The Kraken

Richardson was not out of contract; we paid a fee "believed to be in the region of £450,000". Dickson went to tribunal.

Driving distance, Plymouth to Swindon: 159.5 miles. Driving distance, Southampton to Nottingham: 166.5 miles. I suppose those 7 miles make all the difference.

I actually thought it was more like £3K per additional seat, so even less value for money. I think we can add 4,000 seats above each of the Chapel and Northam stands, and 8,000 above the Kingsland, so we could potentially have a 48,000 seater stadium. That is way, way too big as far as I can make out. No doubt against the likes of Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Man City we'd likely get towards 40K without too much problem. I can remember, even as a member, how difficult it was to get tickets to these games. The amount of away tiickets on offer could also potentially increase (though I don't think you have to give any more than 3,200 by premier League rules) so perhaps, if we were doing ok, we might nudge on up towards the capacity once in a while. That said, games against the likes of Blackpool, Wolves, Blackburn, Fulham, Birmingham, Wigan etc etc are just never going to get too much beyind the 30K we used to average before, so we'd have a stadium that was near on half empty for most of our games.

Your maths are wrong in the Dagenham write up. That record is 20 points from 10 games, 2 points per game.

I think he's a brilliant striker. Maybe the best at the club. But what I don't think anyone else has picked up on, is that it's likely he'll be back in the treatment room soon enough.

Fair enough. I think the digs at Shrewsbury were petty and unnecessary; there were many other ways that the article could have been written in order to express the story of prices etc, but the club chose a deliberately aggressive, patronising and ultimately offensive posture. And I think Shrewsbury's reaction to it was pretty much spot on, being how far we've fallen we'd do well to publicly show a bit more humility. I don't disagree with us fighting our corner for ticket prices; but then I don't disagree with Shrewsbury's right to attempt to maximise profits, it's what pretty much all lower league clubs will do. I just think the tone of the article smacked of brinkmanship and, ultimately, pettiness.

Being as the story still appears on our website after all the publicity it received, I think it's fair to say that whether he wrote it or not Cortese sees it as fair comment and is happy for the club to stand by the sentiments expressed.

OK, maybe I'm being harsh on him. Like I said, while he's been steady I don't think he's set the world alight. But then again he's a full back, so I shouldn't expect so much.

Warnock also used to play Clint Hill as a left back, as he preferred a solid, defensive first back line. We now look to play with width and get the full backs up in support of the midfielders.

With Butterfield I'm largely going off what I was told by a few mates who support Palace; that he'll do a decent job at this level, could probably still do a job at Championship level, but was more of a utility man than a really good first choice. As steady as he's been, I haven't seen too much to differ from that view. I think the answer to the question is maybe formed from what we want to achieve in the Championship. If its just to play in the league and survive, then yes I think most of our players are up to that. However, if we want to push for promotion then I believe we would need quite a few new faces. A lot of of players would be good for backup but I think we'd need better to achieve promotion. In any case, we're well ahead of ourselves!

Butterfield like I say is a utlity player; Palace would normally have had Nathaniel Cline at right back. And as for Chaplow, the Preston fans were absolutely delighted to get rid of him, so not sure we can say he was comfortable. I personally think he is good enough, but clearly he'd need to prove himself.

I think people would be surprised how many players would struggle at Championship level. Goalies I'd have KD, not seen nearly enough of Bart to comment either way; it's telling that no other club has shown significant interest. Defenders Fonte and Harding definitely. Seaborne, not so sure but still has time to improve. Martin, definitely one for the future. Not seen enough of Dickson to say either way, same with Richardson. Mills is doing a decent job so far and I was surprised we got Dickson in and let him go. Butterfield could do a stand-in job but probably nopt good enough for a top end Championship side. Midfielders Here I think we'd struggle, and for ta op end side only Lallana could justify a starting berth. Puncheon is struggling at this level, Chamberlain is young and will definitely be worth a go but not immediately as a starter. I don't think Hammond is up to a starting position in the division above, Chaplow perhaps the same. Morgan perhaps but he has plenty to prove. Strikers Rickie on form, definitely. Guly, not seen enough of but there's potential there for sure. Barney, maybe but worth a go.

Thank heavens you're here to liven things up with your witty and humourous invective.

I very much like this kit, but I hope it is just for this season. I'm really glad we have it just for this season, and I think it looks great, but I hope we get back to stripes next season.

Gareth Bale was given 4 or 5 days off last week, which he used to return to Wales to see his family, play a bit of golf and recurperate. Nothing sinister in it IMO.

Or maybe he is just being given a break for fitness reasons; a 3 or 4 day trip away to recharge the batteries. It's not exactly unprecedented, so I'll choose not to look too much into it (especially as Fonte has looked sharper and keener in recent games).

Yes, its exactly like that conversation. Great analogy.

Like I say, I've been to 7 games this season. I don't for one minute think my status as a fan is much higher than someone else who has only been to six or less games. Have I been to more games? Yes. Is that showing more loyalty? Yes, perhaps. Does it in any way make me a "better" fan? No, of course not.

Nothing wrong with it; I just disagree with it. But then I've only been to 7 games this season, so I'm not a very good fan. Someone who's been to 8 or more games will be along to put me straight soon.

You rank fans? Odd. A Saints fan is a Saints fan; it's not something you earn.

It's got nothing to do with loyalty; its that your "standing as a fan" is dictated by the number of times you go through the turnstiles. Typical uber-fan nonsense, trying to justify his opinion as more important than others.

Well, according to Nick Illingsworth on his site (and as I'm sure he'll soon be bleating to the Echo), those who aren't going to this game aren't proper fans.

No. Leftback regularly gets things right.

You do realise that the majority of fans don't go to every game? It's natural that people will pick and choose the games they want to go to, and this one will come low on the radar for many. Add in the fact that 2 of the stands will be closed, and it's not exactly an appealing way to spend a lot of money (the £15 ticket price is just a starting point for costs). If people don't want to go, fair enough, that#s entirely their right. I don't think it's anyone's place to second guess them and criticise them for it.

Or you could just choose to ignore the parts of opinion and focus solely on the facts? Cortese is a big boy and I'm sure is not bothered about what a collection of anonymous loonies are writing about him on an internet forum. And most people are able to see through the invective without having to launch to his immedaite defence. Just ignore the agenda and look only at the facts.