Interpolic

By our standards this season we've been stacked in defence recently, Livramento and Hall being on the bench has absolutely nowt to do with Isak playing too many minutes which is how this conversation started. Says nothing about Howe's faith in youth that he hasn't put a random kid in for Isak or Wilson. Sounds like a bad faith argument.

He looked really sharp on Saturday. Absolutely showed us what we've been missing. That willingness/ability to carry the ball forward, the technical skill to get out of tight spaces, the positivity of his play. Hope he can stay fit as he's a great player and a very likeable lad.

Absolute waste of time but this was our bench at PSG: Dubravka Karius Dummett Hall Huntley Ndiweni Parkinson

Aside from whether they should be doing these ID checks in the first place, it's braindead to not have all or none in a group showing up red. So obvious it could lead to people being split up.

It's sickening like, club's cursed.

Howe's vindictiveness knows no bounds. Have long suspected he's a psychopath, since I realised he was white and middle class.

I wonder who is making the big decisions regarding this stuff at NUFC. I'm sure Staveley is not remotely close to it but she seems massively keen on feel-good PR being utilised wherever possible. Doubt her or the other higher-ups would be happy about the constant bad press there is around ticketing. Some of this goes way beyond high demand meaning they can't keep everyone happy.

Just got a Wolves ticket in resale Reckon I spent 5-10 mins refreshing total this time, and it's over a week til match.

Yeah I honestly don't think I've devoted that much time to it generally - it's tedious but maybe half an hour a day the week leading up to the match? And just when I get a spare few mins and it crosses my mind. I didn't specifically try at 6am or midnight cos of better chances, I was just awake and it occurred to me to try then. It is tedious and frustrating as you'll miss out on plenty by seconds, but I just treat it like life admin that's about as useful as mindlessly scrolling here

Ah as above mate, just refresh for like 5 mins a few times a day til you get one. The few days before the game are the easiest as that's when STHs generally realise their plans change. The 2 times I did manage pairs when I needed them were at funny times mind (6am and about midnight), maybe cos they didn't get snapped up so quickly.

I got 2 together in the resale for Liverpool. Same for Forest. Every time I've just needed one ticket I've managed it. There are loads available in the few days before the game. Maybe it's just my method but I'm not doing anything v complicated, just hitting refresh for 5 mins a few times a day til I get one.

Fair enough, wasn't aware of that cheers

The membership thing last season was completely unfair to anyone who couldn't get to the first few games. I was still in London then but if I'd known they were going to do that I'd have bought a membership straight away. If they are going to limit memberships then fine (I am also v unhappy about the idea of away fans sitting in home end) but they would need to be more transparent about it and couldn't get away with that trick again anyway as everyone would know to get in a lot quicker. People can still pretty much guarantee themselves a ticket for each game if they're persistent enough in the resale. I know this because I've done it myself any time I've been unsuccessful in the ballot. Not being able to choose the area you're in is a real issue that affects atmosphere and they need to do what they can to rectify that, I'd agree. As I said on previous pages, if their systems are capable of then surely they can put rules in place that consider people's preferences and ensure there aren't unfair situations where people fail in the ballot again and again. I don't think they'll go back to the old system, so people can argue for that until they're blue in the face but energy is probably better spent on making this system fairer and less negatively impactful on atmosphere, imo.

They limited memberships last season without warning, so demand didn't outstrip supply to anywhere near the same degree. Well it did, but lots of people simply didn't have a way to buy a ticket for nearly an entire season.

Arteta making friends again. Would love to make him geet upset again on Saturday.

And a tory who doesn't give a fuck about the north til it might benefit him. Super original.

The last time I thought we'd lose a game was Villa, so we'll see. Would be happy enough with a good showing that doesn't end up like the xGA nightmare at Anfield. Something to boost the confidence a bit rather than the other way around.

Yeah tbf I disliked how they did it the previous season more. Just cutting off memberships with no warning, when in previous seasons I could have bought the membership with the first ticket I was after. Meant I couldn't buy a ticket using the proper method all season. If they did limit it again but were more transparent about numbers then it'd probably be total carnage trying to get one. On balance I think they'll keep it as it is now, but it's not too good a situation. It'll bring in more revenue but it dilutes the value of it.

Well I should start by saying that I've actually quite liked the process this season But I think that's due to my own quite unique personal circumstances. I was in London for 15 years and not going to many home games. Back up now and I've been successful in about half of the ballots so better than most, and I have found it really easy to get tickets in the resale. And I've really liked sitting all over the ground in areas I hadn't been in much, but I know that's unusual. Like I say though I think I'm a bit out of sync with others with the above, so I wouldn't have went in saying it was all hunky dory. Personally what I'd have suggested are (these are with the assumption that the ballot stays and specific seat selection is not possible): - allow people to apply for more than one category, if they wish to - facilitate some sort of preference centre for members, so they can say on their account their preference is "East Stand > Gallowgate" etc - members are also given a score for number of consecutive ballots they've been unsuccessful on. Once this gets to a certain number (say 5?), they are guaranteed a ticket the next time they apply - this score resets to 0 any time they're successful. Members should be able to see their score in their account, full transparency - the ballot is drawn sequentially taking into account the above "rules". So guaranteed tickets are dished out first, with the member's preferences taken into account - if a member has specified east stand and they are drawn when there are east stand tickets available they'll get one there, if not it moves to Gallowgate etc - I personally think the resale is fine as it is and rewards persistence much like the queue used to, but they need to stop releasing all these Youth tickets if possible cos it's frustrating AF - just total transparency re numbers. When you're applying for categories then you should know the number of tickets available for each - some consideration re limiting memberships, it seems they're just trying to rake in as much cash as possible with this and it lessens the value of the membership I'm a data analyst and much of the above could be done with some pretty basic data analytics modelling I reckon but if their systems are super limited then maybe it's not possible. But I do think stuff needs to happen to stop these mad situations where people have a 0/15 record or whatever, which is always possible when it's completely random. None of the above tackles the match atmosphere issue as much as allowing selection of specific seats would, so if they can find a way to make that work with a ballot then that would potentially be best. I can see why that could be really quite difficult though.

Well that's what I'm saying - I don't think a STH should be allowed to buy extra tickets. I would imagine most members are the same since they're not daft and know it's a numbers game. It's already pretty bloody difficult to get a ticket and what you suggest would make it even harder. The thing about people applying for more tickets than they may have done otherwise is a fair point I guess but when the ballot success rate is apparently 30-40% I don't think this is having as big an impact as opening it up to 30-odd thousand season ticket holders would. Also I appreciate what you're saying about what you've heard about member behaviour but it's all anecdotal. It's based on people in or around your circle and not necessarily reflective of the 80k members or whatever it is. Everyone makes their own assumptions about other people's behaviour and their motives, myself included.

They'll be thinking of the next bullshit rule they can get passed to pull the ladder up some more, as is their style. Decades of being allowed to do whatever the fuck they want and they're absolutely bewildered when there's any pushback

Eh I don't understand? If there are 35k season ticket holders and a few thousand decide they want an extra ticket each game then that dramatically decreases a member's chance of getting a ticket. Unless you're saying the ones being brought along will generally be members, in which case I don't think it's fair if it's a "it's who you know" situation either. If a member gets a ticket and wants to sit near a season ticket holder and that seat's free then cool, if the club can facilitate it somehow then great. But I really think STHs should be allowed to control their own ticket only, especially when the chasm between demand and supply is so extreme. And I think most members would feel the same way, which is the main reason we were saying a workshop about predominantly members issues should have been mostly composed of members.

Honestly just do whatever suits them cunts the least now. I wasn't too arsed about this but the absolute arrogance dripping from those comments has sent me over the edge

OK I'm a bit rattled now what a cunt.