Super_Uwe

Ridsdale is a weird one as ultimately he left Cardiff having achieved his three main objectives which were to stabilise the club in the Champ, build a new ground and find investment. Where he has gone wrong IMO is what I can only describe as his penchant for gambling and taking chances. I don't know who was responsible for the whole saga, but for Cardiff City to actively ask their fans to buy season tickets with the promise that the money would go to buying players, only for it all to be scrapped due to their financial/tax issues, was shocking. It was a terrible error of judgement for which there was never any sort of apology. You can't tell me that no-one in their board knew anything about these problems - you don't just find yourself with a massive tax bill and millions of pounds worth of debt overnight - and yet they still went ahead with this charm offensive. On balance, I actually think he could have something to offer a club due to his contacts within the game and experience, but I just don't think he is someone you could completely trust - he has too much baggage and has never totally proven that he has learnt from the errors made at Leeds. Anyway, back to the original point, Argyle are a kind of second team for me these days as my in-laws are fans, there's a lot of funny stuff going on behind the scenes there with Japanese owners, a limited company that supposedly owns the ground etc. Coupled with dwindling crowds and the likelihood they'll have to ship out their better players in January if nothing changes on the financial front, things look quite bleak.

What?! He's not coming back? I don't believe it. That's Christmas and New Year ruined then.

I don't disagree that he spends a lot of money, but at the end of the day his job as manager is to put together the best team he can and be successful. If he's able to get his chairman to spend fortunes that may or may not be there, then good luck to him. The Kraken was suggesting it was his fault that John Utaka was getting paid silly money per week at Pompey; I'm sorry but the board of directors who sanctioned that deal have to take at least equal responsibility for that, if not most. Managers find players or are alerted to the possibility of signing someone in a number of ways, but all they can do is put it to their board and hope they can strike a deal with the other club or agent. Unless you're suggesting otherwise... I know what you're getting at with respect to shipping out players that could have done a good job; again, I don't disagree with that at all, but that's football. A face that fits for one manager could easily be out of favour for another. Redknapp clearly likes to freshen things up and, yes, he probably could make better use of what he already has. But his job is to be successful on the pitch, and that's the way he does it. He gets the players he wants playing the football he wants. It may not be particularly efficient but it's proved to be effective (although without any doubt not for us).

I will always look upon Redknapp as a failure with us, but I have to laugh at all the people having a go at him for being a "chequebook manager" and "only any good if he manages his way". Much in the same way that fans don't like to see the board meddling with footballing affairs, how on earth can people have a go at him for spending loads of money? Do people think he used to go into his chairman's office with a shotgun and say "Buy this player or you're dead"? Of course not. He asked for players and, clearly on most occasions, got them. That involves the consent of a board who can quite easily tell him to clear off. But most of the time they didn't/don't, so that is hardly his fault. It takes two to tango. At the end of the day he's an old school bloke, but what he's done is adapted with the times. I don't like some of the c*** he spouts out in the press, but he knows how important the media has become and has made sure that his reputation has never really been tarnished (how many times do you hear of him being the ex-Southampton manager? Answer - never). I think that's smart rather than bent, don't you? Football has changed and has become more scientific and technical, but whatever the likes of Lowe/Clifford et al would have you believe, Redknapp knows what the f*** he's doing and is hardly a dinosaur. But I just wish he'd never even had an interview with us because it was a disaster waiting to happen.

Beat me to it, doh!! That performance was something else; it was just incredible. I remember thinking we'd just signed someone who potentially could be a world-beater, but as time has shown he was never able to replicate it on a regular basis. He was nevertheless one of Harry's better signings along with Quashie.

Yep, that's about right! In my opinion we wasted Matt Oakley's talent plonking him in that crappy holding midfield role. I guess there was little option but to put him there as Delap was seen as being the one to push forward (Strachan made the decision early on that Delap was a liability at right-back and so put him in the middle), and obviously when he played with Svensson - well, there was no chance of him getting too far forward! This position has different variations throughout the world, but in English football if you're going to play there you need to be able to put in a decent tackle and help protect your defenders. He wasn't a particularly good tackler and had a lot more to offer than just simply passing it 5-10 yards (which incidentally he did very well). He's filled that role very well over the years but for me there will always be an element of regret that we never got the best out of him.

I think we as fans have also struggled to accept where we are. Yes, we SHOULD be doing better, we SHOULD be in a better league. But we're not - we are where we deserve to be after the past 6 years. That's the simple truth. We have no divine right to be in the Premier League or the Championship. The good news is of course that we are moving in the right direction, and we do have the infrastructure to make a fist of it if we get back to the Premier League.

I think most people agree that Pulis and Forecast should go, but I just can't see it. They are here to stay IMO, I just can't see us being able to ship them out.

As the OP states having Ormerod back in his prime, then I'd certainly pick him over Barnard (although I do like Barney playing for us still). We all know he wasn't the greatest finisher in the world but the energy he brought to the team was immense. And he did score some goals as well, it's not as if he was completely hopeless in front of goal. If you could plonk a player like Ormerod at his peak into a League One, it would be fantastic.

Going back to the original point, all I can say is that it's a damn shame that both him and Nathan Dyer are now starring for their respective clubs. There's no doubt both of them were going nowhere with us at the end of their spells here (for obvious reasons), but this just makes it all the more frustrating that we couldn't get the best out of them. There's nothing I hate more than watching players that we're happy to drive out the door turn it on for their new clubs. My in-laws are Argyle fans and they're obviously worried he could be off in January; strikers are always in demand and I wouldn't be surprised if a mid-table Champ side comes in for him. Mind you, Peter Reid had a bit of a cryptic quote the other day saying they couldn't have given him away in the summer even if they'd tried! That's football for you.

It would appear some people genuinely think he'd be rubbish for us in League One. You have to laugh really!

I think you'll find he probably chose Wales because he's Welsh! That's not an issue of pride, it's a statement of fact. It's like when Le Tiss was potentially sounded out about playing for France; as far as he was concerned he was English and that's who he wanted to play for. There's no stupidity involved whatsoever. It's true that he may go through his entire career without gracing a single international tournament, but at the end of the day if he can be part of a Welsh team that makes a Euro champ or World Cup then that would be a terrific achievement.

If you've read his autobiography, to me it's fairly clear that he never really got a chance to buy the exact players he wanted in the close season of 2003 (although KP was decent enough). I can't remember the precise figures but he went on about possibly having the chance to buy Louis Saha and Steed Malbranque for something like £10m+ combined, although that was an amount of money that simply was never going to be made available (and before anyone says this is a pro/anti Lowe comment, I am merely stating the fact that we have never been in the market to pay those sort of fees). We'll never know what impact they might have had, but they would certainly have added something different. That close season we didn't really do well enough in the transfer market, and I think deep down he probably knew that he couldn't do any more with the players he had. The way he left in the end was disappointing all round as he went out with a whimper really. As for his current spell at Boro, it just hasn't worked out for him at all, especially when you look at the players he's bought. He doesn't seem particularly chirpy in interviews either although that ain't too much of a shock!

The whole Liverpool saga is just very sad and it just goes to show how desperate clubs are for investment; and we're not necessarily talking about investment going into anything in particular but rather to simply cover their costs. Football has had a fantastic run over the past 20 years and vast riches have flown into the game, but a new model will have to be found soon.

I don't understand why there is some much hatred of some ex-players when they leave! To be perfectly honest, he came in and did a good job and then went fairly soon after. But it is now clear we hardly had a penny to our name back then, so it wasn't a massive shock he left for me personally. If anything, his track record with injuries since shows that we did pretty well out of it!

I think it's good to see and supports my opinion (and that's all it is) that NA won't have mega-bucks to spend for the forseeable future. I believe one of his key tasks is to get the best out of the entire squad (which has had significant investment) and players like Seaborne will now have the chance to prove themselves. Two clean sheets in a row and getting that goal at long last will hopefully do wonders for confidence all round.

To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if Nigel Adkins put him on the bench just to see how he reacts and whether he really has the guts to make something of his career or if he is just a waster who doesn't give a toss. Adkins has already said that he's coming in with a clean slate, and players like Holmes in particular will now have the opportunity to prove themselves. We're paying x amount a week for the privilege of his services (which so far haven't amounted to anything) so if he can offer something then I'd rather he did something than nothing at all. Professor is entitled to his view - I haven't seen him play either so I can't offer any opinion on his ability - however there's something clearly wrong with an outfield player who has played less than 40 games in 8 years. In my opinion there's just something not right with the whole deal as no club would choose to offer a third year to a player with his record - it just doesn't make any sense.

It is bizarre but to be honest I don't think we as Saints fans are alone - I think football fans in general have become less and less patient. There's an indirect link (IMO) mentally with the amount of money players are paid to how they should perform, and as a result people are much less forgiving now when things go wrong. You could possibly argue that football in general has only got itself to blame as there's very little that fans now have in common with players, but other than that I just think there's a massive load of people with chips on their shoulders who think they're owed something and football seems to be a way of venting their frustration.

My wife hates football, and did so when she was just my girlfriend. I remember the game well as it was a crock of s****, a 1-0 defeat at home to Sheff Utd in 2005/6. It was freezing cold as well (below freezing anyway), Neil Shipperley played that night and was throwing his considerable frame around, and it was gash. To top it off I also accidentally kicked her when leaping out of my seat to berate Rory Delap for spooning his 645th shot into row GG (or whatever the highest one is). I doubt I could have ever convinced her that football was any good, but I succeeded in making it worse. A top effort I think you will agree.

Whoever comes in will have a real tough job as the expectations will still be enormous. I'm still really worried about the effects the past few weeks have had on the players, but as we all know football doesn't really have any resemblance to real life anyway - a few wins and no-one will give a toss whatever happens. Personally I would absolutely love it if we had Tony Mowbray as boss; he didn't have the best of times with Celtic but I am a strong believer in the way he plays football, and I'm sure he will have learnt from his mistakes during his time out. Whatever anyone might say, you don't become the manager of a club like Celtic if you're a mug. Nigel Adkins again would be a solid appointment, he's earned the right to take his career to the next level and I'd certainly welcome him to the club. But - it'll all depend on how they are going to fit in to the structure and whether they really feel they are going to be supported or not. Let's hope that the new manager will be supported 100% whoever he is.

I have no idea what the deal was, but my assumption (and that's all it is) is that we were so strapped for cash at the time that this clause was added in as a bit of a "sweetener" for Stoke. Tony Pulis must have known that his son wasn't going to make it in the Premier League so perhaps it was a case of "I'll scratch your back and you scratch mine". Before anyone says anything, I have zero evidence and am just trying to make sense of it all. It's got to be one of the most ridiculous transfer deals ever, who on earth buys a player that is never going to get a look in and then keeps him for not one, not two, but three years! The fact he says absolutely nothing in the media really grates with me; I wonder if that was also another clause added into the deal that he had to keep shtum about it? One word - joke!

I'm quite surprised we've only signed 72 foreign players over the years; it seems such a low number but I guess that's because of the number of foreign players that have come to play in English football over the past few years. Given your explanation of the selection process, I'd be inclined to agree. Would maybe add Trond Egil Soltvedt as generally OK but think you've covered all bases. Think you are right to leave Fabrice where he is though, what a shame he lacked the mental capacity to be a top player. Think he's retired now or playing for someone really random, what a waste!

I'd be somewhat underwhelmed if he was appointed, but who knows anymore? Perhaps he's the ideal candidate to take us forward in our five year plan. What the hell would I know.

For me it's a sad day not only for Saints but football in general - of course no-one really knows the full facts behind this decision, but it merely reinforces my personal view that professional football in its current guise is gradually losing the plot. How you can sack someone after winning an away match 4-0 is beyond me, irrespective of whether there are tensions between the coaching staff and the boardroom. It is quite simply deranged. That said, we have no option but to wait and see what happens and keep our fingers crossed that this (somehow) galvanises the team and focuses them on the task in hand (which is to win promotion at all costs it would seem). We still have arguably the strongest squad in League One and I hope that they can all try and be as professional as possible. I agree with the other posters who suggest there must be some sort of Plan B with respect to the next boss, even if the statement suggests otherwise. On a final note I wish AP and his other sacked staff all the very best; I just feel totally bemused that it's ended in such a farcical manner.

To be fair, whilst some people may be overly ecstatic about the result yesterday, I think you'll find that there are still a fair few people who don't think we're the finished article. I for one have tried to remain patient and am delighted with the comprehensive nature of the win yesterday, but all we can hope for now is that it allows us to build some momentum. You're entitled to your opinion and some of what you say is fair enough, but let's not try and tar everyone with the same brush eh!