saint1977

To be fair, Gaston's attitude seems to have been good overall. Yes, he's moaned to MP about not getting first team football but you'd want him to unhappy at not playing enough. He just doesn't seem to fit our system so these next 6 games are crucial in him getting a run of form and gaining those understandings of the team's pattern of play. If he can't get a run now and MP stays (which I hope he does), I can see Gaston being sold to fund new additions. However, if MP leaves Gaston might want to see who comes in next.

Borini is a good shout and no chance of Sunderland snapping him up if they go down nor Liverpool giving him a chance with CL football next year. I'd like to also highlight Troy Deeney, scored his 21st goal of the season last night in a Watford side suffering a playoff hangover. Has a mix of pace and power and works very hard, would suit MP's pressing game. He's 25 so one for the present but young enough to step up, we could probably get him for what we paid Burnley for Jay. More athletic than Jordan Rhodes. Ings will stay at Burnley, they are almost up now. Didn't recover from an ACL injury? Doesn't seem to have lost any pace. For our other new striker, it makes sense to use the loan system for a season as Everton have with Lukaku. Means we won't be saddled with extra wages/signing on fees and can bring Jay back later this year gradually and not rush. Also means we can give Sam Gallagher the right level of involvement and not spoil his development, with his frame he might pick up a few niggles in his late teens and early 20s as he finishes growing and fills out.

Anyone who was at the League Cup game in 2003 won't be surprised in the slightest. You could see Graham Poll was expecting the skates to chant during the Bates minutes' silence as well and he wasn't wrong. Contrast that to the perfect observation of the Flahavon silence at SMS first game. I could go on but you get the point. Now that they've disappeared off the football radar, they seem to be heading down the mini-Millwall 'No-one likes us, we don't care" route. Living in a region with a number of L2 clubs, they are definately right on the first part as Exeter, Rovers, Torquay and Plymouth fans all have no time for them whatsoever. To be fair, a couple of mates of mine regularly use the Chimes website and they like the banter but seem a decent bunch, POL seems to be the real angry white van man, UKIP, grotty flat in Somerstown/Paulsgrove brigade that formed the old 657. In which case they'll probably be out tonight torching a paedetricians car.

They'll use the Nuffield in that case and then follow-up appointment at Solent. Although the students are away, that's not to say that the academic and other staff will be.

I essentially agree with the OP and would like Boruc to have some proper competition. No offence to Kelvin, 10 years ago he'd have been exactly that but 3rd choice and developing his career towards coaching or a senior commercial position with the club is Kelvin's future. Gazza we should reach a compromise agreement with and he can start again in L2 if there are takers (e.g. Pompey) or perhaps part-time in non league for someone like Dorchester or Salisbury. Apart of Bart's horror show v Blackpool, he looked a far better keeper than Gazza and that's playing for a club in L1's bottom four. So out of the names mentioned: Lindegaard - possible, decent keeper and won't dislodge De Gea who after a shaky start will be world class and in the top 5 best globally for a decade Schmichael - No chance with Leicester getting promoted Forster - Yes, but would Celtic want to sell? How long left on his deal there? Would give him a better shot at England Ruddy - Yes please, looks solid but Norwich would only sell if relegated. Big yes please to Redmond whose loyalty may have been to Hughton Marshall - No thanks, was poor for Norwich and has improved but only a slightly better Kelvin. Kelvin looked like Gordon Banks in 08/09 because he had such a callow, porous defence in front of him that he was constantly in action and I fear there may be an element of this with Marshall Stekelenburg - Best choice here IMO. Fulham, if they go down, will need to cut costs as their wage bill is still fairly hefty and he looks much better on crosses and commanding his area than Marshall Begovic - Will go to top 4 or a top CL side in Europe

Well done to the club, should be a great day out. Would love to go as not been to the Liberty before but suspect my chances of getting a ticket as a non-ST are nil.

Big time. Need to get Osvaldo offloaded before the WC starts if we can although easier said than done with his track record and probable wages. This might help free up funds to get a couple of strikers in IF the ACL scenario which sees Jay missing most of 2014 unfolds. Priority areas in the summer after sorting out the managerial situation one way or another are strikers, GK and CB. Can't see that other areas of the squad need immediate investment so 4 players max, 3 if as we hope Jay is out for a shorter time, should be sufficient.

Not a great day. Some naive defending but overall a good first half performance and we moved the ball around well and quickly, lots of incisive first touch stuff. Horrible injury to J Rod it seemed, so gutted for him and hope it's not an ACL but did look like it. Adam, Rickie and Cork superb first half. The villains were Toure and Gazzaniga. Toure's diving did my head in, and the yellow card was long overdue. He should be embarrassed, a man that size and alleged strength. Gazzaniga - plenty has already been posted and so poor for goals 3 and 4. For the third, he just needs to stay big, Dzeko will get a header in but could have made himself big, instead he dashes out aimlessly like he has nearly every time he's played. His positioning for the fourth was a joke. Tim Flowers had lapses in concentration at that age but you could see the attributes of a potentially great keeper. With Gazza, I see someone that wouldn't get a game at Torquay, bottom of the Football League, because Michael Poke is better than him. Best that the club reach a mutual termination with him in the summer and he starts again in L2 or perhaps part-time. Very poor from the lino for their second, can only assume they didn't see the second touch as Silva was 5 yards off. Funnily enough, Foy would have blown if that was Lallana going through at the other end.

Chambers is rated even more highly as a footballer than Shaw, but Shaw has the rarity value of being left footed. Even if Arsenal made an acceptable offer, and £10m isn't acceptable surely, he'd be mad to go because I think he'll end up either as a CM or a right-sided midfielder. Some on here think he could be a top class CB. Either way, I'd hate to see his development halt because Arsenal or another top 4 club don't have a defined role for him yet. Better to continue his development here as Lallana has done and to some extent Shaw.

This is definately an area that Saints need to strengthen in during the summer. Artur has been great for us overall but at the moment he'd be on the sidelines injured if we had a component replacement/competition at PL level. Kelvin does a decent job v the lower and mid-table sides but I'd see him as a third choice these days combining coaching and playing. He has been exposed too often against the top teams. Gazza isn't even good enough for first choice, despite what Reed said I'd loan him out to L1 next season and see if a whole season somewhere improves him and matures him. He actually went backwards this season which I didn't think was possible. Saints were hardly the only big club watching him, Everton and many others were looking at him regularly so he's got to have something but his confidence needs rebuilding with first team football. In terms of who we should bring in, I'm less sure. Kasper Schmichael won't be leaving Leicester as they will go up and he's been the outstanding keeper at that level. Marshall at Cardiff is a good shot shopper but less sure on his catching and IIRC he had a shocker when Norwich were relegated to L1. Cardiff would want big money and I'm not sure he's worth it. Stekelenburg at Fulham is a better bet but again, Fulham might want quite a lot. Speroni if Palace go down? Good but similar level to Boruc. Forster at Celtic has done well in the CL but would be a gamble for the money we'd have to pay out. Begovic at Stoke will go for megabucks and probably to somewhere in the CL.

Norwich are a good club so hope we beat them tomorrow but that they have a big say in the title race by taking points off the top 4. I like Fulham but they are gone, Sunderland are borderline, Cardiff will go as too leaky at the back, WBA will just make it as their run in is not too bad, Pulis has worked miracles at Palace but they must get something at Sunderland tomorrow if they are going to finish above Poyet's lot. So I think Sunderland will make it at Palace's expense sadly. As for promotion, Big Nige has done a brilliant job at Leicester and proved you can get promotion with a good team rather than has-beens on £30k a week. Ditto Dyche at Burnley and they'll both get auto although the latter might stumble over the line as we did in 2012. Wigan are the random factor in the play offs if Wembley doesn't put them off, anyone but QPR and Harry really.

Fair play to Norwich fans, 2000+ when your away form is as poor as theirs has been is a terrific effort and with a large exile base in London and the £22 price, they may get a significant walk up support tomorrow if they are allowed to buy on the day. Fer missing probably cancels out Cork and Victor missing, could create an opportunity for Chambers in his preferred area of the pitch. The first goal is even more important when you playing sides at the bottom, if they get it their tails are up and they have something to protect. If we get it, they have had a habit of crumbling like they did at Villa and City and conceding 2 or 3 more preventable goals. Hughton has been under a lot of pressure from their supporters and that excellent travelling support could turn quite quickly if Saints establish an early advantage and a heavy defeat could mean sack.

Sounds promising and Ralph speaks well. Good to see KL appearing again, whilst the club has to commercially perform it may also be the case that she has a connection to the club via Markus and the memories of the enthusiasm he had for it. Professional sport can also be quite addictive - someone like Karren Brady (albeit a very high profile employee rather than an owner like KL) doesn't pretend to be a football anorak but does seem take an interest in what is happening within football at a commercial level as well as simply West Ham. MP new contract would be superb now and I have no concerns about Kreuger interfereing with MP's role, his radio interview before Sochi made that fairly clear that he understands the distinctions. MP wouldn't find that at many top flight football clubs of our size or bigger these days, if any at all. However, hopefully the speculation in the Telegraph translates into MP signing a new deal.

Which is what happened to Wotte when Markus bought us. Mind you, he did alright and is now Scotland's equivalent of Technical Director. If MP does sign a new deal - which I hope he does - and Spurs or someone else comes in for him, it'll cost them a lot more and besides, as others have posted it appears that Louis Van Gaal is heading there and he is more of a 'name' than MP which Spurs fans will demand. If MP is getting the resources he wants in the summer, it makes sense to stay another year at least because he has a good squad and doesn't seem to getting much in the way of hassle which he'd be getting by the bucket load if he went to Spurs, Real or one of the Milan clubs.

Ertl in particular would cost a pretty penny (no, not that one) to get rid of with two years left on his deal and one of their highest earners you would think. Barcham seemed to start the season well but has disappeared. I can see their summer being the equivalent of a football jumble sale with junk offered and junk purchased. If Barker can somehow change his whole squad again - which he was cautioning against a few weeks ago and saying that was why MA and GW had struggled - surely with the PPs running out they can only tie them to one year deals? You also have to question some of the coaching there - friend who is a Swindon fan said Simon Ferry was a standout player at L2 level for them and ditto a Gillingham fan I know with Barcham.

Unbelievable. You couldn't make it up, heard it all from the skates now. It shows some astonishing front, seeing that the FA Cup 'heroes' are still waiting for unpaid millions from the previous decade owed from THEIR contracts. Can't see Barker and the Trust getting any change here, for a start the PFA will be taking a very keen interest in those comments and if Pompey try messing about with any contracts, they could argue that's a breach of the agreements with football creditors and demand full payment on what their other members are still owed. Sorry Richie, you've got Jonny Ertl for another two years on the books lad, but Wallace is out of contact in the summer if that helps?

Bridgey definately came on v Argentina in 2002 Minty and I think in the final group game as well. Think Kenwyne Jones had moved on by the time T&T qualified for one WC Finals.

What about Wayne Bridge?

I disagree unless it was the Independent closing. The rest for the most part are just megaphones for various oligargical figures such as the Barclay Brothers or in the past, the likes of Robert Maxwell. Until they learn to report objectively and not just parrot the latest dictated missive from political central office (particularly the Mail and Michael Gove), I won't call them journalists and will only read the Indy in terms of newspapers. This isn't a right-left thing (I'm a floating voter in any case), it's just people presenting ill-informed tirades as factual articles and opinion. There will always be a slight leaning but there is no excuse for some the blatant polarisation. Newspapers ought to be subject to the same objectivity criteria as TV, you can still challenge public figures and politicians if they are doing wrong as the Telegraph did on expenses, Guardian did on police corruption and phone hacking.

I agree, some people are pathetic and have very short memories. Rickie had a good first half, linking very well with Adam and J Rod. He got isolated second half when we lost control of the midfield but then so did Adam, who was sensational in the first half, as Gerrard neutralised him. J Rod was culpable for missing some chances that he should at least have got on target (bar one), he's clearly improved this term and his direct running is a valuable asset. However, his touch and finishing at times continue to frustrate. Jos and Guly look like they'll be off so two less to moan, don't know if Forest will buy Fox, probably will if they don't go up. We played well first half, the second goal killed us and there was a lack of options on the bench to change the game.

Now I've seen it all. Let's ignore the fact that 2009-12 we were one of the biggest clubs in L1 and the Championship with a strong side winning a lot of games. The start to last season was hardly great either remember. So this stretch of losing 3 games, despite the fact we were unbeaten for quite a few beforehand, becomes a crisis now? I'm as peed off as you at the Sunderland game but some of your posts, and the volume of them, are winding up a large number of posters on this forum, along with 2 or 3 of the other usual suspects. I doubt you are a Pompey fan as some suggest and you clearly want MP gone. Fine, the majority don't me included but there's a difference between stating your view and saturating every thread with nonsense like this.

Liverpool's front two are the best combination in the division, we were much the better side in the first half but Suarez is on fire this season. Liverpool basically went two nil up with two chances whereas whilst Adam was unlucky to hit the post we were wasteful in the extreme with a host of chances at Premier League level that ought to be going in, no excuses. Rickie had a decent first half but got isolated in the second after Gaston came on but J Rod is still making the transition to a consistent PL performer. His pace on the counter is very valuable but he plays with his head down too often and lacks awareness. If you could combine him as an athlete with Lambert's football brain and technique you'd have a world beater. Despite having a stronger bench today, we don't have a game-changing option on there. We'll still finish 9th and that's a very decent season but that Sunderland game is still causing a mega-hangover.

The point about our academy and CBs is an interesting one. When was the last genuine top flight quality CB we produced? Arguably Reuben Agboola as Mark Wright and Richard Hall were both bought in from the lower divisions. Maybe they take longer to mature than most of the other outfield positions where we've produced abundant amounts of talented players? Given that for the last 20 years we either seem to have been in relegation or promotion battles for all bar 2-3 seasons, the timing might not have been right to blood them whereas a winger, full back or striker is less of a risk to the team's structure. In terms of the OP, I guess activity is going to depend on: i) New CEO in place or not ii) Ownership iii) MP staying or going and how quickly he's replaced if he does leave.

He wouldn't be any worse than Gazzaniga though surely?

I think some consistency is called for, much as I usually like FF's posts. Hasn't KL and her advisors given ground on several of the issues that a minority of posters were upset about e.g. parking charges, friction with Franny/MLT, stock in the shop, alleged attitude towards sub-contractors etc? I can't see how the club can be criticised for MP's dreadful team choices on Saturday and lack of drive to win the FA Cup, he is in charge of all matters first team as manager and rightly so, nor Lambert missing an open goal that a 90 year old could have scored. My one frustration is that we didn't get a loan striker in the window with Sam Gallagher's situation but I don't know all of the facts there and perhaps neither did the club.