Southampton 0-1 Leicester - Match Thread

[SKD]

19 minutes ago, Cartman said:

Your concept of being well run seems to be having an owner spending his fortune on a business with an annual turnover of £150m, it takes being backed by an oil producing country to make a difference when turnovers are at that level, your average billionaire isn't going to make much of an impact. Look at Everton, hundreds of millions spent to achieve nothing. The difference between us and Leicester is they bought players that increased in value, were sold, and with that money they bought more players. Whereas we, in 2017 and 2018, spunked money on duds who, not only have we not been able to sell, but whose wages we have had to pay resulting in an inflated wage bill. Which makes your crusade against Gao odd, because the people responsible for those fuckups were there when he bought the club and he has since sacked and replaced them.

Leicester have just built a state of the art training facility and have also assembled a squad which is competing with the top 4. 
 

Meanwhile, we’ve been left with no back up full backs, going to lose our star player, to possibly Leicester and will be priced out of a replacement from the championship. 
 

Leicester aren’t the ideal comparison to support your argument buddy. 
 

My concept of being well run is doing whatever feasibly possible to improve the business. If that means dipping into your pocket a bit (which I appreciate Gao can’t do anyway) to improve performance and in turn improve value of the club, then yes, we should be doing that. 
 

Relying on player sales & PL revenue to stay afloat each season is a terrible business model and one that isn’t at all sustainable. 
 

Leicester are a similar sized club, but can outperform us in every single way at the minute. Their record transfer is almost double ours. 
 

Their owners may not have deeper pockets (again, not privy to how much they’ve invested), but they certainly have more ambition. 

[The Curse of St Mary's]

https://twitter.com/TeleFootball/status/1375110313260036104?s=19

One of the semi finals will have some local people attend as a test apparently.

[Cartman]

48 minutes ago, SKD said:

Leicester have just built a state of the art training facility and have also assembled a squad which is competing with the top 4. 
 

Meanwhile, we’ve been left with no back up full backs, going to lose our star player, to possibly Leicester and will be priced out of a replacement from the championship. 
 

Leicester aren’t the ideal comparison to support your argument buddy. 
 

My concept of being well run is doing whatever feasibly possible to improve the business. If that means dipping into your pocket a bit (which I appreciate Gao can’t do anyway) to improve performance and in turn improve value of the club, then yes, we should be doing that. 
 

Relying on player sales & PL revenue to stay afloat each season is a terrible business model and one that isn’t at all sustainable. 
 

Leicester are a similar sized club, but can outperform us in every single way at the minute. Their record transfer is almost double ours. 
 

Their owners may not have deeper pockets (again, not privy to how much they’ve invested), but they certainly have more ambition. 

So to you, a business relying on the revenue they generate is not sustainable. Sustainability is relying on handouts from the owner. Ok then.

Leicester are where they are, and have built the squad they have got because of player sales. Maguire, Chilwell and Mahrez all sold for more than £50m, Kanté and Drinkwater sold for around £30m, plus a year of CL revenue. Their owners have not put in a single penny since promotion, not one. According to you, what Leicester have done is not sustainable, you should tell them that, I'm sure King Power would love advice from SKD of Saintsweb.

We have spent the last 2 years cleaning up the mess left behind by the heiress and her minions, and Gao has been taking the flak for it. They gave Mark Hughes a 3 year contract FFS. You keep talking about us relying on player sales, we haven't sold a player for more than £15m since Van Dijk 3 years ago! Because we have had nothing worth selling, because we bought a load of dross. No player sales to worth mentioning, crap clogging up our wage bill, all thanks to Les, Wilson, Kat and that insufferable hockey coach. That is why it is sustainable for Leicester to have a transfer record that is double ours us despite being similar clubs, it would have been sustainable for us too if we had been well run between 2014 and 2018. But we were not, and we have had to deal with the consequences.

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, Cartman said:

So to you, a business relying on the revenue they generate is not sustainable. Sustainability is relying on handouts from the owner. Ok then.

Leicester are where they are, and have built the squad they have got because of player sales. Maguire, Chilwell and Mahrez all sold for more than £50m, Kanté and Drinkwater sold for around £30m, plus a year of CL revenue. Their owners have not put in a single penny since promotion, not one. According to you, what Leicester have done is not sustainable, you should tell them that, I'm sure King Power would love advice from SKD of Saintsweb.

We have spent the last 2 years cleaning up the mess left behind by the heiress and her minions, and Gao has been taking the flak for it. They gave Mark Hughes a 3 year contract FFS. You keep talking about us relying on player sales, we haven't sold a player for more than £15m since Van Dijk 3 years ago! Because we have had nothing worth selling, because we bought a load of dross. No player sales to worth mentioning, crap clogging up our wage bill, all thanks to Les, Wilson, Kat and that insufferable hockey coach. That is why it is sustainable for Leicester to have a transfer record that is double ours us despite being similar clubs, it would have been sustainable for us too if we had been well run between 2014 and 2018. But we were not, and we have had to deal with the consequences.

I'd be interested to understand why you think we have are sustainable when we are the only club to return a profit from player trading but are still skint.

[SKD]

14 minutes ago, Cartman said:

So to you, a business relying on the revenue they generate is not sustainable. Sustainability is relying on handouts from the owner. Ok then.

Leicester are where they are, and have built the squad they have got because of player sales. Maguire, Chilwell and Mahrez all sold for more than £50m, Kanté and Drinkwater sold for around £30m, plus a year of CL revenue. Their owners have not put in a single penny since promotion, not one. According to you, what Leicester have done is not sustainable, you should tell them that, I'm sure King Power would love advice from SKD of Saintsweb.

We have spent the last 2 years cleaning up the mess left behind by the heiress and her minions, and Gao has been taking the flak for it. They gave Mark Hughes a 3 year contract FFS. You keep talking about us relying on player sales, we haven't sold a player for more than £15m since Van Dijk 3 years ago! Because we have had nothing worth selling, because we bought a load of dross. No player sales to worth mentioning, crap clogging up our wage bill, all thanks to Les, Wilson, Kat and that insufferable hockey coach. That is why it is sustainable for Leicester to have a transfer record that is double ours us despite being similar clubs, it would have been sustainable for us too if we had been well run between 2014 and 2018. But we were not, and we have had to deal with the consequences.

Which proves it’s not sustainable then, doesn’t it. Relying on a transfer strategy that has to be spot on every single window, is in itself not sustainable.  

Football is slightly different to every other business in that 1 bad year can have catastrophic ramifications to revenue for the foreseeable future. And generally speaking, football clubs don’t make money. 
 

But I do agree that Gao is taking the flack for previous years. Kat is equally to blame. 
 

In answer to your question, sustainability is having a steady business model that isn’t solely reliant on staying in an elite league and spending as little as possible to do so. 

Edited 25 March, 2021 by SKD

[John D]

The owners of Leicester, West Ham and Newcastle have all invested zero in the last 5 years (source: their annual accounts).  Same as Gao. 

So it is fair to criticise him for the way he runs the club but he is similar to others when it comes to putting money in. 

I'm not a fan of him given his dodgy past and the LD Sports fiasco.  But  I'm also concerned we could end up with worse.

Equally I wouldn't be surprised if he starts trying to take money out of the club in next few years. 

 

[saintquin]

21 hours ago, SKD said:

Their bloke didn’t turn them into a league one team though did he. As far as I’m aware, he hasn’t sold anything off? 
 

I never said they have fantastic long term prospects, just that long term, let’s say 5-10 years, with both clubs with their current owners they are a more stable club. 
 

It’s okay to admit it. Luckily, I think we’ll get taken over by someone who’s willing to push us on from the mess we’re currently in. 

Probably because they've got nothing worth selling! 

[The Curse of St Mary's]

Sunday 18th April 6.30pm kick off on BT sport. The other one on BBC one ffs 

[sadoldgit]

1 hour ago, The Curse of St Mary's said:

Sunday 18th April 6.30pm kick off on BT sport. The other one on BBC one ffs 

BBC won the toss then.

[LGTL]

Couldn’t get much worse then that. Shit time, shit day, shit channel. 

[Turkish]

We have NEVER lost a semi final live on BT Sport against a team from outside London. Another omen.

Edited 26 March, 2021 by Turkish

[JRM]

34 minutes ago, LGTL said:

Couldn’t get much worse then that. Shit time, shit day, shit channel. 

Yep, As a traditionalist who grew up watching semi finals in 80s/ 90s on neutral venues, big occasion on tv the thought of a behind closed doors Wembley event shoe-horned to fit in around the Premier League tv schedule does taint it somewhat. 

Still a massive game for us , I'll be buzzing on the day, but it's just a reminder of how shit football has become. 

Pubs back open at least by then. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, sadoldgit said:

BBC won the toss then.

The tv deal gave them first choice of semi final. 

[obelisk]

1830 on a Sunday night? They take us for mugs. Probably because we are.

[Matthew Le God]

10 minutes ago, obelisk said:

1830 on a Sunday night? They take us for mugs. Probably because we are.

What is wrong with the kick off being that time?

[obelisk]

3 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

What is wrong with the kick off being that time?

Well Sunday evening is normally a football-free time when I get the chance sit down for dinner with my football-hating wife. I'll now have to earn some bonus points.

I'm also so long in the tooth that semi finals should still get played on a sunny afternoon at a neutral ground rather than at Wembley.

[sadoldgit]

48 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The tv deal gave them first choice of semi final. 

It was a joke

[JustinSFC]

44 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

What is wrong with the kick off being that time?

I would rather watch an FA Cup Semi Final involving my own team on a Saturday at any time, rather than half 6 on a Sunday night.

[shirleysfc]

Does anyone know of any pubs in Southampton showing it outside? 

[Toadhall Saint]

What a load of crap that is. What’s wrong with playing on the sat?

[Matthew Le God]

28 minutes ago, JustinSFC said:

I would rather watch an FA Cup Semi Final involving my own team on a Saturday at any time, rather than half 6 on a Sunday night.

Why?

7 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

What a load of crap that is. What’s wrong with playing on the sat?

What difference does it being on Sunday evening make?

[Streaky]

1 hour ago, obelisk said:

Well Sunday evening is normally a football-free time when I get the chance sit down for dinner with my football-hating wife. I'll now have to earn some bonus points.

I'm also so long in the tooth that semi finals should still get played on a sunny afternoon at a neutral ground rather than at Wembley.

Is Wembley not neutral then.

[Turkish]

24 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why?

What difference does it being on Sunday evening make?

Because some people aren’t geeky little weasels 

[aintforever]

6.30pm on a Sunday, what a shit time.

[Lord Duckhunter]

They never think of the fans when they pick kick off times.
 

Travelling from the dining room to the lounge is a nightmare at that time of day and it’s going to clash with Line of Duty if extra time is needed. If it goes to extra time and penalties in could be 11:15pm before I get upstairs to bed. 

[Matthew Le God]

12 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Because some people aren’t geeky little weasels 

That is not remotely relevant to my question about Sunday evening games. Why is that kick off time an issue to fans in general outside of individual commitments?

[Turkish]

5 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

That is not remotely relevant to my question about Sunday evening games. Why is that kick off time an issue to fans in general outside of individual commitments?

Only geeky little weasels don’t understand why it’s a shit kick off time

[Chris cooper]

So we play Leicester in the cup then in the league the very next game as we did arsenal and as we did wolves .. let’s hope the same pattern applies ! 

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

a shit kick off time

Enlighten us with your insight please

What is it going to stop you doing during the pandemic?

[Turkish]

14 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

They never think of the fans when they pick kick off times.
 

Travelling from the dining room to the lounge is a nightmare at that time of day and it’s going to clash with Line of Duty if extra time is needed. If it goes to extra time and penalties in could be 11:15pm before I get upstairs to bed. 

On the plus side Sundays are good time for smashing back doors in, so depending on the result would depend on the level of domination or submission that will be administered shortly after the full time whistle

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

Enlighten us with your insight please

What is it going to stop you doing during the pandemic?

As someone that regularly leaves the house and has interests away from computer games I wouldn’t expect you to understand 

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

What is wrong with the kick off being that time?

It’s past my bedtime.

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

On the plus side Sundays are good time for smashing back doors in, so depending on the result would depend on the level of domination or submission that will be administered shortly after the full time whistle

Turkish and the charmless man! 😉

Edited 26 March, 2021 by Matthew Le God

[aintforever]

8 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

That is not remotely relevant to my question about Sunday evening games. Why is that kick off time an issue to fans in general outside of individual commitments?

Because if we win I was planning on celebrating by drinking enough alcohol to kill a small horse, now I have to worry about being in a fit state for work the next morning.

[Turkish]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

You are quite the charmless man! 😉

Just because foreplay in your house involvea algorithms To assess the optimum time for copulation it doesn’t mean we’re all such sad fucks 

[64saint]

Well if it had been a Saturday lunch time Ko I could maybe have delayed driving off on my holiday to Cornwall for a few hours (self contained covid bubble in self contained accomodation as per the rules I should add) but persuading my beloved to wait until 8pm on Sunday evening before driving off could be difficult.  No Bt sport in holiday accomodation unfortunately 🙁Then again, if we'd been allowed tickets for Wembley that could have been a bigger problem.  Wembley or Cornwall 🙄     Either way, hopefully I can spend a holiday week celebrating, pissed hangovers, no problem .😀

Edited 26 March, 2021 by 64saint

[Ekelund]

28 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Enlighten us with your insight please

What is it going to stop you doing during the pandemic?

Such a boring prick, how you get away with this I'll never know. Hijacking every thread. Its clearly a shit ko time with work the next day but you'd rather pick a side you know will cause most friction. 

Me, I'll be waking up the day after, hopefully celebrating, with a sore head. Only now it'll be on a Monday, with work. 

It's a pisser, you know it is. Line baited, nippled but fuck me it's boring 

[Toadhall Saint]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

Just because foreplay in your house involvea algorithms To assess the optimum time for copulation it doesn’t mean we’re all such sad fucks 

Copulation 😂 he’s only got the joy stick!!

[rooney]

12 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why?

What difference does it being on Sunday evening make?

Everybody will be in Church.

[wild-saint]

On 25/03/2021 at 16:53, Turkish said:

I'd be interested to understand why you think we have are sustainable when we are the only club to return a profit from player trading but are still skint.

id suggest its paying duds'  like forster £90k per week. plus lamina hoedt (or whatever his name is), carillo and all the other shyte we have out on loan at high wages

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, wild-saint said:

id suggest its paying duds'  like forster £90k per week. plus lamina hoedt (or whatever his name is), carillo and all the other shyte we have out on loan at high wages

That isn’t sustainable then is it.

[beatlesaint]

16 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

What is wrong with the kick off being that time?

Why are you totally unable to except anyones view without a detailed analysis from them of why they think what they do ?

If you really cant see that 6.30 on a Sunday evening for a semi final is awful (like a little hidden away secret) then fine but seriously ? Its like BT have said "umm, we have to show this one.....well we dont want it at peak time for football.....i know, put it on Sunday night and just get it out the way, its not like many will be watching"

Which is the crux, not many people have BT Sport (not in comparison with Sky or at the prices they charge certainly) yet the tv company dictates a time. Its not like they need a late kick off for crowd control.  

Edited 27 March, 2021 by beatlesaint

[JustinSFC]

17 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

 

Which is the crux, not many people have BT Sport (not in comparison with Sky or at the prices they charge certainly) yet the tv company dictates a time. Its not like they need a late kick off for crowd control.  

I've not done a like by like comparison but we get SkySports & BT Sport and all channels & VIP & SkyMovies everything the whole hog for £65 a month and I'm told that's a bargain apparently....

[Matthew Le God]

22 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Why are you totally unable to except anyones view without a detailed analysis from them of why they think what they do ?

If you really cant see that 6.30 on a Sunday evening for a semi final is awful (like a little hidden away secret) then fine but seriously ? Its like BT have said "umm, we have to show this one.....well we dont want it at peak time for football.....i know, put it on Sunday night and just get it out the way, its not like many will be watching"

Which is the crux, not many people have BT Sport (not in comparison with Sky or at the prices they charge certainly) yet the tv company dictates a time. Its not like they need a late kick off for crowd control.  

It isn't unreasonable to ask a question after someone makes a statement. Otherwise conversation would be only a flow of one way statements.

Sunday evening is a great time for TV audiences. Shows get decent viewing figures in those timeslots.

Edited 27 March, 2021 by Matthew Le God

[Badger]

17 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

It isn't unreasonable to ask a question after someone makes a statement. Otherwise conversation would be only a flow of one way statements.

Sunday evening is a great time for TV audiences. Shows get decent viewing figures in those timeslots.

Not disputing what you say, but is that what the FA Cup (SF) has become ?

It may be a good time for the arm chair viewer but doesn't feel right for the football fan/purist. Suppose it would have been a more conventional time if fans were attending so hopefully it doesn't become a precedent.

Still, good to know  we can compete with all time classics like The Onedin Line, Poldark, and All Creatures Great  & Small  for prime time Sunday evening tv. Wonder what the BBC or the producers net spend was.

[saintquin]

I the only thing I can think I might be doing at 18.30 on a Sunday is probably sat down watching telly and thinking about dinner.

Which I'd guess is what most people on here would be doing. 

[mikec]

14 hours ago, 64saint said:

Well if it had been a Saturday lunch time Ko I could maybe have delayed driving off on my holiday to Cornwall for a few hours (self contained covid bubble in self contained accomodation as per the rules I should add) but persuading my beloved to wait until 8pm on Sunday evening before driving off could be difficult.  No Bt sport in holiday accomodation unfortunately 🙁Then again, if we'd been allowed tickets for Wembley that could have been a bigger problem.  Wembley or Cornwall 🙄     Either way, hopefully I can spend a holiday week celebrating, pissed hangovers, no problem .😀

If you have a BT sport subscription, you should be able to watch it online.

[Gingeletiss]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

It isn't unreasonable to ask a question after someone makes a statement. Otherwise conversation would be only a flow of one way statements.

Sunday evening is a great time for TV audiences. Shows get decent viewing figures in those timeslots.

Not in bloody Australia it’s not.

[CB Fry]

BT have put it there to avoid whatever Super Sunday games Sky have got that day.

So it maximises their potential viewers of hardcore football fans that will watch every match.

Ignore MLG's drivel it is not some wonderful time slot for football.

If it was Sky would be showing football at that time every single week and what a surprise they don't. And funnily enough, the BBC didn't chose to put their semi on at that time either.

If it was a normal, fan attended match it would no way be on at that time, but as it is closed doors then BT have done what us best for BT.

None of us are going to Wembley so it's not a massive deal for me, but still annoying.

Edited 27 March, 2021 by CB Fry

[Matthew Le God]

10 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

BT have put it there to avoid whatever Super Sunday games Sky have got that day.

So it maximises their potential viewers of hardcore football fans that will watch every match.

Ignore MLG's drivel it is not some wonderful time slot for football.

If it was Sky would be showing football at that time every single week and what a surprise they don't. And funnily enough, the BBC didn't chose to put their semi on at that time either.

If it was a normal, fan attended match it would no way be on at that time, but as it is closed doors then BT have done what us best for BT.

None of us are going to Wembley so it's not a massive deal for me, but still annoying.

Stop twisting my words. I did not say it was a good time for football, I was asking why it is a bad time. Those two things are not the same.