The Kraken

I have no idea DellDays; perhaps you could enlighten me? What were they like in the Premier League? And why is it relevant? Our overall atendances compared to the Championship are significant;y up, so why should we not expect the same with seasosn tickets?? Based on having 11.5K season ticket holders last year, having made some good signings already with more expected to follow, no points deduction, going into the season as holders of a cup, expectations of a successful season high, well regarded new owner in place, bookies favourite for promotion, I would have put a season ticket figure of 15K as a successful figure. That's not to decry the 13K we have already, which I think is reasonably decent, but pretty low when compared to Norwich last year who were in a similar position to that we are in now.

Still plenty of time for more sales yet; I'm planning on getting mine closer to the deadline. This released figure is only an indicator of current sales, not a final figure. We may yet creep up to the 15K mark, which is the level at which I think the sales figure could be deemed a success.

I think my point is that no-one knows how good he'll be; he's a prospect but I could well be very wrong and he could make very little impact. However, I get the feeling he will be used fairly considerably, and while I fully agree that he should be nurtured I just have the suspicion that he may be used a bit more than you think. Like I say, I could be very wrong. I've previously said I expect us to sign another RM, be it Antonio or a similar other. But I personally will not miss Papa; his games at RM in the league were very limited and I didn't particularly rate him there anyway. With a fully fit Connolly I think we have cover for that position up front, especially if we (as has been hinted) sign another quick forward.

Given that (I think) last year's total was 11.5K, I would say anything over 15K is a relative success. But I also agree that if an installment plan and proper marketing drive had been in place we could have sold a few hundred / thousand more.

I kind of agree, although let's not forget that Antonio was injured for a fair part of the back end of the season too, and we didn't struggle without him. That said, I'd like to re-sign him if we can as he looked a real prospect and provided us with a number of different options. However, I have to say I find the complete dismissal of the prospect of AOC a little surprising. Yes he's young, but has made a couple of appearances for us already. When Antonio came in he had previously played just 10 league games; 9 for Cheltenham and 1 for Reading, plus some non-league games. I fail to understand why there is a complete dismissal of AOC not being in the same mould of Antonio for the season ahead, particularly as barely anyone commenting has seen him play at any standard for a significant duration. I hope for and fully expect us to sign another winger, either a full signing or a loanee. But I also expect AOC to be given a real chance this year too, and to dismiss him out of hand just due to age or inexperience is poor form.

He only starts work in a month and a half's time so that would be some going!

It all depends how you equate squad strength though doesn't it? If you're looking at strength in numbers then, yes, last season we had more players so that argument would lead you to believe that last season was better. However, if you go by the notion that the optimal squad is based around having 2 strong players per position, backed up by a few youngsters, then this season's one looks more streamlined and bereft of dead wood (which can be more of a hindrance sometimes), and I would argue is "stronger" (though not bigger, clearly). IMO our squad was too bloated last season with those you mention who were never really going to be challenging for a starting poisition. The players we have already are direct competition or replacements for what we had, which should create a much more balanced and strong unit. Add in a RM and CM to challenge and its a very balanced squad indeed.

Agreed. We've lost Antonio and Waigo; while I would like to see Antonio return I won't miss Waigo. And compared to the squad that finished the season we are much stronger in defence with very good cover in each position. Midfield we've obviously lost the two mentioned but Oxlade-Chamberlayne looks like he'll feature more, maybe Holmes too, and Butterfield has very often filled in at RM in the past. Up front we also have a fully fit Connolly which we didn't have last year. That to me is a stronger squad to last year, however you look at it. Though again, I do agree with the fact we should sign a RM and CM, and I remain absolutely sure we will do this.

That's what I assume too; just seems strange that this type of appointment wasn't made many months ago to me. But then maybe they had identified this guy and have to wait for his notice period, who knows. Anyway, it's a positive sign from the club, and as I previously stated I hope it improves the lines of communication.

And a strange decision to bring him in starting from August 30th, when a very significant proportion of the opportunity for sales (season tickets) has just expired. If it means the lines of communication from the club are improved then it's a good thing, though I won't hold my breath.

To answer your questions.... In the transfer thread he started, he stated "If some of you are still not worried, you SHOULD BE.", which says to me that as we haven't signed a CM by now, I should be very worried. Why? If we haven't yet been able to recruit exactly the player we need, why is having a sub-standard CM in already better than waiting one, two, three weeks for the right player? And as I've already said, most people (including me) recognise that we are short of depth at CM and need to make a signing there. I've never denied that. However, I balance that with the fact that the transfer window is open until August 31 and, if needs be, if might take all of that time to get the right player in. I'd prefer to have a player now, but it's no guarantee that it's the right player. If waiting a little longer means we get a player such as Danns, then it's a risk worth taking. Just because AP has had 3 months to recruit, it doesn't necessarily mean that the right player has become available yet, particularly when we are presumably trying to convince a Championship quality player to tale a dip into a lower league. As has been pointed out before, this isn't Championship Manager and transfer dealings when convincing players to drop a division can end up being somewhat protracted. It doesn't mean that all efforts are not being expended. Also, with regard to your "gelling" argument, I very much agree. But I can't see it being an issue as it was last year as we already have a very good first team. Fonte and Puncheon needed no gelling time because they arrived in January into an already settled side. A new CM will do exactly the same. And I think you're twisting my words somewhat for the "Wotton and Puncheon" pairing. What I said was that they can come in and do a reasonable short term job, just as they did at the back end of last season. They're not what anyone would consider a solution to the CM problem but neither can they be ignored from our list of options.

Firstly, how do you know that the club "reacted" to Richardson's injury with the Butterfield signing? By all accounts on the other xfer thread Butterfield has been lined up for a few weeks now, and being as we had zero right backs going into the season is it really beyond your comprehension that AP wanted to bring in 2 players for the position? Secondly, what is your obsession with getting in "any" player, just so that they are in and fill a gap? I would truly much rather the club waited and signed the right player, rather than someone of lesser ability but who could come in now. Yes, I (and most) would like a CM as soon as possible, and agree we need one for the whole season. While we are certainly a player light for a whole campaign at CM, we still have Puncheon and Wotton and even Butterfield who (while not being ideal) can come in and do a reasonable short-term job. So its not as if we have no-one who can play the position. And it's not as if our form fell off a cliff without Schneiderlin anyway, we won 2 and drew 1 of the 4 games.

Pretty much everyone recognises that we are still short of depth at CM and RM, also possibly up front, so the "people like me" comment is misguided. Where people disagree with your continual hand-wringing is that there is still a way to go before the season starts, the players brought in so far look extremely promising, and the majority seem to have faith that AP will bring in the players he needs in good time, either before the start of the season or before the end of the transfer window if necessary.

I don't know enough about Richardson to say either way, but its certainly very good to see (when Richardson comes back from injury) that we have fantastic competition for places at both full bck positions. Either Harding or Dickson, and Richardson or Butterfield, gives us some really good options. Add in Mills to cover at left back and Martin at right back and I think we're looking very good. I'd just like to see a new CM and winger to give us the same options there; at the moment without a strong CM we have only Morgan and Hammond who would be considered first choice, and Puncheon and Lallana on the wings. Oxlade-Chamberlayne may well come through but he's still very young so can't be relied upon for a full season; and Mills is more a full back than a winger. Jury will be out on Holmes and whether he can cut it, but I'd hope he's at least good enough as backup for Lallana. So at least 2 players short of what I'd consider a full squad. But I have every faith that AP will get what he needs, ideally before the start of the season but if not by the end of the transfer window.

The Daily Mail song

While Palace are out of administration they are still financially crippled. They can't afford to replace even a fraction of the number of the staff that were laid off whilst in admin, and supposedly have no funds for new players. I imagine the financial package they could afford to offer Butterworth was well below what he was on, and below what we are paying.

I'd prefer us to sign a new CM for competition and backup; someone like Danns would really set us up for the season and give us a whole new dimension of options. Last year we had Schneiderlin, Hammond, Wotton, James and Puncheon for the CM spots. This year we've binned James but gained Butterfield, so we're as strong as we were when we finished the season. A marquee CM signing would make us even stronger than last term, which is a pretty impressive place to be. The one area I think we're still short is an impact player, like Antonio. But it's so good to see that our core 11 is already in place, plus almost all of our backup side. And I'm very confident that AP has got it in hand to bring in the missing pieces to the jigsaw. The squad we have now is already very, very good for this level. Any more additions (and I think there will be at least 2 more) will be a bonus.

While I still think we will sign another CM..... "Daniel Paul "Danny" Butterfield is an English footballer who joined Southampton on 16 July 2010, having previously played for Crystal Palace in the Championship. He was primarily utilised as a right back. However, Danny originally started out as a central midfielder for Palace and has been known to play on the right of midfield as well."

Not necessarily; I agree it's more likely than not that Reading plan on using Antonio, but they also could just be using pre-season to have a look at him before deciding if he fits in with their plans. They probably know that we will take him on if they decide against him so there's no harm from their point of view in having a look at him in action with their first team and making a decision from there. It's looking unlikely I'll admit, but perhaps not an entirely dead deal.

Not quite correct, despite your overuse of CAPITAL LETTERS. We lost two league games in three before New Year (to Leeds and Colchester) which derailed us a touch. In January and February we went unbeaten in all 7 league games played (3 wins, 4 draws), which is still comparable with a points total to get in the playoffs. Its so easy to look at individual results and decry losing the odd number of points here and there. But, despite what some people want to believe, all teams will lose games against the odds at various points throughout the season, and this season we will be no exception. There's no getting away from the fact that our promotion challenge was downed by only gaining 9 points from the first 10 games. Championship winning form for the next 36 games was not enough to get over such a poor start.

Really? Well that's disappointing. Doesn't rule it out though, maybe they just want to have another look at him before they decide what to do for the season ahead. They probably know that they can shift him to us if they don't want him, so there's no harm in giving him a chance with the first team. I only saw AOC once at the back end of the season but, at 16 or 17, he's going to need time and probably won't get an enormous amount of game time. I would think AP would look after his development and not play him in too many games too young. So I agree, if we don't get Antonio we need someone similar. I think we all know where the squad needs strengthening; but many people have differing views about how significant it is that we haven't made all of signings right now. Personally, if holding on for a while means that we get the very best signings for the summer, then I'm perfectly happy to do that. And absolutely no-one knows what moves AP and NC have been making behind the scenes so they are unworthy of criticism for seemingly "doing nothing".

Our team is perfectly good enough to start the season. I have always said that I expected us to sign 2 or 3 players before the start of the season, and I expect another 2 or 3 loanees or signings before the end of August. I still stick by that. I'm not at all worried by a lack of reserve keeper, given that there is clearly dispensation to bring in an emergency keeper at any time during the season. With Aaron Martin having played RB for a few minutes it may suggest that he can do a reserve job a la Wayne Thomas, if required. I think we're definitely missing another strong CM for the season (which I'm sure we'llo get), I still remain hopeful of signing Antonio, and think we might sign a Lambert backup but if not I still think Barnard and Connolly give us plenty of options. So I'm still not sure why Mr over-reaction thinks I should be worried.

Despite many opinions to the contrary on here, I actually think the number of STs will be up on last year, and maybe significantly so. We will have lost a few fans through the lack of installment plan etc but I think the prospects of our season plus non-option of the half-season ticket could well mean that we'll push on for 15K season ticket holders. I personally know of at least 5 people who have bought their first full ST this year, and still hope to do the same myself before the season kicks off. But I've also previously said that I don't think the club will actually publish the number sold, so perhaps we'll never know

Incorrect. In fact, during the more profitable years of Lowe's tenure we actually made overpayments on the mortagage to reduce the level of debt. The mortgage of the stadium was a well budgeted for and sustainable cost.

I don't disagree with any of that, and for the record would MUCH prefer NC and ML to stay. It's not even worth pointing out where we could have been had they come in when they did, so for that I'll be ever grateful. That said, we are in a much better position now than when they purchased the club. Make no mistake, ML's involvement with the club is through a desire to make money, although the non- tangible benefits of owning a football club are clearly evident too. If he decides to sell up then of course we are at potential risk to any incoming owner; however, that's not necessarily a bad thing, so it's unfair to suggest that we'll definitely be doomed if they do sell up. A debt-free club with a huge catchment area of customers is a very attractive proposition to any number of potential owners. Of course, as I stated, I hope it doesn't come to that.