Legod Third Coming

On what makes a team successful, there are only really two factors aren't there? 1. Employ the best manager. 2. Allow him to spend as much as possible paying the best possible players.

Don't know, did we ever get 40k at the Dell? What it shows getting to the JPT and FA Cup Final is that 45k people who purport to 'support' Southampton in some shape or form will come out if the day is right... But is there any hope of converting this latent passing interest and opportunity to see a 'day if days' into regular attendance?

To be fair, Saints have never ever been able to be a 50k club...

Gotcha - where else would they go though? Presumably they need water or they wouldn't be there??

By the way, I'm all for yuppie flats! It'll push up the value of mine (and before Sour Mash says it, I AM a WORKING man - still in my office, still working!!!!)

The document doesn't make sense. On the one hand it talks about aggregates companies using the waterside and not being available for development, and then shows precisely that??

This is something we agree on. Lowe had ambition - no question. However, he disliked intently paying players the salaries required to achieve the 'next level' he talked about. He believed very similar things to Nicola in many areas - particularly around our own talent. But he believed he could achieve the next level without spending on players' wages - and you can't.

Were you not aware these clubs were in the Premiership?

Yes. On what ludicrous planet was it going to be easy?

Yes.

Employ the right manager?

I do know what the biggest selling shirt in the world is... I've no idea in fairness DD (other than the above which I do know) - but Southampton does have a number of things going for it as a name/brand which Wigan does not (being a port where the Titanic sailed from, for a start ) I'm not saying it's easy, but it's easier for us to create access to the club, to market it effectively, to make it fun and accessible in a way that was not possible even five years ago. I do not kid myself that we will ever be as big as the Champion's League staples (United, Barca, etc) but we might be fashionable - and that's a start!

Yes and no. It took those clubs many, many years because there was no access to football other than the FA Cup on the World Service. Remember that. The whole landscape of access has changed in a very few years...

Interesting.

I predict we will be sold. To the Chinese. But no-one seems to listen, or care...

I understand that. This thread is entitled 5 year plan. You are saying our five year plan should not include the Champion's League. I understand that. I am saying that the five year plan could include Champion's League. On the basis that we have no idea what the financial position may or may not be. Whereas you are saying no, no and thrice no. Regardless.

On what basis? On the what knowledge? None. So as above, YOU are claiming to know more about what our plans should or shouldn't be than our Chairman. Despite no knowledge of what the financial or ownership situation of the club may be during that five year period? If the situation in ownership does not change and all things being equal in football, I think everyone understands that. BUT if the Chairman sets CL as his five year target he will know how to get there, or he would not have set it would he?

DD - ask Noel Gallagher. Timing is only relevant if all things are equal. This is football.

Then what are you saying? Not Champion's League not here not ever?

Answers/thoughts in bold...

Achieving a plan is achieving a plan. What makes you think that an internationally renowned banker does not comprehend that difference in complexity between them. Nowhere have I referred to anything other than the Chairman's promise to deliver a five year plan, which he achieved in three. So 100% of the evidence to date is that the Chairman understands how to deliver on his promise. What he may or may not promise to deliver in future is a wholly unknown. What you seem to be saying is that if he promises Champion's League football in five years he has no ability to deliver it. In fact, you are saying that YOU know how hard it is while he has no comprehension.

No - who has claimed there is? And no, who said that? If you cannot read and think, there are myriad schools you should be thinking about enrolling in rather than being on here...

I disagree. We have spent big - £1m on Lambert (trebled his wages) and £1.5m on Fonte for a League One club? We were, in the summer of 2009 or 10 (my memory is terrible), the tenth biggest spenders in the UK... What you are saying is we have not seen evidence yet, but then you don't see evidence of a parachute on the way up the steps to climb aboard the aircraft either... It doesn't mean it isn't there and/or won't be used. Second, the idea of a sustainable football club that does not buy players is not tenable. Every club (especially Barcelona on whom we are most closely modelled on everything you hear from the Chairman and Manager) buys players AS WELL AS bringing through their own. And selling some is also inevitable - how did United service their debt? £80m for Ronaldo thanks... Every business has cash flow 'moments'...in my bitter experience. There are virtually no football clubs that 'live within their means'. This is the same as any business. They might make a 'profit' on paper, it does not mean they don't have several hundred million of borrowing or a hole the size of Iceland in the pension fund... What it means for football clubs is that they can service their debt. Now, I confess I know very little about the Fair Play rules except a) I don't like them in principal and b) life always finds a way... But if we are to stay in the Premiership, let alone challenge there will - unless football changes beyond all recognition - be a requirement to buy players. There isn't a club in the world to my knowledge fielding a team of players all of whom are home-grown - but I stand to be corrected!

Jesus - we had this discussion about how early you must get up to be this dense before I think... So, for the hard of thinking. 1. Cortese promised Premiership football in five years. He delivered in three. It only took three because he had to fire a manager who failed to deliver promotion in his first year in charge (instead, choosing to prioritise silverware). Many fans would have found a plan of Premiership football in three years unthinkable when Adkins took over. Many, many fans were on here saying stability in the Championship then push on... Not your Chairman. He told you he was aiming to win the league and but for David Norris's left foot, we would have... 2. If the same Chairman now unveils a five year plan which includes challenging for Champion's League status in five years, you (and others, many) will say he has no credibility. Why? He will know exactly what is required and will have a plan in place for it.

What other promise?