MarkSFC

The stadium "debate" proves the old addage that you can't please all the people all of the time! Ideally I would welcome a 45-48,000 capacity "state-of-the-art" arena in or very close to the main city centre. For me most games are more of a day out with food and drinks before and/or after the game. Having the ground situated in an "out of town" location (like the Rose Bowl-although that's great) would not enhance my Saturday at footy! Expanding St Marys keeps all of the benefits of being in the centre but logistically could be a nightmare unless the whole waterside area, train station, etc is dramatically improved. Because of the complexity of such infrastructure could prove more costly than makes sense so a new arena would possibly provide more value for money as well as allow for a totally fresh design, and hopefully an iconic one. This may be a little left field but maybe a possible venue for a new arena could be at the sports centre situated on the athletics track area. Of course, some other parts would be lost but I wouldn't have thought it would be major. In return, St Marys could be turned into an athletics venue. As well as providing the city with a new venue for athletic training it could easily attract major events. It could also have speedway and/or dog racing filling the gap between Poole and Brighton/eastbourne for both sports. Although not in the centre of the city if the sports centre did host a new arena travel in and out would be far more easy by car with park and rides easily set up on the common and and other areas. Walking from central station wouldn't be too bad and would help the taxi business up and down hill lane!! Those of us who like a few drinks before and/or after may find it less appealing than currently but there are plenty of pubs around (The Winston could be a footy pub again!). I think there are many reasons to move, to expand, to stick, but for the good of Saints in the long term I believe a new arena is the best one.

Delusion is your perception of their opinion. In saying that it could be said that you ate delusional. Put yourself in the owners shoes for a minute. Your are incredibly wealthy with for arguments sake £3 billion. Interest alone is upwards of 150million a year. Now you have a football club that has a "nice" fairly new stadium that is restricted to 32,000. You look back to when it was in the Prem before and see that it virtually sold out every game for 5 years DESPITE the fact that in relative terms hardly any money was invested in the team. As a business person you want to maximise your potential profits. Are you set up to do that now? No. You are limited to 32000 regular customers plus a bit of hospitality. The cost of expanding St Marys to 50000 at say £2000 per seat (£1000 has been muted before) then that will cost £36 million. Even assuming an average crowd of 40000 and an average ticket price of just £25 that equates to £1 million just from tickets each game. Over a season ticket sales would be upwards of £19 million in the prem. In just TWO seasons the expansion cost is covered. Over that time there would also be income fro TV/Sky around £50-60 million a season not forgetting sponsorship and retail sales and hospitality. You then factor in that over two years the interest the owner gets may well equate to £300,000,000. If I was in the owners shoes I would look at building from scratch, future proofing the stadium and the club. Even spending £250,000,000 which is onviuosly huge would not put a debt on the club as the figures add up. So in their shies what would you look to do

and you base the size of our fanbase on what? The capacity? If the ground only holds 32,600 (or whatever it is) the maximum attendance is 32,600. Unless you build it, they cannot come.... Your "fanbase" figure is based on the size of the stadium. Remind me how many went to Wembley? 50,55000? In the Premier league once re-established I see no reason why 40k is not regularly achievable. I think a stadium capacity of 44-48 k would achieve sell outs several times a season at least. It would also set the club up for future success, European adventures, European/world cup games down the line. If the expansion was a second tier on three sides excluding the Itchen then even if "only" 32000 turned up for say Wigan it would still be a great atmosphere!! I also hope they would put more hospitality along the Kingsland! Set the bar too low and you stifle success, set it too high and all you do is miss the target!!

Not fussed thatvthe crowd was "only" 10,000 ish, especially as it was the largest of the day. It hasn't effected the result, and in these tough financial times isn't it better that people save their money for the next two home games which ate far more important!! Hopefully 24-25k+ at both!!

Not fussed thatvthe crowd was "only" 10,000 ish, especially as it was the largest of the day. It hasn't effected the result, and in these tough financial times isn't it better that people save their money for the next two home games which ate far more important!! Hopefully 24-25k+ at both!!

It's all about the 3rd round, that's when the FA Cup really starts so anyone at home really.

Maybe he was ill maybe one of his family was ill maybe he had a family emergency maybe he had a wedding to go to maybe he was moving house who cares....we won....we're in round 2!!

Ah, I see! Yeah We didn't need one in the summer, will next summer. Think Seaborne is is near his full potential!!

Move your computer downstairs! Nothings that bad that you have to watch egg chasing over listening to Saints, however bad the feed!!

FCUM aren't "the only team in Manchester" ( and of course manure are in Salford!) so they will struggle to gain big support I imagine. Had the worst happened and Saints as we know it had disappeared I'm sure a new SFC in some guise would have been formed. Not having a football team representing my city would be unthinkable....whatever level it started in.

What don't you get Nick? Seaborne is not my fav I will admit but he struggles under pressure IMO. In the Championship he will be pressed and pressured quicker and more often. Martin has far more potential for me and looks more cultured and calm. He should be getting there by next season but he's still young! Raidhi is obviously getting towards the end of his career and NA doesn't seem to see him as first choice now so I doubt he would be in the champ! Therefore I believe we need a decent CB if/when wevgo up in May.

Exactly. Pardews big failing in the summer.

Need to win 2 games before that....

I like this kit and it is as others have said a celebration kit. My favourite kit was the Rank Zerox/Air Florida/Draper Tools kit of the early eighties. Probably something to do with it being the best period for Saints since 1976 and when I was entering my teens and going with my mates rather than me dad!! We also had some brilliant players and some bloke who was European Player of the Year!! Another reason for a kit like that would be so it stands out a bit from every other red and white striped kit!!

Goallies KD will be good enough but given a chance would expect Bart to takeover within the next 18 months. Although hes young still for a keeper at the highest level he should be pushing to be numero uno in that time. If not....sign Hart!! Defenders Fonte without doubt. I think Martin will be quality within 18 months but think we will need A.N.Other as good as Fonte. Seaborne may only be good enough as 4th choice. Jaidi may be past it then but could still be utilised in emergency although hopefully by then an academy kid will have pushed through. Harding and Dickson are definitely good enough between them. Frazer and Butts been there done it. No worries there. Midfielders Midfield will definitely need strengthening. Morgan should/hopefully(!) be very effective in the championship but Hammond I dubt. He doesnt consistantly stand out in this league so not sure about any higher. Chaplow will be useful assumiing we get him...experienced and after a good period of games (and because hes just coming into his prime) could be a real asset. One CM better then all the above needed though. Lallana obviously good enough. Back-up on the left..Holmes/Fish/Punch all ok but nothing outstanding...probably ideal as AL will play most of the time you would think!! On the right...Alex Ox backed up by ????? Guly maybe..Punch at a push...maybe another RM/Winger needed. Strikers Lambert definitely, Barnard probably...certainly a great bench man. Doble should be progressing well enough to be 4th choice. Guly Im undecided on. Ideally we will sign a striker in January to ensure promotion this year and someone who will also do a decent job in The Championship. So in summary I think for the championship we need to sign a Striker, a CB, and a CM all better than wht we have (rater than players who are better than some of what we have) and maybe a rightwinger. I would have thought that including January we probably need to spend 5-6 mill on players to compete in the Championship. Once we are (hopefully) there it depends on whether its a two season project or just one to get to the Prem. Two may be more sensible in terms of progression for the players and also it spreads the spending. If we want to go up in season one I would have thought a bit more spending would be required so as to ease the transition into the Prem....but thats getting way too far ahead!!!

Antinios an interesting topic because in the summer I would have loved to see him back here. Now however as he can't really get in the Reading side I don't think he's good enough for us. Sure he could do a job right now if he's on form but next season in the championship, IF we signed a rightwinger we could do better than him. Actually as others state, we already gave better! Had we signed Antonio in the summer, then maybe just maybe we would have had a better start but that's gone, we move on! Alex Ox is most definitely the future!

We have now certainly, but in the Championship next year I'm totally unconvinced by Seaborne and Jaidi is not getting any quicker!!

At the close of the window I was frustrated that Pardew hadn't brought in "the lambert replacement" striker that he went on about, a centre midfielder and a speedy right winger. Bignall addressed the striker issue in terms of a body but hasn't in terms of impact and goals. This is the only area I think is seriously important to address in January. Although it's two months away now and I'm sure Lambert will come good, we can't take the risk. Investing in a quality striker now will guarentee promotion IMO and it should be someone who can or does play in the Championship. Danny Graham was mentioned to me today and would fit the bill nicely. When we go up, I think the squad is still preety good but I would think we would need a CB and a CM of quality. Other than that the squad is pretty good.

I don't want to see wholesale changes but I would like to see a few players rested. As great as it is to have a run in the cup and it would be good to get to Rd 3 and pull "a big team", promotion this year is paramount. After Saturday we have 3 tough games where no less than 7 points should be the target. We have a good squad so some changes should not disrupt things too much and indeed mau well produce a really good performance as those currently out of the team may well force Adkins hand for Carlisle. My starting XI would be; Bart FR. Jaidi. Martin. Dickson OX. Chaplow. Morgan. Holmes Lambert. Barnard Impact Players Davis Seabourne Lallana Doble Wotton Guly Punch

Ask "leftback"!!

I'm not going to bite, this thread sucks.

This.

I stand corrected! Although I put two and two together and assumed that if our Chief Scout has indeed been relieved of hid duties then maybe NA wanted "his man". Maybe Scunnys "network" was really just "one man"!! Even if nothing to do with NA I just hope we are getting the best for the job that we possibly can!

I agree that the Chief Scout and his team are very important but I think as you move up the leagues they will have less impact overall. Brighton, Bournemouth and indeed NAs former team have far different (and lower) ambitions to us. When clubs build or plan new stadia the capacity is the clear factor in determining long term ambitions. Bournemouth are planning to go to 14,000, suitable for mid to low Championship over the long term. Brightons Fslmer ground I think is just 21k which I think says their ambitions at mid championship sustainability with the odd season up in play-offs and maybe the odd foray into the Prem. Both these clubs will rely more on their scouting system as opposed to signings loads of players. Scunny with their single figure attendances have clearly achieved their status ( obviously with NA) with a great scouting system. Therefore perhaps NA wants some of those guys here. A good scouting system can obviously save you millions long term so I hope any appointments in this area are made for the long term good of the club.

That's your parogative.