Why was Lowe at tonights match?

[david in sweden]

Son left 10 minutes early and just phoned me from Charlton station to tell me he was stood next to Rupert Lowe. At least Lowe had the sense to get out early. The man has some balls...or he is just daft!

 

MAYBE ..he's a Saints fan...?....or ?

[Crab Lungs]

There were plenty of dodgy deals going on in that reverse take over, even Lawrie took his cut out. But nothing can be laid at Lowe's door either at the time or subsequently, all the dodgy laid on the other side of the fence with the existing shareholders.

 

Bearing in mind the position we were in just prior, I cannot see the reverse take over as being anything but a good thing for the club. We were always a selling club and unless a Liebherr came in, that still would have remained the case. The reverse take over did bring several £M into the club initially, made it easier to finance the new stadium, but also meant you were paying dividends to share holders. Overall I would definitely go the same way again if the power was in my hands. It gave us so much in terms of the stadium, Academy and very nearly a extended tenure in the Premier.

 

The reason we got so lucky with Liebherr is because of all these things that the reverse take over gave us. Without them, I doubt Liebherr would have been interested. It's very easy to do a comparison here with Pompey, just imagine they got the new ground and Acadamy, and we were still left at the Dell. I'm not sure we would even be in League 1 and if Liebherr was around in football, it would more than likely be down the road with the scaled bretheren.

 

This.

[Sour Mash]

Why not? Several people, like me, were against him and the old board for engineering the reverse takeover. I rightly suspected that the dodgey arrangement would have the repercussions that transpired, that we would not have the investment as a PLC and that we would have to be a selling club to make ends meet. I wasn't about to change my mind on whether his arrival here was a good or a bad thing just because GS got us to the FA Cup Final.

 

Yes, I am well aware of the deficiencies of the reverse take over. However, you honestly want us to believe you were saying "If he was in attendance I'm surprised we didn't lose; the bloke is like a miasma of crap over anything to do with Saints." back in 2003? Because it is clearly wrong, whether you disagreed with the reverse takeover or thought that Lowe was poor at running the club (both arguments that I do partly agree with), that statement, certainly in 2003 was factually wrong. We were qualifying for Europe and playing in a cup final, playing decent Prem football infront of 32k fans every home game.

[benjii]

Lowe isn't inherently bad. He did some good things but some shockingly bad things and the damage of the bad far outweighs the utility of the good, in hindsight.

 

Having said that, he may perversely have delivered us to the Liebherrs which might turn out to be the best thing of all in the long run.

[once_bitterne]

Why not? Several people, like me, were against him and the old board for engineering the reverse takeover. I rightly suspected that the dodgey arrangement would have the repercussions that transpired, that we would not have the investment as a PLC and that we would have to be a selling club to make ends meet. I wasn't about to change my mind on whether his arrival here was a good or a bad thing just because GS got us to the FA Cup Final.

 

Oh dear. Same old 'investment' rubbish! Things never change. We spent every penny we had to spend. We were not owned by a sugar daddy so could not run at a loss. We did this under Wilde and it ended up with admin.

 

The selling club statement always makes me chuckle. When a player wants to leave a club he will. Bridge, Theo, Walcott, etc left as they wanted to move to a bigger club. Ronaldo wanted to go to Real, does this mean Man Yoo is a selling club.

 

A selling club is one that activiely looks to sell its best players for financial reasons, we only did this when we were fighting liquidation and certainly not ever in our time in the PL.

[Lord Duckhunter]

If Rupert was there and took time out to speak to some of the supporters, then fair play to him.As long as he isn't contemplating a comeback in any shape of form then what's the issue? He didn't delebrately **** things up, and I've seen plenty of useless players given decent receptions before.

 

He's like an exwife. You get all bitter and twisted towards the end of the marriage and during the divorce, but when you end up with a fitter younger bird then it isn't going to bother you any more.

[Redondo Saint]

Why not? Several people, like me, were against him and the old board for engineering the reverse takeover. I rightly suspected that the dodgey arrangement would have the repercussions that transpired, that we would not have the investment as a PLC and that we would have to be a selling club to make ends meet. I wasn't about to change my mind on whether his arrival here was a good or a bad thing just because GS got us to the FA Cup Final.

 

The old board engineered the reverse takeover. They found a buyer in the form of RL's company. How is this RL's fault?

Agree about the lack of continuing investment but the first step was not RL's fault in my opinion. You can't blame a buyer for spotting an opportunity.

[LostBoys]

 

[Dark Munster]

Lowe precided over us getting relegation from the PL. The admin and relegation from the CCC can be laid at the door of Mr Mike (COYR) Wilde esq.

 

Considering he came in and immediately got rid of an excellent young manager, purely out of spite because he was appointed by his arch nemesis Crouch, replacing said manager with a "revolutionary coaching set up" headed by a couple of clowns, many would say that RL was to blame for the relegation.

 

And don't get me started on him allowing Saints to go into administration just a few days after the cutoff date for the points penalty to carry-over to the next season.

 

[Dark Munster]

It just shows how much the club means to him if he will pay to watch a match, despite all the abuse he has received. Fair play.

 

See above.

[St Marco]

Got nothing against him as a person.

 

Just don't want to see him or his friends in any shape or form involved with the club in any of it's decision making.

 

It is good that people have some nice things to say about him but let's not kid ourselves, he was a huge factor in why we sunk as far as we did. It was not a case of bad luck, it was a case of poor decisions.

 

I would take what we have now over what we had with him any day of the week.

[Legod Third Coming]

I can also confirm that Rupert was at Cheltenham last week if anyone really cares what the man does in his own time...

[The9]

HAHAHA!!!! Rupert Lowe has never been away. I posted at the time of the buyout that I would lay odds that Lowe was the one who tempted Cortese into being interested in the club. I also posted I am convinced he's acting as adviser and once the dust has settled he'd be brought back in some boardroom capacity. Time will tell, but I'm still sticking to my gut feeling on this.

 

But then you're a nutter with some bizarre and unfounded conspiracy theories, so we're all going to ignore your mental ramblings.

[aintforever]

Lowe did some good things but he made some utterly bonkers decisions when it came to the footballing side of things. Good on him for chatting to supporters though.

[NickG]

He was on the train from Waterloo East to Charlton, heard that he was with Morgan's agent as well.

 

Do you know I never understood that transfer. There we were no money and out of the blue we find a million pounds. And Arsenal have forever been waiting in the wings. I think there were more than two parties involved in that deal.

 

reasonable transfer if you get train into london and want to get to game

[dune]

I'm suprised because I wouldn't have thought he'd be very safe attending games in this manner.

[sadoldgit]

Why not? Several people, like me, were against him and the old board for engineering the reverse takeover. I rightly suspected that the dodgey arrangement would have the repercussions that transpired, that we would not have the investment as a PLC and that we would have to be a selling club to make ends meet. I wasn't about to change my mind on whether his arrival here was a good or a bad thing just because GS got us to the FA Cup Final.

 

Now here's the thing. Strachan got us to the Cup Final but Lowe got us relegated. Funny how the responsibility changes depending on postive or negative circumstances eh Wes? Lowe brought Strachan to he club and Strachan says he didn't have a problem with him.

 

Whatever you think of Lowe he kept us in the Premiership for most of his tenure and did so with a crowd of 15k for a number of years. He was prudent but he needed to be. Look what happened when the happy spenders rode into town. It wasn't all bad under Lowe but some people need a scapegoat and he was tailor made for the roll.

 

Fair play to him for still being interested in the club he managed for a decade. Now lets move on...

Edited 23 March, 2011 by sadoldgit

[NickG]

he did a lot of good but departed with failure. He is hardly Adolf!

[sadoldgit]

Do you know I never understood that transfer. There we were no money and out of the blue we find a million pounds. And Arsenal have forever been waiting in the wings. I think there were more than two parties involved in that deal.

 

Wasn't there talk at the time that he was bought as an investment. Didn't this come from Cowan?

[darren2]

I dropped my pie in the stadium once. How could that b**tard Lowe let that happen!!!

 

But from where I see it the freefall of Southampton started with R**knapp. Lowe did give us the stadium and a great academy but did keep the purse strings tight (But this kept us on an even keel. He got us to Europe and an FA Cup final and things were on the up. But when GS left he brought in Sag face who had no interest in being here. I always remember week in week oput him bleating that we never had good players (Most of which are still in the Prem). Then Wilde etc came in and gambled EVERYTHING on straight promotion and lost. The only mistake Lowe made was bringing in sag face who really wanted to be back down the road.

 

After Wilde etc had blown the kitty Lowe came back and was in the position of HAVING to make choices that would upset people in the name of saving the club. He didnt need to but jumped back into the fire to try and sort it. His biggest problem was his arrogance which alienated the fans, making him the easy target to take the blame but IMO the Admin / 2nd relegation etc were not his fault. If I remember at the time, Pearson was not retained on cost, which is something that goes back to the previous board and we took on the Dutch based on a price that we could afford.

 

I cant say I particularly like him, but feel he did more for the club that was given credit, and the decline was down to sag face (who was not given millions to take us straight into admin like West Ham, P**pey, Bournemouth etc) and played his injured son week in week out for extra pay. this was followed by the Wilde group who spent everything that was in the pot, promising investment while delivering none

[70's Mike]

i really thought we had moved on from this rubbish

[Noodles34]

Do you know I never understood that transfer. There we were no money and out of the blue we find a million pounds. And Arsenal have forever been waiting in the wings. I think there were more than two parties involved in that deal.

 

it was all tied up with the Walcott deal, Arsenal have 1st option should they ever want to exercise it.

Wenger knows that he could be a great player, wasted in this division mind, though we are starting to see the signs, pleany of time to see how he really develops but if we dont go up, I would imagine he will move back to france.

[um pahars]

i really thought we had moved on from this rubbish

 

I would have to concur with your thoughts.

 

See no problem with him popping along to watch us, after all we now be his first team if he has dropped his allegiance to West Ham.

[benjii]

He was an Ipswich fan once.

 

So has he been a West Ham, Ipswich and Saints fan?

 

Wow, he really does live and breathe football.

[dune]

He was an Ipswich fan once.

 

So has he been a West Ham, Ipswich and Saints fan?

 

Wow, he really does live and breathe football.

 

"They still say that I went to a football match for the first time six months before I joined Southampton," he says. "Incorrect. I used to go with friends regularly to watch Ipswich Town, although as a boy I supported West Ham. I played football at the Dragon School in Oxford. And I remember being very keen on my Soccer Stars album. When you bought stuff from the school tuck shop you got the stickers."

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/rupert-lowe-public-schoolboys-and-cockneys-get-along-fine--were-as-thick-as-each-other-529351.html

[Tamesaint]

"They still say that I went to a football match for the first time six months before I joined Southampton," he says. "Incorrect. I used to go with friends regularly to watch Ipswich Town, although as a boy I supported West Ham. I played football at the Dragon School in Oxford. And I remember being very keen on my Soccer Stars album. When you bought stuff from the school tuck shop you got the stickers."

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/rupert-lowe-public-schoolboys-and-cockneys-get-along-fine--were-as-thick-as-each-other-529351.html

 

I just knew it. Its just typical of the man. Trust Lowe to leave 10 minutes before the end. I always knew that he was one of those!!

 

Mind you

 

Leaving that early must have meant that he missed the Charlton equaliser !!! I wonder if he knows the final score.

[um pahars]

He was an Ipswich fan once.

 

So has he been a West Ham, Ipswich and Saints fan?

 

Wow, he really does live and breathe football.

 

I remember at the Dave Jones trial he stated under oath that he was a West Ham fan, but used to also go and watch Ipswich with a "boxer" friend.

[saint_stevo]

Wouldn't **** on him if he was on fire.

[saintmatt]

There were plenty of dodgy deals going on in that reverse take over, even Lawrie took his cut out. But nothing can be laid at Lowe's door either at the time or subsequently, all the dodgy laid on the other side of the fence with the existing shareholders.

 

Bearing in mind the position we were in just prior, I cannot see the reverse take over as being anything but a good thing for the club. We were always a selling club and unless a Liebherr came in, that still would have remained the case. The reverse take over did bring several £M into the club initially, made it easier to finance the new stadium, but also meant you were paying dividends to share holders. Overall I would definitely go the same way again if the power was in my hands. It gave us so much in terms of the stadium, Academy and very nearly a extended tenure in the Premier.

 

The reason we got so lucky with Liebherr is because of all these things that the reverse take over gave us. Without them, I doubt Liebherr would have been interested. It's very easy to do a comparison here with Pompey, just imagine they got the new ground and Acadamy, and we were still left at the Dell. I'm not sure we would even be in League 1 and if Liebherr was around in football, it would more than likely be down the road with the scaled bretheren.

 

this

[um pahars]

unless a Liebherr came in, that still would have remained the case...........................................Overall I would definitely go the same way again if the power was in my hands

 

A "Liebherr" in the form of Matthew Harding was hovering around us just before the Reverse takeover, so who knows what might have been????

[aintforever]

There were plenty of dodgy deals going on in that reverse take over, even Lawrie took his cut out. But nothing can be laid at Lowe's door either at the time or subsequently, all the dodgy laid on the other side of the fence with the existing shareholders.

 

Bearing in mind the position we were in just prior, I cannot see the reverse take over as being anything but a good thing for the club. We were always a selling club and unless a Liebherr came in, that still would have remained the case. The reverse take over did bring several £M into the club initially, made it easier to finance the new stadium, but also meant you were paying dividends to share holders. Overall I would definitely go the same way again if the power was in my hands. It gave us so much in terms of the stadium, Academy and very nearly a extended tenure in the Premier.

 

The reason we got so lucky with Liebherr is because of all these things that the reverse take over gave us. Without them, I doubt Liebherr would have been interested. It's very easy to do a comparison here with Pompey, just imagine they got the new ground and Acadamy, and we were still left at the Dell. I'm not sure we would even be in League 1 and if Liebherr was around in football, it would more than likely be down the road with the scaled bretheren.

 

I don't see how the PLC thing can be considered a success when it took an established Premier League club and turned it into a club in administration and in League 1.

 

The new Stadium was a direct result of Sky TV money - that's why virtually every club up and down the country has either a new or redeveloped one. Of course there was a chance of ending up like Pompey but there was just as much chance of ending up like Fulham. The PLC thing was a disaster - the only way forward was through going bust.

[Wes Tender]

he did a lot of good but departed with failure. He is hardly Adolf!

 

No. More Goebbels

[ghq]

Why not? Several people, like me, were against him and the old board for engineering the reverse takeover. I rightly suspected that the dodgey arrangement would have the repercussions that transpired, that we would not have the investment as a PLC and that we would have to be a selling club to make ends meet. I wasn't about to change my mind on whether his arrival here was a good or a bad thing just because GS got us to the FA Cup Final.

I really can't understand how people are still making, or trying to make a case for the man. I was no fan of his from day one and had some foreboding of the man and his

effect on the club. Not that I could foresee how bad it eventually ended up. (sound a bit like Mystic Meg there.)

[cambsaint]

Lowe had two massive problems, he didn't understand football but thought he did, and he couldn't get on with football managers.

If we had found a good and stable manager and Lowe left him on his own, albeit with a strict budget,we'd still be in the Prem, after all most of our ex players still are.

[Noodles34]

Lowe & Oliver Ltd, still trading, makes me sick to see his name on the vans!

[hamster]

I'd buy him a beer.

 

Time is only a great healer if you want to be healed, some clearly do not.

[John B]

Lowe had two massive problems, he didn't understand football but thought he did, and he couldn't get on with football managers.

If we had found a good and stable manager and Lowe left him on his own, albeit with a strict budget,we'd still be in the Prem, after all most of our ex players still are.

 

I think Lowe understood football pretty well and got on with most managers

 

Unfortunately he wanted to give young managers and young footballers a chance which did not work out

[Topcat]

Lowe was one of the most inept businessmen that has ever been.

 

The moment he left the club, crowds went up by 5,000 even though the team had dropped a division and were starting in a relegation slot.

 

That said we should count our good fortune that we emerged stronger, today, than we were under him and the £30m of debt.

[Foxstone]

I would have to concur with your thoughts.

 

See no problem with him popping along to watch us, after all we now be his first team if he has dropped his allegiance to West Ham.

 

I think Gemmel said in his previous post that Rupert's son is a Saints fan, so clearly a bit of Dad and Lad time going on..

 

No problem with him popping his head up now and again to watch the team he clearly came to regard ( if not support )

[The9]

Can someone clarify for me if he was wearing a creased olive coloured jacket and light slacks, please ?

[The9]

Lowe was one of the most inept businessmen that has ever been.

 

The moment he left the club, crowds went up by 5,000 even though the team had dropped a division and were starting in a relegation slot.

 

Ah that old chestnut. "The moment he left the club" [shares were suspended on 1 April 2009] - aside from the reduced price tickets, there was the 27,000+ against Charlton which was a call to arms from Saints fans to get money into the club and show support, then a Bank Holiday game v Palace and the last game of the season at home to Burnley (23/24k each, boosted by the bank holiday and last game status) - there was also the little matter of them potentially being Saints' last 3 home games ever.

 

In fact, the three games PRIOR to Lowe leaving were all around the 18k mark. Our first three league attendances the following season, when the fans had every opportunity to support the new regime, were 20k, 19k and 17k, which were exactly the kind of attendances the club had been getting immediately before Administration.

Edited 24 March, 2011 by The9
clarity

[Gemmel]

I think Gemmel said in his previous post that Rupert's son is a Saints fan, so clearly a bit of Dad and Lad time going on..

 

No problem with him popping his head up now and again to watch the team he clearly came to regard ( if not support )

 

Ive read this thread with interest as it funny to see how some people have moved on and others never will. I have to say that whilst I wasn't a lowe fan at the end (Fairly ferociously), the animosity seemed to wane the moment Markus turned up, coupled with events down the road and of course "time" itself allows you to look at things with a bit more perspective.

 

My Son thought I was a hypocrite for talking to him (May be I am) but he was a genuinely nice bloke and I doubt those sad enough of us to post on here all of the time, would give up the opportunity of 25 minutes (He didn't have much choice he was boxed in ) with someone who has had such an impact on our recent history.

 

Don't get me wrong, there is a certain arrogance about the man and he told a couple of porkies (That were factually incorrect) that I didn't pick him up on as he was in full swing, but I did push back on two things, one of which was quite funny;

 

Me; You shouldn't have come back,

Rupert; I had to, we were going bust

Me; Rupert we did go bust

Rupert; (Uncomfortable silence) err well yes we did.

 

As Mike and Um Pahars said.... It's time to move on, he got some things right and others wrong. The irony for me is that his downfall ultimatley worked in our favour and whilst we are Div 1, I think all of us would agree we are very much on the up now.

 

And you know what, regardless of whether the fans were right or not, His son must be a pretty commited fan to continue supporting the club, given the stick his Dad got.

 

[The9]

Me; You shouldn't have come back,

Rupert; I had to, we were going bust

Me; Rupert we did go bust

Rupert; (Uncomfortable silence) err well yes we did.

 

Almost worth all the stress and two relegations just for that moment alone.

 

And to think all I've ever said to him was "Hello Rupert", to which he replied "Well done". It was outside the Millennium Stadium though, so there wasn't much else to say to him at the time.

[LGTL]

His name never helped did it, I can never get this little dude out of my head when we speak about him

 

 

I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to speak with him though, I imagine he must be pretty interesting.

[benjii]

 

And to think all I've ever said to him was "Hello Rupert", to which he replied "Well done".

 

[The9]

 

True story. We were alongside the bus station opposite the big chinese restaurant not far from the ground, and he got out of a taxi or car of some sort with some others, one of whom I think was Andrew Cowen.

 

It was about an hour after I'd left the ground and I was slightly taken aback (not to mention couldn't figure out why they were getting out of a car near the ground when they should logically have been getting in one to leave it), so all I could muster was the over-familiar greeting, and he was probably shocked that one of us lot had recognised and addressed him, so he issued a knee-jerk thanks for my support.

 

The patronising (vnt.

[Wade Garrett]

He was garbage. Easily as bad as Askham, not a patch on Woodford.

 

He would rather use the club's money to prop up the share price than spend it on players, he didn't back his managers, and he gave the useless Wigley the job.

 

Our Youth system in the 70s and 80s produced a lot more quality players than Rupert's did.

[Dan]

I am very anti lowe, however Im glad he went and made me have a little more respect for him. When he left and lost his investment I assumed he didnt care and only cared about the money. This clearly shows otherwise, so for once rupes fair play.

[swannymere]

 

He would rather use the club's money to prop up the share price than spend it on players

 

I don't understand, can you explain this to me?

[Foxstone]

And you know what, regardless of whether the fans were right or not, His son must be a pretty commited fan to continue supporting the club, given the stick his Dad got.

 

I think thats a very valid point and commendable on the part of both of them.

 

I too bear him no malice now - All has worked out well with our new owners and when you compare him to a host of other sharks and idiots that some other clubs have been saddled with ( Hello Corpy by the way) , in comparison he is indeed a Saint.