rallyboy

I have tried to look at all arguments fairly but it is beyond me that anyone can look at the management of the club over the last ten years and still think that Rupert has done a good job. Yes, there are others to blame, but can people honestly say hand-on-heart that they think with his appalling track record, that Rupert has the skills to salvage our football club? He was the Frank Spencer of the financial world before he came into our lives and I trust him as far as I could throw Ken Bates and Peter Ridsdale. So Lowe fans, please tell me what he has done that should make me have trust? The stadium was negotiated on a deal so bad it is still crippling us, so that doesn't count as a positive, and he has cut costs and slashed income this year - which is called closing down in my book. A genuine question - what has he actually done that has helped us, and for which I should be grateful?

yeah, fair play to Rupert, he really has managed to turn the club around. His intention was to get us out of the championship this season and he's right on course at the moment.

if the rest of the season is anything to go by it will be Kelvin Davis heading in a corner. He has carried the team for half the season and must realise by now that if you want something done properly you might just have to go up there and sort it yourself.

That result changes little, we still have to show more committment and quality than Forest and Plymouth. Barnsley have more fight than we do, sad but true. What I don't understand is how we got to the point where we are a smaller/less equipped/worse-organised club than Doncaster, Swansea, etc etc.

someone commented that they saw Swindon and we aren't that good, and I saw Orient v Crewe and we wouldn't have got much change out of them two either - teams battling at the bottom of the table. So Div 1 is no picnic, we may have to wait another year or two before we slide to a level where we can hammer someone. Is it just me or has the light at the end of the tunnel gone out?

Take That? We don't want over-the-hill prima donners going through the motions just for cash on our pitch.

flippin hope it is us, but in an ideal world my plan A would be to secure a four point cushion before going to the City Ground! Hopefully Wotte has thought of that too....

Guessing about managers? What a great game. Strachan's record before coming here was horrific yet... 'we should have got Hoddle back when we had the chance', his record after leaving us certainly showed what he is capable of as a coach and a man-manager... Burley was a quality manager with Championship pedigree. Woodward built a structure to keep England at the top of rugby for a generation. And Harry was the man to wheeler-deal us out of a crisis. Billy Davies?? Chimps could toss a coin and come up with an answer, which seems to have been how the current board has operated for a while so it might just work, we have to stumble across an answer eventually.

yeah, people wittering on about us catching teams in mid table when we can't see where our next goal is coming from.

Let's just have a reality check for those who still can't see a problem... I have seen people going on about Watford and Derby - FORGET THEM, they are way up the road, and the same goes for Blackpool if we fail to beat them - a point will do them a treat. Barnsley are likely to scrape points from their two in hand so they could be out of touch, and Norwich have found form and are getting away. So, Forest and Plymouth are the targets, if by winning at Blackpool we involve more then great, but can people stop getting excited when teams seven points above us draw?! And as for us settling for draws at there next three, forget it WE MUST WIN if we are to mount a serious escape bid. Forget the blinkered ''oooh, we are still mathematically capable of surviving, we just have to miraculously produce the best run of form since 1894'' etc. GET REAL, the table doesn't lie, we are down there because we are that poor and things must change.

I guess that is good news, maybe the other party will now be charged with wasting police time. And a nice touch from the Echo - when I looked the story was accompanied by an ad that read 'been the victim of rape or a sexual assault? You can get compensation'.... Great product placement and advertising ethics. Not.

For anyone who says that they don't care what our rivals are up to :confused: - you must never have been labelled a 'dirty scummer' and certainly couldn't have been there the night they committed the cardinal sin of abusing a minute of silence. Never forget. The rivalry is VERY real if you live on the front line and have to deal with it every day, you also get far more interested in their plight as a result. So, it's a HUGE day for both clubs on Saturday. If they get nothing at Boro they deserve to go down, and it is good to see that they are still five years behind us as their club is also a house of cards and the longer they hold onto their ludicrously overpaid players the more damage it is doing. Their business model and wage structure is based on Champions League income so staying up ain't no good to their bank balance. They will be forced to have a summer clearout and if they go down they could well be in a worse state than us soon, which personally cheers me up no end. Don't believe the hype, their figures don't stack up. 'Sven for Pompey!' - oh, nearly, it's minimum wage Hart instead.... So I proudly revel in their failure every time it happens!!! With so little to cheer can't we have a few laughs?

Let's get a roller on it, and I don't mean one of the reserve team players' motors. The ball bobbled all over the show the other night and when you have a couple of players who can't trap a bag of cement, you don't need to make life more difficult.

Positives from a dire game between two awful sides who scraped two crap goals?? Not many BUT We gained ground on Forest and Plymouth We took a point when we could easily have lost Negatives - in brief.... Several players looked like proper relegation material We scored one lucky goal and could have played until Christmas without getting another, was Saga playing? Skacel firing up the crowd - 'tell you what Rudi, we are doing our bit, how about YOU do yours?' Poor atmosphere I thought, though I was sat in the silence that is Kingsland centre last night where all is serene and you only stand up when the picnic hampers come out. And where was everyone, I thought the fiver deal would bring people out. Where was the atmosphere, passion and belief of the Cardiff game?

just had a look at the table, I am sure the more you study it the worse it gets! But I reckon our rivals could all get wiped out tonight, about time that happened, but the most important thing is what we do. Must win, must win!!! And then knock over those hairdressers from Loftus Rd and things will look MUCH better. Must win, must win!! And we can - I believe that, keep the faith, lift the roof off.

Tonight is MASSIVE and could be a turning point as others have tough fixtures as well - an opportunity to close the gap. If we win, the message it sends out piles huge pressure on our fellow strugglers. It would be the end of the world for Charlton and possibly Norwich. Saints would be seen as a club with momentum, no one would want to come to the cauldron of St Marys, and for the Blackpool and Forest fixtures it would be like having the league leaders come to your place. (ish!) As for the Watford game, the original date was when we had no idea who to play or where, and we would have got a pasting. BUT if we do get something there and it is enough to keep us up, we may wish to reflect that the snow did us a huge favour. Little things change seasons.

another cheery thread, thanks for reminding me that we are in trouble, I had forgotten. Could go several ways - 1. Same board, same protests, relegation - 7,500 dotted about. 2. Change at the top, stay up but struggle - 18,000. 3. Changes that satisfy the stayaways plus relegation, but a good start and top of the table clashes against Leeds and the like - 23,000. 4. Unlikely this one! Change at the top, stay up and launch promotion bid -28,000. 5, A dream I had - Change, stay up, ten points clear at Easter plus two domestic cup triumphs - 30,000. We are all only guessing, but whatever you personally think of him, it is clear from a fanbase point of view that Rupert is damaged goods and people will not pump more money into his plans. That change could alter attendances more than the division we end up in.

doesn't that just mean that our safety margin is lower?... Derby has always been a must win, nothing has changed, didn't expect anything today so no surprise, but next week? That has great potential...onwards and upwards.

I'd take a point but let's look at the big picture, time to be sensible and tactical.... WE musn't go risking injured players against a top team away when we have two winnable home games round the corner. 'We can fight and win every game!!' shouts the village idot as the squad hobbles off nursing injuries and red cards.... I'm not saying surrender up there if they are there for the taking, another 9 points by next week would be great but we have to prioritise and keep the best players fresh and non-suspended. No point in getting in a battle with Brum if it leaves the squad stretched and gets us two 0-0 draws at home. We might even lose 2-0 up there if the squad is tired, BUT we can then blow Derby and QPR to bits next week - 6 out of 9 would do for me. Panic ye not if we get nothing tomorrow.

if we are talking about Mr Wotte's homemade humble pie - yes he has proved me wrong. So a small bit for me please, and Mr Lowe will have the other 31 slices.

Calm down everyone! Brum are up there on merit, we could get done by the odd goal at St Andrews but Derby will be crapping themselves coming to us. Turn them over, QPR are already on holiday, the train wreck is back on the rails and going direct to Safety Central. hopefully.

Fantastic night. And if we are slightly disappointed with the other results, imagine how quiet it went in the Forest and Norwich dressing rooms when our result came in!! Get in there! Well done Mr Wotte and the players. Again.

Let us not forget that Rupert's dealings pre-Saints gave us the clue that he was the Frank Spencer of the business world so we shouldn't be surprised that his judgement is still 'a little shaky'....

I just saw the panicky look from Perry to Davis as the ball came down, from the Northam I didn't see the handball so the tv replay was a revelation. I can only imagine the officials were similarly unsighted as it was a blatant arm back to the keeper - technically a backpass! Now I feel quite bad about it, oh hang on, I've got over it already!