CanadaSaint

Absolutely.

The term which I "(spouted) like some higher learning" (the "You do realize" part) was a direct quote from you! And the irony is that you couldn't even see yourself in it, CB. Ever read Robbie Burns? And No, my point couldn't be applied to most of the clubs you mentioned because they are surrounded by far more nearby competition than we are.

So you dismiss an argument as "bol loc ks" and then cite Man U fans in Guildford as your supporting rationale? And then you dismiss the next argument, by another poster, with more references to Man U fans. "You do realize that" the vast majority of people in our large catchment area don't support Man U, and aren't that committed to any club, don't you? They could be, though, and that gives us a major potential advantage over clubs of supposedly-similar size, which was the point of my post. Will it get us into the CL? I don't know, but at least I'm willing to look up rather than down.

There's one element of "golden opportunity" (because that's what I think we have) that invalidates a lot of the comparisons with clubs of our size - and therefore invalidates the suggestion that our potential is really limited to what the best of them have achieved in recent years. It's our catchment area. Most (if not all) of the so-called comparable clubs are surrounded by nearby competition. With no disrespect intended to Pompey, Bournemouth and even Brighton (honestly!), we are not. Our potential catchment area is one of the best in the country. This means that our 32,000 capacity could quite easily be viably expanded to 40,000 or even 50,000 - if Cortese is able to keep growing the core of the club, including the academy, the way he has. That growth won't happen overnight but gradually, in a planned fashion, and the potential is there to far exceed what some of the quoted comparable clubs have been able to achieve, so I'm damned if my dreams are going to be limited by their negligible success. And that supports the point that Phil is making above - "PLANNING to develop OVER TIME an Income structure that allows you to be Sustainable AND still allow you to pay "Competitive" salaries."

I thought Robinson was going to be an excellent keeper when he was younger but he's never really seemed to reach his potential. I think one of his problems is his weight, which - funnily enough - is a good reason for us to think seriously about signing him. With our fitness and nutrition programmes, he could be our keeper for the next five years. He's three years younger than Kelvin.

Using a nautical analogy for delldays, every time I've seen him he's had the anticipation, acceleration and turning circle of the Queen Mary - the first one. That's Zat Knight, not delldays. Not for me, thanks. Given Knight's 'skill' when in possession, though, BFS might be interested.

Yep, and hopefully Nicola will arrange for him to be wearing a nice watch - like the one Markus didn't buy for himself.

http://videocelts.com/2012/04/blogs/loan-celts/celtic-land-hooiveld-premiership-bonus?

I've put it on the Markus thread.

At the suggestion of Suhari, on the Cortese thread, I think now is a good time and here is a good place for this - the comments made by David Bick at Markus’s memorial service:

I've never really rated him and never really not rated him, but I thought Corky was excellent today. Every time we've put together one of those 24-pass moves, and I've gone back to watch it again, I've usually seen something I missed at the time - that Cork made 4 or 5 of the passes. Nothing spectacular, just very neat and efficient. And he put in a couple of very decent final balls today as well.

He's probably somewhere right now, buying a couple of Swiss watches - one for himself and one for Markus. Brilliant job. Now he's up with the big boys, and I don't think he's going to be out of place at all.

Were any of the family there today?

I hope WHU go up with this squad and their current bank account, because that'll be one of next year's relegation spots locked up.

They can't score too early, though, because WHU will throw everything at them and Leicester aren't good enough to withstand it.

I wasn't blaming Guly - just saying that our shape and balance changed completely when he came on. I think we're actually agreeing that the lack of a right-side option on the bench cost us. It's not Guly's fault that he's not the guy to provide that.

It's a big risk not to put a keeper on the bench - unless one of the outfield players could do the job in a crisis. What did for us yesterday IMO was not having Bart on the bench but failing to have someone there who could keep our balance and blend on the right side. We were all over them when Chappers went off but Guly's arrival changed our shape and balance completely. I'd love to know the story with Puncheon because his versatility makes him an automatic for the bench in my book.

I thought he was absolutely superb for about 3/4 of the game but was seldom the same force after that. I think he took a knock on the edge of the box - left hip if I remember correctly (as it was against Donny) - and then faded away.

I'm struggling to find enough words to express my admiration for Rickie. There are so many dimensions to his game, his temperament is super, he's a great "team guy", and (the Brighton game apart) he plays on despite absorbing a ton of physical abuse that's seldom punished with a free kick. Yep, he's certainly a "dangerous beast" but I can't help but wonder whether we've failed to finish strongly against Pompey, Reading and now 'Boro (all of which we could and IMO should have won) because Rickie hasn't been as much of a factor as he was in the first 75 minutes. I don't think it's his endurance because this is a recent thing - I think he's carrying something.

Those free kick situations are so dangerous - and the modern ball so lively - that I think we need to change our thinking. We're starting to see that happen with some teams. When it's very likely that the guy is going to shoot, we should be putting someone at the post behind the wall - at the opposite end of the goal to the one that Kelvin is choosing to protect in case of the hard-hit shot (rather than the "up and over.") If the shooter can get it high enough that the post defender can't reach it, fair enough. I'd be less worried about playing someone onside than about that shot coming in, and the offside thing is less of a concern anyway if we do it at the last minute. On another topic, does anyone think that Rickie might be playing through an injury? He hasn't finished the last few games very well.

FC, when I said "a comfortable championship" I meant from our great position of just three weeks ago - not the start of the season! And I certainly don't think the side is "gutless", just in case you're suggesting I implied that.

Yeah, I do know that and yes, I have commented on it. But amidst the "spew" there are some valid points. Categorizing everyone as a wet fanny, which is how your comments always seem to come across, doesn't acknowledge the valid points and doesn't do anything other than tick (some) people off. Sure I'm still optimistic but if the pressure-free Coventry close us down quickly and play above themselves next week, my bum isn't just going to be squeaking!

DD, why do you need to resort to such an infantile approach when people – Saints fans, just like you – express concerns about the way the team played or about decisions made or not made by the manager? You took a run at me after I expressed some concerns following the Barnsley game about us not getting the ball forward fast enough – not all the time but some of the time, especially when we are fielding players who need the early ball. That day it was Lee but since then it’s been De Ridder. I said that the weakness didn’t cost us against Barnsley but that it might against better teams. Since then we’ve had lots of the ball but failed to score the key goals in four out of five games – that’s what happens when you take a long time to build attacks. During that vital time we’ve gone 1W, 1D and 3L. In three of those games we’ve conceded open-play goals from the "D" on the edge of the box. It’s basic stuff to defend the D when they have the ball and attack the D when we have it, but we don’t do either very well. What should have been a comfortable championship has become a bum-squeaking fight for second place. Why can’t you accept that people – Saints fans, just like you – can hold valid concerns without deserving to be called “wet fannies”? Why can't you accept that we can like the team and the manager a whole lot, but not be blind to some areas that may need improvement? I have no problem with you disagreeing, especially if you offer a counter view, but the sneering is needless and childish.

That'll be three blue lines then in the last four games.

He's not a shadow of the player he was and I can only think of three possible reasons - League One was his level, things aren't right for him off the pitch, or he struggles to play alongside Jos.