The Kraken

Fair enough, but we do have to maximise revenues. So without raising prices, what other options are there? Lower prices will likely mean a full stadium for every game but lower revenues (being as we're already 90% - 95% full already with sky high prices). And with sky high prices we'll in all likelihood sell out around half of our home games anyway.

Well said. The only people that think there is an agenda against Gaston (other than from Barry Sanchez who is clearly a loony in any case) are from those who are too precious to accept that others hold a different opinion to them while still wanting the best from the club and its players.

I think it shows the club have got pricing pretty much spot on. The stadium 90% - 95% full in the quiestest time of the season and maximising the premium prices we charge. History tells us that we'll start getting sellouts later in the season, especially so for the uber-expensive category A games. Much better to price 'em high and pack 'em in than spends tens of millions on a capacity increase and keep prices low to fill it. Well done Nicola Cortese

Fair points, and no offence taken in the slightest, but I feel you've fallen into the trap of seeing things a bit too black and white. Its not a question of either being a flair player or not. Steven Davis last night did all the things you suggested in terms of ball retention; but he was also creative and inventive too. One little pass in the second half that allowed Harrison Reed to charge into the box with the ball came from Davis, who ran 10 or 20 yards into space, controlled the ball and on the turn played the ball through two defenders to put Reed into acres of space to bear down on goal. So its possible to do both. You make the analogy of the striker who does b*gger all else for 89 minutes other than score. And that's basically the nub of it. As a fan, do you choose to put up with all of the deficiencies of Gaston, all the times he gives the ball away in dangerous positions, while knowing that there's a chance he might create something from nothing? Or would you rather see someone like Steven Davis who can do a bit of both, albeit while perhaps not being capable/willing to try some of the more audacious things that Ramirez is? It's a choice, and there's no right answer, just opinions. Mine is that Gaston doesn't produce the audacious stuff often enough compared to the amount of times he does the poor stuff. That, and he's still got an awful lot to learn about when its actually time to just pass a simple ball rather than hold onto it too long and get disposessed needlessly. All I know isn't is a comparison between either playing Terry Hurlock or Matt Le Tissier, which I feel some try to pigeonhole it into. We can still be a team that plays with flair without Ramirez in the side.

That's what I figured. I gues Olallana just reacted and went for the cheap and easy put down.

Ah, almost Olallana! I see you're going for the much adopted put down of compartmentalising "Gaston bashers" into the supposed mindset of only rating footballers who run around a lot. The truth is that Saints fans will have a better grasp than most of the virtues and downfalls of a flair player. One of the greatest flair players of all time kept us in this division for years surrounded by a bunch of workmanlike artisans. We all know how lazy MLT was, and how he was prone to be sometimes wasteful. We already have a brilliant benchmark for a flair player; so this entire logic of yours is a bit flawed in this instance I'm afraid. In fact, the concept of a flair player in the modern game is also pretty much adequately defined in Adam Lallana. A player who rightly attracted some criticism for being too wasteful and non-productive but who seems to have really stepped up his game this season and is looking creative and productive all at the same time. Did you watch the game last night, by the way? If so, I'd be genuinely interested to hear from those with an alternative viewpoint as to why Gaston's performance should guarantee him a place on Saturday? Personally I don't think it did, as the brilliant things he did were too overshadowed by the regularity of bad things he did (which against a better opposition could have been exploited much more).

To be fair I think you're right about that, yep.

Did you not read the part about the effort I said he put in?!

Pretty much spot on IMO.

Were you actually at the game? Honest question. IMO he had two sublime moments. One, the goal, absolutely thumped it home, a great finish. Another one in the first half where he lofted the ball over the defence for Lee, who really should have scored. Other than that, Gaston was massively frustrating. Poor control far too often, very poor passes far too often, not able to hold on to the ball, and far far too wasteful for a team that prides itself on keeping posession. Steven Davis was much more effective as a midfielder looking to pull the strings that Ramirez was. One thing I won't criticise though was his level of effort. i thought he kept going, and kept trying right up to the point where he walked off injured with seconds to go. It just really didn't work out for him. Extremely sloppy is the best way that I would describe his performance, punctuated by a couple of instances of absolute brilliance.

I'm a supporter of the idea to try new styles of kit to maximise sales. That said, IMO the new kit has to have some form of relevance other than being "different". The sash kit, probably one of the most ubiquitous Saints kits I've ever seen, its clear where that came from. There's loads more we could do to have a kit that still represents stripes of a sort: representations of the Ranx Xerox kit, the Hummel Denmark kit, even the 1976 home shirt to an extent. I simply don't believe this year's shirt is anywhere close to the sales level of the sash shirt, or even last season's abomination for that matter.

Whoa there, hold your horses. Pompey fans booing? Never happens. That's only that lot up the road that do that. Scurrilous news reporting.

Last time i went to watch Romsey Town it cost me £7, and that was a couple of years ago. I can remember when getting into the Dell as an adult cost nearly the same.

A bit of a watered down Joe Cole syndrome for Lallana at international level, I feel. Great natural talent but probably won't fit into the system that the manager wants to play. Joe Cole was a bit part player for England but, like Paul Scholes, needed to be the focal point of the team to use him to best effect. And Cole in particular was too inconsisetnt to justify that role. I personally doubt whether Lallana offers enough pace for Hodgson to give him too much of a go on the wings (especially with the likes of Walcott, Welbz, and Ox when he returns to fitness). And if he's not playing in the number 10 role at club level it'll be hard for him to break through there. Hodgson is very much a safety-first type manager, and it would take something phenomenal from Lallana or any pllayer of his ilk to dislodge the old guard in time for Rio. A friendly appearance or two is the absolute best he can hope for, and then he has to take his chance as Rickie did (which is harder when you're not dealing solely in the strikers' currency of scoring goals).

Not quite; more than a few of them were suckered into thinking it would pay for 2 or more stands. They seem to have fallen for the same ruse over on POL as well.

It is a laughable comparison, looking back. But, to be fair, when Ashley Young went to Man Utd he had been absolutely on fire for Villa and looked very good for United when he signed. Put it this way; I'd absolutely love to see him in a Saints side. Just not at the expense of our current skipper...

Wow. I think you really need to get over your obsession with me. I haven't even contributed to this thread and yet here you are thinking of me and bringing me into it with yet more pointless drivel. It's clearly eating you up norway; let it go, for goodness sake.

Well its all about opinions I suppose, but for me Lallana is probably the most improved player we have from last season. He was under par for most of the last campaign but really looks like getting it together this time round. He's still nowhere near as clinical as he could be at times, but he definitely has qualities that not too many other players in the division match up to, in terms of providing a little bit of unexpected magic. I've long been a campaigner for us playing with more width and more natural wide players; but swapping Lallana for Ashley Young to try to achieve that? Just no. Both of them in the same side would be great for us; but Lallana gives our side much more than Young ever could IMO.

Some (as ever) yes. The Wilshere comparison is daft. But Diggo's question back at you of "what would Pochettino say if Utd offered to swap Lallana for Young" puts it in perspective.

The thing is; Milner is a good player. But that's exactly what he is; good. He's not outstanding, he's methodical, a safe option. Not international quality to make a difference, but not someone who'll let you down. A bit beige, if you like. Lallana all the way for me, of course. Not that there isn't a place for the likes of Milner, I suppose. I just don't really know what he does or what he offers other than a defensively safe option on the wing.

Is it a trick question?

And make sure you have the BBQ'd pineapple with cinnamon; lush.

I went to the one in the O2 and it was brilliant. Pretty basic, in that its BBQ'd meat that gets brought round to the table and carved off; but there was a huge variety and it was cooked really well. There was also a massive "salad" bar but which had fish and other side dishes. All in all great value. My visit to the So'ton branch left a lot to be desired though. Overcooked meat, little variety, and not much at the salad bar either.

To be fair to fat Santa, the bit about not liking stripes is actually true.

6th now after Chelsea's win.