saint63

Well done Mr Crouch. This is a reasoned and illuminating response to rebut some of the acerbic generalisations from the current board made in the Annual Report, who seem to have lumped all post Lowe activity as one. We were relegated solely due to poor leadership at the time and failed to use the first year down to greatest effect - as other clubs have done. Mr Lowe has to take responsibility for the greatest errors of judgement and Mr Wilde for his subsequent role. Perhaps Mr Lowe will show similar humility and admit his key role - and his board - in our decline. This might, peversely, do him favours in the eyes of supporters.

Well done Mr Crouch. This is a reasoned and illuminating response to rebut some of the acerbic generalisations from the current board made in the Annual Report, who seem to have lumped all post Lowe activity as one. We were relegated solely due to poor leadership at the time and failed to use the first year down to greatest effect - as other clubs have done. Mr Lowe has to take responsibility for the greatest errors of judgement and Mr Wilde for his subsequent role. Perhaps Mr Lowe will show similar humility and admit his key role - and his board - in our decline. This might, peversely, do him favours in the eyes of supporters.

It's all about perception, I'm afraid. Mr Lowe will never gain the confidence of Saints supporters as the weight of evidence against his decision making history is so overwhelming. I won't rehearse the evidence against him, but there are so many predictable and unpredictable errors of judgement. As they say in politics - perception is all - and there is never going to be a way round this. He's stuck. I would suggest that it is now inevitable that if he were to step down there would be an additional 4-5000 on the gate just to celebrate. Mr Lowe is a lame duck (pun intended) simply because he can't carry the supporters with him. A fresh start is needed - almost anyone else would unite the fans!

Very happy memories of a wonderful period.

Yes, I did. We were on the way back until this lot took control back and gave us a Championship team made up of our Youth squad. Building up slowly means dropping to League 1, I suppose? No thanks. In 45 years of watching Saints I've never seen them in that division, but I'm more convinced than ever that's where we'll be if we don't stop this ludicrous experiment quickly. Somebody - come in and save us from this debacle. If I want to see a youth team play I can go and watch one near where I live and save a 260 mile return journey. I'd like us to put out experienced Championship players and integrate two or three youngsters - just like Lawrie Mac would have done.

Very poor - especially the first half tactics. We have no outlet up front and one way of playing until it's too late. It's still men against lightweight boys. We will only learn when it's too late, this model isn't working at Championship level. Pretty football alone is not enough. I'm afraid also that Lancashire is not good enough yet at this level. I started suporting Saints in the old second division. I have never seen them in the third tier. When did I first see them? 1963! We are aiming at unchartered waters next season!

It's not the cut backs I worry about - they were inevitable I suppose. It is the poor decision making since. 1. Replacing a manager who had an escape route under way. 2. Replacing him with a totally inexperienced coach at this level. 3. Over egging the competence of young players clearly not up to the level required at Championship survival level. 4. Poor assessment of playing need - a strong defence is the first priority. 5. Questionable loan signings. 6. Over emphasis on the role Michael Svensson could play. 7. Poor judgement on the impact the remaining higher earners would have on attendances and results. Basically, Mr Lowe has not learned from his previous mistakes. Poor decision making and leadership started this rot and now the process continues. It's not good enough just to have a strategy. It needs to be followed up by effective decisions to make the most of the resources available and needs created. Quite clearly, we are relying on the strategy and not making the right decisions to make the most of this opprtunity. Decisions since the start of the season have been poor and have made the opportunity created fail thus far. For this reason, I believe we require Messrs Lowe and Wilde to resign, not because their vision was necesaarily bad, but that their implementation of that vision has been flawed, ineffective and unsucessful. They are failing to deliver what they set out to achieve.

Davis has been excellent in the two league games I've seen him this season. His loss would be a serious dent on our safety in this league.

I am certainly not a 'flat cap' (whatever that means in contemporary society) but having 40 years experience of supporting Saints my view having watched the first three games is that youth alone will not keep us in this division. We lack the necessary quality and 'nouse' to cope with this league. I don't like saying this as I believe in youth, but there is an inevitabilty about the current situation. Svensson and Davis, our best players so far, can't be expected to do it all!

I'm beginning to think that the fire sale is moving into the area of Rupert's revenge on the club in a very personal way. Surely even he must realise that relegation is a certainty if we keep getting rid of experienced players. The gap between us and the other clubs is getting greater daily. This experiment is going too far too fast. Barclays must see the nonsense in us getting relegated - even smaller crowds, less other income....

Despite the work ethic of the young players in each of the three games last week - and I saw them all - I feel more depressedt han at any time since relegation. Why? Inexperience and above all a lack of quality in the team. We are lightweight, short of depth of quality and numbers and as a result can only go one way. Clearly this 'giving youth a chance' is the public way of saying 'cheap and cheerful to keep us afloat'. It hurts me to say that despite the efforts of the youngsters, our season will continue in this vein and we will not be out of the botton three. We cannot rely on Michael Svensson and the much maligned Kelvin Davis who has performed excellently so far, can't be expected to keep us in every game. Supporters are naive if they think that there will be any loan signings either. After 40 years of supporting Saints, they will be back in the league next season that even I can't remember!