stevegrant

It's getting there - sorry, it's essentially out of my hands at the moment. Hopefully should have them sorted early next week.

Wouldn't take much, to be fair - I think I'll pass. Are you going to Leeds this year?

I'd also add that he also has very little control over an individual player wanting to leave as was the case with Johnson (although I suspect that transfer had been in negotiation since January or maybe earlier) and possibly Crouch. Point certainly taken about the mass of deadwood that's gone, but it's also deadwood that was useful for covering for injuries. If Crouch is going to Sunderland (who most would have said are direct rivals in terms of league position) for £12m, you're probably going to have to spend at least that amount to replace him and Defoe - unless you've got a very astute manager in situ (or indeed ANY manager at the moment - and yes, I realise we're in an identical situation there ) that's going to be incredibly difficult to achieve. The whole spine of the team from last season has been ripped to bits, Campbell will presumably go elsewhere (arguably the Campbell you signed left around September last season anyway), your main wide threat (Johnson) has already gone, Diarra went in January, Davis has gone, and it now seems pretty much nailed on that pretty much the only goalscorer left at the club is on his way as well. It's going to need major surgery and - much like us - time's running out in which to carry that out. The only plausible alternative is that he sees the utter tripe on display at a number of clubs who are also likely to be fighting the drop next season and takes a bit of a calculated gamble that you'll be able to ride it out for a season with what you've got plus a handful of cheap buys from the money brought in from sales. The one thing that baffles me the most is why - when the stakes are so high in terms of the numbers - Storrie hasn't pulled his finger out and sorted the manager situation out. It's clearly going to do nobody any good, and will more than likely get in the way of the club signing any players so they're actually able to fill the subs bench on the opening day. Even if they give someone a one-year rolling contract so it's not too much to pay off if the new owner wants to appoint someone else, at least it gives a vague impression of some sort of stability.

Why didn't you just let me or Baj do that, seeing as we'll be the ones handling the money? :confused:

Well I think this whole thread is a bit pointless until we've a) got a new address for PayPal payments set up, and b) got some fairly rigid T&Cs sorted. Probably a conversation for MSN...

But you don't know how many people will just stick in a vote and say "I'll give a tenner" and then don't end up sending any money at all. If it's going to work, it will only work by firstly making sure we've actually got enough to cover the cost (if £700+VAT is the "standard" price, the total required will be £805, and that's after PayPal fees). Unless the money comes in, it's all a bit pointless.

Disagree. I would suggest that only those who contribute should be eligible to vote on who the money is spent on.

Also, a bit pointless listing the players "available" right now, IMO. 1. Some of the existing players not on that list might become available if last season's sponsor doesn't renew; 2. Some of the players who are on the list might be taken by someone else before we've got the money together; 3. Some of the players who are on the list might be sold by the time we get the money together; 4. We might make some more signings; 5. We might not get enough money together to cover the cost of one player. Also, as far as I'm aware it's not necessarily a fixed cost for every player - in the past, players who were first-team regulars were more expensive than reserves. And don't forget the price quoted is excluding VAT.

You missed the earlier thread, by the look of it. My idea was: http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=379968&postcount=49

Balmer Tyres at Asda, Chandlers Ford. Probably the only place that will beat them on price in the area is Micheldever, but it's a bit of a trek to get to.

Kumho 18" 225/40, £80 each, best value I could find by some distance. I tried Michelin ones the first time I needed to replace the tyres, £160 a pop and they lasted about 6 months.

I'll be driving to this one, I think.

You may have uncovered a fatal flaw in my cunning plan... Then we potentially have the option to sponsor more than one player, I guess. Any surplus could be given to charity or perhaps buy some corporate tickets and include them in the draw. Pretty sure last season's sponsors get first refusal - I remember when SaintsList used to sponsor a player back in the day, they always used to get asked if they wanted to carry on with the same player.

Might have missed something, but who were you quoting?

The way I see it working is that one drawn winner gets the two tickets to the dinner (i.e. them + 1), and a second drawn winner gets the shirt.

Given that the amount required is variable depending on the player(s) chosen, how about: 1. Contributions are variable, ranging from £1 to a maximum of, say, £50. For every £1 contributed, you get one entry into the draw for the seats at the end of season dinner and the signed shirt. 2. A deadline is set for contributions, after which we then ascertain which players are a) available, and b) affordable within the money received. A poll can then be run for a few days to choose the player(s) sponsored. Thoughts?

Like a rock. I'm surprised Sunderland have offered that much for the player as well - clubs with known financial difficulties are usually easy pickings.

Well he certainly didn't look as though he was at Bournemouth, but that's the only friendly I've managed to get to so far. If we give him a new deal, I think Stern John will be a better bet for top scorer.

A pretty apathetic front line as well

Can't see anyone being given a five-year contract, either, to be honest.

Well he's been batting in the nets, so I still expect him to play some part in this series. I thought he looked in decent nick at Cardiff as well.

Press conference at 11, where he'll announce he's retiring from Test cricket after the Ashes series. No great surprise really.

No. You'll need a separate underground ticket.

Well that's conclusive then...