Lord Duckhunter

I knew Derek quite well in his later life and he was quite a bitter old man, He hated most things about the modern game and was more interested in horse racing. To be honest I didn't really like the bloke and it was dissapointing that a Saints legend was like he was. Told me he prefered Arsenal to Saints (and this was pre Wenger days), maybe he was just winding me up, but he did seem very negative towards Saints and the players that came after him (although he was very respectful of TP & JS, and most players he played with).

Something doesn't add up with these tickets. I have 2 already and I'm waiting for another 2 from my mates ST's. My mate has just taken a call from the Club asking if his tickets have arrived, he said no. The lady then said that she can't understand it but his tickets are there and she's going to post them tonight. He said don't, he will collect them tomorrow. He then asked why they were asking if he had them, when they're still in the ticket office and the lady replied that she assumed they were duplicates.My mates Mrs had rang yesterday and kicked off at the service, then within a day they appear at the Club, all very very strange. I'll wait and see if he picks them up ok, but the whole thing is a farce. On Monday they told my mates Mrs that it was Wembley's fault, I wonder if Carlisle have had the same issues.

Am I the only one who wants the teams to run out seperately with no music, goals being scored to the backdrop of cheering and not music and half time entertainment being a brass band?

Storrie left West Ham, Southend and Notts County under a cloud, now it looks like he's leaving the Skates in the same manner. The press in this Country go on about greed in the game and then go softly softly on a chancer like Storrie.

Dont want to alarm you, but I just texted my mate to check online. He did so and the tickets showed on there. I would call Club. I'm sure that they've got a few left back for **** ups, provided they've taken the money my gut feeling is you'll be ok. A few years ago a similar thing happened to my sister and the Club found some extra tickets, even though it was a sell out. Hope it's ok for you.

I think everyone's getting a bit carried away. If they've taken the money, you'll get your tickets. It maybe that you have to have duplicates, but the fact they've taken the money means you've got a ticket. I ordered 4, two of which were the semi final ones and they've come, and 2 are on my mate and his Mrs ST, and he hasn't had them yet. The money has come out of his bank, so I'm not too worried. As for the guy whose giving the extra he received back, well done. I like to think I'd do the same, we are all Saints fans after all. That's one reason for giving them back, the other is that the person whose meant to receive them and been charged for them, is not going to just say "never mind, I wont go". He'll get issued duplicates and then on the day it could cause issues. He'll be able to prove he paid for the original tickets and maybe the people sat in his seats will get chucked out.

He's about as funny as that other fat lump of lard Jo Brand.

We used to do as many as we wanted, but the last couple of years visits have become harder and harder to get. You need to check availabilty daily.

Me and my Mrs go regulary, use about 3 companies. Here's a tip: I work for a very large retailer that use Mystery Shopping. As I'm a Manager I get to see the reports, a lot of them are a load of pony and it's obvious that the person hasn't really done it properly, just gone through the motions to collect the money/free goods.We challange the ones that are inaccurate, if they are negative. If they are good, but poorly written or plain wrong, we just accept them. Go and enjoy your meal, don't get too hung up on the details, unless it's poor, then your report needs to be water tight.If you give them a good report, they'll turn a blind eye to any factual mistakes you make (the MS Company wont, but unless the place your visiting point mistakes out they wont know)

The ambition shown in the past 6 months makes me think what would have happened if we had got a proper visonary busines people in '97, instaed of Lowe and his reverse takeover. We had been a top flight side for a generation, have a massive catchment area, and we're basically starting from scratch it terms of a ground. I like the location of SMS and it's quite a tidy stadium, but it is the bare minimum you would expect. 32,000 was not big enough for us at the time, and the fact that even in League 1, there have been times it hasn't been big enough even now speaks volumes.It was in my opinion typical of Lowe, no vision, no pushing the boat out to take us to the next level, just a steady, cautious approach, that ended up in tears anyway. Had ML taken over in '97 the history of the past 13 years, would be a lot lot different.

Spot on. This wasn't a great battle for survival which they won and HMRC lost. They are just back to where they started from, in admin, relegated and facing a very very uncertain future.There are a dozen CCC clubs that represent better value and potential for someone looking to invest in a Football Club. They've just lost the only attractive thing about themselves, their Premier league status. Take away James, Belhadj,Ohara,Piquonne, and Yebda and they're very very ordinary. It's tough enough to get back up, with a decent side. We'll be back in the Preimership before they will, I'm convinced of that.

The Labour Party turned away from Socialism when it gave up Clause 4.

I want change. As an Englishman I want the same devolution settlement that Brown's constituants have. Funny how PR rears its ugly head, whenever it looks like we're going to get a Tory administration.

Oh yes a fairer system, like the one used in the European Parliament and gave us Nick Griffin. We have a constituency based system, it has served us well for hundreds of years. The system we have in this Country means that the Tory party needs to win more votes to gain power than the Labour party, and yet there's silence over that. If it was the other way round all the bleeding hearts would be getting their knickers in a right twist. If you want to start tinkering with the electoral system, why don't you start with an English parliament? The Scots have one, The Welsh have one, what's the difference. Well we all know what the difference is, England is Tory, so the left leaning establishment and media cant have that. Why do the people who go on about fairness in the electoral system, never bring up this blatant discrimination? The English people should have the same system as the rest of the UK. If Maggie had set up devolution for England and not Scotland there would have been riots.

Socialists will never form a Government in the Country ever again. It is a discredited ideology reliving the student debates of the 60's and 70's. The Country has moved on and the Labour party has abandoned clause 4. You'll find people like Straw, Brown and Prescott abondaded their beliefs in a grab for power. There is no way that the Labour Party of the past 100 years would have elected Tony Blair as it's leader based on its ideology. He was elected to appeal to the electorate and he was nearer to Thatcher than Foot or Benn. Government is now basically an administrators job, the big ideological debates of previous years have gone, the European project has rendered a lot of what parties want to do irrelevant. It's now a case of who sells their watered down Tory policies the best.

And that other Left wing hero Mr Galloway.

The British people had an election after the invasion and returned Blair for another term. That suggests that either more people backed it, than is made out,or they didn't think it was a big deal. As for Foot and the KGB, it's already pretty much established that another hero of the left Jack Jones was in their pay as well. Thank God Mrs Thatcher routed these loonys and along with Reagan made the world a safer place.

The poor were taxed at 33% pre Thatcher

Blair was not the longest serving Prime Minister in history, you just made that up. History has not forgotton about Thatcher either, you made that up as well. Her legacy will live on for many years after her death. The fact that the Labour party had to reinvent it's self as a left of centre Tory party is down to the fact that she changed Britain for the better. It is unthinkable that we would own a car company, an airline and the phone company. Unthinkable that people had to go cap in hand to a Building Society Manager, after saving with them for years, to get a mortgage. And unthinkable that the unions could grind the Country to a halt, with secondary picketting and strikes called without a ballot. This is a completely different Country than the one pre 1979, and that is down to Mrs Thatcher and her policies.

What a load of old pony. Before Thatcher, Heath Wilson and Callaghan had made Britain the Sick Man of Europe. Thatcher won 3 election victories and made Britain a home owning, share owning, enterprise country and she is respected the world over.She set the Country free from the Socialist dogma and lily livered wet Tory's that had caused the Country to grind to a halt. The rich were taxed at 82% and the poor at 33%, and the Country was held to ransom by the unions. It is only the bitter left wing and left leaning establishment of this Country, that decry her achievements. She was a great Leader, and even now Brown wanted to be seen inviting her to number 10. To compare her to Wilson (with his corrupt lavender list) is quite simply an insult.

Whilst most are clueless muppets there are one or two with a bit of sense. This was one of the best posts I've read from them. "I wish with all my heart that Pompey were not in this mess financially. We have been shamed by the goings on. I will always support them on the pitch but its true what people are saying. We bought the cup with money we didn't, and aren't likely to, have. I went on record the other day, saying that clubs shouldn't be allowed to borrow at all! As it stands now, were this the case, we would be still in the 2nd tier, and to be honest, I would be a lot happier. We might have been in the premiership on merit, who knows, but at least I could have the Pompey and proud feelings I used to know." I maybe going soft, but I feel sorry for this guy.

Spot on. How long did it used to take to get a phone line installed? Foot wanted to renationalise everything that MT set free. He wanted to follow an agenda way to the left of the Callaghan Gov. A Gov, that let's not forget, needed bailing out by the IMF. The basic rate of tax was 33% and the top rate was 83% pre Thatcher. Rates that are unthinkable nowadays and anyone suggusting them would never get voted for by the British people. Did those tax rates give us better services? Did they redistrubute wealth to the poorest? Did nationlised industries bring more wealth to the Country? Of course not, the country was on it's knees, the sick man of Europe. But then that's Labour Gov's for you. You'll also end up paying more tax, and they'll always run out of money.Always have done, and always will do.

It's obviously to do with league positions. For many years most saints supporters weren't too bothered about them, whereas their numpties had total hatred for us. I used to find it funny that they hated us so much and a bit wierd. I remember a night out with my cousin and all his QPR supporting mates in ealing a few years back. One of them had brought his Skate mate along, and as the night wore on, he got more and more leary with me. He was trying to get into some banter, but I really couldn't have cared less. The QPR guys found it a bit odd, this obsession he seemed to have with us, but the more I couldn't care, the more leary he got. It ended up with us being seperated as we came to blows.The general feeling in the pub, was that he was totally out of order and "I've never seen him like that before" (he was living nearby, so was known by most of the punters). He made a complete fool of himself and his mate couldn't apoligise to the rest of us enough. I really did feel sorry for him and wondered how someone could be so bitter. When I remember how foolish he looked, I would hate to see our supporters being like that. However, we have got a few and they're growing. The thing that wound him up the most, was that I didn't take his Club or this rivalery as serious as he did.His hatred boiled over, beacuse I couldn't care less about his Club and didn't consider them our equals (remember at the time, I had yet to see them finish above us in my lifetime) The more we sing about them, the more it looks like we're jealous of them.

Quinn is a bloody joker, all this "what a great story" and "unbelievable" about them reaching the semi's. Christ sake they only beat Cov (somehow) a 3rd flight outfit (after being outplayed), Sunderland who are on an awful run (at Fratton) and Brum, again at home, with a dodgey decision. The way this is being spun, anyone would think they're matching Herefored in '74 or Chesterfield in '97. I seem to recall watford were deep in the mire when we played them in the '03 semi, and they were near the bottom of the Championship. What about Wycombe or the afor mentioned Chesterfield. Did you also hear Quinn's dig at Fulham, how they "let people in for free to fill their ground". In the next breath, he's fawning over the Blue Few. It's clowns like Quinn and lazy journo's, that fuel the myth of the "worlds best supporters". The facts are all there to see, attendances are published each week. Poorsmouth in the Semi Final of the FA Cup, is the non story of the season.

The only thing that cheers me up is the thought that they'll mess it up in the end, and it'll hurt more (I thought that in 08, and look how that ended up). Chelsea, Spurs and Villa will murder them at Wembley, but knowing their luck they'll get Reading.