Saint 62

At first I was a wee bit disappointed that ST holders didn't get a discount but on reflection why should we? £15 for Rosenborg was great but it was an incentive to purchase a ST and we took the discount for granted. I do think making it about £20 for all adults (ST or no ST) would have got a bigger crowd and help the team to the next round and potential big money but I'll be there anyway. Still great deals for the Ormond Stand, Under 12s free and only £11 for 17-18 year olds.

I think the six match discount book for the armed forces is a positive step and would like to see something similar made available to the general public. There is a place for these discount books and season tickets. Those who can afford season tickets will continue to do so in order to support the club. There are a lot of ST holders, if not the majority, who lose out financially with a season ticket. I find it difficult to make mid-week games, particularly re-arranged fixtures, because of work commitments. Combine this with other commitments, holidays, illness etc, my cost per game is probably more than paying at the gate. I have a mate who lives down south who always buys a ST but only gets to one or two games a season but is always going to buy one while he can afford it to give money to the club. Not everybody can afford to do this though. We used to have three STs in the family now we only have two. A discount book rewards those fans who can't afford a ST but still attend regularly, after all they are possibly spending a larger percentage of their expendable income on Saints than many ST holders.

I'm on the fence with this one. He was excellent for us until Rangers came sniffing then he looked as if he couldn't be bothered. At The Rangers he couldn't be bothered because he had the big contract. I don't know what the outcome of his dismissal case is with The Rangers but if he wins it I fear he'll coast but a hungry for a new contract Sandaza, now that's a different matter!

No issue with me and I'm a season ticket holder. Whatever needs to be done to get people through the gate. I too expect a smaller crowd for the Minsk game but I think that's only because of the relatively unknown opposition, so any kind of incentive that goes towards replicating the Rosenborg atmosphere has got to be worth a try. If we get through this round there is a good chance of a lucrative glamour tie and big bucks.

It's a real shame as it would be great trip. Unfortunately Belarus take the whole visa seriously thing whereas in most cases it simply a money making exercise. Yes we should be emailing UEFA, but protesting about the fact there are teams playing in their tournaments from countries where the entry requirements make it near impossible for visiting supports to follow their teams.

The facility to buy a book of say 10 tickets at a discounted price that could be used for any game would be attractive to the occasional fan.

We done this route when Scotland played there some years back. The biggest hassle was getting a train ticket for the return trip from Minsk. Nobody speaks English at the Minsk station and you can't even point to a timetable as they use the Cyrillic alphabet. Eventually somebody who spoke English felt sorry for us and showed us the Vilnius train on a timetable, we took a picture of the timetable with a digital camera and took that to the ticket booth. My mate sorted out the visas but I know he was tearing his hair out and that could be the biggest hassle for those travelling independently, a week might not be enough time to get it sorted. It's really cheap when you get there and there was a great atmosphere at the game from the Belarus fans.

Yes

pm'd you

You can get a bus to Oslo and then the train out to Gartenmoen or you can get a train all the way from Torp to Gartenmoen changing in Oslo.

I agree we are at a disadvantage in regards to match fitness (another argument for summer fitba?). On the other hand I feel we gave too much respect to Eskes last year. We should be going into these ties knowing on our day we can beat Rosenbourg.

Thanks Stu. We'll look at the price of flights once Rosenbourg is confirmed. Cheers

How are you guys planning to get from Oslo Torp to Trondheim? At the moment we are probably going with the train. I was just asking in case you were planning or hiring a bus?

I think where your problem may be if your duty free is in your hand luggage you won't get it through security at Torp (if you have to) as the max liquid container your allowed is 50ml..

I think Croatia joins the EU any day now

Does anyone know if the dates of the home and away ties are dependant on the draw, for example the first drawn team is home first, or is a mutual decision between the two clubs? I don't want shoot off and book cheap flights only to discover I have the wrong week . According to the UEFA website the 2nd round games are on the 19th and 26th, these are Fridays, is this right because I thought Europa Cup games were on Thursdays ? Ignore me, I was looking at last years fixtures

The "overachieving" statements I find a bit negative. You set goals and when they are achieved you set new goals. If you don't achieve your new goals it's a bit of a kop out to say at least we overachieved on our old goals. When we were in the first division our goal was to get promoted and when we done so we set a new goal of coming 11th in the league so if we end up at least 11th in the league are we constantly "overachieving"? Some may say yes but I don't see how the club will progress with that attitude. Don't get me wrong I think the club have done remarkably well over the last few years but should always be looking to set new targets whether they be performance, league position, financial or player development. As for SL I agree that his time is running out and I am concerned that his relationship with the board isn't as strong as it was with previous managers.

I'm really busy at work and was going to give todays game a miss but my mate has shamed me as he is driving up from Portsmouth this morning just for the game. I'll just make up the hours tomorrow.

Does Alfredos open early? Hope so, a nice wee pub

I've had a season ticket for the last 11 years and probably in every one of those years I've lost out financially because of re-arranged fixtures due to weather or tv, illness, other commitments etc. I'm not complaining and will probably renew again. Indeed I know of fans who buy season tickets simply to support the club knowing full well they'll only make it to handful of games. But we are in a recession and less people can do this. Glasgow Warriors have a scheme where you can buy a book of tickets at a discounted price where a ticket can be used for any fixture (with some exceptions). For example in Saints case they could sell a book of 10 tickets for £140 (£5 discount per game). That way Saints generate advance income and the purchaser is rewarded with a discount. A possible half way house for those who won't or can't buy a full season but still want to commit to the club.

Have a spare ticket for the Hearts game tomoorow as my mate can't make. pm me if anyone is interested

I seem to remember some years back saints runing buses from some Perthshire towns, I'm sure Crieff was one of them. Agree that Saints should be more involved in the community, get players into Perthshire schools for coaching etc. I'm afraid no matter what initiative is tried it will probably fail as the SPL simply does not give value for money in these austere times. It costs a family of 4 about £70 to go to a home game by the time they get programes, pies, travel etc while getting frozen and/or soaking into the bargain. They could got to the movies and a meal for half that price. Not Saints fault, they're just charging the going SPL rate. If fear attendances will continue to drop until we get realistic pricing and yes, Summer football.

Sorry to hear of your plight, Another case of fee paying customers (ie supporters) being driven away from the game as the pricing of SPL games has been doing for some time. Not picking on Saints here as they are by no means the worst cuplrits but generally SPL simply isn't value for money. I know you must be disappionted at not having season tickets but realistically they aren't really value for money unless you can attend every game. Attending every game can be difficult with around 6 games be shown live on tv and probably the same again being rearranged because of the weather. So over the season you'll probably save money by paying at the gate. It's the club that'll miss out. Must be devasting for the wee man but hopefully you'll still be able attend games of your choosing.

A fantastic servant to Saints and a great professional. Going on his rare apperances for Saints this season he can still do a job for someone on the park and I hope he can stay in the game long term through coaching. Good luck to him in whatever he does!

Will the groundsman be sacked & if not why ?.