benjii

Redknapp's credentials aren't amazing and there are obviously concerns around the way he operates in the long-term, at club level. The reason he is the overwhelming favourite is partly his affable media schtick but is mainly the fact that there is a dearth of experienced English managers at the highest level. If we want an English manager, realistically who are the other candidates? Of the experienced group that have operated to a significant degree at the highest level and are active or recently active in management there is Hodgson (perceived to have failed at Liverpool), McClaren (damaged goods, been there before), Pearce (seems a decent guy but probably one for the future - the jury's still out). Do you want any of them? Beyond that, current PL English managers are Redknapp, Pardew, [Pulis is Welsh isn't he?] and Mick McCarthy. That's it. Then you get into the realms of Keegan, Hoddle, Venables, Reid, Shearer etc... who all, for various reasons, would be odd appointments. If you cast the net wider to include British Isles PL managers then you might look at O'Neil, Ferguson, Lambert, Rodgers, Hughes, Moyes etc... Of those, I think O'Neil is really the only obvious choice (can't see Fergie being up for it!). You can look at foreign coaches with a lot of experience in England: Wenger and Mourinho are the obvious names but would they really want the hassle? So you can look down the pyramid for an Englishman: Adkins..? Allardyce..? Mowbray..? If you were in the FA would you choose one of them over Redknapp? Or you can go down the Klinsmann / van Basten approach that other countries have tried. Who is our equivalent? Shearer, Adams, Beckham, Neville...? Sound like a good idea? Nah. I agree that Harry's CV isn't as good as it's portrayed to be but if you want an experienced Englishman there is little choice. Anything else is a gamble and given the FA's recent history I imagine they will be looking for a pretty safe option.

Agree. It's ****ing pathetic.

It'll be Friday 17th, but the sentiment is correct!

I still maintain we will win the league, and possibly by a reasonably comfortable margin. The best teams in the league are us, Hull and Blackpool.

Why do you post team news early? Do you think the club wants you to do this?

I'm not single and my Mrs will be at home. YES!! I am der ubermensch.

I would pick this team, if they are fit: -----------------Bart--------------- Butter------Font----Martin-----Hard --------------Hammond----------- ----Chaplow----------Reeves------ ----------------Guly-------------- -------de Ridder------Lee--------- Sub: KD, Jaidi, Stephens, Puncheon, Lambert, Barnard, Ward-Prowse Gives us a lot of options to change it round. Guly could move up front with de Ridder moving to one wing and Chaplow on the other of a flatter midfield. Alternatively, Guly could play on one wing and Chaplow on the other of a flatter midfield. Lallana can have a rest as he seems fairly brittle and Puncheon is just as likely to make an impact if we need another attacking midfielder. Hopefully Rickie won't be needed but it's worth having him there just in case a late cavalry charge is needed. I'm assuming Jaidi is fit enough for the bench and Jos isn't. Martin has played a lot recently but he's young (but not too young) and he hasn't played much over the last two seasons so I don't think there's any need to rest him. I would also expect Jos to be back soon to take over from him. If anything, I would look to rest Fonte for the second half and give Jaidi a run out.

A plastic drinks bottle was thrown at Bristol City players from the Itchen when they scored. I saw it clearly.

Neither of Fox's yellow-card receiving "fouls" should have been fouls, never mind yellow cards. That ought to be obvious to anyone. The first tackle was a one footed, well timed left footed tackle directly onto the ball. It wasn't high and it wasn't excessively forceful. He deliberately kept his right foot tucked in to avoid following through with that leg. The Birmingham player jumped in the air expecting to be clattered - but he wasn't. You shouldn't be penalised because the opposition is scared of you. The second was just a harmless arm across that you see 50 times in a match; it wasn't a pull nor was it a push. I think the lino flagged for the foul so the ref had little choice but to give it, given how close the lino was, but he really should have had the common sense to keep his card in his pocket. By far the worst challenge of the match was Caldwell's cynical trip on Guly. I think Guly would have got to the ball first and would have ony had the 'keeper to beat so it it really ought to have been a red, however I can see why the ref gave a yellow as the left back had some chance of covering (although I don't think he would've got there). It was a "good" foul from Caldwell as it stopped us winning the match and he knew he probably wouldn't get sent off. Wasn't at all impressed by Birmingham but it would be unfair to judge any team trying to play in those conditions. The important thing was not to get beaten so I am very happy with a point in the circumstances. Although we played the better football and controlled the tempo for most of the match our final ball was not very good (Cork, Fox, Richardson) and we didn't really do enough to say we definitely deserved the win.

Two comments: 1) that article is appaling. It is sub-GCSE. 2) he did have stuff thrown at him.

Are people seriously whining about this one? It was a very hard game in paper, in atrocious conditions, we had no rub of the green from the ref and we were the better team. Good performance, good result, good weekend.

I'm not telling you, but you couldn't afford me anyway. Ben

If you borrow money from someone and they go bust it's not your fault. That's why, on the simplest level, they haven't got a points deduction. If you take out a loan from a bank and the bank goes under you wouldn't expect to be penalised. However, they are clearly insolvent at the moment and their previous solvency was clearly entirely dependent on a line of credit which no longer exists. So, absent further investment, it will just be a matter of time. I thought the frank statement on their website the other day was a precursor to board resignations but these have not happened yet. I think it's fair to say that if the board was replaced with the board of SLH PLC the administrators would have been called in by now. However, what is interesting and "different" in their case from the basic borrower/lender analogy above is that there are serious question marks over the legitimacy of the funds lent to PFC. PFC was also under the ownership of the lender. Therefore several questions may, in time, be raised as to whether PFC was aware, should have been aware, or can be deemed to have been aware, as to the origin of the money and, if illegitimate, whether they were culpable in some way for receiving that money. But you can't really expect the FL to bypass the legal procedures and make a judgment on that; it is complicated and outside the remit of a sporting body. If they are advanced money from the parachute payments then they certainly should receive a hefty points penalty as advancing money clearly conveys on them a sporting advantage. The mistake their board has made has been in trying to remain "competitive" in the Championship. There is no objective reason why PFC should be a competitive force in the Championship. Far bigger clubs have spent time in League One; with their legacy issues hanging over them their prime objective should have been to cut costs to the bone, accept the sporting consequences and get the club on a stable footing. After all, with their legendary and massive support they would surely have no problem rising naturally out of League One, right?

That's a good summary apart from 1): the failure to mention that were it not for the assistance of the football authorities in forwarding money (thus giving them an unfair advantage) they would probably be bust already; 2) the failure to mention the clear cheating that allowed the plucky cup run alluded to and the wrong impression given that it was a ramshackle team of inexperienced kiddies; and 3) a clear misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of the "Fit and Proper Persons" test.

"Unwavering support" Good one.

Presumably you haven't seen him play then?

Dear Mr Cameron, Your remarks concerning Portsmouth Football Club today are shocking. This is an insolvent company which has previously taken HMRC for a haircut of some £25million. It did this by achieving a CVA to wipe off 80% of its unsecured debts the last time it was in administration (which was recently). It has not yet paid a penny of its CVA commitments to HMRC or the other creditors. It has now again elected to assume liabilities that give rise to tax obligations it cannot keep. It is not surprising that the local MP seeks to curry favour over this issue but that the Prime Minister should be seen to glibly condone this behaviour is objectionable in any circumstance and obscene in the current mess. You should know that such nonsense is liable to lose you as many votes as it gains. Football clubs should not be given special treatment and taxpayers should not be expected to subsidise them. I hope you will clarify your immoral comments soon. Sincerely...

They are decent players, however both have been injured a lot recently and so have lost their places. That's football. Connolly seems far too unreliable nowadays. For every good game he seems to have a bad game and he is rarely in the side long enough to prove that premise wrong IMO. I have no doubt Barnard is capable of doing a decent job in the Championship but is he good enough to be a part of the team that we aspire to create?... probably not. He would have played more this season had he been fit but he wasn't so we decided we needed to get Lee and Sharp. Both players have made a big contribution to our recent success and deserve, once they move, to be fondly remembered by Saints fans. I don't feel concerned for them. That's the way it is.

I've been to loads of places in Europe by rail Minty and there are always plenty of things to see and do and a range of accommodation options. Rail travel is generally reliable and almost always relatively cheap. Some of the routes can seem quite slow though (particularly in some of the Eastern countries and watch out for catching stopping services instead of the intercity routes!) but if you're not in a rush it's always nice to watch the world go by. I think the best advice you have had is to sit down and decide on a shortlist of "must do" things. Otherwise it will be hard to know where to start. From my own experience those "must do" things might be Auschwitz (so Krakow would be on your itinerary, for example), Rome (incredible place), Venice, Berlin... Budapest is great too. So is Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Lisbon, Zagreb, Dubrovnik... seriously, there are loads! The Slovenian Lakes, the Swiss mountains, the French countryside, Bavaria... etc....! Once you have your shortlist then decide how long you want to spend at each place and your other stop offs should take care of themselves. One tip would be not to try to cram too many stops in as, although the travelling itself can be fun, it's always a bit galling if you leave somewhere with the feeling that you would have like to stay an extra day or two. Another option, if you are planning on flying into Europe, is to look for a cheap outward flight on a suitable date and a cheap inward flight from somewhere else and make sure that the ends meet in the time you have available! Europe is an amazing continent with such a variety of attitudes to life and climates that you can cram so much into a fairly short trip. I would always try to mix it up a bit so you have a few of the main cities, a few smaller places and some time by the beach. Go in September for example and it might be 10C and raining at one end of your trip and wall-to-wall sunshine and 30C at the other.

I hope Connolly doesn't start. He's just not reliable enough any more. Since the first few games of the season he has had as many shockers as decent games. I would expect it to be Guly and Lambert upfront with Lee on the bench. Hopefully Puncheon and Lallana on the wings.

So drawing both would be a disaster? Get a grip.

Agree. It's an excellent draw. I hope we beat Milwall.

Yep, he looks the type to make curved runs off the last defender and he definitely has a turn of pace. Physically I don't think he will have any problems at all; he looks quite strong. For a free transfer, he looks a bloody good prospect! He is bound to take a little while to find his groove though and learn the best way to interact with his new team mates.

Or just take the Jubilee line like everyone else!

Guys, are we going to have this thread every time Nicola hosts a dinner for someone? Seriously, we appreciate the reminder but we all know you're a bunch of weird, poisonous, inadequates so there's really no need. I don't know Chez. I expect that's not the case. I don't see why someone couldn't raise a point like that. I would be surprised if you weren't able to do so - the raison d'etre of the evening surely dictates that you should. The effect the scenario probably does have is that people raise the point in a measured and calm way rather than using the opportunity to have a rant on the radio and make a tit of themselves. It probably also allows for a slightly more candid response than a public forum as it affords the opportunity for a dialogue to occur - which can be tricky when addressing a crowd as people are more likely to interrupt or ask about something completely different.