CB Fry

How come we only get to mark it once every hundred years. Was it not as important last year and is it all forgotten again in 2013? Either this is really important to the people of the city or it isn't. And I don't remember any minute silences for it before. The point is the club could do something or they could do nothing. They will do what they like. But a minutes silence seems to me ill fitting. Especially as there are no survivors left and the vast vast majority of people in the ground wont have even met a survivor. To me it's like having a minutes silence at Leicester City for the battle of Bosworth. So I have no objection for something but I fail to see how a minutes silence is the only option.

All I can remember from January David was you saying "there can be little doubt that the club will spend thirty to forty million" in the last transfer window. And funnily enough spent nowhere near that.

Anyone from our old guard remember any memorial for the fiftieth anniversary? Or the 75th? I don't recall anything for the 80th or 90th. Can't say I am bothered either way, but I don't think the club have any obligation here.

So for that to happen we would then have lost, at best, three from four. After undefeated in twelve and top two for the entire season. And we've won without Lambert this season too. Seriously. Chill out. It's in the bag.

Why are Saints going to lose all these games but West Ham are going to win all theirs? Would you be saying the same if it was Saints in third having just been tonked at home by the team in second?

As well as us ballsing it up, it would also require West Ham to go on a wonder run. The miserablists seem convinced that WHU are now going to win every single remaining game. But if it was Saints in that exact position they wouldn't be saying that at all. They'd be saying "thats it then. We're definitely going to finish eighth." Why are the pessimists about us always such raging cheerleaders for every other team, with breathtaking optimism for any other club that isn't us?

April fool? The FA don't dish out the golden shares.

Well I'd disagree. Pretty much every team in our peer group - second tier big city clubs - have either been in financial trouble, been relegated (sometimes twice) or quite often both. Very few of them were posting profits in the premier league as we were. I would hazard a guess to say none of them did except us. I know Blackpool did well out of the Prem but they are not comparable as they had the "small club wins lottery" one season wonder approach. Those profits ultimately didn't get us anywhere of course but it did make us unique.

Err. No they weren't. Leicester, Bradford, Sheffield Weds, Bradford, Forest. The list goes on and on. Well done on a pretty lame attempt to rewrite history. Yes we bought too many average players which ultimately saw us down but we were the exception when it came to balancing books.

Obviously an April fool, although the dopey bint on the Andrew Marr show believed it.

That Leeds game in August really did set the standard for the season, and no club has matched us since. Look at it that way.

Come on you bunch of fannies, lets have none of your grizzling. We played terribly, boo hoo. It happens. It's an off day. Six points clear. We're going up.

Here he comes...

15,739 of the bestest I see. What a massive sleeping giant they truly are.

....is the right answer.

Yes agree with this completely. Well summed up.

I really haven't missed that one Phil. I said it on another thread earlier in the week. The 'but the Leibherrs really love us' brigade got jolly upset and start talking Champion's League and ten year plans. We will be sold but if we keep spending like thuis we won't do much more than break even, if that.

It's a semantic point but I'm going to make it again. I say they are giving us money to get to the Premier League. The only rewards available is the very fact of being in the premier league. There aint much money to be made back. What's Randy Lerner making out of thr Premier League? Or our friend Roman? We're jolly lucky for you to be able to say that there is no point balancing the books. We have that luxury because our owner is giving us money. Just because it has been spent well doesn't make it investment. It's just free money.

Who's got all the answers? not me. Plenty of other people with all the answers sneered and belittled Alan Pardew. He's currently besting Liverpool, a team that actually spent more than us recently. But hey ho. We're going up mush.

Yes, managerial severence packages are a rare old thing in British football, aren't they?

Sorry there is a hell of a lot of people having it both ways. Either Markus loved the club and wanted to see us right and to achieve his dream of seeing the club in the Premier league etc etc or this is some water tight s hi t hot business plan which can't fail? Go on one thread and say "this is simply business" and the Markus-he-loved-us brigade get upset. Go on a different thread and say "this is just a lottery win" and the response is "this is a business strategy". Eh? There's a lot of people who seem to be labouring under the assumption that once we are in the Premier League it's all profit profit profit all the way, and as long as we spend big to get there the pay offs then balance out the millions we spent getting out of, err, League One. There aint many people getting rich in the Premier League you know. Outside of players, agents and the dogs of certain cockney managers. Simply put we are being gifted money to get to the Premier League. Go us. But at some point this will have to stop if the club is to be anything like a sustainable entity. Or the Leibherrs will sell us, which is something else people on this forum get upset about. Because Markus loves us. Because this is a calculated business strategy. Or both. Or neither. Or something.

Yep, agree. With that kind of cash sloshing about the management could easily have spent it in far worse ways. Hello Leicester, Hello QPR, Hello Sven, Hello Joey Barton. We've done a hell of a lot right. But we have also spent far more than the club can really justify - remember the amount the family has written off is the same as the cost of the stadium which we couldn't afford the repayments on. And this just to get out of League One and, soon, the Championship. Let's not kid ourselves that success in the Premier League is anything other than a massive drain [on admittedly bigger] resources. So yes, pots of cash, spent very well, no mistake. But lets not start calling it sustainable yet. Let's be clear - I'd rather us a well run rich club than a well run self sustaining (aka skint) club. I can live with that.....

Yes, fine. And yes, investment builds businesses, but not that many businesses would risk that % of turnover on one bet in one year, which is what we have done. It's only sustainable because the family have turned it into equity, which is good fortune on our behalf. Our revenue increase I would wager is just in line with TV revenue and increased gates. Modest may not be the right word, but say it is outstanding is just silly. If a 25% increase is outstanding then a 90% wages to turnover ratio must be petrifying. I'd also suggest that if wages have increased more than 25% (i bet they have) then the revenue increase is definitely not outstanding. "Turnover is vanity.." is a phrase I am sure you are familiar with and I am sure you know the end of. Increasing turnover in the season you've gone up a division really isn't outstanding. It really, really isn't. Quite frankly, I woud not describe anything the Leibherrs have done as investment in any true sense of the word. They've given us money and the club is spending it. I'm more than happy, we are going up. But this is a lottery win far more than a business plan.

I knew someone would pick me up on that. My main thrust is what we have achieved is not some economic miracle when lots of shops are shutting down which was the hysterical stuff DP was coming out with. We spent a fortune and we got promoted from the third tier of English football. Some of it is down to excellent management on and off the pitch, but some of it is simple good fortune on our behalf. Some of the hyperbole on here is not dissimilar to a lottery millionaire being congratulated for his brilliant ticket buying strategy.

I agree with most of the rest of this post but this is stretching things a bit. The figures show we spent more than a pretty penny to get promoted, and since promotion we have got attendances back to where they were last time in the Championship. The idea the club has stumbled on some miracle elixir of growth is frankly bonkers. If we had got promoted on, say, 40% wages to turnover, that would count as OUTSTANDING (in your terminology). The idea that this is comparable with a high street clothing store is ludicrous. I bet Brightons revenues have gone up by far more % (probably in absolute terms too) than ours, and Sheffield Wednesday and United will see similar OUTSTANDING BREATHTAKING UNBELIEVABLE increases next season, pending promotion of course. Getting promoted from League one with the wage bill is anything but OUTSTANDING. It was expected and frankly, essential. Calm down people and stop bloody over egging everything.