TopCat

I have no idea what this means. Translation anyone?

I note you never even answered one of my questions, typical of yes campaign. Your points are almost as bad as your grammar. I'll be in the Blyth supporters bar on Saturday, see you there for our public debate :

How would it end foodbanks? Plenty of wealthy European countries including the likes Belgium and Germany have foodbanks. How would independence negate the need for them here? How would it end poverty? Typical yes response really: ' Scotland is shit just now, but vote yes and everything will get better honestly!!!!11!1!1! ' The reality is Scotland is a great country just now, we are a remarkable success story and I think it's the best place to live in the world. A yes vote risks all that, and for what end? To get it up the English? No thanks!

Wait a minute, do some yes voters actually think yes is going to win?

Because it's in the best interests for the Scottish nation and her people, obviously. Why on earth would he vote yes?

Just put your tick in the no box Shull :

Is it September yet? This has been one of the most drawn out and boring campaigns in history. Can't wait till the Scottish electorate decimates the nationalist cause.

Higdon's having a medical tomorrow.

Agreed, he was also excellent at the weekend. He offers genuine width and pace, and he can finish too.The team is shaping up very nicely indeed

There's a really great vibe and feeling about the club at the moment. I think this batch of kids are going to be the best yet. With them, we aren't far away at all. Can't remember the last time I was looking forward to a season as much. I really believe it's going to be our best for a long time

Tommy out.

Is there any Saints fans at all at this game just now?

Great flick from Marwood to Wylde there, superb goal.

Well of course. But if I have 20 pounds in my pocket and I'm standing outside St Mirren Park on a match day. It's better for the club if I pay to get in than it is if I walk away, agreed? It's also better for the club if I spend money whilst there. IE buy programmes, merchandise, food etc. If alcohol was introduced the average spend per punter would go up in the stadium, I don't think there's any doubt about that. The club would make a profit on the alcohol sales and the extra profit would be sufficient to subside ticket prices if the club chose to do so IMO. We will never know though, because it will never happen.

Indeed the way continental Europeans enjoy alcohol is totally different to the way the UK does. That's why there's very little in the way of licensing and restrictions there compared to here. You can buy beer in chemists and the like in most places in the continent and walk down the street swigging it happily without anyone giving you a second glance. That's why alcohol sales at football matches work there but wouldn't work here.

It's amazing we can manage the 7th best defence in the league, when we had 3 keepers who played more than 5 games for us, we predominantly started with 2 full backs in their first senior season and we need 2 new centre backs too! How exactly did we do it?

Well we can stop people smuggling in booze just now, why would we not be able to do that if drinking was introduced? As for your first paragraph... I was talking about profit per match day punter, not overall profit. You think St Mirren make a loss on me paying in and watching a game?

I did say I'm not advocating it's reintroduction. Although if it was reintroduced it's hardly going to have much effect on mortality rates.

The bar at St Mirren Park manages fine on a match day with higher than average prices, it's a captive audience. What part did I get wrong?

I said 20 percent increase in profit per punter, not all revenue generated is profit I am sure you will understand. Alcohol is a high margin product, and the prices could be marked up to generate more profit.

Well the club already has a license and a bar in the main stand that generates revenue for the club. If we had bars in every stand in the ground and no restrictions on alcohol purchases I think the average profit per punter would increase by 20% or so, thus enabling lower prices. All hypothetical though, as I said it will never happen.

I'm not advocating the introduction of it. The behaviour of Old Firm fans means that drinking in Scottish grounds will never be allowed again.

Boaky Oaky

You say that revenue is not made up by beer prices, then go onto explain the benefits? If Scottish clubs could sell alcohol at the football, do you think that match day revenue wouldn't change? Of course it would, it would go up considerably. Thus they could knock a fiver or whatever from the tickets without losing any money. Pretty simple really.

Well exactly. It's unlikely they would be as bad two years in a row though. Would you rather have a team with a bigger budget than us in the league, or a team with a lower budget?