henryhallsdanceband

Goodf luck for today lads and lassies - on and off the pitch. Hope we play better than against ICT. COYS. Let's get back up the table.

Again I agree completely with this sort of thinking. I am a Saints fan/supporter/follower - but I haven't seen us for 20yrs. I went along on Saturday as a supporter all keen as mustard - but thought that what I saw was very poor fare for my £22. It has to be inexpensive and easy for home games - and you must involve potential regulars outside of matches - with the club and with other regular supporters - these become a newbies buddies - phoning you up seeing if you are going. Offer a lift if needed - offer to meet up - chivvy along.

This is the sort of thinking that I think is necessary - it's pretty hard work for those orgainising things but - if my golf club's junior academy is anything to go by - it works. Getting folk into a match is only one part of the answer - the difficult bit is making it something you want to do regularly. And to want to go regularly I think you have to feel part of the club - even if just in a relatively small way.

What I'm going to say applies to all of the SPL not just saints and will probably not be popular. However if you take me as a potential new customer of SPL football and the ICT game on Saturday was my taster - I have to say that even as a supporter (some might just call me a follower) of saints - I would probably be disinclined to pay £22 a match to watch Saints at home. Why? Because the vast majority of my football watching over the last 20yrs has been the English Premier League (and that has again largely been highlights on TV). All of that sentence should explain why I might not bother paying £22 to watch saints home games. I watch highlights (the best bits) of EPL (a very high standard of football and skillful players) on TV (in the comfort of my home or pub). So I have neen conditioned to what I expect to see when I watch a football match. And what I saw on Saturday fell way, way below what I have been conditioned to expect. Nowe I know that the SPL is not the EPL, and did not go along expecting EPL standard - but it fell so far below what I am used to watching that I have struggled to find much positive to say about the game. That said I also suspect that if I committed to watching regularly then I am sure that I'd get involved in the week to week thing and I might lose sight of the lack of quality and become aware of the relative standard of Saints football in an SPL context and it might seem less of an issue. But the question is how do you get new supporters through the gate? Well you might get them through once but if they are anything like me they probably wouldn't be back. What do you do? Well my golf club gives folk wanting to try golf for the first time or prospective new members (aka season ticket holders/regulars) an inexpensive way to access golf and my club, to see if they like golf, and see if they like my course and club, without having to commit a lot of money and time. We have an academy. You can be a member of the academy for up to two years. I think a way to get folk through the door is to find an equivalent. Get potential supporters watching games over a period - maybe a whole season!) at a reduced cost. The package they sign up to maybe costs £150 and for that they get 15 x £10 off vouchers for game tickets. They get invited to watch a few training sessions to meet and get to know the players. A few evening meets - getting to know the club, the management, the players, legends etc. Introduce them to folk who organise supporters buses to away matches - get them a few 'supporter buddies' to go with. If they have bought full price match tickets during the season a part of the cost of these contributes to a reduction in the cost of a season ticket for the following year. I think if you ecourage and support folk going regularly for one season - then they are a lot more likely to continue going. Getting someone through the turnstile once just won't work these days.

...and so at half time I went out for a pie and a bovril and returned to my seat in the East Stand. Lads in row in front of me had headed off for refreshments and a bloke and a young lass were sat in two of their seats. The five return and discussions ensue. Block with lass says they moved from their original seats as the swearing was too bad. The steward had told them to sit anywhere - so they did - and were reluctant to move when the other lads returned. After further restrained discussion by a representative of the five the bloke (wi' a beard and a suspiciously English-sounding accent - does that explain things?) rather grumpily shuffled along a couple of seats and everyone got a seated. Was this more interesting than the rest of the game? But language soooo bad that bloke had to move with daughter/ granddaughter? Tut, tut.

HiFi shop in Guildford. They are also going to fit a Ortofon 2M Red MM Cartridge. I'll plug it into my old Rotel RX 402 (so turntable with old receiver - like with like apparently will do the business) and see how that lot sounds through a new pair of Dali Zensor 1 bookshelf speakers. Can't wait. Got loads of 70s and 80s listening lined up for myself.

Odd you raising this out of the blue as I am getting my Dunlop Systemdek serviced at the moment to bring it back into use. And more so - I was scratching around my old Pioneer PL 514 this afternoon - wondering whether to do anything with it. I'm going to resurrect my pile-o'-vinyl.

About CD I agree. On this my first sight of the team in the flesh he seemed to me pretty much our best player. My only additional observation about him was that I got the feeling he hung back from some challenges to protect his left pin. Maybe my imagination - but I'm being picky. Also must say that Hasslebank looked a bit of a headless chicken tryiing to be shaun wright-phillips with his fancy step-overs and what, then bumbling the ball out of play. Did enjoy the couple of trick turns one ICT player (in right back sort of position) did in front of me sat in East stand juggling the ball between his feet - not quite sure where it was - then back-heeling it into touch. Hey - I want to go back - I'm feeling enthusiastic, Maybe next time I'll see us score :-)

My first Saints game for many a moon (25yrs) - indeed my first Scottish match for some 10yrs. And so I plonked my self in the East Stand. Hmmm. To be honest - not great. First half nothing - second - well I thought ICT started well but after two minutes that was about it. We definitely improved second half and yup - had a couple of chances. Tade in on keeper then another where he cut back an excellent ball from the touchline but no-one chancing getting into, or making an effort to get to, the 6yr box. An awful lot of times players waiting for ball to drop, not challenging for it, or hanging back waiting for the ICT player to make a mistake controlling the ball rather than going for it himself. Pie and Bovril at half time were fine, So was it worth my £22? Well if I watched that match every week then I'd wonder. But a point is OK so I suppose... But ICT second in the league? Oh dear...

...and mine needs a good stroke or two off me every hole - not bad through the green but when on the short stuff - well it's a job holing out. Don't really know why cos she sorted out my short game. Anyway. ICT tomorrow and no distractions.

You intrigued about what sort of posh, divorced, 40-something lady could send such an interesting text then? - you might be surprised - but no...

OK - so East Stand it is, and Saints can +1 to the expected attendance :-)

So 'many years no match' Surrey Saintee finds himself now in Glasgow and my mum has decided she'd like to go to Dunkeld on Saturday and will drop me off in Perth early afternoon. So looks like, weather permitting, it's the ICT game for me. But a daft couple of questions. Where will I sit and how do I get a ticket? Can I buy on the day or pay at the gate?

Was speaking with a Sky guy today. He tells me that the Sky Wireless box is currently on offer at £20 - normal price £60. The benefit if the Sky wireless box is that you can fully download a film to it prior to watching it - takes about 2 mins - so absolutely no picture breakup due to buffering. As much as I am loath to keep pumping money the way of Murdoch I'm going to be pragmatic as this solution for the Sky box is the optimum. This makes the solution to the Blu-ray box easy. One ethernet patch cable from the router to a mains powerline adaptor, then a patch cable from a second powerline adaptor to the Blu-ray box

@babychunder - I'll give this a go as it seems a cheap and simple option. With Sky Anytime maybe half dozen movies were available to watch whenever. Now with Sky On Demand replacing Sky Anytime I have access to '100s' of films, BBC iPlayer, Sy on Demand, ITV Player etc. but need internet connection. Well I pay for it and my wife, daughter and son will watch.

I'll add - I know I could go wireless - but the wireless dongles you need for the Sky+ Box and the Blueray Player seem to come in at about £60 each - so I'm looking for an alternative.

I have a Sky+ HD Box and a Blueray Player in my front room - both of which can take advantage of being connected to the internet; unfortunately getting one or more ethernet cables from the broadband router in my back room to the front room would be a real hassle and a mess. I think I have a solution using my home electric power cabling, but need confirmation or correction of my proposed solution I intend using: existing home power sockets and cabling; a pair of powerline ethernet adaptors; two ethernet splitter connector adaptors; six short ethernet cables. Solution In Back Room: Plug one powerline ethernet adaptor into a power socket close to my broadband router; Plug an ethernet cable into each of two ethernet sockets on the router (so 2:2); Plug each of the ethernet cable loose ends into the sockets on one of the splltter connector adaptor (so 2:2); Plug one end of another (third) ethernet cable into the splitter connector adaptor and plug other end of it into the powerline ethernet adaptor (1:1); In Front Room: Plug the 2nd powerline ethernet adaptor into a power socket close to the Sky+ Box and Blueray Player; Plug ethernet cables (#4 and #5) into Sky+ Box and Blueray Player; Plug each of the ethernet cable loose ends into the sockets on 2nd splltter connector adaptor (so 2:2); Plus one end of the last ethernet cable (#6) into the splitter connector adaptor and plug other end of it into the powerline ethernet adaptor (1:1) If anyone knows of a simpler way please tell me. The Front Room arrangement seems obvious. However I believe the Back Room arrangement is also required - twin ethernet cables from the router are required to 'activate' all 8 'channels' in the ethernet cable from the splitter connector adaptor to the powerline ethernet adaptor. My understanding is that in an ethernet cable (as we use them at home) - only channels 1,2,3 and 6 are used, and 4,5,7 and 8 are normally 'dead'. This is as technical as I get I'm afraid.

Total cop out.

Well said bluey. And as far as their supporters well compare and contrast with one of my mates. Was a travel everywhere home and abroad Chelsea fan. And then Romanski arrived and he can't stamnd the club and it's ways now and has dumped them. Now supports his local team - Aldershot - as he says - a real team.. Like ours.

Shite, cold and fizzy Scottish beer (IMHO) - though I understand that things have improved over the last 20 yrs.

Yup - I'm up for that. 30miles straight up the A3 to Kingston no problemo. Would also be a good opportunity for me to meet up with my AFC Wimbledon supporting buddy. Ah - the 29th Dec away to Farnham Town - typical - their ground is 20 mins walk from my house and I'm going to be in Perth for the ICT game

A Calvinist background would have engendered a certain determined but pragmatic and (in modern terms) social-democratic view of life - and would (and possibly still does) mean that we are able to put up with a greater degree of privation than many - so we stick it out to succeed while others fall by the wayside. Oh yes - we are not afraid of speaking our mind and leading.

...though if the wishes and expectations of many sevco fans come to pass most of the current SPL clubs will be bust so I've no idea who they'll be playing.

I was at the first Celtic Rangers game Mark Walters played in Jan 2nd 1988 - it was his debut for Rangers and 60,799 eejits and me turned up. Me and my brother were towards the front of the West Terrace (Celtic End) and watched hundereds of bananas being thrown onto the pitch and idiots dressed in monkey and gorilla outfits jumping up and down. We were both sickened by this and at half time we asked the polis if we could go to the Rangers end. As we were escorted by the polis in front of the Main Stand my brother miraculously changed from the Celtic supporter he had been at the start of the game into a Rangers supporter - and he was one of them until fairly recently when he had to change his allegiance to a new club from that part of Glasgow. As far as nowt being said - I recall the Rangers Fans singing 'I rather be a darkie than a ***' to the tune of El Condor Pasa - and there was me never realising that Rangers supportes were fans of Simon and Garfunkel.

Aye - quite fancy that. Will speak with my cousin (also a Saintee) as he has just moved to Blairgowrie - so planning to meet up with him for the game.