Matthew Le God

As I have said elsewhere... 22,155 for Saints vs Birmingham in the 2nd tier, with a small number of away fans is nothing to be ashamed of. Nor is... 24,784 vs Forest in the 2nd tier 23,333 vs Millwall in the 2nd tier 25,860 vs Leeds in the 2nd tier (and live on TV) Lets compare it to some Premier League attendances from the weekend just gone... Fulham vs Man City 24,750 Blackburn Arsenal 22,637 Bolton vs Norwich 21,223 Swansea West Brom 20,341 Wolves vs QPR 24,189 That doesn't suit you "ticket tax" agenda though does it?

"Dwindling attendances" What are you talking about?

That is selective quoting Steve My opening words to the post were... "If he gets Saints promoted"

Why don't you go on your own?

Tonights game is... Saints reserves vs League One Preston North End's reserves It is hardly is a big draw to entice the crowds! 5,000 for a reserve game when it cost £14 really isn't that bad. In any case I think it will be higher than that. Lets now look at last nights games (some of which were only £10 per adult)... Burnley vs MK Dons 4,134 Crystal Palace vs Middlesborough 5,448 Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle 10,208 (including circa 2,000 Newcastle fans) Stoke vs Tottenham 15,023 Wolves vs Millwall 7,749

If he gets Saints promoted, which clubs can offer Adkins more than he has at Saints? Man Utd Liverpool Arsenal Man City Chelsea Tottenham None of which would be interested in Adkins, as he hasn't achieved enough to warrant them being interested in him. Then you have... Everton Aston Villa Newcastle Sunderland Bigger fanbases than Saints, but do they offer anything better than what Adkins would get at Saints in terms of resources and infrastructure? Cortese has made it clear when Saints get back to the Premier League the intention is to compete towards the top of it, not struggle at the bottom or make do in mid table. Everyone else in the Premier League I would say is a step down (or at the very least a move sideways and thus pointless) if he were to leave a Saints, having got them promoted to it.

We won't see their 1st team tonight, it will be a tie against the squad players from a League One team. Phil Brown has confirmed Preston will be fielding a reserve side tonight, as they did in previous rounds. For example against Charlton in round two they made 8 changes from there previous league game. Charlton made 10 chances in that game and was described by Brown as the "battle of the squads". Saint's squad players should see off Preston's easily... (we hope)

Today's blog from Miles Jacobson...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b014r1hf/5_live_Football_League_19_09_2011/

Did they? Saints were a League One club when they took over and Adkins had already achieved two promotions from League One on a much smaller budget.

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?24915-Libel-Reminder-Use-of-Main-Board-Rules-Useful-Links

I'm here! Not exactly much to comment on, as TheMidfieldGeneral is being as vague as vague can be.

Today's blog from Miles Jacobson...

Arsenal game is on Tuesday, Saints vs Preston is on Wednesday.

That is nonsense really, had Saints been playing a Premier League game yesterday the price would have been higher and you would have circa 30k there.

22k is still a very good attendance in the Championship! Plus not many Birmingham fans turned up which doesn't help. In the Premier League this weekend it saw attendances like... Fulham vs Man City 24,750 Blackburn Arsenal 22,637 Bolton vs Norwich 21,223 Swansea West Brom 20,341 Wolves vs QPR 24,189 22,155 for Saints vs Birmingham in the league below is nothing to be ashamed of. Nor is... 24,784 vs Forest in the 2nd tier 23,333 vs Millwall in the 2nd tier 25,860 vs Leeds in the 2nd tier

They didn't in the last round, Phil Brown called it the "battle of the squads" with him making 8 changes from their last League One game and Charlton making 11 changes. He will probably do the same against us. He hints heavily here that he will do the same on Wednesday... http://www.pnefc.net/articles/20110918/brentford-reaction-phil-brown_2264038_2455269/0,,10362~2455269~1,00.html Are they? They are 6th, won their last six games in all competitions and are only 4 points behind top spot with a game in hand. He is cup tied.

For those that haven't heard it... http://audioboo.fm/boos/474263-steve-cotterill-speaks-to-bbc-radio-solent-following-pompey-s-1-0-defeat-to-hull-city

Saints under 18's beat Birmingham City 5-0 today in the Academy Premier League. Jake Sinclair with a hat-trick.

Pompey fans at Hull today - best supporters in the land (apparently)

Pompey fans at Hull today - best supporters in the land (apparently)

I prefer a boxed copy myself, but for those that want it cheaper this gives you it for under twenty quid, which isn't bad. Football Manager 2012 available to pre-order as a digital download version for just £19.85... http://www.shopto.net/DOWNLOAD/VIDEO%20GAMES/DWNLD27600-Football%20Manager%202012.html

It was on their website before this thread was started. It is also probably where Talksport got the story from.

A mention of it... http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3817254/Pards-Rick-will-be-Andy.html

No he isn't, he is back in full training.