teamsaint

Agree with some of what you say.A return to the PL would mean very expensive tix, and games at daft times. However, i was a member all the time we were in the PL at SMS and I never missed a game that I wanted to go to, and that includes a lot of the big games. I do recall that the fastest game to sell out , as far as I know, was a game against Chelsea in the last couple of seasons, which sold out by lunchtime on the monday it went on sale. Getting as ticket if you were on the ball was OK, it was affording them that was the problem !! anyway, a bit to do yet before we have to deal with all that !!

pity its not on FM so all licence payers can listen...........

quite. My guess is that NC and AP think that they can get the 3/4 + quality players that we need without paying big transfer fees. If that is the case its pretty sensible, but explains the delay in recuiting , since quality frees/loans will always be in demand. my guess.........1 RB,(with Harding/murty as cover if nee)d be Antonio returns,( to free puncheon as cover) papa doesn't(shame) we take 1 striker on loan, and sit on our hands till the near the end of August .

That may , in some cases, be true. As it goes, a teacher has to do 40 years, and contribute 6% of earnings , to get a pension of roughly half their final salary.Compared to many this is a good deal, but it really doesn't qualify as grossly inflated, does it? And most incompetent teachers just resign before they are pushed. At one time there was lots of enhanced retirement to get them out, but those days are long gone.Now they mostly just leave, before they are pushed out.

NC spoke about free parking for the staff i that interiew a while back, and basically said it isn't his job to provide free parking for the staff. probably a bit tough to swallow for people like the megastore staff who earn peanuts compared to the players,, and not, in my view, a great way to treat /keep good employees. When you are on modest wages, litle things mean a lot.

well I for one think that missing the semi will be punishment enough for suarez. i have long thought that refs should be able to give a penalty goal in these situations.Seems to me its a natural reaction on the part of the defender to keep the ball out with the hand, even if it is cheating. It IS cheating......but then players cheat all the time, from nicking two yards at a throw in to trying to con penalties out of the ref. and it may not be a popular view right now, but Uruguay have been one of the more entertaining teams in the tournament. Got to feel sorry for Ghana though. And the dutch would likely have beaten either in the semi.

I agree. In the playoff season, in a better league, we averaged 23500. Can't remember the ST numbers, but i guess around 11000. This season we will get big gates ,around 30k for bompey (in the league) one or two others at xmas, and a couple in April if we are close to promotion. We will NOT get big (25k +) crowds most weeks. Theses are tough times, and lots of people will think twice before shelling out £25 when the cames come along thick and fast, (and there are some decent easy away trips to take in). I really feel the club are making mistakes.Taking your core customers for granted, which is how it looks, is a VERY dangerous business.

problem is that the club are making lots of decisions which are not only upsetting some of their core fan base, but that the decisions are just plain wrong. Attendances at this level, and championship level are driven by ST numbers. Evenif we are top of the league we will do well to beat the 23500 we averaged in the playoff season. My guess is that this approach is designed to maximise revenue if we get back to the PL......... but that is a long way off.

why did the chicken cross the road? according to FIFA, it didn't . !!

Maybe some good points............. but re the national anthem, lots of people don't sing it because of its nonsense sentiments. If you don't agree with a monarchy "reigning over us", then it sticks in the throat a little. Sing it if you believe it, but some of us would like something a little less subservient.

Why is it that so few of our PL players are tempted abroad? Money is obviously important, but almost no foreign clubs ever seem to want our "best" players. Lack of technique, and an inability to adapt both on the pitch and socially are the main reasons IMO. shows at the top international level IMO.

Heard some of this recently http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baroque-Gypsies-Romanian-Traditional/dp/B002NTSMMO Absolutely fantastic stuff. If you like your baroque you should enjoy it, Also good was this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bohemian-Rhapsodies-Fell-Clarinet-Quartet/dp/B003NSKBLO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1277643715&sr=1-1-spell Although not yet released.

Just heard about the death of Chris Sievey of the Freshies/Frank Siddebotham. so listening to a few Freshies singles. Always loved the Freshies take on life, my kids even loved "octopus" when they were young. Really talented bloke, who made some terrific records. "Wrap up the rockets" sounds as fresh and relevant as it did when it was released. My Tape's Gone. R.I.P.

you just cannot cut that kind of deficit with tax rises on the rich.There just aren't enough of them and to be fair to the LD's, the 50% income tax rate is still there, Capital gains tax has increased considerably, (really an anti avoidance measure), and real improvements in the income tax threshold have been made. This last measure is a top idea as it will proportionatally help the less well off most, whilst encouraging people into lower paid work. Re VAT, as Vince Cable said, it may be a regressive tax, but it tends to be less regressive on those in the bottom 10%, because of the exempt categories. Its a very tough budget,Imagine what this budget would have bee like with a majority tory govt !!

really disappointed. He is absolute class . but norwich are a division above us and have over 20000 ST holders. Looks like NC is spending wiseley !! And he may be right to do so. A £1m transfer fee can be used for the wages for 2 top players at this level , if you can get them on a free.

Colin Todd and Dave Watson make a decent CB partnership

Reckon that is about right. Might not be the worlds best, but might have some idea of how to win a game. Defoe at least did a few bits and pieces, and Crouchie is always a threat.Gerradd was poor but at least gave it a go. What exactly it is that lampard adds to the team has been a mystery for a long time. What BWP is doing out there is also a mystery. I assume it IS bradley?? Have we all been fooled by a fairly easy qualifying group? And in case it carries on on weds, what is Italian for "turnip head"?

If you have a sense of humour, you respond to things that are funny. anti ginger stuff really isn't funny. It really DOES end up with kids getting bullied at school etc etc. Presumably all the other groups who suffer from stereotyping and bigotted abuse should be less sensitive, as that would solve the problem. Right?

if the club really don't care that much about a high take up of ST's, (and that is certainly the way it looks) they are in a tiny minority of clubs,, and IMO taking a big risk.I really can't see why NC would be right and all the other clubs are wrong...........but time will tell. Even if we are top of the league, we will do exceptionally well to get 25000 in week after week. In our playoff season we averaged 23500. There are lots of small signs being sent out by the club, and what I read into these signs is that the club is interested only in the PL big bucks for SKY and the fans who only turn out when you are in the PL. not good business in my opinion, and its a LONG way back to the PL. If and when we get out of the L1, we are going to compete with some serious money. If we get promoted this season, next season we could easily have to compete with, for example, Bolton, WBA and Blackpool all coming down with £16m guranteed for 2 years,not to mention a stack of teams like Leeds Forest Sheff Utd , many of whom will be prepared to gamble for the ever bigger prize of 1 season in the PL. NC may need his loyal core fans longer than he thinks.

can football creditors vote? They are unsesured, but know that they will get 100 %, so really, they didn't ought to be allowed to vote in favour.

The club's owners can do what they want, when they want, how they want. We, the fans, are here for the long term,and its very clear that takeovers by individuals do not always go the way the fans want.So its pretty sensible to be wary about how owners operate. Its clear that ML and NC are prepared to invest, (presumably cash rather than debt, though we are not certain about this yet).What the effect of this investment might be on the loyal fanbase would be, should we get back to the Championship and then the PL is far from certain.I suspect that a return to the PL will bring a club where the returning "fans" and deep corporate pockets are king. As a viewpoint, not everybody is a "PL at any price" person. I'm not, but then i am pretty powerless.Its nice tobe able to express a point of view in a proper discussion though!!

I am already resigned to being treated as ascustomer, from whom the most possible cash needs to be extracted.I am also resigned to the fact that the club will maximise its revenues from every area, including the fans that stuck by it in the bad times, if we get back to the PL. So to reply to the original question, my answer would be " a bit disappointed, but not surprised". On a slightly broader, but related note,the management would do well to look after the current customer base.The stadium will NOT be full regularly until we get back into the PL, and with the new parachute structure winning promotion from the championship, (when we get there !) is going to be far from easy.. Look to SWansea for inspiration is my advice.

Reckon Lallana would have done a better job than SWP.

Ok by me , as long as we pick up 90 points in it, and go back to proper stripes next year.