Matthew Le God

Reading struggle to sellout a 24k stadium in the Premier League, Saints average over 30k and sellout a 32k stadium doe a number of games.

A planning application in next 18 months if we remain in the Premier League, possibly even at the end of this season if we stay up.

Like you, I don't know. But i wouldn't be so quick to rule it out being relatively soon as you and others are. I get the impression Cortese doesn't like waiting around for too long and wants quick progression. He is selling the club to player that we will be competing for Europe next season, perhaps on the face of it very ambitious, but that is the man at the helm. This is possibly the most exciting time ever to be a Saints fans, sit back and enjoy the ride rather than attacking me, even if you think I'm delusional.

So you think Saints might from 2015 onwards? Do you think an application might go in during the next two seasons?

Not sure why I need to respond, you listed fewer games than Saints have/will sold out this season during a relegation fight.

I don't know if you noticed but I was far from definite in that post, I was merely stating when the club couldn't do construction work and used the word "perhaps" for when it could. If you hadn't noticed, 2014 hasn't ended yet either.

You seem to assume if said "soon", I meant weeks or months. As we now have another set of more detailed images, does that not suggest something has moved forward since the season ticket DVD?

Why are you even asking that? You know full well I don't know. I wouldn't underestimate Cortese's drive to progress the club as quick as he can though, once survival this season is obtained I think we may see something more on this.

As I said, they don't own their stadium, nor have access to the matchday revenue. Saints do.

I don't know if you noticed but Coventry don't own their stadium, nor to they have access to the matchday revenue. Not the best example Mr Turkish!

I won't be by the end of the season the average is going up, we have Liverpool and Chelsea sold out. Stoke on the final day will sell out, then you have West Ham that will sell well. Even the West Brom game should sell reasonably well. To average over 30,000 in a relegation fight is impressive and shows that the stadium is too small. If we can average over 30k in a relegation season, a half decent season would require a bigger stadium. Every sell out we've had this season means the club has turned customers away.

The two go hand in hand, a stadium development would help us be a successful team and a successful team will help fill a stadium development. Sometimes you just have to take that leap... A stadium development is a long term investment and would benefit the club for the long term. Look at Newcastle, they expanded their stadium and can fill it whilst in the Premier League, they were relegated but still needed a larger stadium as in the long term it was likely they'd return to the top flight. A development of St Mary's would benefit Saints for 30+ years. If we went down in that time, we'd stand a good chance of coming back up and long term infrastructure shouldn't be solely decided on the short term position in the league pyramid.

As I keep saying, the capacity increase is merely one part of the development as can clearly be seen from the images. In a world of FFP, the club need to increase revenue streams.

Have you noticed it isn't merely a capacity increase, far more to it than that which will benefit revenue streams. My reference to the training ground is that unlike Pompey, Cortese/Liebherr have a history of seeing through building projects. I doubt they are the type that put time money and effort into pipe dreams. Cortese means business.

I don't represent you, so why do you care? We merely (probably by fluke of birth) follow the same 11 men running about a pitch chasing a ball.

If you sell out your stadium out when in a relegation fight and have ambitions of competing much higher up the league, then yes, it is too small.

Did you say the same of the training ground plans when we were in League One?

Well something has progressed, as the designs for the stadium have changed since the summer, the renders are far more detailed and we can now see what they have in mind for the surrounding area with what looks like it might be a hotel and retail, offices, apartments.

We are playing in a packed out stadium whilst in a relegation battle, Cortese has ambitions and it seems resources for Saints not to be in a relegation battle. Therefore the stadium is too small. What exactly would he now be waiting for? He can already see that Saints will fill St Mary's when in a relegation battle, if the club was actually doing well he'll need his bigger stadium. The surrounding development is also largely independent of what league we are in and will add to revenue streams.

Does Cortese really strike you as the sort to wait 5 years? Plus as I keep saying, this is far more than a mere capacity increase, the surrounding area is being developed to increase revenue streams.

Have you plucked that 50/50 figure out of thin air? Cortese just doesn't strike me as the sort to commission AFL to design a stadium development without the intent and knowledge he has the resources to see the project through. Staplewood will be up their with some of the best in the country, Cortese put that through planning whilst in the 3rd tier, construction started whilst in the 2nd tier. Saints are currently averaging over 30k whilst in a relegation fight, and are selling out a lot of games, if we actually had good season 32k simply wouldn't be big enough. Even this season Saints are turning away customers due to not being able to meet demand as capacity restricts them. In any case this isn't solely about an increase in capacity, as you can see from the images the club are looking to increase revenues by developing the surrounding area. All will come in useful under FFP regulations.

The training ground planning application went in when Saints were in League One, construction started when in the Championship and will be finished this summer. Saints didn't need a training ground like they will have in League One or the Championship. These plans for the stadium are for the long term benefit of the club and more than just adding capacity to the stadium, they are about increasing revenue streams for the club in other areas. Unlike Pompey owners of the past decade, Cortese/Liebherr have a strong record of delivering on their projects. I doubt this is a pipe dream and think Cortese has every intention of seeing it through.

Look at the second image of the originals and compare with the first image of the new ones I posted. The stadium facade looks very different. We also didn't see any of the hotel, apartments, retail, offices etc in the old images.

Some changes have been made to the design, the new ones are far more detailed and for the first time we see images of the development around the stadium which looks to be hotel, retail, offices, apartments etc to raise revenue streams. The original images... The new images...

You are allowed one "overage" goalkeeper and three "overage" outfield players. So up to 4 in total.