Matthew Le God

Says the man that continuingly brings up my researching for Football Manager in a bizarre attempt to belittle me? You have never explained why Cortese talks about expansion being very much part of their Liebherr plan in press interviews and at the fans dinners? Just like spending £15m on the training ground and category one academy was. Cortese is not a man of hollow words and backs up his ambitions with results and resources. I think you are going to have to eat humble pie relatively soon.

The BBC and Sky will each show a game.

Sunderland moved to a 42,000 stadium when at the time it was announced they only had... - 10,000 season ticket holders - averages gates of 16,000 - second tier of English football Saints are currently... - 16,000 season ticket holders - 26,000 average gates - second tier of English football Before you go to your normal response of "were aren't Sunderland", look at the post of yours I just quoted, you are very general in it talking about what is the "be all and end all" for football clubs (not just Southampton). You contradict yourself!

It is all relative, hard for teams to have a Jimmy Case type of player in the modern game.

He is out of contract in the summer, it is likely to go to a tribunal due to his age. So they aren't strictly "selling" him.

Just challenging what seems to be a commonly held view that Schneidelin is some kind of French pansy that doesn't tackle anyone and just likes to spray 40 yard passes. Schneiderlin is by far the best defensive tough tackling midfielder we have.

I'm guessing you are referring to Schneiderlin as the "quality on the ball" and Hammond as the "tough tackler". Schneiderlin is Southampton's defensive midfielder, he is often deployed just in front of Hooiveld and Fonte and is a very good tackler and then sets Saints going with his range of passing. As Adkins said yesterday, he will be a top Premier League player.

Expanding the stadium will help Cortese achieve other components in the overall plan, they are interconnected and isn't a simple matter of doing one then moving on to another. Just like the spending of £15m on Staplewood will help other areas of the club i.e. recruitment of players at first team and youth level.

I answered all of your points in posts #103, #110 and #120 In those posts I asked you a number of questions which you still are yet to answer. It really isn't that hard to break down posts into quotations like I did in #103, #110 and #120. Would be interesting to see you reply to all of them.

Would be a lot easier if you answered my replies point by point like I do in quotations! Listen to the interview. What evidence did Rupert Lowe have when we were at the Dell? That it was selling out each game? Well that is what we had at St Mary's between 2001 and 2005. It is also what we will have in 2012/13. Heck, we even have in the Championship, our last 4 games of the season have been soldout. That is a very naive way to look at it. The phrase you used was "We have a much lesser catchment area than most other clubs". Putting aside for a moment the poor English, you still haven't even come close to justifying that statement yet.

Dragon's Den is the real world. Yes it a TV show, but they are still venture capitalists doing real deals and all venture capitalists would look at how rivals in the market are doing. Looking at Wolves, Reading etc makes very good business sense. I used Dragon's Den as a reference because people would be familiar with it, it is still relevant. Do we? Justify such a statement. Why is it not equally "pie in the sky" to say Saints couldn't average 40k? Against sides similar to those you list Southampton have sold out before. If you can sell out that means there will be people left disappointed. Saints sold out in those games with Rupert Lowe as chairman not investing in the team. No they didn't. That £33m was the total figure of investment by the Liebherr's from 2009 to 2011. It includes the cost of buying the club and everything else the Liebherr's spent. Have you listened to the interview with the financial officer at the club? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17547804 I suggest that you do listen to it as you appear confused by the £33m. 50% of that money has gone on things that will increase future revenue, some of the rest has gone on things that are assets that have increased in value. The £33m is an investment, an investment that should Saints be promoted in the next 10 days will be a massive bargain.

Why is it meaningless? Have you ever seen an episode of Dragon's Den? On numerous occasions they question what the competitors to the contestant's businesses are doing. It is entirely relevant for Saints to look at examples of expansions at other clubs to gage how it might work for them. Isn't it? Given enough time it would be, plus it raises the profile of the club, helps attract sponsors, players, fans and other revenue streams. Also it adds to the value of the company. St Mary's was originally funded by a mortgage and the chairman at the time put very little if any money into the club himself. Cortese/Liebherr don't do debt, the club is debt free and things are paid for outright. Did we not need a £15m expansion of Staplewood and category one status? That was announced whilst Saints were in League One, being constructed whilst in the Championship and not funded by debt. Explain why Cortese contradicts you then? Have you listened to the BBC interview I linked to earlier? (listen from 36:00) http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/8565914.stm Have you heard the feedback from the fans dinners?

That game was a home end sellout, the empty seats were in the Bolton end. How do you know they wouldn't have sold 40k? Plus that was in a season where Saints were terrible and were relegated so hardly an attractive proposition to watch. If Cortese establishes Saints as a top half side again more will want to come. If 30k turn up to watch a poor Saints side soon to be relegated against an unglamorous side like Bolton, more than 30k will come if Saints had some decent players to entertain the "plastic" fans.

You have taken that completely out of the context it was written in. I was replying to someone that brought up away attendances.

See my point re the Bolton game you used as an example.

Has the game kickoff already? Still time to sell them, in any case yes we might be promoted, but it is still in Middlesbrough and live on TV so even if 3,000 go that is a good turnout. Saints took 5,800 to Palace and 3,400 to Peterborough in the last two away matches. The last three home games in the second tier have seen 30k, 31k and 31k. Not many English clubs could do that. The last time Saints played Bolton in a league game was in 2004/05 when Saints finished 20th and were relegated. It was a sellout in the home end (not the away end), with a total attendance of 30,713. Imagine now if Saints had some decent players rather than the dross we had that season.

I think this sums it up very well.

Not my words though are they? They are the words of the chairman of the club we both support. Does Cortese have a history of high ambition and no resources to match them? No, the club are currently building a £15 million training ground and category 1 academy facility that wouldn't look out of place at a Champions League club. That development was announced whilst Saints were still in League One. Cortese isn't doing all of this to merely hang about in the bottom half/mid table of the Premier League. He would downsize what is going on at Staplewood if that were the case, and he certainly wouldn't say a stadium relocation was possible, he'd just rule it out straight away.

Based on? Saints when finishing 20th in the Premier League and relegated in 2005 averaged 30,610. Hardly an attractive proposition to watch, yet the stadium sold out most weeks. If the side was actually any good more would come. Rupert Lowe didn't invest, Cortese/Liebherr's are.

What do you make of post #65? Please don't make this personal with petty insults like you normally do when we normally discuss this.

"I wouldn't exclude the possibility we would build a complete new stadium somewhere else" - words of Nicola Cortese Interview on 13th March 2010, from 36:00 Cortese is asked about the stadium... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/8565914.stm For him to say that, they clearly have HUGE plans for Saints, be it expanding St Mary's or building a new stadium at a huge cost. A new stadium would have to be a lot bigger than 32k to justify moving. A number of Saints fans are underestimating just what the Liebherr/Cortese plan is for this club.

Sounds like a good enough reason to justify moving tomorrow!

Unlikely any kids from Portsmouth itself, but the border areas may be able to be "converted".

Wolves have built an entirely new 7,700 seater stand from scratch this year for £18m. http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2012/04/14/gold-seats-for-stan-cullis-stand/ Saints would be adding a tier on an existing stand.

That Barnet want to expand or moved recently like lots of lower league clubs have recently. Torquay, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Morecambe etc etc I used Reading because they, like Saints have had a good Championship season and both are likely to be playing each other in the Premier League next year. Whilst in the same league this season Saints average 7,000 more than Reading, yet Reading want to expand to 38,000. You admit yourself... I can see it being announced relatively soon. The club in League One announced a training ground that wouldn't look out of place at a Champions League club, I don't see why they will need to see if Saints stay up in 2012/13, they will crack on with improving infrastructure as it will give long term benefits that surpass short term promotion and relegation. In the same way Wolves have said they are improving Molineux regardless of relegation, it will benefit the club in the long term to have the infrastructure in place.