Matthew Le God

Why didn't you ask him on what he based such a statement?

See post #1116 See post #1125 That has been apparent for some considerable time.

Read the last sentence of my post you quoted. See post #1126

I see you like bringing that up, highlights that you didn't understand my point. I used Bolton as an example of a less glamorous Premier League opponent and Man Utd as an example of a glamorous one. I could have picked a number of other teams as examples for both of them. Saints sold out games against those at the top and bottom whilst in the Premier League, they did so whether they were in mid-table between 2001 and 2004 OR whilst being relegated in 2004/05.

You seem to be under the impression that expansion of a stadium can be done at the flick of a switch. Look how long it took for the training ground to go from public announcement (things were going on months before that) to main construction starting - it was over a year and a half. A stadium expansion will take longer to both design, get through planning permission and public consultation. Of course it isn't happening this summer, doesn't mean it couldn't in summer of 2013 or 2014 once everything is sorted. We have no idea what is going on behind closed doors now promotion has been confirmed. As I said earlier, which you overlooked... "Cortese may well have been confident of promotion earlier this season, but the council aren't going to agree to expansion plans that aren't potentially needed for years to come. The club is now ahead of schedule and can now if it chooses use its promotion to justify to the council that its plans have merit".

Read post #1116 for a 3rd time.

Read post #1116 again. We have no idea what the club is doing behind closed doors at the moment now that promotion has been confirmed.

If it bothers you so much, put me on "ignore".

As I said... "Have you considered the design stage with architects and planning permission and consultation with the council for a stadium expansion or relocation takes a great deal of time and Saints were promoted to the Premier League earlier than Liebherr/Cortese thought they would be?" Cortese may well have been confident of promotion earlier this season, but the council aren't going to agree to expansion plans that aren't potentially needed for years to come. The club is now ahead of schedule and can now if it chooses use its promotion to justify to the council that its plans have merit.

Aren't statistics exactly what stadium expansion or relocation decisions should be based on? Are you a taxi driver? "You can prove anyone with facts"... [video=youtube;4n-UGQcG3Jw] As for your comments on autism, maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But why does that matter? You use it in a seemingly derogatory way.

Read my first sentence.

Have you considered the design stage with architects and planning permission and consultation with the council for a stadium expansion or relocation takes a great deal of time and Saints were promoted to the Premier League earlier than Liebherr/Cortese thought they would be? Talking of "builders in right now" as you asked, have you seen what is happening at Staplewood? As a League One club Cortese revealed a Champions League quality training facility and academy, that is easier and quicker to get through than a stadium capacity increase or relocation. Why do you think Cortese went for such a high quality and expensive training ground and academy costing £15 million if he doesn't have ambition of a very high level for Saints? Could he not have settled for a mid table run of the mill training ground and academy?

Even if they do get the extra people they need and then all of them to actually part with the additional £900, a fans trust ownership of Pompey would be a complete disaster. They would have little in the way of capital to fund the club for the coming season, likely to be infighting on a huge scale between the fanbase on the direction to take etc etc. The alternatives to that are Chainrai taking over again and throwing even more good money after bad in a futile attempt to get his loan back. Or liquidation and starting a non league club.

This isn't helping your case...

In regards to this whole debate re the stadium. I'm not really going to be wrong unless I put a timeframe on it. CB Fry, Turkish, Sour Mash etc will be wrong as soon as the club announces an expansion or relocation and if the fanbase fills it well. Those against my viewpoint, should the day come and the club make such an announcement what do you think you will say? I'm guessing you will wait for the first home game and subsequent ones, ready to pounce as soon as there is a poor turnout. Am I right? Given Cortese has talked about expansion plans and his high ambitions on numerous occasions both in the press and according to those that claim to have gone to fans dinners, I think it is relatively safe to say Cortese isn't planning to sit back and let other clubs expand beyond Saints. In the same way as a League One club Cortese announced plans for a £15 million Champions League quality training ground and category 1 academy. These aren't the actions of a chairman content with Saints doing as they did under Rupert Lowe and bore along in Premier League mid table.

Wow, this is hard work! Note how I'm not resorting to petty insults like you do though.

He has been reading this...

Not made up by me though. Made up by people running our football club, doing what we are doing at the moment... i.e. trying to predict how big to make Southampton's stadium. Do you agree that with their plans of a 25,000 stadium they got it wrong? The were wrong to such an extent that Saints in the Championship average higher than that capacity, let alone Saints in the Premier League. Could it not also be conceivable that they also got it wrong with a 32,600 seater stadium? They were wrong once, why not twice? Averaging over 30k every season in the Premier League including the relegation year to me suggests they got it wrong for the second time!

- The stadium is not "made up", the club had planned for a 25,000 stadium at Stoneham. I didn't make up the stadium, the club ran with the plans for a period, St Mary's has shown they underestimated the fanbase at first and even with St Mary's, still have underestimated what is needed (as you have aswell). - The attendance is "made up" out of thin air, Saints have shown this season they are capable of averaging over 26k whilst in the 2nd tier. - The season ticket sales are not "made up" out of thin air, they are based on this season's season ticket numbers. - The lack of a waiting list is not "made up" out of thin air, this season the club doesn't have a waiting list. It has more weight than any case you have put forward so far. Plus when backed into a corner, I don't react with petty insults like you continue to do. See my final paragraph in previous post.

Thankyou, that now goes to show the flaws in your viewpoint. So you are saying "no" to increasing to 32,600 if the team were at a 25,000 capacity Stoneham stadium in the Championship and averaging 24,500 with 15,000 season ticket holders. Why "no"? Oh, and as dubai_phil and I have pointed out, petty insults isn't generally the debating style of someone with a strong case. Normally that of someone on weak foundations. Every time we have debated this subject (which is alot) and you get backed into a corner and struggle to answer difficult questions you revert to your standard style of ignoring/deflecting questions and making petty personal insults.

Petty insults, good debating technique. You didn't answer it, you dismissed it.

Not pointless at all, I just used it to highlight the flaws in your season ticket waiting list argument. Which by your lack of answer to the revised question I think you realise it is flawed.

Their starting lineup was far from their strongest possible at the time and most Saints fans would have realised it was going to be the case before the game.

Shouldn't we judge his son on his own merits rather than his father's 75 games for a club we support?

My question renders yours pointless. Numerous sellout 30k+ crowds have been at 2nd tier level (and even a couple whilst a 3rd tier club). These games are far less attractive than a game in the world's highest profile league, against some of the world's best clubs/players and with a Saints team of its own Premier League stars/internationals. It is valued at £30 because of the level of the game, with that £30 price it saw sellout crowds in the 2nd tier of 30k+. If Saints were in the Conference and selling tickets for £10 and had a crowd of 15,000 it would be extremely impressive and indicate a large fanbase. The price is relative to the level of competition. People are far more willing to pay more for a game vs Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs etc than they would be against Exeter, Coventry or Doncaster. If you can't see that there really is no hope for you in this debate. In any case, do you honestly think tickets at St Mary's next season will cost £50? Really?