I plan this Friday to renew our season tickets, just the £1364. We have little idea who the cast will be and no idea who will be directing the show. I would not even begin to consider spending this much money on any other form of entertainment, let alone spend it on the kind of uncertainty being sold to me. All this and the cheek to ask for the money a month earlier than is normally the case. Have I been overcome by some strange psychosis? Can I justify the outlay in any sensible framework of ideas that I normally use in organising my life? Am I going to watch 19 games of fighting to avoid relegation or 19 games of challenging the elite? Will the owner and chairman elope? Will Doddsey and Willo report back to the 'Don'? Can the Argentinian earn his Spurs? Will the players abscond as one, or will the 'Southampton Way prevail? Confused? You will be...
I was thinking of getting a season ticket but I am now waiting to see who leaves before making a decision.
Just did mine. This means that in the next 24 hours, Mauricio, Adam & Luke will leave. Mauricio will be replaced by Harry Redknapp and he'll bring in all the usual old players on highly inflated wages. Of course, I may not be a jinx and Mauricio will sign for the next 10 years and Adam and Luke will pledge their allegiance to us by getting the club crest tattooed on their foreheads.
Bit of a difference between getting a ticket and renewing. The early bird discount expires end of month. But given how most renewals witnessed some right dross around 07-09 it's an easy decision this year. For me anyway. I can understand why people are nervous.
So you support the club on the basis of not if you can afford it or your personal circumstances... but whether certain players or managers are at the club at any one time? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Look, a season ticket would be stretching my finances a lot so I won't get one unless I'm 100% sure our squad isn't going to be ripped apart and I approve of next season's manager. Even if only Lallana leaves it will be very hard to buy a season ticket.
You're such a judgemental prick sometimes. Maybe I worded it badly. I can barely afford a season ticket so if I was to buy one I would want to see the club showing signs of moving forwards, not backwards.
So you only support the team when its "moving forwards" ? Have any players left right now? Has the manager left right now? Has the club just had its best season for decades? Can totally understand the cost issue with any fan, it's a real issue for many, but was simply basing my reply on what YOU said.
To be fair, I can't really justify my ticket in cost, but luckily Mastercard seems to think I should have one as they increased my limit by £1000 this month and offered 0% on purchases until end June for 12 months
If it's any consolation I appreciate your honesty. I don't live in Southampton these days so in a sense I'm blessed with not having to even contemplate the decision.
If you've not got a fair bit of disposable income then spending several hundred pound to watch a gutted squad in a relegation battle is a daft investment, there's nothing wrong with waiting.
That is not what I said. You don't have to get a season ticket to support the club. I went to 5 or 6 away games in our first PL season (including Newcastle) and about half the home games without getting a season ticket. Only 1 away game this season but again, around half the home games. Just because I might not get a season ticket it DOES NOT mean I won't go to any games and support the team.
I agree with Tom, I can barely afford a ticket, price has gone up yet we have no idea what's happening with our team or manager. Whether I buy a ticket or not I still will support the Saints it's just I have to decide of whether I want to spend all that money plus travel from London each game and give up my holiday days at work to sit and watch us potentially fight relegation.
How do you know they will be in a relegation battle? They might have a better season next season? ****s sake, you base your reasoning for watching the club months in advance based upon conjecture. What happens if the club turns round and says "season ticket sales have been poor, so we are taking that as an indicator that fans are not backing what we are doing, so we are forced to sell players & reduce our transfer budget"
Oh well, it's everyone's personal choice of course. On the plus side, atmosphere might be better again next season if we are back to the hardcore 20,000 or so.
If the squad is gutted then it's safe to assume the season isn't going to be that enjoyable. Better to be sensible with your money based on what you can assume than reckless with your money based on blind faith. I'm not renewing for different reasons but I totally understand hesitancy.
I can see both sides here. Supporting the club should be done, in my view, regardless of what the squad is or who the manager is. But, if money is tight, and I can totally understand why with the huge debt that students face these days when they graduate from University, then the club selling the players won't exactly do much to persuade you to get a season ticket. I hope you can get a season ticket Tom, and hope you can still see Lallana and co next year. CBK, I don't think Tom meant it to come across that way. He isn't saying he won't support the team, and in an ideal world, if money was not an object, I'm sure he would renew without hesitation. But, if the signs are that the club doesn't want to improve the squad and continue to get better, then saving money wouldn't be a bad thing.
