ooh it's a corner

I see what you did there. Top punning

The old dear on her mobility scooter. And the rather splendid artist's impression of the new quayside Fratton Park, unfortunately shaped like a potty and subsequently bastardised to include an infant having a plop.

I used to think that football was the last sport to use technology to help the officials, in order to allow the big clubs to get the big decisions, but looking at how it is used today, Liverpool & co will get 20+ penalties next year. Any slight shirt tug will be called to the referee's attention and I can guarantee that the shirt tug against the big clubs will go unnoticed. This is the big clubs' chance to blow everyone out the water

Just watched the England v Cameroon game and the biggest issue with VAR as I see it, is that it still has the ability to be subjective. England were 3 up and heading through and there was a VAR for a penalty decision, where the Cameroon defender clearly trod on the foot of the England player, as she passed the ball square. Nailed on penalty, but not given for sympathy reasons (and the fact that Cameroon clearly felt hard done by for the VAR decisions throughout the game). A further bad foul, last moments of the game, but a proper rake down the back of the ankle, should have been a red, but not given because it is too close to the end of the game. Spitting on an opponent, not reviewed; elbowing an opponent was also not reviewed. If we are going to take VAR seriously, we probably need to move the decision making to a fourth/fifth official. England won. Cameroon claim racism. They were lucky to end with more than 8 in my opinion.

Got it thanks. I'd missed the original collapsed case

I'm confused by this. Did Merrington blow the whistle on this many many years ago? In which case, why has this only come to trial now and how did Higgins stay in role for so long? If Merrington blew the whistle, surely the police would have carried out their investigation and put Higgins in jail a long time ago? Or is this a recent stopping of the bus? Sorry if I am covering old ground

Bugger, according to Wikipedia he is 3 foot 10 and aged 40. Sounds like a rubbish signing.

He's six foot two, from Timbuktu Moussa 'Jenepo's after you nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah possibly not factually correct, but homage to Jim Steele....

They were asking for it. And they did make millions. And I am not sympathising with them, but I think it is a long jail sentence. It is one third of the time a Hampshire woman got for murdering her defenseless 3 year old daughter. Just seems harsh (the 6 years, not the 18 )

Three men have been jailed for 17 years for making money out of streaming live footie. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-47650835 I'm sure we've all watched streams, which we know are not legitimate, which means we've created the market for this. But 5-6 year jail terms? Statutory rape is only 8 years. Feels a tad harsh. And whilst it isn't a specific Saints related thread, there is a pic of JWP in the article...........

Apologies to Saint Garrett, but here's an updated view. Brighton have got a bit more fixture congestion in April. But if I were a Cardiff fan, then Burnley, Brighton, Fulham and Palace need maximum points. Toughie.

I've been going to football since 1980 and I'm not sure there is a lot I miss about yesteryear. Atmosphere is one candidate. But I can assure you that the home and away games where the atmosphere was nil were as common place as today. Players relationship with their club is probably my biggest miss. [table=width: 600, class: grid] [tr] [td]What[/td] [td]Old footie[/td] [td]Current footie[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Getting tickets[/td] [td]Queue in the rain[/td] [td]Order on line from your home[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Price[/td] [td]£1.50 for boys per game (no idea what girls paid)[/td] [td]£570 season ticket[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Getting to ground[/td] [td]Park close and walk[/td] [td]Taxi and walk[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Trouble[/td] [td]Large disturbance every home game.[/td] [td]Minor disturbance occasionally[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Football entertainment[/td] [td]2 points per win - offside used as major defensive tactic[/td] [td]Avoid losing at all costs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Football quality[/td] [td]Top flight with some international players[/td] [td]Many international players and some worldies[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Pitch quality[/td] [td]Quagmire in the winter[/td] [td]Bowling greens all year[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Media coverage[/td] [td]Only interested when violence peaks[/td] [td]Wall to wall coverage[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Stadia[/td] [td]Old. Expect to get wet if it rains[/td] [td]New. Soulless but functional[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Atmosphere[/td] [td]Largely tame but spine-tingling when it's good[/td] [td]Almost entirely tame, occasional glimpses of the past. Rarely spine-tingling [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Players[/td] [td]Local, community spirited. Sign autographs with a smile[/td] [td]Global, money orientated. Sign autographs if their contract allows[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Referees[/td] [td]Middle aged, rotund, slow and favour big clubs[/td] [td]Middle aged, rotund, slow and favour big clubs[/td] [/tr] [/table]

Gary Lineker scoring for second division Leicester..... Hard to remember a time when he wasn't back page news-worthy. I was gutted when we came second, really thought we had a chance to win it that year. The media were even worse than they are now. I can remember being second, and the radio commentary team talking about the top four, from first to fourth, but missing out Southampton......

It's colour and they're all green. But point taken ;-) enjoy the day out. We all did. All 51,500 of us.

Hoedt sent off nobber

I remember the Chris Nicholl quote, when asked if he was disappointed to concede a 98th minute equaliser, he replied along the lines "Not really, I was pleased, because if they hadn't scored we'd still be playing".

Do the bookies pay out on a sack race after a "mutual consent" departure? Not that I had any money on Wagner, Puel or anyone else, just wondering.

He must be close to overtaking Hughes on the league wins front.....

Get in.....

i feel sick.

Ah yes, good point, well made. I guess the difference is that with Premier League income, we can still afford to pay the 3rd choice keeper this much, even if it is bonkers.

I think the hardest part of this re-build, regardless of which division we are in next year, will be trimming the squad. The likelihood is that we will trim where we can, rather than where would like to. So we will lose Davis to Rangers, rather than Forster to anywhere. This will reduce the wage bill and the squad numbers, but is likely to leave the weakest players, thus reducing the average capability of the squad. Sell who we can in January, get the loanees back and put them in a shop window? I seem to remember we had a turnover of £14m in league one, yet were paying Jason Euell £750k per year.....we need to avoid that level of mismanagement.

Oh Ralphie Ralphie, Ralphie Ralphie Ralphie Ralphie Hasenhutmdgmdgmd mumble.

Whether it is Gao, Nelly, Ralph, or a committee, it looks more decisive than the past 2-3 years. The fact that we sack one and almost sign the replacement immediately proves that somebody, somewhere was doing something. Obviously the proof is delivered once it is all confirmed, but for the time being the noises are promising

Vehicle fire southbound south of Winchester 60-90 min delay. May well clear up before the majority of people leave for the game, but if you come in that way, best have a look before you set off. Just took me 60 mins coming the back route through Twyford and Eastleigh :-(