Did anyone see...

[1576]

I know St Jason and he bleeds red and white.

 

For him to go this far, shows how bad things are. What is worse is that it won't get better any time soon.

 

Tell you what John, hope Lowe goes soon or I won't get a day pass off the wife

[slickmick]

We are where we are in this league as I expected. If we are still in the same position at the end of the season, then I will be relieved and happy.

So many posters were in agreeance, that know matter who was to be in charge this season, would have their work cut out to avoid relegation.

Nothing has changed as far as I can see.

[Window Cleaner]

MY PASSION has been replaced by Anger.

 

Anger at this experiment , i just do not accept that we could not have bought in some experience defenders pre season at a reasonable cost who could have HELPED 5/6 youngsters in the team.

 

I am anger at those who think our CURRENT academy crop are good enough, we produce footballing midgets who are in danger of having their careers ruined by being overplayed.

 

These are not Shearers, Wallaces, even Benalis or Maddisons who forced there way into established sides, these are young men that have been dropped in it because of one mans ego, not because they are ALL good enough

 

Experienced defenders, like Svensson and Perry?

Perhaps we were counting on Skacel NOT throwing his dummy out of the pram ehh?

Perhaps we thought Thmoas would actually play for us from time to time

If we'd had a back four of Thomas-Svensson-Perry-Skacel that would be experienced enough wouldn't it.

 

If I saw our squad at the start of the season i'd say the team we had in mind was

 

Davies

 

Thomas Perry Svensson Skacel

 

Lallana Euell Surman Schneiderlin

 

Holmes John or Mc Goldrick.

 

Then the injuries started and the fans started boycottting so we got a pile of young players who don't always perform as they should.If you're 3000 down on you first home gate,well you have to recalculate don't you.3000x£24=72K, enough to pay the bonuses and everything.

[EastleighSoulBoy]

MY PASSION has been replaced by Anger.

 

Anger at this experiment , i just do not accept that we could not have bought in some experience defenders pre season at a reasonable cost who could have HELPED 5/6 youngsters in the team.

 

I am anger at those who think our CURRENT academy crop are good enough, we produce footballing midgets who are in danger of having their careers ruined by being overplayed.

 

These are not Shearers, Wallaces, even Benalis or Maddisons who forced there way into established sides, these are young men that have been dropped in it because of one mans ego, not because they are ALL good enough

 

Probably the most concise point made yet on this thread. Which is the root cause of the anger shown by our friend on Saturday.

 

Just three words in there which sum it all up.

 

One. Man's. Ego.

 

And no amount of logic is going to counter that in a discussion.

[Wade Garrett]

Experienced defenders, like Svensson and Perry?

Perhaps we were counting on Skacel NOT throwing his dummy out of the pram ehh?

Perhaps we thought Thmoas would actually play for us from time to time

If we'd had a back four of Thomas-Svensson-Perry-Skacel that would be experienced enough wouldn't it.

 

If I saw our squad at the start of the season i'd say the team we had in mind was

 

Davies

 

Thomas Perry Svensson Skacel

 

Lallana Euell Surman Schneiderlin

 

Holmes John or Mc Goldrick.

 

Then the injuries started and the fans started boycottting so we got a pile of young players who don't always perform as they should.If you're 3000 down on you first home gate,well you have to recalculate don't you.3000x£24=72K, enough to pay the bonuses and everything.

 

That really is a feeble argument in defence of Lowe. I don't think he has to worry too much about paying bonuses either.

[70's Mike]

Experienced defenders, like Svensson and Perry?

Perhaps we were counting on Skacel NOT throwing his dummy out of the pram ehh?

Perhaps we thought Thmoas would actually play for us from time to time

If we'd had a back four of Thomas-Svensson-Perry-Skacel that would be experienced enough wouldn't it.

 

If I saw our squad at the start of the season i'd say the team we had in mind was

 

Davies

 

Thomas Perry Svensson Skacel

 

Lallana Euell Surman Schneiderlin

 

Holmes John or Mc Goldrick.

 

Then the injuries started and the fans started boycottting so we got a pile of young players who don't always perform as they should.If you're 3000 down on you first home gate,well you have to recalculate don't you.3000x£24=72K, enough to pay the bonuses and everything.

 

Injuries have not helped but we jumped on the Svensson is back to quick as away to save money, it is hard to believe his fitness for a season was assessed.

 

In any other PLC THE SHAREHOLDERS would be asked to fund shortfalls by rights issues etc, not expect the customer to fund shortfalls created by PLC management errors

[Saintrowe]

Me thinks Rupert will be hiring his bodyguards again soon.

 

If after what St jason told me, when dear old Rupert will need the SAS i cannot believe someone as mellow as him did this, maybe one day i will return and calm you down again young man.

[Wes Tender]

I've only just read this thread and must say that I have the utmost sympathy with this spur of the moment action by St Jason and also the guy who threw his shirt on the pitch in front of the Northam. I confess that I was really surprised that there wasn't a sustained chorus of "swing Lowe" at the match end.

 

Like some others, I have been against those charlatans on the board who arrived at the reverse takeover and those who allowed the morally bankrupt deal to proceed whilst ignoring other consortia who were allegedly wishing to buy into the club, because the reverse takeover was the way that benefited the old board most financially. So I'm not in the Johnny come lately camp either.

 

I suspect that the tolerance level of most supporters is being strained to the limits and I predict that if there is not an improvement by the end of the next home game against Coventry, then I believe that a serious campaign to oust Lowe and Wilde will commence.

[um pahars]

MY PASSION has been replaced by Anger.

 

Anger at this experiment , i just do not accept that we could not have bought in some experience defenders pre season at a reasonable cost who could have HELPED 5/6 youngsters in the team.

 

I am anger at those who think our CURRENT academy crop are good enough, we produce footballing midgets who are in danger of having their careers ruined by being overplayed.

 

These are not Shearers, Wallaces, even Benalis or Maddisons who forced there way into established sides, these are young men that have been dropped in it because of one mans ego, not because they are ALL good enough

 

Absolutely spot on.

 

This shambles was what many of us feared and despite what some are trying to say, it was totally avoidable.

 

We didn't have to go for such a "revolutionary coaching set up", neither did we have to flood the first team with youngsters, some of whom in all honesty wouldn't make the first team of other Championship teams.

 

The priority should have been some experienced players to augment the youngsters who are quite good (and given the 10 odd players we have brought in - and the other thngs we could have done - there was leeway to do this).

 

But instead for some reason the priority ws deemed to bring in other youngsters, and keep adding to the midfield and attack.

 

I fear there was some also misplaced logic that getting in utility players was a cure for all our ills, when in fact you really need players who are specialists in their own areas.

[um pahars]

Experienced defenders, like Svensson and Perry?

Perhaps we were counting on Skacel NOT throwing his dummy out of the pram ehh?

Perhaps we thought Thmoas would actually play for us from time to time

If we'd had a back four of Thomas-Svensson-Perry-Skacel that would be experienced enough wouldn't it.

 

If I saw our squad at the start of the season i'd say the team we had in mind was

 

Davies

 

Thomas Perry Svensson Skacel

 

Lallana Euell Surman Schneiderlin

 

Holmes John or Mc Goldrick.

 

Then the injuries started and the fans started boycottting so we got a pile of young players who don't always perform as they should.If you're 3000 down on you first home gate,well you have to recalculate don't you.3000x£24=72K, enough to pay the bonuses and everything.

 

I think that if anything, this post has actually highlighted some of the problems at the Club at the moment.

 

Firstly, the Chairman and Head Coach must have been very naive to expect Thomas and Svennson to play any major role this season. We should have been planning for life without them, not building a team around them. For some reason we have stupidly ignored our defensive frailties and we are continuing to pay the price for that ignorance.

 

Secondly, Skacel is on our books and we are paying his wages. The manager needs to start earning his wages and getting the best out of our players (I'm no apologist for Skacel, but we are in the shtye right now and we need our best players on the pitch).

 

Thirdly, I agree Perry should be in the staring line up, so why the fckuk was he not playing on Saturday.

 

We then have John not getting a regular slot and instead loanees and McGoldrick being favoured instead.

 

The above are decisions taken by the "revolutionary coaching set up", so it's no wonder that some people are beginning to question the logic and judgement of those in charge.

 

Lastly, fans aren't boycotting in any great numbers. Quite simply, they do not feel that the team is worth watching at the current time with performaces and a lack of home wins being the main factors for low attendances.

[Window Cleaner]

I think that if anything, this post has actually highlighted some of the problems at the Club at the moment.

 

Firstly, the Chairman and Head Coach must have been very naive to expect Thomas and Svennson to play any major role this season. We should have been planning for life without them, not building a team around them. For some reason we have stupidly ignored our defensive frailties and we are continuing to pay the price for that ignorance.

 

Secondly, Skacel is on our books and we are paying his wages. The manager needs to start earning his wages and getting the best out of our players (I'm no apologist for Skacel, but we are in the shtye right now and we need our best players on the pitch).

 

Thirdly, I agree Perry should be in the staring line up, so why the fckuk was he not playing on Saturday.

 

We then have John not getting a regular slot and instead loanees and McGoldrick being favoured instead.

 

The above are decisions taken by the "revolutionary coaching set up", so it's no wonder that some people are beginning to question the logic and judgement of those in charge.

 

Lastly, fans aren't boycotting in any great numbers. Quite simply, they do not feel that the team is worth watching at the current time with performaces and a lack of home wins being the main factors for low attendances.

 

Boycotting or not turning up because we're not too good leads to the same result....Less money at the gate.

[um pahars]

Boycotting or not turning up because we're not too good leads to the same result....Less money at the gate.

 

Oh, indeed it does, but there is a masive difference between the two. And there is massive diference in the underlying cause.

 

One is a conscious decision to boycott on principle, which IMHO is a small minority, whilst the other is a sub conscious decision which is a direct result of the way the Club has performed on and off the pitch in recent months.

 

Football has changed in recent years and for many it has become an entertainment business. There will always be a hard core who will come what may, but others need to be convinced that they will be entertained and will enjoy the experience.

 

Indeed, those in charge now refer to us as customers and I don't know of any other business that blames it's customers for not trading with it. Get the product ight and people will buy it, serve up shtye and they will not fall for it.

 

With the odd exception, every club that underperforms sees a drop in attendances. Some may hold up that decline by generating a spirit of unity, pride, respect and trust, others have the decline accelerated for all the opposites of the above. IMHO, we're crrently in the second group.

[St. Jason]

Oh, indeed it does, but there is a masive difference between the two. And there is massive diference in the underlying cause.

 

One is a conscious decision to boycott on principle, which IMHO is a small minority, whilst the other is a sub conscious decision which is a direct result of the way the Club has performed on and off the pitch in recent months.

 

Football has changed in recent years and for many it has become an entertainment business. There will always be a hard core who will come what may, but others need to be convinced that they will be entertained and will enjoy the experience.

 

Indeed, those in charge now refer to us as customers and I don't know of any other business that blames it's customers for not trading with it. Get the product ight and people will buy it, serve up shtye and they will not fall for it.

 

With the odd exception, every club that underperforms sees a drop in attendances. Some may hold up that decline by generating a spirit of unity, pride, respect and trust, others have the decline accelerated for all the opposites of the above. IMHO, we're crrently in the second group.

 

Pretty basic um isn't it, any business that takes its customers for granted will loose said customers.

 

Simple analogy, you go to the same restaurant each month for the last 10 years with your wife & order your favourite steak, a bit pricey but hey its your favourite. You visit the restaurant for this months meal only to find its 'under new management' your then told that your favourite steak has been replaced by corned beef & to add insult to injury they want the same price! Do you:-

 

A. stay & keep coming as you've been coming for years & feel a loyalty to said restaurant.

 

B. Stay, give it a go as the new management may know something about corned beef that

no one else does, taste it then leave.

 

C. Leave never to return until the management sort it out.

 

Silly but how many times have we been called customers (or worse) my the PLC Chairman!

[Right sider]

I haven't been this season and that is totally alien to me if I think about it as I used to play and work at weekends but always made time for Saints games in midweek or sunday. I just don't seem to be bothered anymore, the passion has wained. Even when I was at work the radio would be on.

 

I still have football in me but find myself going to watch Ebbsfleet more than Saints now. Have been up to Kent 3 times this season already. It is a bit like the old days at the Dell, standing with friends, having a few beers and just enjoying the vibe. Funny thing is there are only about 1700 there in a ramshackle little stadium but it has more atmosphere than 17k in a big empty square shaped box.

 

I found that at St Marys I feel like a customer, herded in to buy a beer and a programme. Then up to your seat (which if you don't have a season ticket you will be surrounded with strangers). Back down for your pint and then same again. Never really thought of it before as I loved the atmosphere and the footie was good. Last time I was up the soul had gone and the team now has no spine.

 

I wonder how or if I can ever rekindle my passion, or whether something at the club will do it for me. I don't like Lowe, never have done. Remember the Sisa meetings but back then I really cared. I hardly even post here anymore. Lowe going would be a start but this club needs to start again. The endless takeover threads gave us hope, now there seems an inevitable hopelessness about everything.

 

I want my club back please. I want to care again.

[lordswoodsaints]

I don’t get this punching above our weight nonsense, what do people mean by this, that our natural state is the second division. We are a smallish club but not one that isn’t capable of sustaining life in the top flight, every year we were there we deserved to be there and did it with our own cash, we developed players, built a new ground, built a decent infrastructure and pulled in good crowds. That to me suggest we punched our own weight, to think otherwise is to accept defeat and believe the **** we are experiencing now is all we deserve.

There’s a better existence for our club and we need someone with the vision to take us back there. It doesn’t need a big take over, just a united share ownership backing one man with a rebuilding vision. Its got to be better than this second rate strategy of Lowe and Wilde. Do you really think we need to be going through this to make amends for a bit of an overspend, we are just Lowes experiment. Its time for a change.

 

we were punching above our weight,yes we did it with our own money,money that was generated by selling all of our better players and up and coming youngsters,but we had to sell to survive in the top flight,something that most people were not happy about so we cant have it both ways.we sold our family jewels to maintain our top flight status.

there are only about 6 large clubs in the country so we are a small club,a small club that thinks it is bigger than it is,but this is echoed by about 95% of the clubs in the league.

wilde and crouch took a gamble that we didnt win,they had banked on future income paying the debt and they lost,they counted their chickens before thay had hatched and they fvcked up and todays state of affairs is the payback for that mistake.

at best we are a mediocre club in a mediocre league,you have to hope that one day we might get lucky and scrape a play off place but dont bank on it.

im afraid most people still havnt come to terms with being relegated and until they do we will always have a fractured fan base arguing and bickering about who is to blame whilst the good ship southampton sinks into oblivion.

it is time that people woke up and realised the bad situation we are in and started to back their team before it is too late.

[Fan The Flames]

We weren’t punching above our weight, we were sustainable in the top flight, were for 27 years. Selling players in what all teams outside the big clubs does to make ends meet, it doesn't invalidate our stay in division one. If as you say there are only 6 teams then there are 14 more that have to find a different way to be sustainable, our way was full houses and cashing in on a player every now and then. A player that was going to leave anyway, when did we force a player out for the cash.

 

You question the fact that people are looking for someone to blame whilst laying the blame squarely with Wilde and Crouch.

 

I’m not bothered that we were relegated, what I’m bothered about is the lack of hope for our future. Don’t be fooled our present hopelessness is not due the size of our club but due our s**t governance.

[Johnny Bognor]

Simple analogy, you go to the same restaurant each month for the last 10 years with your wife & order your favourite steak, a bit pricey but hey its your favourite. You visit the restaurant for this months meal only to find its 'under new management' your then told that your favourite steak has been replaced by corned beef & to add insult to injury they want the same price!

 

...and to add insult to injury, you're not allowed to sit at your favourite table whereby you enjoyed the company of other regular diners, despite the fact that the waiters and waitresses serve all of the adjoining tables!

[offix]

...and to add insult to injury, you're not allowed to sit at your favourite table whereby you enjoyed the company of other regular diners, despite the fact that the waiters and waitresses serve all of the adjoining tables!

 

Yup, that must be Ru**rt's business savvy and the Quisling's "putting the fans first" attitude. Total f@kcing morons!