spyinthesky

Anyone got an idea on how season ticket sales are going? I reckon at least 10% down on last year with very few new uptakes Hope I am spectacularly wrong but can see crowds averaging less than 30,000 for first time in our Prem history at SMS

My 50+ years supporting Saints takes its toll. The disparity between the top 6 and the rest increases. Saints will struggle, unless a 12+ goal a season player is found. The U21's lose on penalties to Pompey in the Checkatrade Trophy and there is an open top bus parade on Southsea Common Harry Redknapp gets his long awaited knighthood after a continuing campaign by the Pompey News. Average home crowds at SMS fall below 30,000 for the first time in recent history. Donald Trump is Impeached and takes over from Ralph as the main spokesman for the club. Ralph leaves to become the main trade negotiator for the Dominion of Canada

I think this is a valid point However if you compare the overall transfer in costs of both squads and the annual outlay on wages, I reckon there would be quite a difference and that should show itself in the overall quality Saints should have to offer. It is pertinent to factor in the likelihood that Derby were a week advanced in their training and more up for a home game against higher league opponents but this really does not excuse the disparity in performance between the two sides. When I used to play we always wanted to put in a decent performance whatever the circumstances. That didnt seem to happen yesterday and this is worrying for the future

So that is £37m ish in transfer fees 'wasted' although you could say that Boufal earned us 2 points with his goal v WBA. I suppose we will get reasonable loan fees for both players and most/all of their wages paid by the two clubs On the surface though two abysmal signings

Didnt we sign a highly rated youngster from Dundee last year Whatever happened to him?

I agree £67 m for VVD (Ie £75m less 10% sell on to Celtic) £11m for Tadic £78m £19m for the wonderfully successful Argie CF £18m for our new Danish CH £16m for our Norwegian/Moroccan Winger £10m for our new reserve goalie £7m for Armstong £70m Allow for Vat, Transfer Levy, Signing on and Agent Fees etc etc and we are just about spent up. Like last year we remain short of a 10+ goal a year striker!!

Just received notice from the club that season Ticket holders have until 9th July to claim their free tickets for the Ceta Vigo/BMG games. Presume only certain parts of the ground are open? Also not much time to claim before the deadline. 4 of the 6 in our group are currently away on holiday and may not be aware of the deadline so will possibly miss out

Maya is 100% committed and a very good team player. He had a decent game last night. That said he is not dominant in the air (as we all know) and struggles against big, powerful players and lost Lukaku a couple of times in the air which could easily have counted against Japan although he wasn't alone in this against a big Belgian side

Think the Huddersfield Examiner link should become a 'sticky' for the majority of us who have very little idea how much it costs a club to bring in players and assume a £70m reported sale provides the net amount available to spend

Good news and hopefully he will progress with the good form displayed at the end of the season Another £1m pa in wages though?

Appreciate that this topic has been raised before but wonder if it is time for an update bearing in mind the rapidly increasing 'value' of players. As an example the Liverpool Echo has recently run a piece on the perceived value of the Everton squad which is estimated at £495 million Wonderfully optimistic for a team that was pretty average last season or a realistic assessment of what you have to pay in the marker place?? May somehow explain why we had to pay £19m for a distinctly average Monaco reserve striker

Apparently 4 year deal at £40k a week, ie double his weekly wedge at Celtic Hope he turns out a good 'un (the Celtic fans views are divided) and he keeps injury free

Anyone been? Went today but it was fairly empty I thought the presentation was OK and brought back a few memories. However there was reference to our rivalry with Pompey which perpetuated the myth of the non existent Dock Strike caused by the mysterious S.C.U.M union. I thought the organisers would not have been taken in by this 'Fake News'. Also talking to one of the ladies who works there, the Museum gets busy on a Monday when German cruise passengers from the Aida Cruise Line take advantage of a free shuttle bus service which drops off at the Sea City Museum and the ticket price for the Titanic exhibition includes entry to the Saints display. Perhaps we will gain some German fans as a consequence of this

Nice one!!

Anyone know any detail about the future of the gasometer site? Presumably the two structures are no longer operational and wonder if our new owners might be looking at acquiring the site for incorporation into the stadium footprint or for redevelopment. Latter came to mind after visiting the Kings Cross/St Pancras area recently where two old gasometers have been turned into quite trendy, and presumably expensive, circular accommodation

Sue Me too. I wonder how the sales are going? I reckon quite slow

Celebrating winning the Cup Looking to build a very expensive new stadium, replace current Manager and invest in new players? Wonder if the recent news about the owner having problems getting a new visa is just paper trail delay or something more significant which could affect the flow of funds into the club?

Interesting figures regarding the cost of relegation

Games on TV 16 £19.6m Place Money £8.0m (would have been £9.9m if Man City hadnt scored in 93rd minute) Equal Share £82.0m Total Revenue £109.6m Compare Man Utd £153.6m Liverpool £149.6m Burnley £122.3m Leicester (9th) £120.8m B'mouth £113.6m Brighton £110.0m Huddersfield £104.5m So we probably lost £10m in revenue from not finishing in a position we aspire to BUT managed to maintain revenue stream next season versus a season (or several) in the lower league(s)

I suppose everyone will be tuned in to Radio Solent this week as they are doing a 10 year reflection on Pompey's FA Cup win. All down hill from there though!!

Did we really pay £3.5m for Alex McCarthy? I thought Alex came on a free as a third choice at Crystal Palace

According to an article in today's Sunday Times, taken from the book 'Football Leaks', VVD is on £124,658 per week at Liverpool He received a £6m signing on fee and gets a further 'Loyalty Bonus' of £5m plus another £4m if he completes 150 games plus £250k if Liverpool manage 15 clean sheets after he signed for them. This is relatively small beer compared to some other deals Agents have been able to screw out of our big spending clubs,. For example, 29 year old Alexis Sanchez was paid a £6.7m signing on fee and gets £20.35m a year in salary PLU £750k every time he STARTS a game. It is no wonder we cant keep star players when faced with such largesse and makes me realise what challenges management of smaller clubs have to contend with.

A recent report by 'Brand Directory' indicates that Saints are now rated 45th in Football's Most Valuable Brand League Table, down from 19th last year Valuation is now $132m down from $281m There are a number of other commercial 'value' measurements in the report. We sit well below Bournemouth in the table!!! For most of us this all means very little but perhaps sponsors and the like take all this stuff into consideration. Wasn't Ralph supposed to be responsible for improving our commercial presence/revenue? No bonus for you Ralphie boy!!!!!!

If I was Mark Hughes I would be playing it very tight from the off, allowing plenty of time to take throw ins and goalkicks etc and trying to keep the score down until the last quarter, a bit like Wigan did, albeit against 10 men. My nightmare is having a player sent off early doors and being 3-0 or 4-0 down at half time with Swansea a couple or three goals up. Dont think I could bear the second half. Still fair play to Swansea if they were able to turn it round but serious questions would have to be asked a la Bruce Grobelaar v Spurs and the Wimbledon keeper in their last game at Everton several years ago.