suewhistle

Coffee! Which is a bit sad as I grew up and now live in Italy. Tequila - I went to a hen night in Brum the night before our semi-final against Watford (?) and nearly didn't make the game. Grappa, after an experience where I live now (I've no memory of getting home).. Genepy, sambuca and real ales are all great!

Funnily enough on some of our more distant away games when we stop at the autostrada service stations before the game we are recommended to eat a small dish of pasta (with not too much sauce). I'm also regarded slightly askance as I sometimes have a beer on a team night out. So I reckon it's a combination of 20 pints and old age and not the pasta.;-)

Good point, and given our crowds I'm sure we can outbid Caen and Brest. Playing regularly in front of decent crowds must also be a draw.

Nothing in Corriere dello Sport either...

Aren't there going to be any back from the match posters? Unfortunately I'm back in the UK for the summer this year.

Great! Another local youngster.

Grin. I rest my case.

Do you really have to be so offensive Alpine? Anyway, some years ago on a student exchange from SU I watched in a Hamburg bar KK playing in the Euro finals and it was completely beyond anybody's wildest dreams that he should play for Saints. This is not on that scale but for where we are now it is significant. He's the right age, athletic with a bit of pace, and he obviously wants to play football: it's not a Pompey type last pay day. His attitude always playing on loan has been excellent so let's hope the stability of a long contract helps him concentrate on his game and improve even more. If we are going to sign more players in the window then this signing can only help in persuading others to sign.

Part-time teacher of English as a second language. Skier in my spare time and ex-systems/business analyst..

I reckon it probably was easier to buy a house, which I did, on my own when I was 28 back in the 80s. A graduate with no loan to pay but no car, mobile, posh clothes or eating out, small B&W tv and my main luxury was a late booked skiing holiday every year where I was always surrounded by people with more money than me! I lived in digs, with parents and shared houses (moving for my job) until I bought. But as ecuk268 points out, some people don't help themselves in their saving for a deposit. That has never been easy.

We already have a squad (an eleven a side one). We aren't desperate to bring anyone in. As for the stadium, we clearly could afford it but suffered from some crap football and commercial management: I know you'll empathise.. The written off debt wasn't that great and the lenders had already had a good return from us, particularly given how interest rates had come down. There really is no comparison.

Best bet is to do it again and have a second trap 200 yards down the road.;-)

Figures I've seen do, but although I'm not rich (10 year old car, no TV) I do have savings and the liquid ones are earning sod all. I rather like the idea of saying stuff the foreign energy exporters and stuff the big energy producers. Actually, due to high temperatures in hot climates yields can be higher in the UK - look at this month's PBO or Sailing Today (can't remember which).

Article on the OS now: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2385053,00.html

It may be a joyless experience for Corp but we're enjoying it immensely. We particularly like Corp's contributions, don't we guys?:-)

I have the odd pre-match pint there when I'm over and there are normally posters up advertising live music. Talking Heads in Portswood used to do live music but I'm really out of touch. The Bent Brief still does but the beer can be good or dodgy...

The figures in the OP are far from the mark: the return with the FIT is far higher than that p.a. if she actually got what she should for the money - a 3.something kW installation. I believe the payments are made quarterly. With the expansion of the market, economies of scale and competition margins will come right down. Just avoid the salesmen who have come from the double-glazing sector - remember how that used to be expensive and full of rip-off merchants. Get more than one quote and make sure you get quality panels and inverters. You'll certainly get a better return than any cash ISA at the moment.

Hmm, maybe not toast but pretty stale bread: haven't got a team let alone a squad, no training facilities, no reserve team, dodgy ground, disillusioned fans (well, the few I know) and still questions over ownership of the various assets (ground, car park, debts...). I doubt Mero or even Mack are as sanguine or complacent (or blinkered) as you are.

There seem plenty of questions outstanding, certainly. The cash flow issues alone might come as a shock to the Russians as they obviously haven't listened to advice from anyone, or at least any advice that doesn't agree with their own thinking. Sorry Gemmel, I've been away on hols, but has anybody actually signed then? I thought it was all talk so far. I suppose I'd better go away and do my own research:-)... If Dubai phil is quiet he's either on the golf course or delving. Either way it's like those westerns where somebody says "it's too quiet" and you just know they are going to get the first arrow...

Well, see you in the Junc after the match then...

Not if prices are reasonable for the run of the mill games, which a larger stadium would not only permit but encourage..

Give us a break Turkish: that's a straw man argument. Nobody is saying we're going to get 45k every week, but people are saying that we have potential for bigger gates. As pointed out we doubled on moving to SMS and it was often a scrabble for tickets which I avoided by having a season ticket. Getting them for friends was a real pain. Our 30k+ against Southend was the sort of crowd that Villa and Spurs wouldn't get, although I admit they had a better choice of games to go to. But to repeat a point, with the professionalism and backing we now have and a bit of success there's no doubt 32k would be too small. What the actual alternative might be is another matter.

Exactly. Do we want everybody except the elites to be paid crap? As has been pointed out all the countries with relatively equal pay distribution tend to be the happiest ones, and that is far, far from the current government's thinking. What also gets me about the moaners is how they say they've accepted all the cuts to their pay without complaining, but complain about what they think other people get (based on what they read in the Mail or Sun). If you don't complain when you're shat upon or move to a better job it suggests either that you are a wimp or that you are in a weak negotiating position. Neither is a reason to complain about other people standing up for themselves and the contracts they accepted. As somebody pointed out, they were surprised how many good teachers wanted out when the opportunity arose, and I heard the same about the armed forces today. That suggests they think they can do as well (or better) elsewhere. Plenty of medics moving abroad too. The level of debate "communist"; "taxpayer versus public sector" as if such a dichotomy existed, shows that some people have been failed by the education sector... or perhaps have always sat at the back of the class and never paid much attention, particularly to social history.

Just had a look (it's in La Stampa) but unfortunately it's gone the way of The Times..:-( Bit of a scramble for tickets though, so if you speak Italian this blog gives a flavour: http://novaracalcio.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/ore-di-ordinaria-follia-per-la-finale/