Arcadian

Same here, one of my mates was assaulted outside the stadium and in full view of a policeman. But regardless of other things that have happened, it doesn't make what they have done any better or worse. They got caught and have gone down. Tough luck for them.

Oof! Hit the nail on the head though. The whole 3rd party things appears to be a smokescreen to draw out having a pop at the club. Most people agree that the loss of the instalment option is not nice for those it has effected. But neither is it the biggest conspiracy the footballing world has ever seen. Club in looking to maximise matchday revenue shocker!

Oh dear. There are some fantastic barrack room lawyers on here. Remind me not to ask any of you to represent me next time I get involved in violent disorder. The sentences have been reached based on the crimes they have been convicted of. You can moan about it all you want, but the judge is fully justified in doling out those sentences. They may seem harsh to some, but they are as much of a deterrent as anything else. Rightly so as well, the punishments seem to have made a few people on here sit up and take notice. And read the report again - a pensioner needed stitches, someone else almost with a serious eye injury. Maybe minor to some, but if it was one of my family I'd be wanting some time dished out to the perpetrators. Also does sound like the police allowed it to happen. Which makes the idiots who took part in the violence even more stupid! Oh look, police. Oh look, cameras. I know, let's start chucking things. There seems to be a few people saying 'ignore the criminal damage thing, they're only being punished for chucking coins'. But as far as I've read, the actual details haven't been released. So let's ignore the chucking coins bit for now as well, until the truth comes out. Oh and if that is all you are clinging to, just remember that throwing an object is showing intent to injure. It isn't the same as speeding, or even drink driving...these are reckless. Intent to cause harm is worse, it is more like speeding AND aiming your car at a pedestrian. It is also just as cowardly.

But defaulters are indeed a risk! It also costs the Club money to service and administer the monthly payments - the bank makes charges on the direct debits, people need to be paid to administer them monthly and the cost to then police defaulters adds on more! Both the risk and the costs involved do exist and are why the instalment plan has been removed. It hasn't been done to spite you or anyone else.

It is sad that you cannot take your family to every game. But what is the answer? Should the club subsidise every Saints fan that cannot afford a season ticket? The Club is not a charity and Liebherr is not there to pump his billions in. The whole plan has been to get Saints on a sound footing and then self sustainable. It is unfortunate that some of the fans will be effected by the decision to withdraw instalments but it is also a decision that has been taken based on the costs to date. It has already been pointed out that in the not too distant future, football clubs will have to be run on sound financial bases. Seems like our executives are planning for this already, which is not a bad thing.

Well said. It is a PR mistake but will have been a decision reached based on them reviewing the cost of doing the instalment plan. If the costs are too high then ultimately the club ends up subsidising a proportion of the fans. Add in the cost of defaulters and you can see why they might be keen to get away from this system of payment. A season ticket gives a discount by paying up front. An instalment plan for the season ticket is actually a bit of a contradiction in terms. You either pay up front and get a season ticket or you buy tickets on a match by match basis. I can understand why it has upset some people, it would me if I paid by instalment. But I doubt it is a snap decision by someone to annoy those fans. SFC needs to be run correctly, especially in the current environment. The delivery of the news is all wrong, but the sentiments are not.

Well, of those 50 - 100% mongs.

WTF are you on about? I have met Nick a couple of times and he is nothing like what you seem to think he is. Still, easy to have a pop at someone on a forum. Go team tough guys!

I love seeing our resident Danny Dyers trying to justify throwing bricks and stones! All just harmless fun. Fair enough some of you mongs might want to fight each other, but the reason you're getting pulled is for doing it outside the stadium with lots of normal fans just trying to go to a football match. Public order etc etc. Fine, go and fulfil your homo-erotic fantasies AWAY from the stadium. But don't try and get all moral when the police decide to try and make an example of you. It might all have been handbags, but it is no surprise that Hampshire's finest are going to do all they can through the local media to make some arrests. Chuck a rock and you're a p*ssy anyway.

Please make it true! We don't need the Barnard type of striker, we need a pacey forward to complement Lambert.

NOOOOO! As I have said elsewhere, watched Barnard a few times this season and he is no better than what we already have...a less good version of Connolly. No pace and no height, and really cannot see what the point of buying him would be. We need someone with pace to play off of Lambert.

Sorry, to clarify, I don't think there is pressure from above for AP to get us promoted this season...if we do it is a bonus. I believe that the blueprint involves building the squad over the course of this season, get them playing well together and then mounting a real push next season. If things go even better and we do go up this year, we then also already have a pretty solid CCC squad. For the first time in a long time it feels like the men in charge actually have set the club goals and contingency plans.

Not so sure. I'm guessing that our owner and chairman are happy with how things are going so far this season and willing to invest now in order to: a) give us a chance of going for play offs this season b) start building a team/squad that is going to be in place and know each other ready for automatic promotion push if we don't go up Successful sides are built not bought and so far it looks like we are trying to build, not just buy the best players.

Not seen Jackson play but would be very disappointed if we signed Barnard, he really is not very good. As an exiled Saint living in Essex I pop along to Southend now and then on freebies, and Barnard is not very good at all. Lambert and Connolly both a lot better. No pace and no height. If Jackson has pace then I can see where AP wants him to fit in and play off of Lambert. Connolly as an alternative option to bring on later in the game. I do know that Saints are bidding on several players at the moment and don't be surprised to see at least another 2 new faces before the end of the transfer window, possibly more.

Want a bigger brush for all that tar? Sounds like you have a bigger problem with them than anyone else!