suewhistle

I think I've been in them but can't remember the details.;-) Walk a little further and go to The Platform Tavern, I can recommend that.

A pretty good summary of my own view on the matter.. and as I've pointed out elsewhere the language in which the opinions are couched into which no doubt or shades of grey are ever allowed. Roll on Saturday!;-)

Leaving aside Pulis who he has only played the once AFAIK and is leaving anyway (don't think the shop window helped, by the sound of it!), surely he needs to look at the youngsters in a slightly more competitive situation. He knows how Puncheon, Lambert, Lallana etc. can perform from last season. I'm sure he's looking but as others have pointed out it's not as easy as the glib talk here would make out. The player has to be right for us, want to come here, at a price we are prepared to pay and at a mutually acceptable price for the clubs if a fee is involved. To take two examples we know: Antonio is subject to contract to Reading who, I reckon, are trying to take the p*** over price. They didn't want him last season but know that we do and I think there may be some brinkmanship going on. Somebody used the word "derisory" in relation to offers we might have made: I don't they were saying that's what had happened but it does raise the question, should we be like Pimpley and pay whatever someone asks for? I think we'd probably all agree on the answer! The second example is Papa Waigo, and reading the Italian sites I get the impression he used us as a springboard last season and has no wish to return, or at least wants to play at a higher level if not for Fiorentina itself. No doubt we could have signed someone and no doubt we are looking in spite of the hysterical opinions here that we aren't doing anything but would the sort of player we could have easily signed have made the OP happy? Answers on a post-card... Those available might have been too expensive for what they were, might not have been good enough, may not have wanted to come to play second-fiddle to Lallana or Morgan etc. (Not every player is like Pulis). I suspect we're holding out for some championship or more likely Premiership loans, and they won't be confirmed until the other clubs have confirmed their squads. But we are a good destination for such players with our training and medical facilities, decent pitch, ground, team and crowds. We'll no doubt have had contact already to make our interest known after our scouts had identified likely targets. There's no doubt we need our squad strengthening, but when I say wearily "give me strength" it's not talking about the squad!

I didn't go to the game but a question for those that did. Leaving aside Pulis, did the youngsters who came on have enough about them that they could do a job as an individual in a more experienced team? It's a bit unfair to judge them as individuals when the pattern of play is affected so much by having 6 substitutions of inexperienced players.

So would anybody registered on any of the Pompey sites like to put that scenario to them (in whatever disguise you think fit!)? I'd love to hear the reactions...

So that's what you guys get up to when you're on your own! Thought this would be a thread about Assam v Darjeeling...

I think he's 31 and he's out of contract and already making noises about leaving Empoli (who don't seem to want to offer him a decent new contract). He says he's prepared to move abroad. Incidentally Empoli are Italian 2nd division but a decent side. I'm sure he'd appreciate playing in front of decent crowds, though! Likes fishing and seems like a nice family guy. Bit of a playmaking mid-fielder btw, and he's not 6'1"

I'm quite surprised you take this view. Your above "not.. more circumspect" and "money up front" are a bit contradictory: isn't asking for more money up front being more circumspect. Plus you missed a point I made earlier: with what money are these unscrupulous clubs going to gamble? At the moment they are relying on paying by instalments using the promise of future revenue streams. If you think banks aren't more aware of football's wider problems now, particularly with the Poortsmouth example freshly in mind I really do question your views. We have our own 1 year old example of the withdrawal of an overdraft, haven't we? So if they have to pay up front more often, which I think you have accepted will happen, how are these unscupulous clubs going to fund the gamble?

There's the difference between ability to meet them and being prepared to. PS: Mods, is there any way of preventing primary school kids registering and posting on this forum?

Don't think so. Buying clubs would start to require money up-front, and whether banks would stand for any borrowing these days is doubtful. Dodgy owners might lend you the money...

Don't you mean the other way round.

Gawd, I don't know. Not sure AA does either. But the unfavourable comparison with Barca still stands though!

Bugger, I'll have to change my location details. I thought I'd kept it secret...;-)

Fratton Park? Minus a few ransom strips, mind.Not forgetting the massive support..

Looks like it!

Borrowing to pay wages! Complete madness. It's obviously a general problem in football and perhaps the impact on the Premiership won't be as bad as some people made out if the major competition for the top players are also hit by a reversion to normal economic rules. The general level of crowds in the UK should sustain a reasonably competitive league (I'm thinking more Saints than Pimpley here, of course). Crowds in Germany make them competitive but French and Italian crowds for example are pretty pants.

an Italian as a first teamer? Some of you will know I live in Italy so just interested.. We've had French, Norwegians etc. etc., but I don't ever recall cheering (or abusing) using my Italian.

Ah, well. Platform Tavern for a few pre-match beers then for the Plymouth game.

At least we'll now stand out in a crowd of Stoke and Sunderland fans!

Or on a Les Barker riff: Stay. Or you could call him Go

Owen

So a possible scenario, if they should survive at all is relegation this season, then points deduction for next season. It's like catching your edge on a black slope, and whoooosh, down you go..

Sorry I never made it! Drove overnight from Italy last Thursday and then had the M25 on Friday. Zombie time Saturday. I did bring my boots though!

Better value too: all part of generating the community spirit. I play in Italian regional football. Last season the players were moaning like anything about having to pay for our training and representative kit (the stuff we wear on the way to matches) as we'd lost a sponsor. But no subs to pay: for the pitches, trainer/coach, physio, training twice a week, coaches to away matches. In women's football in the UK it was a constant scrabble for funds. If that can be done for a side from a small place Southampton ought to have a decent team to represent it, and it really is cheap in the overall scheme of things. Good experience too for anybody working towards their coaching badges.

So what do you reckon, book the drivers who don't slow down for driving without due care and attention? Reminds of I Met copper I once met who said he once booked a guy for speeding down Hyde Park rd or similar at 4 in the morning. "I'm not booking you for speeding, but because you didn't see me!"