Le Tissier urges Saints fans to unite behind team (From Daily Echo)

Le Tissier urges Saints fans to unite behind team

7:00am Monday 26th January 2009 in

By Gordon Simpson » Senior Sports Reporter

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MATT Le Tissier has urged Saints fans to unite behind the team in the wake of Jan Poortvliet’s departure as head coach.

The Saints legend said he was surprised the Dutchman had chosen to step down from his role.

However, he welcomed the appointment of Michael Svensson as an assistant to new head coach Mark Wotte.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” said Le Tissier, right. “There was a meeting a few days earlier where it seemed everyone had come out of it happy with the way things were going forward.

“But it seems that Jan had obviously taken the home form into consideration and thought the best way the club might get out of trouble is if he wasn’t there any more.”

Le Tissier said people will need to wait and see whether Wotte proves to be a good appointment or not.

But he called on fans to forget about their issues with Rupert Lowe and the board for the rest of the season.

“Only time will tell, but obviously with the finances being so bad there was no chance of anyone else coming in, so they had to appoint from within,” he said.

“Finances dictated that we couldn’t bring a new manager in and the important thing now is for the fans to unite and get behind the team.

“I know they have got issues with the board, which is all well and good, and I’m not condoning in any way, shape or form what happened at boardroom level, because there have been mistakes.

“But the most important thing when you are sitting in the bottom three is that the crowd unite behind the team."

For full story and more Saints news see today's Daily Echo.

Comments(5)

The Watcher says...
7:23am Mon 26 Jan 09

Don't forget the PROTEST MARCH prior to Saturday's match:

1:15 pm at The Bargate

Funeral Procession to St Mary's

Your chance to show your feelings about the club. Give up 30 mins for your club.

Protests afterwards outside reception as well, so lets' start with this demonstration.

And as Matty says, get behind the boys for the full 90 mins, but let's not forget to let the board & shareholders hear what we have to say.

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St.Yorkie says...
12:20pm Mon 26 Jan 09

Can only endorse the protest.

The fans at SMS are 100% behind the team...but there is a very large group who love the club and hate the board.

Fair play Matt - the fans are united in their love of the Saints - the difference is some chose not to finance another 10-managers over the next (insert number here) years.

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Stafford Saint says...
1:37pm Mon 26 Jan 09

Pearson is the great 'what-if' for those opposed to Lowe and the Dutch changes at Southampton.
Of course, 'what if's are exactly that, there is no knowing what would have happened had Lowe kept him on.

- Do we know that Pearson would have started this season anyway? If not this lamenting is all by-the-by. The negotiations didn't even start (did they?), so we don't know if he would have signed on the dotted line. Any remarks from Pearson at the time might have been tainted by the thought he was going to be unemployed. You never know he might be glad he has the job at Leicester now!
- Would he have stayed the season? Would he have worked with the squad changes that happened over the summer? If one assumes that the squad changes were deemed essential by Lowe whoever the manager was. What if he got another offer mid-season? He might have walked, knowing that he can get a better job elsewhere and just blame Lowe.

- If he had stayed would he been any good? His record now is excellant but it is in a lower league. His record with us was not great.

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loweout@hotmail.co.uk says...
2:16pm Mon 26 Jan 09

Stafford Saint wrote:
Pearson is the great 'what-if' for those opposed to Lowe and the Dutch changes at Southampton. Of course, 'what if's are exactly that, there is no knowing what would have happened had Lowe kept him on. - Do we know that Pearson would have started this season anyway? If not this lamenting is all by-the-by. The negotiations didn't even start (did they?), so we don't know if he would have signed on the dotted line. Any remarks from Pearson at the time might have been tainted by the thought he was going to be unemployed. You never know he might be glad he has the job at Leicester now! - Would he have stayed the season? Would he have worked with the squad changes that happened over the summer? If one assumes that the squad changes were deemed essential by Lowe whoever the manager was. What if he got another offer mid-season? He might have walked, knowing that he can get a better job elsewhere and just blame Lowe. - If he had stayed would he been any good? His record now is excellant but it is in a lower league. His record with us was not great.

You are right to question whether Pearson would have signed or been a success at SMS.

But lets look at the facts..... Pearson is a roaring success at Leicester. To turn around a squad of players who got relegated last year from the Championship to be in line for promotion the following season deserves great credit and praise.

At Saints last year, Pearson managed to turn around the attitude and work rate of a very disinterested bunch of players, resulting in our survival and a great deal of fans optimism for the 2008/09 season.

Lowe choose to ignore this and go for the cheap option.... to appoint an unproven manager, who presumably would be so desperate to be our coach, he would be prepared to pay off his own contract to get here and be prepared to be dictated to in terms of who he can and cannot play.

Well, this is the results from that LOWE decision. 1 win at home in 14. Gates down. We are just about to enter Feb with another massive 6 pointer against fellow relegation fodder Norwich, with yet another unproven manager at the helm.

Lowe out, Wilde out..... who is a Spurs fan and not Saints... and bring on the demonstrations this Saturday.

[quote][p][bold]Stafford Saint[/bold] wrote: Pearson is the great 'what-if' for those opposed to Lowe and the Dutch changes at Southampton. Of course, 'what if's are exactly that, there is no knowing what would have happened had Lowe kept him on. - Do we know that Pearson would have started this season anyway? If not this lamenting is all by-the-by. The negotiations didn't even start (did they?), so we don't know if he would have signed on the dotted line. Any remarks from Pearson at the time might have been tainted by the thought he was going to be unemployed. You never know he might be glad he has the job at Leicester now! - Would he have stayed the season? Would he have worked with the squad changes that happened over the summer? If one assumes that the squad changes were deemed essential by Lowe whoever the manager was. What if he got another offer mid-season? He might have walked, knowing that he can get a better job elsewhere and just blame Lowe. - If he had stayed would he been any good? His record now is excellant but it is in a lower league. His record with us was not great. [/p][/quote]You are right to question whether Pearson would have signed or been a success at SMS. But lets look at the facts..... Pearson is a roaring success at Leicester. To turn around a squad of players who got relegated last year from the Championship to be in line for promotion the following season deserves great credit and praise. At Saints last year, Pearson managed to turn around the attitude and work rate of a very disinterested bunch of players, resulting in our survival and a great deal of fans optimism for the 2008/09 season. Lowe choose to ignore this and go for the cheap option.... to appoint an unproven manager, who presumably would be so desperate to be our coach, he would be prepared to pay off his own contract to get here and be prepared to be dictated to in terms of who he can and cannot play. Well, this is the results from that LOWE decision. 1 win at home in 14. Gates down. We are just about to enter Feb with another massive 6 pointer against fellow relegation fodder Norwich, with yet another unproven manager at the helm. Lowe out, Wilde out..... who is a Spurs fan and not Saints... and bring on the demonstrations this Saturday. loweout@hotmail.co.uk

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alton saints says...
7:57pm Mon 26 Jan 09

Have heard from a 100% reliable source that Pearson was offered a 3 year deal, prior to Lowe coming back in to the boardroom. I wonder why it never happened........