Lord Duckhunter

I normally Like Mick Dennis he's one of the better hack's that prositute themselves round various media outlets, so this dig surprised me. He is a Norwich supporter and their S/T sales and home support is impressive. I'm not sure what their numbers were for their first game back, but it seems a strange point to make. He is pretty good regarding the lower leagues, so would have known all about our support. perhaps he was just taken back a bit that we didn't sell out.

One of the main reasons the English team **** me off is the press and most of the fans thought procees around failure/sucsess. Sir Alf won the world cup at home, when there were only 16 teams in it. Genius, according to most. Overlooking the fact he screwed up in Mexico, making 2 subs whilst we were 2-0 up to "save their legs for the semi final". What semi final???? Screwed up in '74 qualification. Sir Bobby.- First attempt at qualification resulted in failure '84, fluked the '86 group stages only after he was forced to leave out Wilkin's and Robson, remember he only bought Beardsley in for the last group game. Went out "heroicaly" to Argies and the handball (god forbid an Englishman would do that-apart from jack charlton in '66). Complete and utter shambles in '88, losing every game. Poor in the group stages in '90. last minute goal against Belguim in round of 16. Somehow cameron throw away a winning position in 1/4's and on to a "heroic" defeat in semi's. venables -see above. Sven- Losses 2 peno shoot outs in 1/4 finals, once to the hosts, yet he's a chump. Venables wins a 1/4 final peno shoot out at home-Genius, Sven losses one away-chump. The simple truth of the matter is that if you're a "national treasure" like Sir Bobby, your patchy England record gets over looked. In the modern game, he'd have gone in '84 after not qualifing. If he lasted that, would have gone in '88 after losing every game. Apart from Sir Alf (who ****ed up afterwards) every England Manager has underacheived, including Venners and Sir Bobby, but you wouldn't think that from the press and most England fans.

Terry Venables is a bigger myth than harry Redknapp. Even as England Manager it was all a myth. Home Euro's with Shearer, Sherringham, Seaman, Adams ect pretty much at their best, and fluked past Spain (and Spain nowhere near the class they are now). Germans were pretty poor and they won the thing. Everyone bangs on about Dutch game, but both sides were pretty much through, eveidence in the fact that despite a heavy defeat they still went through. Meant to be a tactical genius, but never got anywhere near Hoddle's tactical masterclass in Italy. France & Spain's great sides had yet to emerge, Holland were in a mess and the thing was won by a very average German side. We were at home, a decent manager with the players we had and we'd have won the thing. Prior to that he was ok. Did well at Barca, won 1 FA cup. But after that what did he do? Was shiete at Leeds, who still had a decent side.Missed out on the World cup with Australia as the mighty Iran came from 2-0 down in Aus to knock them out in a play off. Palace was a disaster,and he was Asst manager during that great Steve McClaren England spell.The only decent thing he's done is **** up the Skates after buying them for a £1 (what sort of idiot overpays by that much). We have a pundit who has underperformed for the past 20 years, yet because he's a Jack the Lad he's seen as some sort of genius. Good player , average Manager, Great myth............

Spot on, and Bologna's chairman is trying to do what's best for them. My gut feeling (based on nothing at all) is that provided nobody else comes in for him, we will get our man as quite clearly Bologna have to sell. The problem we may have is that as the Transfer window starts to close other clubs panic. I can see someone like QPR who seem to be throwing money around agreeing to better terms for payment than us. NC may stick to his fiscal prudence but in the mad world of football there's always a chance somebody wont stick to theirs, so I can quite understand their chairman playing hard ball. The good news is that it doesn't look like the big boys are sniffing around yet.

Exactly, the British are just as bad as the Germans. This year I stayed at a resort which was all Brits, and there were some sad ****ers there. They unchained the sunbeds at 9am and some of the saddo's were waiting from 7.30am. The sad thing about it was that everybody who arrived by about 9.30am always got a bed, but these sad ****s had to get a parasol,a little table and the best spot by the pool.I used to wake Mrs Duck up about 9 and tell her to get down there and get us a bed each, didn't really care where. She was always moaning that it was my turn, so I kept having to point out that I went out of my way to get to the bar early in the evening, and get a decent spot in there.

Forget newcastle v hereford or Barca v Chelsea, if Pompey pull this one off, it'll be right up there. Anything from the mighty Colchester will be a minor miracle. Forget Jose, Appy will be THE man..........

BBC reporting Liverpool & Spurs in for Adam Johnson, would they still be interested in GR

This was my one, at the time it was magic. Shame the way the season ended, but my boss at the time was a Skate and he was completely and utterly dejected on the Mon. Harry & Jim, sticking one over them and Crouchy bagging the peno in the last min. I was dancing in the aisle, when that went in.

We have to face facts. His club, his agent and him, have no loyalty to saints. If his club can squeeze a few more euros out of us, then that's best for them. How would we feel if NC took the first offer for a player without trying to get extra for us. The extra will obviously trickle down to the agent, and if they can get a Spurs or Liverpool involved then thats better for him. Whether we like it or not, they are bigger clubs. His agent will have other clients and will also want future clients, to move a player onto a Spurs or Liverpool will look better on the agents CV when approching other players. I'm sure the player himself would rather sign for Liverpool or Spurs, in exactly the same way I'm sure Phillips would rather sign for us than Wigan. At the end of the day the only person involved in the whole thing who has saints best interest at heart is NC, we should trust him to do what he can to get the deal done, but some things will be out of his hands. The days of locking players in rooms until they sign are long gone.

It was because of "too many fingers in the pie", not anything about his ability. That was a direct quote from the Dutch guy.

****ing hell, how many years will it be before we're rid of Lowe once and for all. Until we move grounds, play players that weren't born until 2009, people will still bang on about his vision. Personally, players like Steve Williams, Nick Holmes, Steve Moran, Mark Wright (who we devoloped from Oxford res) Danny and Rod were a class above anything Lowe's years produced, apart from Bale. I think anyone who thinks Walcott is better than Danny Wallace in his prime, is off his rocker. And the fact is that the players mentioned may have moved on in the end, but they gave more to the club than the likes of AOC, Walcott, Bale and Jones ever have. Apart from Adam, Lowes youth system was a feeder system for other clubs, not ours. Obviously, the game has changed and we weren't in the top flight, but all Lowe's vision was turning us into was a slightly bigger Crewe Alexandra. Nigel showed a lot of balls by throwing the youngster in against City, when he had other options. It was like a throwback to the Lawrie/CN days. Days that were Pre Lowe.............

I posted this on another thread, as I didn't see this one. The Dutch talksport football bloke was on H & J this afternoon. He was asked about Buttner, "is he a good player for Man Utd" the reply was "Ummmmmmmmmmmm, I dont want to run the guy down" Then went on to say "his "dream" move was Southampton, everybody here is surprised he ended up and Manchester". Guy was then asked "why did the Southampton deal fall through", replied "there were too many fingers in the pie, and they walked away. FIFA are all over international transfers and Vitesse Arnhem have been warned before" Dont know what this meant or what was implied, but defo said it fell through because we walked away. Then said that he has been told he will have to play in the res for a year, while Utd work on his game, but he heard that from his father as the Man Utd machine had clicked into gear and he was not allowed to say anything, until he's unvieled. Which he thought would be Fri. Then said "you can normally tell which Dutch players will do well in England". One of H & J then said "well we can make out what you think of him".

The Dutch talksport football bloke was on H & J this afternoon. He was asked about Buttner, "is he a good player for Man Utd" the reply was "Ummmmmmmmmmmm, I dont want to run the guy down" Then went on to say "his "dream" move was Southampton, everybody here is surprised he ended up and Manchester". Guy was then asked "why did the Southampton deal fall through", replied "there were too many fingers in the pie, and they walked away. FIFA are all over international transfers and Vitesse Arnhem have been warned before" Dont know what this meant or what was implied, but defo said it fell through because we walked away. Then said that he has been told he will have to play in the res for a year, while Utd work on his game, but he heard that from his father as the Man Utd machine had clicked into gear and he was not allowed to say anything, until he's unvieled. Which he thought would be Fri. Then said "you can normally tell which Dutch players will do well in England". One of H & J then said "well we can make out what you think of him".

Did anyone see the FL Show and there game with Boscombe? Started off with a group of inbreds with a new song which they wrote down on a banner. Bye Bye American Pie, but Bye Bye Mr Chanerai. Some muppet then tried to sing it, I couldn't work out if he was half cut or an idiot, a mixture of both I presume. Cut to the game and then an interview with UnAppy. According to him they "had no right to take anything from this game" due to no preperation and up against all the odds. It was Boscombe they were playing FFS............

Didn't Lawerenson say he would run naked down Bristol high street if Richard Dryden was in the Saints team at the end of the season? He was and Lawro bottled it.

Bloke from News on Talksport now. Andy Goldstein asked "why are you signing more players, how can more money being going out even now".

"There’s this bloke closely associated with Portsmouth Football Club. You all know him – obese, uncouth, dreadlocked, tattooed and clanging a huge bell as though his life depended on it"

remember Fry did the same with us. Lots of bravado about grounds to appeal, but League can impose what ever terms they like for return of golden share. If Ken bates, couldn't get round it, there's no way a bunch of deluded Skates with their 1k each are going to.

They have had their -10 for entering admin, the extra 10 is part of the exit terms for leaving admin with the golden share. Once they leave admin it'll be applied. Whether we like it or not, they have been consistant, it was the same for Leeds and Boscombe.The extra points were added when they left admin.

It was like "unplugged" 20 years before MTV thought of it. Showed the guy was human as well, just a shame within a few short years, it was all Karate kicks and impersonators. That comeback and his Sun recordings were him at his peak. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdSoRrTD9BQ

Theres a couple of things about Elvis that seem to get lost in the mists of time. He inspired a generation of musicans. Muscians, who then went on to make some of the greatest music. He was a fantastic singer, but he was ruined by shiete material. About 90% of what he did was ****e, but the other 10% was right up there .The Colonel was a tight arse and wouldn't pay decent songwritters and also had an obsession with churning out movies. Before he went into the army and for a couple of years following his '68 comeback special, he made some fantastic music. His career was very badly handled from when he left the army. Now he's just become a parody, mainly due to his Vegas days. Even during that period, when he was given decent material he made some great songs . In the Ghetto, Funny how time slips away, Always on my mind, I Just Can't Help Believin and Suspicious minds were great. Without Elvis, Rock music (if it's still called that) would look a bit different than it does, there aint many artists that can say that.

He also said that it was unbelievable that Lawerence was earning £25,000 a week, he said "They'll deny it down there but that's what I heard". Was going on about the AC Milan game as well, something about Tony Adams saying how great it was that Kanu finished the game, the bloke said "who would have thought they'd still be paying him millions 3 years later ?" Alan Brazil always has a journo on at 7am and it was in that slot.

They are getting a right clogging on Talk Sport now. "There is no way out, they are going to be the first club for 20+ years to go bang, the trust dont have the money", some Journo-didn't catch his name.

0837: FOOTBALL Portsmouth administrator Trevor Birch tells the BBC he is unaware of reports that Balu Chainrai has withdrawn his bid to buy the club.

That's the problem in a nutshell. My nipper went to Grammar because he had a middle school teacher that loved sport. He filled my Nipper's head with tales of the fantastic sports facillites. He told me to drive up to the Grammar with my nipper on a Sat morning and watch the sports going on. We did this, and so my boy had one goal that year, to pass the entrance exam. He was always quite bright, but the thought of doing all those sports drove him on to knuckle down and apply himself and pass the entrance exam. For that, we have his middle school teacher to thank.Had that teacher not been at my nippers middle school, he would not be at Grammar and that was down to his love of sport. My political leanings are to the right, and I think Gove has done some good things (although he has a problem with his image), but in this case he is wrong. I would like to see school finish at 2 each day and the last hour/hour and a half be used for sport/phyiscal activety every day. But it needs investment and the buy in from Govt, Lea's, headmasters, teachers and parents. It's going to take a couple of generations, but maybe then we can change the whole culture of sport in our youngsters. I also think the obsession with football and the Premier league is unhealthy. There are loads of sports that can help devolop our children, they are not all going to be Wayne Rooney's and hopefully the legacy of the olmpics may help parents realise this.