MarkSFC

I like Corteses stance on this because why should "outsiders" so to speak get free images? In a world where image rights seem to be a major talking point, Cortese is meerely protecting the clubs rights. If this strategy was implemented across football then each club would make money off the back of their photos because the media written and digital would have to purchase every image. This would create anotherincine stream albeit a relatively small one but over time may be lucrative. The press ( the sun in this case ) obviously hate it because something they have got for free or indeed paid their own photographer for is now going to cost them. Tough! And when or how many Saints related photos are in any publication currently and how often last season did The Sun in particular publish a Saints picture. Very few if at all any I suspect!!

Were you succesful? I doubt it !! Nevertheless at least you have experience in the field, and fair play. Mind you, having a chance at the job and making a success of it are two totally different things. If your methods are sound why aren't you still managing or managing at a higher level?

We won 9 points fewer than the champions. Disaster. The vast majority of the fanbase expected mid table at best during 2009. When results improved and signings were made ( down to Pardew) expectations changed. Most fans are fickle and are clueless regarding sport. Most fans are unable to look at the bigger picture and merely react game by game.

Professor you know best, what team do you manage? Why don't you manage Saints?

Manager has less than 4 weeks before start of season when taking over a team fresh from relegation and a club from administration. Said manager then wins the third best total of points but subject to a penalty based on previous ownership misses out on the play-offs. In the meantime he wins a cup competition without some of his signings (due to registration rules) and gives the fanbase one if it's best days out fir years. Subsequently expectations understandabley reach the heights of nailed on promotion. After one game, without it's best two players the team and therefore the manager are questioned after a defeat down to a mistake in defence. What happens then is that some of the fanbase think that either the players or the manager or both aren't up to the task. At half time in said game no one would have felt the same. Therefore anyone who thinks the manager isn't good enough now should think how they felt at half time!! Get a grip saints fans..........

Actually you are wrong. Our total is nine points better, but we have won one point less. The reason that's important is because if we translate it through to the end of the season we end up on 82 points, not enough. We probably need 9 points more than we actually won last season, so 92. Therfore we are a point behind.

Wonder what Norwichs forum was like this time last year....

I agree, no real change from last year especially without Rickie and Adam for an hour. Think Dickson and Butterfield are very decent additions, and Richardson still to feature. Think you're right re: Jaidi and mobility but he makes up for it in his reading of the game. I think Martin has the makings of a good defender so good cover but we do probably need a loanee at CB at least till jan. The team hasn't really been freshened up. I think we the fans deserve a signing that gets us excited!!

Agree, it's definitely not all bad. I think the defence looked very good (apart from Harding) and Dickson looked very promising. I do think it highlights even more so that we need someone else with height up front (with or without RL) some pace down the right, and a ball-winning midfielder with real bite. The frustrating thing is, this has been the case for months! Let's just hope we do a Norwich without the change of manager.

GK. 2 really good ones. CHECK LB. 2 really good ones. Plus Mills. CHECK RB. 2 very good ones. Harding as back up while Frazer out. CHECK CB. 2 very good ones. Martin good potential. seabourne ok backup. Maybe Someone needed better than Martin. LM. At least 3 good ones. CHECK RM. Mmm! One lefty in Punch, Ox-C developing. NEED ONE! CM. 1 really good, 1 good, then Wotton and Pulis!! NEED ONE better than Hammond. ST. 3 excellent ones. NEED ONE similar style to RL and probably one with potential. In my mind I feel we definitely need 3 good players and possibly a good back-up CB. Otherwise I think a long term injury to one or more of the "spine" and we could struggle a little!!

Agree, think Martin will be good but thunk Seabourne is at his level, i.e. average league one. An exciting prospect like Craig Dawson would be ideal. Him and Martin as back up would be good.

Hope so!!!

Briliant stuff Pilchards

Clearly maximising revenues is important and neccessary but as much as you are annoyed at not getting your kit (and rightly so) you and I don't actually know what the volume of sales are and what the projection is/was. Launching two kits close together is unusual for Saints and probably won't happen again so balancing demand and supply would be a bit of a shot in the dark. There will be two peaks of sales on kits, launch and Christmas. Having two launches close together will effect sales of each then but having two (new) kits on sale at Christmas obviously offers more choice and will boost sales then. It's likely that these two kits will be the best selling saints kits ever.

This is probably a mixture of underestimating sales levels in terms of speed of sales and Umbro not fulfilling replenishment orders quickly enough, which is clearly the main issue. Either the club didn't understand the re-order timescales or Umbro have a problem their end. Either way the customer loses out. Alternatively it's clever marketing by the club. Customer goes to buy home shirt but it's out of stock but was looking forward to buying a new shirt so buys the away shirt. Said customer will then probably return to buy home shirt later!! Another point is that many "brands" deliberately sell-out because it increases desire and prestige of owning one!

Blimey! Two Alpine posts I couldn't agree more with! Keep it up!! Could the kit problem be Umbros fault? They make it after all.

125k according to OS

What is totally at odds with the "rumour" about AP being gone by Xmas regardless of results is simply the rationale behind such a decision. It is totally out of synch with every other HR decision NC has made so far. If this really is the case then why wait that long? Why risk promotion? He should have replaced AP already or needs to wait until next summer. If by the winter transfer window we do somehow find ourselves languishing either outside the top 6 or more than about 12 points from automatic promotion then it could easily be justified to sack AP. Someone of Corteses experience in making decisions will surely not be in the mindset of changing the manager in 5 months.....it makes no sense at all to me.

It is so easy in this age of communications for someone to unsubstantiatley say something and within minutes half the world has heard it. People then believe it or not and pass it on as fact or as rumour. BUT the more the rumour (or fact) gets said the more people that believe it to be true and so on and so on. I like rumours, particularly about transfers, but when its concerning something like the person who runs my football club I am more concerned with the facts from the horses mouth rather than the rumours/facts from someone who knows someone who knows someone regardless of their status or lists of contacts. Im not blindly loving Cortese but I do think he's done a fantastic job so far. Yes, his/the clubs communication on a couple of things could and should have been better, but at the same time, his instructions could have been delivered incorrectly.....no one apart from the people involved know for 100% what the situation is/was/will be. Im sure he's a tough boss to say the least, possibly ruthless and abrupt, particularly with low level employees. That unfortunately tends to be a fact of life even outside of work...people like people like themselves in the main. Ive said this on other threads, but I am guessing that the so-called complaints about the way Cortese acts towards his employees most likely come from people who weren't / aren't doing their jobs as well as he wants trhem too. Tough. IF "stories" come out I will read them and decide whether or not to believe them based on the source. Until then, Im looking forward to promotion and success for years to come....

so who are these people? how do you know? what is Cortese like? have you actually met him or worked with him? what is the full picture? Why are you anti-cortese?

"The rumours doing the rounds upstairs are from good sources". Says it all for me....I suspect the good sources are individuals who used to have some input to the running of the club or corporate partners or friend of. These people by nature will likely miss the previous environment of a split board room, financial posturing and being part of the in crowd. I guess this has disappeared for all as Cortese runs his ship his way with one or two confidants (who actually remain so). Giving all the sh** stirring that went on over the last decade I would guess these people are still in andaround the "upstairs" but now are just normal customers. Egos bruised, out comes the propaganda.

No I don't really care about the results. In all the years of supporting Saints I have witnessed great, crap and indifferent pres-seasons in terms of results and it rarely mirrors the games that matter. Roll- on next Saturday..... Then I am very very concerned about the result.

Pathetic thread

Who really cares.....it's pre-season practice, means SFA.

It will be nothing to do with formation.