We wouldn't want more money spent if we couldn't afford it. We've seen what happens when you do that. Have an experience like we did, and you'll never complain about a lack of spending again.
if you have a great season, you'll be amazed at how many fans believe that plan should be thrown out of the window and money tossed in the general direction of better players!
That's true.I've always wondered if Bale and Oxo stayed would they be as good as they are now at their respective clubs or would their ability stay the same throughout their careers?I think they would get better,but probably not as good as they would at another club,at a "bigger club".
Only the Glory hunting fans that flock back because we are in the Prem will want that. I on the other hand would just want Saints to beat our record of 27yrs in the Prem. That would suit me fine
Well I'm sure most of the sensible fans would not be calling for it if the club could not afford it, however there certainly would be some. At Norwich as Supers says we have a plan to clear debt etc but there are always fans who want more cash spent. Its up to the club to hold their position and not bow down to fan pressure.
We took 45k to Wembley for the JPT final* in league 1 and could have sold double that amout. The club tried to get more tickets but they wouldn't give them to us (despite the Carlisle half being not very full). I repeat, we could probably have taken near 100k to the JPT final - against Carlisle. We could eaisly get 45-50k for ManU, Aresnal and Chelsea. *In so doing we took the largest allocation of any club ever to the new Wembley as there are obviously fewer hospitality & team England seats for sponsors at the JPT than at other tournaments.
It is hard to know, but playing with better players in a higher league must make them better. All training facilities and training at all levels must be 1st class to achieve what Barca and Ajax have with youth players.
We haven't really had the platform to see how good our academy players could be with us until now. We have always been a selling club until Liebherr came along. Hopefully now we can have a chance to find out
The thing is, is it worth having a bigger stadium that will only be full for the "big" games each season. What about when smaller prem teams come, is there any point in having empty seats? Really its just about finding the optimum size that you can just fill every week.
Will certainly be interesting to see if you give many of your youngsters a game. Much harder to bring them straight into a prem team than championship, but hopefully they will do well
but luton took more than 40k to wembley when they got to the JPT. its not a decent indicator of who would go week in, week out. norwich had more than 100k inquiries for our play off final in 2002.
A very good point, I'm of the opinion that if we ever manage to realise our ambition become a club that can push for top 6 or more then our current 32k is too small. I don't know what the right size is, but 45-50k isn't unreasonable. Remember, there are only two major clubs in our county. I'm sure well over 45k people in Hampshire are football fans, it's just a question of converting them to the red and white of Southampton rather than glory hunting fans who just watch ManU & barca on TV. The fact that we could have taken 100k to Wembley if they had given us the tickets shows that the casual fan base is already there; all we need to do is play better football so they come more often (eaiser said than done, I know)
As a Saints fan I do personally believe that Champions League football will never happen in my lifetime, just can not see it, if we reguarly top-half finishing in the Prem/pushing for Europa then 32k would not be big enough. Currently 45-50k would only get filled in the big games, but who's to say what happens in the future? Cortese has got big plans for this club and we have a massive catchment area to gain support from, I mean, how many professional teams are in the South? Compared to up north and London etc.
I used to be like you, now I'm just wait and see. So much has happened to our club on and off the pitch, i'm not ruling anything out.
I really admire the plan saints have, they seem to have the same club philosophy as we do and the safe complete faith in the running of the club on and off the field. I get the impression that the ambitions at Norwich are moving in that direction, Lambo's recent comments suggest as much With regards to the £7m yes it's a but of a punt but they were unlikly to get him cheaper. Personally I'm jealous, has the potential to be a cracking player.
I hate the myth of walcott being bad. He scored 8 and had 11 assists last year, one of the best midfield records in the premier league. On top of that he is often being played out of position and unfairly criticised. And he has only just turned 23.
I certainly count Southampton as a threat, more than QPR and probably reading. I do believe we will deal with the challenge though/ Lambert has a keen eye on those that have been promoted. It wouldn't surprise me at all if all three stayed up again. New blood is good for the premier league Unless your QPR of course
