trousers

Maybe it's that very popularity of the resort that has been the hold up? What if SFC were one of many clubs that expressed an interest in booking the resort several months ago and got engaged in a bidding war up until recently? So maybe, just maybe, things have only just been signed on the dotted line with the venue after a drawn out tender process? Two sides to every conspiracy theory....

...

Woohoo.....Farnborough on the 21st July.....another chance for me to see the Pulis lad at close quarters. I also note that the Farnborough game comes 4 days after the Swiss training camp end date so perhaps some of the first team may be involved in that game too if any of them need a bit more match practice. Or perhaps if any new signings are made during the training camp period....

Hmmm....posted the above on 11th June and the news page in question seems to have disappeared.....I make the "within two weeks" date last Friday at the latest. That should keep us conspiracy theorists going for a few more posts.... :-)

I'm on a roll at the moment.... :-)

To be honest, I have no idea. I'm simply reading between the lines. Cortese's actions suggest that there were some 'cost vs revenue' gaps that needed closing to run the day-to-day business side of the club (i.e. the non-Liebherr funded part) to break-even or profit levels.

It depends how you look at it. If the club have been charging you less for the space than it cost them to service then you have been saving £x year on year. OK, you didn't know it at the time so on the surface it looks like a massive price hike but it's not a massive hike if you subtract the 'less than cost' discount price you have been paying up to now. But, once again, it all comes down to communication. If you'd been told in 2002 that the price you were paying for your parking was heavily discounted and cost the club money and that they reserved the right to re-allign the price to 'cost or above' at some point in the future then you'd have been in the picture. So, it's not surprising that someone wanting to run the club on a 'at cost or above' basis has decided to remove this loss making anomally but I accept it's a little disappointing in the general scheme of things that people have been kept in the dark about the true cost over the years.

Me? Articulate? There's a first time for everything!! :-)

Hands up those who would rather see the club run on an unsustainable budget again. edit: but, yes, communication could be better (thought I'd better get that caveat in quick....)

Tend to agree with that. A simple "no pain, no gain" news bulletin from Cortese would close down c.37 threads on here at a shot. I'm guessing that Cortese comes from the school of business thought which says that 'strong management = autonomy not inclusivity'. However, as several people have indicated before, most Saints fans I speak to that don't frequent internet message boards and the like don't hang on every snippent of news coming out of SMS and thus do not share the same level of angst that some regular 'onliners' do. In the same way that I like going to the cinema but when I pitch up to watch a film I have no idea what online debates there have been about the price of a cinema ticket being hiked to 10% (or whatever) more than last year and that it now costs me £2 to park in the multi-story car park compared to £1 last year. I simply turn up, pay the price, watch the film and come back again a couple of weeks later if I felt I got value for money and good entertainment.

Cortese said from 'Day 1' that the club would now be run on a self-sustaining basis. It seems obvious to me that he's discovered (or had it re-inforced) that last season's income did not cover last season's costs so he is having to find ways of either increasing the income streams or reducing costs or a combination of the two. Perhaps if people are unhappy with the income streams he has chosen to maximise (e.g. ticket "tax", car parking, potential hike in concourse refreshment costs) what other revenue streams or cost bases would they choose to focus on instead? It's all very easy to criticise cost cutting and price rises but it's less easy to come up with alternative ways of making an organisation self-sustaining (in good times and bad).

Likewise. Is that your Roller that I usually park my Aston next to?

Yes, I entirely agree. They could (and some say 'should') have marketed season tickets much better. I think 99% of people agree with you there. I believe where the 'disagreement' comes into play is that some (the majority perhaps?) of the Saints fan base don't see it as a significant issue whereas some see it as more significant than others. For me, the jury's out. This could either be the thin end of a ruthless business wedge from Cortese in a dogmatic push for top flight football as soon as possible - and at all costs - or it could simply be misguided incompetence. All I'm suggesting is that we won't definitively know which scenario is correct until 2 or 3 years down the line. So, yep, most people are in wild agreement that the way Cortese has approached season ticket sales has not showed much loyalty and understanding to existing season ticket holders (and, yes, that MAY come back to haunt him) but I don't think that is where the debate actually lies. The debate lies in the future consequences, not in the fact that it has happened.

Sir, if i may say so, your optimism is both admiral and foolhardy! :-)

We won't know the answer to that until we see what the number of season tickets sold at the start of the season. You could well be correct.

You sir, are very astute :-)

Call me an ignorant old fool, but I've never heard of this French team before now!

Perhaps it's time to resurrect one of my bizzare conspiracy theories from the past....the one about Cortese and Liebherr perhaps not being what they seemed on the surface 12 months ago...or perhaps not...

Not sure I can provide a link to my perception, observation and opinion... ;-)

Jonathan Ross

Contrary to popular belief, decisions based on technology actually speed the overall game up rather than slow it down. As we've seen in tennis, there are no more long drawn out disputes about line calls. The players accept the judgement of hawkeye and move on. The one and only reason Blatter oppose ls it is because he's a power hungry control freak. People on his position will always go against the grain because they want to show the world how powerful they are.

Yet another shrewd business move by Cortese: Never pay a builder up front. Matt Albright would be proud ;-)

I wonder if that spoof NAMG website is still up and running...?

Cheers for the reply. My hunch was Coppell. I wonder how close the date of Coppell joining Bristol City (22nd April) was to the date that Cortese convinced himself to retain Pardew....?

I've visited the McClaren Vale region in 1981 and 1985. True story.