Sundance Beast

Nothing changes - the usual drama queen's banging their drums until their match day silence at SMS. Gentlemen one very poor performance and here you are latching all your hopes on to it as a way of undermining the club and those trying to saving it. AFC Southampton - that's a scenario that will really have the punters flocking to Stoneham Lane, is it? It was a shocking game but I think a large part of the blame for that performance was the shocking and inept displays from the likes of James, Lallana, McGoldrick and surprise surprise Mr 12kpw Skacel himself. If you want to sharpen your swords then can I respectfully suggest you aim them towards Skacel and McGoldrick for starters, as for most of the game we were playing with 9 men and a couple of disinterested, talentless and clueless players that have ever graced SMS and that really is saying something. Surman's casual approach cost us their 2nd goal and his desire for 90% of the time to play it sideways or behind him he makes Ray Wilkins look penetrative with about 1% of his footballing brain. £3m for Surman and Lallana, yes please where do we sign? Every team has a bad day, Bristol Rovers and Hull last season. Lets hope Jan realises that a few of the players need an enforced Christmas holiday and the attitude displayed by some of them today, Skacel in particular, perhaps that is the eventuality he actually played for. At least 5 of our players badly let us down today and hopefully the management recognise that fact and deal with it accordingly. Only 1pt above relegation with half the season to play for it is better than being in the bottom 3 after 45 games and needing a win and some favours for survival. Huffton, with respect but the quality of your posts would suggest your 'source' doesn't have a clue and is probably a disgruntled steward or member of the catering staff. People who really know this type of thing are unlikely to release information to someone as antagonistic as you and tbh I would have believed it more had it come from someone like Um Pahars whose views I have major issues with and can't see us sharing a beer anytime soon but at least he can support his arguments and snippets with some salient points and business knowledge inside or otherwise. Don't tell us, you were in the john at the time, Jesus (well it is Christmas) and I have a reputation as a troll. Happy Christmas everyone I'm off on my hols.

Beats dropping into the bottom 3 after 44 games.

I would love Surman to go to the Skates for £8m but even they are not that stupid. What would turn my stomach is if we let false sentiment get in the way of what would be our chance for some legalised robbery. Anyway the Skates are in no position to buy and will be selling. Still a great bet to be relegated if you ask me and therefore a bit more motivation for us to sell underachievers like Surman and Lallana to ensure our financial security and CCC status. £3m for the pair of them seems achievable but not much more. Surman can't cross and can't tackle and I would love to see his prozone stats for complete forward passes. He also bottled the second penalty that Wooton stepped up to take when surely Surman was the obvious candidate. As for Lallana even Pearson didn't appear to rate him and that is hardly a ringing endorsement. If you rate Lallana you have to rate him on a par with McGoldrick and ask yourself in his role why Lallana has not contibuted more than one league goal this season? He is a luxury and light weight player who fails to deliver when through on goal. Can't see many clubs investing unless they need another Crainie as Cjb suggests. Neither player are in the Bale/Walcott/Bridge class. All 3 easily stood out in their teams and that cannot be said of L&S.

Rory I stand corrected. I guess the reasons for my eclectic tastes are that I'm a simple soul as I hear a song and I like it so I go out and buy it and don't care too much what the pseudos and their piercings in HMV think of me. It appears you buy music on the basis of how 'unusual' it is and ergo how cool you perceive it makes you. Did the Streets third album fail becasue the engineer was wearing yellow socks when he usually works better wearing red? I'm sure you can lighten us on some obscure reasoning. I bet people seek you out at a party don't they? Oh, btw, I have heard of your pretentious little bands as they usually get given a review in that cutting edge of the music industry the Sunday Times culture magazine, usually just after a much bigger review of the latest Mario Bros game. It can be a cruel dark world Rory but have a listen to the greatest concept album of all time it will help you understand all about pretentious fakes. It may be a bit embarrassing for you but widen your horizons and download ity in secret when no one is looking you might enjoy the tunes if not the lyrics - Supertramp - Breakfast in America.

'It's like hand-gliding over the mountains of Spain. Incredible.' Pseuds corner to end all pseuds. I suggest you may practice a lot of hand gliding and if the mountains of Spain rock your world then so be it. Incredible it most certainly is. Most of the recommendations are a load of AOR/MOR tosh, even the Kings of Leon have sold their soul to the airwaves of America. Record of the year Girls Aloud, no pretence and does exactly what it says on the tin. Failing that Mike Skinner's new album is back on form after suffering second albumitis and Sean Kingston's album doesn't have bad a track on it without the need to resorting to he usual idiotic sexual boasting and violence although that album may have been released last year but who seriously cares eh? Failing that Richard Hawley and Ray Lamontagne are the current unsung heros of serious song writing regardless when they last released an album. Time to widen your horizons without sounding like your a pseudo dj on Heart FM.

I deliver my opinions based solely on watching the team play and will always remain a committed if realistic ST holder. I agree both are talented English Players with some potential but at this stage I cannot see either delivering in the the Premiership and certainly not with full international honours of which you may expect, to achieve transfer fees in excess of £10m. Unless they find some Welsh or Irish grandparents. Neither have lived up to their hype and Lallana's goal return is someway short as our principal attacking midfielder. Lots of runs and occassional penetration but no end product, zilch. Surman has scored some important goals but his final ball leads a lot to be desired and is very inconsistent. I've mentioned previously on another thread just one game this season where he had the opportunity to deliver a decent ball from the left about 25 yards out and each time put it in the keeprs hands all in the space of about 15 mins. I can remember far more indifferent performances from both players than memorable performances and for so highly rated players is that acceptable? I accept your point about Surman being moved around like a utility player but would ask if he was so important as a central midfielder or wide on the left whichever is deemed his best role why is it so easy for him to be moved around. Pearson played him at LB as he was surplus to his optimum midfield, why? I would sooner be discussing reasons on why these two players should be kept but from what I have seen at every home game at least is that I am ambivalent about them and would rather the club sell for the reputed £3m than play the waiting game to allow them to realise their full potential which on balance would be a far greater risk. We need players who can consistently deliver and with the return of Holmes I would argue that BWP would be equally if not more effective than Lallana and score more goals supporting McGoldrick and retaining Jack Cork for a midfield role would be as effective as Surman, not to mention Euell and Schneiderlin and moving Skacel into LM with Mills slotting in at LB. This team are not reliant on Surman and Lallana but the hype that surrounds them makes us feel they are more intrinsic to the success of the team than a full analysis of their contribution actually supports. £3m is imperative to the success of the club and would allow a reduction in debt and servicing costs and allow some modest strenghtening of the squad where it is needed most and help to retain Cork who has been far more impressive than the two in question. If nothing else ask yourself what os Surman's success rate in delivering a corner our players can actually attack as oppose to chasing to ball up field when it was been cleared by the first man? Probably on a par with Skacel or worse IMO. I suspect Rupes will see £3m as big cash and not worth the gamble of waiting for them to deliver their potential. Lets face it for 2 players who are probably the first 2 on the team sheet after KD they haven't performed as brilliantly ss the latter and that has to be disappointing.

I have to agree. £3m for both is actually a good deal and the fact Surman has played at u21 level is irrelevant. Many have and failed to live up to the hype. Fact remains Surman's form for us has tailed off actually from the point of his first selection for the U21s and in the past 2 seasons he has failed to show the levels he reached in his first full season. As for Lallana we have to conclude that despite the expectation he has been largely disappointing and if anthing should have scored far more goals than Surman given their respective positions in the starting 11. Neither would be a massive miss provided some of the funds could be used to shore up our defence and increase our attacking options. Surman's 5 goals would be the biggest miss and the fact no one else as a true midfielder, therefore, ignoring BWP's goals from LM, is making a contribution. Bottom line is we need to generate cash to reduce debt and not accepting £3m and seeing their value fall away further will be criminal. 2 seasons ago Surman could have been sold easily for £3m or even more but not in today's market and certainly not based on his proven ability to be a success at a higher level, afterall he has not exactly been head and shoulders above the rest of his current colleagues in the lower reaches of the CCC.

An unequivocal yes for both my tickets. In fact my wife has become so passionate about the club and supporting the youth I may buy extra season tickets so the whole family can come along. I would even be willing to accept a small increase in prices if it aided the future of the club and kept the doom merchants in their joyless existence.

Given the resources available to Pearson and Poortvliet you cannot assess the merits of an individual's performance simply on numbers. You seem to have an in depth knowledge of accountancy so explain to me how you price an intangible asset like goodwill? Again, I am no statisician but the more games you play doesn't it become harder to increase your average and likewise the shorter your assessment period the easier it is have a higher average. The real problem though is that Lowe has had to sell off or loan out the high earners and Poortvliet has been trying to extract the best from the youth and those we couldn't get rid of and at the same time cope with injuries to arguably key players without the unchecked luxury of being able to bring in expensive loan replacements like Richard Wright to save his bacon and be the real messiah of our season. Lets not kid ourselves that Pearson would not have fared any better than JP in fact if he had been in charge Pearson would have probably completely lost it on the touchline yesterday and it would have probably made our result away at Hull last season look like a close game. Points per game aside, lets take into account all the other factors that are less tangible numerically other than helping stave off administration by effectively cutting costs. Wages 81% of turnover? A PL cost structure with CC revenue is one thing but having it in place in your 3rd season down and paying CCC players PL wages well that takes some doing don't you think? Within the constraints of the policies installed by 2 years of mismanagement by a bunch of wealthy but clueless directors equally supported by a frenzied bunch of blind zealots it could be easily argued we are having a successful season and I REITIRATE that Poortvliet is a better and more positive manager than Pearson and he will ensure our main objective and that is Championship survival and we won't need favours and a world class keeper to help us survive on the last day of the season. That Steve is my opinion and at the moment I have not seen or heard nothing on or off the pitch to change that so please get out your coach and tack up your horses but that is my view on the situation and we all need to be a little more positive and supportive of the club as a whole. The customer is alwasy right and usually goes elsewhere if they are not happy but in this bizarre world they seem to get some pleasure in kicking the bruised and battered animal fighting for breath to death and ruining it for those who are trying and hopeful of nursing it back to health. A small section of our fans seem to be full of hatred but without reason or justifiable argument. Its a modern day Lord of the Flies and the pig in question is SFC, William Golding would be proud to see his work on childish behaviour develop equally sinisterly at a football club in the 21st century. The pig will have his day and the mob will remain just that a mob without rule or say.

Is that the same Lowe who played his part in us achieving an FA Cup Final appearance and some decent Premiership finishes? I'm afraid Doug we reap what we sow and Lowe should not have been so zealously ousted by some and we probably wouldn't have been where we are today. Kick Lowe out now and unless there is investment we are screwed as a club. I assume you didn't make the effort to go along and support them as they were in your locality or are you these days just abother sad old man spitting your bile at the perceived injustices of this world? If we are in the same position in the league after 45 matches that'll be better than Pearson and as I and others have said all along this season is about survival. This place is like a morgue after a Saints win but after a defeat it's open season on who can be the most melodramatic in talking down the club's prospects when in reality who expected us to go to Burnley and get a result? Same as Reading but where were the merchants of doom after that result - quiet as embarrassed little church mice scurrying for cover until the next loss and their ensuing apocalyptic relevations of the demise of the club and all those inside it working bloody hard to save it for us and future fans. Seriously Doug, get a life your posts use to consist of intelligent comment now they are mainy *****y, inane, nasally and snide little comments that hold no basis in reality. Thankfully, you even failed to note we were 3 down after 11 minutes otherwise you would have had to find a word even more alarming than disgrace. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that no matter how disgraceful we were after 11 minutes you cannot comment on the FACT the team manged to stem the tide and actually make a decent game of it . Woe betide anybody who looks at our record against the top 6 teams, for fear of being looked down upon from a great height and have great vengeance wreaked upon them by the doomsayers for ruining their 'fun'. Why? Because they may find a scintilla of hope that actually having made it halfway through the season and still in control of our own destiny there remains a fair chance we will be in the same position after 45 games. Unfortunately, that won't fit the bleak and joyless existence of some of our fans who talk about the atrocities of Lowe as if he was a military dictator or despot or David McGoldrick. I reiterate once again, so far, better than Pearson and the driver from the wacky races managed to achieve and yet dress it up as success. Remember, Crouch was talking about playoffs this time last year when he appeared to get Hans Christain Anderson to write his programe notes so by anybodies standards our final position last season was a......disgrace, perhaps? If you can't provide some balance to your posts please don't bother as to say there is not one positive thing about Saints season is ridiculous and you clearly have a short memory and for starters didn't enjoy the victory over Reading, or we have been able to address the imbalance in our wage ratios and remain outide the relegation zone unlike Charlton for example. You can't even get the facts right to support your argument, its a disgrace we were 3 down inside 45 minutes. 45, 15? It was 11, didn't you listen to the game or turn on text or dust yourself off and go to Turf Moor? I'm sorry Doug but you've lost your sense of reality and what amounts to reasonable expectations and unfortunately you are not alone. Its a disgrace the Police can shoot innocent members of the general public without prior warnings and not be prosecuted for their 'mistakes'. Being 3-0 after 11 minutes and getting it back to 3-2 in the scheme of things is not a disgrace, given the strength and from of the opposition its not a bad result and merely a bit disappointing at worse, no more no less. Doug you're the disgrace at the moment and you don't even go to games when they are on your doorstep. Keep it real.

Fire sale Gordon? Or prudent restructuring of your assets? Surely, if we have to sell them then we want the board to maximise the returns on any player and if that means putting them up in the proverbial shop window and dressed attractively to attract buyers then surely that to is sound commercial sense. I suspect many of us have sold our old cars privately but not before we have spent a day cleaning them up in the vain hope no one spots the fact it hasn't been serviced for a wee while, or the MOT has 36 hours left on the ticket. Then placing a nice big picture advert in the trader that probably costs more than the car is worth or at least the cost of the work needed to put it straight. The trick is duping the buyer into paying 'top dollar' whilst making them think they have just purchased the bargain of the century. Football is no different and I would suggest IMO that McGoldrick's agent is expert in polishing turds and we were duped. If our board are touting Lallana and Surman to the media to maximise the price and dupe clubs who fail to do their homework in buying a high price then that frankly pleases me and it should you or any fan of this club.

Broadly, I agree with you but he remains inconsistent and I don't think he has truly found the form he showed in his first season and he certainly didn't flourish under Pearson's guidance. Based on his current form he would not be that bigger miss to the team and in terms of his passing range I can recall in the second half of one home game this season (sorry I can't remember the opponents) when he had 3 opportunities to knock the ball in from almost identical positions, on the left about 25 yards out, either from a free kick or in play and each time the ball sailed over our attack and ended up in the keepers arm. By his 3rd cross you would have thought he had got his eye in so to speak. Those incidents were all in the space of about 15mins and I can remember the frustration of the fans very clearly if not our opponents. In fact his crossing in general has at best been very ineffective and I'll be surprised if a Premiership club take him unless they can afford to give him time to mature as you put it. Having said that he has scored 4 goals from midlfield in the league and Lallana has disappointingly scored only 1 so on that basis alone Lallana should go but I feel he actually does add some attacking impetus to the team even if it doesn't materialise in goals whereas Surman contributes to the quality passing but without the cutting edge or runs. Bottom line they should both go if we can get players in on loan who can match their contribution but also add a stronger and more attacking/goalscoring element to the team whilst we must keep the services of Cork, nurse Holmes back asap and keep Schneiderlin. Also I think its about time we played BWP through the middle, he has scored some good goals from an alien poistion to him and is undoubtedly a far more accomplished player than McGoldrick, although that is not saying much. We talk about forgiving Lowe but lets not forget McGoldrick's underhit and casual back pass that masqueraded as a missed penalty shot. That was surely one of the most heinous crimes in a Saints shirt this season and his nonchalant response before and since is typical of the type of player and attitude this club doesn't need and never has. Reminds me of a young Stan Collymore with about 1% of the ability. If Lowe/Wilde have made one mistake this year its giving or authorising McGoldrick's 3 year contract. If we could sell him then that would be a bonus, not quite winning the lottery but perhaps scooping the thunderball nonetheless.

To be honest I would not be fussed to see either of them leave for pretty mcuh the same reasons for levaing already quoted. I'm surprised by those who think Surman is a good tackler, he isn't and mostly tracks/shepherds opponents and was IMO a disaster at LB, worse even than Skacel who based on his contribution/wages ratio is quite simply the poorest value player in the side. The trouble is who is going to come in for decent offers for any of them although I guess Skacel could go out on loan just to get him off the wage book. Both Surman and Lallana are a long way off Premiership level so which wealthy championship club is going to come in for them. I hope they stay but for the good of the club if we get some mug to stump up a £1m+ for either of them then that is great as long as we don't sell Schneiderlin and Holmes returns from injury and not forgetting the one player who has actually shown some real bite, and i don't believe I'm going to say this, Euell. Oh btw, if we do sell L&S then we must either sign Cork or extend his loan period and sign a striker on loan who doesn't walk around with his hands on his hips for half the game.

Very true Tamesaint. I can put up with reading some of the anti-Lowe stuff from the passionate fan, the typical man on the street, whose only avenue to vent his spleen is the fans forum. I don't like it but everyone is entitled to an opinion in a forum of fellow passionate fans be a boring place otherwise. What I do despise is people like Wheeler using their position as a part time journo to peddle their own private agenda against the club and potentially move it outside the forum. That's not to mention his veiled threats and challenges to me hoping to reveil my identity or enticing me for a chat, would that be a civil meeting do you think? The way he reacts when someone doubts his stance, must get through a lot of dummies. He gives me the impression he types his posts with his boots on. Would any self-respecting journalist, proud of their craft, take offence at the use of a legitamate use of vocabulary just because he has a close relative who is seriously ill with cancer? Statistically 1 in 3 of us will die from it so why was he the only one to kick up such a stink over it? Chances our some 300 of us currently have a close association with the disease. IMO it's overtly pious individuals like Wheeler that are the cancer on this forum (as I considered McMenemy to be IMO in the corridors of SMS) as they have the potential to spread their self-interested views to an audience who perhaps wouldn't ordinarily be aware of some of the unjust bile that gets put up as 'facts' and on this forum. I trust that answers your question and Mr Conspiracy Theorist aka Trousers. Its not only Mr Wilde who can change tact for the common good.

Greenridge, I don't dispute Pearson worked with and managed the England U21's for a while on a level playing field against other U21 sides. His time at Saints he seemed to prefer the seasoned pro to get us out of trouble as oppose to adopting the approach of mixing youth with senior professional as touted as a solution to our current problems by many on this forum. IMO Pearson was released because he was unable to evidence in his short league management career an ability to use the youth more intelligently. Most of the talent JP is having to rely on was presumably available to Pearson (and Burley for that matter) but he chose to hardly play Lallana and an out of sorts Surman at left back? Its just an opinion backed by the evidence of his team selection whilst trying to get us out of trouble and actually in the process leaving our destiny outside our own control. I don't particular favour managers like Warnock who appear to be in the same mould as Pearson and vice versa but even Warnock mixed youth with the old pros successfully last season, to pull Palace up the table.

Wes, first of all I would endorse your view of Salz and agree with you and SlickMick that without investment he would have to adopt a similar strategy. Where I'm not clear, is when you say that he would have to adopt cost cutting but not in the same way. Without any antagonism, I would like to understand how he could adopt a cost cutting approach in a different way other than the softer skills that you allude to with regard to his demeanour. Would it be simply a case that he will still have to sell our best assets but would have the personaility to be able to deliver the news in a different way that would make some fans feel better or others feel hoodwinked who prefer Lowe's more robust approach? I agree the board structure should not represent the major shareholders, in a post Lowe world, but the executive board should consist of shareholders simply because I believe it encourages them to act more diligently in the interests of the company although I prefer the term 'our club'. This is based on the premise if you own something, and spent a lot of money on it, relatively speaking, you tend to look after it . The non-execs are key and they need to be completely impartial with real business acumen, or with professional clout in their field of expertise and a personality to match. Our previous non-execs IMO have been toothless and readily ignored which is a concern when I see their role as ensuring the executive directors are acting in the best interests of the shareholders and therefore our club. All this of course is assuming the PLC status is maintained which may actually be the crux of the matter and not about Lowe, or whoever should or should not be chairman. I don't have enough expertise in how to dissolve a PLC to comment only to say as a PLC those in charge are at least accountable to the SEC and not just to themselves and therefore it could be argued we have as fans actually more transparency and can actually buy into the club if we wish but at the moment that may not be advisable. I'm happy with the manager at the moment and can see what he is trying to build. Pearson was erudite compared with what we were use to but perhaps if we all spoke Dutch we may say the same about JP. Pearson, IMO would not have been able to adopt the strategy the board have taken as his skills appear to lie with motivating senior pros who should frankly know better. Apart from someone like Cotterill or even Craig Levene if he could be persuaded to risk the English game again, there are not many managers who we could afford that I would welcome over JP. We are hamstrung by our finances and whilst Lowe may have made some poor decisions (who hasn't) they were compounded beyond all recognition in the ensuing two years for which he cannot be blamed nor proverbially and habitually beaten up if he has taken it on again on our behalf (and his as a shareholder) to try and turn it around. Maybe the removal of Lowe is not in the best interests of club unity and that unity may actually lie with us fans who perhaps should develop a little humility and forgive, forget and support until such time as a character like Salz throws his hat in the ring. Until then I don't see any potential candidate doing anything different to Lowe that will benefit the club and admidst a worldwide economic slowdown how realistic is it going to be to expect the £100m investment that I would consider the minimum amount required to elevate this club back to pre 2003 the easy way. If we make it the current way, even if it takes 5 years it will make us all puff out our chest with some pride that I doubt a modern day Chelsea or even Pompey fan has ever experienced. What was the greater achievement Gaydamak winning the FA Cup this year or us reaching the final in 2003. Personally, I prefer my success is earned and not brought and my support of the club is intrinsic to me and my core belief, love and motivation for the club and not extrinsicly motivated by boardroom personalities or stories of fairytale investment. We are doing it the hard way pretty much as Bates did and the club needs us all to unite and rally behind the team because at the moment there is no other realistic alternative. BTW - I appreciated your comment above and whilst I may have changed my approach I am still the same passionate fan. If I have changed it was due to the fact you backed me when I retalitated against the usual rabid nonsense I'm subjected to like many supporters of Lowe and in my experience do not get the support of the mods. That backing didn't go unappreciated from someone who I considered to be an arrogant enemy in an ill-conceived civil war of words. Time to agree to disagree and support and when Lowe's leadership is challenged then let the debate begin but until we are back on some kind of secure footing what is all this undignified and disunified approach actually acheiving? IMO it's more damaging than any boardroom policy in the last 5 years and like it or not it is manifesting itself on the pitch with some players looking almost scared to have a shot or a searching pass for fear of reprisal

JP I think was more experienced than Pearson. How many games did Pearson have at Carlisle when his goalkeeper saved him from dropping Carlisle out of the football league on the last day of the season about 8 years ago? If both CV's landed blind on your desks and you had to choose one which one do you go for? Pearson's short reign at Carlisle which was surprisingly not extended by a grateful Carlisle board or JP who appears to have certainly played at a slightly higher level if we can agree playing in a world cup final for a team that shaped a new generation of players was not within Pearson's lists of notable achievements. We should mention he had held down a managerial job for a lot longer than Pearson albeit at a lower level. Perhaps someone just considered a deserved promotion was on the cards and give us the benefit of his massive knowledge at all levels of the game. Merrington was questioning the Dutch tonight but there are a lot of good players still coming out of a small country so they must have something right. They just don't have our mentality, perhaps that is ultimately what won him the job.

JP has delivered an average of 1pt per game with a team mainly consisting of youth players. Pearson achieved an average of 1.15pt with a team of over-paid experienced professionals and despite having players like Lallana at his diposal he hardly played him and chose to play Surman at left back. Pearson was truly inspired, he delivered on his job description by putting us in the drop zone with 2 games to play and in a position where we were no longer in control of our own destiny. We still have a long way to go and with a degree of rational persepctive it is difficult to see us being in the same position that Pearson put us in last May, as we have a team though capable of throwing in the towel occassionally they remain a team capable of improving and getting great results like we did at Reading, Sheff Utd, Preston, etc. In fact looking at our record against the top 8 we have been very unlucky and its a football cliche but luck does tend to level out over the season. Bring on Burnley. Luck did level out for Pearson but only just, don't think it will be that desperate at the end of this season provided we keep the faith. BTW - a message for Dave Merrington. Please retire now, your comments are not welcome or warranted especially when you can only refer to some of our players only by their position and not their name. I didn't know Pearce was playing until he was substituted as Merrington just referred to him as the centre Half. Dave, instead of moaing about Jan's lack of homework or preparation have a look at your own preparation first and once you know our player's names and can identify them in your commentary then your comments may actually carry some weight. Otherwise, refer yourself to Roy Keane's amusing take on pundits, you fit the bill perfectly. You tired, bitter and sad old man. Finally, if by unity we mean the circus that was our last game of the season whereby 10-15k fans suddenly decided they wanted to come and support the club or rubber-neck and pretend what loyal fans they are then unity is something we don't need. Unity are those loyal 15k who regularly give or take a 1,000 or so, continue to support the club through the times they are needed the most. I hope in the unlikely event that we are in the same position at the end of the season that club issues tickets as per the Man U game so loyal ST holders can perhaps bring along a long suffering and equally loyal family member and keep those with a newly pressing need for unity where they have chosen to belong, on the outside. A lesson in how to play the long ball game is not cause for concern and if that's the sort of mindless football you want our young players to develop then good luck to you. They were outplayed tonight but they will also learn from it and unlike our seasoned pro's of last season can actually improve significantly and adapt. Just another 24 games and turn some of those unlucky draws and defeats into wins and draws and lets face it I think we'll see apprentices become craftsmen, hopefully at this club but then we are back to what unity actually means. Anti- Lowe, no they are more like conscientious objectors who prefer to shroud their cowardice in some moralistic side show of a debate. 11 men in Red and White (and a few boys) and a ball, battling on your underved behalf, that is what it is all about. They need your support not your pontificating and inside knowledge of the world of accountancy, duck hunting, machinations of a UK PLC, conspiracy theories and the class divide. Goodnight.

Wes, first of all lets acknowledge RinNY's quite brilliant post that is still not let down by one over exaggerated fact. Likewise, please do not resort to misquoting the facts and every record I have seen on Pearson's time here, was W3 D6 L4. You cannot exclude the Plymouth game as he was not nominally in charge he was in charge, he had been named our manager and spent the entire 90mins taking root in the technical area trying to identify our experienced professionals no doubt. Shall we say that he was not nominally in charge for what was probably the most abject performance ever seen by a Saints team, at Hull. IMO the team's performance at home is purely down to psychological problems, unable to live up to the unrealistic and unsupportive expectations of the anti-lowe contingent despite the supportive comments from their chairman and 'inexperienced' manager who shows great qualities in being able to nuture and develop youth and talent. A proper coach and against the likes of Pearson and Keane etc someone who has performed professionally at the highest level and trained appropriately for his current role beyond simply being an 'ex-English League player with the get stuck, tackle and hoof mentality'. Or in Keane's case just mental Pearson maybe performing well in League 1 but like players, managers like the rest of us know what level of ability we can perform at and when we know we are out of depth. Pearson will struggle next season and I doubt we shall see to many players coming out of the Leicester City academy.

He does, but I don't.

Your first paragraph is probably very close to the truth and a pity Crouch wasn't quite as open last year when he said there would be no need to sell players as the finances are fine, or words to that effect. Of course, he didn't mention loaning out players at the 11th hour of the transfer window or that our finanaces were so healthy we didn't have to resort to using an in house elastoplast when the Scottish FA made the most bizarre decision in football history. Your second paragraph, well what can I say Alpine, you're better than that and it is complete rubbish and conjecture, to be more pathetic than amusing. Put yourself in Lowe's shoes and I don't think he has done that bad a job since May and given the opportunity apart from serial some serial idiots the rest of us wouldn't have done things much differently operating in the same confines as the current board. Of course, Stanley displays the money management skills of a 5 year old, given his first £1 for his weekly pocket money and telling everyone he is going to buy a Wii tomorrow.

........and you stanley don't even have a plot to lose. Surely, Lowe is just managing the overblown expectations of the minority of our fanbase who don't believe that the confines of their own domestic finances don't compute to a football club or for any other business for that matter. Debt finance is finite and I'd rather have Lowe's honest and realistic assessments than the false promises and overblown rhetoric of Crouch. Tell it as it is and not what you think we'd like to here. Interesting you quote Churchill, undoubtedly a great orater and certainly seized his opportunity in WWII but eitherside of that the man was deemed a failure and actually was bought back to save us after Chamerlain. Draw your own parallels.

Excellent news, I have 2 season tickets and will be looking to buy as many as I can simply to keep the moaners and protesters out. Ahh Derry, not got going to get a little seat, shame. Should have a bought a ST or membership its about being recognised as a supporter who supports the club through thick and thin and not just when the Euroepean champions roll into town. Therefore, I think ST holders and loyal supporters at home games about 13k of us on average deserve to be looked after, whilst the 'I'm not gracing SMS with my presence until Lowe leaves crowd' can go and grovel at Lowe's desk and be given the Holley treatment. Happy days, life's surprises are a great leveller and all about the prepared vs the ill thought out, unprepared.

Much LOL! Only £1,000 per month, the man must be losing his touch for milking his achievement, either that or he is getting PR advice from TopGun.

I don't agree with your Klingon idea but the rest of your suggestion is sound. We can't re-experience the past and we can't guarantee to experience the future we can only experience and influence the present and a statue of Ted Bates and a dodgy picture of a second rate manager, considering LM's place in the greatest/successful managers list of all time, (501st probably) is not going to do a great deal to influence the here and now. Lets face it they were both recent additions and if anything we could blame them for our decline. Afterall a new scapegoat would be good especially as they are even more inanminate than Crouch on the receiving end of a hug from Pearson, or Trant at a press conference. Unbeaten in 3, 5 points form 9, who cares, eh?