Matthew Le God

Again, read post #16

See post #16

Lambert was in training on Thursday. Exhibit A... Why would he be training on Thursday with the rest of the squad in preparation for the Blackpool game, if he knew he was about to have an operation on Friday that would put him out for the rest of the season? He wouldn't risk causing more damage by training before an operation. They flew to Manchester airport on Friday and then got the coach from the airport to their hotel.

A family consortium...

It really wasn't that long ago! In fact it was our last televised match. Leeds United 0-1 Southampton 3rd March 2012 live on Sky

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-past/pompey-fans-launch-bid-to-buy-the-club-1-3682739 They struggle to convince more than 12,000 to part with £30 each game and want 5,000 Pompey fans to part with £1,000! Good luck with that!

"Turning"?

Have you forgotten the article on the OS about the "Southampton Way"? There is also a large billboard about the development using the phrase at Staplewood.

Wayne is starting to irritate me now. He thinks any new owner will pay for the training ground! What if his article about a tiny £25m deal doesn't happen, who pays for the training ground then? https://twitter.com/#!/wayneveysey

The stadium is going to be packed... http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10432~2698705,00.html

I think I can now put a very good case together for it to the head of English research for FM13. Which of Background/Foreground/Underwriter is the real decision to be made.

That is still cheap for a Championship club of this size (and the assets it holds), let alone a Premier League club (which it could be in under a month's time).

As I said earlier... They were building the new stand into this season. That reduced the capacity temporarily which will have a knock on to the average attendance. It will be a mixture of raising both ticket sales and the other revenue streams you listed, which is what Saints would also look to do. They could be better, and people have suggested the corporate facilities will receive an overhaul at St Mary's on a return to the top flight. The Markus Liebherr suite has already been built for a start. Saints also averaged 30k+ in a 32k stadium in all four seasons in the top flight at St Mary's. A large number of games sold out in advance of match-day and the club even averaged over 30k in 2004/05 when it finished 20th and was relegated. In 2011/12 only 10 English teams average more than 30,000. If Saints are in the Premier League in 2012/13 they will be added to that list for that season.

Molineux isn't a "crumbling 1950's stadium". It was rebuilt entirely between 1991 and 1993 after the Taylor report about the Hillsborough disaster. It is therefore only 8 to 10 years older than St Mary's. They were building the new stand into this season. That reduced the capacity temporarily which will have a knock on to the average attendance.

Wolves are making Molineux bigger by knocking down 3 stands one by one and starting again for a lot less than that. They have nearly finished one stand at a cost of £15m. All three stands will cost £50m in total and take capacity to 38,000. If they do the fourth stand it takes them to 50,000. http://www.molineuxpride.co.uk/

It does actually require quite substantive infrastructure, yes Saints have gone above and beyond what is needed for category one status but does that matter if the owners can afford it? It is only a problem if they can't, and what evidence is there of that? Plus in any case all Saints have to do is create one more Bale/Chamberlain/Walcott and that makes any investment in the training ground pay for itself. If you aren't category one, it will be nigh on impossible to attract top youth players to your club as they have first pick of the younger kids. It also has benefits in attracting and improving players for the first team. It really will prove to be a sound long term investment. You are right, there won't be many. I have a copy of the EPPP document, it will be very hard and expensive for clubs to meet. Saints will be one of a select few. As of last summer only Southampton, Man City and Chelsea were in line to get category one status. Which shows it is just going where the money is. I suspect Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs and perhaps a few others may get it, but it won't be many.

What did you mean?

EPPP doesn't start until the 2012/13 season. So at the moment no academy in the country has a category.

Who is it then?

With EPPP coming in 2012/13, clubs will have to spend on infrastructure in order to be a category one academy. Being a category one academy will give Saints huge advantages over non category one clubs in terms of attracting players to the club. They simply can't stand still with EPPP coming in, if they did the academy would struggle to compete and would be restricted to older players than a category one academy would be.

Even if this were true, the club is extremely attractive for investment. Even more so than when Liebherr bought it. - It is on the verge of promotion to the richest, most high profile league in the world - Is currently building a state of the art training ground - One of the best academies in England - Jackson's farm - Strong playing squad - Large modern stadium - Large matchgoing fanbase - As far as we know, no notable external debts - etc etc Compare that to what Trevor Birch is trying to sell at Portsmouth to investors... If anyone in the world was looking to buy a football club, Southampton would feature quite high on a list of investment opportunities. The day the Liebherr's sell, it won't be to "no-one", it will be to someone that has met the asking price. In any case I find it hard to believe given what Cortese has said publicly.

That is the side of the "argument" I have taken the whole time. Yes, Cortese should be open to criticism, and I will do if I feel it is justified. However I have seen little in the nearly 3 years they have been here to be critical of apart from a few relatively small issues in the grand scheme of things. This really does seem to be a golden era in the clubs 126 year history and one we should all enjoy.

A key factor as you hint at is top flight status. That will make a difference and help the club keep hold of its academy products longer. Bale, Walcott and Chamberlain all left Saints whilst still teenagers and not able to play top flight games for Saints. Other middle sized Premier League clubs are at least able to stop the really big Premier League clubs buying players until they are at least in their early to mid 20's rather than teenagers.

It was announced long before Chamberlain was sold. It was actually first announced in late 2009 before Chamberlain even made his debut. Cortese has stated that even before Markus Liebherr bought the club the intention was to redevelop Staplewood.

Given Cortese's record of buying players from clubs in financial difficulties I think he is unlikely to be "fleeced". Fonte from Palace, Barnard from Southend, Richardson from Charlton, Stephens from Plymouth etc etc. Looking at the improved plans on the New Forest website, along with the additional ones submitted last month and still awaiting approval for the academy, Staplewood is going to be up their with the very best in the Premier League in terms of facilities. It is little wonder it is going to cost £15m given the costs of lesser training facilities at other clubs. In any case does it matter to any Saints fan that it costs £15m if it doesn't burden the club with unsustainable debt? Spending on infrastructure is key to building a long term business and has many benefits as I have already outlined that will create revenue. You again attempted to belittle me in post #67, and have been shown to be very wrong. I can only see this trend continuing if you maintain your view the club shouldn't and/or won't improve St Mary's.