CB Fry

I think you're thinking of Yazz (and the Plastic Population). Yazoo is Alyson Moyet's favourite Milk based drink.

Probably the fact that this forum is the last place on earth that considers bankers to be infallible business geniuses.

Have we made required payments at the required time then? As it stands none of us know what we have or haven't done. But in Wonga Cortese we trust.

I don't think the Prem is any better than it was when we went down. Arsenal, Chelsea, Man U and Spurs have all had far better teams then they have now. Man City may have their best ever team but are they better than Mourinho's Chelsea? Barely. And the same counts for the rest of the division. Wages have gone up, is all. Seriously, the standard is much the same as it was a decade ago. And If anything has got clearly weaker, it is the bottom third. Plenty of garbage down there in the last few seasons have stayed up.

Indeed they have. Mainly the fu ckwits who spent the summer talking about us finishing mid table this season and then on to Europe next season. Didn't you know man walked on the moon? If you think we can stay up by only taking points from teams from eleventh on down then you are going to end the season dissappointed.

Mainly because you're including Fulham and West Ham in your list of Megateams.

Sorry, TTD, you've not been reading the forum rules about the ten games. The ten games where we are allowed to assess our performance: Do NOT include any games against teams we cannot expect to get points against. This is defined as any team in the top ten either when we play them, or at any point in the subsequent three months. Do NOT include any games when the manager is unable to pick from a 100% fully fit and settled in squad. These criteria will be assessed and decided on by only the "intelligent" forum posters. You know, Frank and Les. Our betters. As it stands we have played zero games this season. Come back in April for a review of the first five games.

Funny all that talk of "we've never had this investment before, Champion's League here we come" has died out and the precise same people are suddenly desperate to reclassify us as tiny little plucky little Southampton and chiding anyone expecting us to win a game as being "impatient" and unrealistic. Funny that. Turns out the Dell-sized mentality was right after all.

I don't back you up. He's been counting his money for half a decade, and a couple of games in the second tier doesn't change a thing. And as for "double his wages".....Jesus H. Christ.

Reading to win for me. Would like to see the QPR meltdown if they lose. And Reading are going down anyway. Probably with us.

With their glittering coaching careers behind them, they clearly cannot fail.

Bruce Hornsby's The Way It Is for, I think, the same reason.

I thought this was a fantastic new era for the club where anything is possible and we just have to believe and we can be in the Champions League. What happened to that then?

In that case, agreed.

Who? Pardew?

Hasn't Nigel been in charge for two years?

I hear he's in the frame for the Blackpool job.

I think this is about right. And now we are Premier League the bankrolling stops. Hence the loan. As far as I am concerned, we are not a rich mans toy any more, just one business owned by MALI expected to run its own affairs and wash its own face.

So what? There are far more teams who have got relegated without winning the cup, and far more that have won it/got to the final and stayed up. But you cling on to your one club example. We should be trying to win matches and we should be trying to win this cup.

...and? At least they're trying to win a trophy. A trophy we should be trying to win, not last night's joke.

He said it on a members only forum specifically saying that it be passed on without attribution to him. He didn't post it on here. He's being naive, but he'll still go apesh it.

FF is going to go apesh it when he sees that on here. He went proper loopy when the name of the Pompey takeover thread was changed. This will send him off the scale.

I remember we sacked Pardew. We ended up on the managerial merry go round and it was a complete disaster. Oh. Hang on. No it wasn't.

Good read although slightly over playing the "rise from the ashes" bit. Adkins inherited a squad that was NPC bound whoever was in charge. Has Nige earned his chance? Yep. Is he going to get it? I doubt it.

Actually, the Feguson case study is much like Moyes - Fergie had a very good start at Man U finishing second in his first full season. He proved he could do it. It was this that helped keep him in a job, although some people on this forum get very upset with this fact, not sure why.... Sticking with a good manager going through a rough patch is a good thing to do. I am happy for Adkins to get more time -he's earnt it - but I don't think he'll get it.