Nordic Saint

You seem to be the one who's moaning, Roger. The rest of us are very happy with Pelle's performance today. As I said, he'll score more goals now Spring is here so it's something to look forward to, not something to whinge about. He'll score more early next season too, as long as we hang onto him.

It's a nice sunny Spring day today.

That is a brilliant book, equalizer. I read it forty years ago and always wondered why it never received more attention but now it's been made into a film, it's sure to become a bestseller at last.

In the late 60s far more common than it is today. Saints used to take 5,000 - 10,000 away fans to London games. I remember us filling the whole of the Park Lane End at White Hart Lane in 1966 and we were packed in like sardines.

The 5th of David Downing's 'station' novels: Lehrter Station.

We need at least 2 goalkeepers to replace Kelvin Davis, Steckelenburg & Gazzaniga), a striker, 2 midfielders and a central defender. I think the club will be looking to make a profit in the transfer market again this summer so a lot of the targets mentioned will be out of our price range, and more likely to go to clubs like Leicester and West Ham. Jeroen Zoet David Raya Borja Baston Jan Kirchhoff (if Sunderland get relegated) Denis Suárez (probably out of our price range) Ben Gibson or Dael Fry (Boro won't sell them both) Georginio Wijnaldum (but we've little or no chance of getting him as other Premier League clubs will bid for him, and he'll cost more then we'll be prepared to pay)

You really could see how much we missed Wanyama yesterday. Sunderland dominated the centre of midfield and had us pegged back in our own half for long spells. We had no one to do battle with their midfield and take control of the centre of the pitch like Wanyama does.

Is Clasie a great player for us? From what I saw today, Sunderland totally dominated midfield and we were crying our for someone like Wanyama to battle them for control. I'd say, Clasie is, at best, like Ward-Prowse, an OK player. In player ratings for our games he's usually one of our lower rated players. I doubt any other Premier League team would very be interested in signing him.

As I said, he is a fair weather player. We'll see him at his best again, scoring goals for fun in April and May, and he'll love playing in France in the summer, while there are some English players who'll struggle playing in hot, sunny conditions.

The whole Northam setup is a stupid mess and the empty swathe of seats directly behind the goal is a real eyesore and an embarrassment when goals at that end are shown on TV. Why can't the singers create a proper home end behind the goal in the Chapel Stand???

The new FFP regulations make stadium expansion a matter of some urgency, which is why so many clubs are doing it now. Good luck to Leicester. It will help establish them as a top club.

It's very simple. He comes from the southernmost tip of the heel of Italy and he's very much a fair weather player. He scores his goals in the autumn and spring and goes into hibernation in the winter. You can see he hates being out there when it's cold, windy and rainy, but loves playing in the warm sunshine of August and May. Now that Spring is coming, you'll see him improve again.

Mane offered our only threat when he came on yesterday. The game was crying out for him to come on when Long got injured. He has a lot more than pace. He has guile and skill and unnerves opposition defences. If he'd come on earlier, we'd probably have got at least a draw.

I went to school with him. Bob Harris went to the same school, but was much older.

I'm now on the 4th of David Downing's 'station' novels, Potsdam Station, set in Berlin & Moscow in 1945. It really is a great series.

No. This reminds me of when Pompey fans wanted their team to lose to West Brom so Saints would be relegated. Look where that's got them.

Aretha Franklin has only ever appeared in the UK once before and that was by royal invitation at Buckingham Palace in 2002. Her only previous appearances in Europe were in 1968. Apparently, it's difficult for her to fly as she has to be carried off the plane through the rear exit: "Airplane landings after throwing back the booze until she was drunk as a skunk traumatized her. She had to be taken off the plane by the rear exit to avoid reporters." She also cancels most of her concerts at the last minute. So, it's unlikely she'll appear even if she is booked.

If Life’s a Lousy Picture, Why Not Leave Before the End Don’t worry One night we’ll find that deserted Kinema The torches extinguished The Cornish ripples locked away in the safe The tornoff tickets chucked In the tornoff shotbin The projectionist gone home to his nightmare Don’t worry That film will still be running (the one about the sunset) & we’ll find two horses tethered in the front stalls & we’ll mount & we’ll ride off into our happy ending by Roger McGough 1969

Where do you think Pompey will finish this season? Online poll: http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/pompey/vote-where-will-pompey-finish-this-season-1-7205401

If you support a team, I don't think boycotting or walking out of their games is the best way to protest or express your opinion. The attendance at the Ian Branfoot boycott game v Ipswich still delights Pompey fans to this day. They think it's one of the best things we've ever done. Liverpool fans could have used 'No to 77' placards and banners covering the whole Kop and it would have been televised nationwide and appeared on the back pages of all the papers. Instead they just turned the game in Sunderland's favour and possibly cost their team 2 points. On the plus side that may well prove to be the difference between us and them finishing 6th.

Especially when all of the experts, including referees, are split 50/50 as to whether it even deserved a red card. He's got a 6-match ban almost on the toss of a coin. Both of his red cards have come from Clattenburg, who has a reputation for giving red cards for offences most other referees would only give yellows for. Anyway, let's not forget he made our only goal in the match and was doing a very effective job of controlling possibly the most dangerous attacking midfielder in the game, Payet. The MOTD panel said if Bertrand had playacted as much as Payet he could have got Byram sent off for a far worse tackle.

If we were total idiots, we could do that, and Man. United could have given away Roy Keane and Arsenal could have given away Patrick Vieira when they got far more red cards than Wanyama, but amazingly they weren't idiots so they didn't. As long as most of his games are not refereed by Clattenburg, Wanyama will get no more red cards than any other top defensive midfielder.

Where do you think you will realistically finish this season? 6/7th Which three teams do you tip for relegation this season? Villa, Newcastle, Sunderland How do you rate Slaven Bilic first season as a manager in the Premier league? Your best manager for a very long time West Ham sit in sixth place after 24 games having briefly occupied the third spot but what league position can West Ham realistically achieve this season under Bilic? 7/8th If you could have any current West Ham player in your team who would you choose? Payet Do you understand what the 'West Ham way is' and what it means to Hammers fans? I guess it used to be about playing attractive football, but that got lost under Allardyce Which Saints player should we include in our Fantasy dream team? Jose Fonte Which Saints player should West Ham players fear on Saturday 2nd Jan? Charlie Austin 14 Supporters' Trusts came together to petition the Government for a public inquiry about West Ham's occupancy of the Olympic Stadium. Does the fact that West Ham got a good deal bother you personally as a football fan? To be honest, I guess many fans feel a bit jealous and wish it could have been their club instead How do you rate Ronald Koeman's season? It's taken him a while to get the new team playing well but now they are firing on all cylinders and so should do even better in the second half of the season. Hang on, we're 7th after a bad start. Maybe we can finish higher than 6th. How do you expect the Saints to set-up against West Ham on Saturday Team/formation prediction? Koeman rotates the midfield quite a bit so several permutations are possible. He always seems to have at least one surprise selection up his sleeve. What is your score prediction for the Saturday? I've no idea.

I'd love to see us get into Europe again and make a better job of it next time. Right now, 6th or 7th looks distinctly possible, but 5th is probably beyond us, so whether we do may depend on the cup winners. Perennial top 10 finishers? I'd like to see us become the next Leicester!

Wanyama has always tried. Like Fonte, it took him a while to adjust to the new players around him. If you look at the stats, he has run as much, tackled as much and passed as much if not more, than any other player in the team. This myth about him not trying should be knocked on the head now. It's massive disrespect to a player who has done a terrific job for us since he arrived from Celtic.