Frank's cousin

As Our Nige would say - one game at a time so right now I would settle for being on 33 points come 10 o'clock tonight, cant see West Ham dropping anything against Brizzle so need to ensure we keep that gap IMHO. Best not get arrogant about it - football always has a nasty way of biting you on the backside when you do.

I think its also a bit of a dillemma with respect to teh impact it has on the current squad morale - sure when assessing teh merits of a player in isolation, there are plenty in this division that we could say would be improvements on some of the existing squad players, but the key to our success so far has been that even our 'average player's become 'better' as part of this 'team' - they fit in and play an important role. I know Adkins does go on a bit about it, but to be fair it cant be stressed enough - we are one, a whole and the spirit and togetherness as we have seen is what is driving some of our players to out perform their level 'on paper'. Yes we can always improve - everyone should be looking to do so, but in some respects, I like what we have. Injuries aside, we have created a squad that wants to be here, is not disruptive when players are on teh bench or in the reserves, as they know they have a part to play at some point and need to be ready when called upon. I think that is the key element when the club considers doing transfer business and why it might be perceived by some as slow or less 'active' than say the likes of leicester - who spent 12 mil on umpteen players. IMHO teh approach we have taken is reaping the rewards.

For me its been about a few simple things... 1. Coaching - many of our players have improved significantly, from first touch to spotting the right pass, comfort on the ball etc... sure we are not Barcelona, but it shows that you can coach this if prepared to do so 2. Fitness - dont know what he did preseason, but it sure worked - being a qualified Physion must have had a certain advantage here. 3. Motivation/team spirit - yes we have had teh advantage of the 'momentum' from propmotio, but from half way through last season, that unity and togetherness has been so evident - anyone no matter how good who potentially disrupts is not welcome. 4. Tactics - nothing revolutionary - but belief has played a huge part in this - rather than simply playing a set style and playing the strengths (Alladyce take note), belief that technique and style CAN be coached and learned through hard graft means we have players who have learned to pass the ball, and play with confidence So for me it does not make Adkins a genius or a god... simply someone who understands the game, looks to learn from every match and instills belief and confidence that our players CAN pass the ball - in effect what a manger should be able to do. For me its not that Adkins is so necessary great, but that so many managers so so bad! - Some may get results but play a style that is one dimensional, boring and lacks any kind of purity - others constantly fall out with tehir players, others still need to spend fortunes because they cant caoch, others have egos teh size of planets and its all about them....

But Alps, sure he might conclude that if planning to make 10 changes all at once in a league game, but in terms of getting fringe players game time it was a valid jaunt yup the road... although we have seen several first teamers raise their game over the last weeks, I still believe the key to the success so far has been the depth of the squad - a squad that is better than teh sum of its parts - a squad that plays the same way and players to come oin and not upset teh balance of teh side. Yes when Adam was out we lacked creativity, but we still won 2 and drew 2 as NA shuffeled the pack. No side is is ever going to have the 11 or 22 best playesr in a divison, so yes other clubs have better players within their squads than some of our fringe players, but on the whole I dont think I would swap our squad with anyone... as its a real 'team' We may not have the depth to sustain the results if we had several long term injuries, that is just the way it is, but one thing is for sure, it wont be for the lack of trying or effort - luck does play a role in all this with players staying injury free... long season still to go, but we really count not have asked for a better first 3rd or so of the season. I dont believe that any defeat we suffer will be down to 'complacency' either - NA wont let them do that. Defeats will come, they always do, for a veriety of reasons, but I suspect that the mentality of this squad is one that it wont effect them long term.

FEWCKIN STUINNING!! Ya BEUTY

Is Gubba a Borro fan... and wher does he think we played in this fixture last season.... cock!

Just back from a sneaky fag break, (restoring a casement window) expecting some fine nuns and find guly has scored... perfect

Delete as appropriate* Dalek is either: 1. A sad skate on a wind up 2. A sad deluded keyboard warrior who spends most of his time rummmaging around in his mothers underwear draw 3. 1+2 I really thought that the days of kids using the anonimity of forums to try and be 'cool' ..... and giggle like girls at all those 'serious types' was over... sadly this chap is behind the times.... Naturally, we could still end up 17th - **** happens in football, but Dalek is the only one who woudl be happy about it basking in teh glorious knowledge that he had been proven right... so obviously not a Saints fan... more 'Commical Ali' (sic).....

I finally joined teh ST waiting list in 1996 after moving back down sounth from Scotland - was not offered an ST until we moved to SMS... nearly 5 years... although the financial climate was far better then, two things spring to mind as to why financing was possible: 1. Everyone hates Lowe but his managing the club within its means would have sent strong signals to the banks, 2. the ST waiting list showed we had the support..... given the current financial climate Pompeys recent financial troubles and unresolved ownership issues, the unpaid CVA and 2nd tier status, I doubt any proper bank local or international will be willing to take such a risk... if they raise 40-50 mil for a 20Ker (which may not be enough dosh), It would be unlikely to come from any properlay regulated bank IMHO...

Its strange how things change - at the season, being happy tio be a 'happy clappy' I would have despaired at all those miserable sods being angry at defeat even with 10 chnages etc.... but it is a true testament to how far we have come, the expectations we have for success etc that means we ARE disspointed, are questionning things again... interesting new threads...

Troule with referenda is that it allows everyone a vote who spends absolutely feck all time understanding and considering the issue, or even taking time to ignore the propoganda from both sides and evaluate the issue dispassionately... as we saw with AV, a watered down option that was poorly explained and with messaging that prayed on peoples fears rather than providing detailed information.... Same would happen with any such vote on the EU... and having it now would be scandalous, no different from having one on capital punishment the day after a child is abducted and murdered... As much as it sounds elitist, you cant get away from the fact that there are many eligable to vote who wont have the standard of education to understand all the issues in play - not just nasty Brussels telling us what to do.... it may be democratic but it leads to decsion making based on emotion and not reason. Its why we elect a government to make these decsions on our behalf. If we dont like it, we vote them out next time but referenda is a government 'cop out' from taking a decision, that they know will cause rifts within their own party and its supporters - The Torries have ALWAYS struggled with the EU... it pulls them in diffrent directions, the nationalist feck wits oppose any EU legislative powers or losing the queen's head from the pound note, whereas the capitalistic driven 'business' community appreciates the benefits of an open market....and the money to be made... its great always seeing them sweat on this issue!

True, but you have to remember that back in 76 we teh drop in quality between the top tier and teh second was no where near as great as it is today, nor were teh wages so different - meaning you could hang on to top tier quality in div 2... Strachan did about as well as anyone could given the quality we had available... it wa sIMHO one of those seasons that all clubs have now and again, where something just clicks... Bridge and Mazza on the left, Beatts 23 goals, Neimi simply sublime and Killer and Claus bonding so well and creating such a tight back 4 - had we had a settled midfield, and maybe been a little more adventurous in mid field, we could have gotten even higher... but as we saw the following season it was alot tougher to maintain , once key players such as Beatts and Bridge left + killers injury etc and Strachan 'retired for his hip op'.... So if Adkins gets us promoted playing this brand of modern, passing and exciting game, considering that with one or two exceptions teh individual quality is not as high as the sum of the parts, he will be up there in my opinion... whether we can establish in teh prem and progress to europe will IMHO depend more on what resources we have available than Adkind ability

Fair point as this wording does lead to some ambiguity - It would better and more accurate in what I was trying to convey if you remove 'had' for teh sentence. In effect, the police took decisions that day that were wrong - but a contributing factor to why they took those decisions, must have been the underlying culture at the time (era) based on the legacy of the 70s and 80s hooli activity coupled with the other legacy of the cages - The reacted based on fear of potential problems... its not an excuse, because other have pointed out, they should have been well trained and had effective experienced leadership that could deal appropriately with crowds, football crowds etc. But, I guess the over riding point i was trying to make was that this tragedy required several things to go wrong - any one of which, had it not happened could have prevented it: eg for this to happen: 1. Crowd arrived late determined to get in and not miss the start (in part due to traffice problems) - no late arrival, potentially no problem 2. Police did not delay kick off - was media putting pressure on this to avoid problems with time slot? 3. Stadium more modern with better methods of controlled entry (old turnstiles criticised etc in various reports) 4. Fans accepting that it would take time and not pushing - putting pressure on those pressed at the - meaning no need to open the exit gate... 5. Pens 2 and 3 controlled entry to max capacity? reports suggest that it should have been restricted to 1600 on HSE grounds, yet more tickets sold (2200) apparently + plus estimates that 3000+ squeezed in 6. No fencing or cages - fans simply able to expand onto the pitch - fencing and cages a direct result of the legacy i was talking about This may be a very simplistic view, but its easy to see that hasd any one of the above not happened/been in place, in all likelihood we would not have had this tragedy which is what makes it so sad... and why even though the official report tends to blame the police decisions on the day, I think that it fails to adequately recognise that it was only part of a tragic series of events. Naturally I am in full agreement that the the families of the victims deserve a full and honest access to all material to ensure thay have the truth. I suspect that due to the seriousness of the tragedy and the role the police played that day, that in panic at the potential consequences there has been a 'bluring' of several statements that we see in the Taylor report as 'those he considered better r more effective witnesses etc' - this is naturally wrong and shoudl never have happened, but I do believe that all football fans need to acknowledge that as a result of the 70s and 80s football culture, we created an environment in which this situation was always possible (cages and police response based on fear, rather than respect and appropriate crowd management) and as such those involved in such behaviour need to accept part of the responsibilty. Given the cultural climate that saw fans as hoolis and a nuisense to be 'dealt with severely' - there has to be an acknowledgement that the fan behaviour on the day was not 'ideal' and also a factor.... sadly, the victims are the innocent fans who arrived on time got into their stands and waited excitedly for the game, which is another reason why the SUN headlines at the time were so distateful. Hope that clears up teh point I was trying to make and acknowledge that teh precise wording may have caused some confusion... but hey Alps got it first time! ;-)

I believe we CAN, but football is cruel in that there are always twists and turns, defeats that are daylight robbery etc. On paper I now believe we are in the top 3 sides in this division. But as we saw last season, even teh best stumble now and then, injuries suspensions and periods where the form is not gtreat will have a say in the eventual outcome. Luck as well ;-) Put it this way, there is no reason why we should not be in the mix in May, just need to keep up the 2points+ a game average (currently the only side with that average). Thing is, its usually when teams get 'cocky' that things can go pearshaped - the biggest test for NA will be managing expectations and getting the side to go quietly about their business with both feet on the ground (Can I get any more footballing cliches in there? :-) ) Still whatever happens, I KNOW its going to be an exciting season!

Must admit its the one thing we could really do with ... a bit more pace - OK so I aint expecting breaks like the current German team, but think this is an area we can work on, as its as much to do with confidence, positioning and alertness as pace. ....ahr, see thats the trouble with being top and playing well... it raises expectations and here I am being greedy and critical.... LOL. Adkins Out for not not ensuring we break fast enough and are not 12 points clear already... afterall had we not dropped points recently we could be 9 or 10 clear already!! ;-)

Totally at odds with what I was saying and the meaning of it and as much as I like you UP, I think you have totally misinterepreted the post once again.... ;-) When referring to the 'culture and behaviour of the fans at the time' - 'time' as you may well really know referred to the era and not the day. I point that Alps understood, but you in this case failed to, was that I was asking a simple question: Namely that IMHO, the LEGACY of football hooliganism from the 70s and 80s was a culture in which fans were treated like animals, the cages at grounds, the police often managing crowds with a fear of something kicking off etc.... I was posing the idea that although the police actions on that day were obviously seriously flawed, the underlying culture at the time was also a big factor. Go back to the 50s and before etc and there were huge standing crowds, no cages and the crowds tehmselves self managed - no trouble etc. Post late 60s 70s and 80s, such crowds were always going to be considered a threat by the police, we had cages, etc. So if we want to be really honest, then all fans who have been involved in so called 'aggro' in the past,as difficult as it might be need to consider a sense of collective responsibility - Afterall, had it not been for the behavioural shift in the 70s and 80s, there would have been no cages and the police would have been more relaxed and less inclined to such major errors. As harsh as it may seem, for me this is a factor in the tragedy that fans conveniently forget when its easier just to consider the police as culpable, or as the Sun did, blame current fans on the day.

I get your analogy, but in this case, it would be more that as a result of huge numbers of speeding drivers, Police had set up some kind of sharp bends with fences to try and slow things down, only for those very 'safety' measures being just as dangerous for thsoe travelling at normal speed.... Going back to the media debate etc. I think for the families, they deserve the truth - eg access to all information regardless of what it says - but tehy do need to be prepared that the CAUSE, is likely to be a number of factors, and that if tehy want to BLAME someone to get as they say justice, its probably not going to answer that... I simply do not think you can blame just teh police or just the fans or just teh barriers and to single out the police and find a scape goat is not going to resolve this or bring back those you died... it would in muy opinion also be unfair or unjust. I also think there is possibly an element of wanting to avoid any sense of responibilty by fans who were part of the big push - its easy to blame the police and certianly their decisions were disasterous - but if we want the whole truth, as football fans we have to admit that we created a culture and and an environment that meant crowds were were CONTROLLED and not managed, controlled as in treated like animals in cages, and on that day, 3000-5000 fans arrived on mass trying to get through old antiquated turnstiles - had the culture been different, had the police been able to manage teh situation with fear, then some of thsoe diasterous decisions may not have had to be made - teh police got it wrong yes, but I think teh culture and behaviour of fans at the time meant they had to make those decisions that led to the tragedy.

TBF Alps according the current news report on he BBC, the capacity of that section of the stand was 2200 odd, but it was later found that the barriers were inadequate and that the capacity should have been restricted to 1600 as a result - not sure how many tickets were sold for that section or how many fans were outside trying to get in - the report suggests that 3000+ tried to get in two pens who capacity should have been 1600... but there was no control from police or stewards after teh exit gate had been opened - now whether any amount of policing or stewarding would have been able to deal with that is another matter

The Police feck up - the terraces being old and unsafe, the fans arriving late and being impatient - seems obvious that there are many factors that contributed to this tragedy. For me though one thing that seems often overlooked is that the culture in football back then, certainly not exclusive to Liverpool, was still one of football associated with the 'hooligans' - the simple fact that cages were there, the media descriptions, which to be fair were based on a lot of Bull****, but also on some truth, that in general, many grounds before and after games were often not pleasent places to be... we can deny it if we want to, but the truth is that all fans who have ever been involved in 'aggro' share some responsibility for this - because the cages and crap reaction and poor decison making (treating fans like animals) were considered necessary by police and clubs to to deal with the hooligan element. The police made big mistakes that day and the lack of leadership and avoiding the truth is something shameful, but at the time, the ability and knowldege in the best way to deal with large football crowds (so close to the stadium - since at some games we have seen fans screened for tickets further away from grounds particulary at tournaments) was severely lacking - I get the impression they felt opening the exit gate was the right thing to do to avoid the crush outside, but then they failed to deal with the flow of fans into the various pens - why did they not delay the kick off by 45 mins and announce that to those fans waiting to get in? Did teh emdia put pressure on to avoid a delay? I think finding the cause is obvious to most if looking at this with an open mind.... many factors, but if determined to find someone to blame, it becomes far more complex - as fans and the football culture of the day play a part in this that few fans will want to admit - part of the problem in all this is that the 96 victims were those proper fans who arrived on time, had tickets and were at the front of the pens, so quite rightly their families and friends want answers as to how decent ordinary fans can be killed at football - but if they want to blame a single source, then if looking at it objectively, that for me becomes almost impossible and fans themselves also have to look at themselves in all this, and not just the police's decisions that had such tragic consequences.

The fact we are top based on most points accumulated so far thi season... would seem to suggest that ;-)

back from lucky fag.... come on

Seen the suacy nun, going for a lucky ciggy outside...

Not for your benefit, as I suspect you are too 'challenged ' to comprehend them anyway. They are for the rest of us to have a good laugh at your expense

Here's one for our resident brown shirt Dune.... back in the 'glory years' of Mad Maggie, the last time we had 3m+ unemployed, large numbers of Britsh workers went to Germany (think Auf Wiedersehen Pet) - only they were actually working illegally as this was before the EN legislation on freedom of movement - no jobs here, chance of paying no tax in Germany - That vicious cow Thatch actively encouraged such 'enterprizing' spirit and her then lap dog Norma Tebbit even commented that those unemployed should 'get on their bike' - such compasionste souls teh apir of them. Firstly the number of LEGALLY migrant worksers from WITHIN THE EU taking jobs from otherwise school leavers is negliable compared to the total, and most already have skills and are older... so not sure what your problem is... seems to me its typical Tory inconsistency, wanting it both ways - I would suggest that the number of Brits working abroad is approxiamtely equal or there abouts to the number of EU nationals working here... but hey why let common sense and rational thinking interfere with a good old reason to strike up the xenophobic banner... but then again those UKIP and Tory's who go on about this were always ignorant ******s....

Steve, not being an accountant, I do have a question... as I understood it, the 24 mil included the original 13 mil purchase price or creditor repayment. A 'leveraged' purchase but with it being a loan from the owner. The question I and many have is whether this is actually 'debt' as such or whether its on the books as a loan should the club ever be sold and thus be repayed without being subject to any captital gains tax on the increase in value of the club... a normal accounting practice as I understand it... although I may be wrong. We were also told that there was 'provision' left by Marcus in his will for developing the club... such as the the academy development. Capital expenditure projects that were in addition to any 'running the club within its means' - would this investment be added to the 'loans' or 'gifted' etc as the return on this investment would come from the additional value it creates if the club was ever sold... Interesting stuff, but for me the biggest difference between us and pompey, is that we have an owner who has always manged his business growth within very strong ethical and moral codes of practice.. who has grown hiis businesses without using any external/3rd party financial resources. Our 'debt' or 'losses' to date, are in effect 'investments' by the owner to ensure an increase in value of his business/assets based on 'growth' or in this case promotion - so I am comfortable with that especially as we have have not gone mad with spending like Leicester etc. Yes it has given us a competitive advantage, but whatever some may feel, its still relatively modest.