A bit worrying

[Huntley & Palmer]

Can STAR arrange a ticket office meeting then?

[RoyalBlue]

Now that is a forward thinking sales manager. Excellent to hear he is willing to communicate with the paying customer and explain where things have gone wrong and what they are trying to do to fix it. The ideas going forward are excellent as well, I just wish someone within RFC would have the gumption to do the same

Now it's clear that we, rather than Southampton, are really the giant club of the south, perhaps we should try to lure/poach him back.

John Hobson seems to be doing OK so perhaps fair to give him a chance.

David is a Royals fan so may fancy a move - swap deal for Saints fan Andy West perhaps ?

Up until now I've never quite been able to put my finger onto why I haven't really ever rated Andy West!

Swap deal sounds a good option, maybe we could throw a few officious stewards in as make weights!

BTW, very interesting that Southampton believe in operating an 0800 free phone number for their ticket office. Maybe that's because their supporters have to make do with a mere 'Ticket Office', rather than having the luxury of a 'Sales Centre'!

Alternatively, another consequence of our sad loss of Mr Luker?

[Behindu]

May be worth thinking a bit more about why you don't 'rate' Andy. May be instructive. He does a pretty good job IMHO

If there is a swap deal going then can we ship a load of our fans down there too ?

[working class hero]

May be worth thinking a bit more about why you don't 'rate' Andy. May be instructive. He does a pretty good job IMHO

If there is a swap deal going then can we ship a load of our fans down there too ?

OK - but it will be a shame to see you go....

[Woodcote Royal]

Woodcote Royal wrote earlier in the thread......

But keep posting, Schards, things could be quiet on the work front for the next few weeks and this is becoming more entertaining with every passing sellout

You'll be sure to point out all of these sold out matches won't you Woodcote?



I understand that last season we sold all the home tickets for every game. In three games this season we've just about sold out one of the season's highest profile games and failed to sell out the other two both of which were relatively high profile. Can you still not see any evidence of a drop in demand?

(Stevie Wonder)

Oh, and we're not missing Sidwell at all are we?

The saddest aspect of this contribution, Schards, is that you honestly see yet another near capacity crowd as proof that the stadium should not be expanded.


Never mind that tickets still can't be purchased on general sale by the GENERAL public unless they also want to buy a member card, or that this fixture took place in the holiday period.

Never mind that many of the few remaining seats would have involved getting soaked in bad weather.

Never mind that the club has hardly begun to market it's self to a wider audience because it doesn't have enough free seats to make it worthwhile.

And, never mind that we no longer have sufficient spare capacity to offer comps to schools etc.

Forget our board of directors, Stevie Wonder (seeing that you chose to bring the great man into this ridiculous crusade of yours ) has more vision in his little finger than Mr & Mrs Blinkered from the East can muster between them.......................

[Behindu]

May be worth thinking a bit more about why you don't 'rate' Andy. May be instructive. He does a pretty good job IMHO

If there is a swap deal going then can we ship a load of our fans down there too ?

OK - but it will be a shame to see you go....

Well and truely walked into that one didn't I !!

[Royal Lady]

I thought there were lots of member card holders who don't normally attend games? If watching RFC is so enticing at the moment please explain to me why none of them are bothering to purchase tickets. And for the umpteenth time, we are not against any expansion, we are merely stating our opinion that to expand too soon could be a major mistake. Waiting another couple of years to see whether we consolidate our position in the Premier League and whether there are sell-out crowds for every game, thus showing that expansion is a necessity, would be more prudent, IN OUR HUMBLE OPINIONS. I wouldn't call that blinkered at all.

[RobRoyale]

Maybe we should wait until we win the prem first? Yeah, lets win the prem, then we can justify expanding.

[Royal Lady]

That's not what we're saying at all. And we're not the only ones who think this way. If the expansion goes ahead next year, so be it. But if it goes ahead and the following year we are relegated and we have crowds of 15,000 average, we'll see what people have to say on here.

If the expansion goes ahead next year and we're still in the Prem and achieving full capacity every game two or three years down the line, we'll be the first ones to say we were pleasantly proved wrong.

[RobRoyale]

Do you not think the club will have considered this?

Have some faith.

[Sam Tubber]

Don't worry your little heads about any of this. Word on the street is that Johnny Mad has consciously decided not to put any more money into developing the squad this season as he's realised he doesn't have the funds to compete in the prem. He had hoped somebody would buy the club but apparently nobody's interested - something to do with the club being too near London.

So the upshot of all of this is that the club are actually banking on relegation back to the Championship next season. It'll save a lot of red faces as, behind closed doors, JM has admitted that expanding the ground at the end of this season would be tantamount to committing financial suicide.

[RobRoyale]

Well that's that cleared up then.

Anyone for a pint?

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

That's not what we're saying at all. And we're not the only ones who think this way. If the expansion goes ahead next year, so be it. But if it goes ahead and the following year we are relegated and we have crowds of 15,000 average, we'll see what people have to say on here..

..that the east stand will have a bit of room for once?

Actually the reason the madejski always looked so empty with 15000 crowds was that so many went into one stand

[RoyalBlue]

May be worth thinking a bit more about why you don't 'rate' Andy. May be instructive. He does a pretty good job IMHO

If there is a swap deal going then can we ship a load of our fans down there too ?

OMG next time I will make sure I leave a smillie after the exclamation mark just for you!!

Try reading it again in context and see whether I was seriously saying I didn't rate Andy West. Also try to find somewhere where I have had a go about him/his abilities.

Just to explain, I was taking the mickey about a Saints fan working for us.

How did people used to communicate before smillies appeared?!

[Coppelled Streets]

I'm still very much of the opinion that the East stand should be expanded, but not the North or South.
We do NOT need the North and South expansion and IMO are good few years away from being near to doing so.
Put the funds into keeping the Nicky Shorey's, the Leroy Lita's here and add quality to the squad. Please.

[Riseley]

I have it on good authority that the expansion of the stadium was part of Mr Mads selling and marketing mechanism to a mega rich Hong Kong tycoon. Only a numpty or a wig wearing millionaire with a cunning plan would advocate expansion of a ground that struggles to get near full at the current low level capacity. People like Schards and yours truly, who have supported RFC since the 60's, have more gravitas than anyone else so let this be the final word on the matter.

[Royal Lady]

I have it on good authority that the expansion of the stadium was part of Mr Mads selling and marketing mechanism to a mega rich Hong Kong tycoon. Only a numpty or a wig wearing millionaire with a cunning plan would advocate expansion of a ground that struggles to get near full at the current low level capacity. People like Schards and yours truly, who have supported RFC since the 60's, have more gravitas than anyone else so let this be the final word on the matter.

[Behindu]

May be worth thinking a bit more about why you don't 'rate' Andy. May be instructive. He does a pretty good job IMHO

If there is a swap deal going then can we ship a load of our fans down there too ?

OMG next time I will make sure I leave a smillie after the exclamation mark just for you!!

Try reading it again in context and see whether I was seriously saying I didn't rate Andy West. Also try to find somewhere where I have had a go about him/his abilities.

Just to explain, I was taking the mickey about a Saints fan working for us.

How did people used to communicate before smillies appeared?!

Face to face rather than via anonymous message boards I guess....

[RobRoyale]

May be worth thinking a bit more about why you don't 'rate' Andy. May be instructive. He does a pretty good job IMHO

If there is a swap deal going then can we ship a load of our fans down there too ?

OMG next time I will make sure I leave a smillie after the exclamation mark just for you!!

Try reading it again in context and see whether I was seriously saying I didn't rate Andy West. Also try to find somewhere where I have had a go about him/his abilities.

Just to explain, I was taking the mickey about a Saints fan working for us.

How did people used to communicate before smillies appeared?!

Face to face rather than via anonymous message boards I guess....

But where's the fun in that?

[RoyalBlue]

May be worth thinking a bit more about why you don't 'rate' Andy. May be instructive. He does a pretty good job IMHO

If there is a swap deal going then can we ship a load of our fans down there too ?

OMG next time I will make sure I leave a smillie after the exclamation mark just for you!!

Try reading it again in context and see whether I was seriously saying I didn't rate Andy West. Also try to find somewhere where I have had a go about him/his abilities.

Just to explain, I was taking the mickey about a Saints fan working for us.

How did people used to communicate before smillies appeared?!

Face to face rather than via anonymous message boards I guess....

Letters, books etc. never existed?!