teamsaint

their support away from home during their one season in div 2, after being relegated with us in 1974, was monumental. And dangerous.

the reactions of some of their fans are amazing. They ought to contemplate what has happened to Stockport County, who had a fine team in the second tier not much more than 10 years ago. They are now at the bottom end of Conference North. Perhaps their problems are due to other teams having their cup final when they play County. or perhaps is bloody awful management, poor decision makingand financial ineptitude that have come home to roost. County's "natural level", if there is such a thing, is probably League 1. But they have got a VERY long way to go to get back there, and before they do, they have to start doing some things right.

stoneham had very serious flaws. We were lucky that Lowe did whatever he did(by luck or judgement) and got SMS built. Yes the reverse takeover was smart, but I wouldn't blame him for doing a smart deal. I DO blame him for falling out with good managers. We were stuck at the Dell far too long, in terms of business. Lowe, like it or don't, oversaw the stadium and infrastructure that brought ML to our rescue. A club of our size will have spells out of the top flight. Look at some of the names outside the PL now. Look at WHU and their drops into the Championship. You really don't have to be a lowe fan to accept that not everything he did was bad. OK, he wanted to produce good young players to sell on. That's a crime? 10 years ago, that was how the money game was for clubs like us. I would much rather all the Lowe era players like Walcott had stayed.....but that wasn't the option.

I don't know the detail of what happened behind closed doors.. But if Lowe takes the blame for the bad stuff on his watch, like Sturrock, Wigley etc, he should get the credit. SMS happened under his watch. Nobody else had made it happen.

Really? Who wants to start the list of youngsters given a chance by Lawrie? Danny Wallace, Trevor Hebbard, Steve Moran, Steve Williams, Nick Holmes, Ruben Agboola, Malcolm Waldron.....the list is very long.

I was no fan of Lowe's , what with his failings with managers, but HE was the one that got a new stadium built , while others were barking up the stoneham tree, He was right, he got it built , which everybody else had failed to do, and that was the thing that saved us from oblivion. I really don't think ML would have invested in a L1 club stuck in the Dell. Lowe may have caused our downfall from the PL, (which inevitably will happen at some point to clubs of this size), but he also put in the foundation stone of recovery. As others have said, I suspect Lowe's failure to attract investment funds was down to the PLC structure.

there are times when the sanctionsa available to the ref are not really right for the offence. Sin bins could , if used properly, be a useful addition to the game.

I thought the FL were all over poopeys budget like a rash? Yes, that is definitely the impression we were given. wasn't it?

Gerd Muller, 1970.

I love those "They got us relegated" type posts. citeh presumably had top 6 form in the other 40 (or whatever ) games.

He put his hand in his pocket to help save the club, so that days like today could happen.

no linking to big games yet.

one POL poster refers to their "Great sides of the mid 80's". Can anyone help me here?

Well I can figure it out, so I'm sure you can. Here's a clue. Tax avoidance/evasion.

that is more than we have. Ever.

corporate profits are at an all time high. Directors pay compared to the general workforce is at an all time high. Corporate tax take is plummeting. There is money in the big private sector firms for pay rises. And the country needs to keep its key public sector staff motived. Join the race to the bottom if you must. Have fun when you are there.

good turnout by Chesterfield fans.

Nige can come back any time he like to manage Saints. The football his teams played was an absolute joy, and we got promoted twice, without spending vast amounts. Cork. Now THAT was a great signing.

and at how much? ex vat......oh no , silly me.......

he will be th best player down there by a country mile. Bompey have done exceptionally well to get such a good player, in his prime.

well he did very well last season for somebody who isn't a Prem player.

Stripes would be nice.

if anybody thinks that L1 (or L2) is a huge bundle of fun when the team is losing, even though the club has recently been rescued from oblivion, they should ask a Saints fan how they felt watching the home defeat to Rochdale. And that was in a nice stadium.

Great post from Turkish. Class.

My First football hero. A true Saints legend, and a wonderful footballer. RIP Ron