benjii

Maybe those four have been told they don't need to travel to Israel.

So go up A33 at Basingstoke?

Hi Saints fans. How bad is the M3 northbound at the moment? Got to drive to Luton airport (from Soton) for 10:30 on Wednesday. Any tips? Cheers, Benjii

Which bar? So that's four beers for 12 quid? Bargain.

It's not mental, I agree, but it could still be a factor that feeds into rotation.

That's probably not the most sensible train station to go to though. It's further up the line than the others further south in Tel Aviv. Check yourself but that's how it looks anyway.

We should be the better team but the temperature at kick-off will likely be between 25 and 30 degrees with about 50% humidity. It will be a challenge for our players who will have had little time to acclimatise. With another away game three days later I think we need to keep it fresh. I wouldn't be surprised to see 8 or 9 changes to the team really. --------------------------------------------Forster------------------------------------------------ Martina-----------------Yoshdia---------------------------VVD-----------------------Targett --------------------------------------------Reed-------------------------------------------------- --------------------------JWP--------------------------Classie---------------------------------- ------------------Isgrove-------------------Hesketh--------------------------Long--------------- Maybe something like that? Who knows. A win would set us up really nicely for qualification.

He probably booked him for dissent not diving.

One virtue of this system is that players don't need to be too specialised in a particular position to make it work. It's about units and about trusting each other on the ball. Don't need a big target man who can only play central. Don't need a speedy wide man. Don't need a big destroyer in the middle. Don't need a silky number 10. It certainly helps with the rotation. The only really specialised positions are the centre backs and GK.

It's a one hour drive to Beer Sheva from Tel Aviv. No big deal.

Jon Moss is a leveller, f'sure. Toss a coin!

I think part of that car park is free and part is restricted. Evidently it was not clear enough so I would write to them and tell then their signage isn't clear enough and you won't be paying. I did get a ticket there once but I was an EasyGym member and they let me off.

The home fans will be left pondering the meaning of "you skate bastard".

If the bingo bus leaves broadly on time it should be there at least 3 hours before kick off. I've asked the club if it can drop people off at a bar instead of the stadium... let's see! Alternatively, I wonder if it's possible to use the bus to get back to TA if you travel to BS independently.

You seem to want people who have already paid £25 not to get anything in return? That's more of a shafting than people being able to pay £25 to jump the queue. A queue which, as you say, doesn't appear to need to be jumped anyway due to the efforts that the club have gone to in securing extra tickets. All sounds good to me.

Half hoping the driver can be persuaded to do a drop off at a bar, rather than at the stadium!

Giggsi's? It's bloody miles away! Further than the ones near Tue north station that Brasser mentioned. Also, I see on the letter that it says it's a 19:00 kick off which I don't think is correct is it? It's 20:00 right?!

I have been sent a link to a letter by the club, having pestered them. I presume it will be put online soon (if not already). In summary, there IS a free return bus from Tel Aviv!

They have replied recently to someone saying they are "awaiting confirmation". Not the most helpful! I guess that plans for collecting tickets are also dependent on what they sort, if anything, for the bus.

I assume no one has heard anything more about the club bus or about the ticket arrangements?

Hi Rob, I've been looking into airport transfer a bit more. The train is cheap but it's still a 45 min walk or a 15 min taxi, costing approx. £10 from the train stations to the waterfront areas like Ha-Yarkon. And the train stations don't seem to have organised cab ranks. A direct taxi from airport is about 150 Sheqels - £30 or so. Seeing as we are on the same flight and are staying in roughly the same place, if you want to just share a direct taxi from the airport then let me know. Trains run every 30 minutes so that journey could end up taking a lot longer and not actually saving that much cash, compared to sharing a cab.

That's great, thanks!

For clarity, I am not asking if the fans are going to sing some rude songs, I'm asking if there are any parts of town which are best avoided.

It looks like the area around the North Station is about a 45 min walk to the stadium and there are a few bars around there so I guess that's the best bet? It would be useful if the club could confirm: I) if there is a club bus and when and where it drops off; II) where and when tickets need to be collected. Here's a blog with a list of some places: http://vizziy.com/blog/en/bars-in-beer-sheva/ Can any of our Israeli friends confirm if there is anywhere in town that should be avoided? Is there any potential for a hostile reception from some fans?

That feels a bit likely, unfortunately!