Micky

Not bad but: "I wish I'd gone shopping with the missus" is probably going to be closer to the truth...!

Somebody 'ave a word...!!!! You'll be claiming the morals of Mother bloody Teresa next....

Ahhh right - and you don't...???

Anyway guys, so I was thinking of organising a 'Forum Meeting Day', you know the kind of thing, were we all meet up and we can put a 'face to the forum' as it were, get to know each other, share a beer or two, laugh about the little spats we've had here... that sort of thing.... ummm maybe not then...!!!

Errr so we agree then...?

For me this is the biggest issue in football today - money. It is why we find our own club in its precarious position and the ill of all clubs operating outside of the Premier League. Until such times as the huge disparagy between the Premier League and the rest of the League clubs is properly addressed, lower league teams will continue to be forced out, al la Luton Town, Aldershot etc. Yes money makes the world go round, we are influenced by market forces and it's all a question of supply and demand. But at the end of the day - the rich are getting richer (and the League and Cup Competitions less intersting - we all know whose going to win them!) while the poor are being sent to the wall. What started out as Sport with a fairly even playing field has now become Business where only the 'fat cats' will survive. Bring back SPORT I say.

Good point well made sir. Never thought about it like that and perhaps neither did their Board - although you would have thought they would have conducted that sort of 'Market Research' prior to proceding. Perhaps they just assumed that with success the fans would come - unfortunately success never came and neither, therefore, did the fans. That said - I still hope that they survive and do eventually become successful. I think that it is important that every club in the league is able to have (and more importantly, realise) their aspirations to succeed.

I take it you can't actually answer the point that ISS made then....??? Whilst we all want to stick knives into RL and punch the livin' shyte out of him - perhaps we should look at some of the other numpties who are probably pretty damn grateful that he was stupid enough to be at the front of the queue when it all went tits up. Are they blameless - err are they shyte..! Nobody has come out of this clusterfuk with any credibility whatsoever - but some would have you believe the sun shines out of certain peoples rear ends, whilst RL is the one and only total source of all of the problems.

I feel for Darlington - the Boards intention was good. They built the stadium and had the same aspirations as the likes of Hull City - unfortunately they didn't reach the same heights. Now they are suffering as a result of the recession - as are all companies. Personally I hope that they get out of the trouble they are in.

Sometimes it is just easier to shut your eyes, isn't it....????

Don't think that it is too often that I agree with you - but on this one I think you are spot on. Money has gotten in the way of sport, (and not just football either) and now very few taste success whilst the remainder feed on scraps. I have an ongoing argument with a mate of mine (Fulham fan) that nobody is really interested in the FA Cup anymore because that too is dominated by the big 4 year on year. I maintained that for it to become interesting again - a smaller club needed to win it. God of course listened to my side of the argument and saw fit to ensure our good neighbors down the road lifted it last season...!!! But the fact remains - as you have stated, how many 'Wimbledons' do we get nowadays - hardly any, and that cannot be for the good of the game. I would really love to see the balloon burst and a level playing field prevail - alas I think that won't be in my lifetime.

Would tend to agree with most of this, it appears to be a stepping stone to a EuroSupaLeague and to be honest I would welcome that part of it. Lets be honest if our top 4 clubs left our league and joined such a European League it would make our remaining top tier league much more competitive in terms of who could win it. Problem is - I cant see a Euro League working for very long - the obvious sticking point is fans - who would travel to any away fixtures... not that many. I can see it being tried - but I'm not sure that it will succeed. As for the plan as currently proposed - anybody not included in the intial top two leagues would be seriously hampered in trying for promotion. Vying for 3 promotion places is difficult enought - but a dog fight for a single shot at the big time would be niegh on impossible for some (most) clubs.

Bottle, errrr after some of the 'must win' performances we have seen.... confidence is probably shot to pieces and most of them are probably dreading match days..... No worry though - the experience will stand them in good stead for next year.... Bottle - yeah, right....

Agree with that Phil - but would at least just like to be reassured that the 'quality' of bidder(s) (and hopefully potential owners) is of the highest order and has the means, ambition and pedigree to carry the club forward. FF intimated, on another thread, that your old mate could be 'on the periphery' of a business interest which scares the livin' shyte out of me.

You are joking right - if that is the best that we can hope for, then I seriously fear for the future. I only hope that the periphery boundary is a 500 mile radius of Southampton.

No we haven't - you have to go with the good old addage 'speculate to accumulate...' but as you rightly say we didn't. We played kids (probably) being paid peanuts, took early settlement on outstanding players, and offloaded proven goal scorers in an attempt to do it on the cheap... and failed. I know - hindsight is a wonderful thing - but we gambled and lost, as a result L1 here we come...!!!

Personally I don't think that we have yet reached our lowest point. The problem now though is the recovery period and what constitutes recovery. Obviously we should be aiming to play in the Premier League - but I honestly cannot see that happening in the short term (5 years). I would take stabilisation right now - a couple of seasons in L1, playing decent football and getting the kids experienced. At least that would stop the downward spiral, hopefully instil some confidence and perhaps put a few bums on seats at SMS. After that, we need to start re-building this club to the level it once performed at - how, I'm not sure..! I'm not confident that whoever buys us will be coming in with big bucks and therefore I think we will have to play our way out as opposed to paying our way out. So I don't think that it will be easy or happen overnight - but I do know that we need to stop the decline and build a solid footing before we can start to look at climbing the leagues once again.

One would hope not - this season should have taught us, if nothing else, that "if you pay peanuts you get....." - I think you get the drift...!!!

Fill the ground...??? - errr, what with...???

Right pile of shyte.....

Ohhhh yeah - sorry - I forgot I said that...!!!

You're getting ahead of yourselves guys - there might NOT be a next season...!!!

Can somebody please dig out the old 'straw clutching picture' and then let the mods close this fairy tale of a thread forever....!!!!

Well it evidently was not built for speed - that's for sure...!

Errr yeah - so pretty much the same message as was echoed prior to the Charlton game, where we at least had a chance of survival. Didn't get a packed house then, and when we went down fans started leaving - therefore I don't think that the Burnley game will be a whole lot different. Your last words are hopefully correct - problem is, only when SFC is back will we see all of the fans back, until then, it is the 15000 or so die-hards that will back the cause.