saint1977

I hope we can bounce back quickly after an appalling display at Sunderland. Still think that momentum is important for the club as well as the prize money although I'm fuming at the team selection at the weekend as I wanted us to have a real go at the FA Cup. It reminds me a bit of 2001 when Hoddle made those stupid substitutions at Tranmere and cost us a home Q-F with Liverpool, which would have been a brilliant last cup tie at the Dell. However, we regained momentum with an excellent win at Middlesbrough with Mark Draper getting the winner. We then went on a great run before Hoddle left. Hoping that history might repeat itself and cheer some of the fans up.

Pathetic - assuming that's from the News? Stoke only brought 900 and we're still averaging near on 30k which is good in this economic climate and in the national top 10. When's the last time the skates got 28,000 for a game? Torquay's game is on tonight v Northampton, hoping for a big Gulls win to get them closer to overhauling the Skates and sending them into non league.

Hope we don't sell Shaw obviously but if we did for the reported £30m if he wanted to join City/Chelsea, Rose is a good player (despite some of the forum residents in 2012 who said he wasn't good enough for the PL) and if bought for a decent price would leave plenty for a new CB and maybe a striker.

Yes and in his position I'd do exactly the same. The thing about a new contact is, if Real or someone else came in for him, he'd be gone anyway, we'd just get more compo. I like MP and would very much like him to stay but if the club isn't sold and there's still a decent transfer pot on offer, I can see it being a very attractive job for another manager. The worst scenario would be club up for sale, protracted purchase running for most of the summer, MP walks and don't get a replacement quickly. Hopefully if the club is retained by KL or sold quickly to someone with the right calibre, and it seems to be in very good shape either way, it shouldn't be an issue. No point worrying about it because we can't do anything about it.

I broadly agree S Clarke, bar one spectacular goal and the opener v Palace Osvaldo has added little and we always feared problems given his track record. No doubt on his talent but attitudinally awful. The others did a grand job at L1 and NPC levels but sensible to settle on wages to free them up to play and free a pathway for Reed, Gallagher and co. We still have three or four huge squad gaps but we had those on 31 December. Targett might solve one of them. CB is still an issue but we tried Forren this time last year and it didn't work out whereas playing the longer game for Lovren did. The one area where we might be missing a trick is trying to get one of our striker targets on loan if they are non-PL/UK to see if they adapt and then decide on buying in June. With Rickie struggling for fitness, Gallagher would still get plenty of game time. Guess we'll have to give Guly another run if injuries strike.

Marlon King is available on a free, definitely could replace the violence and from memory would add some form of car-related offences to the above list as well (although my memory can be hazy). Had him down to sign for the skates though but it comes to something when even they don't want him.

If it hadn't have been for Osvaldo-gate, I'd have agreed with us not bringing faces in for January but even though he hasn't featured that much, we'd be one injury to Rickie or J Rod away from a crisis up front. Depends how ready MP thinks Gallagher is to start in the PL but a loan striker until the end of the season would reduce the risk. If Gallagher is nearly ready, investing £7-10m + wages + signing on fee on a new striker for 4 years might not be wise but we'd be taking a big risk on 31 points to offload Osvaldo - which looks inevitable - and not at least get a loan in. A CB on loan would be good in principle but it's more risky than a forward who can act as impact players, CBs need to develop an understanding with keepers, other defenders and DMCs which can only come through matches and a pre-season, unless they are very experienced players at the top level who can lead. Such players are megabucks. So unless Lovren is out for longer than anticipated, I might give VW a go at Centre Half when fit and keep our powder dry.

Didn't Norwich have a presence there as well? Seem to remember the likes of Eadie and Cureton being Bristol lads. Bristol City should put their own youth development house in order before throwing stones at other people's. Rovers have had a far better track record at getting good young players through their system so perhaps City need to learn from the Gasheads?

Sums up my thoughts perfectly Minty. Besides which, won't the new CEO want set out the vision for the immediate future in their opening communications to supporters and sponsors? Plus, he/she will probably want to develop their communications with MP and the players before that to get buy-in.

Sorry, should have been £100m! Still, top 10 and trying to win the cups, hope we take the League Cup more seriously from now on, is still ambitious but realistic. It is for clubs like Newcastle who have a bigger fanbase and stadia. The skates would rip their arm off for something similar, not that they are an especially valid point for comparison these days staring down the barrell of the Skrill Premier. Everton have spent similar sums of money to us and are knocking on the door of the top 4 and if some of the top melt away without CL income regularly, we could end up competing higher up by being debt free and able to spend what we earn.

I'd be pretty happy with that IMO. We don't have any debts like most PL clubs either and the academy intakes still look strong. We could spend £100 going for CL football and still not get it or be like Malaga who did and then the overseas sugar daddy cash supply ran dry for a bit and that really did turn into a near meltdown. Should be attractive for the squad too, if Shaw goes so be it, we'll bank the £30m and get 2 good LBs for that and let Fox go. Pleased with the potential appointment of John Williams too, just what we need right now as a club.

Thanks for the update Dan, looks like it's brinkmanship time again. I think it will get resolved but in the medium term the sale of the club was probably inevitable at some stage. Whether that's to a consortium containing Cortese, we'll have to see. Do wish NC had waited until we were over the 40 points mark before this kicked off though. It's a far more attractive proposition than it was last time this forum had a major takeover thread. Does make getting a result at Sunderland on Saturday all the more important now though.

To be fair, half of those games were in the Championship. Mind you, he's even more ginger than Dave Kitson! Might not go down well with the Skate fans. My Carlisle supporting mate says Jake Jervis is an awful footballer, scored 3 in 5 for them but doesn't appear much if at all outside of the penalty box and also cupped his ears to the Carlisle fans when he scored. Like to see him try that at Fatpipes Park! Shorey might be a better capture but can't be on buttons wage-wise and doubt if releasing Cooper covered it. Jason Banton to Plymouth is a far better signing, kept them up last season and is a quality player - or as close as you can get other than Gary Roberts at Chesterfield - at that level. Rene Howe has left Burton for Newport, should please The 9 I'd imagine. Those two signings underline the crudeness of the two strikers they've 'bought' in.

Has Marlon King signed for anybody yet? As soon as I saw Sheff Utd had released him a few days ago, I thought as a free agent he had 'Pompey signing' written all over him. High wages, old, baggage etc.

I think we are in a good position and an over-reaction on the UI. What needs to change is Jos and Fox moving out on loan-perm deals, surprised at Yoshida seemingly leaving so might need a couple of new defenders; one CB and another that can play there and cover LB as Shaw is looking jaded. The keeper situation can wait until the summer. Other than defenders, I think the squad is evolving nicely, Chambers has been a huge bonus and JWP will come out of his dip in form quickly. Wanyama and Boruc fit will restore solidity and Osvaldo will feature more post-ban. Lallana is getting just better and better and Steven Davis continues to be Mr Consistent when he features. Morgan's head might get turned if Deschamps continues to ignore him but have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Looks like we are bringing in another CB then which after Lovren and Fonte's injuries and Jos's disasters, isn't a surprise. Amazed that Yoshida is behind Jos, a Championship Defender at best, but MP knows more about centre halves than I do, having been a very good one himself. Need to go for someone to give Fonte and Lovren real competition, as someone stated VW will probably be the 4th option when fit with Jos saved for the League Cup and lower division sides in the FA Cup.

Crown Posada - I think that's the name - is a beautiful traditional pub for real ale drinkers and worth a visit post-match for those who are staying. Seem to remember having a delicious curry at place called Sarque or something similar. It's a great weekend for travelling supporters if you ignore our rubbish record at SJP. Went in 2003/4 and it was brilliant, you can see the stands from all around the City but the view is a bit 'Sensible Soccer' from the very back. Remember Bacchus being a good pub and some good beers to look out for - Jarrow Rivet Catcher and the Mordue range. Think we went into Trent House as well but would imagine that would rammed pre-game. Hope you all enjoy, was tempted but just too expensive from the South West when I've got Saints home games lined up in the new year.

All clubs and grounds have them though. Went to Torquay's opening game on 3 Aug v AFC Wimbledon and a bloke at the back of Bristow's Bench thought it was funny to keep shouting at the AFC fans " You're only famous because of New Tricks". A Skate colleague also had to move his ST location a few years ago in the Fratton End because of smelly people sat around him, well one Pompey supporter in particular..... In terms of Saints, I've heard the youth shouting 'Pork' and find that very weird! I also had a guy who stank of Stella fumes last season robustly inform me in a very strong 'Ampshire accent at the Wigan game that Clyne was the worst player on the pitch that day, was useless and would never do anything for SFC.

And there's the key point - they have gone back to their 1930s bubble again so unless we win the Premier League, even if we'd drawn them this year in the FA Cup and won 10-0, they'd always bring out the old 'we won the league 100 years ago' etc. Pathetic as you don't see PNE, Blackpool or Huddersfield harping on about that the whole time, the only other club that hark back to the very distant past as obsessively are Wolves but they are light years ahead of the skates in every way, if only a division at present (but not for long). Imagine being burdened by a history your club can never live up to? At least Forest and Derby get 25k gates and could get back into the top flight and make an impact. Highly unlikely the skates would ever do that for at least 25 years.

Don't mind, even as a supporter in Devon, would rather see the ground full.

Fair to say people management might be an issue at the club. I think Barker could do quite well for them actually given some time and realistic expectations (I know) but the Coppell references can't be helping instill confidence and it all feels a bit Rix/Redknapp all over again. One of the jokes won't have gone down well, if the Crawley media's reporting of his time there is remotely true. By the way, who the heck set up that press conference and venue? If one of our events teams at work had set it out like that, there'd be hell to pay. The stand looked like it might fall on them at any given moment and that England flag with a Pompey logo draped across the platform - tacky or is it just me being a snob?

Would any of us been that bothered if say Lloyd James had been pictured with David James or Jermain Defoe back in 2008/9? The skates reaction to the photo is 1000% more embarrassing for them than the photo ever was! I remember Steve Grant saying on here in 08/09 to forget about Pompey and focus on our survival as a club, it is probably advice that the skates should heed now.

I do agree that Lowe deserves credit for having recruited Prost and putting more emphasis on the academy. Sadly, he didn't have other stakeholders in the ownership web Askham had woven who were wealthy enough to have invested sufficiently in the first XI as we are seeing now and also when the young players of the 1960s, 70s and 80s came through to a certain extent. So Channon learns from Paine, Danny Wallace and Steve Williams learned from the likes of Ball and Keegan and Shaw learns from the likes of Lovren and young players are introduced into a relatively successful and stable first team framework. The crop of the mid-2000s had some awful role models by contrast. To answer your question directly, the reason the production line dried up in the 1990s was a combination of the conversion to all seater stadia costs left us with less dosh to invest, some lack of investment in facilities and coaching by Askham and co, plus Branfoot did SFC a huge amount of damage by removing mentors like Jimmy Case who could play football and replacing them with less able old men on far bigger wages - Hurlock, Dixon, Speedie - that all cost a fortune to dump when he had no money. Hurlock's contract was paid off when Ball and Lawrie took over in 94 and I dread to think how much it was!

Yep, those would be my 3, maybe Keegan instead of Channon but not much in it. Wright and Lovren - what a combination that would be! With Shilts in goal in his prime, good luck trying to score past us. Hope Shaw becomes as an exciting a left back as Dennis was, with a better disciplinary record obviously....

Based on last season's game at Stamford Bridge, where Lambert came on as sub and terrorised their back 4, there is a case for starting with Osvaldo. Depends which Osvaldo turns up though - did a great job at Anfield and gave us a platform but less so at OT. Would definitely start J Rod as Terry and co won't relish his direct running much.