Matthew Le God

Which ten clubs? Most of the "larger" clubs in this league are broke e.g. Sheff Weds, Charlton, Plymouth. And the smaller clubs either couldn't afford Francis or meet his ambitions. I'd narrow it down to Peterborough, Brighton or Saints

Southend's right back and their player of the year... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/8681230.stm Could the unnamed League One team that Southend have accepted a bid from be Saints? It is likely to be one of the bigger League One clubs. Peterborough have previously had a bid turned down for him. I can't think of many other clubs in League One in the financial position to afford him apart from Huddersfield, Brighton, Peterborough and Saints. The rest of the larger teams in the League such as Sheff Weds, Plymouth and Charlton have no money and are unlikely to be bidding. Fans view - http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=60892 Southend OS - http://www.southendunited.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10444~2058504,00.html

49.7% of your entire post history on this forum since Nov 2006 has been in this thread!

Ok, fine. You are more obsessed about Pompey than me.

Well the first statement you talk with some degree of confidence. Second you talk with 100% certainty. Third statement you put some doubt in. I can see why he has a mix of emotions reading your posts.

Every single one of those three statements is entirely speculative.

I have 257 in this thread and 698 on another forum in a thread about the Pompey situation. Total 955. Making me even more sad and obsessed than nickh

I think that it is a long, long way beyond the realms of reality if you believe that.

That story is 9 days old! I think it "may" have been discussed on here within minutes of it going online. Just like every other story about Saints.

What about £188.50 for a half season ticket? At least it is more than £125

What about £188.50 for a half season? At least it is more than £125

You are right, if Lowe had said that it wouldn't have been overlooked by so many on here. However, at least with Cortese he has for the first time in Saints 125 year history provided the club with significant financial investment. Not something Lowe or any of his predecessors managed. The statement was in some ways "pompous", but I'd rather have a "pompous" rich man (that has delivered on promises of funding) running the club than a "pompous" poor man.

Saints don't need to play the "British way" or the "Mourinho way"! Saints will be "developing a style of play that is compelling to watch - a style that ultimately becomes known as the Southampton Style" - Nicola Cortese 13th May 2010

A link to where this 5 year plan was published?

Well that is slightly worrying then. All you have heard is the Echo's side of the story. You have not heard the other. Yet have formed your opinion from the Echo's side and use it to criticise Cortese. For all we know Cortese is in the wrong, the Echo is in the wrong, both are in the wrong. Until you know the full story (which seems unlikely we ever will) you should sit on the fence as regard to the Echo ban. However... What makes me want to side with Cortese is that the Echo's response to the story in its follow ups and editorials was truly childish. Where as Cortese just kept quiet. Also I have more time for a man that was key to saving the club from oblivion last summer and giving it a bright future rather than a local paper that is still continuing to try to undermine the club on occasions.

Pardew has stated himself in interview that over the summer there will be a lot of speculation regarding himself and his players and that he won't waste his time answering it all. Cortese probably thinks the same. If he knows he isn't going to sack Pardew and he has made Pardew aware of this privately, why does he need to bother saying it publicly every time an unsubstantiated rumour hits the press? I'm sure he feels his time is better spent getting on with his job. As for you suggesting he isn't supporting his manager. Cortese has stated again in interview that every player Pardew has wanted he has got. Pardew hasn't responded against these comments. Cortese/Liebherr also had the 10th highest net spend in England on players in the last transfer window, they wiped out over £30m of debt, are buying a new training ground, say they will expanded St Mary's or build a new stadium etc etc What more do you want from them?

This was a key quote from that article I linked...

Please explain how you know what on between the club and the Echo? You speak about it as if you know all the facts from both sides of the story, when in fact like most of us you have probably only heard the Echo's side. I hope you are never a judge.

You have been roped into believing unsubstantiated rumours from the media. None of these reports had any degree of fact in them from any stated source. What exactly was in the public domain? The media seemed confident Pardew was going to be sacked on Wednesday and they were badly wrong. Cortese is clearly a very ambitious man. I think he would have been disappointed in Pardew not getting to the playoffs given the money he had compared to everyone else despite the points deduction. However the media took it one step further and decided to increase circulation by insinuating he was going to be sacked. They had no evidence to support this and the meeting between Pardew and Cortese was likely to have been always to act as a season review and preview for the next season. No more, no less. The fact you called him Seagrove suggests you are unlikely to know who is the better player, let alone the reason why Ward didn't sign.

McMenemy, Le Tissier and Keegan only gave an answer of support to Pardew because the Echo asked them a question hinting that Cortese was upset. Which incidentally they provided no evidence to support. Who is Seagrove? How do you know what happened to the Ward "deal"?

Nicola Cortese has said in interview on numerous occasions the club has no debt to anyone, including loans from Liebherr. The Liebherr family "seem" to have a business policy of having no debt, dating back to when Hans Liebherr started in the 1940's and this has carried on with his children. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/LiebherrInternational-AG-Company-History.html

Saints could get 138 points without a deduction - 128 points with a deduction. Saints had 92.75% of points available to get. Pompey could get 114 points with a deduction - 105 points with a deduction. Pompey had 92.10% of points available to get. Therefore if anything Pompey's punishment for going into administration was very marginally harder.

Unsubstantiated rumours from people on this and other sites claim without evidence that to celebrate the 125th anniversary there "may" be £125 season tickets. I think it is very unlikely that this is true. However... Could it work? - It is a great way to celebrate and all fans would be pleased with much lower prices even if for one season. - Potentially it would massively increase the uptake of season tickets next season. - 09/10 season ticket level were around the 13.5k mark. - With a £125 season ticket the club may be able to sell over 20k. In a best case scenario 29,000 (given some need to be left to away fans). Of course such a massive drop in prices may impact on revenue streams. But if this policy bring gates up much closer to capacity it would reduce loses and increases matchday sales of programs, food and drink. It would also provide the team with larger crowds cheering them on in an important season and may benefit in that sense. Importantly it brings new season ticket holders to the club who may continue with their tickets when prices return to normal in 2011/12. Of course as I previously stated this is probably very unlikely to happen as it would be a huge financial risk but also a very nice gesture from Markus if he did underwrite it. A full St Mary's for a promotion campaign would be a great sight to mark 125 years.

Should teams in administration be sending the youth team to tournaments in Germany? http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/LatestNews/news/Academy-In-Germany-For-Stemwede-Tournament-982.aspx

That is still far from certain. Yes, it may happen but no-one knows either way at the moment.