I think Ralph was a bit protective of Les Reed....his lips tensed when a question was put to him. I also feel that some fans have been far too harsh on Reed....he's done a lot right but is unfortunately not as completely perfect as some of his critics. Some seem to think he gets a cut if he saves transfer money....there may be bonuses as in any business, but I doubt he benefits from not spending on players.
The applause to certain statements made clear the consensus on some issues, but in general it sounded polite and quiet. Some on Saintsweb talked about heckling going on....was anyone on here actually present and can say what the general mood was?
Yep. I was there. Overall mood and feeling was good. Sharp intake of breath when the guy asked Ralph and Les why they hadn’t resigned but was handled pretty well by Ralph and Adam Blackmore was excellent at making sure it was fair and balanced debate. There was a bit of heckling and shout outs but nothing out of control and the general good tone took over again.
Those are the old chestnuts I was referring to. Ticket allocation comes at two levels and if the club does not think they will sell them all they won't take the larger allocations as they would end up out of pocket. Some clubs allow you to go back for the larger allocation some don't. Your purchasing history is effectively your points system that gives you priority for away and cup games. Safe standing will happen eventually. Of that I'm sure but its a very sensitive area for the club to openly campaign alongside the fans given the loss of life that has occurred in the past. Best to let the Government rescind the all seater regulations on the back of campaigns such as that promoted by Andrew Pope. It wasn't so much your list of questions I was alluding to but the general level of questions that will get asked (of which yours are not untypical admittedly). It's the attempt by fans to quiz on finances that I find frustrating. Mainly because a lot don't really want the answers - they just want to ridicule Ralph and Les. It just gets embarrassing. That said, I did listen to the fans forum and it did not come across too badly, probably in the main because radio has the ability to mute out the heckles.
I was there and a couple of times it did get a bit feisty with random outbursts. But generally it was cordial, though main questions that needed to be asked were asked, about owners, transfer policy etc. Time eaten up though by Blackmore questions to Hughes and Ings to deflect it turning it into a bun fight.
I agree with the bold bit, the rest I will take point by point. Yes I understand how allocations work, I'm more curious to how we decide what to take, is it as simple as anywhere past the Midlands and we will take the smaller one? We've made a couple of **** ups here in recent years imo, though I completely agree with not taking the full allocation up North most of the time as we don't travel well up there (Everton last year good example). Some clubs offer three btw. Purchasing history is different to a points system though, my gripe with that is how a member who has been to (for example) 6 home games and 4 away has no priority over one who has bought a membership but attended no games. At least they added competition specifics for the Cup semi last year and that's something that should be done every year imo. I'm almost certain we were promised a new system not long after promotion. We'll have to agree to disagree regarding safe standing, I'm of the opinion that the more clubs who come out in public support of it the more pressure it will put on the government to act, when there's only a handful then it's easier to dismiss. I would like us to offer to trial it and would be interested to know if possibilities had been looked into.
I think I emailed the club about safe standing during last season. I said how they are paying out each week to put clappers on the seats (which don’t work and are a complete waste of paper and therefore unfair on trees) but if they wanted a better atmosphere then if they brought in safe standing and classified it as the singing area then that would likely have more impact. I also said how a lot of the top half of the Northam stand unsafely and it would improve safety if we had it. Their reply was something along the lines of ‘it’s not allowed we won’t be looking into it.’ But it wouldn’t do any harm for more people to contact the club with their support of it. I referenced safe standing quite a bit in the end of season survey. A lot of fans won’t want it but a lot do and there should be able to be an area for this. I can’t see the government changing their stance without high profile support and I can’t see clubs giving them that until the government changes their stance!
I notice on Saintsweb that some are criticising Les for not admitting that Carrillo was a big mistake and a waste of money....luckily others have more common sense. Guido didn't work out here, playing sometimes as a single striker when thrown straight into a struggling side. No need to slag him off for several reasons including the fact that it wasn't solely down to Carrillo and he is still our employee (therefore we owe him a degree of care and he may still shine in another league and therefore have a value). Unlikely, but he may still end up back here. Les could easily have chucked the blame on MP2, but he said we had been following Carrillo as a possible player....it was Blackmore who suggested that MP2 knowing the player was another factor. Having Hughes and Ings there was a good idea...not just to have balance, but stopped the crowd winding themselves up into a feeding frenzy. Well handled by Blackmore...after all this was being broadcasted on Solent and needed to be coherent for the listener.
Possibly more importantly, Les isn’t going to say the player was a waste of money and useless, when he is intact an asset that the club will want to recoup some cash on. Not the best business to put an advert out saying: USELESS, WASTE OF MONEY STRIKER FOR SALE There are some fans who wouldn’t even think of that.
Agreed. And more broadly les probably wont be openingly declaring former players as failures because that is not professional or useful. I would have preferred a more generalised debate on the last 2 years in the transfer market (inc manager appointments) rather than naming individual players and a greater acceptance of failure in recent times on the clubs behalf. I think that sort of honesty would be refreshing. Ralph alluded to complacency but little from head of football Les. But for me there were also about 5 decent years overall so i dont think they should all be resigning - just be more honest and less defensive. It was a bit them and us which is a gap that needs closing through honest discussion.
Les said nothing could ever be a 100% right...and he's right when you are dealing with human beings who have to fit in at a new club. Player A might be good at the club before and after Saints, but just not suit us for any number of reasons. Ings could have worked for us if we'd bought him last January because he knows the EPL, the area and most of the players. Carrillo had to contend with everything strange (apart from the manager) and high expectations. How would we like to walk into a strange job and have everyone throw their arms round our neck and expect us to sort it out? And very quickly please. It doesn't make Guido a bad player. It turned out to be a bad decision...perhaps the right decision from a financial POV was not to buy anyone at all....but can you imagine the outcry then. Who was available and willing to join us...only the club know the answer to that.
Turning that around can you imagine the outcry had it been revealed that MP2 really rated Carrillo, he wanted desperately to join us but Les said no... At the end of the day the less intelligent fans need a scapegoat even during the good times and it is better that they direct that animosity to two professionals who handle it quite well. I agree with the comments that they have been incumbent for more good outcomes than bad ones (purposely avoiding the words 'responsible' and 'decisions'...) so no owner in his right mind would even consider asking for their resignation. The phrase careful what you wish for springs to mind!
I think les answered most of it pretty well. A bit more honestly from him on how and why the last 2 years havent been very good would go long way. Maybe he thinks it has gone well.
To be fair, last season was the first since our return to the PL when you could say beyond question that it hadn't gone well. The season before was frustrating in many ways, but we were one looping header away from winning a Wembley final.
Thanks to everyone who reported on the forum last night. I was reading Twitter comments after the fact and they were all generally very positive which I liked. So, MH was basically saying that people being negative towards players (Redmond) does have an affect. Hopefully, this will filter through to the idiots who think that shouting insults to our own players is the done thing. Do they truly believe it's motivational or do they just want to be the big man? Also glad to see that they're aware that communication with the fans isn't brilliant. Wonder why the sudden (or maybe it isn't) concern?
It was interesting that he was very specific about Redmond as an example, firstly because he gets the most abuse, but secondly I’m guessing he is most affected by it. Interesting, and a very pointed response. I hope some people take heed.
The abuse redmond get pisses me off. He may not be your favorite player, but he is playing in a saints shirt.support him like you do the rest of the team
There is always a scapegoat with our fanbase. I dont know why but i cannot think of that many periods where a player is not targeted. When its an attacking player who relies on confidence and taking risks its so self defeating.
