Colinjb

I would suspect it'll work the other way on that one. In an effort to appeal to higher profile sponsors Cortese seems quite willing to take liberties with things such as the kit design in order to appeal to them and help us close the corporate gap. The use of Gold in the home kit to tie in with Lotus and their branding for example, even if the deal fell through. Sadly, some simple straw mathematics show that compromised shirt sales would be easily offset by increased sponsorship.

I do believe in Cortese, and the small snippets you hear from him only serve to increase that belief. He always seems to be considered, pragmatic, has a view on the long term and even if things seem odd there is always a logic behind it. It has so far paid off, we have progressed incredibly well but the litmus test for him is coming. There will be a day when the logical planning and actions do not have a the desired result over a long period of time. There will come a time when we reach an apex that cannot be broken past. The club will reach it's zenith. At that point there will be nothing more he can do. It's my theory that Cortese thinks he can take Saints to the very top, if the glass ceiling falls beneath that point what will he do? We will learn more about him and our club's current structure in adversity then when the tide is smooth.

There was a training 'dome' but nothing on that scale. Must be for the next phase of development as I've seen plans for the extra pitches somewhere already, i'm sure MLG is around somewhere to clarify. Good to have the support from the council powers that be either way.

While i'm assuming you mean for both home and away games. It's interesting in comparison that we would only have had 5 home games on a Saturday by new year too.

From Football 365 I'm sorry, I cannot agree with your assertion on Wanyama either but that's certainly a topic for another thread.

It's interesting comparing a player who is barely touching the ball for his club to one that is obviously pulling his weight. Norwich were seen as having taken a massive step forward in the summer yet sit level on points with the relegation zone. Osvaldo's goal record needs to improve but he is certainly not shirking any responsibility with his performances.

I see, you just want to aimlessly argue. I made the mistake in biting in the first place. Enjoy yourself.

Why the chip on the shoulder? It's a forum.... it's where discussion takes place..... I'm not being tetchy it's simply a fact that your view is in the minority and we are talking about why we differ. Chill out man. The snideness doesn't become you.

On the basis of a thread full of people who have been watching him closely since he joined, no, just you. Nothing wrong with holding a minority view chap. Be proud, be resilient. It is clear to me that we have signed him to be far, far more then someone who is just there to stick the ball into the onion bag. The team works with a mobile and versatile front 2/3/4 depending on the opposition. Rhodes or Sharp (for example) would not and do not fit.

Well. No it isn't. You say he is better then Osvaldo. Osvaldo plays as a number 9 for Italy. So by connection you are saying that Rhodes is of the quality to play for one of the most well regarded nations in international football. Are you calling your own words irrelevant?

So Jordan Rhodes has the quality to play as the number 9 for a nation that has won the world cup in the last decade?

I've not said it would. I've just pointed out that it's no longer our main source of income and as such no longer has the same absolute importance to our fortunes and liabilities.

It would be difficult for people, yes, I agree. But 'when' it happens we shall see. I do not expect us to be able to get high percentage attendances given the scenario you describe.

I do like your attitude of 'when.' Right now though that is just speculation. Would love the chance to see what would happen. Personally, I would expect there to be sustained attendances to begin with as European football would be a novelty. Should we get to a point where that novelty wears off then things will be interesting.

As it's a Wednesday not a Saturday I bet, they can still televise games at 3pm.

My apologies. In which case that further solidifies the point that no-one is dismissing the income from Gate receipts at all.

Well, this ties in nicely with another thread today I suppose!

So league status has no effect on ticket pricing? The entire club's business model will be utterly dependent on how other aspects are going. You will not be able to justify £50 ticket prices if you are expected to lose every week or do not have the profile of the more famous clubs in the league.

His speech would I imagine have a more general comment then simply his experiences of running Saints, but it would be good to hear his perspective.

As a business your main source of income (in the case of Saints, it's now the Premier League TV money) will be the key area of focus. As such maintaining it will be the priority - The 'core,' the main, the most important priority. It's just common sense. The other sources of income will still be relevant but not take the same amount of importance. You are trying to make the argument too black and white, i've not at any point said that TV money is the be all and end all or that the gate receipts are irrelevant, the closest that we have seen to that is Whitley Grandad saying that they would be 'Irrelevant.' I've just pointed out that they will not be the absolute point of importance to the club that they would be to many fans.

My point isn't that they do not matter, but they are not the be all and end all as far as the club is concerned. As I clearly stated:

Troll someone who gives a f**k Turkish.

Yep. Curse my traditional mindset!

But not the core priority, premier league status and it's riches is the core priority. As such if the ticket income can be kept stable then so be it. As I said an attendance drop could be offset by a price increase. No, the fans wouldn't be happy but it would maximise the revenue, especially if the team did well then people would be crawling over themselves to fill in the spare capacity. Does anyone know what kind of advertising revenue the club brings in?

In the Premier League at least. Assume we sell 30,000 tickets at 35 pounds each per game (league only). That's approx £20,000,000 pounds, not a small amount of money but dwarfed by the TV income per season. Even at £50 per ticket you will see an annual figure of £28.5 mil. TV income this year is, what? £70-90 million? So all in ticket income accounts for less then 20% of income before tax. Merchandising sales are also minimal, 10,000 shirt sales with a profit of £40 on each = £400,000. A very small percentage. As we are close to stadium capacity (if not reaching it) even with the team doing well then I would expect prices to keep rising, the worst that can happen for the club's accountants is that the price increase would offset any attendance dip. It is nice to get fans through the door but it is not the core revenue and therefore not the core priority.