sidthesquid

I think the point was he was about thirty and never played at the top level - that was a punt. He rose to the challenge and proved his doubters wrong. Remember when Dave Jones came first & signed his two stars from Stockport (then one division below us) - Paul Jones made the grade & had a long career at the top, poor old Lee Todd, who'd been a star for Stockport sank without trace. It is always a gamble. Strachan proved to have an eye for it. Looks like Pulis does, too, turn the sow's ears of Higgy, Delap & Fuller into Prem stars. Graeme Souness had the opposite of it, paying up time & again for donkeys

The bad news today is that they have made their first signing - Steve Finnan. The good news is he's 33 and only managed to play 3 games all last season for Espanyol. Class...

I think sticking to a wage structure is very important. (Look down the road or at the last two seasons for proof). SJ is a decent player, but hardly irreplaceable, any more than Saga or Rasiak - none of then are young or set the CCC alight last season

O have a soft spot for Salisbury (my old home town) & I've been to watch Havant & Waterlooville a few times, but no-one would come close. It would be like being widowed - I'd either pine away, reminiscing about past glories, or squander it all on a brassy new floozy - Chelsea, maybe, or Man City. But it would never be quite the same

I think the play-offs are a realistic ambition for this season - it will be tight, but do-able. Why shouldn't we? We have the basis of a good squad, a top manager and cash in the bank if we need to bolster the ranks in January

The first statement is just silly - how far back do we need to go? Did the first amphibian crawl out of the water at Southsea or the Hamble. Second point - how many people do you know to ask within the game? Personally I don't know any professional footballers, coaches or managers. Or, for that matter, football journalists. How many do you know? I know a lot of fans though, and most perceive Saints as being a bigger club because they were not old enough to remember your good times of nearly 60 years ago, only the 40 of the last 50 years when we were above you in the league.

An interesting read. I looked west this afternoon towards the Spindly Tower and I saw the skies darkening with chickens coming home to roost

I am prepared to accept that once, long before almost any of us were born, Pompey may have been a bigger club. But then so were Accrington Stanley if you go back far enough and even the Old Carthusians and Corinthians. I think your words - "In the last fifty years" is meaningless as you were above us for 40 of those 50 - has proved we are a bigger club than you. (It's like saying Britain is the most powerful country in the world because 100 yeears ago we had an empire) Certainly our support has remained truer through good times and bad, and I think as your little flirtation with the big time draws iminently to a close the football world will look at your Prem days as an aberration, funded by shady money, rather than a 'big club' regaining its rightful place, and you'll be back struggling to average 10000 a game.

We will never know now as you've just leapt into an unassailable lead and all previous records have been erased:)

In the last fifty years (ie since 1959) an average of 5248 more people per game have watched Southampton than Poopey. It's so difficult to decide which is the bigger club....

Some blatant rubbish in there - I remember when we were at the Dell the joke was which two grounds are always sold out - Old Trafford and the Dell. It was virtually a sell out with season tickets alone, only the away fans varied week on week. Also, unlike yourselves, we have never been in the fourth division. And I think you'll find anyone under the age of eighty and over twelve would still consider us the bigger club

In my day (the 1970's) Goalkeeper 1 Right Back 2 Left Back 3 Right Midfield 4 Centre Back 5 Centre Back 6 Right Wing 7 Inside Forward 8 Centre Forward 9 Left Midfield 10 Left Wing 11 Substitute 12

Not been a lucky one though - Kanchelskis, Hajto & Skacel have hardly done it justice

Saints first - no contest, but England come a respectable second (as long as no skates are in the team)

I wouldn't quite share your man-love of him, but I would be very happy to see him back. A good combative pro who also came across as a articulate and decent bloke - the sort of character who might be up for the challenge of helping some of our lads change their defeatist mentality

I think we'd do well just to get his salary off the books. Started this season like he ended last, ie never looking like he'll score another goal for us. Time to go.

I always thought he showed a reasonable amount of effort - it was talent that was so sadly lacking

It's true - seen the pics on the Blackpool OS. Things just keep geting better

Trouble is, being a centre forward you are expected to score goals

He never had a chance here. It was an interesting appointment that could have worked, but everyone turned against him because of the constant sniping, leaking & lobbying from a certain master of the art (second only to Princess Diana) - one Harry Redflapps. Rather than embrace something new he saw SCW as a threat (perhaps rightly so) and effectively drove him out. He has history on this one.

I know I've gone on about this one before, but it is a jolly entertaining daily read for all of us who take an unhealthy interest in the (potential) downfall of Skate City -http://dralfahim.blogspot.com/. In his (and my) little fantasy world it's head we win - they go into admin, tails they lose - they take taken over by a potless clown. I know it's bad karma to be enjoying their troubles, but you should try living in a PO postcode for the last few years

I admit I quite like him - he was a trier and a battler, and probably he seemed worse with the knowledge that he was costing over ten grand a week, but two goals in twenty-odd games up front and an inability to complete so many simples tasks on the pitch meant he just wasn't good enough. A central part in two of the worst seasons in our history meant he was part of the problem, not the solution. God bless Blackpool and their donkey sanctuary

I would enjoy it more if I thought we'd earned it through good management and determination

Full backs need to attack, too. James did pretty well as a defender, but added something going forward. Think of Jermaine Wright - pretty competent at full back but the only time he crossed the halfway line was half-time.

I hope we do it the right way - debt free we are a wealthy team for this division and the CCC. I don't want us to buy success with silly money (even relative to our rivals). I'm not saying we shouldn't spend to improve the squad, but what we can afford. Buying success is a) hollow and b) fragile. Ask our little chums down the road. I have spoken to a few of them over the years and winning the cup for them seems to mean almost less to them than getting to the final did for us. That was because our team was OUR team - we had lads in that team who had either come up through the ranks (ie Bridge, Oakley, Baird) or made their name with us (ie Beattie, Marsden) - put together over a few seasons. Poopey's team was almost entirely bought for that season at a ludicrous cost in wages and fees and there wasn't the same emotional investment. And now, of course, the day of settling up is upon them and it doesn't look pretty. Mr Gaydalek has had his fun and wants out. I want our new owners to back us for the long-haul, but also for the club to be self-sustaining, with good youngsters getting a go and success being achieved by prudent management and a club that is united. If we do that we can be back in the Prem, punching above our weight and enjoying every moment of success because of it