Pat from Poole

When I read posts like this which show how little respect the club have for long-standing fans, it is a miracle that the attendances are as high as they actually are.

Yup. When I hear we've lost it barely registers with me. I just feel sorry for those who are suffering watching the inevitability of relegation.

I completely agree.

Knock off a factor of 15/115 for VAT. Sorry, I'll stop being a pedant.

Nope, not bothered in the slightest.

I think you might be surprised. There will be a bigger crowd than usual, but you'll find United fans all over the ground, whereas in years gone by they weren't so evident in Saints areas.

I think it's pretty unlikely to sell out unless United are given about 8,000 tickets. It's bound to be on telly, a lot of people will be skint due to Christmas, and more crucially, a significant proportion of the fanbase have completely stopped going for reasons which have been discussed in length for much of the last four months, and a lot of them will not return. I'd expect a crowd of about 27,000. Before I am accused of being an unprincipled plastic, I've not been all season and will be giving this a miss.

Transfer fees include VAT. Think I'm right in saying that if we sell Lallana and Surman for £7 million between them (number plucked out of thin air), based on a reduced rate of VAT, we'd keep an extra £150K of the proceeds compared with what we would previously have had to pay over to HMRC.

It would either have to be a fairly dramatic protest, e.g. pitch invasions etc, but we don't tend to do that sort of thing, or a mass stayaway. Chanting at games won't achieve a lot, just an excuse to blame the "lunatic fringe". It is more likely that a continued drop in crowds will be effective eventually, but with 9,000 season ticket holders, it will be a while before the drop is that notable. We'll probably still get crowds of 13,000 - 14,000 as we stumble to League 1, doubt it will register that much with Lowe. Next season's ST renewals should be a lot lower.

Both amusing but also disturbingly probably very close to the truth.

We got bigger crowds a couple of years ago, think we averaged about 24,000 in our first season in the CCC. I suspect that quite a lot of the people who were vocally anti-Lowe in that time will now have stopped going. Best of luck though.

Agreed. Nick Illingsworth is so wrong in his endless rants. It's the stayaways who are holding the trump card.

Agreed. Pearson will clearly be a top manager, can't believe Lowe has let Mandaric get one over him yet again.

What a boring man you are. I bet you could empty a pub just by opening your mouth.

I'm not sure what the stats are now, but I am pretty sure that when we were at The Dell, not far off 50% of the regular fanbase travelled from 20 miles or more away from Southampton to home games. The trains used to have loads getting on at Poole, Bournemouth and even quite a few from Dorchester and further west. I wouldn't be surprised if there has been a change here in recent years. For example, I doubt that the youngsters at the back of the Northam who are often the source of debate on here have too far to travel, apologies if I am doing them a dis-service here. I think a significant proportion of the people who now no longer come to games regularly will be those who live 30 miles or more away from Southampton ( a lot of my friends in the Poole / Bournemouth area have pretty much stopped going). It's not that they've chosen to support a different team, it's just less enticing to come to a half-empty ground and pay £25. For what it's worth, if we are still at The Dell, I'd come to every game. It would still have atmosphere even against cloggers in the CCC.

They're going to have to reduce prices. And re-open the Itchen Corner. Close the Family Centre corner and move them into the central part of the Chapel if they need to make a saving on stewarding etc.

I think you're wrong. I've had a season ticket for the last 16 years, but like a number of friends, I've stopped going this season. A lot of people just can't be arsed anymore, and once they find other things to do on a Saturday, they generally don't come back that often. Winning a few games in this League means diddly squat to most people.

The Itchen Corner closure was one of a number of daft decisions made by the Club since Lowe's return, which combined with a lot of people being skint, has contributed to the massive drop in crowds. By and large, Saints fans are not mugs, and will not just turn up out of blind loyalty, having seen a season of utter crap last season. We live in an area with a very high cost of living and people have to make decisions about what they're sacrificing at home if they spend £50-plus on a day out at football. We'd never get 30,000 crowds in League 1 like Man. City, as our fans aren't that thick. Saints won't get the lost fans back quickly. I speak as one who hasn't been this season, and having found plenty of other stuff to occupy my Saturdays, don't envisage returning soon to watch a game with no atmosphere now the Itchen Corner has closed and with little sign of the Northam getting back to anything like the Strachan days.

Think I'm best off out of it by the sound of it.

Yup. Primus would have done a job for us if he hadn't gone to Charlton. Also injury-prone though.

I'm surprised he wasn't on the phone to Poortvliet's successor.

We need 4 out and out bruisers across the back. And at least one in midfield. And one up front. It is not a League for kids.

If you weren't impressed with Adam Lallana, then you are blind, sir.

I think that most of us knew that when Poortvliet and Wotte were appointed that we would need three other CCC clubs to go into administration to save us from relegation this season. I admire and sympathise with those who will be following the team regularly this season. I haven't been this season, but based on the defending I've seen in the two SKY games, we will be on the end of quite a few heavy defeats. Shame, as there are signs of real promise, and Lallana is clearly a class act. However I share Dion Dublin's fears for us. He has played in the CCC for the last few years and clearly knows what he's talking about. You have to have a blend, to have 9 youngsters in the starting line-up is crazy beyond belief. Please prove me wrong, Saints.

I went to the BIC last time round, and it was great, apart from top man Mardle getting caned 8-0 by Taylor. To be fair, I think it's been at the BIC for three years on the trot now, and it's probably fair to move it about. They also seem to be spreading their net to bigger venues; the BIC is big but is probably one of the smaller venues they host League matches at.