The Kraken

I think today's game shows just how far we have to go to be challenging at the top end of the table. Lots of pace, invention and creativity throughout both sides. I'm not saying we need wholesale changes, as with the likes of Fonte, Lallana, Chamberlain, Lambert and Guly we have a core of players who could compete up there, plus 2 or 3 others who may also be able to step up to the plate. But I think we definitely need 4 or 5 top players over the summer to move us from a mid-table side to one who can compete for the title. Also, I think today highlights just how important it is to hold onto Chamberlain, if only for one more season. He on one wing and Lallana on the offer are both game-changing players, and with defences much more organised than we've seen this year we're going to need their craft to break down sides.

I'm not sure that's any guarantee; you've effectively just described Michel Platini, who is being groomed by Blatter to be his eventual successor.

By that rationale, are only highly rated comedians allowed to pass criticism on other lesser rated comedians? You don't have to be a comedian to know what is funny. Mike Osman is not funny, and he never has been.

I was particularly referring to the season following relegation; we spent just £90K on Fuller in the close season, but still saw fit to take on Woodward, Clifford and all the expense of the refurbishment of the training facilities. The balance between funding of the playing side and the backroom side just seemed very wrong, and IMO we wasted one year of parachute payments with the ill-fated Woodward scheme. In any case, its water under the bridge. Top 5 here we come.....

They're not altogether dissimilar. The difference is that Cortese seems to recognise that investment is needed both on and off the pitch. Lowe's biggest gamble was investing in the infrastructure (Woodward etc) whilst neglecting the necessary investment in the team.

Strachan interviews were great, but i felt he became a bit of a parody of himself in the end. That said, he did come out with some crackers, such as these two about Claus: "He was carried off at Leicester and someone asked me if he was unconscious. I didn’t have a clue. That’s what he’s always like." and this one, not a quite but... Strachan was on Sky on one Sunday morning(season 2005-06). He saw John Terry's goal and said he was impressed that Terry goes up expecting to score. He contrasted this to Claus Lundekvam the Saints central defender who goes up for every dead ball and never ever looks remotely like scoring. He said if there was a dead body lying in the penalty area the ball would hit it on the head several times a season which he said is more than Lundekvam can manage. He said referees should book Lundekvam for timewasting every time he goes up for a corner. When the co-commentator said if Lundekvam was watching Strachan was only joking. Strachan assured him he was deadly serious.

Agreed. A huge stadium with a running track will never, never work in English football. I'm sceptical to the whole West Ham bid for the stadium. Spuds were at least realistic in that: a) the nation doesn't need a big athletics venue; a revamped Crystal Palace is perfectly adequate. b) an athletics stadium is nothing like a football stadium, so they'll take advantage of the location and transport links, knock down the athletics stadium and build something much more suitable to football instead. I have a feeling that West Ham will live in the stadium for 2 or 3 years before making a massive fuss that athletics and football can't live together, there's no big demand for athletics so they should be allowed to re-model the stadium to fit the footballing market. And when the whole Olympics "sustainability" movement has calmed down and moved on, I think they'll get away with it.

Incorrect. This subject has been discussed at length, in one topic halfway down page 1 and another 12 page topic on page 2. The discussion could quite simply have been carried on there, it really didn't need a brand new thread other than to attention seek on the negativity. And I'll just have to disagree with you that it's a valid point. The club have already said that season ticket information will become available later in the month. And shirts don't usually go on sale this early in the year. So it's a non issue.

Because adding to an existing thread on page 1 and one on pagee 2 doesn't provide court as much attention as starting your own negative one?

Of the clubs you mention, the only one I'd take much notice in terms of comparison would be Wolves. Their plans are split into different phases, but it looks for sure like they'll go from a current capacity of 28,500 up to 36,000. After that their plans are contingent on hitting that capacity over a longer term period, and further plans (to potentially go to 38,000 then 50,000) are not part of this planning application. West Brom will be going from a 26,500 capacity to 30,000. Birmingham, I've only seen talk that they are considering options for either a new ground or re-development of their old main stand, not heard of any definite plans. Hull, I think their stance is more to do with their chairman trying to buy the stadium on the cheap from the council. Without entering into negotitations he's been sounding off in the press suggesting if he can't get the ground for the right price he'll look to build a new 40K stadium; quite how serious that proposal is, is debatable. As for West Ham, their's is a unique situation. Potentially a huge stadium at their disposal, I don't know how much they'll be subject to pay for it but I assume it will well below what a new ground would cost. That said, I still think the running-track factor will prove a massive turn-off, as will the re-location, and if their attendances do go up I just can't it being a huge increase. It could of course have a negative effect on attendance (particularly if they don't gain promotion back to the top league in the next year or two). I still maintain that having a larger stadium is a "nice to have" rather than a necessity to push on in the short term. The sheer amounts of money available from the Premier League from TV money and prize funds, from the Champions League, and from sponsorship mean that the extra amounts available pale into insignificance compared to the extra revenue we could hope to see from an increase in attendance. If we do go for an increase in stadium capacity (which admittedly would be nice to see) I would suggest an extra tier on the Kingsland to provide an extra 8,000 seats and take capacity to 40,000 would be the most prudent step. Anything more than that is unncecessary IMO.

I seem to recall Bridgey giving it a go once or twice when he was with us.

I don't think your criteria for ranking clubs based just on attendances is particularly valid in today's game. The massive amounts on offer in the form of TV money and sponsorship has reduced the need for a huge stadium full up with paying punters. Don't get me wrong, it certainly helps, but you have to consider that Sky pay £50M a year just to clubs for being in the Premier League. Add in TV related bonuses, prize money, Champions League etc and you're probably talking in excess of £100M per year from TV money alone. Now add in sponsorship; Liverpool have just signed a kit deal worth up to £25M per year. That doesn't include sponsorship emblazoned on the shirts themselves; Man United's current deal with AON is worth £20M per year. So that's around an extra £150M per year up for grabs for the most successful sides. Man City have used their owner's money to get themselves into the top 4 very quickly. But now that they are there they have a massive advantage compared to the likes of Spurs and Liverpool in the Champions League money they will receive. Finish up in the top 4 next year at Liverpool/Spurs expense and the gap just becomes much, much wider. With the amount of foreign investment coming in to the league, you have to look well beyond attendances as an indicator of potential for success. The UEFA fair play rules may start to bring it back into line, but I suspect with the amounts at stake the likes of Chelsea and Man City will just find ways around it.

You have to take what Gold & Sullivan with a pinch of salt, they're well renowned gobsh1tes who will peddle all sorts of stories to the press to ingratiate themselves with the fans. That said, their financial situation is without doubt completely dire, as they inherited a complete catastrophe of a club from the Icelandics. Kieron Dyer and Freddie Ljungberg, who started just 32 matches between them over the course of their contracts, cost £34M to the club. Insane. You can bet that the likes of Rob Green, Scott Parker, Can't Control and Robbie Keane will all be on very high wages. But (perhaps apart from Keane) they all have a re-sale value and should be in demand from a Prem club. West Ham's massive problem will be the amount of dross that they have on the books but that still earn 20K, 30K or 40K a week. No club is going to want to take those salaries on board, so West Ham are either faced with the owner's stumping up or shipping them off to other clubs and subsidising their wages. I cannot see Sullivan and Gold sitting by and watching the business impode; I think they will take the decision to get rid of as many of their players as is possible, so a huge fire sale. It could mean severe problems for the 'ammers.

I don't believe the club are "putting off customers". But I do believe they are doing the very bare minimum to drive sales of season tickets. I think the club realise that they simply have to have a certain level of season ticket holders; I don't go along with the assertion by some that the club don't want to sell season tickets. They know that they have to. The club are savvy enough to realise that you need a core support, and the only way to assure that is to sell season tickets. That said, they are doing the bare minimum in marketing season tickets as they want to maximise the amount of customers they can get to pay on an individual basis. The hardcore supporters will buy a season ticket whether it is well marketed or not. The club will then take a gamble that those who they can't/won't convince to buy a ST will end up paying more over the course of the season by purchasing on an individual basis. Whether that has worked or not; who knows?

Have to say that this is actually a very fair point; the idea of offering an installment scheme but at discounted prices really doesn't make commercial sense. Its pretty much a standard practise in various other industries to charge a higher price for paying by installments; just one example would be car or home insurance, whereby you get the benefit of a cheaper price if you pay up front. Paying in installments usually works out around 10%-15% higher.

Whoever comes down from the Prem will be amongst the favourites because of the parachute payments. And the three teams who don't go up via the playoffs will be up there too. So we'll be expected to be around upper to mid-table. Which is fair, if they assume we'll spend some money. I was a little surprised to see Leeds at 20/1, being as they just missed out on the playoffs after a great start to the season.

Quite right. Such a shame they wasted the time they could have had with Lawrie by having Osman butt in with his terrible impressions. It was a bit cringeworthy when they tried to get "Mick McCarthy" (Osman) asking Lawrie questions, and Lawrie had to ask who it was supposed to be. Quite a nice story from Lawrie about a story Alan Ball had told him, and maybe the inspiration for Bally while he was manager with us. Alf Ramsay was a London boy but apparently had had elocution lessons to hide his accent, and spoke extremely prim and proper. During England training he called over Bally and Nobby Stiles to speak to him. AR: So, H'Alan and Nobby. Do you h'own a dog? AB & NS: Erm, yes boss. AR: I see. Now, tell me, do you h'throw a stick for your dog? AB & NS: Erm, yes, sometimes. AR: Good, good. Now, does your dog bring you that stick back? AB & NS (confused, thinks AR has gone mad): Yes boss, yes he does. AR: Excellent. Now that is what I want you to do with the football. When we lose the ball I want you two to go and fetch it and bring it to Bobby Charlton.

I think your memory might be playing tricks on you there; we had a dreadful start to our relegation season. We lost 3 of our first 4 games, and despite beating Blackburn in our second game of the season it took us until mid-November to register our next league win. I'd much, much rather see us come flying out of the blocks from day one. I'm too used to seeing a lacklustre start and then having to play catch up.

Wigan: They're in huge debt already and relegation would mean they would have to consolidate, rather than throw money at a promotion push. West Ham: as above, they are totally screwed financially if they go down, Sullivan & Gold talking about bailing them out to the tune of £40M. Blackpool: Wolves seem to have a bit of money behind them (stadium upgrades in planning) whereas Blackpool would "only" have parachute payments to fall back on.

It was an incredible run, that's for certain. The test will obviously come in whether we can hit the ground running at the start of next season. The season before last (2009/2010) we also had a fantastic second half of the season after a slow start; not in the same class as this season, but impressive nonetheless whereby we took 45 points from the final 22 games. We all know what then happened over the summer. But there are reasons to feel much more optimistic this time round. There is a cohesiveness between the CEO and the manager that was so obvously lacking before, and that also translates to the playing squad who exude a huge sense of togetherness. It sounds like NA has been told he will be backed in the transfer market, and rather than plugging holes like last year we are looking to add quality in certain areas. I really can't remember the last time Saints made a flying start to the season, so here's to NA getting the troops geed up for a proper crack at the title next year.

I hope you're right. What I've heard is that a agreement with Arsenal has already been made. I just hope it includes a loan back to us for the whole season, it would make perfect sense for both parties. With promotion to the Championship it certainly helps our cause in that respect.

Absolutely correct. There is of course a big difference between what we should aim for, and what we think can be realistically achieved. This summer's transfer activity and the makeup of the squad by the end of the summer transfer window will be a huge indicator in setting expectations for the season ahead. At present I think we have a squad that would finish anywhere between 8th and 16th in the Championship. But, as Nigel Adkins alluded to himself, we don't need wholesale changes to make the step up. Most of the current squad can make the step-up to Championship level. The difference will come in the signing of 3 or 4 players who will stand out at that level in the same way that the signings of Lambert, Fonte, Harding, Jaidi (and to a slightly lesser extent Hammond, Barnard, Chaplow and Guly) stood out at League 1 level. Add in the Lallana/AOC factor on the wings and it's certainly a time to feel optimistic.

Far too high IMO. Previously in the Prem we averaged around 30K. Full houses against the top sides, but often 27-30K against the lesser lights. That seems a pretty good benchmark to use. Against the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham I could see us selling 40K, so long we were performing fairly well i.e. mid table. Any more than this is unrealistic unless we sell around double the allocation to the away side, so around 8,000 tickets. Against sides like Everton, Newcastle, and Villa we'd do well to sell 35K. And against the rest 30K would be a decent turnout. The amount of additional revenue available from extra seating is miniscule compared to the amounts given out in TV rights. It's debatable whether extra seats would bring us any more than £3 or £4 million per year. TV rights for the top sides are not too far away from £100 million annually, which kind of puts it into perspective. With that in mind and, given that we already have a decent sized stadium as it is (and that just extending St. Mary's to 40K would cost around £25 million) I don't see stadium expansion as a viable business case. If significant investment were put into the team to enable us to consistently finish top 8 or above then maybe, but without that I think we're fine with what we have. I can't imagine anyting worse than having a 50,000 seat stadium and only half filling it for many games.

Our league attendances this season make some pretty impressive reading. After 22 home league games our average attendance is 21,729. Our total attendance over the course of the season is 478,042. Saturday's sell out means that we will exceed half a million on Saturday. Also, a crowd of around 30K will mean our average attendance for the season will rise above 22,000. On three occasions in the league our attendance has exceeded 25,000 (against Bournemouth - 26289, Brighton - 26237 and Carlisle - 25076). In only 5 league games has our attendance dropped below 20,000. The highest attendance of the season came in the FA Cup game against Man Utd - 28792. Here's looking forward to seeing those numbers continue to increase next year.

Full squad: GOALKEEPERS Frankie Fielding (Blackburn Rovers), Scott Loach (Watford), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough), Alex McCarthy (Reading), DEFENDERS Joe Bennett (Middlesbrough), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Michael Mancienne (Wolverhampton Wanderers - loan from Chelsea), Ben Mee (Leicester City - loan from Manchester City), Kyle Naughton (Leicester City - loan from Tottenham), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), James Tomkins (West Ham United), Kieran Trippier (Barnsley - loan from Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Aston Villa - loan from Tottenham Hotspur), MIDFIELDERS Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa), Jack Cork (Burnley - loan from Chelsea), Tom Cleverley (Wigan Athletic - loan from Man Utd), Mark Davies (Bolton Wanderers), Adam Hammill (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jordan Henderson (Sunderland), Jonathan Howson (Leeds United), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Henri Lansbury (Norwich City - loan from Arsenal), Josh McEachran (Chelsea), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton Wanderers), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) FORWARDS Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Nathan Delfouneso (Burnley - loan from Aston Villa), Gary Hooper (Celtic), Jay Rodriguez (Burnley), Freddie Sears (West Ham United), Daniel Sturridge (Bolton Wanderers - loan from Chelsea), James Vaughan (Crystal Palace - loan from Everton), Danny Welbeck (Sunderland - loan from Man Utd), Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town). Ex-Saints Jack Cork and Adam Hamill also in the squad. This is of course just the provisional squad and will be cut to 23 players by 1st June.