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Stern Situation
Stern Situation
Monday, 27th Oct 2008 09:22

Has the departure of Stern John made fans wake up to the situation the club is in ?

The comments I have had from Saints supporters over the past few days about Stern John's move to Bristol City have amazed me, in the fact that most seem to think that getting rid of all the experienced players and replacing them with youngsters is some sort of bizarre experiment by Rupert Lowe in a quest for glory.

The reality of the situation is far different, now every time someone says anything on an internet message board that doesnt condemn Lowe out of hand, they are jumped on and accused of being a Lowe Luvvie, the truth is that merely serves to mask the dire financial state the club is in.

Stern John like Rasiak & Saganowski before him has been shunted out for one reason and one reason only and that is money, the club cannot afford their wages plain and simple.

IF Saints supporters havent woken up to the fact that the Club is in the financial control of Barclays Bank, then perhaps this will open up their eyes.

The posisiton was spelt out in the summer, indeed it was first in the public domain as long ago as February when it was poined out that the Club could be losing as much as £1 million a month, losses like that could not be allowed to continue and they were being caused by one thing and that was high wages.

Since then the wage bill has been slashed, both on and off the pitch, Saints have only one full time executive director now (That isnt Lowe or Wilde for your information) whereas this time last year they had four, several other prominent people on the payroll including Lawrie McMenemy whose not insubsequential wages were saved when he resigned, have also gone.

But the main wage earners are all on the playing side and several have still remained on the clubs books, this and the fact that the well publicised break even figure of 17,000 per game isnt being reached means that further cuts are inevitable between now and the end of the season.

So why are Saints fans slow to recognise the major problems that the club have, but quick to pin the blame on Lowe alongside various rumours as to why, some really far fetched, obviously Lowe is the easy target, its convenient to pin the blame on him for the club being relegated and therefore the acchitect of our demise, but its not so simple as that.

A large proportion of Saints fans seem prepared to sit back and watch from afar as the club slides nearer and nearer a situation as endured by someone like Nottingham Forest over the past ten years, why ? I really dont know, at best its because maybe they all think that a white Knight will ride in with multi millions and save the day as rumoured on almost a daily basis, the problem is until that happens the club cant be run on supposition, wages cant be paid on rumour, the situation is getting desperate and thats the reason why Stern John is now at Bristol City, not because Rupert Lowe is insisting that McGoldrick is played in every game, not because its all part of a big Lowe ego trip to be the first Chairman to have a team of 19 year olds promoted, but because the Club is running at a loss and every week it does so the bank tightens the screw a little bit more.

As I said this isnt in defence of Rupert Lowe, far from it, its a snapshot of the position that the club finds itself in, those fans who are content to stay away and blame Lowe, fine thats your choice, but dont hinder those that want to try and keep the Club both afloat and in the Championship.

Many will cynically laugh at this piece and im sure that it will be pulled apart on various message boards, but for those that sit back and say "But what can fans do" they would do well to google the name Angie Rowe, ten years ago she stepped up to a microphone in front of 150 fellow supporters of her team and made a passioned plea, their club occupied 92nd place in the league, its debts were horrendous and it didnt even own its own stadium, being charged an exhorbitant rent by a previous owner of the club.

In her speech she said " We dont want pitch invasions, poster campaigns, hate mail anything like that, but there comes a point when you cant carry on saying I cant do anything about it , No,  We can all do something if we try.

 On that evening the Tigers Co-Operative Trust was formed, that Club was Hull City and they are the living embodiment of what supporters can do if they unite.

Or perhaps we can just all sit back and do nothing        

Photo: Action Images



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