dman could be correct, but then he'd be a right charlie**. [Sorry dman, couldn't resist ] **Possible 50+ year age requirement to get this observation.
I agree, that's an excellent observation from AberdeenSaint. However, the goalposts [sorry] have moved since then. I think it's perfectly possible for a provincial club to succeed on a sustainable level because the fanbase isn't totally about how many one can get in the stadium. As time goes on it won't even be the major earner. It's about the coverage, the merchandising and the wider fanbase too. Look at the Official Saints Youtube videos. There's one posted specifically for the Japanese market. It featured Lee and Yoshida. It actually made me smile to see a Saints badge with the Japanese language written underneath. This isn't accidental. It's totally planned. Saints are reaching into many corners of the global market. With those efforts, they can easily get the Club profile high enough to be up among the so-called bigger clubs. Saints even have the perennial advantage of being cute because they're smaller. It's all about how the perception. Think big, but stay cute.
But I don't think the historical reasons why big cities tended to have successful clubs exist anymore. Clubs are like companies now. The big clubs are in fact multinational and the physical place where they play is of little difference. The major money from attendance isn't from common fans but from corporate luxury boxes. The other money is from marketing, which is more national or really international as well. All you need are some halfway smart soccer personnel, a huge wad of money, and a bit of patience and/or understanding of finances. The teams that were big for a few seasons and went down. It wasn't because their fanbase wasn't large enough. It was because the owners were idiots. They were able to buy those teams on the cheap because they were small, whereas they wouldn't be able to takeover Man United. But once the team is in their control, they can *spend* like Man U., at least for a year or two.
If we can use this season to establish ourselves Aberdeen, then watch out. Fun will be too small a word for it. I'm sure Cortese will insist on making Saints strong first, so as to attract the best youngsters into the best Academy. He hasn't even started, in my opinion. Providing he doesn't lose interest and becomes attracted by something new, I'm thinking we're looking at 20 years and more of Cortese's dream. That's not bad, in my book. Besides, he's already said he'd get the right people in to move Saints on, even if the Liebherrs wanted to pull out. I imagine he'd do the same for himself.
Well yes, the actor/comedian Charlie Drake indeed. But the phrase... a right Charlie, I think goes back before him, doesn't it..?
Charlie was a Victorian slang word for a woman's petticoat or underwear. So calling someone a "Charlie" is a bit like calling them a "girl's blouse".
My Concise Dictionary of Slang suggests that it can mean a homosexual male, a chamber pot or an interesting part of the female anatomy. It has cockney roots in rhyming slang for Charley Ronce - a ponce and Charley Hunt - a (never mind I will leave that for you to work out).
I'm old, but not that old... I just remember my Great Nan laughing at Charlie Drake when i was a wee lad
Blimey, I had no idea..! Apologies all round. No wonder it used to get exaggerated laughs in The Goon Show, Round The Horne, etc...
Christ, no need for any apologies to me lads - nothing wrong with being called a right charlie, ive been called loads worse than that !! Now, come on you Saints - and Nicola, you big charlie, i want to see us top of the league by Easter !
I like to think we have a pretty good attitude about it. Everyone is ecstatic to see us back in the Prem. We were also somewhat upset that Adkins was fired, which if we had ideas above our station, we would probably have been demanding in November that NC bring in Guardiola. It would be one thing if we were all complaining about Saints not being in the top 6, but we aren't. People still remember League One, and the lost years. Perhaps if we stay in the Premier League for a few years but never rise above 15th place the fans will get reckless and demand more but for now we're all just enjoying where we are while daring to dream of bigger things. That's a healthy attitude to me. Not sure if NC feels the same way, but at any rate the fans are in a good place.
