cambsaint

Listened to some of the commentary on "Three Counties Radio", a surprisingly balanced account. At half time the commentator said, the supporters will be shaking their heads in disbelief at this scoreline. At full time their summariser admitted the Watford goalie should have been sent off for his first pen, and said Saints defending was simply shocking and naive and we needed two big strong centre-backs; he added that nearly all the good football came from Saints and that we had some very promising youngsters.

It is a real worry that these good young kids might become disillusioned and demoralised by a string of defeats. You don't bring promising youngsters on like this, their confidence will be destroyed, you mix and match with seasoned old pros who can't run about as much as before but who can read a game, and you need one gnarled and physical stopper in this league- Oh for a John McGrath, Jimmy Gabriel, and an Alan Ball to teach and protect these lads!

Quite frankly, the youngsters surprised me, I never thought they had a chance against a reasonably well-balanced, experienced and moderately good championship team; however they played better than I thought they would and at times showed great promise. However the fact remains that even if you are lucky enough to have a team of outstanding youngsters, you ensure that they are guided by experienced players. Our defending was woeful, but that is hardly surprising when you play only inexperienced youngsters with no physical presence. If we could add in at a minimum, one experienced full-back, one experienced central defender with a physical presence, one defensive mid-fielder with a good football brain, and a striker; then these youngsters would probably be able to take Saints forward. As it is all I can foresee is the best-Surman, McGoldrick being picked up by Prem clubs to be nurtured, the remainder becoming thoroughly demoralised and disillusioned and relegation and financial melt-down. I don't blame the youngsters, they're in an impossible situation. It is also not in their best interests to be exploited in this way. They won't develop properly under this strain, they are more likely to have their careers ruined. Without knowing the constraints that the manager is under I cannot wholly blame him, unless it is his and his decision alone to send out boys to do man's job. For the first time ever I'm glad that I live too far away from Southampton to watch them regularly.-and that includes every single season from the early sixties to now. In conclusion-Sorry Lowest, your plan has one fatal flaw-It just won't work. What's more the money you save in wages will be much less than that lost by plumetting gate receipts from falling attendances. Supporters, particularly in this financial climate just won't pay to be demoralised and upset watching a good team of youngsters be ritually humiliated by experienced pros Cambsaint

The only comment I will make on any take-over is that apparently our fishy 'friends' are for sale for twenty to thirty million. Their debts are apparently covered by player valuations, and Nottarf Krap comes nearly free. This suggests that our goodwill value is almost nil, and the buyers will just take over the debt, and mortgage liabilities. It could therefore come quite soon if existing major shareholders are prepared to accept such an offer. I can't see any sane person actually paying any goodwill. Cambsaint

I agree with the diagnosis, but not the prognosis. IMO a European Super League cannot be far away, and it will probably grow to include Asian clubs in time. I now hope for this with perhaps eight UK clubs-Arsenal, Chelsea, Glasgow Celtic and Rangers, Liverpool, Man City and United, and possibly Newcastle and a Birmingham club. Possibly with a minimum of five or six nationals in each team. We would then return to the sane and sensible model of the pre Prem divisions, and would see sensibly financed and reasonably paid predominantly home talent feeding the super-clubs. I used to see this as a threat, frankly now it can't come soon enough for me. Cambsaint

The management of Saints have yet to realise they are competing for an ever decreasing leisure pound. Lowe must be aware more than most of the macro-economic situation. Does he think Saints are immune from it. What is better 13K or so at £26 or 25K at about £15. Only the hopelessly fanatic and well off will pay £26 to watch a team that hasn't got a hope in hell's chance of promotion and is almost certain to be relegated. Then consider the economics of life in Div 3 (old) and 10K crowds with a ticket price of 10 to 15 pounds. I would have laid any odds on Saints going to the wall long before Lehman Bros and AIG. If they can go under anyone can. It appears that a club can no longer survive even at CCC level on fanbase alone. Even to survive at this level you either need very low overheads or a rich and foolish sugar-daddy. I don't claim to know what the answer is, but I am not going to pay even an oldies' ticket price and a full price one for my newly graduated and hopelessly impoverished son to watch Saints get beaten more than a couple times a year and then it'll be at Norwich and Ipswich. I am a fan, but am also a customer and my hard earned money has got to last me twenty years (if my dodgy heart holds out that long). Actually after writing this I am almost glad that Lowe is Chairman-it should be a very difficult time for him and be payback for the shedloads he milked when we were in the Prem until his giant ego mismanaged us to rel Cambsaint

What about a collapsing Bargate, with a ruddy faced masked man, dressed in a camel coat with a moleskin collar, running away laughing and carrying a bag marked swag; with a couple of scarved fans standing by watching and crying. Seems more appropriate to me! Cambsaint

Very true St Paul; before I read your piece I was remembering just how young inexperienced and gauche some of our great players like Channon, and Williams looked at the start of their careers. Williams was only the player he became because of Alan Ball. Ideally you would only blood three or four youngsters at a time, with our dire financial situation you could agree to trying to go six pros and five youngsters; but I am afraid if continued this brave/foolhardy experiment will end in relegation and administration. Additionally, are we not still contracted to pay those senior pros we have left languishing hoping to offload them? If so why the hell are we not playing them, surely their play and win bonuses aren't so high as to cripple us? Surely even Lowest can see that only the true super-fanatics will turn up to watch their once great team ritually humiliated time and time again. the extra gate money that success will bring will pay the bonuses. Cambsaint

If he needs a new left back he should look at Friend of Exeter City-the stand-out player on the pitch in last years play-off against Cambridge United (IMO) Cambsaint

[quote=.[/What they what to hear is that most of the £8.5m raised from the sale of David Kitson to Stoke and Nicky Shorey to Aston Villa will be reinvested in the transfer market. It isn't going to happen. Reading received a parachute payment of £11m but Madejski reckons relegation from the Premier League cost his club £22m. What's more, he has made it clear that plenty of funds have been used in extensive "remedial work" on the stadium. Add to that the large squad of players at the club and reduced season ticket sales of 14,000 and the owner has a strong case for suggesting that the club need to "cut our coat according to our cloth." I've been told that the staff at the club took a substantial pay cut as a consequence of relegation, while the cash raised from the sale of players will be used to underpin the deficit incurred as a result of Reading dropping out of the Premier League. I think there is a lot to admire in a chairman running his club with a very definite eye on the bottom line. Football is littered with tales of boom and bust, ridiculous overspending and chronic mismanagement. Fans want to hear about exciting new arrivals, though surely not as much as they don't want to hear about their club entering administration.=. If you read Paul Fletcher's blog on BBC Sport part of which I have quoted above then any large spending on a highly paid Surman by Reading looks unlikely. Cambsaint

Would you use your money to rescue the club with Lowe and Wilde still in charge and with large shareholdings. I wouldn't give a penny piece to most of the existing major shareholders, and that's where your money would go, and then you would have to sort out the debts. The sensible investor would only take the debts on and expect to get the shareholding it's worth -nothing! Cambsaint

Ruperteconomics: Lose the enthusiasm of the fan base. Attendance down by 5K/week=approx £125k x25(inc. cup games) =approx £3mill a year income + extras from drinks food and ancillary sales. This would easily fund three or four expensive players, and pay off some debt! Perhaps he was having a quick Barclays when he thought out his master.......plan. Cambsaint

Scooby: I cannot accept that the hundreds or probably thousands of fans who consider Lowe's mis-management of the club that undoubtedly led to our relegation as execrable, incompetent and laughable, and as a result are antipathetic towards him are so because we are all working class; this is clearly an asinine statement. Professor: Your quasi-erudite and specious argument that the strong emotions that Lowe has engendered in many fans is bizarre doesn't bear serious analysis. While I am perfectly prepared to believe that several fans may dislike him because of his class and money, most if not all Chairman have greater resources than Lowe and many are liked. The Cobbolds at Ipswich were not dissimilar to Lowe in background but well liked by Ipswich supporters, the old Saints board pre-Lowe were certainly not working class but not disliked, the majority of the Arsenal board are strictly old school tie and aren't disliked. Perhaps the fact that he clearly has no empathy with football at all and viewed it as a way to get rich quick and become a minor celebrity has more to do with their feelings. However the fact is that after relegation due to Lowe's football mis-management and the financial recklessness under Wilde, and the laisser-faire policy of Crouch the club is now in very severe financial difficulties. The most amazing fact is that a majority of the shareholders actually have confidence in the ability of the two men most responsible for the club's present position to rescue them from financial meltdown. No the logical reason for the antipathy that Lowe has created is due partly to his gross incompetence post 2004 leading to relegation and his courting of the publicity that his brief period of success under Strachan gave him. It probably doesn't help either that he turns up to football matches in garb more suited to a point to point or polo meeting and manages to provide a cartoon-like charicature of a 'Pythonesque' upper class twit. Cambsaint

As many others have said hate in this context is an immature expression, and I don't hate him. I do however loathe his involvement with Saints, I blame him totally for relegation and ultimately for the mess we are currently in. I loathe him for making me lose faith in Saints as long as he is involved, I don't want anything to do with anything he has a hand in. I wait with increasing desperation for the day when he leaves St Marys never to return. Cambsaint

I was looking at Google-map, if you continue on the A48 from the M4 then you come to a station called Waun-Gron park Station -one stop up, from Ninian Park station. It may well be worth researching further. Re coming from the Midlands any of the stations that are next to the A470 are very good to commute in from-but check current rail tiimetables. Cambsaint

When I was director and COO of a smallish but very profitable subsidiary I had a CEO who most people thought a very nice guy and absolutely charming, until they reported to him. He was the most ruthless bustard and a pure hit man, totally self-obsessed and only interested in his view. Moral of the story-todays executives often go to expensive classes on how to promote themselves, and can come across very nice. Don't judge a book by it's covers. I know nothing of Andrew Cowens so my observations are general warnings, not directed at him. Cambsaint

I'm really pleased to see Harmy back, and I hope Jones returns as well, genuine pace is needed at this level or unremitting accuracy-Mc Grath. I would have kept Collingwood as he can graft an innings out, and is a useful change bowler. I just hope KP can control his wilder instincts. Captaincy is a considerable burden, my son even at village cricket level always scores more when he doesn't captain. He says its very difficult to concentrate solely on YOUR batting. Cambsaint

If you are coming from the Midlands, then for the Cup Final we parked at a station on the Cardiff Merthyr line. There was a superb shuttle train service on this line, and it saved going into Cardiff. Be veryb careful of speeding in Gwent -I collected my only speeding fine in forty years of driving as I was late for the Cup final. Cambsaint

Rupert & Co saying the right things. Have I missed something? When did he say "I'm selling my shares and disappearing back to Gloucestershire to murder ducks and will never set foot in Southampton again." More seriously, he appears to have sold a partially proven and respected manager, got rid of a few poorly paid underlings, brought in a totally untried Dutch manager-a huge gamble-which may come off; and so far been totally unsuccessful in persuading much of the dead wood which the manager he appointed brought in, to forsake their grossly inflated salaries. We are still just as deep in the financial merde as we were when his henchman and turncoat partner bet the silver on a return to the Prem. Cambsaint

Sunday Telegraph has us finishing twentieth, same as last season. But who tipped Reading or Stoke for promotion, pre-season? Cambsaint