Tamesaint

Very interesting papster. I went through a very similar thought process as you 4 years ago when I had just turned 50. My son was about to start at university. I was sick of being a bean counter and wanted to do something more rewarding. I have a degree in a relevant subject but wanted to do primary school teaching. The idea of there not being enough male role models in primary school teaching and the thought of being able to make a difference really appealed. I went on a 3 day SCITT taster course which was really good and re - inforced my idea to change career. So why didn't I do it? Why am I still counting beans? Money was undoubtedly a factor. The bursaries that you quote didn't seem to be around then and the thought of little money cioming in for a year whilst I trained didn't appeal. Salary wise after training there would also have been a big gap between what I would earn and what I was used to. Money nevertheless was just one factor. I just found it so difficult to get onto a training scheme & so difficult to get the classroom experience that is needed whilst keeping down my full time pretty demanding job. If you have nothing else to do getting the required experience and getting a training place may not be too difficult - to do this whilst keeping down a normal job is not easy. I found many obstacles in my way and in the end I decided it was not worth it. Do I regret it ? Probably not. I guess my motivation was not strong enough. By now, I would have been well into the teaching frame of mind and my job would have been a lot more satisfying than my current role but I probably have a better life than if I had switched. I think I was too old, too set in my ways to go down the teaching path in my early 50's . If I could have my time again I would definitely go into teaching on leaving university but there is no point in looking backwards.

Do you think we could sell Barry? It would be great if he could be sold in the summer to Pompey or wherever is his spiritual home. How many times are we going to have to put up with negative threads during the summer from WUM's like him?

Well said sir.

What a toss a

What a strabnge response. Of course I am looking at this from my own yiewpoint. I thought the point of a forum was to discuss things from one's own viewpoint. Feel free to have your own views. I am not going to stop you. My viewi is that whilst it was fun going to places like Leyton Orient and Walsall, the novelty would have worn off by now if we were still stuck in that division. Is that all right by you??

I think you are looking at things through rose coloured spectacles. It is great to play League 1 football when you know that you are likely to win more games than you will lose and that you have a good chance of promotion.To have been stuck at that level of footballl for too long would not have been so enjoyable. If we were still going to the likes of Leyton Orient and Walsall season after season I dare say that the fun would have evaporated by now. For me those 4 seasons in the Championship were simply dire. Our football got worse and worse. The likes of WayneThomas and Chris Makin were the lynchpins of our team. Anyone who went to Sheffield Wednesday when we lost 5-0 is unlikely to testify to the brilliance of supporting a lower league team.

It was the third highest attendance in the country on Saturday.

MOTD will need a new summariser next season when Hansen retires. I have an idea who could replace him.

...and the article reckons that they then decided to look elsewhere. Perhaps Warnock jumped at the chance of managing them but then they decided that Awford was the better manager and they decided to reject Warnock for Awford..... or perhaps not.

I appreciate that this post on Brighton was a few days ago but this thread is moving so fast that it is difficult to keep up. (see what I did there). I used to believe in the stereotype that NSC was full of Poyet loving gayboys but clearly not. Their thread contains some great posts. They are fans of Rallyboy (not surprising as the man is a genius) but they have some good posters of their own. The comments on Pompey's likely attendance at Newport today are well worth a read. It is nice to seethat nut jobbery isnot confined to our part of the south coast.

What a brilliant list. A few ex international managers along with a smattering of ex Premier League managers.... hmmm very likely for a team which is very possibly going to be non league next year. There will be no recovery, no march up the leagues for Pompey until there is an acceptance that they are in League 2 because they are c rap and that League 2 or even non league football is their appropriate level. Until they respect the league they are in, they will not start to move upwards. Managers like Hoddle , Zola and Mckay wouldn't be seen dead at a club where the natives get restless at a 0 - 0 draw and the last 2 mangers have lasted no more than 20 games. Mind you , I am loving it. Let them live in their fantasy world. I think their current plight is hilarious. I am loving every minute of it.

Who would they get to replace Barker? They have no money but surely the chance to manage the bestest sleeping giant in world football would attract the bestest - and they would probably be happy to do the job for just the honour of being able to say that they were once in charge of the bestest. Now he has won the German title with Bayern Munich could Pep Guardiola be tempted to Fortress Fatpipes for the 5 weeks between now and the end of the season? Whilst in England he could nip up to Old Trafford for the Champions League tie with Man U but probably Bayern could beat the laughing stock that moyes now mismanages with their manager away on a short sabbatical. Pep could come in for just 5 weeks, save the bestest from non league football and then return to Munich in time for the Champions League semi final. All Pep has to do is have a quick word with Thierry Henry to learn about Pompey's standing in world football and I am sure that he could be tempted. Wouldn't us scummas be "pig sick"?

Northampton must be bad if Portsmouthnil have scored more goals than them.

Come on Rochdale. Get a few more and ruin their goal difference.

Should we sing "we always get s hit refs" before the kick off?

Sometimes bookies offer ridiculous odds on an event. It is all to do with balancing their "book" on the event. It doesn't happen very often but when it does happen, I think that all sensible people need to exploit the situation.. There is no guarantee that the punter will win .... but in the long run if he can spot enough of these opportunities the punter will win. There is now one of these opportunities. Bet Vicor are currently offering 10/3 on Pompey being relegated. Not bad odds but probably realistic. Only Torquay and Northampton are shorter - reflecting the current league 2 table. Bet Victor however are offering 25/1 that Pompey will finish bottom of League 2. Torquay, Northampton, Exeter, Wycombe and Accrington areall shorter odds !! Unbelievable generosity from the bookie and certainly not reflective of the league table!! I am not that sure that Pompey will finish below Torquay ... but these odds should be a lot less than 25/1. The chances of a Pompey implosion and them finishing bottom are in my view well short of 25/1. Fill your boots time.!!

Interesting to see that according to Barker they were the best team for 80 minutes today against York. Has there been any game this season when they haven't been the better team? Have they had any refereeing decision go their way? With just a little bit of luck they would be so far clear at the top that they would have won the League 2 title by now.

I would be "pig sick."

So the drama rumbles on to Saturday. The Skates are home to York. York have won their last 4 and are unbeaten in the last 8. Northampton are away to Morecambe - Both teams disappointed tonight but Morecambe conceded 5 at Accrington and their morale could be low. Torquay have mid table Newport to contend with. The 9 knows much more about Newport than me - but hopefully they will roll over and die. Can we possibly hope for all 3 results going our way?

What ever happened to Steve Coppell? When Barker was appointed wasn't Steve meant to be his guide? Wasn't the impression that it was a 2 man job and Pompey were very lucky to get a man of his calibre. Has he been seen lately? Is he stuck in the Board Room guzzling champagne or did he just take one look at the mess at Fortress Fratton and decide that it wasn't for him??

Fair enough .... although I would like to know how Delmary got to a figure of £12million. Not that I doubt the words of Rupert Lowe but our esteemed former leader was known to be a bit of a fly boy wasn't he.

Post 45 on this thread reckoned that it would cost £12 million for an extra 8,000 seats. You reckon somewhere north of £24million. Get the firm answer to this question and then a more informed decision can be made about the financial viability of this idea.

I understand your question. I wondered the same. I guess he means: Cost to expand Kingsland for 8,000 extra seats = £12 million (as quoted on Page 1). Extra crowd = 6 sellouts a season = 48,000 paying say £30 a ticket = £1.44 million. £12 million / £1.44 million = 8.33 years on a simple payback method. On the downside I am not too sure about the £12 million. I thought the costs would be higher than that - I am not an expert in construction costs . Also £30 net a ticket may be too optimistic - remmebr VAT and concession pricing. However I guess that we would see several games when we would not fill the extra 8,000 seats - but we may see them half full. The liokes of Everton or Villa So I reckoned that 5-6 years was a bit optimistic but I could see an arguement that there would be a payback in 8 or so years.

The great news is tha you can still get 125/1 on them being promoted this seaaon. That is going to look a steal when they start their their play off push.

One of the justifications for moving to a new stadium so many years ago was the claim that we would get extra commercial income through the hospitality boxes. In our early SMS days in the Premiership they always seemed to be full. I can appreciate that their popularity would diminish as we slid down the league but surely by now we should be seeing demand exceeding supply and most if not all of them of them should be occupied? Yesterday barely half the boxes were occupied. This has been the case for most of this season. Any idea why so many of the boxes are unoccupied? Did the evil Emperor make them unaffordable or is there another reason? I woud imagine this is one of the areas which RK will look at in his desire to increase commercial income.