Alanh

One other potential option. The directors apply for a court appointed adminstration. not sure if they can do that during the court case next week or if they have to do it beforehand. if they do they are admitting that the original administration call by Baloo was 'illegal'. Also not sure if HMRCwill challenge this course of action. It wouldn't surprise me if they jump through a series of legal hoops between now and the end of the season as a delaying tactic to ensure that they continue to defer the -9 penalty. If they go down without the -9 then the PL get the best possible result. None of their clubs have ever gone into official administration so they have never had to deduct points, but the one most likely to has been relegated so it's now the FL's problem.

I don't think he would get in the first 11 at the moment. He could arguably replace any of Hammond, Schneiderlin or Puncheon but I don't see him as being a distinct improvement on any of them.

Not sure there is much to prioritise to be honest. We've got the JPT final, but then every other game this season is a league match. I think Pardew has gone into every game this season looking to win it and I can't see that changing over the course of 15 league and 1 cup game.

I think that the squad from Saturday would be a mid-table CCC team. We probably need a new CB or two as Perry, Jaidi and Thomas wouldn't be up to the CCC next season. Otsemobor would be decent back up in CCC. The four in midfield on Saturday would be fine to start in the CCC, but to really compete we'd probably have to improve on Hammond and we would need a better quality paceman that Antonio or Waigo, although they should probably bothe be in the squad. Lamber is fine up front and should do well in the CCC. Barnard might be OK - I just haven't seen enough of him in the two home league matches he's played. We definitely need another striker though as those two plus Connolly isn't enough.

Thanks, I was kind of hoping for some personal experience. All the reviews that I read online tend to be from the people who have had bad experiences (I guess that's the only time you really have anything to say about your insurance company). Yeah, I think the bike is good. Its a 2 cyclinder engine not a 4 pot like a Bandit so the power delivery is spread out over the rev range - a bit like a diesel car engine.

Sorry for hijacking this thread but I've just bought a new bike and am looking for a bit of advice on insurance companies. Does anyone have any experience of a good one, or are they all as bad as each other? The bike is a Suzuki SV650S 05 model.

Depends what you define as current form. I think our form since November is representative of what this squad of players can achieve because we have played against all levels of team in the division, coped with 2 games a week regularly and the disruption of cup matches to the squad and rhythm of the league campaign. In that time we have picked up 29 points from 15 league games so we are averaging 2 points per game. If we do that next season for the whole season we'll end up on 92 points - comfortably one of the leading teams in the league. There will be aberrations - all teams have them. Norwich lost at home to a mid table team last Saturday! Leeds could only draw at home to Brighton and lost at home to Walsall. There is also the possibility of us losing some key players to other clubs or retirement, but even if we do the purchases of the likes of Fonte, Barnard and Puncheon suggest to me that we will be able to replace them with equal or better quality.

Booked my 4 tickets online yesterday without any problems. Seems that those moaning didn't read the information on the OS very carefully if they were either surprised at not being able to buy in person this week, or at getting stung for a booking fee per ticket on the phone. they should be more annoyed with themselves than anyone else.

has any team ever been promoted after starting the season with a points deduction? I know Leeds made it to the play-offs after their -15 deduction, which was a fantastic achievement, but they did not get promoted. if we were able to and no-one hase done it before that would be a great record to have.

Another 40 points seems reasonable. 10 games at home should deliver 25 points. 7 games away should deliver 15 points. 77 points at the end of the season. I'm not sure if that will be enough for 6th place given that Huddersfield in 6th now have already got 54 points. They've got 54 points from 31 games so if they continue to perform at the same level should end up with 80 points. We'll have to beat them at SMS and probably hope that we can get something like 43 points from the remaining matches if we are going to omake the play-offs.

I understand why you are pessimistic, and I think there is a chance that we might lose, but there's no reason for it to be the end of our season. We'll have to win pretty much every game apart from Leeds and Charlton at home and pick up another 40 or so points from the remaining 18 games. It's a stretch but it's still possible even after a defeat on Saturday.

Norwich will be tough and I think we will play 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 as opposed to 4-4-2. My team would be: Davis Ostemobor - Fonte - Jaidi (Seabourne if Jaidi not fit) - Harding Waigo - Puncheon - Hammond - Morgan - Lallana Lambert Subs: Bart, Perry, James, Mills, Wotton, Barnard, Antonio

Can't agree with the original post. AP has brought in quality in the summer and January. Obviously what is quality in L1 isn't necessarily quality in higher leagues but for the task in hand - compete strongly through to the end of the season and get as close to the play-offs as possible - we have got strength throughout the squad now. Since Xmas we have suffered from the disruptions of injuries, players being cup-tied, new players coming into the squad and a disjointed league programme interspersed with cup matches. Those have been the big factors in the relative dip in results away from home in the league. At home things are still good with seven wins on the bounce. Even taking this into account we have picked up 19 points away from home this season. The play off placed teams have picked up 25 points (Charlton), 18 points (Colchester), 20 points (Swindon) and 15 points (Millwall). We are where we are this season because of the -10 and the draws at home earlier in the season.

Not true, I've seen him catch loads of crosses in matches at St Mary's and get a cheer from the crowd for doing so. I don't think he is any more indecisive on crosses than any other comparable level keeper nor is he a liability on them. A good fast cross is the most difficult thing for a keeper to deal with but that Exeter goal had as much to do with the quality of the cross and the inability of the defenders to prevent the attacking header as it did to whether Kelvin was able to get to it either for a catch or a punch.

Didn't go to the match or hear the commentry so have only read some of the comments on here and I had the impression that we were dreadful and werre luck to get a draw. Watching the hilights on the BBC sport site it looks like we created by far the better chances and a lot more than Exeter. they looked like they were struggling to contain the movement in our attacks. With a bit more careful finishing and probably a bit more luck we'd have been 3-0 up at half time. Based on the hilights that would have been enough to win the game comfortably despite Exeter coming back into it.

I think we'll start 4-5-1 and it wouldn't surprise me if Waigo is back on the bench and Barnard starts with Lambert on the bench. Lambert is going to have to play in both cup games next week so give him a breather on Saturday. Hope Lallana is back and fit but Puncheon should be a decent replacement if not. Wooton, Schneiderlin and James, if he's OK in centre mid should be solid and creative enough. Defence as per everyone else's suggestion - Otsemobor, Fonte, Seabourne and Harding.

I'd say that Chainrai made the loans initially with the intention of keeping Pompey going with the intention that he would get his money back from Sky money and would also have leverage over the Gaydamak clan with regard to getting the £17M that he sued Gaydamak Snr for last year. He didn't get the money in January so he's taken control in an effort to ensure that future Sky monies do go to him - even if they get relegated there are two season's worth of parachute payments which he could take, after running costs. He'll also be working to find a buyer which again will pay off his debts. I think his move today means that they will see out the season as he will fund the short term debts to ensure he gets the paraachute payments at least. I still think they will be relegated. History suggests that clubs on 15 points in February who have been on the bottom of the table all season just don't turn things around, even if 40 points doesn't end up being the target for survival. They have to pick up 6 points on their rivals to reach safety, however it's taken them since the 5th December to pick up their last 6 points - 9 league games.

Picking a strong defence isn't a problem at all, personally I'd go for Ostemobor, Fonte, Jaidi and Harding assuming all are fit, but I don't think that they would perform much differently to the four you picked. Got to disagree with you about our midfield though. We've definitely got one and we have had loads of variation there this season. We have chopped and changed it a lot in the last 4 - 5 games due to suspensions, injuries and cup tied players, but if everyone is fit and available a five of Lallana, Harding, James, Schneiderlin and Waigo is a strong balanced unit that can support the lone attacker or provide a defensive shield. Als, we know that AP is looking for another midfielder to fill the gap created by Mellis's departure. We onbiously can't put that midfield out on Sunday so back up players like Holmes, Antonio and Wotton come into contention. That might weaken the unit but doesn't fundamentally indicate that we don't have a midfield (your words).

We need a bit of luck with injuries and to win a few games that we perhaps don't deserve to. We've been luck that Rickie has managed to play as much as he has, but the midfield is suffering now with injuries. I am sure that had Hammond been available on Tuesday we would have had a better chance. We also need to recognise that the new players brought in during January will need to bed in. Is it possible to get to the play-offs - theoretically yes, but in practice I think it's unlikely and we will need to put together a record breaking (for us) unbeaten run together staring from Saturday.

No-one is keeping any creditor off their backs. They don't have a bank facility and don't owe any money to any bank. All the money they owe is to private individuals i.e. Gadamak, Chainrai, Campbell; other football clubs i.e. Rennes, Udinese and Lens; HMRC or small companies i.e. webhosts, caterers, etc. As we know HMRC have issed a winding up order and some of the other smaller creditors might attach themselves to that, or issue their own. Gaydamak and Chainrai, who are the biggest creditors by far, won't pull the plug because there is no chance of them getting anything back if they do. The only way for PFC to get out of this is to get in serious external investment - selling players won't raise enough - to be able to pay off Gaydamak and Chainrai. That means a new owner who is prepared to put in the best part of £30M on day one to pay off debts and who is also prepared to take on responsibility for the remainder of Gaydamak's debt payable in a couple of years time of another £20M or so. No amount of player sales is going to generate that amount of money. In the current climate I guess it's not easy finding that sort of person, but who knows, they might get very lucky.

Brentford have beaten all the top teams at home this season. This will not be an easy match and we will have to work hard. I can see AP going 4-1-4-1 from the start and hoping for a result like Hartlepool or Walsall who were also both decent at home before we played them. I can see us either drawing a la Millwall or beating them by the traditional 3-1.

He's a decent player, and I think he would be a squad player, but for me there were players in the Ipswich midfield who were better than Hammond and who set a higher benchmark for us to aspire to when we are promoted. FWIW I think we'll end up having to change about 50% of the first team between promotion from L1 to be able to compete in the CCC.

I think the Ipswich game proved that we could improve our first team in just about every position. They were quicker than us, controlled the ball better than us in midfield and had a much stronger defence. We managed to put away more chances than they did and won a one off match but I have no doubts that they would beat us more often than not if we played regularly. As for buying more players. I think we only need one more for this season, subject to long term injuries and the subsequent use of the loan market. If we don't get promoted then next season we will need to replace Murty, Wotton and Perry at least. We may also need to replace Connolly and we might not resign Waigo. That will mean another spending spree in the summer and if the quality that comes in are all better than those leaving our squad should be good enough for promotion. If we do get promoted then major spending will be required as of the current first team squad I think only Davis, Fonte, Harding, Spiderman, James, Lallana and Lambert are first teamers at the moment.

We are looking for cover in every position. IMO signing another midfielder makes sense so that we can still put out a full strength team that features either a 4 or 5 man midfield in every competitioon regardless of players being cup tied, injured or suspended. AP has said he is looking to replace Mellis and that he is going for the play-offs. To do that we will end up playing the best part of 60 games this season and we will need a big squad to cope.

Home grown doesn't mean exclusively developed by the club the player is currently with. have a look at the article for a definition: "The definition of home grown is trained for three years under the age of 21 by somebody in the English and Welsh professional system. That could apply to a foreign player who arrived inthe UK on or before their 18th birthday.