Chez

not sure it's that cut and dry, but the old smoke and fire thing is not often wrong.

yes, I realised that, and they ****ed the UEFA cup up that year too as well, but the fact remains they got into the CL places. My point is, will gradual slow growth ever get us into the top four, or do you spot a batch of players at your club that are top notch and run with them for a few years in a genuine effort to get into those top four places, even for one season. I'm realistic. We are unlikely to make that jump and stay there unless a mega money splash the cash type takes over. But making it once, well I'd be more than pleased with that (it would be amazing) and the players we have had over the last two years might have been enough to do it. But we avoided offering the £100k a week to keep Shaw and Lallana and perhaps that window has closed. Maybe not. Nice to chat about looking upwards for once. I dare say it won't be long before we are worrying about the other end of the table. Enjoy it whilst it lasts.

he looked bloody good when he tore us apart playing for Swindon at SMS. The timing was all wrong for us to ever try and get him, but on that display alone I'd be interested. He has a strikers arrogance and ability to go with it. Very similar player to Pelle. Maybe that's a good thing. Stronger squad, but someone's nose would be put out of joint.

Rodriguez tended to play on the left, with Ricky down the middle. So Rodriguez will effectively replace Elia. He along with Mane, Tadic and Long will fight it out for the two wide spots. Maybe Pelle and Austin fight it out for the central role? Having said that I think Long IS the backup for Pelle, but Ronny was happy to play Pelle every week. You have to wonder if we are actually in for another Striker? If we add another, then maybe someone has to go. You can't hoard players if you want youngsters to come through. That said I don't see the current batch of attacking youngster being anywhere near good enough to make the step up yet.

Everton qualified for the CL. They obviously have the honours and the history to be classed as a bigger side than Saints, I won't dispute that, but in financial terms, are they much bigger than us these days? The TV money defines how rich a club is unless they have a billionaire owner throwing money at the problem. We seem to be on a similar level. So I guess the question should be, how did Everton do it?

And that's why I differ from doddisalegends view. He will be in demand, from all four top English clubs and I suspect all four have chatted with his agent to see how the land lies. Where I agree with dod is whether they will meet our fee which should and could be huge.

It should have said 'why wouldn't he'. Bloody shoddy typing on my part. Of course he will go. Other clubs can offer much much more money than us, more trophies and titles and of course fame. But it doesn't mean I have to like it.

If think it is fair to say Wanyama won't be here until the end his career, unless it end abruptly. Feel free to quote this should things pan out differently.

So **** local people off by helping a new Tesco threaten local livelihoods and now **** people off by taking their public park away. Those £1000 shares were worth every penny.

A certain ex saints manager who I will remain nameless, was asked if he would present trophies at the tyro league end of season awards night, but he said neither he nor any of his players would do it unless he got paid. He went from hero to tosser in my book after that.

This whole agreement thing is vague are perhaps not even true. What is true is He is contracted to us and won't go anywhere unless the offer we get is too good to turn down, as was the case with all those that left last season. I suspect we will play very hard ball on that transfer fee, again. What is he going to do, go on strike a year before the euros? I don't doubt he will leave, why would he?, but I have to say I don't get all this 'he's done his shift and we wish him well'. **** that. I want you to stay. Demand more cash, sure, but stay, allow us to build around you, not rebuild.

Was the job offer for double the wages and to a blue chip company?

I recall Mark Wotte playing him out wide in that ugly 2009 season.

To be fair I think he plays in midfield.

In non nature news, the skates may sign Barry Corr, out of contract from Southend, who must be one of the big name signings referred to by @JakePompeySmith: The difference between Awfs and Cook is that Awfs would sign these unknown players whereas Cook is making these big name signings! #Pompey

Having watched episode 2 of the bbc shark documentary, I think perhaps our friend penny chew is not a skate, but is in fact a mobular Ray. What we all thought was simply a garage door crashing into a pool, I can now confirm was actually a mating ritual. The displacement of half an Olympic sized swimming pool amount of water certainly attracted attention, but as I found out in the tv programme, that is of course the mobular Rays intention.

How many spot kicks did he save for us? Seemed like he saved almost all of them during the promotion seasons. You almost got the feeling that he would save every one of them.

New `star' skate signing Kai Naismith has fully prepared for his new life on the south coast. In 2010 Naismith and fellow Rangers player Kyle Hutton, were abducted in Edinburgh by two men and driven around the city in Hutton's car before they were dumped in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh. Naismith and Hutton were then mugged as the thieves stole the car.

this. Anyone suggesting it's a sideways step is talking ****e.

seeing as Sondico are a Sports Direct brand are the shirts advertised with a high RRP, but on sale from day one? Fits quite nicely with the clubs philosophy of never paying the full amount if you can avoid it.

It could be argued that if you are using all your energy chasing lost causes, when you need that burst of pace to beat a defender and score you might be too tired to do so. Also, if you are tracking back or running the channels you might not be in the position you need to score the goals. So perhaps there is a trade off between work rate and goals scoring? The counter argument would be that Suarez worked his socks off and scored 30 goals in a season. So perhaps other equally talented finishers should be doing the same. In Long's case, he's just not that good a finisher, no matter how good his strike was against Villa. In general, in front of goal he lacks conviction and a real cutting edge that makes the best strikers so good. For me he's just a little casual too. When he gets in a scoring position he's almost too relaxed, if that's possible. He never seems convinced himself that he will score. He hopes for the best rather than thinks he is certain to score. Jay Rod offers similar pace from out wide, but was a far more convincing player and if back to where he was before his injury will be an upgrade on Long. It's a squad game I guess, but depending on UEFA qualification and progression I wonder how many games Long will get next season?

even if we somehow manage to find suitors for both, some of their wages might be.

I would have thought the PST will have received the £1000 for every `share' bought by fans using Enterprise The Business Credit Union Limited up front. The skates that bought a share through via ETBCUL will still have to continue to pay off the £1000 debt. The PST will be unaffected by this news.

in case you missed it, Morgan parted ways with his childhood sweetheart Marie-Cecile and has revealed that he has a new lady in his life, which might explain why he is keen to stay in the UK, assuming she is from the UK of course. http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2015/05/photo-arsenal-target-morgan-schneiderlin-poses-with-new-girlfriend/

seeing them able to outbid Donny for players really does hack me off. A debt the size they built up should have taken 10, maybe 20 years to pay off, not two.