trousers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10695037

I thought you were describing MLT there for a minute....! ;-)

Eric isn't going to be a happy bunny about us starting his "Is this the first....." thread before the player is signed....

Hmmm, yep, just watched that and it does pretty much confirm that it's not the first team going to Farnborough....which sort of contradicts that OS article I quoted above whereby Pardew (i.e. the first team manager) suggested that 'they' (i.e. the squad that came back from Interlaken) needed to start winning at Farnborough. Hey ho. We shall see.

Excuse my ignorance (just this once!), but what/where is the "Weekly Round-Up"? Cheers edit: ignore me - found it - it's Saints Player http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2096834,00.html

Devil's advocate alert..... What triggered him to buy the season tickets the first time around? (i.e. before he was a 'regular customer').

Farnborough look to be in a spot of financial difficulty..... http://www.farnboroughfans.co.uk/forum.mpl I knew they'd run out of money for the new stand they are halfway through building but sounds like things are running deeper than that (e.g. players being paid late, laying off their commercial manager, etc) Hope they get a good gate tomorrow to help tide them over.

Pardew dropped a strong hint on Sunday that it would be the next match for the squad that went to Interlaken:

http://www.farnboroughfc.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40&Itemid=126

So, who's going to the Farnborough game tomorrow? I should be there. Will probably pop into the onsite social club (The Dugout) before the game for a pint or two. It was open to home and away fans at the same fixture this time last year. Unlike last year, it looks pretty certain that we'll forward a strong team this time.

Talk of him going back to Ajax on here.... http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=558&fid=516&act=1&mid=2120881029 Ajax vs Saints....hmmm, tough one.... :-) Preston also interested....? http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=558&fid=516&sty=2&act=1&mid=2120895847

I can feel a new thread title in my water.... "Is this the first ever Saints player with an umlaut in his name?" (Daniël de Ridder)

Please can we have a rumour about someone I've actually heard of? Please? (In addition to Michael Owen and Rudi Skacel of course)

Doesn't it depend how one analyses the reasons why these outsourcing "failed" though? In other words, did they fail inspite of strong internal NHS management and stringent procurement processes OR did they fail (in part) because of weak internal NHS management and flimsy procurement processes? The amount of time I hear my NHS employee relatives decrying the poor service they are getting from some of the outsourced services I say to them: "why doesn't someone activate the penalty clauses that would (surely) have been inserted into the contracts and haul them over the coals for the poor service?" to which the reply usually is that the contracts don't allow for such punitive action and give the upper hand to the supplier/contractor all the time. So, yes, the outsourcing hasn't worked in places, but the reason for that isn't always simply a result of the fact it was outsourced per se, it can often be that it wasn't outsourced properley by the people running the system from within. It would be a bit like me employing a nanny to look after my children and then blaming him/her after five years if my children turn out to be badly behaved as a result. No, that's my fault for employing a duff nanny in the first place and not putting in enough checks and balances to make sure she's doing her job properly.

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None of us can agree with nor dispute that as we don't have a copy of the revenue forecast spreadsheet/graph of projected season ticket sales vs projected PAYG sales that Cortese is basing his business model on. His maths MUST be based on season ticket sales not taking off too much otherwise we'd have seen a late-ish sales drive over the last week or so to drive up numbers. If the bean counters are happy with the forecast vs sales graph then that means we have a financially stable club. Not as 'sexy' as having "as many season ticket holders as Norwich" but then achieving financial stability was never going to be a very thrilling ride (off the pitch)

Stop talking sense man! It's very disconcerting on here :-)

For Cortese, yes, it is a success because he sees the club being more self sufficient if there is a balance between number of season ticket holders and number of PAYGs.

Actual people attending or the 'official' figures that include season ticket holders who didn't show up? Given it's cheaper for people who attend on a regular basis to buy a season ticket (even more so this year) I'm sure there will be plenty who won't turn up to every game, especially the unglamourous midweek ones. Gosh. I'm defending Stu! ;-)

Word of warming to anyone travelilng to this game. Farnborough area was still very busy yesterday evening at 7pm due to airshow traffic so "allow extra time for your journey" etc (Airshow taking place all this week) You might be better off coming up/down early and supping a few beers whilst watching the air display (c2pm to c.5pm)

Does the labia turn into the foreskin?

Depends how strong the signal is on your area. If it's a strong signal then you may get away with an indoor aerial, which you can buy with a booster if needs be.

Having the muscle power to drive down costs is one thing, having the 'private company' mentality and hard-nosed business minded management to actually carry it out is another. Take my local primary school. They had the 'weight' of Hampshire County Council behind them when going out to tender for the building of a new wing of the school. When I heard how much they ended up paying for certain aspects of the project I was gobsmacked at the costs. It can often work the other way. Builders and drug companies can (to all intents and purposes) collude on their pricing structures for publicly run organisations because they know that they are dealing with a cash cow and (more often than not) procurement people who don't typically have a hard-nosed business background. I'm generalising a tad there I know but from the anecdotal evidence I've seen both in the education and heath sector this 'bargaining power' isn't exploited as effectively as, say, Tesco does with it's suppliers. What is the mark-up on the average drug supplied by a drug company to the NHS? This would reveal how successful they are at influencing prices.

Yep, agree. Realised that a long time ago. And with the football finance bubble about to burst we will be one of the best placed clubs to ride the destructive wave of fallout that will follow. IMHO of course