Pugwash

Sat in the quiet corner today (Itchen/chapel) and saw some great interplay between Guly, Ramirez and Luke Shaw on the left. All three have a great first touch, excellent vision and understanding. Guly will be fine in the Prem, it suits his style much better than did the Championship, where frankly he did struggle to impose himself.

FFS, this isn't the place for ITKs! (but please can you PM me with any stunning, breaking news...)

Just to be clear, didn't Chinny have a fixed and floating charge over ALL of pompey's assets? Yes, I know Fatpipes is their only substantial asset - not even any players now - but surely there's a few valuable old typewriters and Roneo machines in there somewhere, to be valued at a few million?

Our concourse kiosks are abysmal. Presumably they're run on a franchise basis. Anyone know when they renew?

Great link. There are so many lines in that song that have a pompey ring about them: The highway is for gamblers... The sky too has fallen in over you... Whatever you wish to keep you'd better grab it fast...

Eating 'Arry's tactical plans... or his betting slips?

Just regurgitated my samosa...

Cork shaded it for me, just ahead of Fonte and Puncheon. Not a single bad performance. Must be the first time that Rickie's not had anyone vote for him, even though he had another outstanding game.

Don't think he even signalled advantage. Looked like he shook his head 'no way'.

Brilliant performance, scoreline didn't reflect our dominance. Fonte had Ba in his pocket all afternoon. Cork absolutely immense - MoM for me. Didn't realise exactly how many excellent chances we created till I watched MOTD2. Usually there's one or two players who are a bit below par, but there wasn't a single poor individual performance, all 8 or 9 from 10.

Refs in the Bundesliga have taken kickbacks. And in Serie A. Does anyone seriously think it doesn't happen in the English game, with the richest league in the world?

And Corp Ho returns...

Okay, I'll bite. There are many reasonably-sized capital projects going on across many NHS Trusts, generally set up as well as many private projects, sometimes better. Where these sometimes fall down is due to the lack of forward financial planning - one minute the money tap is full on, then off, then back on again. Priorities change almost at a moment's notice according to changes in funding and service pricing dictated by central government. Trusts often end up chasing the service that has the best payback in order to meet their financial obligations. One moment the emphasis could be on carrying out more surgical procedures, the next on children's services, then cancer services. Strategic planning has become very short-term, responding more to politically-led changes rather than clinical necessity. All leads to project briefing changes and inefficient spending and procurement methods.

Heard a rumour that those pink-shirted chaps down the east end of the A27 are in dire financial straits. Apparently there's a group of businessman who want to liquidate the club and immediately re-form them with the aim of making a profit.

The Land Appropriators

Blimey! 100 million deaths over the next 30 years. One death per million cigarettes doesn't sound particularly bad odds - until you realise that a twenty-a-day man smoking between 16 and 65 will consume one-third of a million fags. Odds of one-in-three plus the bad health side effects. I smoked for about two years in my teens, about ten a day. So I guess my odds are about 1 in 300, improved by the body's self-repair, but made worse by passive smoking. Then there's heart disease, bowel cancer, liver failure... bugger!

Great result. Must say this is our best line-up. If we can keep this side together for the next few games we'll be fine.

Love the banner at the bottom of the page. Seems they've finally got themselves some tax advisers.

I'll have to get around to reading some of Beevor's books. Have you read any by Theodore Plievier? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Plievier He was a German author who wrote books on Stalingrad, Moscow and Berlin, which were translated into English in the 50's. Copies available on Ebay. Don't know if Beevor drew on these for his books of the same names. I read Stalingrad in the 70's and it's a well-written, stark, often visceral and chilling account; a documentary-novel described 'as the most important work of literature to emerge from the Eastern Front'. 40 years after reading it, I can still recall the miserable and chaotic scenes he describes at the snow-bound Pitomnik airfield as the Russians are closing in.

Totally concur with this. I seem to recall reading it in two sittings a few years back. The Verres storyline is brilliantly conceived and written with so many hopes dashed along the way, right up to the final vindication. Can't recommend this book highly enough, together with its follow-up Lustrum.

Maybe that's because they just sent one out on loan. Face-palm thingy...

Another day, another comedy moment.

No, but I did hear that the Trust taking control would hinder Appy's ability to help PFC recover up the leagues and that he doesn't feel the trust's vision is realistic. Not sure if it was on Sky Sports.

Ah, the old player/coach ploy resurrected as player/coach/manager then?