Miltonaggro

A message board is no place for racism...

Perhaps he is going via the Orient Express?...

I think that when Saints are guaranteed promotion to the Premier League (i.e. next Easter ;-) FFS) that Cortese will seriously look at expansion and may well sanction it. After all, BARR designed the stadium with this in mind, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility. Be optimistic, the post 1976 Pirelli option was going to be 40,000 FFS (I saw a model), build it and they will come! I still want an airship dock...

Personally, I would like it to have a bigger capacity. It's all well and good building for the Premier League, but think how stupid and small time we are going to look in the Champions League. I would like to see a similar design to the Emirates (though with a bigger capacity due to our superior catchment area), a full size mural of Don Cortese in Kitchener pose painted on the side of the gas holders (this could be designed to rise with league position, rather like the autopilot in Airplane), and a place for airships to tie up...

Pure poetry Lighthouse - Laugh out Loud! I for one hope that he signs for Brighton as IMHO he is just what they need at the moment...

The dream team for me at Pompey would be Sven as manager, Tord Grip as assistant and Steve Beaglehole with the magic sponge. The marquee signing in January could be Steve 'the prolific' scarecrow Claridge. Stranger things have happened!...

Not sure who to feel sorry for if this goes ahead, looks like a win-win for Saints. Oh yes, it's Forest...

To be fair he was spotted in Westquay in the run up to England v Macedonia at SMS, and that might swing it. It's also common knowledge he has always wanted to play under Nige...

This. It will be interesting to see what the incoming manager will make of Arsene's 'youth policy'. AOC potentially the Steve Daley of the digital generation ;-)

Shilton by a country mile, as Brian Clough said worth an extra ten points over the course of a season. Won the vast majority of his England caps whilst at Saints and made the 18 yard box at the Dell seem like a postage stamp for visiting sides...

Was it John Sainty, or Terry Cooper?...

I was with you on that at the time, and would have loved Keegan. Adkins has both the insanity and ability to become the Latter Day Brian Clough...

As the window approaches I have a feeling we will see Gorkss from QPR with Puncheon going the other way, and Beckford from Everton if personal terms can be agreed. If those two signed it would keep the current positive momentum going until January...

That was a beautifully weighted through ball, and clinical finish...

Nice one! They are hoping to win for the LMFAO title by the end of the season, I wish them luck with that and feel that they could do it...

Well done to Nigel Adkins! It may be worth reminding the Brighton faithful that former Liverpool manager Bob Paisley was also 'just a physio' and he won six league titles and three European Cups...

The thing I like about Adkins is the psychological side, both in terms of giving our players confidence and always having a slant on the opposition - the comment re. Chaplow's sending off providing an exciting finale for the Barnsley fans is typical, and he provided a reverse psychology masterclass vs Poyet and Brighton last season. The fact that he has got DC fit and playing so well is also a testament, and another wise old head may be amongst the potental newcomers alongside the youngsters with ability we all crave. My personal take on this league is that we have nothing to fear, so far supposedly a major contender club at home and a very tricky first away fixture - six points and almost total dominance. Who knows how long we can keep up and where we will finish, but I can't think of another side in the league with our strength in depth and I have a gut feeling we may be the surprise package...

It feels like 1977/78 again...

After watching the reinvention of Simon Pegg as a matinee idol on TV last night (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) I believe that anything is possible. For the wives and girlfriends of professional footballers, personality, poise, and GSH is everything...

Next! I couldn't care less about what happens to Chamberlain now, no interest whatsoever. If you listen to Wenger or Redknapp you would think that Walcott and Bale were products of their respective academies and not poached - Chamberlain will be just the same. The positive here is the fee, and very well done to Cortese for standing firm and getting a team building sum of money for a young player who has only ever faced third division opposition on a regular basis. The side proved during last season's run in that he was a luxury we could do without, and underlined it emphatically last Saturday. As Adkins has said, no one player is bigger than the club, and our club is what we should focus on. Onwards and upwards...

Having given this some thought, I feel that David Frost (despite his advancing years) would be good in a Davros style wheelchair - all his own hair, famous rock steady voice and a Saints fan to boot. His famous opening catchphrase could be adapted to 'hello, good afternoon, and welcome' (for usual 3pm kick offs, evening matches no adaptation required) and at half time he could go through the keyhole of a current / former Saints stalwart on the big screen - imagine getting to see the inside of Mike Wilde's three bedroom semi in Andover, or Gerry Forrest's collection of Morris Marina Coupes. Pure PR gold...

Can you give me an update on W******d?...

They should get Les Dennis, cheap and passionate...

Historically there has always been rivalry between the ports, with Southampton existing as a naval port prior to Portsmuff, this continued with commercial rivalry into the Victorian era. The posting above about 1970s youth culture and football violence is spot on, and from this the tag 'Pompey Scum' emerged - at some point this was hijacked by the blue few and reversed to 'Scummer' with some pseudo-historical nonsense tagged on as justification for good measure. The ranking of the Portsmouth hooligan element has also been hyped up over the years, and anyone who can remember 'Docker' Hughes and his .657 (bus) crew would vouch for much malnutrition, acne, 36 inch chests, and market stall Harrington jackets. There were many occasions in the 70s and 80s when the pubs of Millbrook, Lordshill and Thornhill, along with much of Southampton docks emptied for a home game and visiting 'hard cases' got the shock of their lives inside and outside the ground, and there was an element of that the last time we met the skates at St Marys - perhaps their Premier League sojourn softened them a bit more than they would like to admit. In recent years, my personal (genetically implanted) dislike has been fuelled by the continual stream of bullsh*t from both PFC and their supporters as they've been passed from one foreign speculator to another, like playing pass the parcel with a turd. In all of this they've managed to fool the national media, cheat HMRC, and destroy local businesses whilst acting like a poor man's West Ham United, which is pretty much what they are (albeit with half the support). For a visual reminder of the basis for the rivalry have a look at a picture of our respective 'super fans' - ours the late great Herbie Taylor, theirs the overdue, idiotic pastiche W******d. Thankfully natural selction always endures...

Agreed, I hope that Adkins pins this to the wall of the dressing room. There seems to be an incredible lack of analysis in these reports, and this is very much an annual 'trotting out' exercise for many London hacks (football experts...) - I wonder where they had Norwich placed last year? The Guardian report John B posted is indeed more reasonable, althought I would not tend to agree with the notion that our blue neighbours are out of the woods and stable just yet or that Birmingham will not be a basket case! I have a gut feeling that a couple of big time Charlie managers might struggle this season as painting by numbers always looks easier than it is in practice...