The Kraken

I reckon Brum could do this....

Depends how true their money problems are. All rumours, but some I've heard are that they need to cut back even if they do go up and may look to offload some of the higher earners. In which case they could struggle a bit.

Agreed, can't see beyond West Ham going up.

If it is true then Brum getting dumped out is good news, as we'll be more likely to be able to prise him away.

To be fair, previous history is no guarantee we will sell out this time round. I tend to think that we will, but basing attendances solely on historical data from 10 years ago is not 100% reliable. I say that because the Premier League has changed a fair bit even since 2005. TV coverage of games has increased, and there are less and less Saturday 3pm kick-offs with the advent of the Europa League. Also, bid invites are going out for season 2013 onwards where the amount of televised games will increase further still, which could impact upon actual attendance figures. You only have to look at Everton (who will show an average attendance figure of around 33K for this season) for evidence that some clubs are experiencing a downturn in the attraction of a matchday ticket.

i think you'll be fine, no-one will pick up on that.

I reckon the reason the secret tunnels are not documented is because they're, you know, secret.

So you agree with him that its no longer a working man's game? That its only about a day out for the family and the corporates? I think I might have to disagree with that, if I'm honest. Working young men are still very much a primary target market for football clubs, and forever will be. Even corporate seats are aimed at companies and the working man. Seems a strange strategy to cut out that source of potential customer.

Ha ha, what??!! Working class young men are no longer a key demographic when it comes to frequenting a football game?

No, but what we do know is that Cortese has continually said that the club will be run self-sustainably. If that's the case, I'm just wondering where this funding you speak of for the team (not the infrastructure) is going to come from. Because we would clearly need quite a lot.

So we will have ambition and large wealth (comparitive to our peers) to invest in the playing side this time round then?

Ah, well we didn't have any ambition back in the 80s Turkish. If we'd have had any ambition back then, we would have tried to sign the European footballer of the year. Oh, hang on... Er, its not a like for like comparison. Or something.

Bridge put in a transfer request to engineer his move to a Champions League credible club (and for the massive amounts of extra cash, of course).

Correct again, it will guarantee future stars will not be tempted away when the likes of Arsenal, Man Utd, Man City, and the traditional "big clubs" come calling.

Indeed you're 100% correct. As I said, now we're in the Premier League players such as Bale, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain will always stay with us until they are 24, 25 instead of leaving in their teens.

Ah ok then, it'll be pretty easy if that's all it takes. Sunderland have got Martin O'Neill now, and he's a very good manager. So they should be hitting Champions League heights next season.

Liverpool weren't even a Champions League club and he legged it from Sunderland as fast as he could. Chamberlain had no desire to stay with us for any longer than he had to, in order to get to an established top 4 side. But it'll be different now we're in the Premier League, players like Chamberlain, Walcott and Bale will be much more inclined to stay with us until their mid 20s.

Sunderland have a 49K stadium. They have wracked up millions in debt chasing the Champions League dream, yet have still never finished higher than 7th. What will we do differently to them to assure our own success?

I think it would "Adam Rarrana"

I'd suggest you've over-exaggerated how many will go to less games. There will be many more, even on here, who will attend more (and there's a good deal of threads that confirm this). There will also be many more parents who will take their kids to watch games against the bigger sides, and like it or not, many more people who will choose to go and watch Saints just because they're playing against the likes of Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs etc etc. The whole notion of the "prawn sandwich munching" elite taking the place of "real fans" is a bit absurd.

An interesting quote: It was made by Blackburn's owners.

We've had a couple of variants on the red and white stripes (rank xerox, hummel) which show that moving away from traditional red and white stripes isn't necessarily a bad thing, though I do prefer to see Saints side in the stripes. And the 125 year kit was IMO a great idea and nice little nod to our history. Changing the whole kit just for money purposes, and therefore effectively making the nickname of the club redundant, is a step way too far though. You'd just as well do an MK Dons and up sticks to a more prosperous part of the country, as you're effectively ripping the previous heart and soul out of the football club.

This is a point I've seen discussed before, and why I think the notion of a "JCL fan" is a bit ridiculous. Attendances typically go up the more successful a team is. Not because the club just suddenly attracts brand new customers (although this is true to a small extent). But the bulk o fthe increased attendance will come from those who are already fans, who have probably been to watch games before, but are now attracted to attend on a more regular basis. That's how we need to increase attendance; by encouraging fans to attend more often. Talk of increasing the catchment area etc just miss the point IMO.

Our ground is in a great location. While we have no way of knowing for sure, I absolutely think that having an out of town stadium would have a detrimental effect on attendances. And I think the transport links to St Marys are actually very good, compared to many other clubs. There are a few railway stations within reasonable walking distance, plenty of bus routes, all the parking that a city centre affords, plus a park and ride system. I certainly think that there is, within the next few years, enough potential to investigate whether we should increase the stadium to a capacity up to 40K. It's certainly worth looking at, which of course the club will conitnue to do. But (IMO anyway) I think that a city-centre ground is paramount to keeping attendances high.

No it doesn't, it really doesn't.