sandwichsaint

Have you not both got it a little bit wrong? A wage cap would presumably drive the highest earners (the biggest star players) out of the league (assuming it wasn't a universal cap across the whole football world), this would over a period of time leave a less-good product for which simple economics would say there would be less demand. Which would then leave the clubs with a choice of say crowds of 18k paying 40 quid a go, or crowds of 36k paying 20 quid a go .... factor in merchandising and match-day extras and clubs would clearly prefer crowds of 36k to crowds of 18k. I'm sure all club's would 'like' to keep their prices at £40 for a less good product but all demand has some sort of elasticity and although all clubs have their 'die hard' fan base they all have their 'plastics' too ... look right at home to see that this is true. Clearly rising ticket prices have been driven by consumer demand (to see big stars and big glamour) and by clubs maximising their revenue by setting the highest tkt prices they can - to cover their costs and to make themselves more competitive, whether that be winning things or merely staying in the same league .... as a large part of their costs are 'wages' is it not logical to assert that clubs charge high tkt prices to fund players' wages?

Each to their own, Ipswich and Leeds are a couple of my favourite aways though I agree with Cov, Brum and Derby (apart from the play off obviously!). The game I'm most keen to avoid next season is Millwall away (all that penning and queueing to get out); Middlesborough is also a long way to go to menaced by over-aggressive stewards in a souless, half empty St Mary's-lite.

What's with the faux Blackpool rivalry! FFS, some of you sound like Bompey fans. Blackpool have been a breath of fresh air in the Prem and Holloway is a much, much better manager than his village idiot persona lets on; shame he won't ever get to prove it a bigger club. If they've looked after their finances (and no reason to think they haven't) IMO they will be a major threat if Holloway stays and he gets some of the parachute money to rebuild. I would expect both Blackpool and the battery-chuckers to finish top 6.

Murphy's decent but do We Need A Keeper? wot do u think?

Duh! somebody post this up for me - and tell me how you did it!

http://losslessalbum.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/The-Beatles-%E2%80%93-Sgt.-Pepper%E2%80%99s-Lonely-Hearts-Club-Band.jpg

Interesting stuff and I broadly agree with your rankings (think you've probably got Forest one too high and maybe Stoke one too low?) What sort of time scale are we talking about, say 10 years? On that basis it's very encouraging to see that we are as well placed as almost anyone on that page to move up a level; it's quite possible that we can be level with (or better than) West Ham, Sunderland, or Notts Forest in ten years time. (We 'could' beat Forest and West Ham on crowds and league position next season!) What the list does show is the massive leap required to get into the top 8-9 clubs and with all the will in the world that has to be seen as 'unlikely' at this stage, think most people would be very happy if we were solidly established in that fourth tier.

So what you're really saying is that Holloway should have continued with his first team in the cup, let them enjoy a game without as much pressure as a regular league game, hopefully/maybe win, preserve their momentum and team spirit, go on a bit of a 'cup run', and generate a bit of enthusiasm and extra cash from the fan base; maybe even win a trophy? And they may well have been in a beter position league-wise than by stopping their whole season, playing 10 reserves, and taking a confidence sapping hit from defeat by a third division team. That can't be right can it?

You never see a poor bookie do you?

I more than the team that comes third?

I don't see much incentive for the club to change what they did this year. NC's plan to sell fairly expensive STs in a a very narrow window, no half STs, no late STs, push hard on the day prices and add a tkt tax appears to have come up completely trumps - base crowds of 18-20k, rising to 25k for the bigger games, chuck in Brighton and Walsall, chuck in a cup game with Man U and playing just about all our other cup games at home - and NC can be seen as either a brilliant general or a lucky general! I guess we will see STs available in June and July only at 475-590, and day tickets at 24-30 plus the booking fee - take it or leave it! The club will see last season as a massive justification of last season's pricing policy; we will buy two or three decent players, we will do pretty well in the championship particularly at home, we will get crowds of 22-24, more if we are winning. I will prob go to 10 homes and 10 aways (and still not be able to get a ticket for the away leg of the play-off semi).... Boooooo.

And ain't that the truth? All this 'predictor' this and 'games in hand' that; 'what the second place team got last year' bollix can only take you so far, the points needed for promotion is the same as, or one more, than the team that comes third. If the team in third is going like a train then you have to go like a train, plus one. Which is pretty much how it happened. At the risk of poking a sleeping mathematical hornets' nest I'd say that at the time it was made 28 was a 'better' prediction than 20! As it happened 28 would have got us there with something to spare, 20 wasn't enough, even if 20 did turn out to be nearer the final requirement than 28. Factor in Hudds 'winning' their last game and the realistic benchmark was prob 24 points - an estimate of 20 turned out to be a game and a half short and an estimate of 28 was a game and a half too high. I know which side of that split we'd all like to be on.

Two bald men fighting over a comb! Did you really stay up until 2 o'clock to post this!! If anyone is going to bump this thread it will be me!!! I called it before Charlton away as us needing 7 wins and 4 mulligans (a draw or a lose) ... as it turned out we would have made it on goal difference with 7 wins and 1 draw, and we actually needed 7 wins and two draws to win it outright ... a pretty good prediction by me!!!! And can we go easy on the mental illness insults - anyone with any experience of these issues will know in reality this debilitating illness is a million miles away from the casual stereotype.

Just out of interest, has any team ever done well in their first season in a new stadium? My perception (and nothing more) is that half the teams do about the same as they were before, and half the teams have stepped back a level in their first season in a new stadium. I guess Brighton fans should be optimistic about playing in a shiny new stadium in front of bigger crowds, but is there any reason to think their team will 'automatically' step up a level?

This... LOL at those Saints fans who are mocking Walsall bringing 1500 on Saturday .... Respect!

Great grounds, great people, c-rap pitches! Never thought I would see Saints at wycombe, colchester, swindon, brentford, southend, Walsall, hartlepool, or dagenham! FFS! Let's move on and put it all down to life's rich tapestry. Onwards and upwards COYRs.

Leg one has been great! Two of the best seasons i

Saints Web in a nutshell?

Hoddle - turned us into proper contenders Strachen - over achieved but should have stayed and seen it through Jones - best pound for pound manager on the list Adkins - has over-achieved with auto, give him another 2 years and we will back in the Prem Pearson - we'll never know what might have been Best manager we never had? Warnock CHDAJFU!

Is that the Champions League trophy he's holding up? And why has somebody photo-shopped trees over the big crowd behind him?

Great idea! Something that the majority of fans and the wider public will never see.... For me, I'd like to see Brittania Road re-named (same as Ipswich have their Sir Alf Ramsey Way, and others too). Makes a more public and permanent reminder for me.

How many are we actually expecting for this? V. short notice (that's not a dig, it's obviously tied in with us securing promo and giving the players maximum time off in the summer). 'Lots' of people will go because they can and it's free.... 'Lots' of people won't be able to go because of prior commitments or cos of travelling twice in two days.... and there will be some to who it doesn't appeal. Shall we say 16-18K ... perhaps more if it's a sunny day?

I have never been represented by anybody! I have never had a local MP or a National govt represent my vote in 30 years of voting. First voted Lab in the election when Maggie came in in 79, and voted lab in the subsequent elections the tories won. Voted LD against Blair and nulabour in the all the elections Blair won. Voted Lab last year. My vote has never returned a local MP or a National winner. Locally I have voted regularly for a rainbow coalition of Lab/LD/Green/Comm/Independent and have never yet picked a winner at either seat or council level. I've also just voted 'yes' in the referendum but that isn't going to win either !!!!

Of course you are allowed to offer them (worthy cause and all that) ... don't take less than £150 for a pair though!