Southampton Banter Archive February 20 2015

 

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20 Feb 2015 22:26:28
High time we went on record as saying we are no longer a selling club.

This will apply to all PL clubs who fight there way to the top.

I am sick and tired of Sky and there negative impact on our game. I am sick of season after season whereby only half a dozen clubs are the attention of the media and only vast sums of money keeps them there, much of it from the Far East.

Its time for a much tougher regime to be in charge of football matters and that starts with FIFA and Blatter. Money is corrupting the game and the players.The game is slowly killing itself.

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If I recall correctly, Les Reed called his own press conference towards the end of last season to announce that Saints weren't a selling club. That didn't work out too well.

It's not realistic to think some players won't move on. Clyne will have to be sold if he doesn't sign a contract extension in the next few months, Rodriguez is in the same boat.

Schneiderlin is clearly only still at the club under protest and will force through a transfer in the summer.

Throw in Alderweireld's loan running out and Saints are probably going to have to replace four players in the summer, minimum. And then probably add a few more to extend an already thin squad.

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{Ed007's Note - I missed GTSaint's initial post but I'll throw my tuppence worth in now if that's ok. Spot on mate, Sly are killing football in the UK. You think you've got it tough! Sly pay Terry Henry more a year than Celtic get off them for winning the SPFL and before you say 'but it's only Scottish football' there are 550,000 Sly Spurts subscribers in Scotland, that's circa £16 million a month, and all the SPFL get is around £15 million per SEASON.
Don't get me wrong we have absolute &*%(*( running our game up here that should be ran out of town but I just want to let you know that it's not only England that Sly are causing problems. The Norwegian League makes alot more more money than Scotland from TV money and I'd say we're at least on a level with that in general, even excluding Celtic the standard of football is improving but as a customer base alone our game surely deserves better support for what we as fans are putting into Sly's coffers.
Not just because of the football but the best thing any man could invent was a machine that disabled Sly dishes, like an electro-magnetic bomb that would stop them pumping their garbage into our house 24/7 - people might start to think for themselves.}

21 Feb 2015 10:22:36
Totally agree about the Sky synopsis, I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a new Francis Ford Coppola trilogy of Godfather movies actually being put together as we speak about their involvement in football . They would all be definitely X rated . There is no control of what they do and have made themselves above the law in many ways . Their argument would be where would football be in this country without their money and to a certain extent I reluctantly agree but also disagree . However I have a theory why on a nationwide basis there are not many home grown players coming through .In the past we had a more balanced football fraternity that evolved mainly around large industrial cities and the game was definitely a more working class institution . We had players emerge that from young boys used to kick the ball around in the streets ( similar to what still happens today in Brazil ) and they got noticed and their " born with " talents emerged, for example Bobby Charlton, George Best etc. The top teams in the PL are now part of the " Exclusive Club " for which you can only get a ticket if you have stupid money to throw away . I am afraid I can only see this Jolly Boys Club increasing for one reason and one reason alone, MONEY, SKY TV have absolutely no interest in football at board level at all . They have used the game and some other sports to make themselves one of the worlds richest businesses with more or less no regard for the average fan who can barely make ends meet financially from week to week. The normal everyday family man who used to watch his local team on a regular basis can't afford it . We look at SKY football as a tremendous boost to the finances of football clubs in this country which is true to the elite but deep down it is a disease that is slowly but surely killing the game we used to love and enjoy. In some ways it reminds me of the pubs where people used to congregate socially and talk sport and other general things, that has been killed by greedy breweries and the money grabbing tax man . The end result of this meant pubs by the hundred had to close down on financial grounds and thus ending generations of community spirit . I see the same happening with the less well off football clubs in this country, it may take a bit longer but it will happen. I am sure when this starts happening you won't see MR SKY put his hand in his pocket to save them even though it was them that started the meltdown in the first place. I am afraid football is not a sport anymore and never will be again . Anyway good luck lads on Sunday.

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{Ed001's Note - it was the creation of the Premier League that started it, Sky just rode on the coat tails of the greedy clubs looking only at pound signs and not at what was best for football. Southampton were a big part of that, sadly. You can look even further back and see how it was just a copy of the Scottish model, where the clubs had all the power, and revenue, rather than the FA, and that was the example followed in England. It is greed, Sky are a major part of it, but the clubs themselves are the cause of it all.}

21 Feb 2015 10:49:55
I agree Ed 001 but how were these clubs allowed to get in so much debt with the banks ? They are also as much to blame and not just in this country just look at the likes of Real Madrid . I am not too sure of my facts but I think I remember they were about 500 million euros in debt but were still signing top players for silly money, how ? Is it true that Real Madrid are almost totally owned by the banks now ?

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{Ed001's Note - no it is not true. They have rebuilt up their debt but they are not 'owned' by the banks. As for their previous debt, they were able to sell their old training ground for many times its true value to the Spanish govt. Oh and they were gifted a bigger and better plot with better training facilities on the edge of the city as well. But that is just one of many times they have received a helping hand from their govt.}

21 Feb 2015 13:12:09
Thanks for the info Ed 0001 but surely they must have been in to the banks big time debt wise until the sale of the training ground etc ?

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{Ed001's Note - no bank in Spain will call in a debt owed by Real Madrid or Barcelona. The minute they did that they would have customers who support the club closing their accounts in droves. It would not be worth their while to do so and those two clubs have relied on that to fund their activities.}

21 Feb 2015 13:40:16
Ironic really then that a country that is in a total economic mess causing massive unemployment can be more or less held to ransom by two football clubs . What a strange world we live in when football can hold such power .

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{Ed001's Note - sadly they are more than football clubs there, they are representative of the whole region they are based in. It would be nice if people would remember it is just a game!}

21 Feb 2015 14:18:54
Agreed, thanks Ed for your time.

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Its a ridiculous amount of money that is being talked about for the tv rights.

When the tv money is shared not only in game broadcast terms but as it filters trough as prize money, the clubs and premier league should be doing 2 things.

1) compulsory percentage goes to the FA for grass roots development, and regional training centres and facilities.

2) subsidising home matches to reduce ticket prices.

So if it's £50 a ticket for 32,000 seats, that's 1.6m in ticket revenue per home game (for saints, If sells out).

If they knocked £10 off a ticket per match, that's a a £320,000 per match drop in income - but ancillary sales (beer pies etc) would be better as he stadium is [more likely] to sell out. If 190 was taken Off each season ticket included in this equation too.

Ether way that £10 per ticket equates to a shade over £6m a season - easily covered by the tv money, and makes the game a little more accessible to the fans.

I'll be at St Mary's tomorrow, really excited as I don't get to go too often, but there is 2 reasons for this - my job, and ticket prices.

If it was cheaper I would dodge work more to watch football.

Although, if I cancel my sky subscription, I would have a shedload more money, and could afford to go buy a season ticket, and have change for some beer. (Even if I can't go - it'll still be cheaper than paying for sky and not getting to see many Saints games anyway).

My sky Bill keeps going up, and after the news about tv rights for football it angers me so much that I am funding it - sky aren't plucking this money out of thin air.

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22 Feb 2015 00:11:17
Jim you have it spot on but it won't change a thing . Just like with politicians the clubs have no idea what living day to day from a financial point of view is like for the majority of us . If they did, they might think again on prices and fill stadiums and get the proper people through the turnstiles week in week out. Good post mate .

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20 Feb 2015 20:26:25
please saints no silly fouls around the penalty area
we all know liverpool get loads of penalties in a season
forestsaint

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