Cork: Watford wanted me more than Saints (From This is Hampshire)

sounds like a lot of waffle so he doesnt get booed when the teams meet. he just wanted to be bent over again by brenden

Lets be honest now.. he was always going to leave.. he'll be a good Premier league player in the future and Saints were dragging him down..
Good luck to the lad..
There must be enough experienced free transfers out there to pull us out of the sh*t..
Speculate to Accumulate Wupert.. you know it makes sense..

Who would want to stay under the guidance of that clown Porto and director of football Lowe ?

Invidia asked on Monday for an explanation of the case put forward by those of us who urge fans to turn up at St Marys and crticise the people who stay away. My argument is that fans can control their own actions i.e. turn up or not. They can't control the actions of Lowe and Wilde. By their own actions alone, they can ensure the club has enough money not to have to sell in January. I willingly concede that turning up won't guarantee that players won't be sold. But it is guaranteed they will be if they don't. 17,000 break even crowds give us a chance. 15,000 crowds do not.

I have no problem at all with fans who can't afford to go or think that it’s simply not worth their hard earned and scarce cash. What gets me is the dishonesty of those who are putting their mouths where their money is missing - on a point of "principle".

1,000 fans stay away = circa £400,000 that we don’t have to buy/pay that centre half we desperately need or to keep Skacel and Saga or pay John. Lowe doesn’t give a fig what you thing about him. But the team needs supporters – the only way we can help our team is by paying our money and supporting them. You either support the team by turning up (if you can afford it) or you stay away and hurt the team. Anyone who hurts the team is, by definition, not a fan, not a supporter. By all means choose to stop supporting Saints because you don’t like the way the club is being run – go and watch Salisbury, Winchester, Totton - or better quality football at a Premier League teams such as Portsmouth - but please spare us from the mealy mouth nonsense that you are still Saints fans who will deign to grace us with your attendance when you have a Board of your choice and a team in the Champion’s league. There will be no shortage of “fans” then. What the team needs is fans now, when it’s tough, when it hurts, when we have no money because only 15,000 turn up at St Mary’s and clubs such as Derby, going through equally tough times, can count on 25,000 plus – real fans, through bad times as well as good. In the long run Southampton will get the success it deserves as measured by the number of people who pay to watch them.


Of course Lowe blew it by not investing in taking the club forward after we finished 8th in the Premier League. Of course he hadn’t got a clue with 10 managers in 10 years. Of course, Wilde blew it when he ousted Lowe and installed a regime which ended up with the bizarre spectacle of a board composed entirely of high paid executive directors with not a shareholder in sight – unsustainable nonsense. T’wer ever so with football club chairmen. From time to time fans can influence that – but not a lot and not often. All we can do is turn up, support the team, shout abuse at the Board if we wish. But real fans never, ever, starve the team of the money it needs to move forward.

The UTS strategy is to boycott until Lowe and Wilde go, even if that means relegation and/or administration. And, if that doesn't get rid of them, keep on boycotting until we enter administration again and get relegated again. Such people quite openly admit to rather having the club disappear than put up with Lowe and Wilde. I find that, literally, a preposterous strategy.

Instead, I argue that fans have to rise above Lowe and take what action they can to save the club - in spite of Lowe, if you wish. A successful team is as least as likely to lead to Lowe's departure as a failed one - because the share price on offer to him would then be higher.

We now know, however, that there are not thousands of missing fans staying away out of a principled opposition to Lowe. The demand for tickets for Notts Forest and Man U have proved that to be a nonsense. A successful team and lower prices will see larger crowds.

You think its bad now? Try relegation. Try administration - loose points now and guarantee relegation = all the decent young players leave and we get third division old lags. Plus of course a points deduction at the start of next season in division three = stay there for years, possibly even down to division four.

Administration does not mean Lowe and Wilde go. They could buy the club back for £1 if they take on the debt – remember Bates and Leeds (still in Div 3); and Brighton.

Poor crowds are the biggest threat to us surviving in the Championship. Fair enough for those who can’t afford it or simply don’t fancy supporting Southampton anymore. Its those who stay away as part of some sort of campaign against Lowe that are a disgrace to the club, wishing the team to fail.


Fans should put their money where their mouths are and support the team. And stop trying to kid us and themselves that what they are doing is anything other than hugely damaging to the team. If we go down, and we might well do if crowds don’t increase, it will be the stayaways fault, every bit as much as relegation from the Premiership can, in my view, be fairly laid at Lowe’s door – two of a kind.

Lets all be honest and realistic, Who the hell would want to stay here and play for saints under lowe and co. They will be sold regardless and were in a mess anyway with whats happening of the pitch. The players are probably telling them selves there better away from it with a better future elsewere.

He was the sort of player we needed to keep.Clever committed and skillfull.Unlike the hierarchy at SFC

Watford "wanted me more" !
Where have we heard that sort of comment before from departing players or managers even.
SFC seem to lie down and be walked over when a request to talk to one of ours comes in rather than refusing the request.
Please can someone be strong enough to stick to their guns and say hands-off he's ours !!!
If SFC had tried harder who knows if Cork would have stayed or not but we wouldn't have to listen to excuses about why "he" left.

F Fan wrote:
Invidia asked on Monday for an explanation of the case put forward by those of us who urge fans to turn up at St Marys and crticise the people who stay away. My argument is that fans can control their own actions i.e. turn up or not. They can't control the actions of Lowe and Wilde. By their own actions alone, they can ensure the club has enough money not to have to sell in January. I willingly concede that turning up won't guarantee that players won't be sold. But it is guaranteed they will be if they don't. 17,000 break even crowds give us a chance. 15,000 crowds do not. I have no problem at all with fans who can't afford to go or think that it’s simply not worth their hard earned and scarce cash. What gets me is the dishonesty of those who are putting their mouths where their money is missing - on a point of "principle". 1,000 fans stay away = circa £400,000 that we don’t have to buy/pay that centre half we desperately need or to keep Skacel and Saga or pay John. Lowe doesn’t give a fig what you thing about him. But the team needs supporters – the only way we can help our team is by paying our money and supporting them. You either support the team by turning up (if you can afford it) or you stay away and hurt the team. Anyone who hurts the team is, by definition, not a fan, not a supporter. By all means choose to stop supporting Saints because you don’t like the way the club is being run – go and watch Salisbury, Winchester, Totton - or better quality football at a Premier League teams such as Portsmouth - but please spare us from the mealy mouth nonsense that you are still Saints fans who will deign to grace us with your attendance when you have a Board of your choice and a team in the Champion’s league. There will be no shortage of “fans” then. What the team needs is fans now, when it’s tough, when it hurts, when we have no money because only 15,000 turn up at St Mary’s and clubs such as Derby, going through equally tough times, can count on 25,000 plus – real fans, through bad times as well as good. In the long run Southampton will get the success it deserves as measured by the number of people who pay to watch them. Of course Lowe blew it by not investing in taking the club forward after we finished 8th in the Premier League. Of course he hadn’t got a clue with 10 managers in 10 years. Of course, Wilde blew it when he ousted Lowe and installed a regime which ended up with the bizarre spectacle of a board composed entirely of high paid executive directors with not a shareholder in sight – unsustainable nonsense. T’wer ever so with football club chairmen. From time to time fans can influence that – but not a lot and not often. All we can do is turn up, support the team, shout abuse at the Board if we wish. But real fans never, ever, starve the team of the money it needs to move forward. The UTS strategy is to boycott until Lowe and Wilde go, even if that means relegation and/or administration. And, if that doesn't get rid of them, keep on boycotting until we enter administration again and get relegated again. Such people quite openly admit to rather having the club disappear than put up with Lowe and Wilde. I find that, literally, a preposterous strategy. Instead, I argue that fans have to rise above Lowe and take what action they can to save the club - in spite of Lowe, if you wish. A successful team is as least as likely to lead to Lowe's departure as a failed one - because the share price on offer to him would then be higher. We now know, however, that there are not thousands of missing fans staying away out of a principled opposition to Lowe. The demand for tickets for Notts Forest and Man U have proved that to be a nonsense. A successful team and lower prices will see larger crowds. You think its bad now? Try relegation. Try administration - loose points now and guarantee relegation = all the decent young players leave and we get third division old lags. Plus of course a points deduction at the start of next season in division three = stay there for years, possibly even down to division four. Administration does not mean Lowe and Wilde go. They could buy the club back for £1 if they take on the debt – remember Bates and Leeds (still in Div 3); and Brighton. Poor crowds are the biggest threat to us surviving in the Championship. Fair enough for those who can’t afford it or simply don’t fancy supporting Southampton anymore. Its those who stay away as part of some sort of campaign against Lowe that are a disgrace to the club, wishing the team to fail. Fans should put their money where their mouths are and support the team. And stop trying to kid us and themselves that what they are doing is anything other than hugely damaging to the team. If we go down, and we might well do if crowds don’t increase, it will be the stayaways fault, every bit as much as relegation from the Premiership can, in my view, be fairly laid at Lowe’s door – two of a kind.

I wanted to highlight my bit.......

Certainly your very wrong in claiming what you have stated ive said.

I for the record have simply said like many that fans should boycott and not fund Lowe/Wilde destroying the club further. Its all about mounting pressure on the two clowns. Maybe we have to go backwards to shake off those who will not go. The club is NEVER going to disappear from admin either.

There needs to be direct action against Lowe/Wilde. Statements need to be made by fans. If 50% of season tickets holders boycotted in protest for Say Sheffield United. It would send the right message to the boardroom and hangers on.

We need to see some form of protest outside St Marys before/after matches like in 2006.

UTS, I disagree with your comment about season ticket holders boycotting the Sheff Utd game (or any other game for that matter). It would make no difference as the club already has the money, the only people who might be upset with us not being there would be the players.

If the fans stayaway and the club loses money because of that, Lowe will be absolutely thrilled, I'm sure, to put the blame at the fans' door. I'm not subsrbibing to that but if you want to stay away and kep your hard-earned cash, that's your choice - I'm not blasting you for it.

F Fan wrote:
Invidia asked on Monday for an explanation of the case put forward by those of us who urge fans to turn up at St Marys and crticise the people who stay away. My argument is that fans can control their own actions i.e. turn up or not. They can't control the actions of Lowe and Wilde. By their own actions alone, they can ensure the club has enough money not to have to sell in January. I willingly concede that turning up won't guarantee that players won't be sold. But it is guaranteed they will be if they don't. 17,000 break even crowds give us a chance. 15,000 crowds do not. I have no problem at all with fans who can't afford to go or think that it’s simply not worth their hard earned and scarce cash. What gets me is the dishonesty of those who are putting their mouths where their money is missing - on a point of "principle". 1,000 fans stay away = circa £400,000 that we don’t have to buy/pay that centre half we desperately need or to keep Skacel and Saga or pay John. Lowe doesn’t give a fig what you thing about him. But the team needs supporters – the only way we can help our team is by paying our money and supporting them. You either support the team by turning up (if you can afford it) or you stay away and hurt the team. Anyone who hurts the team is, by definition, not a fan, not a supporter. By all means choose to stop supporting Saints because you don’t like the way the club is being run – go and watch Salisbury, Winchester, Totton - or better quality football at a Premier League teams such as Portsmouth - but please spare us from the mealy mouth nonsense that you are still Saints fans who will deign to grace us with your attendance when you have a Board of your choice and a team in the Champion’s league. There will be no shortage of “fans” then. What the team needs is fans now, when it’s tough, when it hurts, when we have no money because only 15,000 turn up at St Mary’s and clubs such as Derby, going through equally tough times, can count on 25,000 plus – real fans, through bad times as well as good. In the long run Southampton will get the success it deserves as measured by the number of people who pay to watch them. Of course Lowe blew it by not investing in taking the club forward after we finished 8th in the Premier League. Of course he hadn’t got a clue with 10 managers in 10 years. Of course, Wilde blew it when he ousted Lowe and installed a regime which ended up with the bizarre spectacle of a board composed entirely of high paid executive directors with not a shareholder in sight – unsustainable nonsense. T’wer ever so with football club chairmen. From time to time fans can influence that – but not a lot and not often. All we can do is turn up, support the team, shout abuse at the Board if we wish. But real fans never, ever, starve the team of the money it needs to move forward. The UTS strategy is to boycott until Lowe and Wilde go, even if that means relegation and/or administration. And, if that doesn't get rid of them, keep on boycotting until we enter administration again and get relegated again. Such people quite openly admit to rather having the club disappear than put up with Lowe and Wilde. I find that, literally, a preposterous strategy. Instead, I argue that fans have to rise above Lowe and take what action they can to save the club - in spite of Lowe, if you wish. A successful team is as least as likely to lead to Lowe's departure as a failed one - because the share price on offer to him would then be higher. We now know, however, that there are not thousands of missing fans staying away out of a principled opposition to Lowe. The demand for tickets for Notts Forest and Man U have proved that to be a nonsense. A successful team and lower prices will see larger crowds. You think its bad now? Try relegation. Try administration - loose points now and guarantee relegation = all the decent young players leave and we get third division old lags. Plus of course a points deduction at the start of next season in division three = stay there for years, possibly even down to division four. Administration does not mean Lowe and Wilde go. They could buy the club back for £1 if they take on the debt – remember Bates and Leeds (still in Div 3); and Brighton. Poor crowds are the biggest threat to us surviving in the Championship. Fair enough for those who can’t afford it or simply don’t fancy supporting Southampton anymore. Its those who stay away as part of some sort of campaign against Lowe that are a disgrace to the club, wishing the team to fail. Fans should put their money where their mouths are and support the team. And stop trying to kid us and themselves that what they are doing is anything other than hugely damaging to the team. If we go down, and we might well do if crowds don’t increase, it will be the stayaways fault, every bit as much as relegation from the Premiership can, in my view, be fairly laid at Lowe’s door – two of a kind.

F Fan

Thank you for your posting, I agree 100%, and I bet we're not the only ones......

I was very sorry to hear that Jack Cork had opted for Watford instead of staying with Saints. He was a real class player. What a depressing time to be a Saints supporter though. I was at the game on Sunday and thnought that we would really give Manchester United a good go. What a disappointment. We never looked as though we really wanted to win. I don't know where this great Club is heading. I have little or NO confidence in the Manager. The Chairman acts on whims. Who did he consult when he decided to go Dutch. We know we are hard up so why bring in players and then pay their wages when they don't even play. We brought in Peckhart, Robertson, played them occasionally, we signed Gasmi and Pulis both with ankle injuries....Does that make sense? I'm afraid that I don't trust Jan to bring in anyone to improve our squad.I have never felt so dispondent about Saints future as I do now. I'm sorry but if there is any chance to save our Championship status then Jan has to go and we must bring in a Manager who knows the demands of this league. Mr Lowe and Mr Wilde if you care one iota for this Club then admit that your hair brained idea was wrong and change it.

I would go one better than all of the suggestions so far.

As a protest stay outside for the first half - every Saints fan. See how the club like 15,000 people milling around outside for 45-mins! It's a policing and logisitcs nightmare. It won't make any difference to the teams performance - but it will show there is mass discontent amongst the fanbase.
No one can ignore that...
The crowd could be swelled by all the stayaways to really show the discontent.
It will never happen though!
Denzil has a catch phrase...
He was forced to leave once - now he needs to be forced to go again with no control or interest in the football club whatsoever.
Rupert please sell the loss making SFC just like the insurance companies and the radio station - so that SFC is no longer part of Southampton Leisure Holdings!

Ffan Thanks for your views as you see it, but I am still not sure that your remedy will prove sucessful as you need direction from the board and it is blatently obvious that they dont give a fig about real fans or any other fans for that matter what are they doing to help the club survive yes ok they weald the axe on some unfortunate employees, the Notts forest game was evidence of what could be done but no they still want premiership prices for watching youth football, your argument might stand up if the board communicated with the FANS but all they care about is grabbing our money as I have said before bussiness/entertainm
ent what ever you want to call it is not only relying on the committed but also about value for money I would say that many stayaways as you call them would argue that they will not pay to watch RL waste more money

F Fan, some valid points, but alot of waffle. Derby still get decent crowds, but then so did we the year after Lowe got us relegated. Alot of the discontent is that we do not get value for money. Alot of Fans do not want to pay premier league prices for watching a youth team struggle in the CCC? The Man U game, even though more expensive was more desirable because it was an exciting fixture.
If we went into administration it is highly unlikely that Lowe and Wilde could buy the club back. Bates situation was different, he purchased the club when they were already in dire straights, the recievers largely saw him as the only hope. Lowe and Wilde are responsible for our predicament. Their inability to ever learn from mistakes would mean anyone looking to retrieve their money would surely look to more competent forward thinking persons.
Support the Saints, Terrorise the Board.

Lots of people are saying that people are staying away because they do not want to fund RL but the reason I have not been since the Forest game is completely down to the fact that I cannot justify (and I can afford it) spending £24-£28 on a ticket to watch 90mins of the rubbish we have been producing. Nice looking in the center of the park it maybe but exciting and value for money it certainly is not. Just think what £24-£28 can get you and compare it to what you have once you walk away from SMS after the game. It pains me to see the club in such a mess but I, and i'm sure many others cannot justify the total waste of money it has become. If the board get in some more experience and the football and results start improving the crowds will return. The club is a business and a business that does not offer value for money will fail. You wouldn't buy a TV you know doesn't work would you?
I hope things change soon but cannot see it with the current crop of players and the system we play.

p.s. I couldn't care who is in charge of the club as long as the results are there!!

F Fan wrote:
Invidia asked on Monday for an explanation of the case put forward by those of us who urge fans to turn up at St Marys and crticise the people who stay away. My argument is that fans can control their own actions i.e. turn up or not. They can't control the actions of Lowe and Wilde. By their own actions alone, they can ensure the club has enough money not to have to sell in January. I willingly concede that turning up won't guarantee that players won't be sold. But it is guaranteed they will be if they don't. 17,000 break even crowds give us a chance. 15,000 crowds do not. I have no problem at all with fans who can't afford to go or think that it’s simply not worth their hard earned and scarce cash. What gets me is the dishonesty of those who are putting their mouths where their money is missing - on a point of "principle". 1,000 fans stay away = circa £400,000 that we don’t have to buy/pay that centre half we desperately need or to keep Skacel and Saga or pay John. Lowe doesn’t give a fig what you thing about him. But the team needs supporters – the only way we can help our team is by paying our money and supporting them. You either support the team by turning up (if you can afford it) or you stay away and hurt the team. Anyone who hurts the team is, by definition, not a fan, not a supporter. By all means choose to stop supporting Saints because you don’t like the way the club is being run – go and watch Salisbury, Winchester, Totton - or better quality football at a Premier League teams such as Portsmouth - but please spare us from the mealy mouth nonsense that you are still Saints fans who will deign to grace us with your attendance when you have a Board of your choice and a team in the Champion’s league. There will be no shortage of “fans” then. What the team needs is fans now, when it’s tough, when it hurts, when we have no money because only 15,000 turn up at St Mary’s and clubs such as Derby, going through equally tough times, can count on 25,000 plus – real fans, through bad times as well as good. In the long run Southampton will get the success it deserves as measured by the number of people who pay to watch them. Of course Lowe blew it by not investing in taking the club forward after we finished 8th in the Premier League. Of course he hadn’t got a clue with 10 managers in 10 years. Of course, Wilde blew it when he ousted Lowe and installed a regime which ended up with the bizarre spectacle of a board composed entirely of high paid executive directors with not a shareholder in sight – unsustainable nonsense. T’wer ever so with football club chairmen. From time to time fans can influence that – but not a lot and not often. All we can do is turn up, support the team, shout abuse at the Board if we wish. But real fans never, ever, starve the team of the money it needs to move forward. The UTS strategy is to boycott until Lowe and Wilde go, even if that means relegation and/or administration. And, if that doesn't get rid of them, keep on boycotting until we enter administration again and get relegated again. Such people quite openly admit to rather having the club disappear than put up with Lowe and Wilde. I find that, literally, a preposterous strategy. Instead, I argue that fans have to rise above Lowe and take what action they can to save the club - in spite of Lowe, if you wish. A successful team is as least as likely to lead to Lowe's departure as a failed one - because the share price on offer to him would then be higher. We now know, however, that there are not thousands of missing fans staying away out of a principled opposition to Lowe. The demand for tickets for Notts Forest and Man U have proved that to be a nonsense. A successful team and lower prices will see larger crowds. You think its bad now? Try relegation. Try administration - loose points now and guarantee relegation = all the decent young players leave and we get third division old lags. Plus of course a points deduction at the start of next season in division three = stay there for years, possibly even down to division four. Administration does not mean Lowe and Wilde go. They could buy the club back for £1 if they take on the debt – remember Bates and Leeds (still in Div 3); and Brighton. Poor crowds are the biggest threat to us surviving in the Championship. Fair enough for those who can’t afford it or simply don’t fancy supporting Southampton anymore. Its those who stay away as part of some sort of campaign against Lowe that are a disgrace to the club, wishing the team to fail. Fans should put their money where their mouths are and support the team. And stop trying to kid us and themselves that what they are doing is anything other than hugely damaging to the team. If we go down, and we might well do if crowds don’t increase, it will be the stayaways fault, every bit as much as relegation from the Premiership can, in my view, be fairly laid at Lowe’s door – two of a kind.

Best post in a long long time.

Like I said before, the only way to get rid of him is for someone to find out Lowes address and publish it, then we can take the protest there. That IS the only way we can make him go. Someone out there who really cares about the club must have the resources to find it? I will be there with everybody else. I dont care where it is. And, we let Jack Cork go. He is a Chelsea Player and he will be on a good wage which we would have to cover. Lowe wouldnt let him stay. Thats why we're loaning rejects from the league below, because they're cheap.

Saint B wrote:

F Fan wrote: Invidia asked on Monday for an explanation of the case put forward by those of us who urge fans to turn up at St Marys and crticise the people who stay away. My argument is that fans can control their own actions i.e. turn up or not. They can't control the actions of Lowe and Wilde. By their own actions alone, they can ensure the club has enough money not to have to sell in January. I willingly concede that turning up won't guarantee that players won't be sold. But it is guaranteed they will be if they don't. 17,000 break even crowds give us a chance. 15,000 crowds do not. I have no problem at all with fans who can't afford to go or think that it’s simply not worth their hard earned and scarce cash. What gets me is the dishonesty of those who are putting their mouths where their money is missing - on a point of "principle". 1,000 fans stay away = circa £400,000 that we don’t have to buy/pay that centre half we desperately need or to keep Skacel and Saga or pay John. Lowe doesn’t give a fig what you thing about him. But the team needs supporters – the only way we can help our team is by paying our money and supporting them. You either support the team by turning up (if you can afford it) or you stay away and hurt the team. Anyone who hurts the team is, by definition, not a fan, not a supporter. By all means choose to stop supporting Saints because you don’t like the way the club is being run – go and watch Salisbury, Winchester, Totton - or better quality football at a Premier League teams such as Portsmouth - but please spare us from the mealy mouth nonsense that you are still Saints fans who will deign to grace us with your attendance when you have a Board of your choice and a team in the Champion’s league. There will be no shortage of “fans” then. What the team needs is fans now, when it’s tough, when it hurts, when we have no money because only 15,000 turn up at St Mary’s and clubs such as Derby, going through equally tough times, can count on 25,000 plus – real fans, through bad times as well as good. In the long run Southampton will get the success it deserves as measured by the number of people who pay to watch them. Of course Lowe blew it by not investing in taking the club forward after we finished 8th in the Premier League. Of course he hadn’t got a clue with 10 managers in 10 years. Of course, Wilde blew it when he ousted Lowe and installed a regime which ended up with the bizarre spectacle of a board composed entirely of high paid executive directors with not a shareholder in sight – unsustainable nonsense. T’wer ever so with football club chairmen. From time to time fans can influence that – but not a lot and not often. All we can do is turn up, support the team, shout abuse at the Board if we wish. But real fans never, ever, starve the team of the money it needs to move forward. The UTS strategy is to boycott until Lowe and Wilde go, even if that means relegation and/or administration. And, if that doesn't get rid of them, keep on boycotting until we enter administration again and get relegated again. Such people quite openly admit to rather having the club disappear than put up with Lowe and Wilde. I find that, literally, a preposterous strategy. Instead, I argue that fans have to rise above Lowe and take what action they can to save the club - in spite of Lowe, if you wish. A successful team is as least as likely to lead to Lowe's departure as a failed one - because the share price on offer to him would then be higher. We now know, however, that there are not thousands of missing fans staying away out of a principled opposition to Lowe. The demand for tickets for Notts Forest and Man U have proved that to be a nonsense. A successful team and lower prices will see larger crowds. You think its bad now? Try relegation. Try administration - loose points now and guarantee relegation = all the decent young players leave and we get third division old lags. Plus of course a points deduction at the start of next season in division three = stay there for years, possibly even down to division four. Administration does not mean Lowe and Wilde go. They could buy the club back for £1 if they take on the debt – remember Bates and Leeds (still in Div 3); and Brighton. Poor crowds are the biggest threat to us surviving in the Championship. Fair enough for those who can’t afford it or simply don’t fancy supporting Southampton anymore. Its those who stay away as part of some sort of campaign against Lowe that are a disgrace to the club, wishing the team to fail. Fans should put their money where their mouths are and support the team. And stop trying to kid us and themselves that what they are doing is anything other than hugely damaging to the team. If we go down, and we might well do if crowds don’t increase, it will be the stayaways fault, every bit as much as relegation from the Premiership can, in my view, be fairly laid at Lowe’s door – two of a kind.

F Fan Thank you for your posting, I agree 100%, and I bet we're not the only ones......

Great posting (except for suggestion of supporting P****y instead) Derby rumoured to be interesting Middle East investors - no surprise as 28000 average gate when struggling suggests sleeping giant .... 16000 does not! Protest yes - outside Itchin stand after every game if need be but club needs money and the lads need as much vocal support during the game. COYR

RomseyTom wrote:
F Fan, some valid points, but alot of waffle. Derby still get decent crowds, but then so did we the year after Lowe got us relegated. Alot of the discontent is that we do not get value for money. Alot of Fans do not want to pay premier league prices for watching a youth team struggle in the CCC? The Man U game, even though more expensive was more desirable because it was an exciting fixture. If we went into administration it is highly unlikely that Lowe and Wilde could buy the club back. Bates situation was different, he purchased the club when they were already in dire straights, the recievers largely saw him as the only hope. Lowe and Wilde are responsible for our predicament. Their inability to ever learn from mistakes would mean anyone looking to retrieve their money would surely look to more competent forward thinking persons. Support the Saints, Terrorise the Board.

sorry Romsey but you are wrong on how Admin / receivership works (I am an insolvency practitioner). Bates offer for Leeds will have been accepted because it was the best price and not for any other reason. The receiver does not make any emotional decision about who might be best for the future! Any Administrator or Receiver of Saints would have the same obligation - to get the best price - and would not give a stuff about previous mistakes, forward thinking ideas or popularity with anyone. So if lowe or wilde make the only offer (could well happen) then they will be the new owners, period. The idea that many fans keep putting forward, that Administration would be good for us, is nuts.

Great post FFan, but I am not gonna reproduce it again!!!
Great points however, your saying that if 'fans can't afford it' you can understand why they are staying away...do you honestly think they wouldn't be able to afford it if manure, ch£l$ki, arsenal liverpool et al were at SMS every other week? I think they might be able to scrape the money together somehow! SO WHY NOT NOW?

SFC4EVA..."p.s. I couldn't care who is in charge of the club as long as the results are there!!
So, as I read that, you would go to SMS if Saints were good and winning most games...nothing to do with how you cannot afford it???

SUPPORT YOUR TEAM THROUGH THIN AND THINNER!

If you support the team, do it from the terraces and NOT through the TV or radio!!!

Will Cork make a premiership player? I hope so but feel he is destined to play no higher than the CCC. He knows the Watford manager and Lampard snr is there, surely that is a no brainer compared to us! Good Luck Jack enjoyed watching you.

Very well put FFan. However, look at the replies from the likes of UTS and Invidia. You are banging your head against a very thick brick wall. They just dont get it. I still think with some of the non-supporters its inverted snobbery. They cant stand Lowe because he's a Rupert.

We all need to get behind the club and support the team. Staying away will not get rid of Lowe, it will however lead to the demise of SFC.

the man u game proved that we only have 15000 true fans end of chat. all the stay aways sneaked in and out again sunday. its all about results if we are winning they come if we are loosing they do not.
the stay aways only turned up to see man u. how sad is that???

Very interesting Rich London a couple of weeks ago you were a PR guru, what will you be employed at next month? As for Miltonarchers you do more for deviding the fan base than most as I have said many times you are a WUM (what has inverted snobbery got to do with anything) You so called real fans keep on banging on about non supporters etc. I can assure you that most of the people who live in the catchment area and probably have never watched a football match are pleased when the Saints are doing well its called "the feel good factor" I know every type of supporter has experienced this(not lately though)you might have been around when Saints won the cup the whole town and district (hundred thousand +)turned out to show their pride as I said even those who have never watched a match in their lives, that is what makes people happy that is what we are not getting at the present time with the mess at SMS

Best comment above was "I dont care who is in charge as long as the results are there",But their not and the reason for that is ..YAWN !!!!!!Its a results buisness,financialll
y or otherwise,there is so much wrong with the present set up,where could you start ?I dont think Jan is the worst manager to grace SFC,but come off it-with dear old rupes fronting it ,Its like employing a vegetarian to run your butchers shop.If staying away wont get rid of dear old rupes,what will ,total collapse of the club ?.In reality the answers no,but fans should not be castigated for despising the man the has engineered our demise. Should they ?Is the answer to put money through the turnstiles and voice your disgust,Oh no that will be wrong too,wouldnt it.Just roll over and accept it then !!!!!!NO WAY.

thehutchmeister wrote:
Like I said before, the only way to get rid of him is for someone to find out Lowes address and publish it, then we can take the protest there. That IS the only way we can make him go. Someone out there who really cares about the club must have the resources to find it? I will be there with everybody else. I dont care where it is. And, we let Jack Cork go. He is a Chelsea Player and he will be on a good wage which we would have to cover. Lowe wouldnt let him stay. Thats why we're loaning rejects from the league below, because they're cheap.

Always fancied a weekend in the Cotswolds - then I could visit Jim Steele at The Bear in Moreton - is that his pub?

Surely he will be at matches on the weekend - but we could put pressure on his family! Urban terrorists disrupt country life for the Lowe's?

Hang on the game keeper may be up to his old tricks. Can it wait until the duck season starts again? Mustn't keep banging on the old "country life" - but how funny would it be if hundreds of Saints fans were pictured in Hare & Hounds outside Mr.Lowe's retreat?

"I say darling the peasants are revolting"
"No it's alright dear - it's just the lager swilling, lunatic fringe...nothing to worry about"
"But Rupert that's all very well but Major Dimbleby-Smythe is due in half an hour!"
"Don't worry dear I'll set the dogs on them"

Tally-ho!
Rupert must go!

Yorkie, I am sure Jim Steele (6ft 2 eyes of blue) will host a meet of the "looney fringe". Take him to the ducking stool, perhaps Mr Chorley would like to do the honours if he still is not celebrating Man U win..haha. Count me in . SAVE OUR SAINTS.

DinkDankDoo, Lordswood ... you are missing my point. I can afford to go to the games at £24-£28 but the quality, results and depressing feeling after the games are not worth spending that money. If the games were £10-£15 (in my eyes a better price for the quality of football) all the time i'd attend more regardless of results.
If we were playing exciting football and winning more than losing i'd happily part with £24-£28 or even a season ticket for the experience of walking away after most games buzzing from a great game and a win!

When will people understand that for a lot of people its not about not being able to afford it or who's in charge its the fact that the "Product" (in laymen's terms, the quality of football, players and results!) is not good enough to charge the amount the club do thus a lot of people are not happy in spending money on the "Product"

worried of e sussex wrote:
the man u game proved that we only have 15000 true fans end of chat. all the stay aways sneaked in and out again sunday. its all about results if we are winning they come if we are loosing they do not. the stay aways only turned up to see man u. how sad is that???

Of course they came for ManU. It was a chance to see players the likes of that we have not seen for years!! And why not?!

Of course if we were winning more than loosing there would be more people at games! Thats the point! Fair play to the 15000 faithfully who are willing to spend money and be depressed every weekend! Everyone else thinks 'why waste money on something that leaves you depressed making you feeling even more out of pocket?!'

Better results bigger crowds!

How apt! Security word less-less

I find it all very amusing that people come on here and criticize the 'Stay Away Fans'.

Firstly because people are entitled to take actions based upon their own informed/misinformed beliefs...

Secondly because WITHOUT these 'Stay Away Fans' our club very simply cannot sustain itself...

So, in my response - I acknowledge the actions of the 'Stay Away Fans' (Unlike Wupert and Michael)... I say 'Hmmmm... should we not look at a way to get large crowds back????'... 'Hmmmm maybe drop prices?'.... 'Hmmmm maybe Wupert, Michael and Jan don't know how to get success on the pitch'..... Hmmmm maybe we could run a "Two Adults pay, Two Kids in Free" offer'

Simply, IF I were the bank I would be applying pressure to the board not only to meet their obligations financially but also to ensure the future fan base.... and based upon recent management by Lowe and Wilde, I would doubt very much as to their ability to drive increased attendance, pitch success and future fan loyalties.

If SKY were to remove Football, Cricket, Rugby etc from SKY SPORTS... and replace it with 'Action Yoga', 'Childrens Tennis', 'Romanian Chariot Racing'... then they would lose much of their subscribed custom... because the audience would NOT be getting value for money.

I grant you that results are difficult in this league... even more so with limited resources... but we wont EVEN BE IN THIS LEAGUE SOON WITH THE LIMITED RESULTS THAT WE ARE GETTING... then our RESOURCES will be even fewer... (p.s does anyone know if we have a Saints Toddlers Team that we can start using if we get relegated into League 1?)

I love this club... I DO STILL ATTEND!!!.... BUT WE ALL HAVE OPINIONS AND A FREE RIGHT TO EXERCISE THEM... IT IS A PITY THAT WE HAVE AN ARROGANT BOARD WHO WOULD RATHER SEE THE DEATH OF THE CLUB BY EXPERIMENT INSTEAD OF APPLYING THE NECESSARY FOCUS TO ENSURE OUR SURVIVAL!

COYR!!!

P.S I actually smile when I see the massive loss of value to Wilde and Lowe's Shares!!!!

"Lowest of the Lowe" - again!

Well said cpnhaddock according to most so called "real fans" it is the non supporters who are ruining this club how stupid is that!! some people will believe anything they are told. By the way I am still attending home games but not for much longer and be assured there are many more like me, that have said enough is enough.

Invidia wrote:
Very interesting Rich London a couple of weeks ago you were a PR guru, what will you be employed at next month? As for Miltonarchers you do more for deviding the fan base than most as I have said many times you are a WUM (what has inverted snobbery got to do with anything) You so called real fans keep on banging on about non supporters etc. I can assure you that most of the people who live in the catchment area and probably have never watched a football match are pleased when the Saints are doing well its called "the feel good factor" I know every type of supporter has experienced this(not lately though)you might have been around when Saints won the cup the whole town and district (hundred thousand +)turned out to show their pride as I said even those who have never watched a match in their lives, that is what makes people happy that is what we are not getting at the present time with the mess at SMS

Well said Invidia, you obviously are a true supporter, one that cares what is going on at the club, I find it quite amuseing to think that by not doing anything, things will change for the better

Invidia wrote:
Very interesting Rich London a couple of weeks ago you were a PR guru, what will you be employed at next month? As for Miltonarchers you do more for deviding the fan base than most as I have said many times you are a WUM (what has inverted snobbery got to do with anything) You so called real fans keep on banging on about non supporters etc. I can assure you that most of the people who live in the catchment area and probably have never watched a football match are pleased when the Saints are doing well its called Hmmm. hold on, maybe there is more than one Rich in London who is an SFC fan. I have worked on plenty of receiverships / administrations , though not a football club, and if you think we have limited cash now, it is like a champions league run compared to administration

Rich, London wrote:
Invidia wrote: Very interesting Rich London a couple of weeks ago you were a PR guru, what will you be employed at next month? As for Miltonarchers you do more for deviding the fan base than most as I have said many times you are a WUM (what has inverted snobbery got to do with anything) You so called real fans keep on banging on about non supporters etc. I can assure you that most of the people who live in the catchment area and probably have never watched a football match are pleased when the Saints are doing well its called Hmmm. hold on, maybe there is more than one Rich in London who is an SFC fan. I have worked on plenty of receiverships / administrations , though not a football club, and if you think we have limited cash now, it is like a champions league run compared to administrationJack of all, master of none?

cpnhaddock, Why would the bank be interested in ensuring the future fan base? Their only goal is to get back the money they loaned the club with their interest whacked on top. How the club gets that money is not their problem.

I guess in administration there wouldn't be anybody looking out for the best interests of the club in financial troubles, it would be whoever comes in with the best price, as Rich suggested. Just goes to show that there is no loyalty or emotional feeling towards football clubs these days (not from the management/directors etc anyway), it's a cold, hard, business.

It's all about balancing the books and, love him or loathe him, that's what Rupert Lowe is good at and at the moment he is the only option. I just wish someone within the board could get enough people together to overthrow him. I think that's the only way we'll be rid of him.

SFC4EVA wrote:

worried of e sussex wrote: the man u game proved that we only have 15000 true fans end of chat. all the stay aways sneaked in and out again sunday. its all about results if we are winning they come if we are loosing they do not. the stay aways only turned up to see man u. how sad is that???

Of course they came for ManU. It was a chance to see players the likes of that we have not seen for years!! And why not?! Of course if we were winning more than loosing there would be more people at games! Thats the point! Fair play to the 15000 faithfully who are willing to spend money and be depressed every weekend! Everyone else thinks 'why waste money on something that leaves you depressed making you feeling even more out of pocket?!' Better results bigger crowds! How apt! Security word less-less

so are you agreeing with me or not? the stay aways say they will not step in st mary's while lowe is there but they turn up to see man u go to pompey and see them if that is the case!

The club is doomed!
I don't mean for this season, or for the forseeable future. I mean its dead, gone, no more.

Once upon a time this club was worth supporting, it was a family club. Now it's a hollow shell of what it once was. Fans are constantly bickering amongst one another at every opportunity and the atmosphere at games is non-existent.

This is in part down to the way fans have been treated at the new ground. Gone is the supporters club, gone is the young saints club. Now fans are treated like cattle hearded into their seats by miserable looking stewards. Fleeced of every penny at half time and bored to tears by the only person in the ground who seams to even attempt to get an atmosphere going.

Poor show really but one that has been going on for a long time. If you had sat in any stand in the dell you would have seen young and old alike cheering for their team. Sit in the wrong stand in SMS and you are likely to be told to sit down, shut up, or just plain f*** off.

Its a disgrace but one that can be solved. My suggestion would be that the club takes advantage of the current low attendances to reintroduce the old dell atmosphere. if the Northam stand were to be given over entirely to the away support and the other end closed then fans could be placed into the side witout being segregated. The club could then give out some cardboard tubes for the fans to use to make some noise. Still Rupert would not be keen to see fans united in suport as they could end up united against him.

Or put another way UTS - who would want to stay here with fans like you.

FFan - absolutely spot on, but you are banging your head against the wall as these people just refuse to alter there way of thinking and are quite prepared to see the club fold because of their stupidity.

Now you are talking UTS - get a protest going outside St Mary's then we could all see once and for all just how many you speak for every time you come on this site bleating about Lowe. As for your idea to get half of the season ticket holders to boycot the game - has it occurred to you that perhaps 50% of those holders may just think your idea is crap.

Yorkie - off on one again I see. Easy for someone who does not go, to suggest standing outside for the first half and then paying full whack to watch half a game. How can you say that our team playing the first half in front of only away supporters would not affect their game, and are you not forgetting the real fans who want to be in there for the full 90 minutes watching and supporting. As for Rupert selling - who the hell do you think is out there willing to buy this den of gloom and why has he not already shown his face. He would have to be quite a personality to inherit a bunch of fans like we have who would be screaming for his head the moment he opened his mouth and spoke 'proper' or admitted he liked shooting or heaven forbid was spotted anywhere near the training ground or dressing room.

Three cheers for you and your honesty SFC4EVA. I wonder how many more there are like you out there with a perfectly valid reason for not attending, that does not fit the mould put about by the anti Lowe brigade. I would suggest (and have done so ad-nauseum) that there are thousands just like you and our poor gate is not majorly down to Lowe haters.

What next Hutchmeister - car scratching, bricks through the window, firebombs, abduction - why not try murder. For Christs sakes get real, this is football not espionage. Just how far would you go with your petty vegeance campaign

Thank God for Rich of London. How refreshing to hear someone say something on this site about administration who actually knows what he is talking about instead of just believing they do.

DinkDankDo - yet one more piece of proof for all the ALBies that there are those of us out here who do support the team and for the right reasons, and give more credence to my claim that your following is not as great as you believe it is.

Rudd Gillet - with you entirely. I am just pleased to have seen him play for a while here, and although disappointed he has gone can only thank him for his efforts. Can't people just accept that, just as they will do what is best for themselves in their lives, so to will footballers.

MiltonArchers - you are so right. Rupert is not the stereotype and therefore that marks him out as some sort of freak to the boo boys. It is a sad indictment that makes you out to be wrong just because you are different.

Worried ofesussex - it is sad as you say that the worms crawled out of the woodwork to watch the superstars and now have disappeared, but you must surely have expected it to happen. I expect that just like me you would also have expected those same worms to still be crowing now if we had by some miracle turned over the Man U boys. However, we both know that these are the lads who are now taking great delight in tearing us to pieces for our inept display. How fickle they are.

Rich of london - I think you must be wrong about who you are, so can you please get back on this site immediately and say sorry to UTS He knows absolutely everything about everything, and if he says you are the Rich of london that he thinks you are then he is bound to be correct.

F Fan's post is absolutely the best in ages. It's factually correct and says it all. It's unpleasant but life is like that.

Rich London is also factually correct about administration / receivership. I worked with insolvency practitioners for many years and the law is quite clear - if you don't sell the business (or its constituent assets) for the best price offered then creditors can, and WILL, sue the administrator / receiver.

Somebody also said that the bank (Barclays) would be putting pressure on the Board to secure the future fan base as well as the financial performance. Sadly, that's not the way banks operate, especially in this credit crunch. They are only interested in short-term measures to get the debt paid off as quickly as possible. Under Basle 2 rules our overdraft, which I think is at least partly unsecured, costs Barclays alot of capital. They have opted to take some very expensive Middle East money instead of being in hock to the government. Their willingness to continue to have capital eaten up by customers like Saints is sorely limited. So, they will back a Board that they see as capable of taking tough short-term measures to cut expenditure. They won't back anyone who was a director when player wages reached 81% of turnover. Without the backing of Barclays, any new Board would have no choice but to put the club into administration.

So, the current Board won't give a toss about fans; neiher will the bank; and neither will any future administrator. So, we ordinary fans have no chance of influencing the people who make the key decisions. But how is that different from the way it's always been?

So, I'll just keep turning up and supporting the Saints through thick and thin 'cos that's what Ive been doing for 40 years.

UTS wrote:
Who would want to stay under the guidance of that clown Porto and director of football Lowe ?

I fully agree that staying away to have a dig at Lowe and Wilde does not make financial sense as ultimately reduced gate receipts is another nail in Saints coffin, nor does it make sense to drive the club into administration as quite apart from anything else there is no guarantee that the stadium could be kept by anybody buying the club from the receivers. They are bound to accept the highest possible offer for any assets the PLC has and the stadium has been built on valuable land. So adminstration has to be avoided at all costs.
Remember too that one of Lowe's last acts before being ousted by Wilde first time around was the passing of a resolution allowing the club to trade in its own shares.
And this to me is the most telling factor when deciding what action to take.
Briefly this resolution paves the way for Lowe to opt to sell his ( and presumably Wilde's) shares back to the club.
As Chairman and chief executive he could decide to do just that and walk away from the club he has so badly abused.Where will the money come from I hear you say ! Why, fropm player shares without a doubt.The only thing that can stop him from doing so are the plyers themselves who can refuse to be sold. I would not mind betting that Surman and Llalana. who wish the club well are more than aware of the ploy and consequently have both declared in favour of staying almost as soon as the transfer window opened, thus nipping any Lowe manouvres in the bud.
Other players who are basically football playing mercenaries like Skacel, who has been a major disappointment, will only ber too pleased to move and this is why you see Skacel being touted in the media.
As for us fans my comercial instincts tell me that we have little choice but to stick together and pool resources as quickly as possible so that we can buy Lowe out or take over when he has sold his shares and moved to pastures new.
I have started a campaign with that in mind and the response so far is encouraging but more support, much more support is needed. We do not necessarily need mind-blowing donations from people to what is a charitable endeavour, just what you can afford in the knowledge that any moey raised will be used to create resources to buy into the PLC.It will take time but you have to start somewhere and the time to do it is now.
So come on Saints in the words of the inimitable Delia Smith over at Norwich "Let's be having you!"
Help yourselves to save the club for yourselves, family and future generations. It will be money well spent.
Write to me at saintsforachange@liv
e.co.uk and let me know how you feel about the club and whether you are willing to join the small band that are.

Cheers and a happy New Year to all Saints fans

Montecristosaint

F Fan wrote:
Invidia asked on Monday for an explanation of the case put forward by those of us who urge fans to turn up at St Marys and crticise the people who stay away. My argument is that fans can control their own actions i.e. turn up or not. They can't control the actions of Lowe and Wilde. By their own actions alone, they can ensure the club has enough money not to have to sell in January. I willingly concede that turning up won't guarantee that players won't be sold. But it is guaranteed they will be if they don't. 17,000 break even crowds give us a chance. 15,000 crowds do not. I have no problem at all with fans who can't afford to go or think that it’s simply not worth their hard earned and scarce cash. What gets me is the dishonesty of those who are putting their mouths where their money is missing - on a point of "principle". 1,000 fans stay away = circa £400,000 that we don’t have to buy/pay that centre half we desperately need or to keep Skacel and Saga or pay John. Lowe doesn’t give a fig what you thing about him. But the team needs supporters – the only way we can help our team is by paying our money and supporting them. You either support the team by turning up (if you can afford it) or you stay away and hurt the team. Anyone who hurts the team is, by definition, not a fan, not a supporter. By all means choose to stop supporting Saints because you don’t like the way the club is being run – go and watch Salisbury, Winchester, Totton - or better quality football at a Premier League teams such as Portsmouth - but please spare us from the mealy mouth nonsense that you are still Saints fans who will deign to grace us with your attendance when you have a Board of your choice and a team in the Champion’s league. There will be no shortage of “fans” then. What the team needs is fans now, when it’s tough, when it hurts, when we have no money because only 15,000 turn up at St Mary’s and clubs such as Derby, going through equally tough times, can count on 25,000 plus – real fans, through bad times as well as good. In the long run Southampton will get the success it deserves as measured by the number of people who pay to watch them. Of course Lowe blew it by not investing in taking the club forward after we finished 8th in the Premier League. Of course he hadn’t got a clue with 10 managers in 10 years. Of course, Wilde blew it when he ousted Lowe and installed a regime which ended up with the bizarre spectacle of a board composed entirely of high paid executive directors with not a shareholder in sight – unsustainable nonsense. T’wer ever so with football club chairmen. From time to time fans can influence that – but not a lot and not often. All we can do is turn up, support the team, shout abuse at the Board if we wish. But real fans never, ever, starve the team of the money it needs to move forward. The UTS strategy is to boycott until Lowe and Wilde go, even if that means relegation and/or administration. And, if that doesn't get rid of them, keep on boycotting until we enter administration again and get relegated again. Such people quite openly admit to rather having the club disappear than put up with Lowe and Wilde. I find that, literally, a preposterous strategy. Instead, I argue that fans have to rise above Lowe and take what action they can to save the club - in spite of Lowe, if you wish. A successful team is as least as likely to lead to Lowe's departure as a failed one - because the share price on offer to him would then be higher. We now know, however, that there are not thousands of missing fans staying away out of a principled opposition to Lowe. The demand for tickets for Notts Forest and Man U have proved that to be a nonsense. A successful team and lower prices will see larger crowds. You think its bad now? Try relegation. Try administration - loose points now and guarantee relegation = all the decent young players leave and we get third division old lags. Plus of course a points deduction at the start of next season in division three = stay there for years, possibly even down to division four. Administration does not mean Lowe and Wilde go. They could buy the club back for £1 if they take on the debt – remember Bates and Leeds (still in Div 3); and Brighton. Poor crowds are the biggest threat to us surviving in the Championship. Fair enough for those who can’t afford it or simply don’t fancy supporting Southampton anymore. Its those who stay away as part of some sort of campaign against Lowe that are a disgrace to the club, wishing the team to fail. Fans should put their money where their mouths are and support the team. And stop trying to kid us and themselves that what they are doing is anything other than hugely damaging to the team. If we go down, and we might well do if crowds don’t increase, it will be the stayaways fault, every bit as much as relegation from the Premiership can, in my view, be fairly laid at Lowe’s door – two of a kind.

FANTASTIC!!!

Absolutely 100% spot on.

The only thing I would add to that is some people's notion that administration is some neat little area we can walk into, dump all our debts, change the management structure, and come out smiling on the other side. I mean, we'd be relegated but that's going to happen anyway isn't it! Well.. maybe it is, but administration will almost certainly be disaster for our football club. Unlike every other club that this has happened to so far we have a HUGE MORTGAGE on our stadium - the club's property. The other clubs have had huge debts against the 'company' as a whole but we have loans explicitly against our PROPERTY.

If we go into administration and our creditors push, we will lose the ground and with it, the club will more than likely fold. Even if we could groundshare with someone like Bournemouth, we'd never ever recover as a club.

A true fan could never wish for this and so those fighting the "noble crusade" and claiming to be fans yet not going, and encouraging others not to go, are a shame on our club

Full marks to F Fan for the wise words submitted today. In my view they accurately reflect the thoughts of the majority of Saints fans who genuinely care about the future of the club. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see through the smoke of protestors who are banging on the door without any thought for the victim being trampled underfoot.
The reality is that Southampton FC has around 14,000 fans that regularly turn up and encourage their team, come rain, Rupert Lowe or shine. Naturally, everyone wants to be identified with a winner. If the team’s performance improved, crowds and income would increase proportionately.
A well supported, winning team would become more attractive to investors, and if the right investor moved in everyone, and I mean everyone, would jump up and cheer.
In any contentious debate, empty vessels always have, and always will make the most noise. Prior to the Manchester United game, calls were made on this site for mass protests and banners before the game and at half time. Did anyone see or hear any? On this site one protestor set up an email address and asked fans of like mind to add their names to a petition. Has anyone seen it? The reality is that support for protest and boycott is minimal and seems to be confined to this site. In the fresh air of St Mary’s stadium protest is a long way from happening. The silent majority will always distance themselves from noisy protests for change.
Rudyard Kipling – who, by the way was also a wise man but not a friend of Rupert Lowe – wrote “If you can keep your head, when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you - - - you will be a man, my son”
If you are able to, and want the name of Southampton to remain associated with a top level team - its time to stand up and be counted. Put your banner away for another day, get behind the Saints in 2009, and let’s see if, together, we can turn this unfortunate trend around.

F Fan wrote:
Invidia asked on Monday for an explanation of the case put forward by those of us who urge fans to turn up at St Marys and crticise the people who stay away. My argument is that fans can control their own actions i.e. turn up or not. They can't control the actions of Lowe and Wilde. By their own actions alone, they can ensure the club has enough money not to have to sell in January. I willingly concede that turning up won't guarantee that players won't be sold. But it is guaranteed they will be if they don't. 17,000 break even crowds give us a chance. 15,000 crowds do not. I have no problem at all with fans who can't afford to go or think that it’s simply not worth their hard earned and scarce cash. What gets me is the dishonesty of those who are putting their mouths where their money is missing - on a point of "principle". 1,000 fans stay away = circa £400,000 that we don’t have to buy/pay that centre half we desperately need or to keep Skacel and Saga or pay John. Lowe doesn’t give a fig what you thing about him. But the team needs supporters – the only way we can help our team is by paying our money and supporting them. You either support the team by turning up (if you can afford it) or you stay away and hurt the team. Anyone who hurts the team is, by definition, not a fan, not a supporter. By all means choose to stop supporting Saints because you don’t like the way the club is being run – go and watch Salisbury, Winchester, Totton - or better quality football at a Premier League teams such as Portsmouth - but please spare us from the mealy mouth nonsense that you are still Saints fans who will deign to grace us with your attendance when you have a Board of your choice and a team in the Champion’s league. There will be no shortage of “fans” then. What the team needs is fans now, when it’s tough, when it hurts, when we have no money because only 15,000 turn up at St Mary’s and clubs such as Derby, going through equally tough times, can count on 25,000 plus – real fans, through bad times as well as good. In the long run Southampton will get the success it deserves as measured by the number of people who pay to watch them. Of course Lowe blew it by not investing in taking the club forward after we finished 8th in the Premier League. Of course he hadn’t got a clue with 10 managers in 10 years. Of course, Wilde blew it when he ousted Lowe and installed a regime which ended up with the bizarre spectacle of a board composed entirely of high paid executive directors with not a shareholder in sight – unsustainable nonsense. T’wer ever so with football club chairmen. From time to time fans can influence that – but not a lot and not often. All we can do is turn up, support the team, shout abuse at the Board if we wish. But real fans never, ever, starve the team of the money it needs to move forward. The UTS strategy is to boycott until Lowe and Wilde go, even if that means relegation and/or administration. And, if that doesn't get rid of them, keep on boycotting until we enter administration again and get relegated again. Such people quite openly admit to rather having the club disappear than put up with Lowe and Wilde. I find that, literally, a preposterous strategy. Instead, I argue that fans have to rise above Lowe and take what action they can to save the club - in spite of Lowe, if you wish. A successful team is as least as likely to lead to Lowe's departure as a failed one - because the share price on offer to him would then be higher. We now know, however, that there are not thousands of missing fans staying away out of a principled opposition to Lowe. The demand for tickets for Notts Forest and Man U have proved that to be a nonsense. A successful team and lower prices will see larger crowds. You think its bad now? Try relegation. Try administration - loose points now and guarantee relegation = all the decent young players leave and we get third division old lags. Plus of course a points deduction at the start of next season in division three = stay there for years, possibly even down to division four. Administration does not mean Lowe and Wilde go. They could buy the club back for £1 if they take on the debt – remember Bates and Leeds (still in Div 3); and Brighton. Poor crowds are the biggest threat to us surviving in the Championship. Fair enough for those who can’t afford it or simply don’t fancy supporting Southampton anymore. Its those who stay away as part of some sort of campaign against Lowe that are a disgrace to the club, wishing the team to fail. Fans should put their money where their mouths are and support the team. And stop trying to kid us and themselves that what they are doing is anything other than hugely damaging to the team. If we go down, and we might well do if crowds don’t increase, it will be the stayaways fault, every bit as much as relegation from the Premiership can, in my view, be fairly laid at Lowe’s door – two of a kind.

Sorry you can simply put the blame at the Fans door either!

The board have the duty to run the club as a successful enterprise! They have to create the desire for many fans to part with their money, i.e. a reason to go. In most people cases that is to be entertain and to feel it was money well worth spent. Anything less will simply let Lowe off the hook, and make him unaccountable for his action. You are also asking fans to be sheep and then throw their money at something which breaks their hearts week in week out.

If you open a shop, you must have something to sell. If your product is what people want and the service is there, people will buy. It is the board job the run the club in this entertainment market in the right way. THE BOARD HAVE FAILED AND STILL FAILLING THE FANS / CUSTOMERS! It's that simple. The demand is there, they are just not suppling that demand in a massive way!

Also you must add to the above this is ten years of bad decision and miss managerment, not just this season. When we was in the prem, Lowe constantly claimed that we can afford to go down, even though we just brought St.Marys. How wrong this has proved, and he is just being cleaver to try and put the blame on a 12 month or so spand of another board. For their short comings at least we pushed and came close to promotion. Now you are asking everyone to back a Dutch gamble by Lowe which is clearly showing it is not working. We should have a better coach than Jan.

Simply my friend, many fans are hurting now, and even turning up and to cough your money up on demand on a match day is still no gurantee even with the extra finaces coming in, as you or I can not trust what this board will do with it, or which finacial gamble they are going to back with it. The term throwing good money after bad comes to mind with the club in their hands!

worried of e sussex wrote:
the man u game proved that we only have 15000 true fans end of chat. all the stay aways sneaked in and out again sunday. its all about results if we are winning they come if we are loosing they do not. the stay aways only turned up to see man u. how sad is that???

I think you've hit the nail on the head my friend. In truth there probably is a core of around 15000 supporters that want to regularly attend all matches, which is why it was great to be at the Dell. After the move to SMS, premiership status, top teams to watch and the moderate success we enjoyed brought more spectators (not neccessarily fans) into the ground. The extra interest just evaporated when our fortunes and league position changed. Perhaps the board forsaw this and that is why they went for 32000 seats rather than the 40000 capacity built into the stadium design. For all the highs of the premiership, perhaps we should have just stayed where we were. I for one still miss the Archers. It's all just very sad.

F Fan wrote:
Invidia asked on Monday for an explanation of the case put forward by those of us who urge fans to turn up at St Marys and crticise the people who stay away. My argument is that fans can control their own actions i.e. turn up or not. They can't control the actions of Lowe and Wilde. By their own actions alone, they can ensure the club has enough money not to have to sell in January. I willingly concede that turning up won't guarantee that players won't be sold. But it is guaranteed they will be if they don't. 17,000 break even crowds give us a chance. 15,000 crowds do not. I have no problem at all with fans who can't afford to go or think that it’s simply not worth their hard earned and scarce cash. What gets me is the dishonesty of those who are putting their mouths where their money is missing - on a point of "principle". 1,000 fans stay away = circa £400,000 that we don’t have to buy/pay that centre half we desperately need or to keep Skacel and Saga or pay John. Lowe doesn’t give a fig what you thing about him. But the team needs supporters – the only way we can help our team is by paying our money and supporting them. You either support the team by turning up (if you can afford it) or you stay away and hurt the team. Anyone who hurts the team is, by definition, not a fan, not a supporter. By all means choose to stop supporting Saints because you don’t like the way the club is being run – go and watch Salisbury, Winchester, Totton - or better quality football at a Premier League teams such as Portsmouth - but please spare us from the mealy mouth nonsense that you are still Saints fans who will deign to grace us with your attendance when you have a Board of your choice and a team in the Champion’s league. There will be no shortage of “fans” then. What the team needs is fans now, when it’s tough, when it hurts, when we have no money because only 15,000 turn up at St Mary’s and clubs such as Derby, going through equally tough times, can count on 25,000 plus – real fans, through bad times as well as good. In the long run Southampton will get the success it deserves as measured by the number of people who pay to watch them. Of course Lowe blew it by not investing in taking the club forward after we finished 8th in the Premier League. Of course he hadn’t got a clue with 10 managers in 10 years. Of course, Wilde blew it when he ousted Lowe and installed a regime which ended up with the bizarre spectacle of a board composed entirely of high paid executive directors with not a shareholder in sight – unsustainable nonsense. T’wer ever so with football club chairmen. From time to time fans can influence that – but not a lot and not often. All we can do is turn up, support the team, shout abuse at the Board if we wish. But real fans never, ever, starve the team of the money it needs to move forward. The UTS strategy is to boycott until Lowe and Wilde go, even if that means relegation and/or administration. And, if that doesn't get rid of them, keep on boycotting until we enter administration again and get relegated again. Such people quite openly admit to rather having the club disappear than put up with Lowe and Wilde. I find that, literally, a preposterous strategy. Instead, I argue that fans have to rise above Lowe and take what action they can to save the club - in spite of Lowe, if you wish. A successful team is as least as likely to lead to Lowe's departure as a failed one - because the share price on offer to him would then be higher. We now know, however, that there are not thousands of missing fans staying away out of a principled opposition to Lowe. The demand for tickets for Notts Forest and Man U have proved that to be a nonsense. A successful team and lower prices will see larger crowds. You think its bad now? Try relegation. Try administration - loose points now and guarantee relegation = all the decent young players leave and we get third division old lags. Plus of course a points deduction at the start of next season in division three = stay there for years, possibly even down to division four. Administration does not mean Lowe and Wilde go. They could buy the club back for £1 if they take on the debt – remember Bates and Leeds (still in Div 3); and Brighton. Poor crowds are the biggest threat to us surviving in the Championship. Fair enough for those who can’t afford it or simply don’t fancy supporting Southampton anymore. Its those who stay away as part of some sort of campaign against Lowe that are a disgrace to the club, wishing the team to fail. Fans should put their money where their mouths are and support the team. And stop trying to kid us and themselves that what they are doing is anything other than hugely damaging to the team. If we go down, and we might well do if crowds don’t increase, it will be the stayaways fault, every bit as much as relegation from the Premiership can, in my view, be fairly laid at Lowe’s door – two of a kind.

Totally agree, not mant like Lowe but stupid to stay away

worried of e sussex wrote:

SFC4EVA wrote:

worried of e sussex wrote: the man u game proved that we only have 15000 true fans end of chat. all the stay aways sneaked in and out again sunday. its all about results if we are winning they come if we are loosing they do not. the stay aways only turned up to see man u. how sad is that???

Of course they came for ManU. It was a chance to see players the likes of that we have not seen for years!! And why not?! Of course if we were winning more than loosing there would be more people at games! Thats the point! Fair play to the 15000 faithfully who are willing to spend money and be depressed every weekend! Everyone else thinks 'why waste money on something that leaves you depressed making you feeling even more out of pocket?!' Better results bigger crowds! How apt! Security word less-less

so are you agreeing with me or not? the stay aways say they will not step in st mary's while lowe is there but they turn up to see man u go to pompey and see them if that is the case!

Yes i agree that there is a faithful 15000 that are hardcore for want of a better word but I disagree that the other 15000 are Lowe haters who say they won't step foot inside SMS while he is there. I think they are a small portion and the rest is made up of the skint and people who don't want to waste money on bad football and bad results or put another way don't want to be paying the high ticket price for the low standard of football.

As I have said many times on here you cannot have it both ways you cannot complain about the so called stayaways for the demise of the club, and then say you need them to carry on having a club, there is only one common denominator in this whole sorry affair, If you want to save the club do something about it, just doing nothing, changes nothing. It has been reported that 17000-18000 is the break even point, we are no where near that on average this season, so the writing is on the wall and this is to the so called "real fans" sit there and get mildly excited now and again at the expense of all the fans, that is your right but dont blame the fans for not turning up as ruining our club. If you want something to moan about blame yourselves for doing nothing! you are just Lemmings

Invidia wrote:
As I have said many times on here you cannot have it both ways you cannot complain about the so called stayaways for the demise of the club, and then say you need them to carry on having a club, there is only one common denominator in this whole sorry affair, If you want to save the club do something about it, just doing nothing, changes nothing. It has been reported that 17000-18000 is the break even point, we are no where near that on average this season, so the writing is on the wall and this is to the so called "real fans" sit there and get mildly excited now and again at the expense of all the fans, that is your right but dont blame the fans for not turning up as ruining our club. If you want something to moan about blame yourselves for doing nothing! you are just Lemmings

A bit harsh at the end, but the rest is true.

Invidia wrote:
As I have said many times on here you cannot have it both ways you cannot complain about the so called stayaways for the demise of the club, and then say you need them to carry on having a club, there is only one common denominator in this whole sorry affair, If you want to save the club do something about it, just doing nothing, changes nothing. It has been reported that 17000-18000 is the break even point, we are no where near that on average this season, so the writing is on the wall and this is to the so called "real fans" sit there and get mildly excited now and again at the expense of all the fans, that is your right but dont blame the fans for not turning up as ruining our club. If you want something to moan about blame yourselves for doing nothing! you are just Lemmings

I know I am going to regret asking asking, but I just can't help myself.

What exactly is it that the fans who support the views of 'F Fan' and 'Rich' should do that will bring about change for the better?

I know you want the 'lemmings' to do 'something', but apart from stamping my foot 'cos I'm so cross, what do you have in mind?

If there is a magic solution that will see us properly managed, playing good football and financially stable just tell us what it is. We will form an orderly queue behind you as leader.

And just to prove that football fans can agree with other fans on some issues, I agree with everyone, from all sides of the wider argument, who thinks that Skacel is now and always has been an idle waste of space. Too slow for a wing hald. No positional sense for a full back (although that never stopped Wayne Bridge). More interested in trying to win a free kick that a tackle. I just hope someone will be conned by his agent.

Saint wrote:

Invidia wrote: As I have said many times on here you cannot have it both ways you cannot complain about the so called stayaways for the demise of the club, and then say you need them to carry on having a club, there is only one common denominator in this whole sorry affair, If you want to save the club do something about it, just doing nothing, changes nothing. It has been reported that 17000-18000 is the break even point, we are no where near that on average this season, so the writing is on the wall and this is to the so called "real fans" sit there and get mildly excited now and again at the expense of all the fans, that is your right but dont blame the fans for not turning up as ruining our club. If you want something to moan about blame yourselves for doing nothing! you are just Lemmings

A bit harsh at the end, but the rest is true.

Your dead right Saint but doing nothing is definitely not an option at the moment they feel comfortable and need a kick up the Arse' before it is too late

I keep on hearing about this "doing nothing" accustion that is levelled against those fans who do go to the ground, but show no real interest in the whole Lowe Out campaign.

Cannot you lot who have this ongoing vendetta against the Chairman appreciate that there are several thousand fans who do not want to do anything with regards to the man. I think it is obvious that he is not the most liked person ever to walk through the doors at our club, but it does not mean everybody hates him enough to constantly rant about him and shout from the rooftops that he is ruining the club and has to go.

As we are talking about doing nothing, tell me, what exactly are you lot doing? The only action I see or hear is on this site where a handful get a bit outraged on a regular basis and show venom for anyone who dares to have a differing viewpoiunt to yours.

You are not being condemned merely for staying away or for possibly ruining this club by your absence. However, surely even you can see that every club in the land relies on it's gate receipts to survive and therefore you 'stay aways' are obviously making it difficult for the club and it's players to survive. Where we, the fans who go to matches have a gripe, is with your thinking. How is it possible for you to purport to be fans and then act in a way that will obviously damage the very club you say you support. It just does not make any sense. You want us all to stop going just to show Rupert he is hated - how the hell does that help anything.

I have said so many times before that if you feel you have a real grievance then yes - do something about it to get it resolved. How on earth you think perpetually voicing the same rants on here and withdrawing your support is going to change anything at Board level is beyond me.

What is painfully obvious is that if it continues we will sink closer and closer to administration and that won't help you, the supporters who do attend, the club or it's players. Perhaps you want to stand proud next season and say "Yes. I helped drive this club into obscurity. Ludicrous isn't it, but so is what you are doing.

Do you honestly feel that if somehow you are succesful and Lowe leaves tomorrow we will instantly be O.K. Who comes in. How long will that take. How will it change performances on the pitch, or are you really suggesting Jan leaves at the same time. Who would replace him and how long before he gets to grips with the team and gets them winning.

Come on, now is not the time for all this division. Now is the time for everyone who reckons that they support this team to start pulling together and trying to help us stave off relegation. I know it won't happen because you are all so entrenched with your own grievances and vendettas that the last thing on your mind is the good of our club.

You give me the impression of a bunch of vulchers just waitng for any scrap to appear at the club so you can swoop in to tear it to pieces. If something good or nice happens you will either ignore it or put your own spin on it so you can ridicule it. What would you do if at the end of this season we manage to stay up, our finances are stabilised and we are promised some new signings next season. This in my book would be progress indeed and I cannot see how over the season any moans could then be directed at Lowe for what he has done since his return. Would you still keep harping on about history and totally disregard any achievements this time around?

The clock is ticking and the history of this great club is in danger of disappearing down the tubes. Why can't we just look at the here and now, and appreciate we are broke and cannot buy players. The reason for our finacial situation is clear so there aint no use in keeping on rehashing that particular topic. We have a bunch of kids who actually can play good football. They are playing their socks off trying to win our support and approval. The Manager is Dutch and at times could do with a decent PR guy to vet what he says to the press, but he can coach these lads on to better things.

We can all wish for better players, manager, Directors (the list goes on) but wake up and smell the coffee THIS IS ALL WE HAVE BLOODY WELL GOT

We cannot change a damned thing so lets just get on and support what they do have and help them try and improve things FOR US.

Those boys down the motorway must be laughing themselves silly at the antics and unrest at this club, and that riles me more than the rest of the situation we find ourselves in.

We are better than this and once we used to have a Spirit. That Spirit would be oh so welcome right now

thats it derek you tell em!

I am confused!!!!

The Bank DONT give a **** about the future fan base???? EEERRRRRMMMM...

Does that mean they expect ALL 27.5 Million paid off this year????

Get off your 'Im so clued up horse' and accept that without a future fan base we WILL always be in 'Hock' (to quote Lowe)...

Ofcourse the bank wants the club to be run in a way that repays them but also in a way that can sustain repayment (i.e future fan base... and regular custom)...

IF LOWE AND WILDE CANNOT CONTINUE TO MEET THE CLUBS DEBT then the bank will call it all in.

So ofcourse the bank cares about future custom/fans...

Ofcourse all of you on here that are critical of the stay away fans are HAPPY in the mind that you not only get value when you go but also that us die hard people that attend can keep this club afloat alone.

IT WONT WORK!!!... we need the stay aways back... but in order to do so the club must lower ticket prices and start taking FOOTBALL SERIOUSLY!!

COYR!

On a positive note, Lowe at least provides a very useful lightening conductor for all the understandable angst and frustration fans feel. Better to shout "when Rupert was circumcised they threw away the wrong bit!" than to boo the players.

I keep reading the references to "stay-away" fans and must say that it's a bit off the mark. Does anyone really believe that something like 17000 "fans" are staying away from SMS on a point of principle? I don't think that is the case. I now believe it more likely that people were swept along with all the hype surrounding the premiership and moving to the new ground. All great for a few years then the interest started to fade for whatever reason, and the steady contraction of those attending began. It was probably accelerated by dropping into the CCC until the head count arrived at where it is now. sure it wil rise and fall depending on who the opposition is, or the time of year, or the weather, or the ticket cost. but all in all the average is probably where we're at now. If we could by some means get back to the prem I expect there would be an upswing in attendance as the manc match indicated, but no-one on these threads think that's going to happen anytime soon. Could be the club simply over-reached itself in the quest for prem money and glory and the simple answer is that it was greed at the top that really got us where we are now.

well I'm stayaway and will continue to stay away whilst Lowe is at the club, I've not spent a penny on merchandise either, and after going to Plymouth on Boxing Day I'll not be doing anymore away days either.

So for all you'FANS' slagging off the stayaways why not buy two tickets then if your convinced that the current regime is right and all the club needs is more ticket sales then for each game buy two tickets, but don't tell me I'm not a fan of this club, whilst I'm not a financial 'SUPPORTER' at this point in time it doesn't mean I care any less.

DorsetSaint wrote:
well I'm stayaway and will continue to stay away whilst Lowe is at the club, I've not spent a penny on merchandise either, and after going to Plymouth on Boxing Day I'll not be doing anymore away days either. So for all you'FANS' slagging off the stayaways why not buy two tickets then if your convinced that the current regime is right and all the club needs is more ticket sales then for each game buy two tickets, but don't tell me I'm not a fan of this club, whilst I'm not a financial 'SUPPORTER' at this point in time it doesn't mean I care any less.

no one is saying its the right regime! But if the club dissapears then you definitely wont be going to watch them! Then you will have to find another club to be a fan of! I think its best to go and support the club you love and hope it survives so its still around when Lowe is gone cos he wont last forever!!

It would appear that the "real fans" are happy to prolong the demise of the club and watch the youth team get turned over week in and week out, they obviously believe that 15000 home fans getting less by the week will save the club and as long as they can still attend home matches then everthing is fine, no need to do anything, RL will save them, for he is a genuine gentleman and a fabulous businessman to boot and that he can run his club how he likes for "I AM A REAL FAN" and dont care about boardroom activities for it will not affect me watching my team every week, afterall we are a good team if only we had the support of non fans for if you stay away for any reason other than you cannot afford to go you are not a "real fan". Dorset Saint I think you would probably frighten off about 14000 "real fans" with your suggestion of the "real fans" buying two tickets as I have already said it is about VALUE FOR MONEY, and just as an aside I and some of my long suffering friends have decided not to go anymore, it's too painful watching an old member of the family die a slow lingering death, that is not to say that I will not give some of you Lemmings a hard time for prolonging the agony. my ST has been paid for so I will not harm the club moneywise.
A message to RL any other chairman in the country would have been ousted by the fans of their football club if they had done and treated the fans like you do, The fans would have joined together and boycotted the stadium for a coule of home matches, and the money people would have had your head, but as we all know it costs a lot of money for PR and of course you well know that as well, it must be costing you a fortune this time round with your latest fiasco's but of course there are a few who are easily pleased so you may last a few more months, so get all the media attention you can for I feel your days as chairman are numbered

Derek fo Holbury wrote this:
DinkDankDo - yet one more piece of proof for all the ALBies that there are those of us out here who do support the team and for the right reasons, and give more credence to my claim that your following is not as great as you believe it is.

Can I ask 1 thing please? ALBies...what does this men?

Derek...you are correct I am not a supporter or indeed a fan of SFC. I am a Geordie born and bred, but I do not want to see SFC where they are right now. I have a season ticket at St James. I support them by cheering them on through thin and thinner and in reality we are in the same position as SFC in as much that the owner is a p rick who no one wants. He sits in his ivory tower reaping the cash from the club and doesn't give a shyt about anything else.
Support the team not the regime!
Yes crowds have dropped at SJP but the majority voice their opinion inside the ground. Buy NOTHING from the food and drink stands, buy no programmes, buy no merchandise and don't fill his pockets. He will notice quicker than you think!
I aint here to cause nause, I feel for all the Saints fans as it is where I live so i have friends who are suffering.

I've read today's posts with a lot of interest and I think the word that really causes a lot of the argumental feelings on here is the word "fan". I think it makes it clearer if the (seemingly)two opposing sets of people were defined as not fans, but as supporters or followers. The people that go to SMS and hand over their hard earned are supporting the club, i.e. propping it up. But there has always been a lot of people that are genuinely interested in the fortunes of a particular team and will read about, watch on tv and listen to the radio commentarys and feel quite passionate about the team they follow. They just have never wanted to actually attend a match in person. their feelings are no less valid than a supporter at the match. Look at the turnout over the whole of Southampton when we won the FA cup. They weren't glory hunters, just very happy people. It might understandably stick in supporters craw that the ground is half empty, but before you blame all and sundry it could be that the ground is just to big for the club. sad but possibly true.

Yes DinkDankDoo there is a subtle difference with your Chaiman in as much as he has his own money and owns the club. Our esteemed chaiman has no money (only what he has taken from the club) and most of all he is a relatively small shareholder but assumes he owns the club, both are equally as bad for their respective clubs and fans. I too have some Geordie fans for friends and have spent some good times in Newcastle and feel for their fans who have traditionally some of the best supporters in the country, unlike some of our weak-willied "real fans"

Invidia wrote:
Yes DinkDankDoo there is a subtle difference with your Chaiman in as much as he has his own money and owns the club. Our esteemed chaiman has no money (only what he has taken from the club) and most of all he is a relatively small shareholder but assumes he owns the club, both are equally as bad for their respective clubs and fans. I too have some Geordie fans for friends and have spent some good times in Newcastle and feel for their fans who have traditionally some of the best supporters in the country, unlike some of our weak-willied "real fans"

That shows my ignorance to SFC Invidia. I thawt RL owned the club. U r correct there is a subtle difference.

Its funny coming on here and reading all the arguments and counterarguments about all this stuff regarding our wonderous chairman ha ha!
Its a crazy world when you`ve got geordies coming on here moaning about their billionaire chairman who is the complete opposite of Lowe,can you imagine him stood in the Northam with his Saints top on downing a pint in one go!!
I think everyone takes this all far far too seriously ,it`s like an epidemic running through football.Everywhere i look i see pain and misery and football brings a welcome distraction,i can see why people dont like Lowe but another chairman/owner is not going to be some kind of harry potter like wizard and and put a spell of instant success on our club,the same goes for the manager,i feel sorry for Jan,i dont think anyone else would be doing much better when you`ve got no real money to spend and a team full of kids,he certainly isnt a wizard who can wave a magic wand.I `ve had long spells when i havnt gone to watch Saints,i missed most of the Hoddle and Strachan years and i didnt miss it one bit ,i lost the bug of going.Now i`ve got it back ,and it`s coincided with the backend of Redknapp,Burley and everyone since and as much as im angry and fed up most weeks when they lose,by monday im ready for more.Ive got the bug again,im addicted,and i love it.Just relax people its meant to be fun and most teams have years when they`re crap,its obviously our turn ,eventually it`ll turn around and we`ll start winning again,thats life folks.

TTHMIS, nobody has said that a new chairman will be an instant success, but RL has made a hash of it since he came on the scene, I am not saying that LC was a better chairman, Afterall he only had the job for a couple of months and that was thrust upon him but I am convinced it is RL that has split the fanbase, and also a new chairman could untie JP's hands and let him coach and manage a team of his own, we will never know whether some of his strange decisions are his or someone elses, we will never know whether he is a good manager or coach because as soon as things get sticky for RL he will dump all of Saints problems/blame on JP . I would guess that with the coaching team at SMS some better additions to the squad would have been made than what we have seen so far if given a chance.

Im sure Lowe has some input in what goes on regarding the team.I would like to think that Jan wouldnt tolerate too much interference,maybe im wrong..who knows.
Im prepared to give this idea a go up to next xmas,even if that means relegation,boif it fails then i`ll be manning the barracades alongside you and we`ll run Lowe outta town.Maybe it makes me naive to give this idea of his a go,and it`s fair to say that it`ll could be looked upon as a disasterous time for the club,i`ve just always enjoyed watching teams play with skill and passing,basically i`d rather we modelled our game on the Dutch way than turn into Watford,it`s a long shot ,i admit but if they pull it off it`ll be ace.

Invidia - the clue is in your last paragraph. "I guess"

Most of the content of your posts is exactly that - guesswork

derek fo holbury wrote:
I keep on hearing about this "doing nothing" accustion that is levelled against those fans who do go to the ground, but show no real interest in the whole Lowe Out campaign. Cannot you lot who have this ongoing vendetta against the Chairman appreciate that there are several thousand fans who do not want to do anything with regards to the man. I think it is obvious that he is not the most liked person ever to walk through the doors at our club, but it does not mean everybody hates him enough to constantly rant about him and shout from the rooftops that he is ruining the club and has to go. As we are talking about doing nothing, tell me, what exactly are you lot doing? The only action I see or hear is on this site where a handful get a bit outraged on a regular basis and show venom for anyone who dares to have a differing viewpoiunt to yours. You are not being condemned merely for staying away or for possibly ruining this club by your absence. However, surely even you can see that every club in the land relies on it's gate receipts to survive and therefore you 'stay aways' are obviously making it difficult for the club and it's players to survive. Where we, the fans who go to matches have a gripe, is with your thinking. How is it possible for you to purport to be fans and then act in a way that will obviously damage the very club you say you support. It just does not make any sense. You want us all to stop going just to show Rupert he is hated - how the hell does that help anything. I have said so many times before that if you feel you have a real grievance then yes - do something about it to get it resolved. How on earth you think perpetually voicing the same rants on here and withdrawing your support is going to change anything at Board level is beyond me. What is painfully obvious is that if it continues we will sink closer and closer to administration and that won't help you, the supporters who do attend, the club or it's players. Perhaps you want to stand proud next season and say "Yes. I helped drive this club into obscurity. Ludicrous isn't it, but so is what you are doing. Do you honestly feel that if somehow you are succesful and Lowe leaves tomorrow we will instantly be O.K. Who comes in. How long will that take. How will it change performances on the pitch, or are you really suggesting Jan leaves at the same time. Who would replace him and how long before he gets to grips with the team and gets them winning. Come on, now is not the time for all this division. Now is the time for everyone who reckons that they support this team to start pulling together and trying to help us stave off relegation. I know it won't happen because you are all so entrenched with your own grievances and vendettas that the last thing on your mind is the good of our club. You give me the impression of a bunch of vulchers just waitng for any scrap to appear at the club so you can swoop in to tear it to pieces. If something good or nice happens you will either ignore it or put your own spin on it so you can ridicule it. What would you do if at the end of this season we manage to stay up, our finances are stabilised and we are promised some new signings next season. This in my book would be progress indeed and I cannot see how over the season any moans could then be directed at Lowe for what he has done since his return. Would you still keep harping on about history and totally disregard any achievements this time around? The clock is ticking and the history of this great club is in danger of disappearing down the tubes. Why can't we just look at the here and now, and appreciate we are broke and cannot buy players. The reason for our finacial situation is clear so there aint no use in keeping on rehashing that particular topic. We have a bunch of kids who actually can play good football. They are playing their socks off trying to win our support and approval. The Manager is Dutch and at times could do with a decent PR guy to vet what he says to the press, but he can coach these lads on to better things. We can all wish for better players, manager, Directors (the list goes on) but wake up and smell the coffee THIS IS ALL WE HAVE BLOODY WELL GOT We cannot change a damned thing so lets just get on and support what they do have and help them try and improve things FOR US. Those boys down the motorway must be laughing themselves silly at the antics and unrest at this club, and that riles me more than the rest of the situation we find ourselves in. We are better than this and once we used to have a Spirit. That Spirit would be oh so welcome right now

What total self indulgent crap!!

You have been away for a time while all your prediction have been totally wrong and we have been beat!

You are not a real open minded fan at all. You in a world of your own, and a crazy one at that. You are nothing more than a sheep!

Still in the station DOH!!