DaintyDave

Really worrying that one of the so-called "serious" consortia contains a completely discredited muppet who managed to not be able to even take over Bournemouth and let two complete chancers in the door there. Periphery or not, that is a massive concern. Plus now people hinting either Crouch or Lowe might be hovering - NO NO NO NO. This club needs a fresh start, and one that doesn't involve a fat bankrupt copier salesman. Where is he who would not let the club disappear?

To be fair Morph, your "source" is worrying if he is only just signing an NDA, they were issued to all parties prior to the initial documentation being sent out. All the 30-some parties who received the preliminary information packs were first sent NDAs, so not sure where this adds any credibility to things "moving forwards", Oh and 19, you never answered my question about whether you attended the Evening with LM/MLT - were you there supporting the club you love or were you one of those perky "stay away fans"?

Nineteen - I think you (deliberately) miss the point of my post. Your premise of your argument on here is that Rupert would not have rejected money if it could have saved the club, even if it meant going to LC for help. My point is that Rupert, along with Wilde and Crouch, rejected the SISU offer only 8 months earlier, and Leon never offered to put in 2m and to suggest otherwise is selectively disingenuous, Leon said he would put in his third of 6m. So when you are done twisting history, just remember, Lowe turned down SISU's money, he failed to match LC's offer, and so to suggest he would never turn down money to save Saints, frankly, makes you sound a little stupid......* * A little stupid being a vast improvement for you.

Er....Lowe would have given up control of the club if he could have saved it? Really? So does the term SISU mean nothing to you? The SISU who Lowe rejected at 30p a share because it meant he and his cronies giving up blocking control. So let's put that myth to bed immediately. Leon's offer was 2mm as long as it was matched by the two other parties. Why would he ever loan 2mm (one third of the money needed to keep the club alive) just to see it get squandered - 2mm wouldn't even see out 2009 at current burn rates - without anyone else putting in their cash......Wilde and Lowe supposedly have all these connections (20mm from Deutsche Bank in writing, Mr. Wilde, really?) so why wouldn't Leon, a humble machinist from Lymington, expect these two giants of industry Lowe and Wilde to be able to match him. Wilde - investment, lie, FACT Lowe - support of bank, lie, FACT Leon - offer of support, rejected, same as SISU's offer to save us was, FACT I am just sorry I included the very genuine Saints fan Leon Crouch in the same post with the two men who, along with some inept managers and some poor players, got us both relegated and now, as every day passes without signs of an offer, closer to the precipice of extinction. Poor old Coventry hey, they are in a mess compared to us with their investment that Lowe and Wilde both rejected from SISU.

Hopefully would never have to be stranded on a lifeboat WITH Rupert Lowe, although I guess if he was Captianing the ship, there'd be a reasonable chance it would end up sinking..............just based on SLH and what he managed to do since becoming Chairman of WHI!

Slight worry for me is the fact that if these consortiums (consortia?.....yes, consortia) have only just come on the scene and were not the tyre-kickers that Lowe was apparently showing around on a weekly basis before admin, then do they really have time to do due diligence etc on the club? I know at Luton they put up a deposit to get the club to the end of the year and buy them an "exclusivity" period but that was a small sum because, frankly, Luton is a small club with a small wage bill and small ground. Is anyone really going to stump up the money we'd need to get through the summer just for that right? Would I have Rupert Lowe back if it meant not being in this mess - absolutely. In the same way I would probably resort to cannibalism if I was stranded on a lifeboat.

Tell you what, I would rather spend 2 hours stuck in a lift with Rupert Lowe than have to listen to the ego-maniacal crap spouted on here. I have been reading this site was back since the TSF days, recently had to join and rarely ever post, but seriously Alpine/FC, you two REALLY need to wind your necks in and get over your petty point scoring arguments with each other. This club might cease to exist in 3 weeks, and all you two can do is take pops at one another, thinking anyone else gives a flying f@$k what you have to say (there is a private message feature on here you know). So.....anyone know what timetable the administrator is working to? Answers without reference to Burley/other irrelevant to the question past figures appreciated. I, for one, am interested in the answer if anyone has any insight.

Did anyone from Vulcan Ventures ever speak directly to anyone from the club or Seymour Pierce? No, thought not. Case closed. His links to Paul Allen (Tommac's) were about as real as LLS's to major Dubai royalty - non existent. Next pointless "billionairre in the mix" thread......oh, there's one along right now, Slim from Mexico, whatever next!

So we have an alleged fund manager telling us that buybacks and dividends are the same (they are not, very different in their impact on Cap Table, tax treatment etc), then same person saying Fund Managers don't like dividends (news to me, guess I've been doing it wrong all these years), and lastly that you need to have a credit rating to get a loan or issue a bond - absolute ******, credit agencies initiate coverage at their own behest and you can absolutely get a loan without a rating from Fitch or Moodys etc. The small light of accuracy is that certain investors (Pension Funds, some Trusts) are limited in the level of rating they can invest in - many would not, for example, buy a non-investment grade bond) but that is as relevant as custard to this situation since we were not issuing Corporate Bonds, we were simply taking out a mortgage against the stadium and then an overdraft afterwards. There was no bond offering, so someone who read a couple of Wikipedia articles and tried to hash together an argument based on a premise of being a Fund Manager (get real) has misled people on here. That all said, his basic point is right, Lowe did not need to take dividends, and given Dividends are supposed to basically be money the business will never need, I think history has clearly shown that certainly in the past few years, we have had cash/liquidity reserves that were far too low. That's my 3rd post of the day, can't be arsed to work out this PayPal nonsense, but hopefully some factual standards will be adhered to going forwards and people will stop playing "City big shot" whilst spouting ****** (last bloke to do that in Southampton is presently doing a media tour that makes Tony Blair look positively camera-shy). Another "make or break" game tomorrow, amazing how many must wins we haven't won and we're still in it!

No way a "global player" of any magnitude buys us. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be for them, sat in the Ivy or Clydes with their big time friends "Ah, Bernie, how is life in London with QPR?"......"Miserable, still in the damn fizzy pop, ask old Al-Fayed here, he's the lucky bugger in the Prem" (cue laughs from Al Fayed, some geezers in white robes with Man City ties on, and Roman "that wasn't based on me in Rock'N'Roller" Abramovich". Suddenly they get a little sheepish....."sorry Anil, didn't meant to talk football....how's that Southampton thing going, good crowd for the Stockport game was there?". Really, people with money to spend are buying West Ham, Newcastle, Everton or even Blackburn, but most likely West Ham because it's in London. For the likes of Ambani and guys with money, Millwall, Charlton and even Watford are more appealing because they are in the right city, and Newcastle, Everton, Blackburn, Pompey and even Birmingham City soon are in the right division at least. Who cares about the extra cost, you make it back immediately on Sky money and player values, and we are clutching at the Billionnaire straw. No, we are either getting low level guys, fans or a consortium of can't do it alones. Sorry

Question is what does Mukesh Ambani have to do with takeovers. His BROTHER was interested in West Ham (quietly) and Everton and Newcastle (publicly). Mukesh Ambani, as with so many others, fits the "name plucked from this air" category. Paul Allen's Seatlle team is drawing 30,000 a game over here in the States BTW.....maybe he'd be interested..........

I much preferred the old fashioned "buck stops here" attitude rather than the crying "don't blame me" but since that is the Lowe way, let's just say that when you are doing twice as badly as your competitors, it is safe to say that the net effect of all the decisions made has been bad. As CHAIRMAN of the company, RL is to blame. At SLH, you can harp on all you like about how Lowe was a victim because it was only after MW and LC had their little coup d'etat that the losses came, but a/ that ignores the fact that a lot of those losses were due to events pre-dating his removal. How he can claim there was no debt on the club when he left, when the majority of the debt was taken out to build the stadium during his time, is again a convenient re-write of history. The others are no better and 100% agree with those saying we need a total new start, but RL needs to be honest and not try to rewrite history here.

Some FACTS April 22 2008, Rupert Lowe becomes Chairman of WH Ireland Group. WHI shares trading 121p. Today, 47p. Since the day he became Chairman the FTSE 100 is down 32% and the Banking Sector in general down 38%. WHI is down more than 60% FACT Southampton Leisure Holdings is now in Administration. Let's not confuse the FACTS about Lowe's financial acumen with the reality just because one or two of Lowe's chums get trotted out in the papers by Lowe to say "he's well-respected in the City" (which City? Portsmouth? Because not the one I work in - London - or grew up in).

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=WHI.L#chart2:symbol=whi.l;range=1y;compare=^ftse;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined He's clever, that Rupert, very well respected in the City you know............ Oops

Just to clarify, until the terms of administration are worked out, I believe the shareholders have not technically "lost" their shareholdings at all. Being "equity" owners, their claims on the liquidation fall below every class of debt, but in terms of the company ownership, it is still theirs.

Also if there are no half-yearly financials to go off, WTF are prospective buyers being given to make a decision based off? Anyone have any ideas/thoughts?

Gotta love this forum. Everyone "hears" things. Administrators have been in charge 4 days but already apparently they are giving away news of meetings with potential investors to fans on internet sites? Wind in necks, stop posting ******, no-one knows a thing, as has been consistently proven over repeated waves of takeover nonsense on here. Of course the administrator is at the club today, he is running it, and of course there are qualified parties looking around the club and of course they are being hosted by the administrators today, but Mark Fry / Begbies are not passing info on to people from on here, so just accept we know nothing, this could either work out great or be the death of the club, depending on whether someone can do a huge deal in super-fast time, and PLEASE can some people stop patting themselves on the back for us getting rid of Lowe and Wilde - wait until we're safe for that, otherwise the one month of Lowe-free existence will seem like a very pyrrhic victory