Dave Benson Phillips

T - Turkish is a bit of a moran populating Saintsweb with non football related garbage. That's what Jelle Van Damme would say.

I notice they seem to have fixed the problems with the servers on the official website which was causing the news to be released at midnight. This is excellent news.

I would suggest that the club are trying to keep publicity of Season Tickets at a bare minimum, it certainly is convenient for them to cut ties with local media and press. Any publicity regarding season tickets is bad publicity as far as the club are concerned, as Mr Cortese quite clearly does not seem to want these at the club, for whatever reasons we may speculate on.

I would tend to dissagree. I also think if we were heading for anywhere near as many season tickets as last year then the club would have announced it. This would have been an indirect way of them answering the complaints about Installment plans, kind of like saying " listen, everyone else must be fine with it, because they are renewing " I believe the club would use this tactic as opposed to coming out and answering the fans direct or even apologizing . Being compassionate towards our support is not something which you can expect from Mr Cortese.

There is no chance of £5 tickets. We will get 20-25k on £15 tickets ( which is what I would anticipate the price being )

Supply and demand indeed. Indeed if we do get off to a good start and are top, I believe our gates will be comparible. I don't believe if we are top from start to finish next season that we will get many 30k crowds. Bournemouth and possibly a Boxing Day game as well as the final game of the season. In a strange way, our average attendance will probably be improved if we have a slower first half ( play-off position ) then make a surge in the second half. It is all if's and buts until the season starts, I think one thing that we call all be certain of, is that if there was a more customer focused ticketing structure, then we would have had a considerable amount more season ticket holders, anything up to double the amount in my opinion.

Ketamine - A drug which may be administered to one of Jelle Van Dammes horses ( if he has one ) , should they need a minor operation.

It is only astute business if. a) The supporter whom would have normally purchased a season ticket, decides to go to more individual games than the cost of a season ticket. ( I believe the number is around 14 ) and b) The fixture list is kind to us. and c) The team has a very succesful season, at the top from the start, having said that... this does not guarantee any higher gates than what we were getting last season. It is my opinion that gates will be lower next season, for that reason, I wouldn't call Mr Cortese's business decision for it astute It is all speculation until we see what the season ticket figures are and the average attendance figures at the end of the season though. One thing that cannot be denied, the new business model has been done with little or no consideration to the supporter. Whether this is acceptable is up to the individual to decide, which will determine the footfall through the turnstiles.

A very nice draw. Splendid.

Epilepsy - If Jelle Van Damme had this condition, he wouldn't find it hard to fit in the Birmingham City team.

Just to redress the balance slightly, I have not seen any significant investment from SFC thus far. £3m on players is certainly not significant spending on players for a club with our turnover and zero mortgage/debts/interest to pay. I know in comparison to many clubs we are lucky that we are in a healthy financial position and I am sure we are living within our means. I would be very surprised if we spent anywhere near £3m again this season. So far we have spent circa £100k on new playing staff. The backroom staff has been invested in. Or has it? You have to remember that in the run-up to administration the club was running on skeleton staff, it was only natural there would be recruitment to bring the clubs staffing back up to a level which is suitable. Yes we have recruited Les Reed which is indeed a good appointment, but certainly not world-beating and we have signed a former Manchester City regional scout. Let's not forget that non-playing staff attract a much smaller salary too. So in summary, I don't believe that we are being bankrolled, it is nice to be living within our means, but I think some people are getting carried away thinking we are the Chelsea of League 1.

Whilst I agree that there may be longer pay out periods for things such as training facilities. I don't subscribe to there being significant investment. All upgrades were needed and normal wear and tear/maintenence of a football club. The figure for the training ground upgrade is around £1m, certainly not what I would amound to significant for a company with a turnover of probably circa £20-25m per annum.

I think we should have a sweepstake. I will start with 9,350

The Chairman will be judged on how he interacts with the fans and not alot else. The ideas with regards to investment etc will all be signed off by Liebherr. They will have a spending budget which they will have agreed as part of their 5 year plan. eg Year 1 £5m Year 2 £10m etc etc, Cortese will have little effect on that. Mr Cortese will also take charge of recruitment, and as he has now built a strong management team, he should then delegate them to build their respective areas, as Mr Cortese knows little about football himself. There is obvious investment into the Academy, which has been neglected for a couple of years. It is not free investment, it is one which makes a significant return. I believe the cost of running the Academy is little over £1m per annum. So in selling Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Surman type players again will run the Academy for 20 years! The training ground upgrades are also needed, but the return on investment there is also great, not only developing Academy players but progressing established professionals, which can be sold on for a profit. The Owner will be judged on how much money he pumps into the club by way of donation. The Manager will be judged on the clubs league position. The players will be judged on their individual performance.

With the greatest of respect, it is not just about the little ball on the green grass is it? The way the club is structured has a direct impact on every single Southampton supporter moving forwards.

I believe we have pricing which would not be out of place in the Premiership. There are indeed clubs which are supporter friendly. The teams in the bottom half of the Premiership, your Wigans and Blackburns rely on getting supporters through the gate therefore price accordingly. The larger clubs are not so supporter friendly because they have the luxury of supporters such as yourself, who will pay whatever it takes to watch your team. The larger clubs can pretty much fill up their stadiums with these fans and corporate fans, so price their tickets accordingly. I have no doubt that if we were doing well in the Premiership then we would fill the stadium on £40-£50 tickets for a seat in the Northam, I also have no doubt that the people sat in them seats will be completely different to those sat there now, filled with people who know little about Saints, their history, nor indeed have much care. As long as they enjoy their pre-match meal down Oxford Street with their business pals though eh?

But alot of people don't. A high number of Southampton fans won't even look at the prices of a ticket or season ticket, they will just pay up. This is in the same way that alot of people will just get their gas from British Gas or their Electric from Southern Electric, just because that's what they've always done, not because it's the most economic way.

They certainly are not promoting more season ticket holders. I am a season ticket holder, and although I will renew, I am yet to recieve any sort of marketing. The local media and the local press have had no marketing or advertising campaigns that I know of, I have not recieved a renewal pack and indeed the Season Ticket Packages where only a headline on http://www.saintsfc.co.uk for 1 day. I think it is safe to say that the football club see their revenue coming in from other streams than season tickets this season. As for the concourses, it is pure speculation until the first game. A change of company to "in-house" though does suggest that they are going to increase their profit margins, and this is the easiest way also to justify significant price increases. In my opinion expect some form of communication stating that products are now locally sourced etc and as a result there has needed to be rises in cost, but this money goes back into the community etc etc. Of course this is just speculation at this point though, but certainly how I see it.

Another example is energy, who sees the constand British Gas adverts with them claiming to have the cheapest electric in the land? They do indeed have the cheapest electric, but also the most expensive gas. People take them up on the offer of cheap electric and don't even look to see their gas prices, as they are attracted to the offer and just assume that their gas is cheap because it's from the " Gas Board " They also charge Gas at a premium because they rely on the old fashioned people who want their Gas with British Gas and electric with Southern Electric ( Electricity Board ) , SFC have done this with Season Tickets and tickets... charging a premium this season because they realise that many people will turn up no matter what the cost, because it is SFC and their club. ( change of subject, anyone who has Gas with the Gas and Electric with the electric, I suggest looking at that as you are paying massively over the odds ) It is just how business is run, however not many football clubs run this way as it is not a very friendly way of doing business and certainly not supporter friendly.

I have a couple of spare seats from The Dell if anyone wants to buy them?

Although the shirt sales may not cover the full amount, I am sure that coupled with the away kit, it won't be far off. Nothing comes for free in business. If Mr Liebherr and Mr Cortese wanted to give a gift to Southampton fans to celebrate 125 years, they would have done so by way of a discount or freeze in season ticket prices, a reduction in the cost of the shirt, or possibly free cup games. All the club have done is jigged around the finances to make it look like a gesture. I note that when the kit came on sale, the club decided not to push on their original marketing ploy that it was indeed a gift. This no doubt was because of the bad PR which they created through the restrictive Season Tickets. The easiest way I can explain it is to take Morrisons for example. They are currently offering 3 crates of beer for £18 - less than it costs them to buy. Do you think they are simply doing a favour to the football fans around the land and offering them cheap booze? No, of course not. They will simply add the mark-up on to other World Cup related products such as BBQ's, BBQ food, televisions, wine, spirits etc etc. The offer lures you in, and without realising, you spend the money on other products ( at a more expensive price ) whilst in Morrisons... which the supermarket make a profit on which makes up for the loss on their offer product. This is the best way I can think of explaining it. The club are highlighting the 'No Sponsor' in the hope it will detract from the other products, which have been subject to price increases. As I have already suggested, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

No, most definately not. I have no personal opinion on the situation, other than being interested how football clubs run at business level etc. I am just a bit of an anorak.

Correct, and I did also forget the extra revenue from season ticket sales and the 15% rise in cost, looking through the forum it seems people think sales will not be affected, if this is the case, taking the average ticket rise of £50, equates to £650,000 in extra revenue in the 2010/2011 season... around 3 times the amount of revenue as what a shirt sponsor will bring in. For people whom are happy to pay the extra money to earn the club more money, this is obviously good news, as it means the club will earn more in the next season than they did last, but is another example of how a shirt sponsor loss has been offset through other revenue streams. Our bottom line will look better next season for sure, but it will be at the expense of the supporters, make no bones about it. I guess it just depends whether or not people are happy with this, some people will be, some people won't.

I do not understand why Antonio would want to go to Charlton over us, or if he is available, why we are not going in there for him ( if we aren't )

It was my understanding that there was a Credit Card booking fee last year, now there is a generic fee for bookings. I think that 2,500 booking fees per home game and 500 ( 1 booking fee for every 3 tickets purchased ) is if anything quite a conservative estimate. We had 8,000 non STH customers per game last season. Not to mention the 2,000 a game on average who 'walk-up' to the game and will be paying an extra £2 per game, which doesn't sound alot but is worth an extra £100,000 to the club a season. Then you have the extra revenue from having a 1 year shirt, as the design is completely different to the standard kit, so when the 2012/2013 season kit is released, most people will buy again. For the sake of this debate, I won't even use the increase in the casual crowd and walk-ups, which can be worth millions to the club, nor will I speculate about the increase in costs around the concourses, which I have no doubt will happen. SFC is most definately being run as a business, which of course is a good thing, but the lack of sponsorship is more than made up in price increases in other departments, so let's not be naive to think it is a gift from the chairman, when clearly it is not.