MarkSFC

Ultimately I dont think its important whether its the Northam or The Chapel Stand that becomes our "kop" but one of them needs to! I remember in the summer posting about this on another thread, and my thoughts basically are that in League 1 and potentially a few games in The Championship the average attendance will be low 20ks. This level of attendance naturally creates gaps in the crowd. Generally you have Half the Northam from block 42 I think (not too concerned with the numbers) full and all down the Kingsland but with seats empty in the corners. Then you get 1/2 - 3/4 full Chapel, again with the Chapel/Itchen corner a little aparse at times. Then basically the whole of the Itchen is full down to the corner, and then theres the gap before the Away fans and then the gap between them and Northam. When there is an attendance of 25/26+ it is far better and less disjointed and if the away support is 1500+ it helps the atmosphere. Looking forward to next season in the Championship (which Im sure will be the case!!) I fully expect crowds to average over 25K with most nearer 28/29K. This will no doubt help th eatmosphere naturally but I do think that in preparation for the Premier League the club should unilaterally make the decision not to sell Northam seats to home fans until The Itchen/Kingsland and Chapel stands are full, and state that "singers" are actively encouraged to buy their season tickets in The Chapel Stand. I belive this tact (although unpolpular with some) will create our "Kop" and in turn create a better overall atmosphere because the crowd (even in low 20k turnouts - cup games perhaps or god forbid lowere league football again!) will be far better "joined up" and the singing will spread far easier. This would also stay in line with the Polices insistance of where the away fans are situated. It also means easier control of their alloted seats. This question is not an easy one because whatever the club does, some people will not be happy!! Good luck NC!

When I got my tickets on Tuesday the ticket office reckoned they had sold only about 16/17K! I hope there's been a rush in the last few days!

stop worrying...gone are the days of money grabbing idiots in our board room who see a fast buck before the long term success and sustainabilty of our club. If earn £40k a year and your house has yeilded you a "selling" profit of £40k you might think thats a great deal I'll sell. BUT...can you get a similar house without spending the £40K....very unlikely. So you either spend the money on another similar house (no point! and loose fees!) or you downgrade and keep the profit...praying that the market improves or you can cheaply improve your new "lesser" house to make some more "sell-on" profit. OR Your house is rising in value every day but in the bank you actually have enough money to buy ANY house you want. BUT you are very happy with current house and can see yourself living there for a very long time assuming of course that it doesnt burn down or something very unlikely or unfortunate like that. No....despite all the offers you are best off staying with what you have.

i think Antonio staying at Reading and his season so far is a typical example of players/agnts/clubs getting someones development slightly wrong. Had he of come back to Saints in the summer he would have been (more than likely) first choice on the right at the start of the season. And if he had continued in the vein he finished last season would have played alot and potentially had a big impact. Playing 20 minutes every other game for Reading wont have done a great deal for his confidence. Having said that, would his presence here have hampered Chamberlains development?!! I think it may merely have slowed it and controlled the hype a little more. I think getting someone like Antonio in now (preferably on a permanent deal) will help Chamberlain because there is a danger that if he plays the vast majority of the rest of the season he could easily clock up 30-35 games which is huge for a 16/17 year old...however special he is!!!

I hope you're right been banging on about him for months!! Think the Premier move is too soon for himm but 5 more months in L1 then a season (or maybe 2!) in The Championship before making the step would fit his development well I feel!!! Just as it will Lallana's and OXO's!!!

Met a few of the players over the years in different situations but the best two were: 1) After the final in Cardiff a few of us ended up in jumping jacks in Cardiff and Claus, Paul Williams and Fernandes walked in. They stayed there for hours buying us a few drinks now and again abd Claus just kept apologising! I spent an hour or so chatting with Paul Williams about the game and football in genereal and the embarrassing thing for me was about two weeks later he came into where I worked to buy something and asked to be served by me as he knew me, but I didnt recognise him until he'd left! 2) One night in The Grapes (it used to be my local) about a year ago, I was having a quiet pint after work and Peter Rodrigues came in with his son. I politely aknowledged who he was and said it was a pleasure to meet the captain of our only FA Cup winning side, intending to just leave him to it. However he was happy to talk and the three of us spent the next few hours talking about Saints (Peter more than me!). A very enjoyable and illuminating conversation and for someone who loves Saints more than England it was better than the time I bumped into Gordon Banks (quite literally!!) in Winchester (when the Grobelaar court case was on!!).

Wont be Vodafone - guaranteed

Dont agree with that at all....30 goals 49 games for Swindon including 15 this season, 10 in the league. Completely untried higher up, true enough but then he was untried in the Football League (let alone L1) until last season and has done well. £1.5-2 mill would guarantee promotion. You could also argue that Lambert is completely untried at a higher level so will we need to replace him next season?!! Austin would be great, LeFondre could good but slightly more risky as he'd have to make the jump from L2 to L1 to Championship in a matter of months. MaKail-Smith would be good ,already played in Championship but doubt he'll move now PBoro have sold MacClean!

Spot on.

irrellevant

definitely top two and probably still win it.

Chris Martin would be great...linked up very well with the "big" Holt and so maybe would help to bring Lambert alive again. Young and full of energy...perhaps the move to the Championship has happened slightly too quickly for him and if Norwich go up again then maybe he could be left behind. A move to us would probably be very good for him!!!! Norwich dont have loads of money so maybe they are going to gamble a bit in Jan and try and hit the Premier jackpot so they may well sell. Not too sure about a winger no one seems to have heard about but then Antonio and Waigo werent. In Adkins we trust!

Sounds like all or nothing with you...and hedging your bets at the same time!! Why were you optimistic when Markus arrived?......The wealth perhaps?!! And then you moan that because of the money spent we should be walking this league. Wrong. Because PArdew didnt spend enough and did not put together a good enough squad. Its been glaringly obvious since April/May last year. The currrent squad on top form (aka Brighton) from the start of the season would definitely have 8-10 more points but thats just the point. When we have one or two out of form and another one or two injured we have very little depth of quality and nor do we have many options particularly up front and centre-mid. WISELY spending even another £3-5 million pounds (incl. salaries) in Jan may seem excessive but in the whole scheme of things its nothing. You cannot gaurantee promotions and spending money does not gaurantee anything either but the way of the football world is all about money and buying/paying for the best players but more importantly the best managers to spend that money. Im confident now that we have a manager who will spend better than the previous imcumbant did. Very few Blackpools will ever make the Premier on very small budget which is why you need a very wealthy owner........ Lets enjoy the "controlled" but "big spending ( in our terms)" while we can...........

so what...we were playing catch up and needed players. We probably got one or two players because of the money we have and our ambition which is clearly promotion back to the Prem asap. That takes "bloody loads of money" so live with it!! Its not yours!! And although Pardew spent relatively more than other League 1 teams in his year in charge it had to be done quickly so thats probably why there are still some glaring gaps in our team and squad........roll on January and we will start to see how good Adkins really is!

I said to quote Adkins....I remember two poor touches from him on saturday, both from very firmly hit passes from Butters....and he only just lost one of them in a 50/50. As for his passes you may have a point but it could be argued that on occession the team around him arent up to his speed or vision. I still think its a bit harsh to judge him just yet. Worth keeping.

a. few. dots. more. than. a. usual. sentance.!! its. good. fun. you. should. give. it. a. go.!!

it probably was, the memory aint what it used to be!!

arrrrhhhhhh.........sense........it does exist!!

many many years ago I forget when, I went to watch Saints at Coventry but as we arrived it got called off....the effects of snow and very cold weather I seem to recall but strangely Walsalls home game against Brighton was on so we went and stood in the Brighton end!! Maybe Saturday we'll end up at The Ricoh with the Norwich fans..................!! First away trip for a couple of seasons be gutted if called off. Still got Charlton to look forward to....have they got undersoil heating?!!

but. for. the. "worldie". to. quote. Adkins. Guly. would .have. put. us. one. up. very. early. on. Dont. get. the. negativity. around. him. honest. hardworking. skillfull. player. hard. to. be. fantastic. in. a. team. not. on. top. form. with loads. of. injuries. and. being. in. and. out. of. the. team. and. being. played. in. different. positions.

One striker is paramount. Two would be great. An audacious double swoop on peterboro for Mackail-Smith and MaClean would be excellent. Buying an already succesful partnership would cut down on bedding in time and completey remove the burden and pressure from Lambert. Those two alse have experience in the Championsip. A winger seems neccessary but not essential to me. I do think we need a quality CM as well as signing Chaplow. We definitely need another CB as yesterday proved we are too vulnerable without Fonte. A keeper that commands his box, can kick and digstribute better than kelvin who for his shot stopping ability is not going to take us to the Prem!

My god some people have no life!!!!!

Excellent solution

Serves them right. They choseto spend their money (well someone's!) on so called elite players in order to "buy success". Their choice and now they still have a sh*t tip of a ground and no training facilities of their own. We are fortunate that whoever has been in charge of our club regardless of their performance have always realised the importance of the infrastructure and The Academy. Possibly we only lost out on Anderton but at 15/16 he did not stand out amongst his peers. I know because my brothers his year group. At that time he was not good enough for us because the standard was very high. Without foundations in facilities and youth development no club deserves success.

All true and possible. Isn't it though his immediate family, indeed his daughter who is involved running hismain business group MALI? I would have thought that his will left his businesses to her and any other children rather than perhaps brothers, cousins etc who are in the Leibherr family main business! It's true we don't know but I don't get why some people who ate supposed Saints fans continually expect, look for, and even want the (potentially) worse things to happen. Why worry so much about rumours?! Ok it could be said I am but only cos it seems that muck spreading is some peoples hobby and it's pathetic!! Do they balance their thinking by talking about what if we go up and what if we invest X could we win the Prem, or a cup, or could we extend SMS....I think not. But hey, that's just me.....