Fowllyd

I'd say it's a mixture of both things, with exact mixture varying from person to person - some will be concerned mostly with seeing their team win, but would prefer to see an entertaining match; others will place more emphasis on being entertained. For many years we had a reputation for playing attractive and attacking football, and I think many Saints fans expect to be entertained as well as to see the side win. I think the key thing is to be able to go to a match with the anticipation of seeing a victory for Saints, preferably achieved in style. I'm sure a hefty number of people have been put off for a while after last season because neither of these things seemed likely for much of it. From your original post on this subject, if we are indeed close to the play-off places come January, we'll have been winning a fair number of matches; and, by all accounts, we're playing with real style as well. That's why I'd expect attendances to rise if this does happen; if we then fade to some extent many people will still feel there's a strong possibility of seeing a good game, with Saints winning, so attendances may take a while to drop.

Well, it will depend on those who own the shares being willing to sell, but your point's quite correct - I can't imagine any potential buyers spending their time reading this thread and deciding not to go ahead because quite a few posters are happy with what JP's doing!

If you are right about that, and we've been playing good, attractive, attacking football all that time, then I'd predict that attendances will be well up come January. People talk to others who've been to games, they read reports in the Echo and so forth - if a certain number of extra people turn up and like what they see, they'll then tell people they know how good the team is to watch, and attendances will rise again. If we then fade as you predict attendances may fall again, but I think that will depend as much on the quality of entertainment being offered as on actual results.

Back to the original topic... Went to buy a ticket today about 11:45; there were a fair number of people coming and going at the ticket office. Of course, I don't know how many of them were buying tickets for tonight's game, but I'd assume most would have been. So maybe the lower prices are having some effect.

Pretty sure it was 1982 - March or April. We lost the match 3-2 (to Liverpool if anybody hadn't spotted who the opposition was) but that goal won the goal of the season award.

Yep. Hard to imagine anything better, allowed or otherwise.

Comment from a Derby supporter in today's Observer: No mention of any Derby players in his comments, which speaks volumes I reckon.

I know what you mean. I created a web site for my own business, but forgot to change my monitor resolution down to 1024x768. As a result, I had to edit every sodding page to stop text wrapping where I didn't want it to! So I don't envy you that task...

Ooh, that's not so far away, is it? Sadly though, I reckon the Derby board will be fully aware of this, and will sack Jewell before that fateful day comes around. Damn shame. On the bright side though, the team could still fail to win even then - unless they do something truly dramatic by way of a managerial appointment. A fabulous sideshow as our own results improve.

That's cruel! What a record that would be though, eh - how long's he got to get there?

Nice work! If I might make a minor suggestion, I think it would benefit from an alphabetical pick list at the top of the screen when you pull up a division - would make it easier to navigate to your own team. Just a thought...

Expressions about borrowed time certainly spring to mind...

Great result, all the sweeter because of the opposition! Looking forward to reading all the comments from those at the game...

Yes, but thanks for sharing anyway. :grin:

The OS says he's charismatic as well, which is nice to know I'm sure!

Nasty, but funny!

I especially liked that bit. :)

As you've probably both used your three posts for the day now , the thinking behind Pongo's comment is that John Major's government brought in the national lottery, funding from which has been instrumental in a good deal of our sporting successes...

True enough maybe, but hasn't it been pretty much always that way? Just as it is for the majority of clubs, for that matter. We got good money (at the time) for the likes of Shearer, Flowers, Danny and Rod Wallace - but how many Saints fans wanted to see them go elsewhere? And our circumstances were a whole lot different back then...

OK, was just wondering as I'd not seen any mention of money before. So it remains to be seen (a) if we're really signing him; and (b) how much, if any, money is involved. What larks!

Where did you get that £300,000 figure from? I hadn't seen it mentioned before.

Ah, but if working were better than being on here you wouldn't be on here, would you...

If a party or parties are trying to sort out a bid, then the company they want to buy needn't be in a bid situation. So at present there's certainly no need for the LSE to be informed. The original bid situation, over two years ago, happened as a result of frantic share-buying and a concomitant hike in the share price when the apparent interest from Paul Allen became known. The Takeover Panel advised SLH to put itself into a bid situation as share dealing is more tightly monitored in these circumstances. Should the current players (Fulthorpe, Asturius, whoever) secure the finance they require, they'll approach the main shareholders directly. If they agree a purchase of the three main holdings they'll be required to offer at the same price for all shares; whether they get them or not is uncertain, but they'd control in excess of 50% of the shareholding, and thus the company itself. All that said, action seems to be distinctly non-forthcoming!

Maybe just too many Bullfrogs? I can't honestly recall if we did qualify for Europe post-Heysel, but I'm sure there'll be plenty on here who will. I do remember that the biggest losers among English clubs were Everton, as they'd won the League and the Cup-Winners Cup in 1985, so would have been in the European Cup the following season had it not been for the actions of their fellow Scousers!