Dave Benson Phillips

I wasn't moving any goalposts, the club has dont no advertising, nor marketing of the season tickets. Other clubs HAVE... FACT . Don't post assumptions when you haven't even bothered to look at the facts. There are lots of people that will only react to advertising and marketing when it comes to purchasing a season ticket... Why do I go? To meet up with my mates, forget about work, have a few beers and a bit of a laugh, if Saints win then it's a bonus, but it's not what makes me go and watch them... if that was the case I would support Chelsea. I know this is a concept that you uber-fans will not understand... but there are many many people like me.

Have you done any research Mark that no other clubs do any advertising, offer options such as installment plans, maximise their selling window etc etc etc to maximise sales? Links? I think you are speaking on behalf of yourself, there are many many fans who will only renew/buy if the club approaches them. You might not be able to compare SFC to any other leisure activity, but many people do. Why can't people understand that their way of following SFC is not the only one?!?!?! Jeeeesh... Oh, and my main reasons for going to football are not entertainment and winning, funnily enough, nor are many others... that might sound retarded to you and other uber-fans... but it's a fact. Entertainment and winning are of course a bonus, but they are not the reasons I and many others go to watch Saints.

How Pardew Situation was dealt with. Lack of communication when dealing with complaints. Removing Ted Bates Trophy weeks after his wife passed away. Almost doubling car parking charges. Removal of Suite Packages named after legends. Booking Fee Matchday Surcharge Lack of notification over pre-season tour. Making digs at Le Tiss and other legends. Petty squabbles and childish bitterness with the Echo Delaying of the wonderful training group upgrades through his arrogance. Refusal to communicate with Southampton fans at any level Complete disregard for the fans charter with no explanation and ( might as well put these in now to save me coming back and editing my post ) Price rises in the concourses. No fans forum.

I did put 'etc' on there..... The 'etc' being marketing and fan friendly selling (early bird / installment plan / longer selling window / half season tickets etc ), infact I think thats a bit of a conservative estimate when you add that lot on to zero marketing and advertising.

Attendances being more next year does not mean that the clubs idea of pushing people to PAYG at premium prices has worked. Attendances SHOULD be significantly more if we are top of the league this season as opposed to last when we never really got within realistic range of promotion. So if average attendances are up... you can't consider that a success. The only way to tell whether it has worked would be for the club to check the people who havent renewed and look up how many games they have been to at the end of next season. If it averages out at more than 15, it's a success... if it averages out at less than 15 = fail. Then you could take a pro-rata amount of say 3k casual fans ( I think this is the minimum amount of extra STH's the club would have attracted with advertising etc ) , and see if they average out at 15 games next season.

No it's not.

Above is a prime example of the 'Blind Love' that I speak of so much.

Not to 32,000 it won't... or anywhere near.

It is funny that such is the blind love for Cortese, several people have taken your blatantly sarcastic post as gospel.

They would have a point if we were in the Premier League where we could indeed probably make more money from ad-hoc buyers. But just incase anyone was not aware, we are not in the Premier League... we're in League 1.

If you actually go back through the threads, its actually the same 6 or 7 people who are shouting up in defence of Cortese, if you take them out of the equation then the threads tell a different story, and the reaction to how fans are being treated are mixed.

The bird with the offer of moving in has been putting out for me for 15 years thankyou very much. And no, this time I finished with the bird with the boyfriend.

Back with the skate. The one with the boyfriend got boring after she had finished with him and the chase was over. Although I have another problem now... I am kind of official with this bird, but another bird has text me ( a long-term friend with benefits ) asking me to move in with her as her housemate is moving out. Now she is just a friend, but does put out alot, now obviously with this new skate bird, it's probably not the done thing to move in with another girl. Skate or regular secks and a bird to watch shower. That is the question.

Fair comment, but the point I am making is that these 3 posters I plucked off the top of my head don't seem to be happy with Cortese, yet they are people you would expect to be ITK and privvy to information. Why are the ITKers not happy with Cortese?

Maybe there is alot that certain people do know. I will leave you with this thought, as I am off out. Why are the people who think Cortese is trying to rip off Saints fans etc the more 'connected' posters, like Steve Grant, Darren W and Nick Illingsworth ( ableit on his own site ) . There is lots to back up certain peoples negative thoughts on Cortese, but even more reason not to divulge them on a public forum.

If this is a hobby, and you don't like to discuss the football club and the way it is being run... can you tell me why... 1) You have 10,280 posts, the majority of which to do with politics of football and not the game itself. 2) You have commented time and time again on threads about installment plans which you are trying to make out you don't give a sh!t about. Seems a bit hypocritical, don't you think?

I am not ranting... I just don't like what is happening at the club and think Saints fans in the long term are going to get ripped off. Why on earth would the club not disclose season ticket sales? It has no commercial impact whatsoever. David Luker was Ticket Office Manager then and now, he always has been forward in giving up to date figures with regards to season ticket sales, so why is he refusing to tell people the figures now? As for my personal situation, I was kicking off about it long before I decided I wasn't going to renew due to another bill coming in. I have since found I could afford a season ticket, but won't on principle. I will spend my money on away games ( starting with Switzerland on Saturday ) .

Are you about 12? Infact your obsession with the ! and lol and lmao makes me believe you are BentheLegend... are you? You answered my questions about being unable to give any constructive reply, instead hiding behind your PC having pops on a forum. How brave.

Can you put it in a constructive way then, using reasoned opinions, maybe backed up with some facts? That would be much better than simply saying "you're wrong" , wouldn't it?

Benji, Harvey and Nick G .... ( same old 3 people mouthing I see ) You can alway respond in a constructive way, or get yourself onto Google and prove me wrong... there's a wealth of information on the internet. I think it's more to do with you wanting a very cowardly pop at me, rather than not agreeing or understanding what I am saying. Well either that or you are all a bit simple.

3 groups. People that WILL People that MIGHT People that WON'T I am sure anyone who has worked in 'membership' sales will tell you that is the first rule of selling in Leisure memberships. The people that WILL, will pro-actively seek prices through OS, telephone etc etc, you don't need to market or advertise to these people, they will renew regardless. The people that MIGHT need to be pushed to sign on the dotted line, they won't pro-actively do it themselves, they might need a renewal pack, a phone call, a good deal, and email, prompting through advertising etc etc ... these are the people in the 'selling zone' The club have done nothing to capture the people in the might group.

I really hope you don't work in sales or own your own business if your business plan is to rely on peoples common sense to sell a product as oppose to advertise and market it. What a numpty you are.

I get the impression that you are starting to make your excuses. The economic climate is in a (slightly) better condition than it was this year, the club have had months to have the tickets on sale, 30k seats to sell, we don't have -10, we are red hot favourites, it was World Cup summer etc etc... If the club don't hit 15,000 sales AT LEAST then it will be down to the clubs lack of customer focus with regards to the selling of the ticket. Anyway, I think you are disagreeing just for the sake of it. And I am going round in circles. Let's just wait and see eh?

I am happy to put my hands up, say sorry and admit I am wrong if SFC have sold a significant amount more season tickets next season. Is it unreasonable to ask the same of the people who have rubbished everything I have said?