The Kraken

I think this thread has proved a rampaging success in ignoring the trolls.

God, I'll miss such wit and repartee. Say it isn't so.

Yep you're right, many angles. Cortese could be one but I don't think it's necessarily that sinister, mate. It could be players engineering a move away. It could be players engineering staying at St. Mary's but getting a thoroughly hefty pay rise (and with an £80M+ prize fee this year, why the f*ck not?!). Any number of reasons; it could be that the players all love SFC and want to maintain the status quo. I doubt that a little bit, though. But, whatever the reason, players who've had a good season will put themself on show with some well placed media quotes. Quite simply, it's good for business. That said, it's the constant solidarity behind the manager from all of these quote that strikes me as something slightly more than random. Not sure what that's about yet, will have to wait and see. But the cynical side of me suggests it's a ruse to put pressure on SFC rather than simply answering loaded questions. Like I said though, i can't really blame them for that as much as I may find it a tiny bit unpalatable at times.

Coerced by the media in general, I'm sure. Talksport had a "will Lallana go to Man United or Liverpool" discussion going on, 5 Live had something similar. It's a given to the media that players will go so they're starting to ramp it all up in advance of that. Saying that, I don't think the comments from the players are necessarily helpful. Yes, they're answering loaded questions, but it's also coming across as if they're putting pressure on the club. Which is fair enough, I suppose, it just all seems a bit orchestrated at times. Tis the way of football these days, though. Anything for a quote, and anything beyond the banal is highlighted and repeated to the nth degree. Not much we can do about it but sit and hope.

It's a definite concerted media effort, that's for sure.

No need for priority seating any more (unless you really want to get on the plane first up). Ryanair now do allocated seating at check-in (as standard i.e. no extra charge) so there's no need to queue up for ages to get on the plane just to guarantee sitting together. As ever, you get what you pay for. No frills means no frills.

Yep, exactly this. I'm not beholden to the traditional stripes at all; the Sash and the Rank Xerox were the best kits by far, even the "Denmark" Hummel kit was out there but decent (and a nod to history). But if it's not to be stripes, at least give us something that looks good and means something. The problem with the last 2 kits hasn't just been that they've not really represented a historical Saints kit of any sort (red shorts and socks FFS), but mostly that they've both been utterly bland, uninspiring and have looked cheap and just a bit sh*t.

While I think there's certainly some truth to that, I'm minded to wonder how much difference it does actually make. We did, after all, sign Olympics wonderkid Ramirez upon promotion to the PL, then signed Italian international Osvaldo last season off the back of 14th. Wanyama also left European football to come here (and almost went to Cardiff instead, themselves just promoted and on their way back down). Being the richest league in the world, newly promoted teams can very readily sign players on £40K - £50K a week without risking financial implosion. And with other leagues also struggling, that's a massive inducement. Champions League will always be a major attraction, but below that I'm genuinely curious how much difference it makes to players thinking of signing for teams below that but still offering bundles of cash.

Without any research I'd guess Steve Bruce might be a candidate.

Agree with that.

So, £82M in prize money, add on ticket sales, sponsorship etc. (even our meagre shirt deal) and other revenues and we're comfortably over £100M for the season. It kind of puts into perspective why the transfer market has gone crazy and will continue to escalate. 4 or 5 years ago, in League 1, a £30M bid for Luke Shaw was probably more than 1 year's revenue. It was probably close when we were last in the Premier League. An insane amount of money. Now, it would comprise 25% of our typical annual revenue. Still an incredible amount of money, but you'd have to say that the club are in more of a position to resist big money offers. Player power will play a part of course, plus the demands from players for increased wages (which I'm absolutely sure it at the core of so many players going to the press about "ambition of the board"). But, as sad as it is to say it, a £30M bid really doesn't mean as much in the general scheme of things when there are other astronomical sums on offer every season just for staying in the division.

Possibly because our best season in 10 years has seen our average attendance drop by 500-600. Probably a better idea to actually start filling all areas of the ground on a more consistent basis before we start the clamour for more seats. An 8th placed finish in the PL has brought in less ticket sales than a 14th placed one, so there's absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that European football is going to bring in more fans. If anything it could be the opposite.

I'd like to believe that finishing 8th as opposed to say, 13th or 14th, would give us a bit of a leg up in terms of attracting players to the club. The truth is that it's probably a minor factor compared to the money offered. It does show we're on an upward trajectory, though.

what do SWF posters know?! He got it from Micky Owen as the commentator on BT. edit, just read post 36....

Yep, going to be extremely tough. The argument for keeping Shaw was that he may not get game time at a big club. He'd clearly walk into any side in the top 4 now, he's come on an absolutely huge amount this season. And Lallana is just genuinely top quality. Keeping either of them will be a massive statement.

Clyne got MOTM yesterday, so perfectly feasible for a full back.

Here we go. Quite clearly, detrimental to the team had he left. As for the rest. Well, I'm wasting my time looking at it, it's probably best you point out the bits you think you got right.

Which OP? Your classic one, or this one? If it's your one, can you save me the time and highlight the points that were valid? Actually, no bother, I'll do you a favour and do the same. This should be fun.

You bet. Would you not? Why am I asking, you wanted shot of Jack Cork. And instead of admitting you got that wrong, you only want to point in other directions instead.

Only if you're as much of a bellend as Olallana.

As ever Diggers, you have proved your intelligence. Forum friends = good. Diggers = top 5. Always.

Flanagan? My word, you are indeed stupid and the true king of the Straw Man. Plank.

They would, as ever, be wrong.

Sure. I think my point is (or was) that we're 1,500 below our previous PL best. That happened after our last 8th placed finish (and cup final appearance). We'll see what happens next year, I guess. All I know is blind allegiance to the cause and utter ignorance/stupidity (i.e. by MLG) answers nothing and is actually just a poor defence mechanism.

My point is: compared to last year? 500-600 because of price since last year? And I apologise for being terse.