Delmary

Morph's been a bit quiet. Wishful thinking on his part IMHO?

Salz has been Executive Vice Chairman of Rothschilds Bank since late 2007.

Interesting. But how?

If we get taken over I would want the club to get the best players and manager available within our budget. That could mean sticking with what we've got and adding a few experiences pros or getting a top manager like WGS and letting him buy the best players available to complete in this league. Ulimately the answer will be determined by the amount of money made available for players/manager from a takeover.

Read this and make up your own mind: http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=54402 I think I even spotted an alpine Fox on there;)

I admire your enthusiasm but the off field problems can't be ignored. We are heading towards the rocks if we don't get investment in soon. Even when we eventually clear all the high earners our operating costs will always be too expensive for this league (stadium and Youth Academy etc). Of course if the crowds return (plus 23K) then investment is not so vital but with the credit crunch now affecting many the prospect of crowds pushing 23K is unlikely.

That's why football can be so wonderful to watch. It can be a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Let's all enjoy this brillant result and not focus on the negatives.

FFS don't be so negative;) Brillant result. COYR.

Equally relevant and true today??? Simon Jordan The Observer Sunday February 5 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2006/feb/05/sport.comment1 Lowe's high-class guide to being a low-rent chairman How does Southampton fans' new song 'Swing Lowe, Swing Rupert Lowe' rate as anti-chairman abuse? Personally, I like it: it's not tasteful, but a rugby song suits, and it's been a while coming. Under Rupert, Southampton have reached a cup final, moved to a new ground and stayed in the Premiership while bigger clubs fell away. But the fact that in two-and-half years he's gone from a Cup final appearance and tacit acceptance from fans, to 'swinging from the Itchen Bridge' shouldn't be cause for surprise. There are two levels to this abuse, and it does need a disclaimer. The song is smart, but the associated hostility isn't: on that level Lowe deserves sympathy. Fans don't have the right to brickbat chairmen, to threaten them. I also can't see the advantage, as Lowe has pointed out, of turning St Mary's into a hive of negativity. He won't walk out of the club because people are being catty - he'll go when the financial package is right. So why drag the team down in the meantime? The second level, though - the sentiment - is unputdownable. However you look at it, Rupert has earned this opposition. His comic-book pomposity, his superior air, his 'RL' training-ground tracksuit - all those things make him alienating and hard to work with, but that's just his way. The more serious factors are these: his image, fair or not, as a chairman living vicariously through his club; his commercial agenda; and the sense that not only does he not take fan opinion seriously, he simply doesn't understand it. The tipping point - where the collective fan patience totally snapped - was Theo Walcott. At first glance his explanation for the sale seemed sound, the fan reaction ignorant and unfair. FA academy contracts are unprotected, he said, and having 'mistakenly' allowed the boy to play first-team football unprotected, he faced either negotiating compensation with a new club (£12m), or going to an appeal (£400,000). So he did his best for Southampton. That point, in isolation, is fine: yes, the FA are complicit in throwing open the doors of academies, allowing agents to crawl all over and unsettle pubescent boys. It's sick, and, as Lowe says, it 'needs to be remedied by the football establishment as a matter of urgency before the academy system is discredited'. But here's the problem. Rupert's background, his track record, totally discredit his posturing. What is the 'football establishment'? It's Rupert. He's been an ever-present, opinionated participant at the top level for almost 10 years, offering blue prints to change the game, talking up his academy. So did he really not know about the lack of protection around youth players until last month? And how does that apparent lack of knowledge square with his academy's recruitment programme? Dexter Blackstock taken from Oxford; Notts County's 16-year-old David McGoldrick; another Notts County kid, Leon Best, signed for £50,000. And then there's the £2,000 he paid Swindon for an 11-year-old in 2000 - a kid called Theo Walcott. Hypocrisy aside - and let's be fair, by being hypocritical Rupert's showing he may be a 'football man' after all - fans must wonder how much of a body blow, a 'deep disappointment', losing Theo really was for him. Since relegation, Lowe has released 25 players and brought in eight: the moment he's outside the Premiership comfort zone and working in a far tougher business environment, he rolls over. And the biggest question of all: how can he apparently not see why all the above is a problem for fans? It may sound glib, but a chairman really needs to know and to feel the culture of the game, to be a fan. Steve Gibson at Middlesbrough, Delia at Norwich, Milan Mandaric at Portsmouth: all single-minded, respected, committed fans. I'm not saying Milan grew up in Yugoslavia calling himself 'Pompey mush', but he gets fan culture. David Dein is another you have to admire - I love him for his total Arsenalness. He's one of those people who'll always come up to you, shake your hand, ask how things are going and then stiff you in the nicest possible way. He offered us Matthew Upson on loan in 2001 for a salary of £10,000 a week - we took him for two months, then later found out his Arsenal salary was half that. And every time we met in 2000 he'd offer me Christopher Wreh - that was his favourite 'favour'. I've learnt a lot. What they have in common - what I feel I have too - is commitment, an emotional attachment and a shared vision. It earns you respect in the same way the alternative earns you a hanging. How much warmth does anyone feel for the men who are in the game for the status it gives them, for the commerce or as bland front men for corporations, happy to posture, but with nothing going on behind their eyes? My predecessor at Palace - if you don't count Mark Goldberg, and it's best that way - was Ron Noades. He ran this club as a business. He drove into Palace with limited means and drove out 17 years later with £20m, two golf courses and the freehold of Selhurst Park. He ran the club exceptionally well - Palace's most successful era, with cup finals and fabulous league performances - but because of the divided agenda, the conflict between profit, stability and ambition, the club was held back from hitting the next level. That's the bottom line. If your business agenda is not aligned with the football agenda, the club can't accelerate and fans will get at you. And if you can't use fan opinion as a useful reference point to every decision - not to court popularity or go bananas Goldberg/Ridsdale style - but as a genuine, useful business guide, you'll go backwards. Lowe says, 'Criticism is part of the package of being a chairman' - a phrase that casts fans as hysterical know-nothings. I've made mistakes in my five years here, but the reason I'm not swinging from the Croydon flyover is because I've understood criticism, tried to learn from it, and can always point to my record to show my motivation is one-track. I came into the game at 32: if I hadn't made use of the natural exuberance and enthusiasm being a fan gives you, if I'd slotted into the background, kept quiet and become a boardroom nonentity, would my club have gone from administration into the Premiership within four years? What it comes down to is this. If Rupert Lowe got football, got the proles who pay him to watch it, got the reasons why he's unpopular, he wouldn't be in the hole he's in now. And that's a positive sign for the club game, a sign of its strength and ability to self-regulate. So what does Rupert do next? He could avoid quick PR fixes and try, really try, to grasp that sticking to an ego, money-driven agenda will feed the negativity. Or he could agree a sale price and go back to a life of ruddy-faced luxury. Faced with those choices, even Rupert must know his time's up.

I stand corrected £406,513 (2003-2004).

If I remember correctly Lowe was paying himself over £500,000 pa when we were in the premiership. Therefore, he's done quite well out of the club.

Thanks Glenda.

You could be right;) http://www.spencersofburley.com/property/1212951

That looks like it. Adds weight to Long Shot's post.

30,000 of course. But let's get one thing straight we're are heading into a recession and peoples' disposable incomes are tight. Fans won't pay big money to watch reserve team football. Plus the Lowe factor is affecting many.

I understand your sentiments but Lowe is responsible for this latest predictable crisis. His continued presence at the club is counterproductive, he just has a habit of alienating fans. Money is very tight and many supporters will only return when they start feeling good about the club again. I don't believe he can deliver the feel good factor.

I agree we should always play our strongest team available.

We can only afford half-time orange slices for a squad of 11, really:D.

I can confirm that the squad list contains 11 names only.

No. I think this forum has distorted your views m8. IMHO Lowe is bad news for SFC but the majority of Saints fans will always support the team over hurling abuse at the chairman. It's only on rare occasions that the masses at St.Marys turn on Lowe or whoever is in charge to express their frustrations. It's happened before in the past, way before Lowe turned up.

Interestingly, last Wed/Thurs JP on Radio Hampshire was asked who was his main penalty taker. Stern John was his answer.

Realistically what can he do?

You should read adriansfc's post. It's coma potential:D

Publicised on BBC 606: Over 90 signatures so far. http://www.petitiononline.com/loweout/petition.html

That wage bill is not sustainable. Back in 2005 the average CC Championship wage bill was about £5.75M for the whole season! Has anyone got any up to date info on average CC wage spend?