sidthesquid

Definitely 05. Truly was the end of an era. We were no longer invincible. 09 was just one more kick in the nuts in a saga that had long become a farce. The hurt of 05 was tangible (and that 4-1 will long live in the darker recesses of my mind.) And Agent Harry. In 09 it was almost funny it was so bad.

Not quite true - Norris refused to sign a new contract because he was holding out for a big-money move in the summer. Now if the Skates do sign him they will have had to outbid the other interested parties for his services. His signing - or not - will give us a big clue as to where they are going next.

That's put me right off my dinner

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/fratton-latest One of the (many) reasons the skates give us so much joy is that they do everything in public. They are like characters in Stenders - they have to go down the Vic to sort out a family quarrel or for some damning revelation, rather than do it in private. As long as I can remember (apart from a brief spell when old 'Arry the barra-boy was in charge) our club has always conducted itself with discretion and a bit of dignity, not washing its soiled linen in public. It almost seems compulsory on Portsea Island, however, and Clotterill seems to fit right on in like Alfie Moon has never been away. Strange, classless place.

I'm ashamed to confess - I can't actually remember if I have ever seen him play!

Has any player anywhere, who has never made the first team, ever generated so much interest as Anthony Pulis? People will still be talking and writing about him long after many better pros have been and gone. Rooms will hush when you say - I saw him play (in a friendly for the reserves). Youngsters will ask you what he was REALLY like. You will be able to proudly tell your grandkids that you were there, that you contributed to one of the dozens of threads about him. And in time he will grow into a legend, like King Arthur, with learned men debating whether he really existed, and blockbuster films made about his return to save England in some mythical future. Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Anthony Pulis......

Don't disagree in general. We have to seperate a long term aim/dream from ridiculous empty headed boasts by some of our fans. My dog is as likely to play for Saints as Michael Owen imo. We have two men with a plan at the top and nothing they have done yet suggests they are about to sp()nk cash on someone like him. But a long-term aim to become a top club is entirely senmsible.

It is a dream, but it is also an aim. NA stated all year he wanted to win the title, we only got second. Not a disaster, but it kept everyone focussed. We might never get Champions League football, but we might get close, we might never get back to the Prem, but you have to push forward. Settling for mid-table Championship is not an option. In my experience you are either going forwards or backwards and settling is always the first step towards going backwards. All successful people are driven on - look at Fergie, 12 titles but still with a face like a slapped @rse when a decision goes against him. So, I'm not going to start bragging in a Ho-like manner that we will get there, but as an aim it is totally justified.

He's only 21 & it was a big step up for him, so if he isn't too dear, definitely a good signing

Interesting to see Norris has left Ipswich after turning down a new deal. Big rumours in Jan that he was a Skate target - whether he signs now or goes elsewhere will be a good indicator of whether they are going for financial reality or just carry on outbidding well-run clubs in the pursuit of 'quality over quantity' ™.

They could play the Skates at 5-a-side. Their managers speak the same language, too.

One I reckon is deffo going is Lee Holmes - he had tears in his eyes as he did the lap of honour. I feel for the lad as he has some talent, but like another talented 'wreck' on Sunday - David Hughes, he just isn't physically capable of playing professional football. 13+10 sub in 3 years (& 5 of those were the first 5 games of his first season!) just isn't enough to justify a contract.

It was meant as a joke, really, but even so I still had to pay to travel from the dark side after yesterday as well, as I'm sure many others did, so a pretty good turn-out for a meaningless kickabout versus crap crowds all season was the point of the comment.

A fun afternoon & good to see some old faces. Higher turnout than for Skates last home league game, LOL. Did anyone notice that virtually all our young subs appear to have been cloned in a giant lab under Staplewood, or possibly the result of some sinister breeding programme to create the master-race, started circa 1995 by one R Lowe?

More people at SMS today for a kickabout today than for either their last game or their average attendance.

Quite well.....

I'm gonna miss League One. Everyone (me included) thought that relegation was the end, but what a bl00dy great two years we've had. A cup final at Wembley, promotion, some great games of football, and some new stars. Most of all, though, it really feels like we have re-found that strange positive feeling we all managed to lose over the past four or five years - that 'we know we'll make hard work of it, but it'll come right in the end' feeling that was the bedrock of our past successes. And I genuinely believe (& I am not usually given to optimism about Saints) that this is just the start. This bus is going to run and run.

Since we lost to Brentford before Xmas P27 W20 D4 L3 including last nine at home in a row. When it comes to games of football, everyone in the building is on the bus & rowing in the same direction, and you can't ask for more than that. Top, top man.

As I was bored yesterday afternoon I looked back to the table at the turn of the year & since then Saints have averaged 2.32 points/game, Hudds 2.25 & Brighton 2.23. All three clubs have been on the equivalent of 100+points for the season form which just proves what a great job we have done to escape this league (fingers crossed). No wonder Hudds are gutted.

When is the three amigos' court case? And, does anyone know how long it is likely to last? If I was about to by a CCC club, I'd want to wait & make sure I wasn't buying one that was about to be a League 2 club.

Assuming I make it on Saturday, I will have been to every home game this season, including JPT, League Cup & FA Cup games. (But no away games, I'm afraid to say.)

To be honest, if we didn't sign or lose a single player, this squad would do very well in the Championship.

Just heard that my home-town club Salisbury, who were royally shafted last season , have won the play-off back into Conference South on pens. What a f()cking top day!

Saints sash-shirt spotted in Selsey today. Can't remember the last time I saw a skate shirt locally.

But currently only just the second best team in the League & all else counts for zilch. When we are sitting above all the others, then start to crow. There's a word for what some of you are experiencing - hubris. (Look it up.)