55saint

Keep going. Try and raise the 170k Tommy is after

In case you dont all know: on wednesday 19:01 pm there will be a game just next to the stadium, where saint supporters play against home supporters. It would be great to see some more coming to watch and drink some beer! You will all be welcome at the zone 5 (supporters pub) party afterwards.

Having been at the last friendly with raith I can say that Caddis Brown and Kane are capable of filling in for the ones that left.
"are they as good as them?" time will tell but all three played well on sat.
As long as we give them our support and TIME to settle in to the team im sure they will do well.

If Kane is as good as Iwelumo then he might as well leave now.

Just for info if you have a E111 European Health Insurance Card it's valid in Switzerland.

Almost every (sane poster with no axe to grind),appreciates that the last few years have been excellent.

The Brown family have done an excellent job with St Johnstone there can be no denying it.

However,nobody is perfect and it is right for people to criticise when criticism is justified.

I cannot understand why some feel that everything the club does is beyond questioning and everyone employed at the club (apart from the players/management),is some kind of diety.

Good point well made. While the OP maybe went over the top, in my mind, there is things that could have been done better over the summer and hopefully the club learns from them and in future a little better at communication.
Yes, we have been and hopefully will continue to be in a great spell, but we do need to keep progressing off and on the pitch.
Would love to see more youths given the chance in the first team and hope that it works.
Like many, can't help but feel a bit deflated with what SB had to say. Appreciate the message, but could have had a whole lot more positive spin on it.

Goodwillie, Beattie, Iwelumo, that Kiwi, all has/hasn't beens. Nurture what we have this season so bring it on.

Dave McKay starts :-)

Some information as I read some things. Just to prevent misunderstandings and problems for you guys:
 
Most famous for whores:
Café Nizza and Cafe Bar Milano. Can't tell you how they are but these are the most famous ones ;-)
 
For beer:
- go to a supermarket like "Coop" and buy your stuff. This is the cheapest option to get alcohol. Otherwise there's a small shopping mall in the main station. There you can find a small shop called "Drinks of the world" with a lot of good local and international beer. It's a wee bit more expensive, but they really have a large number of different beers and alcohol.
My favourite local beers are: Eichhof Klosterbräu, Eichhof Braugold, Eichhof Barbara (headache included the next morning, but I like it), Eichhof Lager, Luzerner Bier, Baarer Bier (they've got different ones) and the Rathausbräu.
 
- a good local (!) bar/pub: Rathausbrauerei. It's a nice restaurant at the banks of the river located next to the Pickwick's Pub and the big stairs which is heading into the old town. They brew their own beer which is pretty delicious in my opinion. You can even see the tanks in the restaurant where they produce the refreshing liquid.
 
- Zone 5 is a good place and the local supporters pub. On Wednesday it's ok to go there and have some beer and Scots are warmly welcomed after the fan game. Since it is a pub run by supporters and volunteers the prices are a bit lower than in other pubs. But on matchday they normally don't let supporters of the opponent's team in. This is because of bad experiences and problems from earlier games. The community there is pretty open minded and easy going but there is still the risk of people getting pissed if there are opponent fans in their own pub on a matchday. Especially after drinking some beer. Another point is, that if there are loads of opponent fans in or around the Zone 5, police will increase their troups in this area which can lead to stupid reactions and problems. So no offence against you guys, it's just a matter of security. So if someone's coming on Thursday, just don't dress too obvious. I bet then it won't be any problem to be there.
 
Local food:
There are some chocolate products like (Wassertürmli, Rägetröpfli, ...) which are local specialities. You'll find them in the pink Bachmann or in the Läderach stores.
A typical Luzern meal is "Luzerner Chügelipastetli". Just google it. :-D Otherwise just eat a Raclette, Fondue, a Roesti or other obvious Swiss meals if you're into it. Generally it isn't "haute cuisine" but proper food and pretty delicious.
 
Some legal stuff:
Drinking in public is allowed but smoking is prohibited in restaurants and public buildings.
There's a new "hooligan law" in Switzerland which is applied since the beginning of this year. The police is allowed to kick you out of town for 24 hours if you behave rude or are too drunk. Especially with football fans they are a bit more strict. But I don't think that they'll do this to Scots, especially when you are just walking around in small groups. The new law was set up because of troubles with the different big Ultra groups and Hooligan firms of some clubs. In fact it doesn't change much and riots aren't prevented with these new regulations. Luzern lads will be easy going with you guys because there is just no rivalry with St. Johnstone.
 
A big "fan march / procession" now has to be approved in advance with the local police authorities. I don't know how they handle it with you Scottish guys, but big fan marches probably won't be allowed. So I think they'll provide free busses to get to the stadium together. Otherwise walking takes about 20 minutes, the train ride to the underground station next to the stadium takes 2 minutes.
 
Meeting point for you won't be in front of the station for sure. I think the police will provide a "protected zone" at the banks of the river. At least it was like this two years ago with the Genk lads.
 
There are some nice public swimming areas next to the camping area and on the other side of the lake. The weather is said to be nice and warm so you can go for a swim in the very clear and clean lake.
 
Oh and almost forgot. For the guys arriving on Tuesday and who are interested in athletics. The international athletics meeting "Spitzenleichtathletik Luzern" takes place on that evening. It is held just behind the football stadium. Asafa Powell is starting, so there's quality in the meeting. Just in case...
 
For more information have a look at my entry some days ago:

I've got no problem with this policy as it stands. There's been a clear change in approach over the last year or so, as we've seen quite a lot of young players arrive from clubs down south, and slot into the under-age sides without really getting anywhere near the first team. This must have represented a fair amount of investment on the club's part, and it only makes sense that Tommy Wright's boss will now want to see that investment bear fruit by seeing these players start to feed through into the first team. As I understand it, that was the reasoning behind releasing Paddy Cregg, after all.
 
What I have more of a problem with is the way the manager seems to have been left hanging, spending time courting guys like Goodwillie, only to be told that he can't sign anyone at all. As far as pre-season preparations go, that must be massively disruptive. The other big problem is the way these things come out. The first we hear of it publicly is via disgruntled comments from the manager. Then we get it confirmed by the chairman, one week before a massive match, via an incredibly pessimistic interview. We're meant to be trying to attract new fans and new investment, yet one of the key public faces of the club is permanently doom-saying, grimacing and complaining. Who would want to invest in that?
 
As others have said, this whole thing could very easily have been put across positively as a good news story about a forward thinking, successful football club building on its cup win by throwing funds into an ambitious development of training facilities and, at the same time, putting trust in its promising young players by promoting them to the first team. Oh, and then on top of that we could get announcements of new contracts for our star player and Cup winning manager. The actual events that have taken place would be exactly the same, but it could all be told with so much more positivity. And that's without even mentioning the fact that we're heading back into Europe next week, which perhaps we've grown weirdly used to, but it's still absolutely fantastic for Saints.
 
Oh, and a new 'Season to Remember' DVD could have been announced as a footnote to some of these positive stories. If only.

Maybe we should all sit down with some of this - maybe I'll send a crate to the board
 

Let's not waste money on rubbish , I'd rather use our 'youngsters'

I have read the on-line DR article.
I have also read the forum with interest on this matter and without being privy to the facts it is difficult to know what is really going on.
 
However, in my opinion, having a headline in a national newspaper crying the poor tale and saying Saints are "skint" is extremely poor PR and before anyone says that was the DR's headline (which it probably was) - when I have been at functions where SB was speaking that was the message he was giving (which personally gets me very annoyed).
 
This is not a sack the board sort of post - I genuinely appreciate what the Brown family etc have done for the club.
 
But we won the cup FFS - let's have a bit of positivity from the top - it may never happen again in my (or many others) lifetime

So can we expect your local alphorn band to be performing some entertainment for us when we come over?

I'm struggling to accept the financial position is as bleak as Brown makes out in that article. We had a very successful season on the field, not just cup win but semi final, top six and two large Euro games at home. We also benefited for sizeable away supports on a number of occasions.

Logically if we'd not won the cup would we now be looking at going into administration? Would not think so. Why did Goodwillie come on trial? Why did we bid for Dunne?

Even accepting what is being said it is no excuse for not taking full advantage of the feel good factor generated by the cup. As others have said it's been a deeply frustrating summer and you just feel what is probably a once only chance has been lost. The PR the club generates at times is horrific. Even these latest developments could have been handled positively with focus on youth, improving infrastructure for years to come etc.

Is it also not about time to drop this 'over-performing' nonsense?
 
We ARE one of the top teams in the country now....no longer a minnow. Yes, we are small in stature compared to some financially and in terms of support, but show me the teams out there who are better than us and tell me why we shouldn't be finishing top 6 every season and doing half decent at least in the cup competitions

It's a lot easier to be negative than it is to be positive I think but we've definitely missed a trick this summer. Whether that's down to lack of ambition or incompetence or even just a 'build it and they'll come' approach I don't know but it's a real pity whichever way.

This was the summer to really make massive strides in trying to attract more regular supporters week to week. A campaign in and around the town and shire - a presence in the centre of town, pushing Season Tickets, shirts, merchandise you name it.

Surely to god even if it didn't have the desired effect we wouldn't have lost any money even if a few folk were tempted. We needed to be more clever.

"Thanks for buying your Season Ticket Mr. Jones, would you like to a monthly standing order for The Saints Lotto"

"Oh that's great, and we've got Cup Final Mugs at two for a fiver"

"Fabulous, would your sons be interested in joining Super J's?"

"Brilliant, now just empty the contents of your wallet right there"


That might seem simplistic but it's an approach that would have been worthwhile attempting.

It's truly painful to see so much negativity coming out of the club at a time when we've just won the cup, are about to go back into Europe and have more public support behind us than ever before. So many opportunities being lost this summer that it actually hurts. Now the Daily Record is calling us "skint St Johnstone". Bloody hell. When this is the sort of PR we have, it's no wonder we can't attract a shirt sponsor. Maybe we could approach Disney and see if they'd like to put Scrooge McDuck's face on the front of our shirts?
 
I'm all for fresh faces with new ideas joining the board, but I can only pray that this latest guy has a bit of marketing and media knowhow and can give the current lot some desperately-needed instruction on how to shape the club's image publicly.
 
Can you imagine just how negative everything would be if we didn't have those few volunteer fans putting fun and positive stuff up on social media?

You got in before me.Hopefully he can update website as he is heavily involved in fans forum.

Maybe he can get a sponsor for the shirt as well. Dulux maybe.

Bus confirmed with bus company still seats left and money to collect. Aslong as nothing dramatic happens it's on!

I have read the on-line DR article.
I have also read the forum with interest on this matter and without being privy to the facts it is difficult to know what is really going on.
 
However, in my opinion, having a headline in a national newspaper crying the poor tale and saying Saints are "skint" is extremely poor PR and before anyone says that was the DR's headline (which it probably was) - when I have been at functions where SB was speaking that was the message he was giving (which personally gets me very annoyed).
 
This is not a sack the board sort of post - I genuinely appreciate what the Brown family etc have done for the club.
 
But we won the cup FFS - let's have a bit of positivity from the top - it may never happen again in my (or many others) lifetime

Unless things have changed drastically, we have 7 figures in a bank account somewhere.
 
We're not skint, certainly in comparison to the vast majority of the other Scottish clubs.

I have read the on-line DR article.
I have also read the forum with interest on this matter and without being privy to the facts it is difficult to know what is really going on.
 
However, in my opinion, having a headline in a national newspaper crying the poor tale and saying Saints are "skint" is extremely poor PR and before anyone says that was the DR's headline (which it probably was) - when I have been at functions where SB was speaking that was the message he was giving (which personally gets me very annoyed).
 
This is not a sack the board sort of post - I genuinely appreciate what the Brown family etc have done for the club.
 
But we won the cup FFS - let's have a bit of positivity from the top - it may never happen again in my (or many others) lifetime

I have read the on-line DR article.
I have also read the forum with interest on this matter and without being privy to the facts it is difficult to know what is really going on.
 
However, in my opinion, having a headline in a national newspaper crying the poor tale and saying Saints are "skint" is extremely poor PR and before anyone says that was the DR's headline (which it probably was) - when I have been at functions where SB was speaking that was the message he was giving (which personally gets me very annoyed).
 
This is not a sack the board sort of post - I genuinely appreciate what the Brown family etc have done for the club.
 
But we won the cup FFS - let's have a bit of positivity from the top - it may never happen again in my (or many others) lifetime