chuz

My understanding is this: 10 points for going into administration. Additional points if you do not come out of admin with a Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA). Clubs that have not come out with a CVA in the past have not done so because the owed lots of money to the tax man. The FA (or it might be the FL, or indeed both) demand that all football related costs are paid in full. Until they are paid in full you cannot come out of administration, and you cannot play in the league. CVA's usually require that creditors agree to be paid a certain proportion of the money owed to them (say for argument 10p in every £1) rather than see the company go bust and get nothing. The problem has come in the past with the tax man. The tax man has said "hang on, the transfer fees owed are being paid in full, the players are being paid in full, yet we (the Government) are being offered 10p in the £1. That is not fair". So they have refused to agree to CVAs. IF we do not owe the tax man a lot of money, the chances of getting a CVA will be significantly enhanced. I can imagine this kind of scenario... A new buyer agrees to take on and pay the full cost of Football commitments (players wages, transfers owed etc) AND agrees to pay off the money owed to the tax man. It then does a deal with the creditors and offers (say for argument) £5 million to Aviva to pay off the stadium debt, £3 million to Barclays to pay off the overdraft and a proportion of the monies owed to every other creditor (the pie supplier, programme printer etc). If this can be agreed, then we can move out of admin without an additional points penalty. Two things worth bearing in mind: 1. If we owe the tax man shed loads of money, we are in deep trouble 2. The people who really suffer are local companies that supply the club with goods and services. Many cannot afford to take 10p in the £1 or whatever. This is only my understanding and if I have it totally wrong apologies! Also all the sums mentioned in here are totally speculative. Basically any new owner will want to lose as much debt as possible in exchange for cash buy outs, but they cannot write off any of the football debt and they would be unwise not to pay the tax man...

Nope it is the rules that the FL dictate and (I imagine) we sign up to in order to be part of the League. It is aimed to stop clubs who know they are going to be relegated going into administration on the last day of the season and taking the hit when they know they are already going down. I believe it was brought in when a club went into administration at half time on the last game of the season, knowing they would be relegated and preferring to take the hit that season. Because of that, the FL changed their rules. And presumably we (like everyone else) signed up to the new rules in order to remain in the league Its not nice, but we knew that if we went into admin after the third Thursday in March, we would have the deduction taken either this year (if we stay up) or next (if we go down). What amazes me is, knowing this, we went into admin less than 5 working days later...

http://www.besthotels.es/html/fitxa/fitxa.php?c_hotel=30 Not exactly 5 star but cheap as chips and central

Lawrie McMenemy joined us in 1973 and left in 1985. Having been privileged to see some of the football played in that era, I think it is fair to say that without a doubt Lawrie McMenemy put us on the footballing map. He had plenty of opportunities to leave us during his tenure as manager, but did not. Read his Diary of a Season book if you want to know more. Even in the 70s and 80s, 12 years at a club was exceptional. If Gordon Strachan is treated like a hero for what he did for Saints, Lawrie should probably be sainted. Yes he did leave but only after a long and successful tenure: making us one of the most attractive and well respected clubs in the country. He returned to become Director of Football under Alan Ball, Dave Merrington and Graham Souness. He resigned when Souness resigned. Whatever his reasons (at the time it was stated as "differences with the new board", led by Rupert Lowe) clearly he decided to act as he did, resigning from a paid position on a matter of principle - right or wrong. I would also point out that the sums that he is alleged to have earned as an ambassador to the club during the Wilde/Execs/Crouch era have not to my knowledge ever been in the public arena. I do know that when Mike Richards intimated that he had been earning £60,000 at the AGM in 2007, David Jones categorically denied that it was anything like that figure. Comments get bandied about on this site, either out of mischief making or ignorance, but I find the character assassinations of McMenemy particularly galling, since it is obvious he cares a great deal for the club and does not like to see it in its current state. Regardless of the politics and mud slinging I will always be grateful to Lawrie for the part he played in making the club what it was at its peak. He may not be to everyone's tastes but his positive place in Saints' history is assured

I do take your point Nick. But who knows what the score really is? Perhaps we had reduced the overdraft to £3 million and it was going the wrong way again? Perhaps we had calculated that by now we would have a couple of million of March Madness season ticket money in the bank that did not materialise because of the league position. The whole of this season has been so bizarre to be untrue. From offering Dyer a new contract then immediately sending him on loan to buying players in the January transfer window, when we must have known the current scenario was possible. It seems that decisions have been made throughout the season that just beggar belief...

Perhaps because we agreed to pay the overdraft back within a certain time scale or at a certain rate and we had breached those terms?

I was only six when we won the cup so I guess that I just thought "wow, we will do this all the time now!" For me it is either the ability to have a crack whatever the score, or defying the odds. On the first count, I was at the Everton away game when we lost 7-1. We were 5-0 down after 35 minutes and after that the atmosphere was great. We all decided to have a party. My Arsenal supporting mate (who had never seen his team get a thumping) was amazed at our support. I also think the Cup Final 2003 counts in that respect. We went to have a great time and no one was gonna stop us. Apart from Claus' foul on Henry, Antii getting injured and Beats late chance, I cannot remember anything of the game, just the amazing atmosphere before, during and after. In terms of defying the odds, the whole end to the Great Escape season was brilliant. Dellhurst was great too. But the best feeling ever at a football match for me was Matty scoring against Arsenal in the last game at the Dell. It was just such a fitting end to the place...

I have often wondered if this is correct: http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=43102 According to Soccerbase, Bart had started a sum total of 5 professional games before joining us...anyone know if this is right or not. If so it was a bit of a gamble to get him in, and his initial good form was even more amazing...

Still my favourite

St Marco, I do not doubt your view here, but if this is the case I would be interested to know how the following took place http://mobiletoday.co.uk/news.aspx?id=49162&fid=150 and, assuming what took place at JAG Communications is legal, what is stopping SLH going down the same route. I was astonished when I saw the story about because I did not think it was possible to do this but it seems it is and I am concerned the same could happen to SLH. There may be a good reason why it cannot, but I would just like to know what the score is.

Thanks Lady Saint. The letter is done.. Not sure I agree with this. If they think their interest is better served by an alternative management team, they will not hesitate to act and put pressure on. It would certainly not be the first time a bank had influenced a change in management at a PLC. Far from it. It would come as a resignation "in the interests of unity" or something. Anyway, I have done what I felt I wanted to do, which was tell the bank I fear that all the cost cutting exercises will be irrelevant if income falls massively as I believe it will come season ticket renewal. They do not have to believe me and I could be wrong, but I have at least told them that with a change of Board I will spend at least £2000 with the club next year regardless of which league we are in (£1000 season tickets and £1000 min on corporate hospitality). With no change I will not spend any money. If there were 1000 people who were in the same position, that equates to £2 million in revenue, more than a 13% cut on the basis of the last audited accounts. My biggest concern is that the policies that have been adopted by the board, namely playing inexperienced players and appointing inexperienced coaches is leading to a massive fall in revenue, both now and especially next year with (I suspect) a significant fall in season ticket holders. This, more than anything else, threatens the club's future. Of course I cannot prove this but I can state my position to the Bank and ask them to note my concerns. I will now go back to lurking on this forum...

Apologies for using the forum for this but can someone confirm the name of Saints' Bank Manager and the branch of Barclays that is handling the overdraft? I know I have seen it here before but I want to be absolutely sure my letter gets to the right person. I am going to write to him today telling him that, if Lowe and Wilde are here next season I will definitely not renew my season tickets. However if Lowe and Wilde are gone I will definitely renew, whatever league we are in. I am tired of looking on and doing nothing. It is time for action and even if it is only my £1000 next year, that is something. I am not asking anyone to join me - it is up to each individual what they do but this is something I can do (along with marching) to make my point. I realise loads of people will say "but who would you have instead/it wont make any difference/part time fan etc etc etc". Fair enough, criticise at will. I do not have all the answers but enough is enough. I want to do something now. If the moderators prefer to lock/delete this one once I have the name fair enough and sorry for using the forum to get one single piece of information but I know someone on here knows and I want to do this now, today, before I get onto other things. For me the time for doing nothing is well past and shame on me for leaving it this long.

I got food poisoning from there... :smt022 The Pont De La Tour used to be very good - overlooking Tower Bridge and very decent nosh. Kensington Place is also very good (or at least used to be) Mixed reviews but I have never had a bad meal at Criterion right on Piccadilly Circus

Can I add another could of idea? I do not post much on here, mostly because I should be working but I read what I can when I can. Now the official site is currently offering pitchside advertising for £400 for the rest of the season. If we club together I reckon we could buy a piece of this and request it says "Rupert Lowe, Time to Go". Ideally I would like it opposite the Director's box. If more money was raised, perhaps there would be space for a message to Michael Wilde also. Now I know that the club would refuse to allow this, but the resultant publicity gained in the national press could be significant. We could spin the story as "the club refusing money that they need because an advertising board says something the Chairman does not like/the fans voices refusing to be heard by the club". Of course all we really need to do to get the ball rolling is to request the terms and conditions of SFC perimeter advertising and then choose a slogan that does not contravene the rules. That way if it is refused, we can easily say "well we created an advert that was within the rules of the advertising but it was still refused due to its content." My proper job is as one of those PR people that everyone loves to hate and I am certain that, handled correctly, this would get significant local and national coverage in the press. We could even have the board made up and paraded outside St Mary's before a game to garner additional publicity. Perhaps we could ask people who agree to sign it to show the depth of feeling... OK it is a publicity stunt, but it is one that is non violent, will gain significant exposure and raise the issue. With the right spokespeople it could work. The other alternative I see is a postcard campaign. This would involve getting together people who will not renew their season ticket next year if Lowe is still Chairman of SLH. The postcards could be sent to either Michael Wilde or the relevant person at Barclays. If 1000 people really feel that they will not renew if Lowe is there, but will commit to renewing if he is not, the other directors, bank and Wilde could see that the club stands to lose half a million pounds by Lowe's presence. If 2000 signed up, that equates to £1 million. All that is required is the printing of a load of postcards with a space for people to sign and the address on the front. Since the season ticket renewal period is so critical to the club's finances, this might just force a rethink...

Interesting to see a bit of a fight back by the club, who presumably were the only people who could leak this. Is this an attempt to alienate the senior players further by revealing what they are earning? One thing that does bother me though is the assertion that Lowe had nothing to do with any of this. Did he not set the benchmark by bringing Rasiak here - I cannot believe his salary would have been different on loan to what it is when he signed and as I recall we signed him on loan with a view to a permanent deal...

I am not sure how much of the "It's all god given talent" really is the case. In Southampton Cult Heroes book, Matt says "I would spend ages practising shots with both feet. My left foot wasn't very good when I started but towards the middle and end part of my career, I was fairly confident if it fell on my left foot outside the box as well. It was something I worked on." I am not sure that it is possible to be as good as he was without putting the effort in too...

Around six weeks ago my missus had her car broken into while she collected the nipper from school. She had a phone and wallet nicked that she had rather stupidly left on the back seat. Dumb mistake but I cannot say I have never done the same. As the tea leaves went to speed off in their dodgy looking car, another car blocked their way, leaving just enough time for a clear thinking local to get the registration details of the motor. Cops eventually arrived, statements taken from all, cards and phone cancelled, etc etc. I have just had a copper call me to tell me they arrested these three scumbags the next day, who denied everything despite being in the same car, in the same place. It seems the OB had actually taken the case seriously and put together a comprehensive case for prosecution. The policeman told me they had a file of evidence six inches thick against them. They sent it to the CPS and it has come back with 'not enough evidence to warrant a prosecution'. The copper I spoke to was gobsmacked. I just cannot believe that, even when the police take the case this seriously and do not just fob you off with a crime number, the CPS then do not allow them to go for a prosecution. So there are three more thieves that have got away with daylight robbery (literally) as well as driving away at 50mph outside a school with primary aged kids running around...I despair.

The problem was the cost of the technology. Around £250,000 per goal I think from memory. The debate was then whether the clubs paid for it or the FA. Of course the next issues is how far down the leagues does it go, because £500,000 x 92 is a lot of dough I agree with this. But all it would take was the FA to rule that only the captain can address the referee and anyone else arguing gets an immediate booking. Anyone shouting at or arguing with the ref is booked. The captain can go up to the ref on his own to talk to him. Job done - three weeks of chaos then order restored.

I need a new boiler, plus flushing the system etc and have had a quote from British Gas. Looking for someone in the Basingstoke area who might be able to do this for me. If you are interested pm me! Cheers

I think that this has been dealt with before but quoting from page 26 of Matt Le Tissier Testimonial Magazine, May 2002: Matt: "Right - my basic weekly wage has never been above four grand a week!"

Get yourself all the music you could possibly listen to for £99.99. More than 2 million tracks to download without DRM and in MP3 format. Back catalouge of Warner Music and EMI with Sony apparently being added before Xmas. Datz Music Lounge

I miss The Dell. But some of the best moments I have experienced at football matches have come at SMS. To name but a few - Crouchie's goal against The Skates from the pen in the FA Cup - Camara's goal against Norwich to make it 4-3 - Matty's testimonial (especially at the end) - The games against Leeds and Southend at the end of the play off season - My son's first ever Saints game - The game against Newcastle at the end of Sturrock's season (3-3, one of the best games I have ever seen) The problem is not with SMS but with the stuff that has happened off the park to get us to where we are.

Hiya Hope this is the right place to put this request. I run a small business that has been going for around 18 months. I need some practical technical support on a range of issues that I either do not have time or am not capable of dealing with. These range from setting up networks to remotely sharing files, to backups, to hardware issues etc. I am not a technical luddite but I do not have time to cover off many of these issues and want some practical support. It occurred to me that other Saints fans might be in a similar situation or may work for companies that can help. Might be a good opportunity for someone that provides these services.. If you think you can help me, the company is in the Basingstoke/Reading area and obviously I am prepared to pay for services required once an initial consultation and needs analysis has been completed. PM me if you can recommend a person or a company! Or leave the details below if you prefer. Thanks a lot Chuz

I wonder if Jan realises that both Palace and Sunderland had a change of manager before they had a change of fortune...

Tarmac'd it over more like