CHAPEL END CHARLIE

I'm with you 100% regarding the critical importance of appointing the right Manager (Manager not 'Head Coach' mind you) and looking at the team-sheet you'd think we could well be a few places above the relegation zone with a bit of luck (or more pertinently better leadership) but that's all history now . In this crisis for our club I'm looking for the players to show the strength of character needed to fight SFC out of the bottom 3 and I'm just not seeing it . Mark Wotte or Jan Poortvleit would certainly not have been my choices to manage the team but that won't wash as an excuse for the abysmal performances we've seen from many of our players during these last few crucial weeks IMO . There's plenty of blame to go round for getting us into this situation and I think you and I can agree on whose shoulders most of it lies , but ultimatly only the players (irrespective of who happens to be managing them) could have gotten us out of this 'train wreck' of a season - this morning it looks like they're failed in that task I'm sorry to say .

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=12081

I recommend the players wear something like this during the traditional end of season lap of 'honour' : If Drew Surman or Adam Lallana etc had worn this during the games it would hardly have made much difference .

Getting their new Range Rover/BMW/Mercedes upgraded Keeping the WAGS happy at the shops On the phone to their agents ( 2 hours a day at this stage of the season ) Planing a expensive summer holiday or two , or three Looking forward to the end of season party Writing a piece for the OS stating how much SFC means to them blah blah blah ..... Explaining how that 'injury' they've been carrying all season has effected their performance Etc, etc , etc....................

Funny I seem to remember plenty on this going on . Ring any bells ?

I won't be sorry to see the back of Mark Wotte and any of the usual suspects still trying to argue that Lowe's decision to dispense with Nigel Pearson's services was the right road to go down needs their head looking at frankly - but that's all in the past now . Pearson /Wotte /Sir Alex Ferguson , any manager would struggle with this squad because put simply they're just not good enough . I think back on the magnificent effort an impoverished AFC Bournemouth put up last season trying to avoid relegation or Fulham's 'great escape' (didn't we used to do them ?) and the obvious lack any such fight from our squad is little better than a disgrace . With a handful of honourable exceptions such as Kelvin Davis any of this seasons squad who find themselves still here next season - if SFC is still here next season - better grow a pair because the individual performance level we've seen from many of them this season is unacceptable in my eyes .

Getting overrated players to give back their ill-gotten gains would set a precedent the football world may live to regret , Louis Boa Morte for instance would owe enough to pay off the national debt .

:smt045 Saints have been metaphorically going to the dogs for years so it may be grimly appropriate we end up sharing a stadium with our canine friends . Beware mighty Poole Town - they currently have one of the best records in English football .

Poole Town v Saints would be extremely convenient 'away' game for some of us . On a more serious note the reintroduction of regional leagues might well be the way forward for cash strapped lower league clubs .

When he came back from Aalborg BK this player went on the record stating he wanted to prove his doubters wrong , he did that splendidly by hitting form and proving instrumental in the mini run of form SFC hit in the new year . Unfortunately (& all too predictably) it didn't last of course and he's now back in the same career long habit of being not quite good enough/often enough to do the business for most of the 11 different clubs he's played for before the age of 30 . I don't accept the excuse that his proven inability to score regularly can be explained away simply by the inadequacy of the players around him , as an current European International I expect him to create and take chances at this level - is that asking too much ? It seems to me that when he's gone Marek Saganowski will be remembered here as a hard working , occasionally effective , but ultimatly disappointing striker .

I don't remember much entertaining football in the latter stages of Jan Poortvleit's tenure (at least at St Marys) and it would seem Mr Wotte's services are unlikely to be required after the end of this season either . One can only hope that should the club survive to see next season our new owners will be blessed with enough common sense to see that appointing a experienced manager with a solid record of achievement in and knowledge of British football would be a essential requirement for next season in League 1 .

And this is the way the season ends , not with a bang but a whimper........

Newsflash..... Friends try to prevent local man from investing in Saveoursaints .

I only had two small shareholdings - HBOS & SLH :smt107 - By the way anybody in need of astute financial advice should just contact me at my new address : Chapel End Charlie Mug Street Foolchester BR0 0KE

We all have money in Barclay's .

'In this last of meeting places we grope together and avoid speech , gathered on this beach of the tumid river' - TS Eliot

I see one of our numerous ex-managers has decided to put the boot in . http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/2009/04/07/sturrock-don-t-let-saints-escape-115875-21259862/ Thanks for that Paul :mad:

I don't agree that we deserve a points deduction because I don't accept the whole principle of this regulation in the first place . This rule was brought in to deter clubs from recklessly overspending on players in order to gain an unfair advantage . Anyone with even the most limited understanding of this clubs financial situation will understand that the vast majority (around 80%) of our debt was incurred in the building St Mary's stadium - I would have thought the Football League and the FA would be in favour in that kind of investment in the games future rather than being in the business of punishing clubs for it . To cut a very long & complicated story short the funding of a new stadium and (even more crucialy) the misfortune of being relegated from the PL shortly afterwards are the fundamental reasons we find ourselves in our current predicament , so do we deserve any further punishment for that ? - no I say .

I've been wondering about this as well , there were numerous routes Lowe could have explored to raise cash this year - player transfers during the 'window' , the normal March Madness season ticket offer .... etc but he did nothing despite Barclay's unilaterally cutting the overdraft as far back as last November we're told . I suspect SLH could have limped on until the summer at least had RL really tried , so why didn't he ? It's my opinion he realised SLH was beyond salvation and that the game was up some months ago , this story of Barclay's bouncing a piddling £6k cheque is just a Red Herring IMO . Another possibility is that he lost the support of the other major shareholders who were the real power behind Mr 6%'s throne - we may never know .

Please expand of what you consider Leon Crouch's 'fundamental errors of judgment' to have been , are you referring to Dodd & Gorman ? If so this seems somewhat harsh as he corrected that error with the appointment of Pearson surely :confused: Leon Crouch has his full share of human weakness no doubt (if he was a better politician he may have been able to prevented Lowe's return IMO) but it seems to me he's a genuine guy who does actually give a s*it about the future of this club . By the way he also puts his money where his mouth is which is more than some can say . It remains my opinion that it's grossly unfair to tar him with the same brush as Wilde & Lowe - or are we into 'guilt by association' now ?

That's probably the worse midfield this grand old club has fielded in 30 years . BWP - Is not and never will be a wide midfield player in any meaningful sense . DMG - An average striker that can do some kind of job there - but only just . Surman - Drowning under the weight of responsibility & expectation . Holmes - Inconsistently capable but can't possibly be match fit . The trouble is the alternatives are as bad or even worse (Wotton ) - which just shows how desperately weak this squad is . I think back 12 months and Nigel Pearson had the likes of Jhon Viafara or Youseff Safri to pick from , and plenty on here said that squad was poor !

I expect he'll try and evade all responsibility for the disaster this season has become under his stewardship . I also expect that Alan Brazil (not being fully conversant with all the facts) will let him get away with it . Fortunately we're rid of him now and none of it will really matter .

If only Rupert had been as well versed in Milton as you clearly are .

I see no legal avenue for any points deduction at this time - we appear to be within the letter of the law regarding the administration regulations (as I understand them) and any attempt to retrospectively alter the regulations to specifically punish SFC would surely result in the matter ending up in court - which neither party would particularly desire . Unfortunately the point may well become moot as far as this season is concerned as the team seems quite capable of relegating us without any assistance from the FA .