Foxy

Funny you should say that as listening in on Radio Berkshire the Reading commentators and pundit are saying we have DMG playing in the hole in a 4-4-1-1

Not much fun on the traffic front, though. Probably quicke to park further afield and walk in

Just across the motorway from there (on Shinfield Rd) is a very nice pub for lunch or a pre-match snifter - the Black Boy. Recommended.

But the flip side is if noone leaves the way you describe we either go bust or we have to ramp down recruitment of the promising youngsters. Frankly, even when we were top flight we needed a few player sales to make the numbers add up. Now it's just not an option to turn down a decent offer. And, frankly even if we wanted to Mr Barclays would probably insist. We could do with selling a Theo or two every year, I'm afraid, as that way we can afford to at least keep some semblance of a club running. Short of a white knight that's the only way we can finance a recovery I'm sorry to say. This is the same for all but about half a dozen clubs in the whole country, outside those few there's always going to be a big pull when Arsenal, Chelsea or ManYoo come calling and a big push from the bank when even a small PL cllub looks like opening its coffers

I'd recommend the train to be honest, parking is a real chore anywhere the Mad Stad. The only realistic alternative when coming up by car would be, as the poster mentions above, to park somewhere south of the M4 and walk across. This was you miss the traffic chaos at the end and have a couple of pubs to chose from beforehand. If you park at the stadium (or the dog track next door) you'll have a helluva time getting out and would be best of having a post match refresher in the Madejski hotel or the Holiday Inn round the corner. Word of warning if you are getting the train - last one back is at 2307 tomorrow (or 2245 if you want a decent, direct service) which is a bit earlier than normal.

Eeek, fashion disaster. All those white socks and side laced shoes! But the report would always need to be for tickets sold. That's the figure that the tax man and the bank would be interested him. What people chose to do with their tickets is up to them. If it's about time spent it seats how do you deduct for a crafty sneak to the gents to beat the rush for a half time piddle?

Or indeed those who did that and will mis-time their return into the market and come in at a similar rate they got out at having blown a fortune on fees, comissions, rent and general pain in the arseage. Or better still at the bloke I used to work with who sold up five years ago in anticipation of a crash and has been renting since as even now can't afford to get back to where he was. Hindsight a wonderful thing indeed.

Not a lot of point in only looking at one side of the accounts. Brizzle spent less on wages but did they generate the same income? Not really apples and apples. That said we clearly have an issue with costs, which needs addressing. problem is we all moan like hell when anything is done to deal with the problem. PRetty thankless task runing a football club, really.

He could well have been but the basic salary could still have been lower, but with all sorts of increments (games started, goals, wins, league position, image rights, signing on fees, loyalty bonuses, shares....) it would be fairly easy to structure a deal which kept a headline salary low. This could be particularly worthwhile for a Channel Islander

Another game. Following on from a four or 5 goal win at Loftus Rd we were as exciting a team as I ever saw. Dodd, crossed early on for Rideout to score (he'd already smacked one off the bar from miles out) then Rod Wallace did a bit of a drag back to leave Venison chasing his own mullet before firing home. Rodders volleyed home at the far post from a Matty cross before returning the compliment for Matty to head in a forth. I think the Scouser's goal was a Beardsley penner. Great day against a team that were unbeaten all season until then and meant we had gone 10 unbeaten playing awsome stuff. Went to Old trafford the next week and lost 2-1 after taking an early lead

Or indeed have an attitude change *because* we all mature. Or at least (to save Mrs F posting reasons I might be an exception) most of us

Despite the results being hit and miss so far I'm happy with the approach - an attempt at coherence through the playing side and a shared objective - as well as the way we are trying to play. I'd love to see how this approach would work out if we were on a stronger financial footing and could retain talent and bring in a higher quality both in terms of the youth side and the odd player fast tracked into the first team. For me the approach now is a lot more admirable than a bunch of highly paid mercenaries following the same formula as 90% of the clubs out there and, frankly, getting similar results to now with a tawdry, unappealing brand of football. Now, trot out a team of highly paid mercenaries playing like the Harlem Globetrotters as they sweep all before them and I might be happy, but be honest, if we could have success through a well financed version of what Jan et al are doign now, woudln't that be more satisfactory?

Squits epidemic runs through squad. Fill in your own toilet jokes below.

Depends who's going out. IF we were to be able to fork out that kind of cash there is going to have to be a departure for that plus some. That or the 'genius' is someone who believes the player's agent when he tries to pressure whoever is showing an interest by whispering a few names in a journalistic lughole

Stern off for Wotton. Hang on in there boys

Olly off

And then caught a corner - surely some kind of mistake

Nothing to the one about the bosai bank in Japan which is having some of its braches cut Or the Wonderbra bank which has gone tits up and so on.........

By the way did anyone know the difference between a pidgeon and a city banker? The pidgeon can still put a deposit on a Ferarri BaBoom

Quite a lot, if not 10s of millions, it's where the structure and wages started that sees 90% of turnover go on player wages. Still other clubs he's graced with his presence and have 'supported' his approach are in rosey states now - or are they?

Would this not give the club the right to put him through a disciplinary process and, ultimately fire him without compensation for gross misconduct or whatever? Or does it work differently if the employee is on a fixed term contract?

Last direct train is 22:45 after that it becomes tricky and you'd probably need to get a cab to Basingstoke in time for the last train from there instead

The Guineas is probably the most convenient pub if you are coming by train (it's in the old station concourse and just across the road from the buses down to the Mad Stad. Beyond that it has little enough to commend it and with at least 50 alternatives within 5 minutes walk I'd suggest something else nearby. In terms of a decent spot for a beer I would suggest either 3 Bs bar underneath the town hall (about 200 yards from the station), Oakford Social Club, straight across the road from the Guineas, a couple of Weatherspoons and an O'Neills on Friar street, again a couple of hundred yards away. For decent food and proper beer nearest place is Chronicles round the corner in Valpy street or the Moderation, about 10 minutes walk away on Caversham Road. The only real ale pubs in the town centre are the Hobgolblin on Broad Street (300 yards from the station) and a couple of scruffy independents. Appropriate for Saints fans might be the Hop Leaf on Southampton Street as you head out of town towards the Stadium (you'd need to bus it or allow a good half an hour walking from there though. Driving in I'd agree with the poster who suggested stopping south of the motorway and crossing the M4 at JNC 11. There's a couple of passable pubs in Three Mile Cross/Shinfield that you can walk from (the Swan is particularly dear to my heart as way back when the former landlord there used to be happy to serve us if we wandered in still wearing school uniform). However, I would probably suggest having a bit of lunch and a beer in one of the villages a bit further out - the Farriers in Spencers Wood, the George and Dragon in Swallowfield or the Bell at Grazeley before parking up near JNC 11. Before you get so close there's a few really nice places in the country between Reading and Basingstoke if you're after a proper meal - try the Old House at Home near Rotherwick or the Shoulder of Mutton at Hazeley Heath. Myself, I will probably start off near home in Caversham, where several pubs run coaches down to the ground.

Well better than the day before he left, anyhow

Not much to argue about there. From SFC's point of view this all means is that they can expect to see even more in the way of demands for frugality dictated by unforgiving bankers. For Saints this is not going to be so much of a shock as it will be for other clubs who are still living in the free-wheeling neverland that football (and much of the wider economy) has inhabited for years.