suewhistle

I could afford it, but with what I've been watching and the prices which are high with no concession decided to give it a miss and make a point in the only way I can. I might spend the ticket price and the cost of getting there on a really nice bottle of wine as I'm entertaining that evening. I'd even be happier if there was a really good offer for kids, who can't get to go much at normal prices. I'll go and watch the women in March against Pompey instead to improve the atmosphere at that match..

Some of the turnover was due to losing some players who were reluctant to go full time: with having decent careers the pay on offer was not sufficient to cover the risk and what they'd lose.

Apparently someone else posted that he played 14 minutes for them at the start of the season! Maybe there is a 'de minimis' requirement for the definition "played"! 😉

Just checked my diary and realised it's a Saturday so a definite possibility. I'll mention it to my Portsmouth supporting team mates and we could make an evening of it, down The Edge afterwards! Hmm, maybe not: we have a fixture the day after..

I think in the case of Tommy M he's just being sensible...

I'd have to say that what has struck me about Downes this season is the number of times he has given the ball away, and maybe his slight build as opposed to 'dynamism'.

I was just about to post something on the same lines.. We've also got BBD and Cornet off the payroll. Looking at all the possibilities on an individual basis you probably couldn't argue with any of them, although the youth of SAA means there might be more upside there, but replacing so many players at once would be an issue. Mind you, to argue against myself the recruitment of Welington and Groenbaek seems reasonable. We have Edozie due for return: does anyone know off the top of their head how he's doing? What also puzzles me about our use of the academy is how we let the 15 year old junior international with a 'tache go - Garcia? - as surely we can pay more than the French side he went to?

When you get to my age it's at least 2..

That may be wise, but he's certainly got some pace, which is always a good foundation.

The point about ABK is that more than one manager seems to have the same opinion about him. Given that Juric seems to be getting more of a tune out of Sulemanna and Oneachu perhaps there is an issue with the player themselves?

Yep, with lumps of concrete coming over the wall, and a police liaison PC observing earlier that there were faces there they hadn't seen for years! A very embarassed Alan Knight(?) came out to thank us. My experience was the same as yours as I was driving to the east but as I wasn't stupid enough to wear colours and look the very model of sweetness and innocence (cough..) I was nodded through with the same advice.

On the beer, I reckon..

Portsmouth don't need him, they've managed to lose at home to Millwall tonight all on their own..

West Brom away in case you were wondering..

Just seen a broken down Lucketts coach on the Motorway with PFC in the back window. Probably fans but we can hope..

Were you referring to this?: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jan/23/football-transfer-rumours-race-tyler-dibling-southampton-five-way-race-january

I know Youtube videos can be deceptive but he does appear to have a greater degree of pace and athleticism than Smallbone or Aribo, although the latter has been showing more of his strength recently. How would he be best used with Fernandez whilst we have them both? Their mobility does give hope that they won't get in each other's way and will feed off each other. Better than Ely (see above!) who looked like he was running in treacle. I suspect he might be on the bench on Saturday but wont necessarily get on.

"Le milieu de terrain danois ne se sent pas à l'aise avec le nouveau système de Jorge Sampaoli". I noted this in one of the tweets, so perhaps the manager's system didn't suit him, and we're all familiar with that. In our case a whole team...

But nobody is..

I was just about to say 'this is a bit better' and thought that might jinx it and then we scored! We might lose but this is a breath of fresh air the way we are playing. Underlines how awful Martin's tactics were.

Yes!

In other news after tonight's results, Portsmouth are rather relying on their game in hand. Perhaps they really don't feel ready to play us next season...

Twat. Most unbecoming language I know, but...

I've just seen that the game is on TNT sports, whoever they are. Will my local pub even have it in addition to Sky, probably not? Might save me some embarassment and a bit of ribbing mind you.

I take some positivity from the fact that a few mistakes apart that was a comfortable victory and we know how that is not a foregone conclusion for us against lower league sides. To what do we ascribe Sulemanna's improved performance: the opposition, our formation, his instructions, his motivation (playing for a move..)?