Nordic Saint

Borja Baston

Sorry, but if you want to win, you field your best XI. I'm sure Pompey would. Sentiment simply doesn't come into it. So, you simply can't replace world class players like Bale, Shearer and Keegan with journeymen like Dennis and Golac, who only ever got 1 international cap between the pair of them.

If you want to win, you pick the best players. I'm sure Pompey would include Prosinecki, even though he was wrecked from years of chain-smoking and could barely run when he played from them for a few months in the second division. I wonder if Osgood would get in the Chelsea XI?

Saints have had more than twice as many international players as Pompey have. This is a complete list of the players who were capped for England while playing for the 2 clubs: Southampton David Armstrong James Beattie Ryan Bertrand Wayne Bridge Arthur Chadwick Mick Channon Nathaniel Clyne Peter Crouch Bill Ellerington Tim Fowers Fraser Forster Charlie Fry Kelly Houlker Kevin Keegan Adam Lallana Rickie Lambert Bert Lee Matt Le Tissier George Molyneux Terry Paine Tom Parker Alf Ramsey Bill Rawlings Jack Robinson Jay Rodriguez Luke Shaw Alan Shearer Peter Shilton Fred Titmuss Arthur Turner Danny Wallace Dave Watson Steve Williams Mark Wright 34 Portsmouth Jim Allen Sol Campbell Peter Crouch Dan Cunliffe Jermain Defoe Jimmy Dickinson Jack Froggatt Peter Harris Mark Hateley Kelly Houlker David James Glen Johnson Arthur Knight Len Phillips Jack Smith Fred Worrall 16 But, you have to base it on the best playersto play for the clubs, not just the ones who were with us for a long time or who had their best seasons when they were with us. So, obviously, Bale and Shearer would be in. Ivan Golac FFS??? He wasn't even good enough to play for Yugoslavia. Mostly, you should be looking at players who won a lot of international caps, like Alan Ball, even if most of them were won at other clubs. Although when magazines do our best XI they usually do stupid things like include Benali. So: Peter Shilton 125 caps Alf Ramsey 32 Dave Watson 65 Toby Alderweireld 52 Gareth Bale 54 Terry Paine 19 Alan Ball 72 Matt Le Tissier 8 Kevin Keegan 63 Mick Channon 46 Alan Shearer 63 Others to consider: Lallana 19 caps already and will probably go on to get 60, which is a hell of a lot more than Le Tissier; Mark Wright 45 caps but not as many as Dave Watson.

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.