trousers

[video=youtube;a4bZQ_6-2Is]

That's an example of part of a national service being provisioned by a third party rather than "privatisation". I understand why the two are often conflated though.

Textbook

http://thesetpieces.com/features/long-road-back-portsmouth/ My favourite piece of selective history recounting in that article: "The most historic announcement of all came on September 29, 2014, when Portsmouth were officially able to declare themselves debt-free after paying back all creditors and ex-players." Let's gloss over the fact that "...paying back..." should actually read "...not paying back 96% of what was owed to..." :mcinness:

I think one thing that recent political history tells us is that predicting certain outcomes is fraught with danger. I'm guessing not many predicted that May would call a snap election today (for example)...

You don't have to be daft to post on here, but it helps...

What odds will I get on the Lib Dems winning the election? And will the odds be as long as they were for Leicester City winning the Prem, the UK leaving the EU or Trump becoming President of the US of A...? Gotta be worth a cheeky fiver, surely? #strangerthingshaveghappened #sortof

Procedurally, do Labour have enough time to have a leadership election before the general election? If they do, wouldn't surprise me if a 'unity candidate' (if such a person exists) hastily forces a leadership election...

Anyone else reckon Liberal Democrat popularity will go through the roof due to hoovering up the 'remain' voters....? Wouldn't surprise me if they push Labour into third place. p.s. Mods - feel free to delete the question marks in the thread title now

Confirmed

Announcement from Theresa May imminent. Speculation of general election on 8th June (subject to parliamentary approval of course).

Nice try. I haven't decided either way yet. I'll make a decision on how good he is after two seasons. It's called being open minded and pragmatic. I can highly recommend it as a character trait...

...

At last! Great news. Let's see how a "100% fan owned" club gets on in Division 3... Unless, of course, they sell their high and mighty principles to the first chap to come along waving a few dollars in their face... Either way, a new chapter of hilarity beckons

Can we quote you on this when you revert to your usual script a few games into next season?

Yes, we played 4 Europa Cup last season. Two of which were played before the domestic season started and the other two in August (the least congested month in the domestic calendar). This season we played our six Europa Cup games between September and December, in parallel with a full league programme and a run to the League Cup final. Keep comparing apples with oranges though...

Perhaps Pompey will be looking to upgrade their manager when they go up to Division 3 next season....

Aye, it wasn't one of his best, was it? Bit disappointing given his recent run of excellent form. Hope this is a temporary dip rather than an indication of things to come. P.s. good news that Lander are out of the picture. Had bad vibes about their credentials. We're not Pompey, who are prepared to accept a bid from any Tom, D i c k or Goofy...

You won't get an answer to that question

Given he had no desire to extend his contract, this would have been Koeman's last season with us. We'll never know whether he would have gone out with a bang or with a whimper, ergo I've no idea where we would have finished in comparison to Puel.

Agree, although he lost Aguero for their 3rd

Looked to me like Puel got a message (not sure from where) that Long couldn't continue, but it turned out Long wasn't as injured as they thought and Long ended up going down the tunnel in a bit of a huff with Puel shaking his head in disbelief.

The tactics (to frustrate City) worked in the first half. Who's to say they wouldn't have worked in the second half too? We'd all have taken 0-0 if the second half had panned out like the first. Edit: FWIW, I'm a bit disappointed we didn't go for it more rather than playing a containing game, but hey ho