The Kraken

Again, I think that's what I'm saying. You simply have to wait until you hit those benchmarks before you consider expansion. We haven't yet hit those targets. We have no idea what effect the financial downturn will have on attendances in the top division. Or what effect the increased ticket prices will have either. As I've said before, I don't believe anyone is saying that we should never expand. There just seems to be an unnecessary rush by some to get building right now, when clealrly the more pragmatic approach is to start building when we're more certain that we can regularly fill the increased capacity.

FC, what you've done is taken a guess at the figures that SFC will need to see. You say 3000 - 5000 regular not able to get tickets; we simply don't know yet if that's the case or not. We don't know if it was the case last time were in the Premier League, tean years ago. It certainly hasn't been the case this season, where we've had 5,000 - 6,000 empty seats on average in what has been (or so many say) one of the most exciting seasons for years. And we have NEVER had a season ticket waiting list in our history at SMS. If greater flexibility of pricing will bring greater capacity, why has Cortese not been doing it so far to fill our existing empty seats? Why will he only consider such a move after he has spent another £20M to create even more empty seats? i really struggle to follow the financial logic of this approach; spend more on your stadium so that you have to incentivise and discount just to fill it. Much better to wait and see if the demand is there, and then build to fill that demand.

No it isn't Frank. It really isn't.

Firstly I think you're over-estimating just how much revenue the corporate areas bring in. Yes, they pay much more than regular ticket holders but the small proportion of customers and associated costs that go with it mean it isn't quite the all important money spinner you think it might be. But read again what you've just said. IF an increased stand can fill the seats, and if it also fills new corporate boxes (which we just don't know right know, but corporate sales in the past couple of years have been extremely low), then yes, its worth expanding. NOBODY is denying that. But the club simply have to be certain that it will be commercially viable to do so. At the moment, tehre's certainly no evidence whatsoever that right now we need more corporate boxes, we've struggled to even sell half this season. And its a similar story with regular matchday tickets, where'r our average attendance this season will see us 5,000-6,000 short of capacity. To expand right now given those benchmarks doesn't make business sense.

Leaving aside the Ford analogy, as I can't make much sense of it or see how its at all releavnt . A lot of people seem convinced we'd have cheaper seats after spending millions and millions on an increased capacity. Really, what sort of business model is that? You increase supply to satisfy demand; not the other way round. The conversation is irrelevant, as the club will do what they see fit, when they see fit. I'm just amazed so many people are convinced we're going to spend £20M or more just so that we can introduce more flexible, cheaper, discounted tickets.

Indeed. That's the point I'm making. The financially sensible thing to do (and which I'm sure SFC will do) is to monitor sales for a while, and wait for us to hit a few key performance indicators. At that point a more accurate decision can perhaps be made on what type of attendances we could expect to see in a bigger stadium, and therefore whether expansion is really feasible. Building a whole new stand, then finding out its actually a bit too big and then devalueing the product by lowering prices and offering incentives makes little business sense.

Does it really strike you as financially sensible in any way to spend many, many millions on increasing our capacity, only to then have to offer discounted tickets in an attempt to fill the newly created seats? Why is this even being considered as a viable idea? It's completely arse about face; you fill the seats with full-paying customers first and then increase the capacity to satisfy demand.

It doesn't matter. The owners are obviously just going to pay for it and won't expect to see a return on investment.

Don't forget Chelsea. They went from small attendances in the past to where they are now. They should be our example. All they did was increase their stadium capacity, and look at them now. Quite why we aren't building a bigger stadium right now is just stupid. Big stadium = big club. Its a proven fact, time and time again.

I think we should just build a 60K seater stadium. People will come from all over the word just to see it; just like many people travel to Barcelona to see their stadium. If we built a 60K stadium, people from Devon and Cornwall would flock to see us, instead of going to see Man United. Its the size of stadium that will ultimately define us; no club has ever built a stadium and not been able to fill it. We have a massive catchment area; it stretches down to the West country, up to Basingstoke and all of the counties surrounding us. A huge market. Anyone who thinks we wouldn't fill a 60K stadium is naive. People who say that are the same type that said man would never climb Everest, or man would never walk on the moon. Build it, and they will come. Who gives a f*ck how we pay for it.

Correct. Northam and Chapel can have 4,000 extra each, Kingsland can have 8,000, potential capacity of 48,000.

And Darlington. And Milton Keynes. And Blackburn. And Coventry. And Middlesbrough. And on and on.....

Absolutely. More than 40 years now without finishing in the top six of their division.

And I forgot that reality is beyond you. There we are.

What straw? You made the comment that we went AWOL for 2 weeks. I just find it amazing that our 0 men beat their 11 men, no matter how sh*te their 11 were.

Awful for the first goal. Just watched it again. His starting position is good just before the cross is good, he's central about 3 yards out. He sees the cross come in, stays there, and then suddenly retreats to his line and shouts "AWAY!" before seeing the ball get smashed past him. Total abdication of responsibility and a reluctance to claim a cross when it would have been a relatively simple clutch for any keeper worth his salt. Great shot stopper. Nowhere near good enough at commanding his area; let alone his six yard box.

How do you win a game by going AWOL? Its quite a talent to be able to do that.

After all this, you still don't understand it? It's not exactly complex mathematics.

Nice curtains Neil Message to self; Madchester has been and gone, hairstyles have moved on since. Still, compared to the nomark baldies flanking you, you have fine thatch. Just a shame it is so woefully coiffeured.

"The Watcher"'s little green online button is still on. He could be watching any of you..... Come on Neil, come out and say hi. Neil

Christ, you're not even joking. :lol: Being stalked online; feels a bit weird. Hi Neil!!!!!:toppa:

"The Watcher" has gone strangely quiet, since being pulled up on his nonsense. Still online though. Neil

Love the picture too!

Come on. Who are you really? No need to hide behind the faux-Saints identity.

It couldn't be. Could it?! One thing is certain, the awful writing style, grammar and spelling look familiar to your typical Neil Allen piece..