sidthesquid

Like Eric Pickles, you mean?

I've got one at work - bigged up the loyal fan bit, supported them through thick and thin, lifelong season ticket holder, blaah blaah blaah. Always keen to talk football, always a few little digs and I'd be the bigger man, not rise to it or punch him. As soon as they were relegated he gave up his season-ticket, said 'all modern football is crap' and has never talked football since. It's odd - I've never known even a 'plastic' go from obsessive to nothing so quick. Once a c*** always a.....

Just think how much dirtier it could be if you went to Skatesmouth....

Ah, 1970 - the year of my first visit to the Dell. 4-0 v Derby Channon 2, Davies 2, & a skate was something we caught when I went fishing with my dad.

This summer has all but killed off my love of the game. I have being going down to the Dell/SMS for 45 years, and I will be there again this season, but.... I hardly watched the World Cup I very rarely watch MOTD or the Champions League, just the Saints live. I naively imagined that we could buck the trends in modern football & I loved last season as much as any I remember - for the way we were doing it, not just the results. But our dismantling has been brutal for us, but brutal for every other team outside of Liverpool, Manchester and London. Nobody outside the top six is ever going to make it to the Champions League again. If you ever dare to fly too high you will be ripped apart. The grind of survival is the reality for the majority of Premiership fans, and players know they can only fulfill their own dreams by a quick move to the top six - there is no longer any other way. And that is bad for a competitive sport. In many ways I wish the top clubs would go off to form a European Super League, and though we would continue to lose our best players at least we would have a chance in an open and competitive league.

She isn't - the club is the bricks and mortar. Player contracts appear as liabilities, not as realisable assets. If I was selling the club, the best way to maximise the return is sell the best players separately. You wouldn't get an extra £100 million on the sale value of the club with the players still there, that is the point.

Just as you reach a state of despair, the good old Skates always do something to bring a smile to your face. Good old Ebbsfleet, whoever they are, and just when Awful Andy looked like he might be getting their sh1t together.

Found on a Spuds blog via Newsnow - an interview with Schneiderlin about the 'pressing' game. You can see why we need intelligent players! http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/725224554?-11205:798

Probably more than ours, too

Good to see Bartosz Bilakowski starting to move back up the leagues. Always had promise - two good seasons in League One and his career is going forward again. At 27 he still has a chance to get back to the top. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28312843

What happened to his new career as coach at Crawley?

You can see why the prperty developers keep doing it, though. Every time they must think - surely nobody is that stupid, they'll tumble it this time - and lo and behold the Septic Isle dwellers fall for it all over again. It's like Groundhog Day all over again down there.

I do miss the good old days on this site. They really are starting to get boringly sensible these days. On a separate note - how sh!te is Scottish football if Premier League teams are taking Skate rejects. (I hope we don't get Lennon - anything other than winning all trophies with Celtic is abject failure)

That was (partly) why I was so desperate for them to get to that level

Had a look at the Pompey Education Centre on streetview - looks a classy installation

I think Chambers is the fastest of the three - he just has longer legs! He would be wasted at CB - maybe a wide midfielder. Even though he is the same age as Shaw he is behind him physically (Shaw is a Rooney-like phenomenon of a boy in a man's body) and he will look less coltish in the next year or two and I think he has the potential to be the best of the three.

Who could have seen this one happening.... FORMER Crawley Town goalkeeper Paul Jones is close to signing for League Two side Portsmouth, according to Sky Sports. The 27-year-old played every minute of every game last season for Crawley but was released at the end of the season when his contract ran out. It is thought his substantial wages stopped cost-cutting Crawley offering him another deal.

Perfect summary - you don't normally associate Scousers with class, but has anyone ever left a club with more. Gutted he's gone, but can only wish him all the best.

I wavered today. Not least because, having sat in the same seat since the ground opened, I was told I would have to move as it is now part of the Family Centre & my son is now twenty. I could move two rows to the left and pay another £140 combined for their convenience. I was sorely tempted to tell them to stick it. But... It will be my forty-fifth season. It MAY not be all bad and I have known worse. And what else could you I do with £1000+? (Lucky I didn't ask the wife).

We could buy them to be our B-league team as a warning to our bright young lads to stay focussed and not drift down the leagues. (There, it may not be interesting, but at least I got my 1960 comment in, before I get overtaken by a younger poster!)

It is a local club for local people

The state of the ground is the least of her worries. Personally, I'd be warning her about the entire population down there if she hasn't visited before. Scary, in a peculiar and disturbing way. Think Royston Pompey

Or possibly 13000 that will sound like 13000 + a cluckwit with a bell......

It's cash or cheque - it's pretty obvious how they would really like it paid..... (Preferably mixed used notes, no receipt necessary)

That looks like a really classy do. I hope they remember to wash the tablecloths after they use them at their press conferences.