spyinthesky

Wonder how many coaches will set off for Wembley on Sunday? Understand 106 coaches were organised by the club for last years League Cup Final plus an unknown number of other privately booked. Guess there will be a fair few less this time round. Also having to leave at 0830hrs and arrive at a soulless and crowded Wembley 3 - 4 hrs before KO is not an inspiring thought

Looks like the club has taken a full allocation Even with subsidised ticket and coach travel, it is optimistic to assume the full allocation will be taken up what with the Swansea game (last Prem game for some while) soon after. Hope I am proved wrong

There were two Ellison coaches outside St Marys yesterday Assumed on was for the Chelsea team and the other was logoed up as Saints team coach I assumed the team had stayed at a Hotel overnight and had been bused in for an early kick off

btw I now realise that Gabby was actually on the pitch yesterday but in line with his recent cameo appearances I didnt actually see him contribute anything so originally assumed he remained on the bench. Gabby seems to be a clone of Saginowski (who remembers him? Impressive in bursts, anonymous the rest of the time!!!)

I have been told by a close contact of one of our first team squad (not subject to a transfer in btw) that his contract allows for a 50% wage reduction on relegation. Hopefully this is correct and covers all players.

Forster £10m Gabbiadini £16m Carrillo £19m Lamina £15m Boufal £15m Redmond £10m Claisie £6m Gardos £5m Shows the 'Black Box' needs a reboot

What's a ....... 'Win'?

The season ticket debate has been discussed elsewhere and I know quite a few season ticket holders are not bothering to renew next year unless something really positive happens and I cant see this happening. I assumed we wouldnt sell out for the semi final but didnt expect the scale of the current shortfall but it is encouraging to note that a top 6 club like Chelsea are currently struggling with ticket sales so it is not just us Hopefully the club will come up with a sensible season ticket pricing package for next season especially for the Under 25's who generally provide the core of the vocal supporter.

Mr Pessimistic here We will lose or draw v Chelsea and Huddersfield will beat Watford making our job extremely difficult Anyone know what the current odds are of the current bottom three being relegated? In comparison I wonder what the odds would have been at the start of the season of Saints, Stoke and WBA going down?

No worries Everyone who wants a ticket will get one!!

Excellent post and sums up the uncertainty about trying to establish player value post relegation. I reckon our current squad cost approx £175m to assemble. However it is difficult to assess 'value' at the end of the season without knowing full details on wages post relegation and interest from other clubs. The likes of Carrillo, Boufal and Gabbiadini are likely to have few suitors at the money we paid

Heard from a decent source that he is one of the few not angling for a move next season and his contract (£48k pw) allows for a 50% reduction on relegation, so hopefully this provision is across the board.

Appreciate this topic has been raised before but early part of the season it could be argued that our squad (minus VVD) could possibly be valued at around the £200m mark based on the inflated values of the premiership, length of contracts, relatively low average age plus throwing purchase price into the mix as a guide. I reckon the combined figure could possibly be down near the £100m mark now, with the Championship beckoning. There is the strong possibility that one or two of our expensive foreign 'stars' eg Carrillo, Boufal, possibly Gabbiadini could be let go for free (like Ramirez,Osvaldo, Delgado etc in the past) to save wages. Hopefully we wont be in the same state as West Brom who's new Chief Executive reckons he is shocked with the parlous state of their finances

Well said, as usual Cant argue with any of this

Interesting that a deputation from Liverpool Supporters Groups, including some who had lost loved ones at Hillsbrough, visited Celtic Park recently to look at their Safe Standing area. By all accounts the consensus was positive. I wonder if this be the start of a softening of attitudes towards the principle? I reckon that 10% of stadium capacity should be made available to those who prefer to stand. A fair proportion already do in any event

I think we will have embarrassing gaps in our end at the game. Presumably the club took the full allocation and is likely to have to pay for the shortfall in revenue. What a difference to last year's EFL final and the 50,000+ turnout for the Johnson Paint final

Undoubtedly some of the more regular players will go either because they are 'saleable' or on big wages that can't be sustained in the Championship (it would be a real problem financially if Uncle Les has not been able to insert relegation clauses into the contracts) There will then be a residue of this years fringe players possibly re-inforced (if that is the right word) by returning loanees (ie Reed, Gallagher and Targett (unless latter sold to Fulham if they go up) and some low cost purchases from Premier League squads (someone like Drew Surman comes to mind) and other loans from home and abroad as spewed out by the knackered Black Box. The worrying thing is that we have played three lower league sides this season and fielded relatively 'strong' teams. Wolves (with a more or less reserve team) comfortably beat us 2-0 at St Marys, then we scraped through at Fulham and Wigan. However if we do actually replace our leaving 'stars' with players offering energy and commitment then possibly we could be in the mix for a play off place. Unfortunately no one seems to know what how the financial side will pan out. Worryingly the new Chief Exec of West Brom reckons the club is in a financial mess despite recording record profits last year The Baggies are Chinese owned and you wonder if there could be a similar problem in store for us. We used to get good financial info from Redslo but he seems to have gone to ground recently

If we dont sell out our allocation does the club have to stump up for the unsold tickets?

I reckon Man City could field their women's team last day of the season and beat us on the basis of our recent performances!!!!!!!!!

I think Puel/Pellegrino were definitely part of the problem but player recruitment (and to some part player development) has been very poor in recent times compared to our successful period The club has wasted money by paying inflated transfer fees, and wages, for players that are wholly unsuited to Premiership (and possibly Championship) football and this has had an adverse affect on the existing players all of whom, apart from McCarthy, have suffered poor form as a consequence.

Also have to remember that West Ham were weakened and lost a player early doors Last three League games versus relegation candidates we were looking to pick up between 7 and 9 points but have not scored a goal and only managed a paltry one point

Dont think there will be any problems getting tickets for this game and we may not actually sell out after recent abysmal performances

Carrillo. Boufal and Gabbiadini cost a reported £50m+ I wonder what they would fetch on the open market this summer? Possibly £20m or would the 'investment' be written off like some of our previous 'stars'

Possibly the problem is that none of the players who turned out against Leicester would get a sniff in the first team We have a relatively large first team squad but rarely do the 'fringe' players turn out for the U 23's which may be a good thing for the development of younger players but not so good for results

MLG Correct I will leave it there