BBC Radio Solent Saints fans forum 7th August 6pm

[Give it to Ron]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

You're concerned we might lose the guy that gave Stephens a two extension? Forgive me if I take a little time to digest the moves he makes in this window and beyond before worrying if he gets headhunted.

He also bought in Downs and Quarshie so a good start countered by that contract . My concern is that he seems to have total control of the football not just recruiting and a lot of power we got burnt by Wilcox will same happen again or are we prepared?

[AlexLaw76]

5 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

people going on about Stephens 3yr contract, do you really think he's on 30k a week for 3 years or more likely 30-20-10 (example) to reflect his reduced playing time and his mentor emergency player role.

No, that suggests his value to the club, what ever that is, is slashed every year, right?

[gio1saints]

I thought Spors gave a good answer to the Stephens question but why it needed be 3 not 2or 1 could not be asked as you only allowed one go.
 

Not being privy to what he is actually going to be paid I’m going to take a wild guess and suggest the three years was a quid pro quo for a lower weekly basic. Sound like something we might do? 
Spors  made the call. Parsons and the Board supported it. 
Funnily enough the absence of any comment on if Will Still wanted it may be telling. 

[AlexLaw76]

What are people suggesting that a professional footballer, who the club seem to value a great deal, has volunteered to take a £500k a year pay cut 2 years (or 3 years) on the bounce.

Are you mad? 

[egg]

Just now, gio1saints said:

I thought Spors gave a good answer to the Stephens question but why it needed be 3 not 2or 1 could not be asked as you only allowed one go.
 

Not being privy to what he is actually going to be paid I’m going to take a wild guess and suggest the three years was a quid pro quo for a lower weekly basic. Sound like something we might do? 
Spors  made the call. Parsons and the Board supported it. 
Funnily enough the absence of any comment on if Will Still wanted it may be telling. 

The 3 years could be anything. It may be tapered down each year, a flat amount, low basic plus bonuses, anything. 

Your last bit is interesting, but I didn't interpret what was said as "we love Stephens and Will has got to use him whether he likes it or not" or anything close. 

[Matthew Le God]

8 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

people going on about Stephens 3yr contract, do you really think he's on 30k a week for 3 years or more likely 30-20-10 (example) to reflect his reduced playing time and his mentor emergency player role.

He isn't going to be on that level of wage if we were a Premier League club again. Would be ridiculously low for a 1st team player.

[Chez]

1 minute ago, gio1saints said:

I thought Spors gave a good answer to the Stephens question but why it needed be 3 not 2or 1 could not be asked as you only allowed one go.

Funnily enough the absence of any comment on if Will Still wanted it may be telling. 

Just as well. He had 12 months left of his contract, so a new one year contract would have been pointless.

Is Will Still not gong to have any input on players coming in...and going out? Remind me, has he been employed as head coach rather than manager?

[gio1saints]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

What are people suggesting that a professional footballer, who the club seem to value a great deal, has volunteered to take a £500k a year pay cut 2 years (or 3 years) on the bounce.

Are you mad? 

Compared to most neurotypicals, probably, maybe I appear mad. 😇. 
 

As for did he take a pay cut- I’ve no idea I just threw out a wild guess as to how it might have happened. 

PS. My sister just sent me a vid of my questioning Spors and describing the team, the management and the management of the management as inadequate and incompetent. Oh dear I’m outed. People will now recognise me as the “ inadequate “ bloke from the telly. Might have to grow a beard or something. 🤣

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, gio1saints said:

Compared to most neurotypicals, probably, maybe I appear mad. 😇. 
 

As for did he take a pay cut- I’ve no idea I just threw out a wild guess as to how it might have happened. 

PS. My sister just sent me a vid of my questioning Spors and describing the team, the management and the management of the management as inadequate and incompetent. Oh dear I’m outed. People will now recognise me as the “ inadequate “ bloke from the telly. Might have to grow a beard or something. 🤣

To be fair, the point was made...ie, you lot have been shit 

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

8 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

I thought Spors gave a good answer to the Stephens question but why it needed be 3 not 2or 1 could not be asked as you only allowed one go.
 

Not being privy to what he is actually going to be paid I’m going to take a wild guess and suggest the three years was a quid pro quo for a lower weekly basic. Sound like something we might do? 
Spors  made the call. Parsons and the Board supported it. 
Funnily enough the absence of any comment on if Will Still wanted it may be telling. 

Doesn't matter how you slice it, giving stephens a 3 yr deal is an abysmal decision. And following on from other comments made, they are looking to do this with some of our other losers. I'm thinking that will be Baz for one.

So the message is - perform poorly, be part of the worse prem saints team in history and we will reward you with a 3 yr contract! Just doesn't make any sense to me

[Fitzhugh Fella]

I think it about time fans stopped fixating on Jack Stephens 3 year extension FFS. Yes a bit OTT but I couldn't care less.

He has been a good servant so WTF.We have a lot bigger things to worry about.

I also laugh at the desire to get back to the corrupt PL which is geared to the wealthy and the elite. There is no point to promotion any more because, unless we get taken over by a bent billionaire, we can't compete, so would more than likely come straight back down and then go through the same crap. We are deluding ourselves or to put it more honestly football is taking the piss out of genuine fans, 

[Give it to Ron]

Just now, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I think it about time fans stopped fixating on Jack Stephens 3 year extension FFS. Yes a bit OTT but I couldn't care less.

He has been a good servant so WTF.We have a lot bigger things to worry about.

I also laugh at the desire to get back to the corrupt PL which is geared to the wealthy and the elite. There is no point to promotion any more because, unless we get taken over by a bent billionaire, we can't compete, so would more than likely come straight back down and then go through the same crap. We are deluding ourselves or to put it more honestly football is taking the piss out of genuine fans, 

So what are you suggesting not win games get half way through season and just stop winning?

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

3 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I think it about time fans stopped fixating on Jack Stephens 3 year extension FFS. Yes a bit OTT but I couldn't care less.

He has been a good servant so WTF.We have a lot bigger things to worry about.

I also laugh at the desire to get back to the corrupt PL which is geared to the wealthy and the elite. There is no point to promotion any more because, unless we get taken over by a bent billionaire, we can't compete, so would more than likely come straight back down and then go through the same crap. We are deluding ourselves or to put it more honestly football is taking the piss out of genuine fans, 

Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham, Palace, Brighton, Forest all managed to go up and stay up

Edited Thursday at 20:37 by Golac's Cunning Stunts

[Matthew Le God]

5 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I also laugh at the desire to get back to the corrupt PL which is geared to the wealthy and the elite. There is no point to promotion any more because, unless we get taken over by a bent billionaire, we can't compete, so would more than likely come straight back down and then go through the same crap. We are deluding ourselves or to put it more honestly football is taking the piss out of genuine fans, 

Money isn't the issue. We spent £260m+ on transfers over the last two Premier League seasons with Sport Republic as owners. The issue is how the money was spent. Lots of recruitment mistakes. If the £260m+ was spent wisely we'd still be in the Premier League. 

Edited Thursday at 20:39 by Matthew Le God

[AlexLaw76]

3 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I think it about time fans stopped fixating on Jack Stephens 3 year extension FFS. Yes a bit OTT but I couldn't care less.

He has been a good servant so WTF.We have a lot bigger things to worry about.

I also laugh at the desire to get back to the corrupt PL which is geared to the wealthy and the elite. There is no point to promotion any more because, unless we get taken over by a bent billionaire, we can't compete, so would more than likely come straight back down and then go through the same crap. We are deluding ourselves or to put it more honestly football is taking the piss out of genuine fans, 

Fulham, Brentford, Brighton, Palace, Forest....doing alright 

We were above all of them, then blew it.

[Appy]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

Fulham, Brentford, Brighton, Palace, Forest....doing alright 

We were above all of them, then blew it.

Forest did cheat 

[Give it to Ron]

Parsons said we try to compete with City revenue £750m ours is 150m but I have always loved us bloodying the noses of big boys like 76

[hypochondriac]

4 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I think it about time fans stopped fixating on Jack Stephens 3 year extension FFS. Yes a bit OTT but I couldn't care less.

He has been a good servant so WTF.We have a lot bigger things to worry about.

I also laugh at the desire to get back to the corrupt PL which is geared to the wealthy and the elite. There is no point to promotion any more because, unless we get taken over by a bent billionaire, we can't compete, so would more than likely come straight back down and then go through the same crap. We are deluding ourselves or to put it more honestly football is taking the piss out of genuine fans, 

I'm not sure that's true. You have to beat the odds and stay up once and then it gets easier. Yes it's very difficult but the likes of Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford have managed it. 

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Appy said:

Forest did cheat 

we were above all of them.....where we are is our own fault 

[Badger]

5 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Money isn't the issue. We spent £260m+ on transfers over the last two Premier League seasons with Sport Republic as owners. The issue is how the money was spent. Lots of recruitment mistakes. If the £260m+ was spent wisely we'd still be in the Premier League. 

Exactly. Recruitment has been the key issue (both managers and players) and reason for our fall. 

[egg]

4 minutes ago, Appy said:

Forest did cheat 

I think it was more a calculated risk that paid off.  Playing with a wonky bat can get the job done, sadly. 

[Chez]

23 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

He also bought in Downs and Quarshie so a good start 

I prefer to see how they go before patting anyone on the back. Quarshie has been very up and down in preseason games and Donws hasn't really played.

[AlexLaw76]

30 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

He also bought in Downs and Quarshie so a good start 

Is it?

[Smirking_Saint]

2 hours ago, Saint Scott said:

Thought it was interesting on two or three occasions that Parsons kept mentioning accountability in reference to Spors.

I may be reading into it too much, but it felt like there was some tension there. Maybe he and the board are frustrated we haven't recruited an AM yet, despite it being signed off without departures

I think you’re reading too much into it, he literally explained how squad planning takes you deep into the window

I imagine the tension is because previous DoFs here did a terrible job or just went AWOL

[Turkish]

18 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Parsons said we try to compete with City revenue £750m ours is 150m but I have always loved us bloodying the noses of big boys like 76

We aren’t trying to compete with them. If this was the case we’d be challenging for the title every season. We’re trying to compete with the dozen or so others whose revenues aren’t dissimilar to our own when we’re in the premier league 

[pimpin4rizeal]

Trouble with this club is it seems the focus is more on devolopong youth and player trading. but all of this gets us pretty much nowhere in terms  of results we let all the decent players go get stuck with the average ones rinse repeat 

[Give it to Ron]

26 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Is it?

Potentially yes from what have seen and read we have bought 2 players that will grow here and help us on pitch and financially. If they were finished article we wouldn’t have been able to afford them. 
We don’t know yet if will be a success but look at BBD we thought he would be good , if Downs comes good great if doesn’t his outlay wasn’t massive but hopefully Trollope and Still can help improve both new recruits.

[Give it to Ron]

3 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Trouble with this club is it seems the focus is more on devolopong youth and player trading. but all of this gets us pretty much nowhere in terms  of results we let all the decent players go get stuck with the average ones rinse repeat 

Without a mega rich owner what are our other options? We have to recruit cheap sell high or come through academy we just can’t compete. 

[pimpin4rizeal]

14 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Without a mega rich owner what are our other options? We have to recruit cheap sell high or come through academy we just can’t compete. 

Think we need owners who actually prioritise results . Cortese was good like that . Atm this develop and sell the better players just doesn’t get us anywhere as like I said you just get stuck with the poor ones it just all seems a bit pointless atm even if we get a great kid we know he’s gonna be sold off streight away it’s not like when we used to get years out of them like le tissier 

im seriously getting a bit bored with football ffp has made it even worse as now even the dream of getting a rich owner gets crushed 

Edited Thursday at 21:40 by pimpin4rizeal

[sockeye]

57 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I also laugh at the desire to get back to the corrupt PL which is geared to the wealthy and the elite.

I understand, but I will always want Saints to compete at the absolute highest level possible. I also enjoy, as GITR put it so well, bloodying the noses of the entitled princes of the PL.

[BarberSaint]

9 hours ago, OldNick said:

The younger fans like the more American type of celebration that they can enjoy the moment, whilst the more miserable old fans would rather  silence and be able to throw the 'who are you' chants at the away fans. Personally id like a row of American cheerleaders with pom poms aka American basketball. I can the lose my eyesight and dont need to watch the crap we get served up week on week. There again seeing the young ladies I see wandering around town I think I might stick pins in my eyes to not have to watch them 😀 Only teasing before we get the precious yokers on to me

 

Hate to break it to you, but cheerleaders are shit. And so are American sports.

[HarvSFC]

Thought Blackmore was a lot better tonight than he has been in previous years. Although, repeatedly saying that we signed Rickie Lambert from Bristol City when introducing Trollope was a stain.

I thought Trollope came across well. He obviously wasn't the focus of the evening and couldn't tell us too much as a step in and assistant manager, but his responses were good. Still became available to us as he needed to leave France due to personal reasons, hopefully the reasons aren't too severe and don't impact anything going forward.

I thought Spors didn't give too much away. The Stephens response wasn't great. Said he had a good pre-season, when we've all seen with our own eyes the mistakes he's made. Also didn't like Blackmore's comments regarding the fans scapegoating him. If a player's good, they're good, they're applauded and they're well supported. If they consistently make mistakes, they get called out on it.

There weren't many questions or comments regarding individual players this evening. Two years ago there was the Bazunu and last year McCarthy comments. But, only discussed Dibling, Fernandes and Stephens.

Not too many promises made this year, and I think the panel were more tight lipped than they have been in previous years, but it wasn't ever going to be a night of revelations.

Parsons did say that the PSR rules are likely to change to "squad cost ratio", so wonder what impact that will have on us. Hopefully a more positive one.

[Matthew Le God]

11 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Parsons did say that the PSR rules are likely to change to "squad cost ratio", so wonder what impact that will have on us. Hopefully a more positive one.

If voted in, it is changing to only being able to spend up to a set % of your income on transfers and wages. This is why increasing revenue is so important and why the club is looking to expand the stadium and develop the area around it. Parsons touched on this and also stated they may start revealing plans in the next year.

Edited Thursday at 23:04 by Matthew Le God

[Dusic]

Parsons is a realist, and needs to be in his role. He is the guy who says every player has their price, who hints even if we go back up we will likely come down again and who explains the reality of the cash needed to compete at PL level.

You don't learn much from these events but very clear that Spors is responaible for all football decisions and that can only be a good thing IMO. Some may not have likes the Stephens answer but he was clewe it was his decision and he believes in it. That makes it easy to judge in future which helps transparency.

Trollope spoke like a manager and clearly a good guy to have around.

Overall quite a negative set of questions (not suprising) and quite a defensive set of responses. Need some early wins and good signings to change the mood or it will be a difficult season IMO.

[saint michael]

I didn’t realise that the season ticket and fan contribution was around 50% of revenue. Thought it was implied years ago as much less important. Was Parsons making that point as a consequence of relegation?  The thoughts of doubling the revenue is interesting to as unlikely if based on football and saints brand because of poor performance. So sounds like it is based on increased revenues from infrastructure or non football based investments. If so club debt will likely become a much bigger issue or finding another investor willing to bring funding in. 
 

feels like they are trying to do much more longer term stuff. I hope they realise the importance of the delivery of the shorter term targets. 

[Farmer Saint]

8 hours ago, BarberSaint said:

 

Hate to break it to you, but cheerleaders are shit. And so are American sports.

NFL is a far superior product to Premier League football nowadays, I'm sorry to say.

[Chez]

44 minutes ago, saint michael said:

I didn’t realise that the season ticket and fan contribution was around 50% of revenue. Thought it was implied years ago as much less important. Was Parsons making that point as a consequence of relegation?  The thoughts of doubling the revenue is interesting to as unlikely if based on football and saints brand because of poor performance. So sounds like it is based on increased revenues from infrastructure or non football based investments. If so club debt will likely become a much bigger issue or finding another investor willing to bring funding in. 
 

feels like they are trying to do much more longer term stuff. I hope they realise the importance of the delivery of the shorter term targets. 

Using 2023 (PL) and 2024 (chmpionship) accounts as a guide:

PL income total £145m. TV £108m, match day £19m and commercial £18m. =25% of income.

Championship (with parachute) total income £80m, TV £55m, match day £16m and commercial £12m. =28% of income.

I'm struggling to see what the 50% he mentioned relates to. Once the parachute payments end, that's a different story. Hopefully we don't have to go there again.

Edited Friday at 06:31 by Chez

[Dusic]

38 minutes ago, saint michael said:

I didn’t realise that the season ticket and fan contribution was around 50% of revenue. Thought it was implied years ago as much less important. Was Parsons making that point as a consequence of relegation?  The thoughts of doubling the revenue is interesting to as unlikely if based on football and saints brand because of poor performance. So sounds like it is based on increased revenues from infrastructure or non football based investments. If so club debt will likely become a much bigger issue or finding another investor willing to bring funding in. 
 

feels like they are trying to do much more longer term stuff. I hope they realise the importance of the delivery of the shorter term targets. 

He said if you ignore parachute payments then that is the case.

He alao pointed out that from a PSR perspective we have to balance the fact that what we spend this summer would also impact our ability to spend next summer should we go up.

As Solak said, the club would love additional investors for the reasons Parsons said - he added he was worried about how realistic it is for promoted teams to be competitive once they do go up and is bang on with that - its becoming a closed shop because the teams there have all had multiple windows of spending PL cash and anyone who comes down is essentially forced to sell their few players who were PL level.

Obviously not a flash character but quite straight talking and clear in his communication which is not always the case for people in these roles.

[Chez]

11 minutes ago, Dusic said:

He said if you ignore parachute payments then that is the case.

 

Once the parachutes end, the Sky TV and EFL money income for championship clubs is about £11m, so tickets sales become the biggest earner...assuming fans still turn up. 

[egg]

1 hour ago, saint michael said:

I didn’t realise that the season ticket and fan contribution was around 50% of revenue. Thought it was implied years ago as much less important. Was Parsons making that point as a consequence of relegation?  The thoughts of doubling the revenue is interesting to as unlikely if based on football and saints brand because of poor performance. So sounds like it is based on increased revenues from infrastructure or non football based investments. If so club debt will likely become a much bigger issue or finding another investor willing to bring funding in. 

feels like they are trying to do much more longer term stuff. I hope they realise the importance of the delivery of the shorter term targets. 

I suspect that a bloke who's pumped multiple millions into a football club has a wee bit of awareness of the importance of getting out of the championship sharpish. 

[gio1saints]

FWIW : my analysis of forum performance from a body language pov. 
 

Trollope : 10/10  At ease in front of people. Was eloquent, smiling or neutral obviously open posture. Honest no eye fidgeting face covering blushing or tics etc. No disingenuous contradictory stuff going on while he talks - just straight footballers talk.
His direct advice to players “don’t wait to give the supporters reason to support you” - and to us supporters vice versa was a brilliant line. So he has motivational abilities. His relaxed demeanour but close attention to what’s said and going on throughout forum was very evident. He scanned room often- he’s trained to be observant - good sign that is for a coach/ people manager. 
Conclude : This guy is a real find. 
 

Parsons : 7/10 . noticeably red faced & quite touchy. Felt he looked under pressure throughout not fooled by any disguise. He did a stock FD spiel so it’s also clear he does not want to reveal anything financially of any note- most of all anything negative. Like all Financial Directors basically. Relatively Unskilled at hiding he’s got a lot going on & appearing relaxed - but he’s a ££ guy not a performer so did not expect that. I suspect he is not too difficult to trigger and put on tilt. Hope I’m wrong but his comportment shouted :I’m stressed. 

Conclude : He’s under strong pressure , and not just from fan forum questions - that means from upstairs. 
 

Spors : 5/10 . For answering in not first language I give some latitude - but for someone who emphasised improving intra-club communication as a priority I felt his own communication and listening skills in particular were not especially impressive. His CV I like but in person his body language and general delivery was at a lower level than I was hoped for. 
He was very red faced - probably sunburn rather than stress but either are not clever or coping signals. Looked noticeably uptight and -to me- a bit nervous 

Conclude : The heat is on. Stand and deliver time for Mr Spors. 
 

Most important to me is Trollope is a good guy and will be very valuable to our promotion campaign. 

[OldNick]

12 hours ago, Give it to Ron said:

He didn’t ask that at all go listen again it was about why club doesn’t value ST holders and why the “gifts” are no longer sent. Pin badge was an example!!!

It was a pathetic entitled comment. 'I didnt get sent a pin badge'. I by a s/t and dot expect anything bt to go and watch my team. If the club send a shirt and pin badge to the fans who go to away games that will cost a fortune. Do the club earn from selling away tickets?

[OldNick]

9 hours ago, BarberSaint said:

 

Hate to break it to you, but cheerleaders are shit. And so are American sports.

I really dislike American sport

[Roo1976]

11 hours ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham, Palace, Brighton, Forest all managed to go up and stay up

all very well managed clubs......................................unlike our sound bite offerings.

[Whitey Grandad]

27 minutes ago, OldNick said:

I really dislike American sport

A contradiction in terms. 

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

FWIW : my analysis of forum performance from a body language pov. 
 

Trollope : 10/10  At ease in front of people. Was eloquent, smiling or neutral obviously open posture. Honest no eye fidgeting face covering blushing or tics etc. No disingenuous contradictory stuff going on while he talks - just straight footballers talk.
His direct advice to players “don’t wait to give the supporters reason to support you” - and to us supporters vice versa was a brilliant line. So he has motivational abilities. His relaxed demeanour but close attention to what’s said and going on throughout forum was very evident. He scanned room often- he’s trained to be observant - good sign that is for a coach/ people manager. 
Conclude : This guy is a real find. 
 

Parsons : 7/10 . noticeably red faced & quite touchy. Felt he looked under pressure throughout not fooled by any disguise. He did a stock FD spiel so it’s also clear he does not want to reveal anything financially of any note- most of all anything negative. Like all Financial Directors basically. Relatively Unskilled at hiding he’s got a lot going on & appearing relaxed - but he’s a ££ guy not a performer so did not expect that. I suspect he is not too difficult to trigger and put on tilt. Hope I’m wrong but his comportment shouted :I’m stressed. 

Conclude : He’s under strong pressure , and not just from fan forum questions - that means from upstairs. 
 

Spors : 5/10 . For answering in not first language I give some latitude - but for someone who emphasised improving intra-club communication as a priority I felt his own communication and listening skills in particular were not especially impressive. His CV I like but in person his body language and general delivery was at a lower level than I was hoped for. 
He was very red faced - probably sunburn rather than stress but either are not clever or coping signals. Looked noticeably uptight and -to me- a bit nervous 

Conclude : The heat is on. Stand and deliver time for Mr Spors. 
 

Most important to me is Trollope is a good guy and will be very valuable to our promotion campaign. 

Not sure I agree with that. I thought parsons acquitted himself well and gave diplomatic answers to some difficult questions. Trollope was great but then he didn't get as challenging questions so it was easier to deal with. 

Spors got better as it went on. It may be that he's not much of a public speaker which isn't a requirement of the job. He's clearly knowledgeable and it's great that he's accountable so he knows he will live and die by his decisions. 

Overall I thought they all gave a good account of themselves - certainly better than Semmens ever did - and I was left with the impression Parsons especially really cares about what he's doing (particularly when I had a quick word with him afterwards.) I thought a lot of the questions were reasonable this year although I wish people wouldn't just use it as an opportunity to moan and phrase things in a more constructive way. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

These events are more about massaging the ego’s of entitled supporters who feel the need to get ‘closer’ to the club and/or have their voice heard. That said, it was a slightly better set of questions this time and less waffle. We got the answers that the questions deserved frankly and all of the panel did OK in that context.

Regarding Stephens, while I feel he would not be greatly missed as a first team starter, I do sympathise with the management’s decision to keep him around to help steady the dressing room. Three years may seem like a long time, however IF we get promoted that’s two years on entering the PL. Assuming he’s either replaced by a better PL level player or better still sold, it’s a win-win with two years on his contract to get the best return. As they said - this is in the shadow of FFP and us needing to cut our cloth in transfer dealings this year.

I think the response regarding Dibling and Fernandes was frank and to the point. Show us your money or F-off…the players are ready to play for Saints if that’s what transpires. However, that surely leaves Spors in a tricky place - does he bring in a playmaking midfielder or not? I hope he doesn’t gamble and leave it too late. This team needs goals and lots more of them.

[St Louis]

15 hours ago, Give it to Ron said:

Parsons said we try to compete with City revenue £750m ours is 150m but I have always loved us bloodying the noses of big boys like 76

I thought it was unreal that he said that the same 5-fold gap in revenue exists between Saints and the smallest/bottom League Two clubs!
Just shows how awful the Premier League has become and how impossible it is to compete with the 'big clubs', that gap is just too big now. The Champions League has played a huge part in killing top flight domestic leagues (all over Europe). And a billionaire cant just come in and save the day anymore either, we need to generate our own new/bigger revenue streams.

[Monk]

Slight side track…

 

there’s some controversy on Twitter/X about a big lad in the black third shirt and being allowed into the stadium/forum. Club being called out by a handful of keyboard warriors. Any ideas what that’s all about? 

[Charlie Wayman]

Overall not a bad Q & A session, some good questions, one or two less so but covering most of the ground that one could reasonably expect to be covererd. Not many happy fans in the room apparently judged by many miserable looking faces around the room. For me a really uninspiring top table with Adam doing his best to make the get together worthwhile by dragging answers out of the panel. Nobody from SR tells its own story.

What a second rate bunch of people we have at the top. People sing the praises of Spors but he said nothing of interest last night that we didn't know already and his high valuation of Stevens beggars belief. For all the world it seems to me that he hasn't got his feet under the table yet, let alone started to make a significant impression on football matters. For sure, Parsons will hang him out to dry if this season goes tit's up, as he hinted at yesterday.

The assistant manager came across as a bit of a plodder, mouthing the right platitudes that less critical fans like to hear but in fainess he was probably chucked in at the deep end atthe last minute covering the enforced absence of Still.

Parsons is Parsons, mediocrity came to my mind as he laboured through his well thumbed playbook of meaningless poltical claptrap answers. Through trying to come across as one of the 'boys' and one sensed an edginess in his demeanour, hinted at a growing uncertainty of his own place in the organisation so an unwillingness to push far beyond the prepared script.

7/10