dronskisaint

Done...wondered if a home match was an attraction but settled for sport :-)

I think too much is being made of the Echo story...as someone who has run and owned a number of small businesses I don't like the culture of slow payment but in reality this was probably just a case of a bit of bill brinkmanship that the club misjudged and it's cheaper not to defend than pay out for a lawyer...I hope so anyway. I also hadn't realised that the PL money wasn't paid out until June...I'd assumed that like them down the road that it was released quarterly or some succh arrangement but if not then the Cayman loan, the prudent (if unpalatable) extending of credit and various other economies make absolute sense..after all their is cashflow in the gate money, commercial and catering etc plus other sponsorship (aap3, MB, ground advertising etc) but it's the PL payout that brings the figures in to the black and allows collateral for sizeable loans. Worried, no - wishing we could be as honourable as when paying out the St Mary's mortgage additional payment - well yes, I wish we were.

Apologies for the childish dig, sometimes when they sit up you have to volley them in! The ambition was clearly stated in the five year plan - I looked at that with as much disbelief but with the same secret wish that it could come true as, I suspect, most genuine supporters did. All business plans have to adjust for circumstance...my five year projections change annually, monthly, however they need to. Look on it like a shop that suddenly finds it's brands have become suddenly mega-desirable, of course you increase the inventory to cope and your borrowing capacity to match...whilst questioning how I know what the ambition was how about telling me how you 'know' that NC was 'clearly p*ssed at Pardew's attitude'? I don't 'know' anything of the sort but I know that we came within a whisker of promotion despite the minus ten and football as we all know just isn't that predictable. I love your imagery...genuinely...but again you (and I don't think that you'd deny that your perspective on Saints is largely negative, that things will go badly wrong mostly?) make an assumption that things like the manager and players,the board even not making errors is a conspiracy against our right to be here..that they, on the basis that they have delivered so far cannot be allowed time to adjust to the new rigours and challenges that they face? The 'Get a grip' title sums up the attitude of many on here - I have to say not many I speak to at the ground. Mostly I find all the usual frustrations about errors, individuals, a ground with 30,000 managers all making assessments but most of all glad to be here and with a perspective governed by the experience of the last few years - I point out that mine is longer but the previous seven have been defining in my realisation on what Saints actually mean in my life and the OP's exhortation to those who delight in criticising, pointing out how they said it would be like this, telling how they would have spent the money better, knew that deals fell down because...etc do really need to get a grip...it's good, it's the best it's been for a good few years but from those recent years we know that they can be good too. Off now to meet Justin Bieber for ten minutes!

If only you did have a Dell size mentality... Perspective runs both ways - I'm old enough to remember the pre-old 1st Division days and the euphoria when we went up, the feeling of achievement when we stayed up and all the last day battles. I remember the 'kicked in the rollocks' feeling of going down even after beating Everton 3-0 at Goodison and all that comes in between. For me the lowest point in my supporting life was Burnley when I realised that Div 3 (old money) was back and actual oblivion threatened but I've been happily proven wrong and enjoyed the last few years immensely. We're ahead of where ML and NC's ambition wanted us to be...you can sneer (and do, like a true professional) but it's not a bad thing to have the ambition and to spend in the hope of achieving it but very few are naive enough to do more than hope against a lot of our saints-supporting experience that it may happen...that's why we support becaused we hope...occasionally believe even. There's nothing wrong with looking back in amazement and looking forward with hope....petulant little sneers at real supporter's optimism and gratitude do you or this board no credit...and I know it's about opinions - this is mine! And while I'm having a moan the title of the thread is 'Get a grip' - that automatically excludes you Alpine...

I acknowledge your existence purely for my own amusement and I guess most others on this thread think similarly. But then we've not been robbed, shafted, cheated (except on the pitch) so we aren't like your 'own' Cretin!

Was Bryn the comical old boy at the Mayflower do for Lawrie and Matt?

Talented 20 year old who's not sure of his nationaity in serious danger of believing his own publicity.. Guly 2.......Zaha cock (unless he forgoes Real to sign for us)

His 'Highlight was an away draw with Southampton that felt like a win' Yes, well although it felt like robbery to us that's a pretty damning indictment of a year in the mire of Portsea Island! How the fark did he get the job at Blaclpool? Clone value?

And the difference any of that makes......?

Skate!

Pathetic Eastend Skate reverts to type - f-uck off to your own board you semi-literate, fish-fondling inbred!

For every Eddie Howe there's an equal and opposite reaction - fails as often as it works.

It's about opinions....your answer is masterful in it's ambiguity- I mean that as a compliment! Ever thought about being a negotiator?

Unreal, even by your standards

'Most people'? Quantify that...it's a ludicrous statement even by your standards!

An eloquent summary of recent history, comparative position and underlying ethos - for all the reasons stated above the club philosophy must not be sacrificed to a bunch of quivering journalists and faithless 'supporters'. I believe that Cortese and whoever he turns to for advice understand that they are building for a very different kind of long term future - whilst we may struggle to accept the Barcelona model (we..I have been a Saints supporter for a lot of years and it's not easy to think in terms of ambition like this) I genuinely believe that this is how Markus and NC saw the future. I'm grateful that he appears to have the courage of their conviction!

Well put - I agree completely

And it would only take a couple of good results to put us there...this whining and hand-wringing after ten games is puerile and pathetic...do we belong in the PL? We were a founder member ffs! Do I like the way it has evolved is another question but there's no question that our right to be in it is as great as any other club that wins enough games to be there. This agreeing with you DD, I know you don't think we're currently not good enough to stay up but your point about the fragility of the argument is well made.

We were not outclassed..

We have the skill, we lack the confidence. WBA played well - Mulumbu was immense and we could do with Morgan beefing up like him but in a number of games this season we have not been outclassed. Confidence will come when we get that lucky goal off someone's arse - we can stay up - I can't believe the wet surrender monkeys on this board at times, I listened to our support tonight (redundancy has stopped me going as much as I'd like but back for Swansea) and they f ucking supported the team. I'm a supporter - we've been in worse sh it than this.

This! We are good enough to stay up...no luck at all tonight - kudos to all those who went up there, great support.

Ah the sinister tax-efficient loan versus the frittering of capital reserves - how nice to have the option, how nice to have the collateral. How nice to be at the West end of the M27:p

Takes being an illiterate and deluded wuckfit to new and alcoholically fuelled level of madness!

Although if ever a lot of fans go it would drown out the drum....not going to happen is it?

Paedo sox?