believe the best man for the job gets it and those who perform the best and most consistently get in the team. Doesn't matter if they are paid the most or not. If Skacel is still here, we are still paying him whether or not he plays. So financially, it makes no difference whether he plays or not. If he proves himself worthy of replacing somebody in the current lineup, he should play. If he does not, he should not play.

My email has been sent... as follows: "My question to Mr.Wilde is.... Please can you offer an explanation for your actions over the last couple of years, with regards to the boardroom battle, ousting the chairman, not keeping the very public promises made in the infamous manifesto and then going full-circle and supporting and joining sides with the man who you so publicly blamed for the misfortunes of Southampton FC? I personally believe Mr.Wilde is to blame for the current mess Southampton FC are in, in terms of morale, financial problems and damaged reputation. I believe this as we were changed from a solid if unspectacular football club (financially and on the pitch) to a club with serious financial problems which faced a serious and very real threat of dropping into the third tier of English football. I would welcome a response and explanation for the actions taken originally and the sudden about-turn to back the man you, Mr.Wilde, thought dangerous to the future of my football club."

It's a very valid point, as it's all too easy to ***** and moan on a forum behind your monitor... but do the same people who complain have the balls to stand up for what they believe in when stood face-to-face with the man himself? Personally, yes. I blame Wilde for the mess we are in, for the disruption caused over the last few years, the financial trouble we're in and for the fact the last few seasons of supporting SFC have been no fun at all. And given the chance, I will say that face to face. Happily. Not in an arrogant, aggressive way, but because this is my opinion and I'd welcome a response and explanation.

To say we have given up assumes that you had hope in the first place. Sadly, some people cannot see the bright side or positive in anything other than millions of pounds. Sad really, where's the enjoyment? Me... I'm staying sensible about it. I don't expect promotion this season as the team is too new. I do expect and hope for progress, that's all.

If he is out of work at the moment and not earning anything, surely whatever we offer him is better than he's on now, so this could work in our favour! Obviously we can't take the **** too much, but by offering him a one year deal on money we can afford gives us a decent player and him a window to sell himself in. Win-Win. I'm not a fan of short-term deals like this, but in our current predicament we need to do all we can to attract talent to the club.

Or a pretty poor decision to pay that much for Thomas.

Personally I would have rather kept Davies and not spent the same sort of money on Schnederpig. Granted Davies is probably on a higher wage, but I bet we aren't exactly paying Schneiderpig peanuts either if Prem clubs were chasing him. Just seems odd that we can afford to spend £1.x million on one player but are then forced to sell another for a similar amount.

If you were in a position to takeover the club, why would you wait until the season had already started to do it? Unless they are expecting it to take so long that it will be January before it's completed? Otherwise it seems odd timing, in that they will not be able to change anything when not in a transfer window. All they could do is sack the manager and bring in somebody new, who would have the same squad to work with but would have to start from scratch with no prior knowledge.

Word for word my thoughts on this season. This is a big change for the club and it will take time. So long as we improve, learn and gain experience I'll be happy. I'd settle now for a mid-table finish, so long as next season we are stronger, wiser and more experienced.

If it's anything like recent match reports, expect to not only see terrible spelling, but the same word incorrectly spelt in two different ways!

Aside from the crap spelling, it has got a bit better. Somebody is spending more time getting content onto it, that's for sure. But the spelling is shocking.

I seriously hope somebody in a position of power at SMS is reading this. I would love to see some attention for Sophie raised at the game, with the aim of getting a good chant going for her

Is that right, about the players? I've no grounds to say you're wrong, but it seems odd that a company could invest a huge sum of money in something and not have it show as a value on the books? And yeah, I know the valuation during a takeover is somewhat different, due to shareholders being able to demand what they want. But if any club slipped down as far as we're talking, with the levels of debt we have, I'd be amazed if they could justify the same value.

Any company is valued on it's assets and earning potential, amongst other things. League 1 attendances tend to be lower, so income is lower. There is also less income from TV money and less money from areas such as sponsorship due to less TV airtime and exposure. Then there is the assets - players and buildings mainly. Granted the buildings remain the same value, but any players with a reasonable talent will be sold off, younger promising players will be long gone and investment in the academy, another item of value, will be reduced, thus reducing it's value too. So as a company, it's worth less than it is in the CCC or Prem. That make the share value drop, which makes the company worth less and cheaper to buyout. I'm no expert by any means, but that seems logical to me!

I could understand this if we were just talking about one player, particularly a player with a less than perfect reputation (i.e. GR). But what about Sagga? A player we reportedly had to fight to sign in the first place who did really well int the Euros? If we really wanted to sell both, I think we would. We may have to accept less than we would like, but they could both be sold with money in the bank.

A very strong statement there. But... I don't think it's too far from the truth. We have far too much debt, stadium mortgage included, to survive in League 1 with League 1 levels of income. Our only hope would be a buyout. And since our value would be so little, that probably becomes more likely in League 1 than it is now?