Chez

Cork did influence matches, but in a subtle way. His hounding of opposition helped put them under pressure and turn ball over time after time. We were a possession team, so getting the ball back allowed us to do what we wanted, keep and pass the ball. Also his forward runs stretched teams, made opponents run towards their own goal (tiring them out at the same time) creating space for players like Sir Rickie and Lallana to work in. You have to have workers in your side and no one worked harder. Now if you can find similar work rate and doggedness but with a better touch, then its a no brainer. Romeu is the closest player to that and if he continues to shine then no need for Cork.

never mind the food, that only comes into play for night games when you have run out of time, more importantly after 15 years at SMS why is the beer queue still so bloody long? The ROI of having more staff, multi piny pourers and all round faster service must be almost immediate.

do you have to be accompanied with a child to sit in the family centre?

can't argue with a saving, but personally I've never benefited from the tied in deals, cheaper merchandise etc., so just dropping the bloody ticket prices is all that interests me.

I think you misunderstood the tone of my post. I was genuinely asking if losing income from ticket sales would have any effect at all on a club, because as recent history has shown, every time the TV money goes up the player wage demands goes up. So, the clubs don't really see the money, its just filters straight through to players bank accounts. Cut ticket prices - players wages rise a fraction less - everyone is still happy.

Just imagine how this so called community club would be seen by the local community if they started putting pressure on local residents to give up their light. Allowing Tesco in has ****ed off local traders, now for the residents...

the Twickenham Stoop would be ideal

Not sure it ever works when players come back, but More than happy to have a player in our squad that is willing to do anything, even tackle with his head if it means getting the ball back. I never saw him have a bad game for us, perhaps one game are returning from a long time out of the side apart. His undoing was that he was Just not neat and tidy enough in five a sides...

Obviously red cards hurt a lot, and to a degree yellows too, but **** me I bet you would scream to high heaven if he wasn't showing comittment, competing, making tackles and maybe even taking yellows for the team. He is a tad clumsy, but we have plenty of players who don't get close enough to make tackles or are happy to jockey all game. I can live with all those yellows.

I wonder if a club chose to drop ticket prices substantially whether that drop in income would be offset by reduced demands for pay rises from its players? Right now every player and every agent knows how much new money will be in the pot and how much they can subsequently squeeze out of the club with the next pay rise. Knock £5m off the income and agents have £5m less to try and grab.

Good luck any club raising their ticket prices this summer. I thought saints took the **** two seasons ago when they raised prices despite their income going up by £30m from that TV deal. After freezing them last summer maybe they will reduce them this?

Is the answer when the ticket prices are reasonable, such as cup games. Is there anything wrong with that?

First of all I don't think the Liverpool protest was a joke. It's not like all 10,000 found out that ticket prices next season would be £77 in the main stand and then rushed out and bought a ticket so they could join the protest. Every single one will have bought their ticket weeks or in the case of season ticket holders months before. However, the simple fact is that the only real way to protest is to not buy the season ticket next summer. Or buy a match ticket next season. But as not all tickets are £77, just some in the new main stand, I suspect fans will look to move to cheaper parts of the ground and then new fans will come in and buy those expenses seats. The fact they do will justify LFCs actions.

if we are the mid table side that the season to date suggests, then we shouldn't be surprised if our form goes again. Having said that, perhaps the new formation, the players coming back from injury, and the new players finding their feet might all add up to us being a little more than a mid table side. Fine lines, and unlike earlier in the season we are falling the right side of them.

That's an interesting theory. I was going to disagree fully, on the basis that you don't tot up niggling fouls before giving a straight red, and most likely he just saw a reckless challenge, but maybe the previous fouls in that game, plus his reputation did go before him a fraction. I thought at the time it was a little unlucky, but equally I could see why Clattenberg went for a red. You just cant throw yourself into tackles any more, which is good and bad. As annoying as it is, at least Wanyama is showing commitment when crossing the white line.

well Pep did nearly join them in 2005 (just the likes of Man City, Man United and Chelsea in front of them in the queue) and that brush with greatness clearly rubbed off on them eleven years later to produce the sort of outstanding tica-taca football that is helping to tear up the division right now.

If their wage bill is 2.5m a year or suchlike they will need that £500,000 to pay the wages between now and when the next batch of season ticket money starts coming in. Good to hear they won't be going into debt to pay those. I mean if they have financial problems with the fans at the helm after they have blamed all the previous dodgy owners for their troubles, they would become the laughing stock of football...oh.

Clashes with cup games and many games called off because of weather. Not just Carlise that has had rain.

Yes, the charter says prices must be the same as home fans in 'comparable accommodation', but where are away fans given better seats than home fans so it's the same thing.

Every single game is on the web. Just how much is too much? Just how big a ticket price, booking fee and now rip off postage are you willing to pay?

Away tickets must be priced at the same amount as the lowest single game home tickets.

The is almost total apathy on here about price rises and general greediness of the football company. In fact if you moan about it or takes a stand you may get laughed at or told you won't be missed etc.

Its a classic tale of hero becoming zero... But when a manager starts crying about negativity just two questions into an interview, you know he's rattled. Martin Hopkins sounds like a nipper finding his feet and just trying to keep the managers words flowing rather than having any sort of agenda. Cook doesn't have the brains to see that though and has made himself look like a chump

the question is how much could they charge before it made you stop buying a ticket? Twenty is plenty?

you little beauty. You just don't know how long I've waited to get the opportunity to drop this seamlessly into the thread. What do you mean. Fred and friends seem to be doing a grand job [video=youtube;zS1-aoUNBbE] 1min:30 in