CB Fry

Yes, that's exactly what I am saying. Ferguson or whoever (last season the cliche was usually "even Mourinho couldn't keep us up etc etc...") would select, motivate and organise ten times better than Poortvilet and then Wotte did. Ferguson would have spent what funds we had more wisely than Jan/Wotte/Lowe did. Ferguson would have sent teams out knowing they would win, no sh1t scared they couldn't even hold on to a point. We wouldn't have been relegated if we'd had a halfway competent manager. Last year we drew fifteen games. Turning just five of those into wins would have meant ten more points and rock solid mid table. If you seriously think Alex Ferguson (or cliche manager of choice) couldn't have done that you're chuffing bonkers. I take it you'd be happy if Pardew was sacked and replaced by Portvilet tomorrow, then, as it makes absolutely no difference at all who the manager of the team is?

I never thought we would lose at any point, even at two down, it sounded like we battered them. If the worst we do this season is batter a team and not quite win, then we'll storm through this league. We're not going to win every game but we'll win a hell of a lot.

What a load of rubbish. If we had Ferguson last season we would have finished mid table, probably play offs. Or are you saying that Pootvilet would win the league with Man United, as who the manager is makes no difference?

So every other team in Britain is wearing a Poppy shirt, are they? That's the only way we would be unique. And twenty points for invoking the old "only I care about those who died in the war, not you" routine. Well done you. I don't kno nuffink about no war or nuffin, me. And on the subject of being "sure what you are talking about" then you haven't a friggin clue if you think there is a desperate need for Poppy day to be "kept in the spotlight" when it is the highest profile charity campaign by a mile this year, every year, for ever. It's everywhere, and rightly so. That is my point, but if want to rant off about how no-one cares about the forces as much as you then well done. Please take up your disappointment with Lawrie McMenemy whose teams never ever wore a poppy shirt. I think they needed to show a bit more respect to our forces, don't you?

Is it Poppy time again? Blimey. I must have missed every single TV presenter on every single program on every single channel wearing one every single day for three weeks. And Poppies available in every shop and every street corner in every hamlet, village, town and city in Britain for the same time period. And all the news reports, interviews with servicemen and families, and the TV coverage of the Cenotaph next week. If only Saints wore a poppy shirt for a league one game then I'd have realised.

That'll be the £89999million transfer kitty, signing Ricquelme, Eto, Puskas Pele and Hot-Shot Hamish and the construction of a 300,000 seater megastadium ready for next season and hosting the 2027 Olympic Games. Everything's going to be just fine.

Shut up you dopey old woman. Hoddle never rated Beattie and they didn't get along so highly unlikely that he was clamouring for your boyfriend to come back, and as Hoddle is disliked by almost every pro footballer he has ever met, I'd wager Dodd didn't like him much either. Being that Hoddle is one of the most disliked figures with a reputation of appalling man-management at every club he's been at it's unlikely that even a single player was looking forward to the return of Glenda. His prior and subsequent record of utter failure everywhere he's been proves this was an excellent decision. Get over it. Anyway, are we to assume he has not impressed as catetaker at Aldershot then? How have they done?

It's obviously not a bad idea, but it also not the only idea and not something that has to be done every single year without fail or else everyone at Southampton FC has no respect for etc and people died for this country and and how dare you and and and etc etc. which is what we get on this forum on this subject every year. Lawrie Mac's team never once ever wore shirts with poppies on for a match. Ever. Does that make them disrespecful of our armed forces?

Err - remembrance Sunday is the week before. That said, I didn't realise the Charlton Game is on the 11th and is on TV so is an argument for Poppy Shirts.

Sounds to me the club donating to the Help for Heroes campaign is "doing the right thing" far more than embroidering a poppy on 16 football shirts. Being that our game will be covered on 90 seconds of TV coverage and seen by just 20,000 people for an hour and a half, not sure a poppy on shirt delivers much that is actually useful. The British Legion just about muddled through the first 70-odd years of its existance without embroidering poppies on professional sportswear, so I fail to see why not doing it is seen as some gigantic affront to "our boys". Just buy a poppy, donate and shut up about bloody poppies on shirts.

I'm sure that was on his mind when he left The Dell for Blackburn in the summer of 1998.

Its difficult to imagine you didn't type that without a raging bone-on. Little Pompey t'internet forum emperors. Aren't we all scared

Remember Pards played him down a lot when he signed him, going out of his way to say he isn't a superstar, he's raw and he might be an impact sub. Well an impact sub he definitely is - I saw him at Oldham and he was useful and scared them for fifteen minutes. He gives teams something new to worry about in the last quarter of a game. Think that is his role for now. I think he wouldn't be much use to Reading if he went back tomorrow - he needs to be kicked up in the air and "found out" a bit by seasoned pros in this division to aid his development. And we don't need to sign him yet - just extend his loan until Christmas. I love his Beardsley wobbly legs routine though.

Scrolling down that Sky sports link. Apparently he "achieved nothing with Southampton" and "left us in a mess". Message board posters, eh? What do they know?

Storrie has absolved himself of all the responsibity of the financial details of a multi-million pound player transfer because he was "on holiday that week". So, Mr Taxman, whatever happens when the chief executive of said company (me) is on holiday is quite simply not my responsibility, especially when in concerns hundreds of thousands of pounds. I mean, how am I supposed to know what is going on? Now go away and let me count my £1.5m salary Storrie is whatever the opposite of blameless is.

If you went to football once a decade, why on earth would you chose to go all the way to Hull to watch them play Pompey? It can only because he at least thinks there might be some shilling in for him at some stage. Oh, sorry, I forgot. All these people are "investing" in Pompey because they love the club and its passionate fans. Loan upon loan upon loan. Pompey are like the skank kids in school asking every single person in the play ground for ten pence. "You know I'm good for it".

Yes, but its not that simple, as Pompey still would have cashflow they couldn't hide from administrators - ie no one is going to let them go into admin this season, wipe everything clean and then just let them have two seasons of parachute money to spend. Any creditors would take one look at their projected revenue and say "I'll have some of that". The difference between us and them is our debt was stadium related, and no-one could do anything with a second hand football stadium, and it was never going to be knocked down, meaning a settlement had to be reached and it suited us wonderfully. Pompey just have a mountain of debt, plus some (supposed) valuable land. Admin would rob them of the land and anything of material value and the debts would be paid off as best they could from the money the world knows they will get in the next two years - ie CCC TV revenue and two years of parachute payments. So yeah, a white knight will get a club for nothing, but that's because it will be worthless by then. And the divs are still singing for Peter Storrie to be given the freedom of their sh*thole.

Absolutely - wonder what happened to all those pompous arses at the start of the season patronisingly wagging their finger and starting threads called "Reality Check" about what a fantastic achievement finishing just above the relegation places would be and how dare anyone even think we could possibly do better etc etc blah blah etc Play offs were a realistic aim at the start of the season and they still are now. The arse aching bores suggesting Pardew would need an entire season of absolute dross to "bed in" like Ted Bates did and did you know Lawrie got relegated in his first season and Alex Ferguson took four years and blah blah blah etc blah blah. Horseshi t. Instant results, delivered instantly. Just like people like me and TDD said would happen all along. So much for "reality", eh, reality checkers?

The Torquay game was a technically a draw. It's five league wins in a row which I'm excited about - the cup game doesn't count for me.

Question Time is hardly ever filmed in London. It tours round the country. This is part of the problem - people commenting about Question Time when they clearly have never seen the program ever before last night.

I think the reason the Guardian took it down is because it is not true - ie Fahim didn't give this interview. So for now let's assume that is the case, when I read it it reads like a bit of a hoax, especially the "six months" line which is just silly and even the looniest owner wouldn't say that.

Agree with that - Connolly will probably need a few more weeks as a supersub before he is fully fit. But having options is fantastic - we suddenly have strength and depth of squad.

"Lads your age" did not "go out with phones in their pockets" in the vast majority of nineties! Trust me, I was and I didn't!

I think we'll have to. Connolly is far too good for this division so I doubt Pardew brought him in to sit on the bench. His cameo against Oldham was superb. It's a bit of an England Manager situation - we have a decent crop of players, and we have a system that has worked recently, but we now have a world class* player we have to fit in and the system will have to change. But it will work. The Lambert/Connolly combination is just too good to ignore - they can rip this league apart.

The seventies? Try the nineties.