The Kraken

Overseas training camp announced. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2082520,00.html

I wouldn't pay too much attention; Lallana is down as a striker and they even list Pulis as a footballer, so not 100% accurate....

I haven't seen it in the public domain but I believe a figure of around £13M was being hawked around at the time.

Maybe we should go the Pompey route and get Mark Fry and Rupert Lowe back to fly off to far flung locations to sort out our transfer dealings

That's all well and good, but as has been pointed out many times, the only position we are deficient in is at right back. And even Harding could fill in there temporarily. There is a massive difference between this season and previous seasons, especially last. We already have the nucleus of a very good team in place; we are simply lacking depth in some areas. Rather than signing backup players, I believe we will be looking for players better than we have already, with some of the current first teamers becoming squad players. That doesn't happen overnight but I have every faith it will happen before the start of the season. Crying about it hysterically because it hasn't already happened is a bit ridiculous, IMO.

Antonio is definitely a signing I'd like to see back. With Lallana and Puncheon he'd be on the bench for the most part, but he's a very good impact player to have and offers something the others don't in his raw, blistering pace (plus a good long throw). I think Reading will be looking to a promotion push of their own and I'm not sure he's good enough for high-end Championship just yet, but for us he could be a very good asset (and fairly cheap too). Hopefully we're close to sorting out a deal one way or the other, though I imagine Reading will want to play hard-ball which could very well explain a delay in signing him.

Please point me in the direction of those saying that we don't need any new players.

They clearly don't think that though, that's just you trying to polarise opinion to make an argument. Most people on here can accept that transfers don't happen overnight but understand that the club have probably been in negotiations with any number of players up to now, and will continue to do so until they get the right players in. Just because it doesn't get leaked in the press, it doesn't mean the club isn't being active in recruitment. You seem have to made a very reactionary thread on a complete "what if" worse-than-worst case scenario. We all know we need new players. We would all like them signed asap. However, most can see that, if by waiting an extra week or two we find the "right" player, then its the right thing to do. Like I said, if by August we haven't made more signings then I will start to get worried, especially if one or two do leave. But until then I'm happy to have faith that AP and the club are sourcing everything they need for the season ahead.

Again, you're taking the gelling argument out of context. We had a wholesale change of team last year, look at the team we kicked off with a compare it to the team we scored our first win with. This year we already have a gelled nucleus of a very good side. We obviously need a new right back to plug that hole, but other signings will be made to strengthen and reinforce other positions on the pitch where we are already strong.

Some of the money did indeed go to running the club (the DMG money I recall was the vital lifeline we needed while Mickey Fiasco kept kicking tyres). However, I don't think that all of the £3M would have been spent (Surman was sold on July 1st to Wolves, ML's buyout was completed on 8th July). In any case the transfers would surely have had an effect on either the price of the club to ML or the need to apportion working capital back (i.e. transfer funds received) back into the depleted playing squad.

Incorrect; by all acounts we signed a first-choice left back. Anyway, I know you love a good tantrum, but your "gelling" argument from last year has to be taken in context with when the players were actually signed. From Soccerbase.com.... Dan Harding, 21 July 2009 Rickie Lambert, 11 August 2009 Dean Hammond, 20 August 2009 Radhi Jaidi, 3 September 2009 Add in the loanees... Jacob Melliss, 14 August 2009 Neal trotman, 19 August 2009 Pap Waigo, 1 September 2009 Michail Antonio, 5 October 2009 So last season we signed just 1 player before the start of the season. We had already matched that by the start of July. I'll start to get worried if by the start of August we haven't signed at least 3 more players; making a fuss of it before then is just foot-stamping nonsense.

Really?

I think 3 to 4 weeks is plenty of time to sort out the 4 or 5 transfers we probably need, actually.

I'm not sure I agree with your first point. I'm speaking purely my opinion as someone who over the years has been to anywhere between 5 and 15 home games a season, but prices this year are roughly the same as last year (give or take a quid or two plus the infernal booking tax, of course). However, I don't think the price change will deter that many fans from coming, so long as the team are performing and we're in one of the top two league places. Sure, there will be the odd midweeek game or two that will have lower attendances but in the main I really think we'll see significantly increased gates from last year. Ticket booking fees will be circumvented either by more people popping to the ground after work or buying tickets in bulk so to spread the cost. There will be some, of course, who won't go because of cost but I think this number will be significantly outnumbered by those who want to be part of a promotion push. Of course, if the team aren't performing, I expect lower gates than last year and some proper fan unrest. I very much agree with your point that we haven't spent too much over revenue, and have actually always said this. When we bought Lambert, Hammond etc at the start of the season it was conveniently forgotten by the "in NC we trust" brigade that just 1 or 2 months prior to those purchases we had just sold £3m worth of talent (Surman, McGoldrick, Rasiak et al) from what was already a below average squad. Add in the FA Cup full house and TV rights from the Pompey game, plus the Wembley final (an attendance of nearly 74,000 would have netted us at least £1M in ticket sales alone), plus various other high gates (MK Dons semi final etc) and our revenues would have been well up from the budgeted figures, hence we could shell out for Fonte and Barnyard in the New Year. It will be interesting to see how this all ends up. Cortese could very easily end up with egg all over his face. Then again, if we're top of the league and crowds are in the mid to high twenty thousands, he'll look like a genius. Only time will tell, but one thing is sure; the PR surrounding all this has been an inexcusable, unmitigated disaster.

Being as the club haven't yet released details of the membership scheme, is it not a bit premature for this level of reasoning?

Joking aside, I was quite surprised about how many basic areas of the highway code I had forgotten. I passed my test in 1991 and hadn't even looked at a copy of the highway code since. But they do a multiple choice test on it and I think I only got about 60% right, which is quite shocking really. The highest score in the room got 80%, and they weren't all that difficult questions. Just shows how much you forget/disregard once you get your licence. The course focussing on your responsibility as a driver to better recognise changing road conditions, then reinforces it with stats and various other information on why many 40mph areas are being downgraded to 30mph. At the end I did feel a bit preached to, but it was worth it to get a much better appreciation of using the road. EDIT: I also meant to say, the course isn't just compulsory upon getting clocked speeding. Mine had two yound lads who had recently passed their tests and had chosen to do it for the extra training.

Not according to the Speed Awareness coure I took last year. There has to be a minimum number (I can't recall how many) of major accidents before a fixed speed camera can be installed. The mobile ones, however, are much less rigid in the requirements. I have to say, the course is well worth anyone's time to do. I did it because I was caught doing 36 in a 30 zone, which prior to the course I would (and did) find utterly ridiculous. However, I was definitely convinced by what they had to say, and it really makes you take a really good look at yourself on the roads.

This is a very good post (apart from the stripes bit...) I really don't have too much problem with the price hikes. Ok, the ticket tax is a bit overpriced at £3 but I can understand the principle of it. And I would expect our tickets and season tickets to be towards the higher end for the division as we're npw expecting top end signings, and they've got to be paid for. What I think is inexcusable though is how the club have just decided to cease their engagement with the supporters and adopt a like-it-or-lump-it attitude. It really would have taken a minimal effort of forethought and communication to avert the issues surrounding the removal of the half-season tickets and installment plan, and the fact that the club have still chosen not to speak out about their reasons for doing this is a concern for me. Yes, I'm sure these are all business decisions being made for the good of the club, but alienating some of your most loyal customer doesn't seem to be the best way to do business to me.

It's amazing how a kit can polarise opinion so much; thankfully the majority of fans seem to love it. I've bought mine and worn it a few times for 5 a side, and I really like it. One of the lads I play with is a Pompey fan and even he has admitted how much of a good kit is.

What a ridiculous question. But if you want to take that much of a simplistic approach, here's a couple of bullet points for you. About 2/3 of accidents in which people are killed or seriously injured happen on roads where the speed limit is 30mph or less. At 35mph you are twice as likely to kill someone as you are at 30mph. Speed limits are there for a good reason and they're set by a group of people who, quite frankly, have a much better idea of road safety than most drivers.

That's a hugely ignorant comment by the way; there's enough adverts and information out there to recognise the differences between an accident at 30 and 40 mph. But then you could always try that approach with the judge

I'll answer your questions, even though I agree that Cortese is being too ruthless in trying to extract every last penny from the paying customer. Installment plan; unerstandable to scrap it in its previous form as the club were losing money from it for no real gain. The argument whether they should offer an alternative has been done to death so I won't revsiit that, but my point of lack of notice stands; if they'd announced the scrapping of the plan months before this isn't an issue. Tciket tax: I think its perfectly understandable to have a ticket tax separate to the cost of the ticket so that the booking process is transparent. that said, it needs to be reflective of the actual cost, and £3 is too high IMO. Half season tickets: like I said, I can't fathom it out, not sure if I agree with your reasoning that they don't want ST holders but you may be proved right, we'll see. And I agree with your last point.

Scrapping of installment plan: understandable to get rid of the plan, but unforgivable to not give enough notice for fans to prepare other payment options. Ticket tax: understandable to charge a fee rather than add on to ticket prices, but £3 seems way over the odds of the actual costs involved. Lack of half-season tickets: really can't fathom this one. Lack of ST holder priority for Bournemouth game: a bit daft by the club, no real reason not to do this and a bit of a kick in the bawls for ST holders. It'll be interesting to see what the approach is for more major cup games, if its general sale for all then I think its a bit of a worry. Lack of clear communication from the club: this is a definite area of concern for me. The club absolutely has the right to change its working practises as it sees fit, but to score a series of potential own goals along the way without clearly defining matters to the customers seems a bit odd. As has been stated, all of the issues above are relatively small on their own but when added up together it begins a slightly worrying trend. And one that could easily be avoided if the club would just live up to their promises of engaging with the supporters.

Any number of reasons. But last season had he left he would have done so to become number 2 to Rob Green and therefore have little or no prospect of first team football. If he were to get an offer this time round as first choice keeper at a Prem club it would be very difficult to turn that down this late in his career. Anyway, this is all just idle speculation (for now).

Greed is good.