The9

The only piece of info I've heard from anyone remotely connected to the club and kit says they started the process when Cortese was still at the club (he wasn't sure they'd have time to change the non-striped design, I am confident they will have had ages to do so based on last season's apparent last minute changes) and it is definitely still adidas.

It would help if it wasn't based on a Nike design and a crappy photoshop with the Nike label still on the bottom and as well as having the adidas logo stretched all over the place, doesn't even have the adidas stripes, which are on EVERY non-Olympic adidas kit in the past 10-odd years.

And of course if the club specifies this exact set of rules again, which they haven't for any other match. If people want to buy tickets to games in order to get tickets to other games, great, that's twice as much money for the club. Last season they insisted on twinning the Man U games with other home games, there's no difference in my eyes... as an ST holder who didn't have the opportunity (or need) to get other tickets for anyone else.

Shocker as Lambert looks better with someone in front of him to pass to... About 2 years and running, that one. Said the same when we signed Ramirez (no-one to pass to) and was delighted when it appeared Osvaldo would fill that role (and didn't).

I'm quite impressed we're only a point off being better than we were in the first half of the season, considering how flat we've been for the last 3 months.

Can't believe how bad Newport must have been since Xmas to be below that lot.

I suspect plenty of that revenue will continue to be channelled into paying off Glazer debts, thankfully.

And equally the only thing stopping us from being above them is 3 defeats between November and February. There's no guarantee they'll be back in the top 4 next season - the current players aren't good enough and they won't be able to attract CL standard players without European football. The example of Liverpool "attracting big names" isn't really accurate, they got Mascherano who was a known top international (but via a broke West Ham) and they got Suarez when he was an international in a Uruguay side which had done well, but wasn't near the level he's got to now. Sturridge was a reserve player for City and Chelsea. Liverpool have bounced along with the likes of unfashionable but decent internationals like Smicer and Agger for years, precisely because they couldn't attract top names without the CL. They've also barely troubled the CL in recent years and it's one of the reasons they can launch a full-scale tilt at the title this season. With another 3 or 4 core player signings if we can keep the vital players, that's pretty much where we could be next season. What we need is the ability to sell the club based on the vision - Cortese had his faults but he was clearly excellent at that bit.

I'd think we still needed a world class striker with pace. Like I thought in the last two seasons. Not having Rodriguez would just make that all the more important. I don't think we'll be selling anyone, other than possibly Shaw to Chelsea as Cole's past it, Bertrand isn't up to it, and Shaw's a Chelsea fan. We'd get an absolute pile o'cash for that, enough to buy someone very good up front - even allowing for the Osvaldo replacement we're all expecting. We'll probably get what we paid for him if he plays and doesn't do anything massively stupid for Italy in the World Cup. I think Caulker is cack though, we shouldn't be signing players on a par with our second tier players. Marshall I'd have in a second, contrary to a comment above he's been getting great reviews all season long, since Cardiff somehow beat Man City at the start of the season. Still not sure why anyone is worried about our "debt", which would be wiped out by tv payments and was only created in the first place in that knowledge. We're more than sustainable at these levels.

I did all of that (except talk to urrrgh girls [...before I was about 14]) AND used to beat myself at Subbuteo regularly. I'm on about 130 grounds, but that includes a pile of non-League hovels which no longer exist thanks to the wonders of Newport's 21 year trek back to the Football League. Yate Town, Leicester United, Evesham United, Weston-super-Mare, Trowbridge, Swindon Supermarine, check. I am however, only on about 72-ish of current FL grounds, and about to lose Torquay and probably either Wycombe or Northampton from that list. Wouldn't be the worst thing if Fratton went though.

I'm learning to be efficient with my 3 posts, so: Jack Whatmough: crap against our U-18s, set up one of Saturday's goals in their 4-1 win against Dag&Red (did they think Poyet was right and they were playing us?), albeit with a massive gargantuan hoof down the pitch. Still not convinced they'll see any money from Liverpool even if they win the Prem, far too many little things that don't add up (them owing Liverpool £7m already and being desperate for cash, Johnson signing a second contract, the 2 CVAs since, etc). Nice summary of the rising poop from rallyboy. Newport finally won a match (annoyingly beating Wycombe, though if they hadn't they'd have been below the Skates). As noted on the FL Show on the weekend, this was the first time Portsmouth had won back to back games in the League since 2011. That's hilarious, and probably covers 3 separate financial entities masquerading as Portsmouth (City/Community) Football Club. In that time, Saints have moved from the bottom of L1 to the top half of the Premier League and set a couple of undefeated home and all-time records. They, meanwhile, just won a second match in a row - having beaten two clubs who've been in the Football League for under 8 years combined. Strange how these awful players (many of whom have contracts with other clubs) have suddenly started playing near the end of the season, against two midtable teams on terrible form and with nothing to play for - anyone would think they had careers to think of elsewhere.

Time to revisit the claims of the business plan against the realities of year 1, nutjobs? And no, I'm not going to do it, I only have 3 posts a day now.

Here, in a nutshell, is why I've saved my fiver. Same old boring flapping crap from same old boring people. I hope we buy someone significant early in the window as a signal of intent to those who might be thinking "this lot will never get near the Champions' League", leading to a renewed commitment from the rest. If we lose Lallana and Shaw (can't see anyone else being particularly sought after) and absolutely worst case scenario Rodriguez too, we'll have to find some replacements, but that won't make us completely useless suddenly, and we're a good chunk of space ahead of half of the league despite a season full of injuries. I don't know what's going to happen, but an exodus seems less likely than a renewed push.

When we beat Man U 6-3, I'd been playing in the afternoon and only just got back in time to hear the score before the end - I celebrated the 6th by tripping over in my nan's lounge and destroying a pile of cassette tapes I'd left on the floor.

I'm laughing at anyone who thinks we're in a "financial situation". No, that only happens if Katarina decides to leave. My only concern at the moment is whether she wants to continue investing large sums in the playing staff. This is one of my three posts for today, thanks to those who made it so boring with their repeated negativity for saving me a fiver.

In line with the chav-base, I got a FB message from a fellow Newportonian prior to the match against Skates last week saying "pub full of Pompey, never seen so much Burberry". This is from someone who lives in NEWPORT.

Not to mention that this is a Nike parks team kit design that was worn by Man U three years ago and got foisted on the likes of Southend LAST year. And it's Nike, and we have an Adidas deal...

I was also at St Mary's (with both clubs' shirts on) but despite awesome Saints I was still REALLY annoyed.

Nah, Northampton are still better than them, Chris Wilder will get them firing having been overlooked by the Skates in favour of Barker. They're not going to play 9 men every week.

Because when they were reformed in 1989 the council refused to let them play in Newport because the former club had been liquidated owing money to the council. So for their first season as reformed club Newport AFC, they were forced to play in Gloucestershire at Moreton-in-Marsh. The nickname was well established by the time the FAW also forced the club to play in England when they formed the League of Wales a couple of years later. Anyway, the stupid fickers properly let me down today.

Sorry everyone, I feel personally responsible. Even the Skates can just about beat a team that ends with 9 men and played over an hour with 10.

Newport's website is encouraging the Skates today with a "big crowd" and "eagerly anticipated game" article. It does say however that 4,000 are expected. That would be fewer than Newport got at home for Accrington and Bristol Rovers.

Another nice little snub from Justin Edinburgh to the Skates prior to this weekend's Newport v Portsmouth match. Something along the lines of "if I didn't in January, I certainly wouldn't now".

Couldn't be sorted because they already had 5 loanees. Oops.

Ask Salisbury. It's the same in the Conference South too... I'm quite looking forward to them not being financially viable to play above Southern League level whilst simultaneously complaining they're too big to play that far down the pyramid... Which they were already spouting despite the Wimbledon parallels.