dubai_phil

Enough of the orgainsing stuff Granty - how's the training plan looking? switched to an all Yoghurt diet yet? Working on improving that electric pace? Made sure we have the same ref? And MORE important - any chance of opening one of the suites as the bar instead of the concourse one?

No, you should have been buried at half time. Neutral fans were laughing at your players as well in the pub. You came up against a bunch of naive triers. Anyone with the same approach and a modicum of composure in the box and you would be a distant memory. Anyway, don't worry, you won't make it. Others have plans for you and football is the last thing they are interested in. Your own bed, you made it.

I think the new "economic reality" may work in our favour with Adam. He needs at least one more year of development playing every week before he'd be anything other than a bit part player or a full time embarrassment at PL level. He WILL eventually make it of that there is no doubt, but with WHU & the Skates now paying players 1000 a week or less the chances of him getting big bucks to sit in the reserves every week is declining. He needs to add that pace of thought to his skills, and when he "ghosts into position" as someone else wisely said his brain needs to be screaming BURY THE FECKER. WHEN that starts to happen he will be ready but he isn't yet

There used to be this really great free web site, many thousands used to spend all day on there. If only I could remember the URL. Something like S4E I think

Yeh and next time you two have a fight/manlove Valentines party leave my replies to Charlie Wayman out of it It's big and red and says quote Specsavers must have some deals going - I have no idea as some numpty decided to stop Sky News being on my satallite package grr

Phew. knew it was in the public domain. Yes Sultan Bin Trump has been raising funds for his pet project and obviously according to Mero it has succeeded. Hell, why waste a good joke

Ahh, at last someone else spots the game plan:D And let us guess how much they will leave in the nottarf accounts?..... "They" get the club to borrow (again) against future income at a rate of say 20% (like they care) and walk out with ANOTHER 56mil. And the good old FAPL realise that they've been conned again because they'll have had TWO years of p1ss taking about their "brand" Damn, why didn't I think of that a couple of months ago.... Where's the bloke that owns Bolton's phone number?

Hehehe - I wondered that as well but seeing as there was no PR expert orgainsing photographers I guess I took that as a big clue....

Don't worry, thanks to photoshop I already have the photos of you leaving that building. Now let's discuss the way the match will go shall we? Oh BTW can we invite the Echo Sports team down to cover the match in full this year?...... Oh

What we are now seeing is whether the corporate strategy at PCFC is going to work. Anyone who looks at their figures for the past 10 years knows the level of debt they have run up without needing to micro analyse it, and we all know that even with the sales before the season started they could not match their income to their expenditure this year. Rupert tried it far more drastically and also failed. But the strategy has always been about buying time. You can almost see how the Comical Ali and Al Mirage games matched that scenario. Even the WUO was viewed as simply another step in buying time. Tick tock. The longer they string it out, the close they get to the parachute payments. Those payments won't SAVE the club, they will simply give more security for more loans. So they get 25mil, they will be paying 20% interest but they will buy them MORE time. In time the economic situation may change. In time the FAPL or the FL rules may change. heck, hell may even freeze over. The result yesterday is nothing to the management, the pay days are irrelevant, it was just another day closer to the end of the season and the prize money, the parachute payments OR the ability to borrow against NEXT season's PL money. Anyone on here trying to see any logic or analyse the data misses the point. PCFC are simply a debt Junkie. They are the House of the FAPL without the wit or the skiil of Hugh Laurie. Every act, every statement is what you would expect to see from an addict. Tomorrow I will stop smoking, tomorrow I give up Smack. When you see it for what it is you realise that a Junkie with that sort of habit they either die or IF they are very lucky they are forced into therapy. They had the chance of therapy last week and like a Junkie they bought more time. That is why it is now more likely to end in tears than it was the week before the hearing.

Just been out for the "romantic dinner". Nice Italian restaurant where we had our first date (good brownie points for remembering) So it all goes to plan, the ladies get a red rose, some drinkable vino and for a change nice simple nosh in pleasant surroundings. At a table near us is a mid 30's couple. They order a salad, I notice they seem to have less than perfectly chillaxed body language, but heck it's a night to focus on the GF.... Then I notice the air has turned frostier, the guy is asking them to hurry up with the main course...... The body language by now is so obvious even a blind man could see it hunched shoulders, arms crossed, looking everywhere except at each other.... The lady starts staring at her mobile as if willing it to ring, the guy's beeps as a txt is received, he looks at it and calls straight away to a waitress while putting the phone down on the table..... Without closing the txt.... At which point the lady manages to read it upside down.... Leaps into the air and basically reads the text to the entire restaurant, It said..... How long you going to stay with that ***** wife of yours? I'm here waiting for you with the bath filled and the candles..... There were a few gurgling sounds and some very nifty ducking moves as plates were hurled as she marched out in tears. Oh how we lol'd. Anyone else spot anything tonight while people watching? Or did you only have eyes for .... The size of the bill?

Flights booked Emirates to London on Saturday leaving at 09:50 (5:50 your time) They'll start serving the Bloody Mary's an hour into the flight and should fall of the plane at Heathrow at 1:30 ready for an afternoon and evening in The Smoke. Now to sort out the hotel and where to meet the mates who'll have me ticket...... May be a problem not sure I'll remember what I look like, let alone them, by the time we get together. Happy daze

Bit worried already, haven't heard much from BigDaveWatson since he came on, dropped in the hole and turned the game around. Still with Distintegration87 having moved to Frankfurt and unable to read enough German to complete the forms to get on-line at the moment think we will lose our classy footballing CB but you will lose the chance to mug him for a dodgy ball to hand penalty. Is it true that the rules have changed since last year and that all football team managers in Hampshire have to attend some specialist training camp in Horton Heath?

Fact Al Fahim has always worked for a Sheikh, he worked for Hydra Properties which was a quasi Abu Dhabi Government organisation (Like Dubai Holdings) Nothing new there. Al Fahim was going to earn a 50million dollar bonus from his work at Hydra last October. Al Fahim was moved from CEO to "Board Level" Al Fahim's bonus cheque would cover the HMRC. So what he is trying to do is what he tried to do last summer - flip the deal.

OK some IMHO's A Sheikh is a term that tells us something. The money is not coming from Saudi as they are all "Princes'' It is not Oman as he is a Sultan That means it has to be the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar or possibly Kuwait. Qatar was rumoured to be behind Munto finance at Notts County. If that is not a lolage moment then I don't know what is They have the Aspire Academy and the bid for the World Cup. Let's see, what value would a failing PL club bring to that. Nothing, EXCEPT of course the FAPL would love them for digging them out of the mess they are in which would no doubt give a nailed on guarantee that the FA would push FIFA to support the Qatar bid. Plausible, except SBT is a laughing stock and the Aspie Academy is a REAL professional operation. Certainly could not be seen to touch the club IF they were insolvent during the season, they stay very low under the radar Well we have the United Arab Emirates. I keep saying this, Dubai's Royal family simply cannot be seen to get involved - jeez just today they are talking about ONLY paying back 60% of their debts. Abu Dhabi - yes we all know SBT worked at Hydra and had links to Khalifa ...bin .Zayed.Al Nayahan. I am SURE the PL would welcome the brother or cousin of the owner of Man City as an owner into the PL..... They do that and I think that would be the end for them (the PL). Sharjah Al Quasimi family? Well the son may have been a possible but he allegdely maybe passed away in unfortunate circumstances in a dodgy hotel off allegedly Queensway with an allegedly "self employed" working girl alongside him so no, cannot see the motivation. Ajman and Ras Al Khamiah, well RAK got a kicking from losing the America's Cup and have a lot of property concerns of their own, Ajman still struggle to buy a new power station. Bahrain, well the Sheikh there had a damned good business advisor who looked into football - runours of Liverpool and others, but seems that other rumours abound the advisor found a new best friend and bought some L1 football team himself. Are they interested? Well, considering the uttter shambles they have made of Gulf Air allegedly would make sense. Kuwait? Nah, they just used their spare cash to pay off the debts and losses of all their nationals duing the crash. Anyone else? Well I did mention that whole how to make up a bid to sidetrack them scenario. I'm sure that Eric was really working yesterday and wasn't cruising round in a Yellow Ferrari discussing M&A activity. So, Sheikh Khalifa in Bahrain or a FAPP nightmare for the PL with two family members owning two clubs, global football politics could see the poor old Qatari's dragged into the mess. Of course this is based on the information supplied. If it was an Emir, or a Prince, but then SBT could so easily have been mistaken. A SHEIKH by definition can also mean "Businessman" I havea very good friend who is a Sheikh. He came to SMS to watch the Villa game in our last PL season and still wears his shirt in Damascus. The title is used in a similar way down here to that of Engineer. My mate earns about 40 grand a year and drives a Kia. Perhaps that is the kind of Sheikh SBT has found next idea

........which, with the help of HMRC will prove that they have been skat(e)ing on thin ice all season long

Is it really pace of thought or just intelligence and technique. I think it is different. Look at their goals. There were three elements there. We lost possession, the ball was played intelligently into space "in the blink of an eye". The final runs on goal were made at pace, and the player moved into space at pace before he received the ball, however the ball itself was put into those positions incredibly quickly. It is something I have seen when watching Man U on the TV, the players are powerful and move very fast, but when they are at their best or counter attacking, the BALL is moving at real pace from player to player. Now I have no doubt that intelligence is important, but the vision to see an opportunity, the intelligence to process that vision to make your body control it's movements to make that precision pass is something that our players do not have. (In fact, often at our level you may see one player with that sort of brain and the passes invariably end up in the stand because his team mates just "weren't on the same wavelength"

Agree with that. Doesn't stop the rules being slightly stretched though. An out of contract player is allowed a signing on fee. That could cover the loss of wages by agreeing an early termination of contract. And that would be consistent with Loan fees being paid. But of course if PCFC is currently operating in breach of British Corporate Law, then another kettle of fish is opened

The TV sound was subdued so that the commentators could be heard. Unfortunately it meant that while we knew you were all screaming PAY up Pompey, it came across as if they were making that noise. Apart from that minor and obvious one though the TV shots of the crowd tended to focus in on idiots in fancy dress (although the guy with the Red & White Striped Dish Dash was funny) and those shots tended to be when there was a lull in the action, so lots of people sitting in the Itchen Centre opposite the cameras and of ML smiling, not so much of entire stands screaming their lungs out Any neutral would have thought it was the usual "canned" noise. Us fans watching knew better, it was a good effort.

Joining the Glasgow Saint crew just for a moment, we have spent money and we (as NC's says) ARE looking to move quicker (picking up the pace of recovery!) The Academy chucks out 18 years olds who aren't ready for our first team yet. But if we work to a 3 or 5 year plan then it is those players that will be coming into their maturity as at least squad players in the PL. Do the current crop have the pace we will need? It's all very well producing squad players for L1 like Gillett (currently) is, but it still leaves us needing to buy huge numbers of mercenaries IF we get up. Likewise IF we push for the 3 year charge then the close season signings (Whether we go up or not) will have to reflect that. Who will be able to go all the way? If we stay down this year will we get the quality of players we need on a two or three year contract? Because if NC's pace of growth is really 3 years that means we have to push for back to back promotions..... Personally I want to believe in a 3 year plan, how fantastic would that be? But the work and investment that is needed makes it a hell of a tough ask, and I hope too much blood isn't shed in getting there.

lol Nero fiddles while Rome burns. The football authorities do nothing. So the Government is going to do it for them. It'll be a helluva row, but when the boy's club won't do it then one has to say - About time too http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/news/7230525/Football-regulator-considered-by-ministers.html

The word Pace has been used a lot and it made me think about what it means to us. Pace of Thought - Waigo & Lallana had clear cut chances, Jaidi had a couple of half chances. They showed that the composure, confidence and simple pace of thought process to body reactions are not up to a "PL" or "Clinical standard". Their football ability marks them as destined for a higher level, but the PL is about Lightning quick reflexes. The fact that we had 17 goal attempts shows that as we move into the CCC & hopefully the PL, the players we have either need to improve this mind/body or we need better players. The exampe was the sheer speed that the ball was played across the park for their goals, not just how fast they ran. Pace of the players - Chris Perry is a fine 4th choice CB for League 1. He can step in and do a job and will not complain, but was also a no-brainer example of the lack of pace in the side and especially alongside Jaidi. Yes we have new signings to come back in, but will they be pacey enough mentally AND physically?, Antonio showed flashes of it, as did Waigo but not the mental pace. Pace of development - NC is pushing to get us to the PL FASTER than the 5 year plan. Great as fans, but how on EARTH can we find the players that we will need at that level at a sensible price? Assuming an average PL player costs 4 mil we are going to need between 11 and 14 depending on how many of our current squad can really develop. So this means an investment of 45 -55 million in fees, let alone the "average PL wages of 1mil a year. Are NC & ML ready for that yet? 60mil in costs for a return of 30/40 mil a year in the PL? We are going to have to start to do this NOW and develop the players as we move through the leagues. Is Puncheon PL quality? Will Seaborne cut it against the Rooney's & Drogba's each week? Today they don't need to as we have to get out of L1 FIRST, but if we are going to sign 21/22 year olds, then they have to have that pace for the PL - you can gain experience and you can teach tactics but you can't teach a snail to beat Usain Bolt. We were beaten by a bunch of cheats, but they were scraped together on frees and loans from around the world. If NC is serious about a 3 year plan then we should have a global scouting network looking for 21 or 22 year olds with those qualities who can join the core of our team next season and begin the journey. We've made a good start, but the realisation today is that we need to see some pretty damn pacey actions off the pitch. Simply picking up good L1 or CCC players will move us along the road but it won't be good enough. Those signings will want two or three year contracts and won't be good enough for the PL. A 3 year plan is all well and good but that is going to need one shed load of money unless our whole operation from Scouting to Academy to first team pick up the pace. Reality showed up at SMS yesterday, along with a whole bucket load of what might have beens. AP's job is to buy the players to get us into the CCC - it is a balancing act, we MUST keep our eye on that ball (BUT we all know what happens when you take your eye off the ball like Rupert did) A balancing act. Pace we just about have enough for L1, but I am not sure about the mental pace & toughness of the sqaud yet. That could be our biggest problem

Thanks for that. We were still in shock to find a new law that came into effect today banning alcohol sales from 3-6pm in all outlets except 5 star hotels meaning we have to drink Latte's rather than beers. I thought it was withdrawal symptoms when I saw him make that claim. Also, the same effect may have interfered but I don't actually recall seeing Waigo caught naively offside this afternoon. Thought he was worse than BWP?

Strange the TV commentators here reckoned he was one of our most important players on the pitch - a "superb outlet" making himself available, a world class run and cross which Lallana should have scored and tackling back in our penalty area. Not my views, just people paid to give them for the global coverage

Gary O'Reilly summarising - they are really Floundering... followed by a chortle