Chez

what makes you say that? Do you think all our targets have gone elsewhere?

almost everyone is skint this summer, so the prices ought to be lower. Wait till next summer and although we may have a few more quid, so will everyone else, so the prices will increase.

crazy is the word I would use to describe spending £7.5m a year for three years in the hope of persuading players at one club to leave their current agent/management. That industry may be lucrative if you have the right platers, but that business model is the stuff of fools.

unless we make a contract offer that is too good to turn down, his agent will string it out, knowing that their position strengthens every month (assuming he is playing of course). Saints on the other hand will be up against it financially due to the pandemic, so won't be keen to offer £100k a week type deals. I'm interested to get peoples thoughts on his value to the side.

why didn't he pull put?

strange that he only signed a one year deal. I guess it gives both parties the flexibility they need.

I really enjoy the current crop of TMS commentators. Isa Guha is excellent. Opinions, opinions...

Jeff apart, I can't really stick any of them on it, including Le Tiss if I am honest, so for me, changes may be a good. I do wonder if their replacements will be the insightful, well researched and articulate individuals required to perform the role of commentator...or just more of the same.

Some of the adidas kits are terrible. The Sheffield United home shirt reminds me of the nightmare UA `bra' kits we have had with the stripes not going all the way up. It just looks bad, as does the wolves away using the same template. The Arsenal raspberry ripple is pretty poor, but I think the worst is Leeds. It's hard to explain, but it's just so stark. Maybe it is quite classic, but I hate it. Nike, which tend to get more right that wrong, have done little better. The green in the Liverpool shirt really undermines it and the strange back part of the collar is just ugly. The Chelsea away kit is original, but horrible. Blue and black home is very dull. The spurs kits...they just don't look right, especially that green away kit and its black collar. I really like the Palace sash kit they normally have for their away, but Puma have fucked it up this year. The same with West Brom. All three of theirs are horrific. Puma just don't know what they are doing. As usual Hummel seemed to have got it right. Our kits look quite decent in comparison. The yellow keeper shirt would make a decent 4th kit.

watching that video, Koopmeiner has a nice left foot and can pick a pass. Not sure he is the most athletic, but looks like he keeps the ball well.

I don't have a strong opinion on Reed. I didn't see the one good game he had for Saints (was it Everton?), so haven't ever been pushing his claims for a berth in our CM. In the games I saw him play he underwhelmed me. He was neat and tidy, but he didn't run a game and he chased shadows a little bit. There was room for improvement and a loan was the ideal way. I look forward to seeing how much he has improved. Lemina could win a couple of games for Fulham. He might lose one or two too trying to do to much to make up for the inadequacies of those around him.

interesting that we might potentially be financially better off losing that game.

both are woeful kickers. Both make me nervous. McCarthy makes one or two outstanding saves. Forster doesn't.

Reed was good for them. £8m is buttons for a player they feel can play at Premiership level. Lemina loan is a low risk deal. He can play and at his bets is better than what they have.

is the £2 million a fee on top of paying his wages or what Fulham are paying us, that would cover some or all of his wages?

they can't stand Jackett and think he hasn't been sacked purely for financial reasons. A poor start and the natives will get very restless.

sorry, I just assumed that a non existent company, with nothing to sell and little to gain spending £7.5m on a shirt sponsorship HAD to be the owner circumventing the FFP rules. Perhaps I am mistaken.

it's only ten more months now, which sounds better.

If LD paid up front for the first year, there was no reason not to accept them as a sponsor, even though they were an unknown brand. Money us money I guess - and it was pretty obvious that it was just a way of Gao putting extra money into the club without breaking any rules. Obviously the second year cheque has failed to turn up, so the agreement will become null and void. Strange that the deadline for that second payment was not prior to the release of the new shirts. It's almost as if the club went ahead without the money in place and then a few weeks later when it still didn't turn up they had to admit that it might never turn up and looked for an alternative. They have done well to find a replacement at such short notice. I wonder how much less they have now received.

I thought this comment received during the planning permission was interesting: My name is Andrew Smith. By way of background, I should explain that I have been a season ticket holder at Fratton Park for 40 years, was a member of the Portsmouth Supporters Trust's Stadium Working Party that produced two reports on the club's stadium options and was, for a number of years, Chairman of Chichester District's Planning Committee. My objection is two fold. Firstly on aesthetic grounds and secondly on the failure to demonstrate compliance with design guidance for football stadiums. Aesthetics The application seeks to justify the design on the basis that it complements the Frogmore Road entrance and South Stand designed by Archibald Leitch. The approach to Fratton Park from Frogmore Road is an iconic view in English football. But to imitate design elements in a mash up of mock Tudor and classic Leitch ironwork far from being sympathetic detracts from the original structures. When Arsenal FC redeveloped the North Bank at Highbury in the 1990s it didn't commission a mock Art Deco design to match the East and West stands built in the 1930s; it commissioned a contemporary design. Whilst the existing Milton End has no redeeming features, is not within a Conservation Area and not within the setting of a Listed Building, poor quality design should not be tolerated; indeed the thrust of government advice on design for a while has been to encourage higher standards. The iron work shown on the eastern elevation is not an accurate reflection of the Leitch south stand balcony that it's supposed to reflect. Compliance with design standards for football stadiums The "Green Guide" as well as design guides issued by UEFA and FIFA specify that spectators should enjoy an uninterrupted view of the pitch. The proposed design retains the columns supporting the roof at the front of the stand. The design and access statement makes numerous references to a C value of 60. This is the absolute minimum allowed. The recommended value of C is 90. The design and access guide fails to state other values in the equation that determines the rake of the seating to give each spectator good site lines. I guess the value of T is 700 - the minimum allowed in the Green Guide. The concourse area is open to the elements. This may be suitable for a cricket ground but inappropriate for a winter sports ground.

what the fuck is that twat talking about? How does someone living near the ground benefit? More fans, more traffic, more cars... how on earth does he conclude that redevelopment will "kick start the local economy". Even if he is referring to the new infrastructure required before they are permitted to expand the capacity, a new walk bridge and longer platforms will do the square route of fuck all for the local economy. The local council is brassik. Network Rail have about a million other projects more pressing than this one. How do either benefit from spending money here? It will be interesting to see if they proceed here with the Milton end `redevelopment'. They have planning permission for that, but as it adds no real increase in capacity and is basically just a cost, there seems little point. Catlin seems to be suggesting that they wont do that first phase until PCC and NR agree to pay for the infrastructure work that they need to start implementing development phases that increase capacity.

...and which game was PEH worthy of MOTM?

The club took a decision a while back to limit the exclusives it gave to third party media and instead focused on providing news direct to fans/customers from its own website. It most certainly was a priority and I'd be surprised if they have changed that philosophy. Traffic to the site is important for sponsors/advertisers - perhaps with our current sponsor that is no longer important?

not good enough or just too expensive? Always rated him myself. He's an upgrade on Gunn. I'm excited at that deal.