Roman

Really? I haven't read anything on here from either side that doesn't seem genuinely felt - certainly nothing that slides into fantasy. Speculation maybe, but then none of us is in the boardroom (or I don't think 'we' are) - so what the hell. What Lowe has failed to grasp, I would suggest, is that fans have real economic power when they are somewhere over two-thirds of the source of the club's revenue. Thousands of fans have voted with their feet not because they hate Lowe specifically, in some class-warrior way, but because they feel alienated from a club that seems so to be more driven by a reckless pursuit of some kind of youth-team nirvana than produce a balanced team of experience and talented younger players. The 'shop window' trumps three points, week in, week out. It saps the will to live as a supporter. The reason the Bassett remarks have been picked up is because it confirms what has has long been suspected, and it comes from a source without a current agenda at the club and with no specific axe to grind. It is credible. If Lowe is in any way concerned by the way Bassett's comments have caused a stir, he should come out and properly clarify what it is he does and doesn't do. DoF or not? Adding names to the team sheet, or not? I don't think he will though - I expect him to keep his sullen silence going for a while yet.

Did you fold your arms and go 'hmmph' when you wrote that? I bet you did.

You've missed so many points it's hard to know where to start. But most of all, you've created a mythical poster to rail against. So maybe the best suggestion is you go and read what's actually been posted here, quote specifics, and argue in a less belligerent way about 'thick' posters.

I suspect that in the context of the catastrophic decline in gate receipts, the impending collapse in season ticket sales for next season and the problems on the pitch, this will be more than a 'storm in a teacup'. It could prove fatal to the Lowe regime if it accelerates the decline in fans actually turning up to SMS. Lowe is the George W Bush of football. I suspect that even he is beginning to see certain parallels.

...and get someone else to shoot it.

If there's radio silence on this, Adam Leitch has a Q & A this Friday. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/3834064.Put_your_Saints_questions_to_our_chief_sports_writer/

The classic beginner's mistake is to try and 'hoover' everything with the camera. Don't do it. You'll have the classic crap wedding video. Think of every situation you shoot in terms of master shots (a wide shot of everything that's going one), single close ups and smaller groups shots, plus what are called cutaways (a close up of the wedding cake for example, or the huge pile of wedding gifts. Don't think about 'linking' any of these shots. Instead, get your wide shot, then crash in and get a good close up, or cutaway. Make sure during these shots you keep the camera as still as possible!! To make things look really professional, you'll have to be careful not to 'cross the line' (which can get complicated, but it basically means that if you are filming two people talking to each other, the close ups should be one person looking camera left to right, and the other camera right to left.) If you shoot in this way, you'll find that when you come to EDIT what you've shot, you'll have enough building blocks to put together cut sequences. Oh, and by the way - you'll have to invest in some editing software. If you have a Mac, get Final Cut Express. If a PC, there are lots of options out there, costing around £75 to £150. During editing, try and resist the innumerable silly ways of making a transition - ripple dissolves, 3-d wipes etc, etc. The good old fashioned CUT will give you the best and most professional results. Once you've done this, you'll be able to output to DVD, Quicktime or tape. That's a start, if it's any help.

With the camera or the honeymoon?

Just goes to show: however much we speculate on here, we can't dream up anything half as bad as the reality.

Following LS and WS can induce a certain amount of whiplash. LS thinks 'something' is going to happen. Weston doesn't. I feel like I'm trapped in an episode of Get Smart, where the agents talk to each other in ever more impenetrable code, until it's utter gibberish.

Both of Terrence Malick's movies from the 1970s can't be missed: Badlands Days of Heaven. Other gems from the golden age of American cinema: Shampoo The Exorcist Duel The Conversation All the President's Men The Parallax View Three Days of the Condor ...and anything which has John Milius's credit on it. (One of his most famous contributions to film was the uncredited writing of Robert Shaw's 'Indianapolis' speech in Jaws) Finally, for when you have the flu again: How to Murder Your Wife (Watch it for the court scene if nothing else)

I'm not saying a word.

Depends on whether you consider the traditions and values of the club to be more Burger King than Quat Saisons

I've only just stumbled on this thread - but it kind of takes my breath away. It's probably something to do with the fact that I spend most of my life travelling, but I sometimes end up spending tedious nights in faraway hotels deep in the blogosphere, especially around UK newspaper and BBC sites. Whenever I clicked back to TSF and now TSW, it was really striking how much more original, better-argued, funnier material there was and is on this site. And not all of it, by any means, on the main board. Of course there's plenty of stuff you wouldn't exactly want to show to your grandmother or literary agent. But there's some real comic talent that floats to the surface occasionally on TMS, and, by national newspaper site standards, some really thoughtful and carefully crafted threads and posts on TL. Baj, I think you should learn to love your own site a bit more. It might get better still if you did.

Six lines of optimism instantly squashed like a slug in a vice.

In JP's defence - and I'm sort of playing Devil's Advocate here - you could say there can't be too many managers/coaches out there who, confronted with a bunch of kids and reserve players, could get us as far as we have, and at least be in constant touch with survival in the CCC. We have a terrible home record but a very respectable away points total. And it's still hard to tell how many of the tactical decisions are JP's and how many are dictated by our glorious DoF - especially the rule of playing with a lone, goal-shy striker.

No, but we must be some way into it to have extended it from £6m to £8m. However much it is, it's a problem, because as someone once said: 'Once you get into debt, the bank manager comes into the club to run the team.' Now who could that have been?

So the confidence being expressed by the Crouch camp on here is misplaced?

Lucky Number Slevin.

Said whom, I wonder?

To answer the original question: Newcastle. Dead certs.

Dowie was forced out at QPR because he rebelled against the meddling from Briatore. See a pattern?

Based on past experience, Jan would probably pay his own compensation package.

It's still not clear to me to what extent Jan is the author of his own misfortune, or to what extent he's the victim of Lowe's DoF-ing.

Just seen the following draft: "I made a whole series of terrible mistakes: joining forces with Wilde, letting Pearson go, acting on my obsession with Dutch coaches, and most of all, not learning my lesson from last time about how NOT to alienate my paymasters, the fans. I accept all blame. Therefore Jan is sacked with immediate effect. Love and kisses, Rupes."