CHAPEL END CHARLIE

Excellent display of footballing judgment from Alan Pardew - 10/10 .

Poland's answer to Brett Ormerod . One of the most overrated players at SFC in it's recent history , an honest appraisal of the record will show he's only been effective for two (all to brief) periods - when he first arrived on loan & and when he returned from BK Aalborg . He doesn't want to be here and we don't want him either so the solution seems pretty obvious .

That's a tad harsh on Simon Gillett old chap .

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/4505138.Pardew_wants_John_to_stay_a_Saint/

For all those short of cash I understand the club is running an instalment plan based on debit card payments - 0% interest as well .

So all the cash they've gotten from player sales are going straight into the pocket of their chairman who's about to do a runner - even Rupert never tried that . :D:D:D:D

Mule was a massive disappointment here on the whole and terrible value for money at £10k a week it must be said . I recall early games when he quite literally couldn't complete a simple 10 yard pass to a teammate - a shocking standard for a player recently featuring in the Premier league . To be fair he did improve over time and could be quite effective (in midfield) on his day , but for my money JE lacks the finishing/pace to be classed as a proper striker . Not his fault but I found the ludicrous £200k a season 'loyalty bonus' his agent had negoiated particularly irksome and undeserved IMO . In spite of it all I was kind of developing a soft spot for him and I wish him well at his next (last ?) club .

Impossible to prove one way or the other but quite likely I reckon - that's what he did at Watford last season . Judge him on the player he is now not what he was back in 2006 , I'd rather we had kept DMG given the choice and I didn't particularly rate him either .

British football has no shortage of strikers who can score you 6 or 8 goals a season - the lack of interest in this player accurately reflects his standing in the game . Anyone who had the misfortune to witness his utter failure to have any impact on AFC Bournemouth's plodding L2 defence two weeks ago will confirm we're not looking at some underrated footballing gem here - far from it .

Really ? We've been asking for c £700k for him apparently and there has been zero interest from anybody as far as I can tell , including Watford who know his current level of ability better than anyone and had a option to buy .

I reckon many on here are living in the past - this players best days are clearly behind him now , neither do I buy this 'good enough for L1' rubbish I keep hearing on here - football's never easy at any professional level and we can only use players who have something left to offer .

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/sport/Luggy-rues-wasteful-Pilgrims-miss-chances/article-1177751-detail/article.html "wasteful finishing" - with Bradley Wright Phillips playing ???? surely not . :confused:

Matt Holland certainly was a decent Premier League player a few years ago - but his manifest inability to merit a regular place in last seasons awful Charlton team indicates he's almost certainly past it now I'd suggest . It's a trap we can all so easily fall into , we hear of a player being linked with our club , we remember how good they were in their prime and suddenly HCDAJFU ! - it ain't necessarily so . Unfortunately for every 1 Chris Perry out there you will find 5 Jamie Redknapp's who's body's are just no longer up to the demands of professional football anymore , Exhibit No 1 for the prosecution being a tape of Mark Hughes playing for us in 1998 .

Those who have tend not to be as optomistic I'm afraid . I'm totally supportive of whats going on currently at SFC but frankly we're not even close to being ready for this season and it's going to take a mighty effort to get a team together that can compete with established L1 outfits . Until that happy day let's not get too premature with the 'we'll walk this league' trap we've so often fallen into .

Nick - having you actually seen any of our preseason games so far ?

Look at Markus Liebherr's record - I presume he could have easily sat on some cosy executive position the vast Liebherr family business and to be frank he would never had had to do anything out of the ordinary to live the type of uber comfortable , risk-free existence most of us can only dream of . But he didn't do that did he - he gave most of it up and set out on his own . Markus's highly successful 'MALI International Group' business concentrates on hi-tec precision engineering development in the best German tradition , yes I know it's hardly some romantic rags to riches story (more like riches to even more riches) but I still find that seriously impressive . I can hardly imagine a better owner for our long suffering club , the only cloud on the horizon being he's not exactly a young man anymore . Football is obviously very different from engineering but all the signs are he intends to carry over the same principles that have been successful in his other concerns into SFC - Investment/Professional Management/Stability . If you'll forgive a crude motoring analogy this club has been run like British Leyland for years , now we're BMW .

That's all right Noodles , I'll let you off because I like ya . :smt045

Excellent idea Trousers , lets call it 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' .

Bless you for calling a grey haired bloke who's two years older than me 'young' - the best news I've had in ages .

I think we should compile a 'List of Shame' of all the so-called ITKers who post inaccurate , ridiculous , or just plain stoopid rumours on here so that the next time they mislead us with rubbish 'a mate who works for SFC told me' stuff we can consult it , review their previous crimes , and treat them with all the credibility (or lack of) they deserve . As a corollary we should establish a 'Roll of Honour' for the small minority that actually get it right every now and then .

+1 with the optimism . But we're all going to have to be patient because AP will inherit a squad that is nowhere near being ready for the coming season in all honesty and he hasn't much time to sort it all out either . I hope and believe Mr Liebherr will provide Alan Pardew with the long term commitment and the funding required to build a squad we can all be proud of , a squad that can return this club to its rightful place in hierarchy of British football . In spite of the scale of the task ahead in our ownership , our management structure and (critically) financially SFC is now in an immeasurably stronger position than it was 12 months ago , what a shame we had to fall this far before the recovery could start . That club down the M27 better watch out because we're about to make the greatest come back since Lazarus

On BBC South 6.30 news report - "Alan Pardew now confirmed as new Southampton manager" .

Nonsense thread IMO . This guy has nothing to do with SFC and I see no good reason for us to get involved frankly . It goes without saying plenty of non famous people get ill every day without arousing the slightest interest outside the normal reactions of their friends and family , why should John Hartson be treated any differently and where do we draw the line ? This 'Big Brother' , Jade Goody type obsession with celebrity is both over-intrusive and unwelcome , this is a private matter concerning the Hartson family and we should display the common sense to treat it as such .

There's something to said in favour of all the candidates in this poll - with the exception of Glen Hoddle who is clearly a failed manager . My vote goes to Nigel Pearson although I'd be delighted to see WGS back obviously .

I think we have a case for returning Pulis to Stoke under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 as this player is clearly 'not fit for purpose' .