Matthew Le God

So do you think Forest are a similarly sized club to Southampton? I do. Yes, their city is bigger, but Saints have the advantage and make up the difference because they have far less competition from other local clubs than Forest do. So can draw more on the surrounding population in a way that would be difficult for Forest due to the proximity of a huge number of rival clubs compared to just Bournemouth and Portsmouth for Saints.

Yes, they did.

- Nottingham is a two team city. - Nottingham has Derby, Leicester, Notts County, Peterborough, Coventry, Birmingham, Aston Villa, West Brom, Sheffield United, Rotherham, Lincoln, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Stoke, Port Vale and a few others all relatively close to it. - Southampton has 1) Bournemouth and 2) Pompey fighting for a share of the fanbase. - Southampton considering the lack of competition relative to the size of the population in surrounding areas from other clubs is in a very strong position.

Can the same not be applied to the population areas in Yorkshire and the midlands? Saints have areas like the New Forest, Eastleigh, Winchester, Isle of Wight to gain support from with little competition from close by rivals like all the teams you listed. Have you considered it being down to Saints being limited by The Dell? Let's just pick one of your choices for comparison... - League One runner's up Southampton 2010/11 average attendance = 22,161 - League One runner's up Sheffield Wednesday 2011/12 average attendance = 21,336 So Saints in similar circumstances outdid Sheffield Wednesday. Plus Sheffield Wednesday had derbies vs Sheff Utd and Huddersfield and the added benefit of a 39,814 capacity which meant for their derby games and run in of the season they could boost the average. Had both clubs had a stadium the size of St Mary's, Saints would have had an even greater gap between them and Sheff Weds in two similar seasons.

- Plus the 140,000 people on the Isle of Wight - Possibly could even include the 158,000 on the Channel Islands, St Mary's is the easiest English Premier League stadium for them to get to and you have the Le Tissier connection for them. Thats another 300,000 people on top of what you said!

It was a 600 miles round trip during a recession for a game live on TV, what did you expect? 2,922 at Middlesbrough is a very good turnout. What about the 5,800 we took to Place or 3,200 we took to Peterborough in the same month of the Middlesbrough game. I don't see you making note of those games in your argument. Over the last 3 away game of the season all in the same month, Saints averaged 3,966 away fans. That is very impressive and had Palace given a bigger allocation it would have been even higher.

Did you remind them that they were also nominated for "community club of the year" 2012?

Isn't he on loan from PSV?

Yep, exactly those points. Points you still don't seem to understand. I'll try again... - Everton this season are 7th in the Premier League - They have an average attendance this season of 32,879 - They have a stadium capacity of 40,394 - Their 40k stadium allows them to boost the average as it allows for an "overflow" in big games. Southampton on the other hand have averaged 31k in a 32k stadium whilst in the Premier League (bear in mind segregation and away allocations not always filled). If Saints had a 40k stadium like Everton do, they would also be able to boost their average with higher attendances from the "big" game vs Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. It is likely that would see them above the 32k average Everton have.

Yep, ignoring to counter all the points I put to you. Instead of answering them directly you go off on a new tangent and the process repeats ad infinitum.

So you think when Saints sold out a game against Man Utd for example in the Premier League years of 2001 to 2005, exactly the same numbers of people wanted to see that as they did a game against Bolton that also sold out? Added to that, the Bolton game would actually have more Saints fans at it that the Man Utd game due to fewer Bolton fans going compared to Man Utd so home allocation would be increased.

You've lost me. So what? We finished 20th in 2004/05 and averaged 30,610. The season after the 8th place finish and Cup Final saw an average of 31,699 with the vast majority of the 19 games sold out. The gaps between those figures and the official capacity are largely due to segregation and away fan allocations not being filled.

How does that counter anything I said in that post?

If being bottom of the Premier League was an attractive enough proposition to attract over 30k on average, the club in 8th/7th/6th/5th/4th would be vastly more attractive. What makes up the difference in support from now on are the "Johnny come lately fans", rarely seen in the Championship or League these past 7 years, put as soon as Premier League football appears even if a relegation campaign, Saints average over 30k.

Well as St Mary's was sold out most weeks last time in the Premier League and averaged over 30k every season (including the relegation season), anyone unable to get a ticket was able to do whatever they wanted on a matchday. As soon as the "sold out" banner goes up why would you try to get a ticket from the ticket office?

That isn't what I said is it? Why are you so sure the like of Cork, Lallana and Schneiderlin wouldn't be good enough in the future, they have time on their side and I think the potential to play to a high level? Or the likes of Shaw, Sinclair, Stephens, Ward-Prowse etc? Saints have shown they can produce players capable of playing at that level in the past with Chamberlain, Walcott, Bridge and Bale. So why couldn't any of the current youth team or development team do the same? They don't need to be brought then do they. Again you ignore my point. If the club will bring in over £120m from domestic TV rights alone, without looking at all the over sources of income they will have, why is a figure of £152m daunting? It may well be below the income of Saints during that period. So where is the issue? Where is the problem?

Saints income in that period could be over £152m especially given the £120m+ from domestic TV money alone in the 3 years you are talking about, so where is the issue? Plus Newcastle have huge debts that eat up money each year that they could spend on players, Saints have no debts to eat up money. You are also making the assumption no current 1st team or youth team players could play for Saints in a Champions League challenge and they would have to bring in an entire new squad.

But that isn't net spend. If you bring in £120 million during that period from domestic TV rights alone (let alone other revenue streams such as overseas broadcasting, merchandising, ticket sales, corporate, sponsorship, advertising etc etc) then is £152m really a big deal? Especially considering the financial rewards of finishing higher in the Premier League and gaining a EUROPA League or Champions League spot.

Argument far from over. He was suggesting it was an annual wage bill of £100m, not over the entire duration of the contract. In those same 3 years contracts you are talking about, Saints would bring in over £120 million from domestic TV rights. Let alone all the other revenue streams.

20 in the Premier League 24 in the Championship 24 in League One Saints started League One in 24th place with -10 points I make 20 + 24 + 24 = 68 What do you make it?

I think it all depends on how good the new academy and development league structure proves to be. Might suit the club to keep them training at Staplewood until they are older rather than loaning them out if there is a strong games program at development level.

Their last accounts in March 2012 show turnover in 2010/11 in their first season back in the Premier League was £88.4m, and that includes the Carroll £35m deal. They have one game to go and are 1 point point behind 4th and 2 points behind 3rd. Even if they don't make it, or Chelsea win the Champions League and deny them a CL spot they have shown they are capable of mounting a serious Champions League place challenge.

£250m is "quite reserved"! You think it would need a £250m net spend to get the Saints squad upto Newcastle's level? They haven't spent anywhere near that. I think you need to guess again if you think Newcastle's wage budget is anywhere near £100m.

I'm not the one that plucks a £250 million figure out of thin air and then when asked to justify such a claim refuses to do so and turns instead to personal insults.

A truly bizarre way to debate someone. I asked you three reasonable questions in order for you to justify your £250m claim and then you back-pedal out of it. Too difficult to answer?