Thus far names like Dave Merrington and Graeme Souness are being thrown into the hat as members of various consortiums by the papers. It’s presumably only a matter of time before the Branfoot, Hoddle and Redknapp consortium make an offer… Well, at least there’s a worse possibility than the current situation!

The real area of interest for Saints fans at the moment is a possible takeover by either the Jonathan Fulthorpe-led consortium who have been in discussion with Saints for some time or a new (possibly non-existent) group. The main barrier to a deal is whether or not Lowe and Wilde will be willing to sell up at a price any interested party can afford to offer, especially as they are about to assume control themselves.

Hopefully someone will have the funding in place to persuade all of the major shareholders to sell up and funding to make the club, at least, more secure financially. At the moment very few details on the takeover bid have been revealed but could it be linked to this?

A construction company, NAMG, have announced a deal with a UK company regarding the takeover of an unnamed football club and redevelopment of the surrounding area. I think very few Saints fans would begrudge an incoming takeover if it meant respite from the constant boardroom squabbling and the loss of a few nearby gas holders!

Whether the unnamed football club is Saints or not, I think all fans will be hoping that there will be an end to uncertainty in the boardroom early this summer so we can actually prepare for the new season properly.

So on the field, relegation looms and it’s a disaster. Away from the pitch things are possibly even worse. Today Michael Wilde and Rupert Lowe called for an EGM where most of the current board would be replaced and Wilde and Lowe would regain power. Re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic seems to be what SFC does best at the moment!

Saints have also refused to deny that Arsenal have paid a total of £9.1m for Theo Walcott, rather than the original deal of £5m rising to £12m based on appearances and other clauses. Given that the last financial report by the club referred to “material uncertainty which may cast doubt about the group’s ability to continue as a going concern” it seems likely the money is being used to keep the club afloat while investors are sought but, if true, it cuts off another long-term source of income to the club.

Looks like Rupert Lowe has joint forces with his previous vanquisher Mike Wilde and is plotting a return to power. The news was confirmed by club statements on the official website and to the stock exchange.

It’s unlikely that they’d have any extra funding they didn’t have when previously in charge so the only positive I can see in the move is that it might encourage the board to pull their fingers out and secure extra investment more immediately than 6-9 months.

What does everyone think of Rupert’s possible return? And if he did regain control what would it mean for the club? Hoddle for Pearson?

How imminent is imminent? Well, current chairman Leon Crouch stated that new investment might be forthcoming in “six to nine months” before a fans forum last Thursday according to the Daily Echo. The main stumbling block to any takeover is probably going to be getting the three main shareholders at Saints (Crouch, Wilde and Lowe) to sell up at the same time.

I’d guess we’re not going to see any true developments on the takeover front till the end of the season at the earliest. It could be that, as with the rumoured Paul Allen deal last season, any takeover is dependent on which division we find ourselves in.