Nordic Saint

Yes, from when Austin came on. There was the pre-Austin part of the game when we never looked like scoring and the post-Austin part when we did. Most of our games seem to be like that. Our team only really seems to have self-belief that it can score goals when Austin is on the pitch.

I counted 6 Pompey songs from the Northam in the first 5 minutes of the game. I don't think they realize just how small-time their obsession with a 4th divison team makes us look to the rest of the country in big televised games like last night's. And as you say, Pompey fans love all of the attention and free publicity they get. Liverpool fans don't sing about Everton that much and Newcastle fans don't sing about Sunderland that much and they certainly don't sing about Hartlepool. Away fans must leave St Mary's thinking, I never realized just how big Pompey were down here on the south coast. The Northam are making us look like we live in Pompey's shadow and it's embarrassing.

Singing from the Chapel Kop last night:

I wouldn't object to wealthy foreign owners pouring millions into the club and buying us a trophy or two. That's basically how clubs win trophies as Chelsea and Man city have discovered in recent years. But, Lander don't look particularly wealthy by Premier League ownership standards. In fact after they've paid Kat the 200 million, I wouldn't think they'd have much left to spare and might even look to continue the policy of selling players to recoup some of it. So, I certainly hope she puts the long-term interests of the clubs ahead of any thoughts of short-term personal gain and waits until a wealthier buyer comes along if she does intend to sell the club.

Yes, it could be a change for the better, like King Power's purchase of Leicester.

They didn't pay what Clyne and Mane were worth but they still got them.

You do realize how few goals Ward-Prowse has scored? 1 from open play in 114 games plus a couple of penalties which weren't particularly well taken and 1 from the 50 or so free-kicks he has taken around the penalty area. That's it. I'll admit he is slightly better than Clasie but both of them are fairly ineffective at the highest level and contribute little against the top teams. They'd both be more suitable for the Championship or one of the lesser European leagues.

At Leeds the players asked their club to move the away fans from behind the goal to the corner and they did. A petition would be a good idea especially if the players signed it. I guess it's difficult for the players to publicly criticise the atmosphere as it would sour their relationship with the fans but asking for the away section to be moved shouldn't be a problem. I remember being at the FA Youth Cup game when Pompey fans were put in the Kingsland and Blocks 43 & 44 in the Northam away section are often given to home fans when visiting teams don't take their full allocation so it shows away fans can be moved.

That would cost the club money so I can't see it happening. The Kingsland Stand would have been opened and staffed for the Sunderland game if the club was prepared to spend money like that on improving the atmosphere. That empty stand resulted in one of the worst atmospheres I've ever seen at St Mary's for a game with a 20,000+ crowd. One way or another we need an end full of home fans, with the central block directly behind the goal singing constantly and the rest joining in on occasion. The problem right now is that our home singers are split into 2 small groups in the corners of the away end, who don't sing together because they can't even hear each other, so they are easily outsung by a large group of away fans, who are not divided.

To be honest, I don't think Long and Rodriguez would have made any difference yesterday. Mane and Pelle might have done though.

Interesting post from the UI. Can anything be done to support the players? The Chapel Kop 09:30 - Oct 31 with 168 views franniesTache So I found out something interesting yesterday, apparently the players (led by two of our most senior players) are seriously ****ed off with the lack of noise from the Chapel and desperately want something done about it. That's straight from the horses mouth's too, they feel it has an impact on the team and think it's embarrassing how silent it is, and have even made internal suggestions to the club about how they think it could be improved (including the club looking into Leicester style "clappers"). Have to say what i found most interesting about it is that at least one of these players (one of the most senior in our squad) said that the lack of atmosphere from the Chapel is a real cause for concern for a lot of the squad and something that actively annoys them.

Sometimes life is too short.

Sam Gallagher and Calum Chambers.

It's certainly possible Liverpool could win the league next year with a team largely made up of ex-Saints players but I don't think Martina will be one of them.

They could replace him with Calum Chambers, who is looking good for Boro & England U21s, although he usually plays at centre back rather than right back nowadays and Arsenal will probably want him back.

Not that they even need that capacity. They nearly always leave one stand empty apart from the away fans.

Yes, I'm pretty sure 21,400 is bigger than Pompey's all-time record League Cup gate and it's also considerably bigger than any home gate they've ever had for a cup game v Sunderland in their entire history. So, we hold the south coast record for both just from last night. Pompey's last cup game v Sunderland: Sat 23 Jan 2010 FA Cup 4th Rd. Pompey 2 Sunderland 1 attendance: 10,315

It's probably more than they've ever had for a League Cup game in their entire history although they had 2,700 for League Cup game v Blackburn.

Just had a look. His tweet today is a picture of the Kingsland Stand last night and 'dirty scummers'. His Twitter profile picture with his 2 friends looks like the Inbetweeners only more nerdish. He talks like the one who is always boasting about his non-existent sexual conquests and looks lke the one with glasses. Does anyone really want to bother to tweet this nerd?

What about this from Wikipedia? The 1890 Southampton Dock strike took place in Southampton, England, September, 1890. The closing years of the 1880s saw a resurgence of trade unionism amongst merchant seamen, dockers and other unskilled workers. A notable victory was scored by London dockers during the famous London dock strike in 1889, in which the dockers were able to win a rate of 6d, known colloquially as the 'dockers' tanner'. Later that year, a branch of the Dockers' Union was formed in Southampton. In part this was an effort by the union to prevent Southampton men being used to break strikes in London, as had occurred on a limited basis during the 1889 strike. However, as the local branch grew, pressure mounted to improve wages in Southampton itself and to win the dockers' tanner[clarification needed] for Southampton men. Towards the end of August, the Southampton Dock Company and the various shipping firms agreed to grant wage increases of 1d an hour. However, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which paid lower rates than the other principal firms, refused to bring its rates into line with the other companies. All of the employers, meanwhile, refused to grant official recognition to the Dockers' Union and the National Union of Seamen. Because of these two issues, a strike was declared on 7 September. Unlike the London Dock Strike, the strike in Southampton was marked by a certain amount of public disorder. Blacklegs from Portsmouth arriving at the railway station were attacked and large crowds gathered daily in the streets around the docks and, leading to fears of rioting. In response the Mayor requested assistance from the Home Office.

Sorry to hear that, Horley. I sent off my sample today and have been told to expect a 6-8 week wait for the results. My expectations are quite high too. I was impressed by the testing kit and packaging anyway. What exactly are the bare basics? Did you get any links with other people as they claim and did it help sustantiate links in your Ancestry family tree?

Yes. It used to work well when it was on YouTube but not now. Is there still a YouTube link?

I remember the same hype about Lovren and Alderweireld but the hardest one to replace will be Fonte. The club would be mad to sell him in January although Man United's desperation to sign him will have increased after yesterday's result. Incidentally, most of the best central defenders in Europe are in their 30s. As we can see with Stones, young centre backs are more error-prone.

William Hill make us 10/1 4th favourites to win the cup although with most bookies we're the 5th favourites. Those odds will shorten if we beat Sunderland and get the luck of the draw and one of the Manchester teams ahead of us in the betting has to be knocked out. Although I'm not counting my chickens as I remember Sheffield United in 2014 and, of course, Sunderland in 2013.

In fact, I'm absolutely certain of it.