benjii

Me too - they're hilarious!

Not sure if I can be bothered really. £24 seems a bit much. It is a nice day though so haven't ruled it out yet.

Great post that some plonkers on here would do well to digest.

I have yet to hear a sensible argument as to why this post isn't spot-on.

I agree completely. That's why I would have no hesitation in making a bold sub quite early ie. half-time, if we're not in the lead and drag off one of the starting CMs. Your team of Wotton at RB with James at CM gives us better passing from the middle but I just can't imagine Wotton offering anything in terms of link up with BWP down the right.

So who are the two better options for the left slots then? Overestimated or not, I don't think we have two better left sided players.

Wotte himself confirmed that we had bids for Surman and Lallana and Swansea went public stating they wanted to sign Dyer. Even if we did get "peanuts" I'm sure it would have covered the £500k we apparently desparately need and it may well have convinced Barclays to relax a little.

That eleven, picked regularly and coached properly would not be anywhere near the bottom three of the Championship IMO.

-------------KD------------- James---Perry--Size---Surman BWP----Euell-----Wotton----Skacel ---------DMcG-----Saga--------- If we aren't winning after a while get Wotton off and stick Smith or Holmes on the wing, moving Skacel behind the front two.

I forgot to mention that we fecked up majorly with respect to not selling any players in January.

This is a valid question. Whatever did or didn't happen, to have to enter administration just a few days after the deadline due to a couple of bounced cheques smacks of a major ****-up by someone.

and Hone. And Saintlee.

I work in the professional services industry. I know what the charges are. I'm not sure what you're talking about here. They don't do 5 minutes work and bill it as an hour. Solicitors typically bill in 6 minute "units" so 1 unit = 1/10th of their hourly rate (although some US firms do take the **** a bit by using 15 minute units). As for the anecdotal story in the Times - they firm isn't named so who knows who it was. Maybe it was one of the two-bit shysters I referred to?

I'e never seen the point of that statistic though. It may be an interesting distraction but is pointless. You don't get any bonus points for having sold out. From a purely commercial view, a sell-out may in fact suggest that your pricing is too low. Losing 5% through the gate but charging the remaining folk 10% more is better for the club. I'm not advocating high prices, I just don't see any point at all in the attendance as a %age of turnover statistic as stadium capacity is not easily altered, nor is it subject to fluctuations, whereas attendance clearly is. Hitting a figure of 100% is not desirable. If you're hitting 100% week in week out, you should be seeking to enlarge your ground or raise prices.

I agree completely. One thing that does strike me as odd though - Bruce Grobbelaar: I may be missing something, but is there not more than a strong whiff that he didn't exactly "give his all" when he was at Saints? Seems odd that he should be involved in something like this.

Yes, I agree.

Don't you remember Scooby?

I think they are in a bit of a pickle because of the FA rules really. They are probably worried about making some sort of public statement that prejudices the case against avoiding the points deduction. It seems rather odd to claim on the one hand that the club is solvent and so no points should be deducted, but on the other that it needs to be gifted £500,000 in the next month to survive. Surely that indicates that it is, unless extraordinary funds are received, unable to pay its debts as they fall due: ie. insolvent. Let's face it - we're going down and we'll get a points penalty. If we get a new buyer then good - a fresh start. I fail to see what difference donations are going to make in the meantime.

I never have, accept for in the apocryphal land of internet/tabloid nonsense. Any solicitor who does that is either a small-time shyster or an idiot. Begbies Traynor are a respected insolvency practice, not a two-bit bunch of rip-off merchants. Yes, they, along with lawyers, might be seen to be expensive but their charges will be fair and proper.

Really? You're referring to attendance as a %age of capcity right? In which case, the "even though" bit is a strange thing to say as it is precisely the reason why the attendance:capacity ratio is low. In terms of average attendance we are comfortably mid-table in the Chamiponship this season.

Seriously?

A match ticket will be about £18 - £20 I would have thought. IMO if you buy a season ticket, you should expect to be paying about £14 or £15 per match on that basis. 15x£23 = £345. On top of that there should probably be some recognition that the fans have had to put up with a lot of **** over the past few years. If we have a points deduction there should also be some further incentive to come along. Therefore, I think prices ranging from about £280 - £340 are fair and realistic. Of course, much will depend on the models of whoever is in charge.

What's that?!

We were in the top 20 clubs in Europe in terms of revenue at one point.

It just doesn't stack up to me. I accept that there is a block vote that Lowe controls that, in reality gives him greater power than a 6% shareholder would have as a result of their own holding. However this can only be done by the continued consent of the other shareholders - I can't believe they would all have wanted to resist an Allen takeover. As to the point about about gaining total control - you only need 75% to effectively obtain total control. SLH PLC is a company with a fragmented shareholding. If PA had done any homework he would know that to sweep in and hoover up 100% of the shares in go would be improbable. If PA was put off by a bit of haggling over the price then: a) he can't have been that bothered in the first place; b) why hasn't he bought a different club in England; c) why didn't he go public and force people's hands? On the point of c) there is no way Lowe and the other cronies could have resisted the swell of public opinion if a hostile offer had been tabled. They would have looked like utter mentalists (even more than usual) and would have been clearly exposed as gravy-train season-ticket holders had this happened. Much more likely that some idiot was taken in by the short-sleeves and tie combo IMO.