sotonjoe

and it reminded that we have a real chance but no pressure in this game. I cannot wait.

saints win apparently ... kiss of death ;-)

A question for those saying results aren't good enough ... what's the solution? At what point do you advocate sacking Pardew and what sort of manager do you think we could attract as a replacement? It's one thing being narked about the fact we're not in the playoffs, but what alternative do you see?

yeh, stop all the moaning. The tickets are hardly difficult to get hold of. If you deserve one, you will get one.

I've no idea about Pardew's argument, in fact I don't think he's been directly questioned on the subject. However, I stand by the fact that you can't bring five players into a team and expect to stumble upon a winning combination straight away. Now, whether Pardew was right to expect to do that is another matter; indeed you may wonder what was so broke in the first place and whether he would have been better just to tinker. However, we've gone for wholesale change and have made many team changes over the past few league and cup games, and that has disrupted the momentum.

As I've just said on the league results thread...

What people don't realise is that we've had just one game since the transfer window shut and that's just one game with our 'new' team in place. Add that to continued injuries (Hammond for instance) and it's clear that we haven't had time to gel. We have two cup games now where various players will be unavailable due to cup ties and that will further prevent us from settling on a first eleven which includes our new players. It won't be till the end of Feb and the point at which we will have played Norwich, Wycombe and Walsall in the league that we should have a good idea of how the new recruits have settled. Less than two wins there and then we'll have reason to start moaning. Until then we have to be patient and sensible in our reactions to results.

performances? I thought it was the results and the resulting league position you were moaning about.:smt119

At the moment, he stands to get nothing back if they're liquidated. If there's a genuinely rich idiot in talks, Chanrai will get more back by stumping up a few million whilst negotiations are ongoing. I think you're analysing the situation according to what you want to happen, not what actually might be happening. we'll obviously have to wait and see whether there are buyers waiting in the wings and obviously i hope there won't be.

yeh, i was gonna say monday night is usually open mic night at the talking heads.

Tesco, or any other shop for that matter, don't have to sell you anything at all if they don't want to!

if he puts his hand in his pocket to pay the HMRC, he gets time to find a buyer. simples.

Now a sizeable minority are moaning because it looks like we won't make the playoffs.

that's what I was saying, but you lot were saying no! They're going to say that he's stabilised the ship and will agree to pay some cash. Meanwhile, they'll also have to prove that they have serious interest from prospective purchasers. If that happens, they may get a stay of execution. If they get early wind of it being impossible, I guess they'll go into admin before the hearing. It will be very interesting if they take a gamble and go to the hearing without any prior idea of what may happen.

Right ... so why on earth has Chanrai seized control? Is it really just to "get a better look" as somebody has suggested? What on earth is he set to gain by doing so?

The tax bill is only £7.5m though isn't it? Couldn't he arrange a payment plan which buys him time to find them a new owner? If he's not prepared to stick a bit more cash in to stabilise the club before selling, then why would he seize control of it in the first place? Believe me, I want them to disappear, I just find it hard to believe at the moment.

I don't get it. If the Hong Kong guy is genuine, won't he just stump up the HMRC money on Weds if the only alternative offered is liquidation?

naturally

i know the jackpot cafe owners. i'll pass on the praise if you like ;-)

It's not worth it mate ... do something else on a Saturday. [ i'm not hoping to get an aisle seat in block 31 at all ... ahem ]

Next week ... a thread about how doctors aren't doing their jobs properly, started by non-doctor know-it-alls.

I think one of the mods should dig out the thread from the time of AP's appointment in which member upon member declared that AP would be given time before being judged. The general feeling then was that this was a stabilisation season and that next season would be the big push. I'd be very interested to see how many members have changed their spots as it were, and have now started piling on excess pressure when they said they would refrain from doing so. There's no justification for this. Peope forget so quickly where we were at the beginning of the season and ambition goes to peope's heads far too quickly. I've said it before and I'll say it again; a Wembley final, beating Pompey and a mid-table finish would make me as happy as I could reasonably expect to be this season.

rule 1

They can be purchased new on pay as you go for £342 from Tesco.

too bloody right. the internet obviously causes blindness