Wurzel

This.

Surely that's an advantage when posting on here My first job after leaving school was in a bank. The only customer guaranteed to be greeted by name with a cheery but loud Good morning/afternoon by every cashier was Mr W A N K M O R E

This is exactly what I've been thinking too for a couple of weeks now, and for pretty much the same reasons. And to be fair (although when it comes to them "fair" isn't a word I like to use) it's probably the best option left open too them.

If I break the law and drive too fast I face a fine and points on my licence. If I break the law and murder someone I face a lifetime in prison. So what happens if the country breaks the law, ignores the ECHR and deports him anyway. Can't lock up a whole country. Is there a fine? Will the rest of the EU simply not talk to us anymore? Just do it, sod the consequences.

You totally misunderstand or ignore my point (although i am sure that is no accident ) The Dell held and sold out approx 15K. There was a waiting list for STs but it wasn't very big, possibly around 2k. There were no massive queues for the few general sale tickets available for the majority of games. Why? Because many simply accepted that they couldn't get tickets so didn't even try. SMS built. Suddenly all those that would have liked to go to the odd game at The Dell but didn't try to get tickets could go to pretty much any game they liked. In no time they became regulars and several, by no means all, games sold out (talking PL days obviously). It got to the stage where casual fans found it difficult - not impossible - to get tickets, or were unable to sit with mates/family etc. Bear in mind if a ground is 80% full that's not one big empty section, it's lots of ones and twos dotted around all over the place. Anything showing a regular (not EVERY game) attendance above that level should seriously consider expanding. By making it easier for casual fans to attend and get in the habit of attending you will increase the hardcore regular support. (this is of course on the assumption that you don't continuously play ****, get relegated etc). I don't think anyone thinks we would sell out a 40k+ ground for a league game against Fulham, but there's plenty of games that we would do. Simply building to cater for your smallest likely crowd is no different than building a team on the pitch to simply keep ourselves up but not challenge for anything. As for your point that we don't sell out now in this div, ManUre did not sell out OT every game when they were in Old Div 2 (not even close). Did they stop and think the ground was big enough when they were in the top flight ? No they expanded again and again and again and every time more people came. Has any team not increased their attendance after promotion? Bear in mind most will have played attractive football to be in that position. Its a (sad) fact of life that the PL is a bigger crowd puller than other leagues. I do agree there's nothing worse than seeing empty seats but is there any club that has expanded their ground and not seen an increase in attendance? 3rd post, over and out

Not read whole thread so forgive me if repeating anything. I recall when SMS was built it was budgeted for crowds of 23000. Was this a worst case scenario or was it an attendance figure that was actually expected? Clearly the average was way higher. I also recall that three stands are constructed to make expansion easy. Did the original planning consent include future expansion within certain constraints or would any expansion be subject to new consent? For those that say we'd never fill it, no we wouldn't for every game. But the easier it is to obtain tickets the more habit forming attendance becomes. Crowds pretty much doubled after the move from The Dell to SMS. he Dell used to sell out but the waiting list for tickets certainly wasn't as big as the extra numbers that started turning up once they knew they could get tickets easily .

Which no doubt explains this thread http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?37242-Mega-Store-Taking-the-****.

Can't be too careful

Just came up with same. Thesaurus includes lick for pound, so 100 licks = c licks = clicks = ummmm a noise made by a clicky thing?

I asked several including a similar one, if it reverts to 100% aren't HMRC owed far more than the £2m in his previous answer. Also, in his opinion, why did judge not wind them up 2 years ago when she admitted they were insolvent. And, with what he knows now, would they be better off if they HAD been liquidated back then. Also, is there any possible scenario that could see them not fulfilling this seasons fixtures. All ignored. I think that little episode was a good lesson in reading between the lines, the "overlooked" questions say more than those that were answered

1) Doubt it. 2) No 3) No we DO need 1or 2 4) No 5) Yes but it's politically incorrect and probably illegal (and has nothing to do with tickets) 6) ML Yes, MLT No 7) No HTH

..... Saturday was a game we could afford to lose and ended up with a point. It was a game Pompey *HAD* to get 3 points and they celebrated getting just the one. Who the **** is laughing now?

Nope, I agree with FtF, in a league game scenario anyway. Losing to an injury time winner means you were hanging on for just the one point and lose it. The late equaliser means you had 3 points and suddenly two of them are snatched away. Big difference not only in a league table context but in emotional reaction as well. I've often gone home more disappointed with a late draw than losing a game, as more often than not if we lost it was deserved, letting in late equalisers were normally in games that we should have won. Different for cup matches though. It's then the difference between living to fight another day or going out.

Using the BBC Predictor thingy I had us 10 points clear by the end of the season, and Pompey 15points from safety, although an element of biased may have crept into my predictions :oops:

With a "t" in it ? You must be posh Never really notice our own local accent until I hear it amongst other accents. Then it really stands out. I never realised I had one myself (broad 'Ampshire as it turns out) till first time I had to use a dictaphone in an old office job, and couldn't understand why my brothers voice was coming out of the machine. I guess accents change when we move around as we - often unintentionally - mimic what we hear around us. Listen to a Jan Molby or Dietter Hamman examples. Every time I go to Spain I find myself unintentionally speaking to locals in English but with some weird Manuel from Fawlty Towers accent. One thing that also intrigues me, is there a local "look" as well as sound. I'll never forget after 86 semi, with 2 mates (both local) wandering the Tottenham side roads, 3 scousers approaching from other direction told us, without any other conversation, that we were going the wrong way and our coaches were in the other direction. Wasn't till later we realised we had no colours , weren't speaking at the time, so how did they now? (lack of afros and moustaches not withstanding). Similarly my daughter was with 3 other 19 year old friends in New York recently, was approached in Central Park and asked, more like told, " So you girls are from England". She said there was no way the guy asking could have heard them talking, and they were wearing nothing to indicate UK. Good to see the BBC is using more presenters and newsreaders with regional accents instead of insisting it was trained out of them. Does any other country have so many strong and varying accents in so small a space?

So was the Blitz. And the plague. And when the french invaded and ransacked the city . I fully respect those that lost family members but for me it's not something that has any relevance to the football club. Having said that, hearing 30,000 voices singing Celine Dion's "My heart will go on" would be awesome

Hark now hear Southampton sing As Pompey fade away And we won't fight them any more Cos they won't exist by May

S&S every time. Bare legs acceptable if it's hot weather. Tights should be made illegal.

In today's lunchbox (lovingly prepared by Mrs Wurzel) I find a Penguin bar. The wrapper even says "penguin original". Should have measured it before I ate it, but I would guess it was somewhere between 1/2 to 2/3s the size of the "original" that I remember. Have they got smaller? It seems to be a growing (or shrinking) trend with many chocolate bars, unless of course it's just memory playing tricks and everything seemed bigger when we were younger.

I can remember placing a fiver bet on us winning league. I can remember I got odds of 14/1. What I can't remember is which online bookie I done it with.(result of opening numerous accounts to take advantage of special offers under different addresses/cards/emails) Hopefully there will be lots of frantic attempts at random user name / password combos soon. (How many online bookies are there?, think I have it narrowed down to 5 bookies with probably 8 or 9 accounts between them)

I'm not making a case for or against how we'll do in the PL. But, you are missing one important part of the equation. Rule changes already in place (with hints of more to come) regarding club finances and numbers of foreigners mean spending patterns/ability won't necessarily be the same in the future as they have been for the last 20 years. The playing field will become slightly more level than it has been in recent times.

Yep, can't disagree with that. I'd like to think I come under you're Sharp Intellect category, (not to mention amazing wit and repartee) Any **** taking does tend to be spur of the moment response to situations. But I agree, any pre-meditated ****-taking is indeed no different than bullying. Probably why it doesn't always work when used in the written form. If it's an instant comeback (as it would be verbally) it would probably/hopefully be appreciated as a bit of fun, but sometimes it may not be read until much later by which time the "mood" can be lost. As for genuine deliberate trolls, I am glad Police are getting involved. Just because it's written on the web (and often anonymously) doesn't make it any less offensive, it should be treated as if it was spoken face to face. Anyone hiding behind a keyboard typing things they wouldn't be prepared to say in person are very sad individuals probably in need of help IMO

But those parachute payments are being nibbled away every day. If players are deferring wages then those wages will come under football creditors, so they'll get paid before Chinny gets any of it. How long till even he realises it simply isn't worth the wait and the hassle. Am I right in thinking that it's the administrators decision whether to liquidate or or not (assuming it's not forced on them externally)? And as he's not allowed to incur any extra debt, can't see any way they can extend their finger grip on survival through the close season. Voluntary liquidation announced day after they complete their final fixture is my bet.

True. I spend half my "real" life taking the **** out of friends (and family) It's always done with a smile so they (hopefully) know it's good natured, or totally deadpan, in which case it takes a while to sink in but realisation dawns on their faces eventually. I would be horrified if I actually caused offense. (Cue people who know me coming on with some "now you mention it there was that time...." comments) Online I have often typed out similar comments to those I would say to someone's face then deleted them - having read them it was easy to see how they could be taken in the wrong context, or the reader put the wrong interpretation on them (even with the use of etc). Not denying for a moment there are genuine trolls who can be extremely offensive deliberately but there are times it can be down to simple misunderstandings and/or baldy worded messages.