eelpie

Three million is insulting.

BUt had Pearson been here the squad would not have suffered from so much knee-jerk hacking down of the squad, while he would have also blended deserving young players into a better balanced side.. The crowd were behind him and gates would have been higher. This is evident from his actions.

Guaranteed that he already has considered him. Or one of the senior players as player/coach. That would save some money and please Barclays. There is no chance of Billy Davies or anyone with previous experience being appointed by Lowe.

They probably will/do/did

How about the coach playing these guys in the position that suits them best, and the style that suits them best.

How about we play the second half first?

Skacel leads fight back! We're just like Brazil!

The OS says: 'Saints are out on the field well in advance of Burnley, no doubt with some stong half time words ringing in their ears from head coach Jan Poortvliet.' Any ideas what he might have said?

If we still had Pearson we'd only be losing 0-1 right now

Brilliant half. That showed 'em!

The hype is there because the purpose of the Academy is to breed and sell for others' benefit. It's a glorified sales catalogue. One thing Lowe will never say is that his merchandise is less than good.

...all the time.

DMG may be underperforming, but every strikers get lean patches. He is capable of shooting accurately, as his academy record proves. He simply is not suited to be lone striker. He plays best feeding off a second front man. He is not coping well with everyone's expectations. Poor tactics by Jan is the main reason he is not scoring imo.

Surman: "We're not far off being a good team in this league." The lad has got it about right. BUT - and it is a massive 'but' - can Jan on his own resolve the weaknesses and issues we all know about only too well? Lowe needs to be more positive in his conversations with the bank and provide or bring back players that make the difference upfront. That is his role. Not on the pitch nor in the dressing room. And neither is it his role to capitulate to Premiership dosh. Stability and steady improvements to the team are what we need. Not knee-jerk grab-the-money cut-and-run decisions. Nor do we need more indifferent 'make-do' waste of money replacements brought in who are simply not good enough. Mr Lowe, January is where you may finally make or break your reputation for ever.

We are playing moderately good football. Stronger, neater passing skills that Burley would have cried into his whisky glass for. The rest is just potential, not yet consistently of Championship standard, except between the sticks. But we do have in our employ players out on loan who could make a real difference. Doesn't it make you sick.

My days are certainly cheerier by not reading the Daily Mail.

...Billy Davis? Would he care enough about Saints? (not that we could afford him) The fact is, we are left with few options now.

NEITHER. If either are curently under-performing it is down to tactics (which is undermining their confidence) not their abilities. We will rue the day they go, especially when we see how they progress at other clubs. Selling them will prove that the Academy does not successfully feed our first team. It is not the future as we thought. As Rupert tells us. The Academy will have failed. A dead idea. Over to you, Mr Lowe. What is it to be?

25% of 4 million? Not worth selling him then imo if we only get 3 mill. Our survival is worth much, much more.

Another balls up by Mr Lowe.

Give up DD, you're on a loser with this one. I know you would have preferred Pearson to Poortvliet.

I doubt if there is a single Saints fan, including yourself, that wouldn't be happy with that. And certainly not if we are in League 1 next season.

Well, even DD admits that Pearson's Leicester are managing with a 'bare minimum'

How many times have we been trounced by clubs below us? (ouch)

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/table/default.stm 41 points. Goal difference 18. And no, I wouldn't say McCarthy is a great manager. Nor Pearson. I said, Pearson is pragmatic, inspiring and knows his trade better than our present amateurs.