Blandford saint

Plenty of reasons above why many of us like to hold on to our own season ticket seats for cup games. I don't always agree with the people who sit around me, but we can at least have a civilised conversation.

I think that if the club wants to only open part of the ground, they should just list on the website and in the programme exactly what sections are open and which are closed. I only found out that the Kingsland Centre was closed because of Whitey Grandad's post. Why make it so unclear? When you try to order online (this seriously needs a general sorting out) it doesn't state which sections are open. I tried clicking every section in the Itchen and they came up as unavailable. Then asked it to choose me 2 seats - gave me 2 in the Itchen Centre (previously this was coming up as unavailable). Purchased these. Clicked for printer friendly receipt - received a £20 receipt for a Corporate Hosptiality booking, though my order history states the correct seats. This was on Monday - tickets not received yet. Running our own business, I know that making it hard for customers to spend money with you only winds them up. Make it clear and simple. And if customers have been with you a long time, don't upset them above anyone else.

We sit in the centre of the Kingsland, where we get an excellent view, and sit with people that we used to sit with at the Dell. We all moved en masse from the East Stand, and the Kingsland Centre has been very full of long-term season tickets holders, even in the worst of times. Therefore, it would not seem to make sense to close off some of the best positioned seats which are the most regularly used, through thick or thin. Reading through the info on the official site, it just states that some of the Kingsland areas will be closed off, but doesn't tell you which ones. Wouldn't it just be clearer to let everyone know which areas of the ground are open? Otherwise, everyone who buys a ticket who wants to sit in a particular area has to go through a conversation at the ticket office or on the phone finding out the information individually.

Bought mine for 50p in the megastore at St. Mary's - they were at the tills.

It's really hard playing the target man week in week out in this league. Pitches have been very heavy lately, bucketing down with rain, swirling wind, and being continually whacked by a 6ft 3" central defender - I'm prepared to cut him some slack. And don't forget - he's still scoring.

I agree, Ian. The Mayflower website is excellent. You can get a very clear idea of your view, all seats that are available, and it is easy to use. Saints wouldn't go far wrong by getting the same people to sort out their site.

Besides the obvious emotional reasons why it wouldn't work, it is also totally impractical for many of us who live West of Southampton. The drive from Blandford after work for a midweek game is bad enough now. I think you will find that the support is spread further West and North than East of Southampton, and the cities are 18 miles apart, however much you claim that they are joined up.

I've tried going into the order history but can't see anywhere that links to buying tickets for the Norwich game. Do the club think we are psychic or have hours to waste trying out every possible click until we find the right one?

Well said, Minty. Norwich are definitely one of the best sides in the division and obviously well coached by Lambert. They have only lost 1 game in about 15 (away at Leeds, and they shouldn't have lost that - goalkeeper howler in injury time.) They were horrible conditions for goalkeeping on Saturday and I don't think that Kelvin should be too heavily criticised in the circumstances. He nearly saved the penalty and it could have gone anywhere when it came back off the post. We had defenders following up but, of course, the ball diverted away from them. Murty read what was happening for their second goal, but it obviously not going to be 100% match fit yet to get there first. We played well, but so did they - just look at how often they are losing.

League One is Wotton's level, and he has proved in recent matches that he can produce performances at this level that help us get results. We need a strong tackler in midfield and Morgan is far too weak, constantly missing when the opposition are on the ball. On another thread some were questioning Lallana's lack of tackling back, but he is very much an attacking player. We never expected MLT to do a good job covering back for Doddsy, we just had someone move over from central midfield who could do a better job. This means that it is essential to have another strong midfielder, and this is easy to do when we play 4-5-1.

I think Beattie missed one when he first joined Everton, but have to say that his technique is excellent - he really leathers the ball into the back of the net. Some players that they have got on their list have failed when they have been put under strong pressure, unlike Le Tiss, who has scored to keep us up - the biggest pressure (away v West Ham).

The lowest point was when we looked like we were at death's door and heading for liquidation. Nothing could be lower than Saints not existing. Hope started as soon as Markus's takeover was announced. I remember being at home glued to Radio Solent and this site. Whenever I hear Solent's newsreader Nicola Murray's calm, measured tones I remember her bringing us the good news.

Always remember Oldham's ground being really freezing - it's very high up. I remember going up there a couple of times - "Benali Day" when lots of us wore moustaches for the last match of the season; also remember Le Tiss scoring a hat-trick and losing 4-3 (I think they had to win to stay up.) Any rate, I'm going for a hard fought draw.

I know that they are doing their best to encourage people to buy the tickets in advance, because the queues at recent matches before kick-off have been long and slow - they can't get everyone inside before the match starts. I was really pleased that I bought ours in advance before the Torquay game, especially before a midweek game when it is a struggle to eat and get there before kick off at the best of times.

After this discussion, can't wait to see him out on the pitch so that we can see what the truth is - I thought he looked about 5ft 9in, but perhaps he was still growing - must be eating his Weetabix. Anyway, he looked very promising when he came off the bench before - not the usual faffing around - he just ran straight at the opposition.

Said on Solent this morning that Paul Williams was definitely joining him as assistant. Anyway, good luck to both of them. I was quite shocked at some of the abuse Doddsy was subjected to on the forums during his extremely brief spell as caretaker with us - Alex Ferguson couldn't have turned the Saints around that quickly under the circumstances. The usual negative comments from 19c (what else?) However, when you consider his lengthy career and previous experience compared to Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, there's no reason why he should not be considered for the Aldershot job.

Used to buy it regularly - when Nick Holmes was running our local shop we had no problem getting a copy, but he had to put one by for us as they soon sold out. However, I've wouldn't know where to get one nowadays - they were always pretty scarce in the Salisbury area, even though it is easy to pick up the Daily Echo. I wouldn't be suprised if it closed - it's hardly the "must read" it used to be. Local papers cannot afford the standard of journalism they used to.

I expect us to win tonight, but if we get drawn against Charlton or Bristol Rovers away in the next round I won't be so confident about progressing further. We know what Saints are like.

Crossing has to be THE most frustrating part of Saints' play, and answers the other question of why we are not scoring more goals. Even when we have the chance to get to the by-line (there is no player marking the space in front of the attacker), we STILL opt to cross from deep rather than carry the ball on. If you look at prolific teams like Man U, you see it all the time. Ryan Giggs has been getting to the by-line, crossing the ball back into the box so that the attacker cannot be off-side, for nearly 20 years. Why do our players and coaches not think that it is worth emulating the most successful team in the country? I know it doesn't always come off, but we don't attempt it nearly often enough. Beatts scored a good percentage of his goals from fizzed in corners and low balls into the box, but we have definitely lost the art since our departure from the Premier League.

I'm afraid that I won't be drinking in St. Mary's until the beer drastically improves, but most stadiums sell tasteless fizz so I am not expecting change any time soon.

Club did say that we wouldn't apply for a work permit unless we were pretty sure that it will go through, so should be an excellent signing - progress must have been made regarding the paperwork to announce something now. Have to say that most of the signings at the end of the window have been pretty desperate, (not just Pompey's) hope over experience stuff. I'd rather hang on to get a decent loanee than act in haste and get stuffed with a 3 year contract for someone distinctly average. The winger with equivalent quality to Jaidi does not appear to be available, so best to wait - you can't spend the same money twice.

I think the "million times better" Delldays is rather an exageration, seeing as many coaches, and managers, such as Pardew, move between Leagues. If Premier League teams thought that the coaching was a million times worse, why would they loan out players to lower league sides? Perhaps, also, it is something to do with actually proving that you can use your skills in a proper match situation to the benefit of the team, don't go missing when the going gets tough, etc. - something Schneiderlin has yet to learn.

WealdSaint, I think you will find that we were fourth from bottom, and he had plenty of time to turn us around. We hadn't dropped off the bottom of the league and none of the promoted clubs had big money to spend - it should have been one of the easiest years to stay up. He didn't have to bring in Callum Davenport to replace Killer; he could have actually signed somebody competent. Blackburn bought Ryan Nelson for peanuts around that time, but then Redknapp knows nothing about signing bargains.

Redknapp knew exactly what he was doing with the timing of his departure. The media all still seem to think he's wonderful despite leaving a trail of misery behind him. Bournemouth have never recovered financially from his reign, despite only 1 season in a higher division before relegation. We weren't even in the bottom 3 when he came to Saints, safely mid-table the season before, but he received no media criticism for our demise. West Ham had the 5th highest wage bill but achieved nothing whilst he was there - still to sort themselves out financially. The wage bill at the Skates was colossal and obviously unsustainable without an Abramovich-type owner - he got out whilst the going was good. He still spending money like water at Spurs and will continue to do so until he gets stopped. Next thing you know he will be in the media expressing his sympathy at the Skates' demise, without any journalist hinting at his hypocrisy.

Got my 2 season tickets yesterday - no queues and polite service. Couldn't get my Ajax tickets anywhere near my season tickets seats in the Kingsland. They were either right at the back or in the 6th row 2 blocks across -should be a very big gate.