CHAPEL END CHARLIE

I do actually have breaking news on a major boardroom development . http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1088647/Taxing-time-debtors-football-clubs-avoid-debts.html Remember you saw it here first .

I can only think of 3 possible explanations for the above statement : 1 - you only go to away games 2 - easily pleased 3 - excessive alcohol consumption

It should come as no surprise to any Saints fan that Perry played well - when doesn't he ? I suspect the coach prefers the extra pace younger defenders can offer but for my money experience has more value than pace in the crucial centre back position and if I were picking the team he and Kelvin Davis would quite literally be the first names down on the teamsheet - when fit obviously .

Yeah back of the class normally - but well done today BWP .

My HBOS shares have a better chance of staging a recovery than SFC do today - Reading 3 Saints 0

Well we may have got £6m for KJ but we didn't keep it all as West Connection FC had a sell on clause in the contract , rumoured to be up to £1m if memory serves . The true cost of constantly losing your better players isn't just displayed on a balance sheet however , it's in the league table as well .

The relationship between the Echo and SFC has been a tad too 'cosy' for my liking lately , they've clearly been granted regular access to the players/management and have been given advance notice on breaking stories in return for giving the club uncritical coverage . In my opinion this type of arrangement is fundamentally against the principles of journalistic independence and a gross disservice to the general public and Saints fans. :mad: Could this story today be the first hint that the local press is about to reassert its independence , being seen as Lowe's mouthpiece might not be too smart when it all goes t*ts up next year .

Interesting statement , do you have any evidence to back it up ? As we only received £1.2m (as reported) for Andrew Davies SCFC clearly didn't inflate the transfer fee very much did they .

I'm in awe of any Saints fan who can maintain a sense of optimism this season - I question their sanity , but I'm still mightily impressed .

An insightful contribution Topcat , you should spend/waste more time on here .

The place where optimism flourishes most is the lunatic asylum” Havelock Ellis

I note with some amusement that there are still some on here prepared to argue that we could sell our better players and still somehow mount a meaningful effort to avoid relegation this season . You would have thought our position in the league table or the teams disastrous home form would point to the need to strengthen the squad rather than weaken it , but football logic seems to be in short supply at SMS recently . As for the regulation "don't you realise we have no money" reply I'm all too well aware of the situation , but I'm also aware that relegation is a 'luxury' we can't afford either . It will interesting to see in January which way the board jumps - put up a fight or prepare for League One , I'm betting on the latter .

Can I add to this stunning news that Mt Vesuvius did not erupt today and that Christmas Day is due on the 25th of December this year .

I suggest we ground share with AFC Bournemouth - you know it makes sense .

Looking back at the 'highlights' Cork really didn't have a good game , who would have thought starting the season with no specialist full backs would prove to be a problem As for playing an experienced CB alongside Pearce that really is a no-brainer , Perry clearly should have started and the reasoning why he didn't remains a mystery only our esteemed head coach could explain .

Can't agree with that . Even with no new money Leon Crouch would still be a distinct improvement on Lowe and Wilde . Rightly or wrongly there are many true Saints fans who won't step foot in SMS while RL is running things - with RL & MW gone the 'gate' will improve to some (unknown) extent which will obviously benefit the club . But more fundamental than that the first step towards recovery is to stop making mistakes - Leon Crouch is not only a better businessman than Rupert Lowe I would also trust his football judgment over that of RL any day of the week and twice on Sundays . Exhibit One for the defence being LC's choice of manager (Nigel Pearson ) compared to RL's (Jan Poortvleit ) .

It must be awful for you having to breath the same air as the 'negatives' at SMS . Let me get this straight - you don't enjoy going to SMS anymore because you don't like the lack of enthusiasm many Saints fans show on the internet ? - but on the other hand you've no problem with only one home win all season or seeing the club dispose of a proper manager for no valid reason :confused: The reason we find ourselves near the bottom of the table has little or nothing to do with 'bad luck' - it's down to bad leadership making bad decisions , and please excuse me if I do raise the odd objection to that .

O YE OF LITTLE FAITH . My elite team of highly paid researchers have assured me that the 'little child' in question is actually a cryptic reference to Adam Lallana - who clearly is destined to lead the Saints out of the wilderness .

Nice idea but I fear the following is a more probable event : Isaiah 11:6

Although young Gobern's future remains uncertain what you can be sure of is that in any group of academy players only a minority will ultimately develop successful careers in the game . This is not necessarily failure of coaching or selection it's just a perfectly normal consequence of growing young men taking different paths in life , if you doubt it just look back at any old England U16 team and see just how many of them go on to long professional football careers . This is the fundamental problem with RL's strategy for the club - it relies on virtually all our youngsters being instantly capable of competing in the CCC , that's both unreasonable and extremely unlikely .

I can see the others all strengthening their teams come the January transfer window and givening themselves a real chance of staying in the CCC , saints on the other hand ........

I'm sick to death of tw*ts blaming the fans for the state of our club :mad: - For your information a big chunk of my very limited disposable income is spent supporting SFC not to mention my time or the sore throat I got today shouting at the ref and trying to cheer the team on (yes even the Chapel gets noisy at times) . If I want to be 'negative' or as I see it 'realistic' I will continue to be so . We fans are just the 'poor bloody infantry' in this war and if you must play the blame game why not target the likes of Rupert Lowe and Mike Wilde for criticism , after all with power comes responsibility . While we're on the subject If you really think an outbreak of happy clappy applause on here is going to make the slightest difference to team performance you really , really need to have a word with yourself .

My ratings for Saints v Wolves : K Davis 7.5 - horribly exposed by his defence but still gave his usual excellent shot-stopping display . J Cork 6 - better going forward than defending , kinda like a younger Alex Ostlund . Playing out of position IMO . O Lancashire 5 - novice CB , you just can't play 2 inexperienced young CB's at the same time :mad: especially with Perry available . A Pearce 5.5 - promising player but very raw , an obvious threat at corners but his distribution is awful . R Skacel 6 - not obviously better than any other Saints player despite his unaffordable salary , could be more effective up field ? M Schniederlin 7.5 - good young player , will go far in the game . A Surman 6 - not one of his better games but willing enough and an automatic starter in this team . O Gobern 4 - clearly not ready for the 1st team at this time , loan him out to L1/2 . A Lallana 8 MOTM - obviously very talented but not quite influential enough (as yet) to boss the game . J Euell 6 - honest pro and much better than Wotton , never going to be great however . His red card looked very harsh to me . DMG 6.5 - worked his shocks off in the thankless lone striker role but crucially can't hold play up or take chances regularly at CCC level . Substitutes : BWP 4.5 - hit the post but then disappeared as usual . I really can't stand this player . J Robertson 5 - a late sub (too late?) didn't get much of a chance . C Perry 7 - a welcome replacment for Lancashire , should have started IMO . Summary : Terrible defending meant we were 2 down after 20 minutes and looking down and out . For some reason Euells red card seemed to galvanise the team and they gave it a real go 2nd half and may be considered unlucky not to get something . As ever the 4-3-3 system is part of the problem rather than the solution and why we persist with it remains a mystery to this reviewer . Chris Iwelumo was virtually unstoppable - a big strong lump of a centre forward are all any away team needs for success at SMS it seems to me - I swear he didn't lose a header until Chris Perry came on . If we don't learn to cope with players like this we may have to wait a very long time before we see SFC win at home again . PS - the ref must come from Fratton or Wolverhampton , he was shocking !

I would like to echo all of the above and add that Rudi Skacel's yellow card was probably the most ridiculous decision I've ever seen a ref give in 35 years of watching football . But apart from that and the dreadful red card he gave Jason Mule and refusing the clear penalty DMG won he wasn't too bad .

A cogent well argued case sir , may I just add : F*** 'em all , f*** 'em all The long and the short and the tall F*** all the Ruperts and their lack of funds F*** all the players and their useless runs 'Cos we're saying goodbye to them all As back to their Bentleys they crawl We'll get no promotion this side of the ocean So cheer up me lads .... f*** 'em all !