Matthew Le God

I thought no-one saw that.

Pompey's first friendly of the summer has been called off. Not the ideal start to their preparations.

The difference in permeability between a road in Locksheath and a Premier League pitch with an expensive drainage system is quite significant. St Mary's this morning... The game will definitely be on.

Yes, they are. You can see them behind the goal. Probably won't be electronic boards on the Kingland side as that is where the main cameras are. That photo is from last week.

The St Mary's pitch looks good today and electronic advertising boards are now in place...

Level 4 is a under 18's team only. If they were given that status, they would have to pack in the under 8's to under 16's. Some clubs have been forced to do that already for money reasons... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18278621 Given Pompey's lack of money, maybe they should be level 4 aswell.

Pompey have been given category 3 status for their academy under the EPPP for 2012/13. No longer will their academy play Arsenal, Saints, West Ham, Chelsea etc in a league. They are now playing - Luton, Aldershot, AFC Wimbledon, Bournemouth, Crawley, Gillingham, Southend, Dagenham & Redbridge, Leyton Orient, MK Dons, Northampton, Peterborough and Stevenage. http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/LatestNews/home/Academy-Opposition-Confirmed-3527.aspx

As I'm sure you are aware, that article is dated 22nd March.

How did the winners of League One compare to Saints in the following season?

I have no desire to see Aldershot go under.

You have completely missed the point. That example of Holt and Carroll still stands. Yes, you generally need money to do well in the Premier League, but it is how wisely you spend that money that really matters. Saints spent less than West Ham and Leicester City last season...what happened?

Money is far from the be all and end all. Liverpool spent £35m on Andy Carroll and Grant Holt playing for a newly promoted side outscored him. Yes, you generally need money to do well in the Premier League, but it is how wisely you spend that money that matters.

The evidence is mounting that they have very big plans and resources behind them. You continue to pick holes in each bit, but lots of them are starting to support each other.

What about if you review Adkins statement, Cortese' quotes and the early St Mary's "plans" as a whole rather than individually?

That just backs up my point. Given they were 1 point and 3 points away from 1st spot in the two seasons, it was not an "unachievable target". Was also done in successive seasons.

What has Cortese/Liebherr estate failed with so far? They seem to be very good at meeting ambitions and putting money where their mouth is. I doubt Cortese is the type for making unachievable targets.

I'd be very foolish to say that!

Well its not going to happen in one season. We'd need to work up to getting Europa League football to attract the next level of player, then work from there in future years.

If you login to the ticketing website, then start the process of buying a season ticket you will get a stadium plan and you can go round the stadium block by block adding up all those seats sold. That is where people are getting the numbers from. No need to "speculate about what the final figure is".

Using that logic, only Man City will ever win the Premier League title for the rest of time. Man Utd, Arsneal, Chelsea etc should hand it to them now and not bother next season.

5 days ago someone totted them up and it looked like this... Since then people have recounted and said it has been around the 22k mark. Kraken, you were even posting at the time this was raised earlier in the thread!

A look at the ticketing website shows it isn't true.

When they were in the 3rd tier in 1999 and someone told you that they would win the Premier League 13 years later, what would you have said?

It is a non FA tournament tomorrow due to its 45 minute format, which is why the club are using retired referees.