Fowllyd

Right on brother! You're sticking it to The Man there, no messing.

That's a fair point, CB. There's always been a pretty high level of bickering between different posters on this site and its predecessors. Even so, I can't help feeling that there's more of it now - thread after thread goes the same old way of point-scoring monotony. Perhaps, of course, that's just me putting on the old rose-tinted specs. I think it's simply the nature of internet forums (or at least those where there's plenty of scope for disagreement) that people post comments that they wouldn't make if they were talking to somebody face to face. Also, by the nature of these things, there's more likelihood of misinterpretation of another's point of view than there would be in a face-to-face conversation. Add to that a strong tendency to attack other posters, rather than their arguments (the equivalent of playing the man and not the ball) and it's no surprise that petty squabbles are common. I, of course, am totally wonderful and maintain a lofty position above all of this. And anyone who says otherwise is a ****.

Must be a Mr Spock style ear then - stylish!

I didn't realise this was a Mark Jackson thread...

On the bright side, it must look awesome when you go swimming.

They'd be complete fools if they didn't. And, given pharmaceutical companies' record over the years, I think it's safe to say that they're not fools.

I particularly enjoyed this little snippet: They point out that they are not taking 'one penny' from the club. Questions have been raised over £4m taken out following the sale of Younes Kaboul to Tottenham. Mr Chainrai says they had borrowed this money from 'a friend' with the agreement that they would be repaid after the transfer had taken place. Priceless, just priceless.

Top thread! FA Cup win 1976 - at home in Bishopstoke (SO5 4BW was there too, extremely drunk on Gale's Prize Old Ale - probably why he didn't mention it in his post above! ). I remember going out in Southampton that evening and it was just amazing. Keegan signing - I got back to my hall at university and a friend (who had little interest in football) told me. My immediate reaction was to assume he was taking the píss and tell him to eff off! Heard the end of the 6-3 match on the radio, relishing more and more the thought of seeing my Man Utd-supporting boss at work the following Monday. Others - I'll always remember Nick Holmes' winner against Liverpool at the Dell in the 1982-83 season. Wonderful goal to win a superb match. Being at Dellhurst Park in 1999 - wasn't getting to a lot of games at that time, but I picked a good 'un there! Hearing that Blackburn had lost at home to Forest (who were long since relegated by then) as we left the ground was the icing on the cake. And the 5-0 game against Blackburn in 1978 - I only went by chance that day, but I starting going regularly after that.

That one's particularly good - wonder what the purchaser thought when he saw the finished work!

A tad more esoteric perhaps, but I thought David Beckham's misspelt Hindi tattoo was pretty hilarious at the time. For those who don't remember it, he had 'Victoria' tattooed on his left forearm in Hindi; unfortunately, an 'h' was inserted, making it read 'Vihctoria' instead. The response from his agents is particularly good: Beckham's agents appeared bemused yesterday over the spelling and the word Hindi itself. A spokeswoman for Outside Organisation, which looks after Beckham's non-footballing interests, said with authority: "You have to understand that there is a difference between Hindi and Hindu. The tattoo has been checked by a Hindu expert. It's not as if David Beckham just walked into a tattoo parlour and got it done. It was carefully designed." When told that Hindi is a language and Hindu a religion, the spokeswoman insisted: "We know the tattoo is spelt correctly." Link here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2000/nov/28/newsstory.sport5 Maybe he's had it removed or changed by now.

My god that was close. Had the jitters just following it on Cricinfo. Fantastic result, all the more so given our poor start to the competition. Just wish I could have been there... :vuvu:

I'm sure that's the case now, and that it always has been the case.

I like that - taken from a great song, too. Not so sure that the St Mary's crowd would cope too well with the tune though...

Others on this site know far more about this than I do, but my own understanding is that they can't exit administration until a buyer is found. The CVA may well be agreed and (astonishingly) upheld on appeal, but without an owner they have to remain as they are. I'd guess that if Chainrai is down to be their new owner (and by all accounts he's the only candidate) he'll need to pass the FL's fit and proper person test, which I think is now rather tougher than it used to be... Who's paying all of their day-to-day costs is an interesting question though - I was under the impression that parachute payments would be used to pay off football creditors first, so there'll be nothing from the first payment to keep the club running.

This: This: This: First and foremost, that last one. As CB rightly says, some time for reflection is needed before any permanent tributes should be made. But for an immediate, heartfelt tribute, let's fill that stadium and sing till we're hoarse.

It's truly impossible to overstate what Markus did for this club. More importantly than that though, my thoughts go to his family for their loss. A very sad day indeed. Watching his pure, unalloyed delight at the JPT final brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Markus for all you've done for Southampton FC. Your memory will be with us always. RIP.

I don't think that part's too likely to happen to be honest. While it's now become apparent just how much the Premier League did to keep Pompey going last season (more to save face themselves than for any other reason though), there's no indication that the FL will adopt a similar approach. They haven't lifted the transfer embargo in spite of repeated requests/bleating from Pompey; yes, they've allowed a player registration or two, but they haven't fallen hook, line and sinker for Pompey's 'poor little us' routine. My bet would be that they'll be relegated this season and continue to struggle - financially in particular - unless they get a new owner with very substantial funds, and that's not looking remotely likely. Bear in mind that they're not even out of administration yet, in spite of HMRC's appeal failing. This saga has plenty of miles in it yet.

Nor has Stu stopped talking to us, in spite of repeated promises to do so. In fact, he's got one hell of a post count for someone who, according to his own reckoning, doesn't bother with this site much any more...

Good to see hutch getting the honour of the 30,000th post, as he's made some excellent contributions over the year and more of this thread. We now expect a fulsome acceptance post, containing deep and heartfelt thanks to all those who made it possible.

Scored 25, but I'm puzzled at how exactly knowing who makes a particular model of car, or who sang a particular pop song makes one smart. I guessed both of those and got one right. General knowledge is not the same as intelligence.

The only problem there is that it would depend on the Skates actually making it through the season - you can bet your life (though maybe not with Paddy Power!) that no bookie will pay out if Pompey get liquidated first.

Closer than it looked like being for a while, but we got there OK in the end. Fab stuff - bet it was a great game to watch too. :vuvu:

Hard to disagree with any of that!

Expectation

Now that's the kind of expert opinion I really like to see! :D