Katalinic

Well, straight from the horses, well, skates mouth, that is what one of their players told me last Saturday i.e. that the players got called into a meeing and were told that it wasn't certain they were going to get paid.

The players were called into a meeting last Friday and told "errrr we don't know if you are going to get paid or not" so it was obviously a last minute job and touch and go, where the money came from, who knows? For the first time ever on this board I am ITK on something!

No he isn't - good first touch and brings others into play well. Just needs some more experience so I would have thought a loan move would have done him some good.

The horror, the horror.

If Nigel Pearson had also been a guest then I fear you would have spontaneously combusted. We live in hope.

It was merely a shambles. Cost is a red herring as money was not even discussed with Pearson or any other English manager (would they really have cost less than Poortvliet and Wotte?). The Poortvliet appointment was purely down to Rupert thinking a) he knew best and b) being obsessed with somehow being revolutionary in the football world. As an aside, using your logic, you can't look at the previous 2 years shambles in isolation without looking at how we arrived there then and that is down to, in no small part, a certain R.Lowe.

The best we could afford??? There were hundreds of out of work managers in England that at the very least understood the English game. Suggest you read Poortvliet's recent interview about his time at Saints, even he admitted he knew nothing of the league and that the whole thing was actually a shambles.

Expected to win before the game but even at 2-0 down I thought we'd get back into it - not something I would say about any other Saints side from the past 5 years. Finally we have some belief in the side to deal with the knockbacks, which are inevitable during a season.

50p Head

I knew we were in for trouble when he was doing ball "skills" as part of his pre-match warm up. Seemed to be the "I could have been a pro you know but choose refereeing instead" centre of attention seeking type.

"Pas Dieu" was spot on with his substitutions and change of tactics today. Another slice of humble pie Mr.Art?

It was Jaidi I think. Kelvin had called for the ball as well (I heard it through the noise at the Chapel end...) and it was going to bounce through so was a totally pointless foul.

Absolutely, at least we tried to play football at times although there was the odd moments of hoofing it up in the air, while they were long ball all game, just punting it up into the channels. One of the most negative teams I can remember at SMS over the past few years. MK were truly awful and are/were third - that should give us hope that we can make the play offs this season.

Now that has all cheered me up on a cold winter's evening. Lol.

I am not so sure about that, Lowe did cripple us but in a different way - I do agree with you ref Wilde but Lowe started, and finished, the chain of events off that ultimately lead to our financial meltdown.

...

No, but he gambled our Premiership status by not speculating transfer fees and wages on better players - instead paying low wages to mediocre players but still selling off our crown jewels one by one. Lowe and Ridsdale - different methods, same results.

Who cares if he is in the top 20 or not. All I know is that he put together one of the finest Saints teams of all time - the like of which we have not seen since. They were brilliant to watch.

Has slippery Askham, the Monty Burns of Southampton, been seen at SMS this season?

Lol, no wonder Storrie-teller pretended he didn't know who owned the land around the stadium at the skate fans forum last night. Seems to me from that interview that Al-Fahim is saving face in terms of selling for a profit but the underlying vibe is that that Storrie has p***ed him off - if all of this is true then they cannot re-develop without Al-Fahim agreeing/being bought out. If Al-Fahim has shafted them then as he says, Praise be To God

http://www.portsmouth.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=173838 Comedy Gold - I particularly liked: "PS was asked if there were any more financial surprises. He said no. He was then asked who owns the land around FP. He said he did not know". PS in selective knowledge shocker.

I didn't realise how Bristolian Lloyd was (heard him interviewed on Solent just prior to Southend) so I can't help reading his reply with a Bristol accent. On a slight tangent, has anyone noticed how much the guy at SMS who does the announcing of the car park being closed to home supporters after the game sounds like Jason Dodd? Have a listen next home game.

I see you have stopped referring to AP as "Pas Dieu" - what a difference a couple of wins makes eh Art? On the Gillett subject he was the one of the few players I really wanted us to keep this for this season but has been disappointing when he has played - the loan will do him good and it is make or break for him when he returns to Saints I feel. He hasn't been treated badly though, he simply hasn't been up to scratch this season and doesn't deserve a place currently.

Stig Johansen

FA Cup away a couple of seasons ago.