Bon Call Night

I'll ask again, do you want the manager or the CEO to pick the team? You seem to want it both ways so long as you can blame Lowe when it goes wrong. Managers like Burley and Redknapp have got off scott free almost in comparison, yet they both had money and came up short of their marks under different CEO's. Why can't people accept this piece for what it is as no doubt there are missing parts where it has been edited to fit the column space. There may also be an element of truth stretching. Essentially it says we have put in place a long term plan and we are going to try and follow through with it.

This is the lamest excuse I keep hearing. Yes Lowe appointed the manager, but in another post you accuse him of tampering in team affairs which way do you want it? Who are you blaming now for relegation? The manager for picking the wrong team, or the Chairman who is not supposed to interfere. Some of the younger players he alludes to were not good enough then and some who have moved on are not good enough now. Out of all those mentioned Jones was proabably the biggest prospect. The point about our academy is we could have the bare minimum like Portsmouth and a couple of others in the Premier League but we have invested in it and had we have still been in the Premiership would have given us some £15m to re-invest. I am sure that whether in the Premier League or not we cannot stave off the likes of Chelsea, Spurs etc. Maybe Jones would have stayed as I do not rate Sunderland as being that much better than us, however they have a capability of paying higher wages still. I am all for having a debate but please stop the silly snipes.

So we'll forget about Georges Prost then? I actually agree with regarding their ability but who could know that at the time? I think Wigley was a case of repeating a mistake, and a major one, something that is inexcusable in business but does happen. Gray may have deserved his chance and I don't know what advice was asked for, given or taken? So can not really say. However as he had worked at several clubs as assistant who's tp say that his CV was not decent enough to be given a shot. He knew the players, he knew the club structure, he knew the coaching staff and no doubt had good relationships with all of them. Put yourself in his position, you had been at a company for 5 years, done a pretty good job, and a chance for promotion came up. You have all the qualifications required, plus you know all the company procedures and have the respect of the staff you work with. Would you not apply for the chance of promotion? And on the otherside as the employer - why would you not give that person a chance? It is easy to be clever with hindsight but did you have any more or any less reservations about his appointment than you did about Strachan's?

Why? Because it suited your anti Lowe agenda? Because if it was wrong there is one less thing to criticise the man for. For me the whole thread is typical of the small minded, vocal minority who would rather exercise their degree in hindsight on what was good and what was not rather than be constructive and ask who at the time he could have appointed. Let's make it easier - who should have replaced Burley? Or even better who should have replaced Redknapp? Try thinking about who was available at the time. This rubbish is typical of the lead weights that are burdening this club and preventing a positive environment that would help the club move forward.

And many questioned his appointment of Strachan, many thought that his appointment of Redknapp and then Burley were exceptional appointments but both turned out sour in the longer term. I can count on one hand successes outside of the top four the PL where a manager has been a success and lasted for longer than 2 years. In fact Bolton is the only one I can think of. Villa are moving in that direction and Everton have had an on/off affair with Moyes. Other than that you can probably say watford and Reading and that is about it. For me the Gray appointment was almost acceptable in that he had proved himself at assistant over the years at a number of clubs and probably deserved a chance, his biggest error for me was having seen that such progression does not work he appointed Wigley who suffered from the same issues as Gray. Dave Jones did OK and had some goos times as well as bad in a small club in a big league, Hoddle was successful, as was Strachan, I would love to know the whole Sturrock story other than the egg sandwich and players problem rumours that are unsubstantiated and merely hear say AFAIC. So on the whole I think there has been a reasonable hit rate on his managerial appointments unfortunately there have been too many. Other than Gray, Wigley and Sturrock who really did not have a decent crack of the whip all of his other appointments have had some reasonable success at some stage. The only one who has failed is the self proclaimed miracle worker saggy chops!! Or am I missing the point? Is this just another have a pop at Lowe thread? :-?

Two things, the next manager for Pompey is critical - there are a lot of tempermental foreign players who have been ousted from bigger clubs, and over the hill ones like Campbell. They have no money to invest and a huge wage bill. Allardyce may not be the man for the job and I think Curbishley is not the manager he is cracked up to be anymore. It doesn't matter who the money is owed to the critical thing is what money do they have in the bank to spend. Like Saints after the Cup they need to realise that they are now ina relegation battle before it is too late. I agree that football on the South coast is in sh1t street with only Pompey doing anythig of note. One thing they have in common they have all be managed and destroyed by Redknapp - Bournemouth left bankrupt, lack of application at Saints and Pompey left cash poor!! I hope the bloke fails and is sacked by xmas!! Childish I know but it gripes my sh1t how little of the blame he took for our relegation whilst others on the playing and board staff seemed to take a disproportionate amount of the blame.

Nick you are, of course, entitled to your opinion but I think you are so wide of the mark with this it is unbelieveable. Robertson is a more complete player already, McGoldrick has a decent touch and when he wants to can play. However he has one big flaw and that is his arrogance and petulance. Arrogant to believe he is good enough to take a one step run up for a penalty when even the best in the world take a proper run up, and the petulance to walk off to the touch line when he was prevented from taking the second penalty. He has been around first team football to know better and there is nothing in his game to suggest to me he will get any better. The fact that the movement on Saturday was abysmal may explain the lack of passing from Surman - he had no options, Surman is also a team player, more so than McG will ever be. Something is not straight as he started off as the main striker and has been moved off to the wing which suggests to me that JP wants him to think about a few things. Hopefully the deal with Forest is still available and we can get rid of him and keep someone like Lallana.

Going to be the new White House Drs Surgery and I think have a Dentist and I think a community room. How it got through planning i do not know. When you compare that monstrosity to the single story bungalows surrounding it. Am just leaving that Drs Surgery as I am sick of the attitude there.

Spot on Ron, he does a lot of stuff for people. But people like St Marco are probably part of the 'me' generation where they won't do anything for anybody unless there is something in it for themselves. I know Nick personally and he is genuinely passionate about Saints and is a fairly nice guy.

It does for him to gain through dividend payments. The salary I am sure will be fairly commensurate with others in a similar position reflecting his part time role. If it isn't then he will hang himself out to dry. LOL - you are probably so right. The principals he left for were that Lowe would not stand for such stuff, and knew he would be on a hiding to nothing.

Although I agree with your sentiments, I actually agree with Nick on this one. Too many think of it as lining his pockets, well he cannot do that until the clubs pays it's way, and right now it is hardly doing that. This issue is people have less money to spend - the ticket prices are reasonable by CCC standards, but other costs in life has risen by extraordinary levels. I think we have demonstrated that when the ground is full and the crowd do back the players then decent results can be achieved. Right now all that fans are doing is justifying the decisions to close parts of the ground thta some felt so wrong, in reality we could close the whole of the Chapel and not mis the reduced capacity (or the noise). We continually hear of Investment rumours bubbling around but as yet nothing firm has come of it until then we have to make the best of a bad hand.

The problem is the sell on value of the likes of campbell etc is low as they are too old to be of any use to anyone with a reasonable amount of money. It has been proved that the current business model Pompey are running is not a successful one long term ie 90% of income on wages when the recommendations are 50-60%. Where will the money come from to develop the youth, enhance facilities etc? All Redknapp can do is spend money, he spent a small fortune here on the likes of Jamie Redknapp, Camara, Bernard, Davidson etc and failed. Sooner or later the bubble will burst at Fratton dump as it did for us.

For me Ashley Cole epitomises everything bad about top football players in general. He is overpaid, arrogant (based on the press reports - not a good example), gives very little back to the game is frequently injured and is at best a decent premiership player, not world class as many like to believe. His shortcomings are his lack of ability to cross a ball, his limp jump-in style of tackling and his general passing ability. Many Chelsea supporters I have spoken to thinks he only turns up to the big games and that he is no better than Bridge. Compare him to Beckham and Beckham is twice the player and twice the man Cole is or ever will be. As for booing players during the game, perhaps they should realise that maybe they are not putting in the performance expected of them and buck their ideas up, this was true of Wright and Euell last year where the latter went through 6-8 games of mediocricy before upping his performance towards the end of the year. As one of the highest paid players in the club his level of performance should reflect that and management and fans are right to expect it. With the youngsters it is slightly different - I beleive they have all put in honest performances this season and that there has been no booing during the games. There was one poor games against Barnsley where a few booed at the end, but again how do the so called pundits expect us to voice our displeasure at below par performances? As with Beckham for England, all players are pretty well paid nowadays by normal standards, players need to earn the respect of the crowd and then they need to entertain them. That will ensure the loyal support we saw when Beckham came off the bench yesterday.

MT sold to Bolton..... Glen Johnson...... so what, right up there with Phil Neville as an England player for me... (not good enough to lace most players boots at the highest level) proved by the fact he is not playing for one of the big four!! Traore...... on loan only if he is any good will go back to Arsenal - else see above. Let's move on.... Crouch........ sold by Redknapp how many times until he was how old!!!! Look at the playres he has signed..... Campbell over the hill and reputed to be on 60k a week, Distin always been a mercenary, proved that by not going to Liverpool when he had the chance. Defoe.... soon to be found out bby Coppello (like every other England manager) that he is no more than an average striker David James...... worst England keeper ever!!!!!! Gordon Banks would be better with two glass eyes!!! Redknapp is a dinosaur....... and will soon be extinct along with all the other traditional English managers. He epitomises everything that is wrong with football in this country and will soon find himself unemployed as Poopey announce bankruptcy and end up back in administration.

Well they were willing to let him spend £1.8m on Clinton Morrison and a million on Darren purse both of whom went elsewhere. Neither SCW or Clifford were allowed near the first team and what has what the chairman's name calling got to do with it? And for someone to suggest it wasn't his fault we got relegated is as laughable as suggesting the players had no hand in it. FFS let's not rake this crap up again!!!

Now let's not get ridiculous...... actually you may have a point!!! :smt050

I suggest you watch the coverage again re first goal!!! And then stop being a misery!!!

Then you fail to see the point! I am sure you remember the time when Southampton was all fields - the kids play some excellent football and although 4-1 was a poor result it does not reflect the positives within the side. Let's face it their first goal was offside - they got given a dubious penalty which they thankfully missed - this is wherer the weakness is in the side - confidence and miserbale sods like you do not help that!!!

When your house is on fire you can spend a lot of time appointing and discussing blame, surely the priority is to first put out the fire? It really is time to put this stuff in the past and move forward, this continual raking of the past is only acting like an anchor to the club, fans not going, reduced revenue, lack of atmosphere, poor displays. I am sure you broke a window at some stage in your life are you still arguing over who did it or is it fixed and forgotten?

All of them were bankrupt and went into administration or damn well nearly did. Leicester are being bankrolled by Mandric. Shoring up our weak spots are you sure...... have a look at his record!!!

And doing so well that until yesterday were 1 point ahead of us, that may swing around when we are home and have not had to play 3 out of the top five or six clubs in the league. What heavy odds were they, we were not in relegation trouble when he got here, and to be honest with a minimal amount of cash you should be able to get out of League one. So you only watch us on TV then, you failed to see the two wins prior to this? ......... So, everything seems to be going to your wonderful "I know everything" plan then Rupert ........... ??? I am not sure that Lowe has ever suggested he knows everything, but he could probably run rings around you in the football world and business world. Take a reality check, they are young players, some of them are very good young players and until we give them a chance to mature and learn they will be inconsistent. For me the most anonymous players on the pitch last night were Wotton and Perry.

Why change what worked as much as I wonder about McGoldrick he seemd to get some confidence after the penalty. Would leave the back four alone - James, Perry, Lancashire and Mills. Would leave the midfield pretty much alone too, McGoldrick, Surman, Cork, Lallana and maybe Skacel, White or Jake Thomson Up front Robertson who is the best forward, and better in some ways, I have seen in a Saints shirt since Beattie. The lad has good touch, good movement, is strong holds the ball up well can shoot and does not seem out of place. I don't think JP will change too much although Svensson for Perry as he seems to not like Perry for some reason playing him as a last resort.

It's a hard one to balance out. The real loser in all of what has happened is the entire sport of professional football. The teams, the national side and the fan. The teams see the success of the likes of Arsenal, which by the way is hardly based on the mega rich owner model of Chelsea. They have bought very well and sold at top dollar, they have continually qualified for the gold mine of the Champions League and they have made the most of their support in building the biggest ground in the best place. This is the best model in football today. Stable management, building a team from youth level through. The national side is suffering because as with every business the best employees in the world gravitate to the wealthiest and best payers, there are 20 PL teams competing for the best 20 goalkeepers, centre forwards etc, some with smaller budgets thans others. The best of our kids are now competing on a world basis just to play in their own top domestic league. The fans are suffering because to watch a footballer who is paid £150k a week or in Chelsea's case probably four or five paid over £100k a week they have to pay upwards of £40-50 pounds each. That surely isn't the budget of the working class man anymore, in reality gate receipts are a nominal part of the biggest clubs incomes. So Joe Average can no longer afford to watch the game every week, Joe Averages team can not afford to buy the players that will allow them to compete, and the national side struggles to put international class players on the pitch. Players like Defoe, Lescott and one or two others are good but not that international class. That is the story for the PL clubs, now take awy the chance of European money, £60m less a season in TV money, dwindling quality of players, the inability to keep anyone who is decent because PL clubs can dwarf wages, or fans are not willing to pay £50-60 to watch CCC football to pay those sort of wages and you have where all but those on the parachute payment are in the CCC minus a few exceptions like Wolves with Jack Walker's legacy and another wealthy owner. There are two answers to the problem - cap wages - which will no doubt have all the civil right people whining or fund the CCC better. As neither is going to happen we are just going to have to wait for the implosion in English football similar to that in Italy 5-10 years ago when all sorts were happening. Right now as a Saints supporter I am resigned to losing our best players not because they want to go but because the offers they receive will be too good to refuse. Let's face it if someone offered to treble your wages for doing the same job elsewhere would you say No? That is not Lowe's fault it happened to us when were in the PL, and we did the same to CCC because we had the power. So now we are faced with trying to match the wages offered by the PL on a sixth of the income. Ambition or go bust?

This is a typical ignorant referee comment. Nobody plays for a penalty, yes they get in the box because players are less likely to make a rash tackle, and yes they put their body in between the ball and the opposition. That is what I was always taught froma very young age. Diving is a different issue. However, I agree with you regarding the ref, one of the better ones letting a lot go that he could have pulled back. There were a couple of instances where a foul looked to have been committed about 25 yards out and fairly central yet he played advantage, I would say there is little advantage at having a free pop from 25 yards and the ball on the wing with your forward on his backside. Wouldn't object to getting him a agin though.

If that's the case we have been nationalised for the last four years.