Dave Benson Phillips

I believe a certain Martin O'Neill story pushed it out today. It will be coming at some point this week... possibly.

Err.... firstly... how is this my fault? I didn't make the decision to ban photographers from SMS, I didn't even start this thread!!! And I definately am not one of the dozens of press editions reporting this. If really all you can pick out is me being 4,000 out in Season Ticket estimations, you are clutching at straws. I speculated on season ticket numbers, never posted as fact. What is a FACT is that the press will now turn on Cortese, expect some pretty scathing attacks from the national press over the next couple of days, it will happen, he has fooked off the press and it seems fooked off Sky ( which is probably even a bigger no,no ) When it all does come out, there's alot of you that will have to put your hands up and say you were wrong on so many occasions and Cortese is the person who has been made out to be by some of the connected posters on here. I have no doubt that anyone will actually have the b*llocks to admit they were wrong though. I said weeks ago there will be plenty of " I told you so " moments in the coming weeks... and there will be. I don't post stuff on here to be an attention seeker, if I did then I wouldn't have tried to change my name and I would be in the papers spouting off etc etc... I post stuff because I hear things from various reliable sources and like to redress the balance when some of you say what a god Cortese is. And buctootim... as if the club give a f*ck about what a bunch of nobodies think on an internet forum FFS... they don't give a toss about one of the worlds most relentless press, so I really don't think they are going to give a toss and Cortese walk out because of a few computer nerds. I don't have any posts left now till the morning. By then there will be more to talk about. Make sure you pick up a copy of The Sun in the morning. Lastly - Dulldays... I thought you said you weren't going to renew? LOL - hypocrite.

Err, take your rose-tinted and Cortese blinded glasses off for a second. The Sun have not stated anywhere that journo's have been banned. They stated photographers have been banned. So where is the lies exactly? It's a FACT the club has banned all local and national photographers from the stadium. Expect The Sun to take the gloves off and lay in to Cortese big-time at some point this week. But if you are going to know the Sun and stick up for Cortese, at least do your research first. Here's the link for you to go and have another look... http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3086603/Opposition-0-Plymouth-1.html You lot need to wake up and smell the coffee. Cortese is an arrogant control freak, there is nothing professional about him and look out for lots of stories in the nationals over the next week to back up what some people have posted on here about events regarding Training Ground, Staff, Pardew etc etc... No doubt they will be talking rubbish as well. As lastly uber-fans. When 'congratulating Cortese' for winding up the British press, when saying what a great businessman he is, think about the effect bad publicity has on the club. Businesses do not want to associate themselves with the likes of Cortese, nor do they want to associate them with a team which creates negative publicity. Don't believe me? Have a look round the stadium tommorow night at the lack of local business sponsorship around the perimeter. More "I told you so" moments coming tommorow.

Once again it is the same people who have set their internet persona up to blindly defend Cortese whenever someone has a bad word to say about him. Seriously Dulldays, Matthew Le God, DPS... get a life. I told you there would be lots of " I told you so " moments over the course of the season, and this is the first, on the very first day of the season. It has been tried before ( although not to the extent of SFC's ban, locals were still allowed in at least ) and it failed massively for Celtic, Leeds and Bristol. There is no commercial value to Saints and papers won't bother their arse with us. Our matchday shots are worth the square root of fook all. I don't want us to be a cute little family club, but p!ssing off the national press for no other reason but arrogance is just retarded.

Nice to see the Echo sticking 2 fingers up at Cortese and printing screenshots from Sky coverage instead of buying the images. Looking through a few Nationals today, they have also stuck 2 fingers up at Cortese and printed tiny articles with no pictures as well. And I have heard the same story that a couple of posters have mentioned... The press association kicked off at Digital South and as a result they have refused to take the pictures. I imagine the club hired a freelancer or done them themselves for the website. Top business decision by our leader. No commercial reasons for this decision by the club, our photo's are worth fook all, we are in League 1 ffs. It's just Cortese thinking he can control and manipulate the English press... which of course he can't and he will be forced into running back with his tail between his legs.

Hahahahahahahahaha now our retarded fans on this forum are trying to tell people how to support their team. HAHAHAHA What a bunch of bed-wetters. I would have boo'd if I was bothered enough to go to the game, infact I boo'd from the pub. People pay their money and can supports says any way they fookin well want.

Right, let's get a few things clear. For all those saying " maybe he is going to change the way football works, he knows best " blah blah blah Leeds tried it ( on a smaller scale, still allowing locals and nationals in but banning agencies ) and the press stuck together and stopped reporting on Leeds. Celtic tried it and the papers in Scotland, allowing photographers in, as long as they could own the copyright, the Scottish nationals printed articles with blank spaces where the pictures were supposed to be and slated them nationally, forcing them to back down. ( Again, this is a few steps below what Cortese is doing, they still let the locals in ) Bristol Rovers banned all freelance photographers and agencies ( again, letting the locals and national who had their own men in, so a few steps below what Cortese has done ) , through protests and near on zero publicity from the papers, they were forced to backtrack. These are the only three examples I can find of when something similar happened, and all failed in epic fashion, forcing the respective clubs to run back with their tails between their legs. It is all very well saying it is only trivial and a small matter etc etc... this one is probably bigger than all of the rest in terms of the clubs reputation. In one hit SFC have p!ssed off every local and national press in the land... that means only one thing... bad publicity whenever the papers get the opportunity or a story... hardly a small matter. I think the most ironic thing is what you can guarantee is the majority of clubs will mirror their own ban and pass it on to Saints... so the Echo alot of you say you hate and don't need, will be the place you rely on for pictures from Saints away games this season. On a last note, it is not for commercial reasons, the nationals don't give a fook about us, we are League 1, and they won't be buying many pictures off SFC... we are local news now, not national. It's been done for no other reason than spite and propeganda. And the only people that are affected with this are the fans. Well done, bravo, hooray! On another note, it's matchday... COYSashes

My 10 pence worth. Not a big issue that affects me, although I do have an opinion on it. A member of my close family actually is an ex-Plymouth player/coach/radio matchday commentator/ columist for the Herald... now doubt when I find out some more info Dulldays will tell me my source is rubbish. It's yet another example of the pettyness and arrogance of our club. There is absolutely no reason, either commercial or morally why they should ban photographers from St Marys. The club, or more than likely, Mr Cortese, seems to think he can manipulate and bully the British press and media. How many people have gone to war with the British press and won? Not many, if any. The nationals are picking up on this and various local rags from around the land are finding it newsworthy enough to be commenting on the ban, even clubs not in our division and affected by it like Norwich City's local paper. It is another example ( yes another ) of what an arrogant and petty little club we have become under Cortese. No news agencies are going to waste money buying Saints matchday pictures. People knocked posters for mentioning Hitler and Cortese in the same term. A bit of a wild comparison to say the least, but they do share one interest, their love of propaganda. By restricting all forms of media, Cortese believes he can manipulate what is talked about in the press. Unless you allow the press in to the club and show them facts, they will simply make things up. Which is what will happen. Not just that, but look for the papers trying to find absolutely anything they can to tarnish Cortese with - he is a marked man now. All in all, it's just fookin retarded. And for all of you that think it is a great business decision. We are League 1 ffs and not worthy in most newspapers eyes of paying money for photo's - so expect alot less national coverage next season. Also expect for some clubs to hit back and ban the Echo and club photographers from the ground, so those of you that can't get to the games, don't expect to see any snaps of Saints on their travels this season. It's a fookin stupid decision.

F*CK OFF P*MPEY YOU CHEATING SKATE C*NTS!!!!!! :wave::wave::wave:

**** OFF P*MPEY YOU CHEATING SKATE C*NTS :poundit::poundit:

COME ON YOU HMRC!!! :vuvu: :vuvu: :vuvu: :vuvu: :vuvu: :vuvu:

Allow me to save my last post for you. Firstly I would request that DMS leave this thread open, regardless of content and just infract people as needed. Leave this as the 'clear the air' thread, so to speak. As for seeing other peoples side of the story, I post on very few threads, generally only sticking to ones on which I have a strong opinion on, or personal experience of. This obviously makes me come across very one sided. If other people also avoided threads which either didn't interest them or didn't affect them then the forum would be a better place. I think the most ironic thing about your post there is that you say that I don't listen to other peoples side of the story, yet yourself you discredit anyone who has a bad word to say about Cortese as having an agenda. MASSIVE pot,kettle,black moment there. If you don't believe a rumour or something which has been posted, then why not just ignore it? All you do by jumping on there and insulting the OP is keeping the thread at the top of the forum. If you left it then it would just dissapear! It's not a hard concept to grasp. DSM and Ponty moderate to fit their own opinions, Steve and Boj let both sides of the story run and moderate individual posts as opposed to whole threads. FYI as well, I have 9 infraction points, apart from a couple from DSM for saying the ghey word, all other infractions are from Steve and Boj... so not sure where you are going with that one, I certainly don't get special treatment. Some of you spend far too much time defending NC and trying to discredit those that have a bad word to say about him. Why not just ignore the threads and they would just dissapear, rather than keeping them alive! The Nick ST thread is a great example. 20 pages, and about 15 of them insulting people and rubbishing it ( when in reality it was pretty bloody obvious it wasn't an admin error, as has now been confirmed ) . If people just ignored it the thread would have died long before. As for why I went back down to registered user. Got bored of replying to the same mongs who were jumping on every single post I was posting. This way is much better. See you tommorow lunchtime. xx

LOL Some of you on here make me chuckle. Our arrogance shines through worse than Leeds this season. One person saying " I don't care, they are not my local team, if they were, I might care " - Seriously, that post couldn't be more " I'm alright Jack " if you tried! Another one saying "after all we have helped them with over the years...they should not be so hasty in having a dig " - Jesus wept, THAT is the sort of arrogance that will have us hated all over the land. Eastleigh are a local community team who we have a moral obligation to support. In the same way P*mpey support Havant and Waterlooville. Even if we didn't have a moral obligation to support Eastleigh then we have a contractual one. Of course Eastleigh are going to have a pop at Saints for going back on what they promised, which was 3 Saturday friendlies in the next 3 years. This seasons game being one of them. Of course they are not going to sue SFC, firstly because of the costs and secondly because they are reliant on having a good relationship with SFC, with whom are one of their largest income streams away from matchday, through freindlies, coaching courses etc etc. So a whinge in the paper is about all they can do. There is even people on this thread doubting if it is actually true which I find the most staggering! The article is an interview with the Eastleigh chairman! What exactly do some of you need to believe something FFS?! :shock: I don't think it would be in Malones best interests to completely make up something like that, do you? I think if we are all being realistic then we can agree the article was a true version of events. The Echo have a duty to print Eastleigh news just as much as they do Southampton news, some people need to take the chip off their shoulder and realise this. To the 500 Eastleigh STH's - Eastleigh is just as important to them as SFC is to us. This is a newsworthy story with an article from their chairman in their eyes. On a last note, this is a pretty much nothing story, Saints are out of order - yes most definately, but it's been escalated into a much bigger deal by the people jumping on here to protect Cortese, not the other way round. AND it's got to this with no help from me.

Right, so what you actually mean is that any opinions that you don't agree with will be locked, because you are a super dooper Mod? I hope you will also lock threads involving transfer speculation ( unless they can prove beyond reasonable doubt that they have spoken to the player then they should be banned IMO, if we are going to have transparant rules and consistancy ) . You locked a thread because a well respected and like it or not 'ITK' poster decided to take the opportunity to pass on some information for debate. And you threaten people with banning if you don't agree with what they post? You need to get off your high horse DSM. People are entitled to have their opinions, and are entitled to speculate, as are people entitled to join in the debate, disagree with it and indeed express their own views. This is supposed to be an independant forum and you and Ponty ( note I don't say the OWNERS Boj and Steve ) are turning it into another SFC propaganda machine by yourself locking threads with 'rumour' or 'speculation' and Ponty by being sarcastic and basically not practicing what he preaches when it comes to main board behaviour. Just because some of the stories or speculation posted on here are negative, it doesn't mean they are any less worthy of a place on the forum. Fair enough if posts become libellous, but deal with them individually not locking the whole thread. And thus endeth my lesson on how to moderate a forum. You know what... if a thread doesn't interest me, I don't bother posting on it, far too many people get their knickers in a twist over subjects which actually, either have no effect on them or they don't really care about. Looking at Pilchards thread on the main board... let's see how you deal with that one eh? As it is exactly what you are threatening to take action against.

Well I believe it as I believe patred is very well connected in the professional game, for one reason or another. Oh, and lol@people congratulating Cortese for slating the 71 other football chairman that he has to do business with. Maybe that could be a reason why transfers are slow this pre-season Would you do business with someone who sent a stinky letter to your governing body slating you? I certainly wouldn't.

Markus won't walk out on his investment and p!ss money down the drain just because Cortese goes. He will simply employ another new CEO. Liebherr is here for the money, not for sh!ts and giggles. I have put myself back down to a Registered User because the amount of people jumping on everything I say, I couldn't be bothered to spend my life replying to them. People can certainly put their head in the sand if they want. I believe this chap Patred is very well connected in the professional game, so choose to believe what he says or not, he was just passing on information he had received. There are far too many of you that will just blindly defend Cortese because you feel you owe him your life for 'saving' SFC, or you are scared Liebherr will go if Cortese throws his toys out the pram. Add up the amount of 'rumours' that have come from different posters on here about things not going right, staff unhappy ( and in some cases intimidated ) by Cortese, charges all over the show, and now apparantly he thinks he is better than all the other football league chairman and there is a very worrying picture about internal goings on at SFC. The funny thing is, so many of you say you are not interested in the politics of the club, yet you spend half your life talking about it! And for the people who are congratulating Cortese for kicking off at all the other Football League chairmen... yeah, well done NC... why not wind up the very people that you have to do business with on an almost daily basis. Congratulations indeed. Professionalism is a word that NC would do very well to learn the meaning of, because he shows absolutely none.

I give up. Absolutely no point trying to be sensible and realistic debating subjects with people who will go out of their way to try and protect Cortese. No matchday photos and a very fluffy and non-informative match report suggest that they are still banned. And I do know as of last Wednesday/Thursday, the club had not responded to their Press Accreditation Application. So excuse me if I take them facts and come to my own conclusion. You are right, they may well have not have been banned and the photographer could have turned up at Reading by accident, or got his days mixed up. OK then... that's enough for me on this subject I think.

I don't. I never suggested they have/did or for that matter, even should. You posted as fact, when really you haven't got a clue.

As in, there is plenty of 'bad' PR the Echo could print about life down at St Marys, certainly they seem to have started questioning decisions, such as a very random highlighted red box in which they bullet point about the Ted Bates Trophy in todays issue and questioning why there hasn't been one and no communication.

lol You are quick to knock and rubbish rumours/sources etc of other peoples. What evidence do you have that the Echo have not sent an apology to Cortese/SFC ? None? Oh...

A good point Alpine, if it is aimed at me, if you look through my post history, probably 80% of them are replies to quotes etc from other people, as opposed to just trolling. Moral of the story is, if you don't agree with what I say, or don't want me to post, then don't ask me a question / post and insult / rubbish what I have to say, then I won't post. Easy as that really.

You, as many others, seem to have more of an issue with me, rather than the subject in hand. Shall we stay on-topic. Funnily enough, this 'ego' doesn't want to talk about me, more the Echo being banned from St Marys this season.

Ahem, I am in the minority by thinking Cortese is a complete and utter ****face. It doesn't stop the majority shouting me down for being in the minority. There is a growing minority that are very worried about how Cortese views SFC, yet they are told to sit down and shut up. You can't have it both ways.

And lets not forget, it was a pretty mundane news story at best, the majority of Saints fans probably don't give a toss about the first team getting new dressing rooms. If it was a massive signing or something then fair enough, but it wasn't, it was about the training ground getting a refurb!

Where they there? Or did they report as if they were there ( of which they would do, otherwise people wouldn't bother reading the reports, they are hardly going to say " from reports we took from various other reports on the internet " , of course they are going to report as if they were there, even if they weren't.