Berkhamsted Saint

I thought Cheltenham shaded the game last night although didnt do enough to win it. We looked solid at the back and Thomas had a good game. Molyneaux was okay but didnt stand out. Murty looked solid but not sure if I would sign him. I thought our midfield was dreadful in the first half and created virtually nothing for the front men. Pulis was poor on the night. Lallana had little impact. Gillett came on in the second half and thinks improved but we never really looked like scoring. Complete lack of service to the front men. We need to improve our midfield for the new season otherwise yet again we will pass the ball around without creating any chances. Tend to think it will be a long hard season.

What I dont understand is why Leon Crouch and Lawrie Mac only seem to want to deal with the Trust and SISA who as StuRomseySaint repeatedly states have virtually no members and are not representative of the fan base. At least when Lowe was in charge he would communicate (even if he didnt listen) with other fans groups. Leon Crouch had little or no communication or meetings with other groups despite requests when he was in charge. IMO these actions and even now meeting with SISA and the Trust just help to keep the fan base divided. I recall the Trust putting pressure on fans groups to be represented solely by the Trust. Most fans groups rejected their approaches as we do not always agree with their views and do not want to be represented by the likes of Nick Illingsworth or Richard Chorley of SISA. My suggestion to Derry is if he feels the need to get help from fans he approaches all fans groups and includes people like London Saints, Northern Saints etc as from where I sit most fans will not support any campaign run by the Trust or SISA unless it represents all fans. Therefore I would suggest that Derry & Co dis-associate themselves from SISA or the Trust otherwise their worthy efforts will ultimately be undermined.

For the football Derby, Reading or Ipswich. For the best day out excluding the football Blackpool, Sheffield Wednesday Barnsley Worst games Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves, Swansea Worst Day Out Coventry.

I welcome any attempt to save the club and would take any solution to keep the club. Unfortunately many fans do not see the Trust and SISA as representing them. The Trust has very few members and cant remember the last time I saw Richard Chorley and co at an away game. Many of the Regional Supporters Groups have little in common with the Trust and SISA and by holding private meetings with these two groups all that will happen is splits within the fan base as various fans with ambitions look to gain power. If Derry wants to get the support of the fans then he should include all the Supporters group eg London Saints, Northern Saints, Colslaw, Cardiff Saints etc. Yes it would be fantastic to save the club but if fans are to lead it then it needs to be a new approach uniting all the fans not the Trust. A divided club is one of the major problems of the last few years. Promoting the Trust will just keep the fan base divided which is the last thing we need or want.

Yes there is. No one comes up with the money needed to save the club and the club are gone for good. We are in a credit crunch funding is difficult to get. Saints disappearing is a real possibility. I hope it doesnt happen but not to consider it as an option is naive.

There are two likely outcomes. Someone either invests in or buys the club so we have new owners going forward or no one comes up with any money (a real possibility in a credit crunch) and we no longer have a football club. Everybody is talking about investors and investment which I hope and pray does happen but it there is a chance this could be the end of Saints as we know it. I am not sure the average fan understands the risks of administration in a credit crunch. It is a far bigger risk than a 10 point deduction.

Was in the Ipswich Corporate area last night just to the left of our fans and I have to say say like the Saints performance on the pitch our support was superb. Four or Five other Saints fans in the Ipswich end singing the Disco song when our second went in. At the final whistle we came down to the front of the Ipswich terrace to applaud the team and well done to Lloyd James for coming over to us. Really proud to be a Saints fan last night.

Many fans I know dont visit this site as much these days. Two main reasons firstly the constant stream of Lowe/Wilde out threads dominated by the same posters with little new to contribute. A small number of posters with clear agendas who try and take over every thread to make the same point time and time again. The second point is that on the rare occassions when football is discussed the threads are dominated by people who clearly havent been near SMS let alone an away game in a long time but claim to know far more about Saints and the match than anyone who actually went to the game. A great shame really as S4E and this site in its early days were superb.

I travel 194 miles round trip to a home game and am a Season Ticket holder. Only missed Birmingham in league cup this season and none last. Also missed 4 away games.

I consider being a season ticket holder and travelling all over the country to away matches is supporting my team. I dont consider taking in place in protests supporting my team or club as it will not achieve anything positive for the club. The only way to remove Lowe, Wilde Crouch or any other shareholder for that matter is to buy their shares from them and unfortunately like most people on this board I do not have enough money to do that. Therefore protests will only tear the club apart where as getting behind the team may do a little bit of good.

Sadly doing nothing will cause less damage to the team than pointless protests that will only serve to undermine the confidence of the youngsters. My priority is to see the team stay up this season not to get involved in pointmess protests that will not do anything in terms interms of finding an investor. We need someone to buy the shares of Lowe, Wilde and Crouch not walk through the streets waving banners and chanting Lowe out.

Or perhaps you could back the new Manager and support the team. I can hardly see protests at Swansea helping the team in any way.

Whilst I am sure that we will not have a united fan base whilst Lowe, Wilde, Crouch and co are still at the club either as Directors and Shareholders I can see that these protests achieve anything constructive. None of the major shareholders will walk away from the club unless someone buys their shareholding so all we will do is split the fan base and some genuine fans will stop going never to return. Infact relegation wont stop me renewing my season ticket but continued scenes like the ones against Doncaster might just do that. The trouble is if that happens I like many others may not come back when Lowe and co goes so all these protests do is harm the club. The bit everybody seems to miss there are no buyers out there for the shares so until there is nothing will change. No street protests or fans fighting fans will achieve anything other than to harm the team. The only positive thing is to try and find investors willing to buy the shares albeit that is a real challenge. I understand fans feel they need to do something but these type of demonstrations will not force Lowe out of the club.

I have been following Saints for 40 years I am a Season Ticket holder in the Northam and will do 15 away games a year. If we got relegated I would still renew my Season Ticket. I am not Pro Lowe or anti Lowe I just support my team. The anti Lowe chants/protest got going today when we needed to back the team but an element were determined to get them going and with things not going well on the pitch they suceeded. I am ashamed to see Saints fans fighting Saints fans. Even in the 70's we may have got stuck into other teams fans but never each other. The damage done to the teams already fragile confidence at SMS is huge and I certainly dont want to stand in the Northam in that atmosphere again. For the first time in my life I was ashamed to be a Saints fan today. If this sort of atmosphere continues it will after 40 years drive me away from going to games. A sad sad day today.

Duncan You will remember Bridgens the Butchers in Bedford Place -she used drive the delivery van back in the early - mid sixties. David

I lived in the road behind Duncan in the early 70's and had use of Ron Davies complimentary season ticket as one of Ron's best mates used to park in our drive way for football as it was so close to the Dell. Fantastic seat as had the players who were injured or not in the team sat around me. Also Martin Chivers mother used to deliver our meat. Also used to play football for a local team where Steve Baker used to help with the coaching. Just remembered as well played football against Steve Moran when he was at Prices in Fareham.

You are right about Jimmy McGowan and I think Jimmy Steele may have lived there for a short time.

Not complete rubbish infact reliable info - not rewriting history to suit a position just putting some balance on the Pearson situation. Pearson could have stayed if he was prepared to work with Lowe but wasnt prepared to work under certain constraints primarily financial and having to work with youngsters.

Last year we avoided relegation on the last day. Pearson didnt want to stay as he wanted a transfer budget which we didnt have. Jan has largely taken over the reserve/youth side of last season and we are doing do worse than last season. Bearing in mind nobody thought we had a chance at the start of the season I think he is doing a good job. A new manager now with all the change it would bring is likely to bring relegation. Its interesting the number of posters who have talked of rebuilding and yet as soon as we start that process a number of people on here dont wont to give him anytime. Success this season will be raising some more money by selling a couple of players and getting rid of the high earners and staying up which we are on course to do bearing in mind the youngsters will only get better as the season progresses. To not stick with Jan would be a huge mistake. Finally appointing Billy Davies is the one thing that might persuade me not to renew my Season Ticket

Whilst I agree with St Marco in terms of the role of the administrator and his responsibilities the administrator has a primary responsibility to the creditors and must get the best possible deal for them which may well be selling the business as a going concern. As I understand it Norwich Union hold the mortgage for the stadium and consequently will have a first legal charge on it. If we were in admin they would make a decision on what to do with their asset which may be to redevelop it/seek change of use. Whilst I accept a football ground is most likely to continue as it is their first responsibility will be to protect the value of the asset/outstanding loan and not to Saints. Saints are just another business and in these times we will see many businesses fail to find a buyer and as a result just be wound up. With very little credit currently available and most businessmen starting to feel the squeeze I would not want to gamble with my club on them finding a buyer in the current climate. The other risk is that any buyer has a relatively modest level of cash and before the sale goes through the club is heavily asset stripped which puts the new owners in a relatively weak position. Whilst admin has worked for the odd club it hasnt worked well for clubs where the new owners have lacked sufficient new capital. Havent the likes of Rotherham and Bournemouth been in trouble previously. Ultimately we are paying for the heavy spending of the last couple of years where we have lived beyond our means gambling on promotion which we failed to deliver and that gamble has now put our club at serious risk. Unless there is a substantial takeover (unlikely imo) a power struggle at the club would also undermine bank confidence which must already be thin and to lose bank support would be a disaster. Whilst not being pro or anti Lowe just a fan I am concerned that the Lowe out campaign that some are starting to organise (no doubt with good intention) could have disasterous consequences if it gathers pace due to the difficult financial background in which we are operating. What ever happens I hope our club can get through this difficult period.

Its 6 miles from Hemel Hempstead and about 15 miles from Watford in Hertfordshire and I am a season ticket holder and get to over half the away games. Member of Colslaw supporters group (Committee of Loyal Saints living around Watford) Theres about 50 of us up in the Northern Home Counties. All exiled Saints

You need to understand what is going on in the banking world at the moment and the impact the credit crunch will have on the economy. Agree it would never have happened 2 or 3 years ago but the world was a different place then. Very real chance of it happening now. Remain convinced that a couple of clubs will disappear over the next couple of years. Just hope and pray it isnt ours.

A quick reality check for anybody that thinks that administration is a good thing and why Saints are working so hard to avoid it. If we went into administration unless there is someone that wants to buy the club it could be wound up and closed down. ie No more football club. All the clubs that have been administration recently have managed found someone wanting to buy the club off the administrator. So club loses some points has to sell some assets and keeps going. There is one big difference now. Debt is extremely difficult to raise, cash is in short supply and we are entering a recession against a background of a credit crunch. I am convinced that over the next 2 years at least one club will go to administration and simply disappear for good. Therefore we have 4 options as a club 1) Be taken over - very very unlikely due to recession and credit crunch 2) Continue we are with the remaining high earners being released and all players available at a price 3) Enter administration hope we can find a buyer, lose virtually the entire first team squad and end up with the current reserve squad as our first team - further relegations, lose the ground? 4) Go out of business as the administrator cant find a buyer Therefore whether you like or hate Lowe he has no option but to continue to take the action he is taking. Replacing Lowe at the current time could lose the confidence of the bank and could mean that club enters administration and disappears. I think the lets go into admin brigade are misguided as they do not understand the risks and the loweout campaign could be the downfall of the club. We therefore need to pull together as a fan base an get behind our club at the current time and stop this in fighting.

I agree that DMG is poor particularly his attitude, his work rate, and general all round play however I think that you are harsh on Lloyd James. If you look at yesterday time and time again he had to cover 40 yards of pitch on his own with little or no support often out numbered as well. That is why he looks vulnerable which is not his fault. Unlike DMG he also gives 100%. Agree about our support it was poor.

Arrived by train just before 12 and headed off to town. Police stopped us and asked where we were going and told them we were going for a drink on Wind Street. Apart from appearing surprised that we would want to do that let us carry on. Had a few beers and then got a taxi to the ground. Yes there were huge numbers of Police but had no hassle all day. Mind you we did have a few idiots there today.