dellboypete

Why not - try and emulate WBA and Everton this season. Although wba have fallen away they were up there until the New Year and had they had a slightly stronger squad (and better manager?) they could have still been in with a shout. I didn't rate them at the beginning of the season, and tbh still don't, but they did well for a long period.

Our local had half price food and half price on St George related beers such as Bombardier and St Georges (Cottage Brewing) yesterday - so my lovely wife and I spent the early evening there celebrating. I can confirm that the food was excellent value for money and that the beer was served at the perfect temperature and beautifully kept.

Last night at Man C v Wigan the crowd was officially over 47,000 (capacity 48000) - the highlights on sky last night suggested there were a lot of empty seats and in my paper this morning it said "there were an alarming number of empty seats".

Ha ha!! I forgot I got you a ticket for that one Eric!! So it was packed because they all knew EoA was going to be present!! How's life?

There have been loads of comments on other threads about needing to increase the capacity of SMS, but I have often wondered what the actual attendances at league games really are (and not just SMS). You often see massive areas of empty seats at old trafford, emirates etc when the official figure is close to capacity. So how close are published attendances to the actual number of people in the ground? There was an article in the Guardian a few days ago (apologies if already posted on here somewhere) http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/12/manchester-united-attendances-police-figures which highlights the big differences between the published and actual attendances at old trafford. For example when we played there earlier this season the official attendance was 75,600, but manchester police state that only 59,766 were in the ground. Obviously clubs assume ( and I also assume SFC do too) that all ST holders attend all games which isn't the case. My daughter went to that game and when I commented that it was probably the biggest league crowd she had ever been in, her comment was that there were loads of empty seats all round the ground and that it was nowhere near capacity - cleared confirmed in the above article. I wonder how close the official and actual at SMS are this season? I'm sure somebody on here is in the know. A number of years ago good friend of mine was club secretary for an old second division team (now in the the prem by the way) who regularly understated their official attendance by a couple of thousand to evade tax etc - which was possible then, as most takings were cash at the turnstile.

Very Happy to say that my B in L and nephew did go so big apologies all round

in Rio listening on ipad mini!!

Feeling very guilty about this match. On holiday at the moment and lent both our st's to my brother in law and nephew but unfortunately ly they haven't used them for either chelsea or west Ham. What a waste.

On now Lifes story basically - just got as far as signing for Saints

He was midfield when we attacked as he couldn't keep up with play and a striker when we were defending as he couldn't get back quick enough!! What a legend - I still talk about him to anyone vaguely interested in football

compared to some other prem figures released this week - eg qpr = they are "sensational" - ok then - very encouraging

Just been looking at the stats on football365 Form for the last 5 home games puts Norwich 14th overall but have only got 6pts (W1 D3 L1) with an overall goal diff of 0 http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/PR/hform.html Last 5 away games Saints are 11th (must be some v poor away sides in the prem!!) with 5pts and W1 D2 L2 with an overall goal diff of -2 http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/PR/aform.html Points to a low score draw - which I would happily take at the moment Their run in stats predict we'll finish 16th based on both season and recent form - I'll take that too http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/PR/runin.html

Read this article by Patrick Barclay the Evening Standard on the train home last night http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/sport-comment/patrick-barclay-sad-story-of-the-prince-and-the-paupers-8504516.html I generally think he is an excellent writer, but I don't always agree with all he says - in this case he is mostly correct. Here's the first bit.....

'76 - What a year - graduated, got married, hottest summer on record and there is some other unforgettable event that happened but seems to have slipped my mind!! :)

any spare seats around the pool pete?

Impressed if sold out. Sadly in semi-hospitality as our best friends are from Newcastle (wilds of Northumbria actually) and they insisted on treating us to the "best seats". Fortunately managed to get a iticket for my daughter but honestly didn't think it would sell out.

here's a bit more of the article - with golas from shots on target - and we are 5th We also asked Opta to give us the data for the other end of the pitch to see how many shots on target are converted into goals by each team. Manchester United have the best record in this respect with more than 41% of their efforts on goal hitting the back of the net. That contrasts heavily with QPR, who have scored with less than 19% of their shots on target. Team Scored Shots on Target % shots on target conceded Manchester United 62 151 41.1% Reading 84 33 39.3% Chelsea 55 144 38.2% Arsenal 50 141 35.5% Southampton 36 103 35.0% West Brom 34 100 34.0% Stoke 26 81 32.1% Liverpool 44 139 31.7% Swansea 38 124 30.6% Fulham 36 119 30.3% Manchester City 48 159 30.2% Aston Villa 25 89 28.1% Wigan 30 107 28.0% Sunderland 28 100 28.0% West Ham 29 107 27.1% Tottenham 44 164 26.8% Everton 40 150 26.7% Norwich 25 94 26.6% Newcastle 34 132 25.8%

Interesting article - thanks for that - but if you scroll down thru the article there is an even more revealing stat for Saints (TARGET PRACTICE). We have let in more goals from shots on target than any other prem side (38.5% of shots on targeted led to a goal being conceded) It would be interesting to see how that that changed over the season - as early on it seemed that almost every shot on saints goal went in, whereas we are now so much tighter at the back: here is the article (subject to formatting) MARTIN SAYS: Manchester City have allowed fewer shots on target than any other Premier League team this season - just 69 - and so it's no surprise to see they have conceded the fewest goals (24). As you can see from our table from Opta below, 34.8% of the shots on target have ended up as goals, which is the sixth highest conversion rate in the division. In fact the highest is Saturday's opponents Southampton who have conceded from 38.5% on the shots they've allowed on their goal this term. That contrasts heavily with Swansea who have conceded from just 21.5% of the shots on target against them in the league. The Swansea goalkeepers have had a lot of work to do! Team Conceded Shots on Target % shots on target conceded Southampton 45 117 38.5% Wigan 51 135 37.8% Aston Villa 50 135 37.0% Liverpool 34 94 36.2% Tottenham 30 86 34.9% Manchester City 24 69 34.8% Newcastle 46 133 34.6% Everton 32 99 32/3% Reading 48 151 31.8% Norwich 40 126 31.7% Stoke 31 101 30/7% Fulham 42 143 29.4% QPR 41 140 29.3% West Brom 41 140 29.2% West Ham 38 136 27.9% Manchester United 31 116 26.7% Arsenal 29 109 26.6% Sunderland 34 135 25.2% Chelsea 28 114 24.6% Swansea 29 135 21.5%

I remember the away game at LR earlier this season! - they were utter crap and Hughes didn't last long after that. Probably the worst side I've seen this season

Agree with this and for me they are one of the few teams in the prem who are in a false position - I will be very surprised if they are still in with the strugglers at the end of the season. This is going to be a tough game for us, even taking into account their euro trip. I will be happy for a point.

is there anyone left to jump ship?

not missing lallana half as much as I thought we would He will give so many more options when he is back

For me this is another "must not lose game". Everton are right up there and have only lost 3 all season and only 2 away from home. I would settle for a draw, but also think this could be winnable

Still buzzing this morning and as I said to my good wife - it was one of those games when the 50 quid ticket price was well worth it. I was talking to some (genuine) chelsea fans on the tube back to wimbledon (who were complaining about ticket prices). They were impressed with us for the first 20 mins when we controlled the play and passed the ball around so confidently. I said that at half time I was going for a damage limitation to minimise our goals against. To be fair to the chelsea fans they were all really impressed with Luke Shaw and Clyne at full backs - saying that they were the best they have seen this season. A couple of them were also really impressed with Morgan and Cork in the middle. Nice to talk to real fans from the glamour clubs who are far more realistic than the plastics. None of them like Benitez and they all were looking for a period of stability. And they all hope we stay up (but not sure how sincere that was). Great evening but frigging cold

I was at both of those - didn't see you there Eric!! See you at Wigan though (don't forget to bring the cash!!)