John Smith

Looks like they got the ST sales campaign spot on. With ticket sales moving onto 14k plus allthose fans that have committed to going on a match by match basis, we should have bumper crowds at the start of the season. Come January, if we're in a good position, I can see a sell out happening week in, week out. It would be a shame if some miss out that are going on a match by match basis, but, save up for next season and join us in the Champioship, fingers crossed!

Sometimes I feel like I'm dreaming when I'm reading these pages. I seriously cannot believe that we have the team we have and are still building. If you had told me last May that this season we'd have the likes of Lambert and Barnard with Connolly as backup, Puncheon, Hammond, Harding, Frazer, Jaidi, Fonte, Dickson and now Butterfield, I would laugh in your face so loudly, it would turn it inside out! This coming season, we now have THE best defence in this league, particularly with Kelvin in goal. Could we play a 5 at the back Fonte, Jaidi, Butterfield, with Frazer and Dickson acting as wing backs. Stick Morgan and Hammond in front of them and allow Puncheon, Lallana and Lambert to run riot up front. Anyway, leaving strategy behind, we have the best defence, arguably the best midfield in Morgan, Hammond, Lallana and Puncheon and then THE highest scoring strikers in this league last season (or there abouts), 3 words O MY GOD! Yes we could do with another CM, maybe a Papa would fit nicely in this team, someone that can throw a curve ball if you like and Papa certainly fits into that category. Now, look at the ages of these players, apart from Jaidi and Kelvin, the team ranges from young flyers to peak key players. Keep this team together this season, no more major changes, and this team will be flying for next season, hopefully in the new Chamionship. Add a couple of players to this team and we have agreat Championship squad (if we have those two additional players, not so vital this season, but for next, it will make a real impact) and one that can challenge for promotion that season. Now, and forgive me for my headiness and jumping the gun, but how many of these players can play in the Premk IF they stick together as a team for this season and next? Hmmm, now there's one for future discussion, sometime into next season when we're topping the Championship maybe? Anyway, back to what I started off saying, I LOVE this team, what a great bunch of players! I couldn;t ask for more, I really couldn't. Are the days of fast flowing attacking football returning to Southampton? AND will a new tradition be born? One that creates the legend at the back, in DEFENCE? Surely not, surely the age old addage of scoring 5 if the opposition gets 4 hasn't gone? Surely Saints won't have the best defensive record in all the leagues? Nah, I surely would be dreaming then!

DBP, I think you are being insensitive and disrespectful by continuously using this as a reason to bash people, posters, Cortese with. Maybe, when somebody moves on from this life, their family don't want to see an idiotic forum poster using their loved ones being used as a weapon to fan the flames. For all you know, the Bates family were contacted about this and felt the sad loss of Mary was too raw to celebrate in a football match and send a family representative. I don;t know, but neither do you. I suggest you stop using recently departed people to fuel your rage, it is very disrespectful. (and because I understand you are very short on humble pie, no, I don;t mean don;t mention, talk, remember these people, just stop being so flippant and disrespectful when you do it. Mentioning it once was enough, we read it, we get it, now leave it).

Hammond was superb and showed particular leadership qualities in the final run in. Some games he was immense, he won me over this season and am a big fan. If AP does decide to change captaincy roles, I think Fonte would be great and make him feel more wanted. Lastly, IF they do decide to make a captaincy change, I really implore AP to phone Stu first. I couldn't stand another episode and months of posts because they hadn't asked him first! Oh no, I've just accidently hijacked this thread on Stu's behalf, someone, for the sake of God, refund him his £3 for his ticket!

OK, last post of the day. WRONG. At £1 more, they are still more expensive. You don;t have to phone to get your ST! Also, I wasn;t charged a booking fee when I purchased my ST over the phone, not sure if it is still the case, but there you go, wrong again. 3 times in such a little sentence, good work!

Apologies for going off subject, but as a registered user, I have no PM capabilities. sandwichsaint, I owe you an apology. In a main board post, I was a little bit patronising and aloof in response to one of your posts. Please accept my apology. For some strange reason, I read the writer as StuRomseySaint and not sandwichsaint!!!Hence my confusion and possibly unreasonable repsonse. I had thought stu had done an about turn, and it didn;t make sense? When stu the responded to my posat, I got even more confused because his response didn;t make sense. That's when I realised my mistake, and as a registered user, I couldn;t edit or take it back. However, your reponse was quality, and I really enjoyed reading it. I am very glad you didn;t rise to my baiting, feeble as my baiting was. I was trying to get a point across, and I think I achieved that, and you were able to pick out the relevant parts and also relate yourself to my younger experiences, which were not fabricated. So, sandwichsaint, I take my hat off to you, top post, top bloke. Apologies for thread hijacking.

So, why did you put up the TERRACE prices of £260 for Bristol????????????????????????? You are making a right idiot of yourself.............. again. If you don;t want to go, don;t if you do, the prices to pay have been given. ST prices for Saints has gone down since we were relegated, all apart from the first season in the CCC, where they were the same. However, our costs have been higher, our wage bill was higher, and all in all, the difference of £50 for a season as opposed to going to someone like Huddersfield, well, the travel alone each week would make up the difference. Land prices in the North are nearly in all cases cheaper. creating stadiums are also cheaper. The local wage is also lower. etc. etc. etc. The prices Nick gives are the price of the tickets without discounts, and seeing as the majority of those discounts have now expired, you are talking about prices that you can no longer purchase, so, comparing actual ticket prices is a much better way of doing things, unless of course you have a time machine?

So, let me get this right, someone (DBP), is having a hissy fit because someone has changed the 'name' of a corporate package? And he's aghast at the incredulous Saints fans that can't empathise with the position. Strange, when Stu changed his name, didn’t we all empathise about this then? Maybe we're all empathised out at having a go at someone for changing their name without telling us? It's almost ironic. And I could almost cry!

Yep, my mistake, you were agreeing with wurzel on this and it was he as a ST holder that purchased 2 beers, one burger and no programmes. Think my point still stands, particularly with your response in post #308 stating to get more sales, sell in the concourse etc. But my point is justifed against wurzels and yours being that ST holders will only do this once in a season, if you;re not a ST holder, the group is larger and more infrequent and more likely to spend. Also, on this selling in the concourse, I would think it is to do with retail outlet, tax and Health and safety, theft and profitability once all of those have been achieved. Don;t want to get into a big debate, because as you correctly point out, you couldn;t think of too many clubs that do this. I think it's to do with taxes, premises fit for purpose, health and safety, minimum wage, minimum conditions etc, because at the end of the day, regulations is regulations, hence the stadium mega store outside the grounds. Still, point is standing from question 2 days ago, you are creating all of this retoric to what end? I have seen in other posts that is because you want to come back and say I told you so, but really, that's why you keep going on about it. Just so I don;t have to go looking, it was the post where you outed yourself and said you had another name in the wings but wanted to use this current one so that it could be recorded that you or SRS stated this before it went belly up.

Previously, you stated that whilst a season ticke holder, you purchased a burger 'once' and was it 2 pints of beer that whole season, or even the whole time going to SMS, now you're saying that you're going to spend £6 per game, what on? Not food, not drink and not programmes. Now, I'm not having a go, but this debate has seen you go full circle. Let's take me, I park in the same place, I go to the same pub and I buy the same beer and food, then walk to the ground just in time for KO, I will possibly buy a bovril at half time if it's cold (the weather not the bovril). Anyway, the upshot of this, to me, and what I thought your orignal point was, that it was going to cost the casual fan more because it is the walk ups that buy the merchandise and the food and the beer etc, because they have the experience to resinate with. The ST holder has seen it all so many times and does it as a social thing, and probably meets his usual group outside of the ground, ie, a pub. So, isn't the original arguement more credible in that more walk ups = more revenue?

Look DBP (Stu) or whoever you are, ignoring the first part of this mail cause it is nothing to do with me, I want to point something out to you that you have completely missed. I tried pointing this out to you right at the beginning, and then again on another thread, and quite frankly, I've given up. But, one more time - to what end????????????????? Your complaints, justified or vilified have no legs. For example, let's say hyperthetically that all of us that have agreed with you, and there have been many, agreed with you so angrily as yourself, what next?? Marches on SMS, ST returns, not turning up to games????? It's not going to happen, seriously, most people on here, even if they agree with you in parts (which should be a good thing from your point of view), just don't care, or rather, don;t care enough ie, it doesn;t effect us enough to do anything about it, and secondly, if we did care enough, we just wouldn;t go, just like I refused to go when Lowe took charge again. Ididn;t ram my opinion down people's throats again and again, I stated my reasons at the time and then reminded posters of those exact same reasons when I was hounded again and again and again. Hence the reason for wondering if you were 19C. He hounded me teriibly, so did a select few others. But, I had made up my mind, made my judgement and took the action I thought appropriate. Getting people on here to agree with my reasons was pointless and I never tried. Some people agreed with me, some could see my point but would still go, others, such as 19C were rude, obnoxious, they hounded me in every post and followed me around. But, I just ignored them, didn;t put them on ignore, just chose to read what they said and moved on, 90% of the time. If these guys are bugging you so badly, put them on ignore, or just ignore them. Also, you have made your point now, let it go, we get it, we understand, and we(I) choose to do nothing about it. I have my ST, thank you, as I believe you do too. If, as you say, we wait to see next season, the next, the next etc, then so be it, we shall. Some on here were raging against Lowe when he first came to power, but many didn;t listen for years, he did some good, but in the end, it turned bad. My spin on things is that we have to treat this guy no worse than we treated Lowe when he took over, ie, give him a chance. And yes, next season, the season after that etc etc, we will build an opinion of the man behind the job. But, for now, give it a rest. You've made your point, it has been recorded on this site for future reference. Leave it, let it die, or just don't go. End of.

Sure, seeing as I was talking about how it was wrong for someone that is banned or risking their mental health to be posting on here, just by you posting a reply, I would say you are wrong. Just because you think it is ok to ignore a banning, some of us think this is wrong, ie, it is against the rules. But, that is my question to the mods, because, that is how I perceive the rules to be. However, I am not so righteous as to want someone banned for life or reincarnate themselves as a new poster, if, they did it in a way which didn't continue their methods which got them banned in the first place. I have argued with people on here, and, in the past, maybe the mods have been leniant with some of my comments. But, I try not to swear, I try no to antagonise and I try to reason and debate issues, whilst accepting there are 2 sides to every arguement. Sometimes that is difficult and I have over stepped the mark by a smidging. However, I have control over myself and if I have one wrong, I tend to slepp on it and re-position myself. For instance, I do owe one poster on here an apology. I misread their post and my response made me sound pompous. This was unintentional, I will apologise in time, but, I couldn;t at the time because I didn;t want to add more fuel to the flames of another tedious thread on the same topic, hijacked by the same people. I was annoyed and let my heart rule my mind. I realised I had posted the wrong thing and I did what I usually do, I stop posting and reflect on why. In due course I will apologise to this poster because he argued his side very well, despite of my pompous reply, and I admire him for that, and will tell him so when I think the apology will not be used to fuel the flames of this argument again. So, I have used this post to show you how I think you are wrong to continually post on this subject in the way that you do if you are banned. I will leave it to others to decide if they think you are wrong also. If I am wrong and you are a new poster, never to have posted on this site, or its predecessor before, then I apologise. But, if you are a new poster, I have one question, how did you come to hate NC so quickly and over this one decision, because as you have pointed out, in your opinion, he has been taking advantage of us gullible fans and persecuting the media and hero's for months, 200+ posts in little over 1 month, that's quite some hatred, so why this hatred?

Mods, this is just really tedious. Surely, if someone is banned, there is something you can do about them repeatedly coming back on this forum and just littering it with such trolling. If this is SRS, has he been banned? I don;t know, I lost the will to live reading SRS's whines and moans. I know stevegrant was happy for that debate to continue as he felt there was some underlying reasoning behind it. But, does it need to go on and on and on so? If this is 19C or whichever of his multiple re-incarnations we've endured, please can you just deal with it. The best way, IMO, if you don;t want to ban them, let us know that this is a re-incarnation. I am happy for people to recreate themselves and come back to the fold but, this guy just keeps trolling and trolling and trolling. I used to post quite a bit on this forum and would debate with many. I know many people used to do the same. Seriously, the £5 membership fee doesn;t bother me, but restricting myself to 3 posts a day is great, I read a lot more than I react to, and I've just sat and read page after page of the DBP thread and watched his trolling ways, and, I could've commented several times, but I don;t like wasting my posts on someone that just doesn;t listen, want to debate and ultimately posts over 200 posts in little over a month in order to gain some badly needed attention. This guy, whoever he is, reminds me of either that dude that tried to buy Bournemouth but used to post on here, or the guy from Scotland that hounded that Microsoft guy. I think that the admin on here could be harming someone's mental health if they do not either ban or expose this DBP. I fear for his health, I really do.

So, leaving the match by match based scenario and just looking at this ST argument, I think you've just come across as a little bit strange. Let me explain. You are not currently a season ticket holder and NEVER have been, and yet you are up in arms about this price hike and freezing true supporters out of owning a ST. Well, where were you when Crouch did his March Madness, where were you complaining when Lowe kept the ST prices at the same level when we got relegate to the CCC? When the ST's were released last year at such a low cost, especially for concessions, why didn;t you get one, installments and all? If it was money, location, life etc, how were the club to know? Look, if all of those price cuts couldn;t convince you to commit for the last 40 years, and you didn;t complain about them when we got relegated, or the prices when we moved to SMS, why should you bombard us all with this argument, when you've NEVER had a ST, and I only have your word that you were going to get one this year? By all accounts and the evidence of the last 40 years, you weren't going to get one this year either, not slating you, just the facts are stacked against you. Then, you take it upon yourself to complain on my behalf? I'm sorry, but I'm happy to pay my money this season, it should be one of the best! lastly, let me fill you in. I followed Saints as a kid when I could. I couldn;t afford, or rather my parents couldn;t afford to take me to games. I used to go once a year between the ages of 7 and 14, and this was my birthday present. After I got a milk round at14, I could afford to go to a few more games, then at 15, I got a cleaning job, which paid quite well for my age, and I went to every home game and most away games. Even through my GCSE's, I continued my job in the evenings, so I could watch Saints at the week end. Into college and University, I worked for B&Q in order to fund my support and my social life! In all those years, I never dreamed of getting a season ticket, I NEVER had the money in my pocket. When I stopped playing football, I had agreed with my father that we'd get season tickets and so, for a year after retiring, he and I saved for the year and bought our first ST's the next year. The installments thing is a good idea, but it isn;t the be all and end all. If, like me, you expect to pay up fron for an expensive one time purchase, this season is no different than most of mine and your life. it is a shame you can't get a ST with your child(ren), but save up, or, wait till their old enough to buy their own, it's what most of us poor people do. So please, don;t represent me on this board, these are your views, not mine. I am a regular ST holder and continue to be so. Saving up is what I was taught to do from a young age, particularly for the things you truly desire. Maybe would be a benefit to your kids if you taught them the same. You can;t always get what you want in this life, but if you really want something and it is within reasonable reach, save for it, like holidays, cars (particularly your first), and ST's!

I didn't say he wasn;t looking to make money, I didn;t say he would lose money, what I'm saying is that Hypo specified a profit of £200million! Taking into account all those factors I've stated above, I don;t think you;ve covered it at all. Stating that I may think he's in it for "sh*ts and giggles so to speak,", doesn;t cover it, I never intimated as such and I think you;ve missed the point by a mile, as did hypo. I also never stated that I believed we'd be bankrolled, nor intimated that Nc wasn;t ona bonus, etc, etc. So, just like Hypo, you have answered what you want to answer and nowhere near what I'm suggesting. HOW IS ML GOING TO MAKE A £200MILLION POUND PROFIT (LESS £12MILL INITIAL INVESTMENT) WITHOUT INVESTING ANY MONEY?????????????? AND IF THIS IS THE CASE, WHY WASN;T THERE A QUEUE A MILE LONG AROUND SMS TO BUY THIS GOLDMINE??????????????? £200 MILLION IN 5 YEARS WITH A £12MILLION INITIAL OUTLAY, WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD COULD YOU DO THAT IN TODAYS MARKET????????????????????? Hope that's clear, but people do keep missing the point by miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, my point is, we don't know how much this club will sell for in around 5 years, we just don't. Would we have been in the prem for 2 years or less? Will we be in the Prem? If we are in the Prem, is this with the players we have at this point today? Will the facilities at the training ground stay unimproved? What about the stadium, is a 30,000 seater a place where someone would plough millions of pounds, only to find out that they need to increase the capacity in order to receive those benefits of being a big club, because surely a new investor will want to come in, improve things and make a profit, what's the cost attached to that? How is the economy going to move over the next year? Two, three, four, five? Nobody knows. What about the possible FIFA regulations on young national players, overseas players etc? How is the game going to change? So, lastly, in order to make a profit, this club HAS to be in a position to appear hugely profitable when it is sold. What billionaire will sell a business which still has potential to make huge amounts of money, providing this hypothetical debate bears fruition? No billionaire would sell a multi million pound asset like that, surely. particularly after just have spent money on team improvements, training ground improvements, new ground developments etc. And to suggest that this club will be massively succesfull, ie. circa £200mill PROFIT! on the earnings the club can make internally through ticket sales and TV money, isn;t just hypo-thetical, it's hypo-ridiculous. Why, because how many times have people outside the top six not had masses of outside investment spent on them? And even if you can come up with a couple of examples, that;s a couple out of 90 odd teams in the football league. Don;t fool yourself into thinking Saints will achieve this just because we support them, it won't. So, like I said, the realism of this becoming a realistic scenario is very very minute, ie, no outside investment in order to achieve a profit of £200million in around 5 years, in fact, it's kind of ludicrous, particularly when hypo can;t use anything close to reality to substantiate his claims that this figure in the wind will actually be achievable. So, I'll leave you all to Hypo, King of the Universe.

Oh dear, I thought you wanted a serious debate about a hyperthetical scenario, I didn't realise you were going to make up a load of rubbish and pretend it was real! This is no debate really is it hypo? I'll leave you to your fantasy world of hypo-thetical situations, and that they all end in the scenario of hypo becoming King of the Universe, good luck.

IF, and this is a big hypothetical IF, there were, as you put it - "an opportunity to make serious cash" - why oh why oh why, was there only 2 potential suitors for us, and given that one of those were bogus, why was this so? IF there is so much serious money to be made out of football clubs, why wasn;t poopey sold more easily, surely a Prem club or CCC club is more profitable than ours OR at least as profitable. What about Crystal Palace, what about Bournemouth, and what about all the others? Serious cash? Are you being serious? So, in answer to your hypothetical question, I would have to ask the question that has yet to be asked - How much money do you think ML and NC will make Net profit from this venture after 5 years? And In making this Net profit, how much 'investment' do you think it will take to achieve this, ie how much cash on the hip will ANY investor require in order to achieve these substantial rewards that you so loosely talk of? And if it were so obviously easy to achieve, by screwing all these fans, why didn;t a common poopey supporter do it, or an avid Saints fan? Why did Wilde and Crouch fail? Couldn;t have been the investment, as you seem to think in this hypothetical situation that millions of pounds investment is par of the course OR is irrelevant. And lastly, in this hypothetical scenario, why oh why oh why, did Rupert Lowe 'allow' this club to go into debt when all he had to do was introduce a £3 charge on purchases. I bet he's turning in his chair!

You see SRS, I don;t think all these people are 'getting at you'. GeorgieSaint, for instance, has agreed with you in part, but you are ferocious in your response and adament that the club are 'restricting' the amount of ST holders, the club are 'squeezing' more cash out (not commenting on the 'understand if we were in League 1, but we're not', because we are, I am assuming you mean the Prem). You ask if 9 days is a reasonable amount of time not to respond to something that you think is important (and others apparently), but then you end up saying you are not speculating because you have the facts in front of you. But, what you have just done is that exactly, you are speculating about the reason(s) and assuming you are correct. I go along with GeorgieSaints reasoning and Dav's, but I get the feeling you are getting too negative and defensive about this issue, maybe, rightly so. But, some posters are trying to talk to you and you are fairly aggresive in your responses, so it throws doubt over your intentions and reasons for these assumptions, and this, IMO, is why people are 'flaming' you. Maybe, you need to do the same as I think NC should, and that is, take a step back and reconsider your approach. The issues for the club and your interpretation of them are both equally up for debate, but both you and NC could do with some yoga lessons or something, re-evaluate the situation and chill. Fact is, Saints survived last season. Check out my posts for pre-season after ML took over, I said number 1, avoid relegation, number 2, that we are looking up the table rather than over our shoulders, number 3, if at all possible, it would be great if we could push for a play-off place. So, in my eyes, we suceeded. And I think many, many fans, apart from wanting to complain, would like to thank ML and NC for making this season possible and allowing some very good players, led be a very good manager, display their talents for this club. The 5-0 against Huddersfield was a brilliant highlight, as was a day trip to Wembly. And so, what I'm trying to say, far from being a happy clapper, many fans are thankful for the season we've just had and complaing so verociously about fairly minor things, is, to some of us, difficult to accept. Maybe you need a cooling off period, maybe NC needs time to get away and reflect. One things for sure, yours, mine, many fans, the players and NC, all our expectations have gone up and we are in a position of failing if we don;t win the league. WOW, now that's tough expectations to have of this club, maybe desrvedly so, based on last season, but hey, that's why these people do their jobs, I would rather be playing with high expectations than expected to fail. So, maybe this fans charter has gone off course, but lets help the club get it back on track by allowing those lines of communications to be opened up. Not always is attack the best form of defense, maybe sometimes we need to get along and forgive...

Good points, well raised Dav. I asked StuRS previously about the fall out of all of these 'issues' he keeps raising, but I couldn;t get passed his angst with other posters and his defensive nature. I'm not bashing him, just, I felt he had a point, but I couldn;t quite see it. It is an interesting spin on things. Other posters on here have likened NC to Rupert and also piled on all sort of assumptions, accused him of lying etc. But, I think there is a point here. I don;t think some (not SRS), on here just want to bash NC for bizarre reasons and I find that all quite disturbing. But, Stu's doggedness on his points made me listen, and I could see what he was getting at, but not why. This charter explanation is very good, undoubtedly SRS has raised it on many occasions, but I didn;t see it as his main thrust, but as another stick to beat the drum with. So, I am interested to hear from the club on this. How serious a matter is it? Fairly serious, it could imply deceit, it could imply a polarization of the fanbase, it could be flippancy or it could be a mistake that they have fallen back on communication. Whilst typing this, why do I get the impression this is going back to the programme issue? Anyhow, fwiw, I don;t care much for the NC/echo/MLT/LMc debate, the £3 on bookings, the late release on the shirt etc etc, but, if they are 'deliberately' or 'intentionally' side-stepping their declared communication responsibilities, I would not be happy about it. Let me make this clear, am I still getting my ST this season? Yes. Will I still be supporting Saints? Yes. Would I like NC to review his actions over the last couple of months? Yes. Do I think we're owed an apology? No. Does he need to improve in these area's? Yes. Should ML have bought this club? Absolutely. Do all of us care about this club? Of course. Should NC change his ways? Don;t know. Could he do things differently but still be the person he is? Of course. Maybe, all of this 'public' knowledge about 'his' business has unsettled him. It is a totally different kettle of fish to what he's done before, in respect to microscopic analysis of every action or in action. And so, I forgive him for his indescretions, but, he would do well to change tact and loosen up a little in regards to communication. Maybe he needs to understand that this maybe ML's club, but they only borrow and treat it right on behalf of the fans, because without the fans, there is no club. Bordering on customers? Maybe...

Thanks for clarifying SRS, like I said, not flaming, was just confused by the direction of your stance. FWIW, I think ML treats the fans with respect and I think we're lucky this is his first club and he wants to please us, as well as make money. As for NC, I'm not sure it's within his nature to respect the 'fans', I don;t think that;s what he's there for. Some people have to make tough decisions, and some of those decisions will make him unpopular, this is NC's job, and, whatever you think of him, stop for a second and think, this guy has taken it all on his shoulders. Not only has he relocated to this lovely country and had to settle, but he faces the wrath of a very grumpy group of people when you unsettle football supporters, regardless of which club you support. And, he has taken it all on his shoulders. Not once have I heard him blame others, but they have all been his decisions and he is in the firing line. To me, that makes him exactly the type of person I'd want running my club if I was ML. So, NC makes some decisions, and some fans don;t like what they hear. I believe you are entitled to write to NC, as you did, and share your thoughts. Again, I think you were telling rather than suggesting, but, I'm sure, if enough supporters felt this way and communicated it to NC, he would consider his position. Don't know if he'd change things, but I don;t get the feeling he wouldn't, just because he's won't but because he believes this is the best way. So, like I said before, not sure where you want this all to end up? For example, NC employs the services of a financial company to help ST sales in installments, and passes those interest charges (as borrowing money always costs someone something) onto us, thus not costing the club anything, but on 400 pound, about 10 quid per ST. Then, reducing the £3 booking fee to £1.50 per ticket, as this is the norm is an entertainment business. And then adopting a sposor, redoing all the shirts with the sponsor name on, which would be a cost to the club. Or, redesigning this years kit to not be a 125th anniversary kit, and instead developing the one we will wear for 2 seasons instead. Recalling all the new shirts and printing the new ones before the start of the campaign. For me, this appears to be a tall order. And again, not suggesting this is what you're calling for, but, where do you want it to go? Other than rewinding time and getting NC to restate his statement with one or two words changed? Doesn;t seem feasible. And so, I don't get it. You want me to pay more for my ST, you want people to pay more for their matchday tickets over a season and you want the club to waste a lot of money, finding and rebranding a sposor onto the shirts and recalling the old ones? Like I said, not flaming you, but this is the impression you;re giving to some of us. You're 'telling' NC he should or could do things differently, but, the suggestions you make aren't really that significant, and to me, sounds like will cost me and the club more. Please SRS, think about your position, becausse with all these different pies you;ve got you;re fingers into (all well intentioned I'm sure),, you have confused some of us, and we just don;t know what your point is. Sorry...

I don;t really know where you're hoping to go with all this SRS? Seriously, you keep pointing out that ML is loaning the club money, that the club is costing the fans an extra million pound per season etc., but honestly, I'm not sure where you want this all to end up? I'm not going to suggest that you want ML to pack his bags and leave us high and dry and plunge into admin again, but what is your point? You see, ML wants to run this club at a profit at some point. Becasuse that point may not be today due to all the debts that have been serviced, the extra players, playing staff and training facilities, catering, ground improvements and so on, I doubt this club is a profit making club yet, will it ever be, I don;t know. But, I think Ml wants NC to get it that way, I think with the intention to get us into the premiership and make us an attractive club to purchase, I'm guessing that's when ML will make some proper money. Anyway, whilst we're achieving that goal, Ml has ploughed money into this club, NC has been given the task to ensure that we're not throwing money away. The 'gift' to the club of which you speak, confuses me. I know what NC said, but I don;t come to the same conclusion as you, and, I wouldn;t link it to the booking fee either as they are seperate issues/departments/cost centres and therefore are driven by different goals. So, what I don;t get is your stance, like I said, i don;t think you want ML out, but I don;t see where you want this list to end. There have been changes to the clubs standards, proceedures and methods. Shifting costs and expenses from one dept to another in order to make them all work efficiently and consistantly. Not saying previous directors had it wrong, but, with adopting new methods, you are forced to change process, I believe this is why we see things like the shirt being a 'gift', as it is not being sposored and the club have to foot the bill and totally unrelated booking fee's (rightly or wrongly priced), being applied to a task that is labour intensive. Lastly, this loan stuff you keep going on about in other threads, am I right in assuming that it has no bearing whatsoever to your position, and all your trying to get people to believe is that it's probable, if not just possible that there is a ML loan to the club? Because, at present, I do feel that you're trying to 'tell' people that there is a loan from ML, when, you don;t actually know and you;re just assuming, based on your own inclination that there will be? Because, I think this is where you;re going wrong, 'telling' people what to think, when you don;t know 100% yourself. And so, please take this in the way it's intended, not trying to flame you, just seen many posts from you on similar subjects, all pointing toward a cost to the club/supporters direction, and I don't know what your point is?

I do find it funny (in a weird/sickening way), that those who beat the drum for that incompotent leader of the Dutch duo and total football, are the same one's not 'getting behind the team'. I was called all sorts of names and had obscenities thrown at me for not renewing my season ticket when the dark lord returned. BUT, that was my choice, I didn;t bang a drum about it, I just stated that it was my choice not to go. I didn;t try and 'convert' any of those that supported Lowe, or, try to convince them that I was right, just that I had that choice. So, I say to those of you that are banging this drum against NC and ML, where's your loyalty now? Where's the 'get behind the team no matter what' brigade going with this one? Why have they (particularly SOG) continuously brought up that piece of vomit again in relation to our fine owners now? Why? Because they are attention seeking fools. If you are not, do what i did when Lowe was in charge, DON'T GO! Don;t bleat on about it, and don't compare the most hideous man to ever 'lead' this club with anything other than vermin. Stay away, continue to support and follow the scores as I did, but don't jump on our bandwagon as we get promoted, don't return just because the good times arrive, stay away in principal, as many of us did, when 'he' was in charge. That's what it takes to show how principled you are, and if you're not 'THAT' bothered, shut the f**k up.

Do you think it's reasonable to charge £5 membership for this site when it used to be absolutely free? You obviously think so, and therefore you pay your fiver. Tell you what, do us and yourself a favour, when it comes to renewing your membership on here stanley, don't. Save that fiver and all of us from your interesting voyeurism into soccer fan forums. You have slipped up again and I for one will no longer be contributing to your little project. I suggest others follow suit.

lmao, the infamous single man march!