Alain Perrin

This applies for charges levied on credit card payments - the booking fee is still a valid charge per transaction for the provision of the booking service.

If the money on offer now was around in MLT's day I am sure he'd have gone. I think Matt's loyalty was in part due to him not wanting to move too far from home, rather than inate loyalty to Saints. Some people don't like football but have a god given talent. Is Wayne one of them?

The best way to combat nerves is to jump right back on the horse. I've always thought KD was a better option despite some of the lunatics backing him on limited evidence. However, just because KD is a better option doesn't mean that BB isn't a good back up, or won't develop into a number 1 at some point. Those who have short memories forget that Kelvin Davis was once the "worse keeper to wear a Saints shirt" (remember his attempt to shepherd the ball behind vs. QPR(?)? BB wouldn't be in the squad if he didn't have some quality and one bad day at the office doesn't mean his career is over with us.

Both are better going forward than they are defensively and that results in poor positioning. Danny 'Sorry' Fox attempts the cross field pass too much (and with too little success) for my liking - whilst Harding is more of a sub-20 yd pass player (hence why he works better with Lallana). However, Danny Fox delivers a great cross - far more consistently than Harding - and this is very apparent on corners. Harding's corners are poor, very often failing to clear the first man, or over hit. Ideally I'd like them to be a hybrid.

To quote the great David Attenborough: "Here in the gloom we see the Alpine_Saint in its natural habitat...."

Poor guy. Bad day at the office - pity he can't go home early, but it's not an option. Hang in there for the rest of the 90.

Absolutely agree. Come to think of it we don't have many blacks at SMS either - we should get a good old racist chant going next week when BLACKpool come here. The police are damned if they do, damned if they don't on this and, if you really want someone to blame, blame the fence rattlers - the level of policing is based on cause and effect.

Doubtless we've got to improve iur away form. Doubtless we miss Lambert and Chaplow. But, Saints have always struggled against sides in the bottom 3 (look at last season) whilst winning against more rated opposition. Fix it, but keep the faith.

I propose the original Saintettes (who must now be early 20's) racing around the pitch. First one to knock themselves out wins.

I have zero problem with it. I wouldn't say it bothers me or enhances me - in fact I'm not sure I know what it is at SMS despite having a season ticket (subconsciously I think it might be Blur / Song 2 - but I can't say for certain). In short, get over it, it is no big deal.

Discuss.

Also, in fairness to Suarez. Negro is Spanish for Black so really using that term hasn't got the same weight as when a native English speaker uses it. Interestingly, Poyet is also Spanish for c*ck.

Although I don't agree with the following viewpoint, because I the poppy applies to more than WWI, it is an interesting position ( http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-do-those-who-flaunt-the-poppy-on-their-lapels-know-that-they-mock-the-war-dead-6257416.html ). I think a minutes silence 8 days before is akin to jumping on the bandwagon.

Fabrice Fernandez's no one around him dive impression after one of the Everton? players had taken a tumble. Earnt him a yellow card but very funny.

It's not idiotic, it's simple economics. Saints run a ticket office with a smallish staff that ticksover throughout the year. Some core staff (david luker equivalents, plus a skeleton staff) plus a a number of temps/part timers increased for matchdays etc. Then there are around 50 match events per year which have big peaks of activity. It doesn't make sense for Saints to maintain a full scale telesales operation (and the fixed costs associated with it), so they outsource it. My suggestion was that cost (understimate), £1, which I was told was being 'ripped offed'. My evidence above from a 5 minute google plus the fact I've worked on setting up some smaller scale callcentre contracts (albeit mostly for outbound) says otherwise. I can't provide you with the exact numbers for Saints, or prove if Nasty Nicolas is taking a % from the £2.50 as profit, but I suspect (if they are) it is small. I just think people are being naive if they think that the only costs are a stamp and an envelope. My argument, way back before the three post limit bit me, is that the ticket tax IS clearly for a service received and it is reasonable and fair. (it's fully hypothecated - nice big word for 3 am - unlike the rest of the ticket, which we don't know what goes where, or what extra comes from elsewhere (including ML's legacy)). Either way this thread is talking at cross purposes now!

If you really think £1 is a rip off, I'd like to buy things off you (you clearly don't know what you are talking about) As an example (US, but principles and scale are the same): "We define fully loaded cost-per-call as including direct, indirect, and management labor; benefits, incentive pay, training, recruitment, third-party call center services, correspondence costs, telecommunications, and occupancy. To better understand the cost per call, we reviewed our proprietary benchmarking database, looking at 18 large companies with call volumes ranging from 900,000 to more than 9 million calls annually. * Here are the findings: The direct labor cost ranges from $1.11 to $3.29 for a 3-to-4–minute direct consumer call. * When we add in indirect labor, the cost-per-call increases to a range of $1.39 to $4.75 per call. * When we add in occupancy, benefits, and telecommunications, the fully loaded costs range between $2.70 to $5.60 per call" " "

OK. - An online system of dubious quality (incidentally you pay £5 for this forum and don't even get a ticket!) - An outsourced agency at c. £1 per call to answer the phones / internal staff (hourly rate) to man lower volume / away sales. - Internal resources to print, envelope and dispatch. - A proportional increase of 2.5% surcharge for credit card purchases (no cash option over the phone) - +P&P 50p (stamp, envelope) Other than that, it's a rip off. I don't get the obsession. The 'ticket tax' is the most transparent part of the ticket price, you pay it on a service you are receiving - once per transaction, not once per ticket. I have no clue how much of the ticket goes to Rickie Lambert's wages or biscuits in the boardroom. As for the Coach tickets, unless you ordered that by the power of thought, most of the costs, bar the 30p stamp will still apply.

Stop shaking fences? HTH

Dear Mr Cortese, Please put the price of each ticket up by £3 next season and kill the ticket 'tax'. That way everyone can have the satisfaction of not knowing they're contributing to the operating costs and there's the off chance Dune will STFU. Kind regards, Alain

Reading this thread somehow makes me feel intellectually superior.....

It's faeces FFS - the one thing I cannot stand is **** spelling.

I don't get this. We've only played two of the top 6, beating 1 (Leeds) and drawing today.

I think that Poyet would be a good call to replace him at Spurs if it did happen.

True, but as a chanted retort this is rubbish.

All of this is handbags being played out in the media or twitter. It doesn't matter how offensive the comment is, it is the fact that they're making them that is the problem. They should either sort it out or STFU. Cortese has a principle 'i.e. if I pay for my ticket, so should everyone else' - and personally (being an 'ordinary' fan) it's one I agree with. If you apply the spirit of that principle to other things (i.e. no favours be that freebies, preferential ordering etc.) then Matt and LM have fallen foul of it and that (in the past) has rankled them and they've been to the press (quite what they expected to achieve through that I don't know). Unless we expect that principle to be changed (which, given NC's single mindedness on other issues, ain't going to happen), the best for ALL concerned is to keep quiet / no comment.