Saint Fan CaM

The key to the answer to this question does not reside with Lowe I believe on this occasion - it will lie with the banks and with shareholders as such. If we are anywhere near looking like relegation candidates after Christmas, the pressure and decision to appoint somebody to save the club from that fate will be huge, as relegation will lead to almost certain administration and THAT is something Lowe will have to avoid at all costs. Lets not forget that for this reason alone, Lowe has taken a massive gamble, despite how upbeat we might feel about Jan and his plan.

Nice post - most will agree. But then I suspect the minute Lowe sells one or two of our best youngsters to raise cash thus upsetting the balance and team spirit of the side, there will be a somewhat more negative vibe on this forum. Of course this may never happen - I truly hope not, because we need consistency - this club needs consistency. The kids - the new generation of supporters - need consistent heroes...not go out and buy a Saints shirt with Sneiderman or Surman or Gasmi on the back, only to see their hero sold on to a 'bigger' club. If Lowe REALLY wants to turn back time and take us back to a time when agents didn't rule the roost, then he needs to develop a backbone and keep this team together as long as possible.

Completely agree MOG. It's my firm belief JP will win or lose many games this season due to his inexperience to deal with a variety of different opposition tactics. You could see very clearly that the youngsters lost confidence and composure when they realised Blackpool had them sussed and stopped them playing. It happened quite quickly actually - well before half-time. And JP did not act early enough - he should have brought off Gillett who very clearly was having a mare of a game, partly because of his inexperience to change out of a system the Coach has imposed and partly due to his physical size. The 'plan B' does not have to be about changing from a 'passing game' as suggested...the fact is the midfield is narrow by design using JP's formation and opposition teams can easily squeeze the life out of our midfield play by packing the midfield and applying pressure to the likes of Gillet and Sneiderman. We need to change the formation in these circumstances - not the STYLE of play!!!

Very disappointing game - was expecting so much more. This match for me confirmed my belief that it will be the coach that determines whether we have a good or bad season. I think the players have it in them, but if the coach has no idea how to react to a team such as Blackpool we will end up losing more than than we win...probably many more and face relegation despite playing pretty football for some of the game. Welcome to the CCC Jan - you need to up your game or watch your young team lose a lot of faith and confidence.

"you numpty" - nice...by writing that you are as responsible for the infantile postings on here as anyone else! As it happens, I agree that there are some that sway between despair and elation regularly on here and it is comical. I also happen to believe that providing they are not hurting me physically they have a right to their opinion whether I like it or not and do not need you or anyone else for that matter telling them they're wrong. In terms of the Sun - as much as I despise that type of journalism - they write that way to reflect the mindset of their readers....it really is that contrived. If more people started to buy the Telegraph they would switch styles in an instant because they want to maximise sales.

Good luck to Mick, son and family. Sincere condolences to the driver and his family.

So what you are saying is, even if the team play poorly on Saturday and fail in some manner (e.g. defensive nightmares), we are not allowed to post anything that criticises the team in any manner whatsoever? Come on - get real - this is football...not some mummsy little boys tea party. Part of the joy of the game is to have some banter on the pros and cons. Doesn't mean we love the team/club any less does it? It's just banter on a footie forum FFS - enjoy it for what it is and stop being so PC and authoritarian. IMO.

Fantastic result against the awful team that is Derby who I really hate with a vengeance. Well done to all players, JP and of course all travelling fans.

Just one small amendment to your thoughts there Alpine - its a crying shame that JP doesn't have the FUNDS to buy HIS tools to do his job. The large throbbing tools that Burley bought-in were and still would be, largely hopeless under JP. IMO.

If he's not here to replace Surman then good news. If Surman is off, I will not be so chuffed - he is the only player that has Saints written through the middle of him and I don't want to see him go.

Thoroughly enojoyed the game until KP put in a scrappy poachers goal. My problem is not with the team as such, its with JP frankly. We appear to be so one dimensional the opposition will find it easy to figure out how to break us down. I said at half time that I hoped we would be prepared for McLeish changing things in the 2nd half - and then Stern John gets taken off - madness. I am also concerned that we will struggle to cope with the team that play direct to two lumbering forwards - there appear to be few options. And selling Davies is just awful...a real indication of how poor we are. I am still much more positive than I was after seeing the team perform today. The big, big issue for the team and indeed the club IMO is how long it takes to win a game, let alone a STRING of games...if it takes too long the youngsters just may not be able to recover. All the team were great today BUT - Gilletts physical size is very suspect in this rough league; Surman needs serious defensive coaching as he is getting caught out far too often (e.g. letting players get behind him); Perry needs to watch he doesn't get pulled out of position.

Why the polarised views? There's good solid middle ground to be found here surely? The best thing JP appears to be doing is getting some consistency into the side...i.e. if a team is performing (and preferably winning) then don't change it. Succesful CCC sides are the ones that do not chop and change. However, it is important to get a good balance of youth and senior heads. In this league, it is crucial that the backbone of the team needs to be hard and experienced, otherwise we face the danger of being the team that plays the prettiest football as we enter into administration. There is a very real danger this could happen IMO - it truly concerns me that JP and Lowe will not act in enough time to avert a disaster later in the season. So in summary, there's room for a balance of experience and youth and I feel sure JP will include Stern to provide this.

Why oh why is it just before half-time we switch off and concede? When will this ever get addressed?

Sounds just as I feared - good defensively and midfield - no attacking threat. This will be our undoing. I really hope Lowe is not dictating to JP that he cannot play John or Rasiak.

Don't worry - you're not. Of course we all want the fairytale to come true, but the signs are there that this will be a rough season and if we get hit with injuries we will find ourselves in the same mess as the last Prem season, except this time we'll face L1 and administration. Make no mistake - this is still a massive gamble.

I bought them via the website and it let me choose the seating area - why not tell me then that it was unreserved seating? It really hacks me off the way the club is so poorly managed in this regard.

Positives... 1. Lots of possession. 2. Good, quick passing game. 3. Davis good game - better than Bart for sure and defo no.1 goalie. Overall, at half-time I was starting to think - "I might actually enjoy next season - perhaps I've been wrong about the coach" Negatives 1. In both halves the defending was awful at times...particularly Thomas made some terrible blunders for a seasoned pro. But the youngsters in the 2nd half were not up to the job. 2. Despite good passing and possession, the goal threat was weak. The only striker that has the ability to shoot with feet it seems is Stern John and he is just not getting the service when we play hoof ball to Rasiak. This REALLY needs sorting out - DMcG is NOT good enough to get us the goals we need IMO. 3. I paid good money to choose my seats in the Kingsland only to find it was a free-for-all unreserved seat match and my seats were taken! Once again the club tramples over its customers FFS. Anyway, in summary I actually think we will do OK if we keep John and/or Rasiak. Not top half, but not relegation and thats a definate improvement over what I thought 24 hours ago. Bring it on.

At £750k/year wages, I would hope Euell scores 15 goals, makes 20+ assists and is instrumental in ensuring our promotion. If he plays anything like his 1st half season last year, he should be paying the club for the privelage of putting on the shirt...

In the 'old' forum, there was some kind of tracking cookie bug that my security software regularly picked up and got rid of. Did anyone else get this? MODs care to comment? More importantly can the MODs please give assurances to users of SWF that no spyware or whatever is embedded in this site? An affirmative answer will give me more incentive to pay for the privelage of using the site. Thanks in anticipation.

A very well connected person told me recently that if it did not happen by the end of last week, it seemed very unlikely that it would happen. I have every reason to believe said person, but the difference between the share price now and what has been offered and agreed by all players seems too good to be true IMO. There's more than one player apparently still, but I have severe doubts we'll be seeing a takeover anywhen soon.