Neil

Momentum is a strange thing in football, and Football Clubs. It can be hard to build and much easier to lose. I'm not saying that a slight delay is disastrous but I wouldn't want to wait much longer. I hope to hear something over the weekend or at the start of next week, now that the Halo stuff has been sorted.

Hope so, I've still got a few Gothic florin kicking around somewhere in a biscuit tin, knew they would come in handy one day...

Thanks. Well that would seem a bit late to me. Either way, it might not be a bad idea to give fans (officially) some idea, so that they could work out when/how they will finance this. Unless they're free (or £125) in which case it doesn't really matter anyway...

By who?

Get rid of Stuart Dennis. Speed up the queues at turnstiles, electronic turnstiles if need be. Real ale / cider, served quickly and drinks tokens if need be, i.e. try to get more profit from the time people are currently drinking in city centre pubs pre-match. No half-time 'entertainment'. No goal 'jingles' of any description. Turn off the music by 2.45 at the very latest, or better still, don't have any at all. No music at half time, just the half time scores and birthdays etc. No crappy messages about staying off the pitch, that are then repeated twice. Oh, and get rid of Stuart Dennis.

I think it's pretty good value for someone with two or more U14 children, and these are the fans who we need to get for the future, so no real issues with the pricing. For anyone else I can't imagine they'll be too bothered about this game, I'd stay in the pub and have another four pints to be honest...

Well obviously a lot of punters disagreed with you.

I was disappointed they didn't take the Paint Pot round, as we've never really celebrated it since winning it, and after yesterday's game was the ideal chance. OK we all know what the real prize is, but that shouldn't stop us having fun along the way. The conspiracy theorists may suggest that NC did not think the JP was worthy of celebrating. I'm sure AP would have been happy for it to have been paraded round SMS.

I think if Cortese gets Season Ticket prices right this time (and preferably keeps Pardew - or if he goes, appoints Keegan), people will be surprised how many STs we can sell in League One. We're a pretty big club, certainly pound-for-pound (population etc) one of the biggest, and can grow further over the next few years. I think from this thread Saints fans are starting to realise the potential of the club to be bigger still, and talk it up for a change.

League One top 5 (for what it's worth): 1 Sir Martyn Arbib (Swindon Town) £325m 2 Andrew Black (Swindon Town) £185m 3 Dean Hoyle (Huddersfield Town) £154m 4 Graham Ferguson Lacey (Millwall) £90m 5 Frank Van Wezel (Southend United) £72m I suspect it's more a case that they don't know much about ML, or his source of wealth. League Two: 1 Robbie Williams (Port Vale) £85m 2 David Allen (Chesterfield) £75m

Does anyone know what time the SMS turnstiles open on a match-day these days, if it's a 3.00 KO does it open at 2? If that's the case the dual priorities must be to get some decent ale as well as serving it fairly quickly, as you could you get in more of the fans who currently drink in town, boosting the coffers. After several pints they'll need some food as well!

Top 3 1 Hartlepool (no contest) – Tuesday night in late-November. Legendary. The daddy of away trips. Top work from the fans who went and provided such good vocal backing. Southern softies for once turned up and won. Memorable (or not perhaps for some!) celebrations in All Bar One afterwards. 2 Leyton Orient – Great slosh up in the East End and a storming comeback, shame we didn’t quite bag the win but cracking atmosphere toward the end. 3 Bristol Rovers – Not every away game Saints slam in 5! Good pub before the game – Golden Lion on Gloucester Rd. Honourable mentions for Yeovil, Carlisle & Charlton, all decent days out and injury-time goals always help the journey home. Worst 3 1 Colchester (no contest) – Boring ground in a crap location, no pubs anywhere near. Crap game with the cheating Colchester boys and inevitable defeat. Then almost lost the car in the fog… 2 Swindon – Good support numerically but ****e support vocally, and a dismal performance on the pitch. Should have been quality but turned out to be anything but. Really want us to put one over these inbred Worzels next season, if they don’t go up. 3 Wycombe – Dire game on a substandard rugby pitch. Awful evening. (Dis)honourable mention for Tranmere, which wasn’t the best!

Looks awful! This Edgbaston redevelopment looks a bit better, although looks strange from the outside: http://www.edgbaston.com/venue/ground-development/

Huddersfield & Leeds. Not that bothered, but would like to have the chance to put the record straight with Swindon next season, Millwall and Charlton are good away days.

I would say that depends on whether you want the 4/1, or something a fair bit shorter than 4/1.

Both League 1 and the Championship look pretty soft next season, probably as a result of all the financially stricken clubs floating around. Bit of a shame we can't have a pop at the Championship next season, as Newcastle/Baggies gone and skint/****e clubs coming down like Skates/Burnley/Hull. Having said that I'll gladly enjoy a title romp next season, and possibly a good attempt at promotion first time up in the Championship.

The more you look at those bets, the more they look worth a punt at this stage. No-one coming up or down into L1 should bother Saints too much, and 13/2 Skates relegation is very tempting, who knows what mess they could be in next season. Take a punt at 13/2 before points deductions etc...

36.5-1, if Pompey are 13/2 to go down. (That's with Saints going up as Champions)

That would be embarassing after Sunday, and on a Bank Holiday. Our crowds have, in my opinion, been a little bit disappointing this season (I'm not talking in the context of L1), some good 30k crowds but I'd much rather have 25k every week.

I'd turn the music off by 2.45 at the latest, preferably a damn sight earlier than that or not have it at all. At least give the fans a chance to build an atmosphere. And shut that ***t with the microphone up - Stewart Dennis? No crappy goal jingles, I think they've gone now, not noticed them for a while? (we're not M'boro or some other crappy plastic club FFS)

So I take it everyone is returning to some of the venues mentioned above for the March 20th game? Heard that the stadium is worth a look, although we may be a bit short on numbers a week before Wembley. How long did the road journey home to So'ton take after the evening game?

I'm also interested to know how much Saints / Carlisle stand to make from the day. I know the winners pocket a cheque for £100k. If we can win the JPT, that would be an ideal time to roll out the "March/April Madness" straight afterwards with everyone on a high.

Agree with you 100%, I can't for the life of me work out what all the fuss is about and why 25k seats have to be empty. If needs be, even if Saints/Carlisle were in the same blocks here and there, would it really be the end of the world?

Please, please tell me SWT will be putting on extra football special trains that Sunday morning from So'ton to Waterloo?! With c44,000 Saints travelling to Wembley, anyone care to work out the combined train capacity between So'ton and Waterloo that morning, bearing in mind the 1.30 KO? (shudders thinking about it...)

I remember a survey within the last few years that put Saints-Pompey second on the rivalry list (in GB or UK), behind WBA-Wolves. I suppose it's two towns/conurbations that are close geographically, but distinctive, and have historic rivalries like the E Lancs and E Midlands ones you've mentioned.