SaintBobby

http://bettingnews.skybet.com/2009/06/keegan-118-to-join-southampton.html

Sorry, if already been posted.... SSN says Keegan was at St. Mary's yesterday, so we're no longer reliant on a grainy photo of him outside Matty's house to establish a connection.

Does anyone actually have any links to any odds on the KK-Saints connection?

Cool, how do I get a season ticket to get my two quid discount?

There's every reason to believe the deal coudl be completed by tomorrow - early next week at the latest. If they need the weekend to tie up some loose ends, so be it. I think the Keegan thing is about 50-50, but Pinnacle completing the takeover is about a 95% shot now. Not quite in the bag, but every reason to be supremely confident.

Looking at your previous posts, I'd hardly say you've been upbeat about the Pinnacle takeover....

Yes, I did. They will basically tell random people phoning up, have done so a few times before. Sometimes I say, "I want to write somethign about it on a Saints website". The usual protocol is that a calling notice or operational note is sent out, usually about 24 hours in advance. Sometimes later in uncertain and fast-moving situations (like this one), but if you're trying to get e.g. live coverage on SSN, you don't want to give too short notice. No such notice has been issued (at least yet).

Press conference at 12.30pm? Not according to the Saints press office. Assume, if it turns out to be false, we can block the muppet who posted this from the list, mods? Even if true, it will just have been a good guess.

Basically, SKY bet think he's about 40% to be the next manager. It's not particularly about being "in the know", those odds will shift enormnously if someone put some money down (and I think you'll find the maximum bet they will take is probably quite samll)

I can't believe there is anyone who is negative about the Keegan possibility. The worst that can be said is that he has occasionally been temperamental. But - look - he is a manager of great quality, and has probably only been omitted from the "who do you want?" polls because it was considered impossible to get him.

I'm frustrated, but not panicking. As others has said, even if 90% of everything was agreed within the first hour, all available time is likely to be used up to sort out the last 10%, 5%, 1%, 0.001% etc. If they only get to 99.999% agreement with minutes to go (because...e.g....they are in dispute about whether the new owners have to honour the £2,000 per annum photocopying contract with Rank Xerox), then I'd imagine they'd just split the difference right at the end rather than call off the whole deal.

I sent this email to David Luker a few weeks ago. I got a pleasant and swift reply, saying he'd raise the issue with the new owners at the appropriate time. Dear David, I wanted to drop you a short note about next season’s ticket prices. I know the whole future of the club remains very uncertain and my thanks go to you and our other staff for continuing to do such an excellent job in such trying circumstances. My thinking for League One, runs something like this: There’s a loyal base of maybe 10,000 fans and if the prices are relatively high, they will be rattling around in a largely empty stadium. Cutting ticket prices to, say, £10 a game might mean high attendances but would mean the “hard core” are spending much LESS on tickets than they are otherwise willing to (I’m probably willing to pay £500 for a season ticket even in League One – but obviously wouldn’t just hand over extra money for the sake of it if the listed price is, say, £250) Because of the club’s diminished league status and the wider prevailing economic environment, the corporate suites are likely to have considerable spare capacity next season. My solution would be to issue “gold season tickets” in addition to standard season tickets. These would retail at about twice the price – say c.£500 rather than c. £250. The principal benefit of “gold membership” would be that for a certain number of games per-season (say, four or five), you could upgrade to the Mike Channon - or one of the other - hospitality suites. The marginal cost to the club of using this spare capacity must be pretty minimal (I’m assuming an average spare capacity of about 200 seats in corporate per game). If, say, 1,000 fans were willing to take out gold membership, this would increase revenues by £250,000 next season. There could be other possible benefits of gold membership too – for example: Advance booking of away tickets (this might be very valuable in League One, given the very limited capacity of many of the stadia – but again costs the club nothing). List of gold members printed in the first programme of the season Special access to other benefits – a “meet the players evening”, chances to win a signed ball/shirt etc. I know you have more immediate worries to concentrate on, but would appreciate any thoughts you may have.

The SMS staff have been - in my experience - absolutely fantastic, from management (like David Luker) through to semi-volunteers. After some bad news for them all, yesterday, I'm totally chuffed for them. We ain't out of the woods, but there's some degree of hope now. I love this club, but the first thing to get right is treating our employees well. Truth is - in very specific terms - I'm presently £400 better off in virtue of not renewing my ST. Much respect to the staff who have had to worry about not paying their mortgages. I think this will turn out well now. But when/if it does, let's pay tribute to the people working at St. Mary's who have shown a loyalty and professionalism under fire that is well beyond the call of duty. Unsung heroes of my beloved club....I salute you.

In these difficult economic times, I'm not sure there are many of our squad who can earn measurably more money elsewhere. I'm intrigued by the idea that if SFC offers new contracts and these are signed and accepted by the League then this is proof that the League accepts the club isn't in administration. I'm no QC - but that strikes me as a potentially strong part of our appeal.

On the Leon Crouch thing. I have been one of his fiercest critics. But if he has bought us soem time, I will actually write him a letter of thanks. Top job.

http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-one/coca-cola-league-1/next-season This seems like ungeneours odds - we're the fourth favourites behind Leeds, Charlton and Norwich.

The 91K. The buckets. The fish and chip shop thing. Leon Crouch's bleeting in corporate hospitality. Laughable. Truly laughable. If it wasn't so pathetically sad...

What a ridiculous headline from the OP. Three things Hitler got right: 1. The trains ran on time 2. Sales of Cyclon B were enhanced. 3. He got his name in the history books. This discussion is the logical (although, monumentally trivial) equivalent of Germans in 1946 arguing who should have been executed in what order at Nuremberg.

I think there may be a strong case for Wilde, Lowe et al to be "struck off" by Companies House. This would disbar them from any and all company directorships. I am trying to seek some legal advice on how such a complaint can be lodged and prosecuted, but am told the case is powerful prima facie (which i think is Latin for "on the bare face of it" :-) ) It would obviously hit these b*stards more than a legal bar on talking sh*t in the Echo.

Sorry to hear this dreadful news. RIP to a Saints fan. Thoughts, condolences and best wishes to his family. God bless you.

Surely, please to God, time to move on. Crouch comes out of this whole thing with a bit more credit than either Lowe or Wilde. But FFS, no German in 1946 spent too much time arguing that Albert Spier was better than Hitler or Goebels. Ok, none of Crouch, Lowe and Wilde are murderous Nazis. But all of them are culpable - through malice, arroagance or incompetence - of overseeing the downfall of Saints. Clear the f*cking decks.

Great coding system :-) No reason why any suppsoed ITK can't use it! Top job!

It strikes me it's actually a business decision, rather than a legal one. If Saints can sell tickets for the All-Star game on May 17th and make explicit that these are being kept in a separate bank account with refundability (which they are), I don't see any serious legal reason why this couldn't be done for season tickets. My guess is that the position is so precarious and unpredictable - and the intentions of any new putative owners so impossible to second guess - that a serious business plan is needed before pricing up tickets. To take three extreme examples: 1. Trillionaire buys the club and wants to reward loyal fans.... 'early bird' renewal is £50. 2. Club is just kept afloat at St. Mary's, Chapel and Kingsland stands closed to cut cost. Cash desperately needed in reduced capacity ground of 15,000...renewal price is £200. 3. New owners hand over the keys to St. Mary's stadium back to Aviva and relocate to Eastleigh's Silverlake Stadium (capacity 3,000)....limited tickets available at £450 each. Not saying, btw, that any of these things will come close to happening, but the variance is enormous even within a range of more plausible outcomes.

To hypo...for posting this...I hate you! I have just pulled myself off the floor with two broken ribs and a hernia due to p*ssing myself laughing so much. The reporter doing the interview deserves a BAFTA for apparently keeping a straight face. Hardly needed to do a Paxman did he? Just stick a microphone in the bloke's face and watch him humiliate himself for the viewers' pleasure. Amongst the true highlights of a wonderful few minutes of television: "There's a press conference tomorrow. Everything at that stage will - to an extent - be revealed." "I was trained by Xerox, many years ago. I'm a business strategist." Mr Jackson then goes on to claim that he has a considerable list of contacts in football. Although the only one he actually names was - many years ago, he thinks - a scout for West Ham. And is now dead. Tantasingly, almost seductively, he opines that "ALL will be revealed". When immediately then asked who is in the constortium he says that "will never be answered". In one of the most horrific misunderstandings of the word "advertising" I have ever seen by any human being, he makes the extraordinary assertion: "Xerox is getting wonderful advertising here..." He then clarifies his skills and expertise - from his humble beginnings - for the grateful audience: "Truth is I've sold photocopiers...but network specialist is more my line. And, you know, business strategist, business development." Finally, to underscore his great knowledge of football - and to show his instinctive understanding of every clubs fanbase, he makes the very valid point: "Doesn't matter if you support Man Utd, you'd rather sit and watch Arsenal" Based on this insight alone, it is hard to understand why the Glazer brothers have not snapped him up on an eight figure salary. PURE COMEDY GOLD!

If the worst came to the worst, I'm sure that Eastleigh would be delighted to groundshare the Silverlake with a phoenix Saints team. Clubs like Eastleigh aren't going to turn down such a spectacularly huge income stream. However, I gather that the highest league that a new Sainst team could enter next season is the Wessex League. This is the equivalent of division nine in the pyramid and is the same level that AFc Wimbledon entered at (they re-staretd in the Combined Counties League). My source for this is a second-hand report of a radio interview with nick Illingsworth.