The Kraken

That is true. In his first season with us he was so sharp; and he won pretty much everything that was played up to him. At the time I remember saying that he was the closest thing to an on-form Beattie than we'd had since. Which was why it was a bit mystifying to see that last season he so often looked off the pace, and was nowhere near as dominant (or determined) in the air. Perhaps a proper pre-season can do the trick, I certainly hope so because when he's really on his game he's almost unplayable. But the thing with Lambert is that he provides so much more than just goals. In a way he determines the way we play, in that he acts as the fulcrum of the team. Take him out and as team we would have to adapt massively to his absence; and I believe that overall we would lose a lot more than just the goals he scores. His season won't purely be determined by his goal tally, it's a bit more difficult to measure his overall impact than that. But, especially at this level, it's absolutely vital that we see the Ricky from his first season, and not last season.

It's the long sleeved version that is £47; the short sleeved shirt is £42.

I agree, but I'm pretty sure we were saying exactly the same thing at this point last year; that he might get caught out for pace, and that he wouldn't be able to play twice in one week. Didn't quite happen that way. It's not as if he's massively over the hill, he's 35, and never really relied on pace in any case. With a decent pre-season behind him he may well yet surprise quite a few people. Certainly I think we'd struggle to find anyone as dominant as the big man.

Yep, Sturridge had a fantastic scoring record for Bolton last season, if he does get loaned out he'll be massively in demand from Premier League clubs.

I don't. Schneiderlin has got potential, that's for sure, but IMO what really lets him down is how casual he can be, and so often. He's capable of spraying balls around the park, and of course doing the simple things very efficiently. But far too often he throws in a ridiculously misplaced pass, or gets caught in posession in completely the wrong areas. Highlighted as recently as this pre-season, where a badly misplaced pass led directly to us conceding a goal. I also think he needs a lot of work on his attacking play; again I think he's got potential to score more goals but something's just not quite right when he pushes through into advanced positions. Hustle and bustle or whatever has IMO got nothing to do with it; for a supposed top quality midfielder (for this level) he's just far too prone to making unneccessary mistakes.

OK, back again, and unsurprisingly you've managed to miss my point again. But I'll answer your question anyway. I would expect the club to reserve seats up until July 15th because, as stated by the club: So priority is given to renewals up until 15th July, from when you can buy new tickets. For a minute, just understand what I'm actually saying and see if you disagree with it. My original point on this was that this offer is only detailed on the club's official website, and I suggested that the wording on the OS is not completely clear. And while (if I was choosing to renew) I probably would have assumed the renewal period would end after 14th July, there is aboslutely NOTHING in the club's wording that confirms that; so I'm not surprised to hear that someone has fallen foul of it. Now is that such an unrealistic statement to make? That the terms and conditions could have been made clearer? It's either that, or you believe that the terms and conditions as laid out are perfectly fine and give 100% of detail without the customer having to make any assumptions of their own. The9 has a differing point of view to me on some aspects of this but can at least accept that the wording is "ambigious".

And finally, before i go. Priority is given from those dates over new sales. Does it say that renewals are not available after this date? No.

Again, it really doesn't matter what "every club" does. We are not every club, so it is irrelevant what they do. And there's nothing in the wording about "general sale", so I don't know where you've plucked that one from. Here you go, here's the wording again: Nothing about a general sale. Nothing to say that renewal prices stop on 15th July. A confirmation that renewal sales get priority before new sales begin. A confirmation that new sales begin on 15th July. And nothing to suggest that new sales then take over from renewal sales, and renewal sales are unavailable after this date. I know you'll refuse to admit it, but that's the fact of it. And, thankfully, I'm off out now so won't have to listen to you try to tell me that black is actually white and that I'm wrong.

That's a completely different point altogether though, isn't it? And can you name another club that releases its replica kit for pre-order 20 days before anyone can see it? We're unique in that respect, so it isn't inconceivable to suggest we may be unique in others. The point I'm making has nothing to do with what we've previously done; we've previously done many things, and have changed quite a number of them. The fact is that the terms were not clearly written, which is why I'm unsurprised someone has been caught out.

Technically correct; but it's a bit of a sad state of affairs that the fan base condones and supports a supposed plan to catch out or trick supporters in an effort to extract more money from them for a product that they clearly already want.

As I pointed out yesterday, the initial instructions were actually less than clear. I'm unsurprised that someone has been caught out by it. Here's how it read on the OS: So until today there was actuall nothing in the wording on the OS (the only place where this information was given) to suggest on there that you can't renew after the 14th July and still get the reduced prices. Admittedly, I'd have probably assume that was the case, but it wasn't completely clear according the to the terms of the OS. I have some sympathy with the guy.

If the quality is there in our own ranks then yes, it should be encouraged. Is it there though? We sent Joseph Mills out on loan, and he was one of the better prospects. Gobern very, very rarely got a look in and now has been released. AOC right now is the only one worth a spot. The others may get given their chances, but if they're not up to it there's no harm in taking other good players from clubs.

Given that in recent years Utd have loaned out Gabriel Obertan to Leyton Orient, Danny Welbeck to Preston and Tom Cleverley to Watford and Leicester, its not inconceivable that they will look to offload one of their kids on loan again. Granted, not Macheda or Diouf, but the top sides can be a very good source of loan material. Look at Henri Lansbury also from Arsenal.

I have actually considered that, and am surprised if I'm honest. Of course no-one has any clue how much a marketing campaign would cost the club (and whether the increased revenues would offset the costs involved), but I'm surprised it hasn't at least been tried. It's not as if we're selling out every week. Perhaps its an avenue of promotion that the club just don't believe is cost-effective.

Nice logo! The guy on the right is clearly not a fan, hiding it and trying to suppress his laughter at how bad it is.

This guy looks like he's auditioning for Star Trek.

I've already stated on this thread that I believe that is what the club is trying to do (post 140) so I'm not sure what you're on about now. On this point I was answering Jimmy Gabirel's Halo's assertion that the club are actively encouraging sales by pointing out that, compared to previous years, the club is doing far less external marketing. I'm not sure why you're trying to hijack that point to reinforce a different point I've already made.

Technically that's not external, your name is on the database. In any case, I've had none of those emails (and I'm on the database), so its up for debate how many of those emails are actually getting out there. The club does the complete bare minimum of marketing for the sale of season tickets. There is zero external advertising as far as I can see, and the Echo are far less inclined to market the sale of season tickets as they have been in previous years. I can even remember seeing billboards around the city advertising the club and ticket sales, which I don't see any more.

Can you point me in the direction of any direct external marketing the club have done to sell season tickets please?

That's why I brought it up. I always assumed (and I guess many others have done too) that renewals were only available to today. It would seem from the actual terms on the OS that that may not be the case after all.

On that note; I've just read the actual wording for renewals on the OS. It doesn't specifically state that renewals are only available until today. Here's the wording: "Season Ticket renewals open from friday 1st July with priority given to existing season ticket holders until Thursday 14th July before new sales begin on Friday 15th July over the telephone or at the box office. Sales of all Season Tickets will cease on friday 5th August, on the eve of the new campaign." There's nothing else in the wording to suggest on there that you can't renew after the 14th July.

The only time we'll properly find out is when all of the new season ticket holders are added to the renewal figure; that's where any major increase in numbers is going to be seen. Whether there are many thousands of people waiting to come out of the woodwork for regular Championship football, I don't know, but I get the feelign we'll be around the 15K mark. I guess we'll find out on 6th August what the total numbers are available.

Can I make of it that it's pre-season, and they players don't wear squad numbers yet?

Again, agreed. I think the method I outlined will be the club's approach to sales of STs from here on in. I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it, by the way.

I think that's an exaggeration. If they were being discouraged the price would be much higher; it's still a pretty significant saving getting an ST compared with match by match prices. And as much as there have been complaints on here about getting an ST (parking, showing ID etc), it's still a relatively simple exercise to take advantage of the potential savings on offer. Especially if you're paying up front and not for a concession, which I assume the majority of people will be.