CHAPEL END CHARLIE

None knows but I reckon SFC could easily lose 1/3 of it's ST holders (down to around 6k) next season with total attendances reduced to around 10-12k per game in our League 1 future - assuming no dramatic improvement in team performance/results in the next few weeks . This will mean matchday income will have fallen by a disastrous 50% or so in just two seasons ( lets call it the 'Rupert Effect' ) undermining much of the painful cost-cutting the club has undertaking since last summer and returning us virtually back to 'square one' financially . My very rough 'back of an envelope' calculations : Fall in matchday attendances = 12k (compared to 2007/8 season) Ave' matchday spend per fan = £22 (conservative estimate) £22 X 12000 fans X 24 Games = £6m less income per season .* Now the fall in income may be a little less than the reduction in expenditure but the price is we're playing our football down in the 3rd Division and the only real hope of saving this business - a return to the Premier League - is years or even decades away . It will be a decision for our creditors ('stakeholders') whether it's worth their while supporting this loss making business indefinitely with little or no prospect of a return to profitability , or just cut their losses and call in the Administrator . * Takes no account of any reduction in ticket prices or TV/other income .

Don't forget we also lost Academy Manager Huw Jennings at much the same time . It would be valuable if someone familiar with the inner workings of the Academy could venture an opinion as to which was the greater loss - Prost or Jennings ?

Dyer coming back early ? - he doesn't want to come back at all : http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/sport/Flyer-Dyer-keen-land-Liberty/article-675762-detail/article.html Suites me fine , I don't rate him anyway .

When you say 'what alternative is there to Lowe ?' an uninvolved observer might conclude that Rupert was somehow reluctantly forced back to rescue the club against his wishes and that he was 'Hobson's Choice' , regulars on here will understand this was not the case - far from it . We had an alternative Chairman (Leon Crouch) in place and doing a fairly good job IMO , he was ousted by a Lowe/Wilde conspiracy in furtherance of their own ambitions/vendettas and thus it is they who must carry the lions share of the blame for the 'train crash' this once great club has become . The mismanagement this club has suffered from since their return is little short of a crime , I find it hard to imagine why any true Saints fan would advocate the continuation of the Lowe/Wilde regime . As for how SFC is run in the future with both relegation and Administration looking a virtual certainty (sooner rather than later I would have thought) that will be a question for the new owners to answer - presuming we find someone that is .

That's a perfectly fair anaylsis , we're not getting enough points per game and there's absolutly no indication we're going to start the type of run that will ensure our survival . If we don't beat Watford on Saturday I'd put our chances of still being in the CCC next season as about 1 in 10 .

In a old peoples home .... oh sorry you asked how not where .

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article5663464.ece Perhaps Leon's been talking to this bloke :

I've praised Kelvin Davis's performances on numerous occasions - but if he makes an error I'll comment on it . Or do I need your permission first now ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_Z But I'm not entirly sure the expansion of the Kreigsmarine will really help us much .

I've just seen Sheffield Utd's winning goal on South Today , a quality keeper should be able to tip that round the post IMO .

There's just no precedent in the modern British game for this happening - let's hope we're not the first . Simple market forces will ensure that a city the size of Southampton has a football club associated with it , where that club plays or which division it plays in is a entirely different question however .

To bee or not to bee , that is the question ; whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an outragerous overdraft , or to take arms against a sea of Ruperts , and by opposing end up in Administration .

Hooray ! uncommitted player who can't find a better offer stays for the cash .

On the phone in after the game the subject of Rupert Lowe came up (doesn't it always) and Armstrong said "lets just wait and see if he's still here in a week or two's time" - or words to that effect anyway . Made of that what you will .

David Armstrong was dropping some pretty heavy hints on the radio yesterday regarding imminent Boardroom developments but we've heard it all before to be honest .

On his way to Hertha Berlin ? http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article2192345.ece Well maybe according to the Sun anyway .

People get too fixated on overly exact descriptions of formations , the midfield '4' in a 4-4-2 may have one player sitting back covering the back 4 and others getting forward at every opportunity to support the front '2' for example - to invent complicated 4-1-2-1-2 etc titles to describe these relatively common arrangements seems to me an unnecessarily complexity that adds very little to our understanding of the game . The simple truth is today we had 4 defenders at the back and 2 strikers at the front - leaving the other 4 somewhere in the middle !

You're right Bailey BWP's never really had a consistent run in the team , I'd argue he doesn't get a consistent run because ultimatly he's just not good enough rather than the other way round . What is certain is that he's nobody's idea of a wide player - nobody except Jan Poortvliet that is . Good luck to him but I find it hard to believe he'll find another team prepared to match the wages he's been getting here (rumoured to be £8k a week if I remember correctly) . Perhaps he'll leave early so that he finds a new club before the summer rush - it's bound to be a free transfer though .

Well said SOG , There our countless people out in the real world working hard all their lives for minimum wage in awful jobs with nothing more to look forward to other than the miserable state pension . The career problems of any player fortunate enough to be earning £10k a week to kick a football around (part-time) seem pretty trivial in comparison .

Saints v Swansea City - my ratings : K Davis 7 - Maybe could have done better with the 1st goal and definitely spilled the 2nd he still made 2 or 3 great stops to partially redeem himself at least . L James 5.5 - Stuck to his task but struggled against SCFC talented attack , always likely to be an average lower league player IMO . JP Size 7.5 - The good no-nonsense 'Row X' defender we've needed all season and a very worthwhile addition to the squad . C Perry 7 - Mr Reliable again he and JPS are the obvious 1st choice CB pairing , experience compensating for old legs . L Molyneux 4 - Stupid red card and didn't do much before that TBH , get 'Fish' Mills back in ASAP . A Surman 7 - Talk of a move to the Prem looks premature for now as he's not really progressing much this season , did a good job replacing Molyneux at LB and did set up Saga's equaliser . S Gillett 7 - He was everywhere today you just can't fault this lads effort , unfortunately you can question his ability . He so obviously wants to play for us I'd stick with him . P Wotton 7 - Not my favorite player but he does offer badly needed experience & good leadership qualities I suppose - missing in action for Swansea's 1st goal . A Lallana 5 - So much talent so little impact , subbed today he's looked like little boy lost ever since the injury . I'm sure he'll come good in time as class is permanent ...etc DMG 6 - Pretty poor on the whole he ran about a bit but to very little effect in all honesty , actually got subbed for the 1st time ever :smt107 M Saganowski 8.5 MOTM - Cooley taken 1st was followed but a fine lobbed 2nd - a super all round example of forward play . IF we stay up it will very likely be because of this players goals . Should he get injured however ........ Substitutes : J Mule 7 - Made a surprisingly useful (& committed) contribution . Should he start ahead of Wotton ? K McLaggon 7 - On the limited evidence available this young man seems to have something about him - too small to really play alongside Saga I'd have thought . M Schneiderlin -Last minute sub of no significance Conclusion : We clearly look a better team with a player of Saganowski's quality back and employing the good old 4-4-2 system , nevertheless it has to be said we were a tad fortunate again today against a very good Swansea team . Napoleon said he'd rather have a lucky General than a good one so maybe our luck's starting to turn at last . The mathamatics are quite simple , we need to score around 2 points a game (on average) to survive and we're just not doing it at this time . Wotte seems to have instructed the players to get stuck in more and fight rather than concentrating on pretty football , this is a good starting point for a fightback (Molyneux went a bit too far!) but we've left it so very late . To my mind Wotte shows a better understanding of the British game and a greater willingness to adapt to it that Poortvliet ever really managed , whether he has enough to keep us up is a whole different question however .

You can't really argue with any of that as far as it goes - no real analysis however of the underlying reasons why we're in this state or what might have been done differently had the club been better run .

There's newly discovered Hank Williams out there ! - I shall track it down if it's the last thing I do . Sorry to hear 'fish' is unwell , does explain his otherwise inexplicable disappearance from the team I suppose .

The perilous state of this club (and many others) leads me to conclude that there's 'something rotten in the state of Denmark' and we just can't carry on like this - could this plan be the last chance to save the game as we know it ? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1132727/Salary-cap-plan-save-clubs-credit-crunch-starts-bite.html Good idea , bring it on I say .

:smt045 You're so right SoccerMum , my Johnny Cash addiction is getting totally out of control - over 6 hours worth on my MP3 player now ranging from the early stuff all the way up to the magnificent 'American Recordings'. (I also have 'Murder in Coweta County' on DVD - how sad is that :smt100 ) . I could move on to my deep love of Hank Williams and his works but I fear I might bore the arse off the rest of the forum and ruin any little credibility I may retain . Dragging the subject away from the man in black and back to the more mundane issue of Southampton Football Club young Mills really is a star in the making and quite possibly the best of the youngsters we've seen this season , it surprises me more people haven't noticed .

Just to be awkward I want to see Joseph Mills given a proper chance on the left side .