spyinthesky

Henry Redknapp, the Football Manager for whom a 'well respected' (!!!!) provincial newspaper ran a high profile campaign, backed by many of his rapturous fans and hangers on (eg at least one local MP), to petition the authorities to make the gentleman a Knight of the Realm. I am sure the newspaper in question would not be too happy to be reminded of their stance!

If you were the owner of SFC, and not a died in the wool supporter, would you look to realise your asset at this stage? With a reported £90m in gross revenue forthcoming (hopefully secured for the immediate future), a decent ground (bought and paid for) a well respected Academy and a squad worth, say, £50m+ (most on longish contracts) set against an investment of say £25-£30m, it doesn't look a bad return. I think any owner would be looking at the downside going forward eg higher player wages and transfer fees to cement Premiership future, possible investment in increased stadium capacity etc etc against the additional revenue potential. I really hope that the owners do have a long term continuity plan for the club as, apart from the odd hiccup here and there, Saints have made remarkable progress since the dark days of the previous regimes.

Interesting that Swansea forums seem to agree that we are a decent side and did well today at the Liberty

At the end of this season, Saints average League attendance, since both teams entered the Football league in 1920/1, will exceed Pompey's making us the best supported club south of London in historical as well as well as current terms. Saints average home attendance will have been higher than Pompey's in 50 of the 86 seasons in league football,despite Saints having a smaller capacity stadium for all but 12 years of this time. For those who don't know, Pompey could only average 37,000 for home league games in their two League winning seasons in 1948/9 and 1949/50 when Fratton Park had a capacity of over 50,000. This was at a time when most League clubs, in all four divisions, were filling their grounds to capacity after WW2. Saints supremacy is most marked in the 53 seasons since Pompey were relegated from the old Division 1 in1958/9. Saints have been in the top tier for 36 seasons since then (compared to Pompey at and, of course never in Division 4 or League 2 (whatever you like to call it) Saints average home attendance will be close to 20,000 per season at the end of this campaign whilst Pompey's will be around the 13,800 mark Pompey will only have been better supported in terms of average home crowds in only 3 of these 53 years!!!!!!!!!!. In terms of League and Cup meetings since 1920/1, there have been 38 of which Saints have won 19 and lost 9. This includes a 5-2 win at 'Fortress Fratton' in 1965/6. In some respects the comparative records since the early 60's, which basically covers the lifetime of most current supporters, probably explains why Pompey fans have such a downer on Saints. In every respect Pompey have been in the shadow of Saints for all bar 7 seasons from 2004/5 until 2009/10 (even during this time Saints had more people through the turnstiles as a lower league club than Pompey did in the Premiership) Of course Pompey can rely on their boast that they have won more trophies and this is a fact. However I wonder if there may be some around who claim to be Wanderers fans, a team which won the FA Cup 5 times in the late 19th century and are now playing in the Surrey South Eastern Combination!!! For most of up long tern supporters the dominance along this end of the M27 has been a given, apart from the small blip a few years back. it is comforting to know that the Saints reign of supremacy along the South Coast is likely to return to normal over the forseeable future and the main challenge may actually come from Brighton who have the infrastructure in place to challenge from further along the coast.

All this reminds me of an occasion inn the early 70's when I was at University up north. I went to Elland Road by myself to see Saints play Leeds and stood on the terraces around the half way line. The referee gave a very dodgy penalty after Gerry Gurr was adjudged to have fouled Billy Bremner and I yelled out in protest and then realised that all around me there was silence and Leeds fans looking amazed. Fortunately nothing was said as they were mainly laughing at their good fortune and probably surprised at seeing one of the very few Saints fans at the game. I suppose being away from the 'hard core' fans also helped. Jasper Carrott does a couple of good pieces about being a Birmingham fan at Old Trafford and an England fan at Hampden, again back in the 70's

On the basis that the Myth Makers at the east end of the M27 seem to be generally jubilant about the PST takeover, I am surprised that the Toy Salesman hasn't been on to gloat about the new arrangement and heralding a new dawn for Pompey.

Can someone please remind me the circumstances why the 'Fund Raising' game to be arranged by a group of Saints fans post admin was cancelled. A Pompey acquaintance of mine keeps spouting off it was due to a lack of interest but I recollect that the idea was withdrawn as there was strong rumours of a takeover Would be pleased to know the facts rather than Myths

Chatting to an old mate of mine up on Merseyside recently. Topic went round to old girl friends. Concentrated mainly on the good but grimaced about one or two 'regrets' He then told me about a story in the Liverpool Echo about a 42 year grandmother (Paula Mangan) from Huyton who was convicted of 33 offences of being 'engaged' with (presumably not to!!!) a Rottweiler- Cross. Beyond belief!!! You wonder which one had the most mongrel DNA I bet her family were really proud of her!!!

I have the track somewhere on a dusty cassette Always seemed strange to me that he recorded it as a lifelong Birmingham fan Anyone heard his story about going to Hampden for a Scotland v England game? The Brum visit to Old Trafford and the 'Cowin Bovril' pieces were good too!!

I was fortunate to be invited to a private dinner at Beaulieu House recently and, on leaving, saw a Saints scarf on the coat rack On enquiring with the House Keeper who it belonged to was informed 'Lord Montague' Presume it would be one of the younger members of the family not 'THE' Lord of the Manor. Nevertheless supporting the Saints didn't really seem to fit in with the family surroundings. Set me wondering if there were any other 'Unexpected' Saints fans. Tiff Neadell comes to mind as I assumed he would be too tied up in Motor Sport to follow the Beautiful Game. The Chairman of Selfridges was another than somehow didn't fit the mould in my mind

Instead of a six pointer the Cov game could be the first ever minus twentier!!!!!!

Not directly Saints related but what ever happened to the Youth team lad from Nottm Forest who destroyed our youngsters in the FA Youth Cup last year and subsequently got a big money move to Chelsea?

Notwithstanding the historical significance of the original Titanic disaster on Southampton, I think the project would have a massive (if short lived) PR impact. However will the ship ever get built. The Aussie businessman who is fronting up the cash is reportedly getting the ship built in China as an 'add on' bonus to a number of bulk carriers he is getting built. The Aussie did not attend the media launch in Soton recently and, apparently, Southampton Port has received no approach from the owners re a berth. In any event the new ship could not use the original Titanic berth as there are no passenger facilities there now. I give this project a 30% chance of happening

Sorry but meant to write Yoshida (worth £2m) between Fonte and Ward Prowse, not Mayuka. As a card carrying pessimist my original thoughts revolved around who would have to go if we were relegated. However if we continue to display the form of recent weeks, and get the odd rub of the green, we should be fine. Quite separately it is interesting to see that Wolves sold at least £20m of players (Fletcher and Jarvis) post relegation and still struggle in the Championship, although I guess they have their new stand to pay for

Lazy morning so here goes with a subjective post which will, of course, depend on length of contact/wages etc etc All hypothetical that we would entertain selling any players Boruc Nil Age related Davis Nil Ditto Gazzinga £1m Assume we would get money back Clyne £4m+ Settled down v well. Future England cap? Richardson Nil Age related Shaw £8m+ Great impact this year. Future England cap? Fox £400k Championship standard only? Schniederlin £7m+ Really come on thjs year Cork £4m Ditto Davis £500+ Decent addition to squad. At least money back Ward Prowse £1m For potential Mayuka £2m Getting better. At least money back Fonte £2m Reasonable Prem standard centre back Hooivelt £1m At least money back Forren ? ?????????? Puncheon £1m + Probably a fair bit more if judged on his general form this season Mayuka ? ?????????? Guly £500k Couldn't really see a Prem side being interested Lambert £3m Difficult one this. Age against him but strikers always at a premium Rodriguez £7m Thought he was at least £2m overrated when we signed him but now beginning to justify his fee Ramirez £12m Assume someone would give us our money back as he is fundamentally a decent player Lallana £6m+ Young and English. Could be undervalued at this momey Sharp £1m Not playing regularly for Forest which must reduce his value De Ridder £500k Perhaps a foreign side would take him for this Rest of squad - So a total squad value of + £60m I guess this must sit quite nicely on the club's books especially in comparison to our friends down the road

Usual good condition Watching MOTD and FL show over the weekend revealed how bad some playing surfaces are around the country I suppose it helps not having reserve team games, training or rugby games to contend with but this doesnt excuse some Premier clubs. Well done to the groundstaff at SMS

Football League website provides some useful info SAINTS 2011/12 2344 av away (best 5770) 2010/11 1487 2009/10 1480 2008/09 1104 2007/08 1142 Av No of away fans per game at SMS 1332 Av No of away fans attending Championship games 1508 Compare Pompey 2011/12 1166 away fans 2010/11 1165 " " (ie well less than the 'average') Bournemouths average over the past 5 years was 400

See that 'Appy' is not well liked by the Blackburn Faithful Shame he was such a success at Pompey (13 wins in 51?)

Notice that the Snooze has a big 'Local Derby' feature in which Pompey are about to hammer local rivals ...Southampton. This time it is their Ladies team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Interesting to know if the Ladies enjoy a financial input from the 'Big Boys Club' Also Cheats FC are always banging on about their 'history' As I recollect it Soton Ladies used to be one of the top female sides in the country back in the Sue lopez era of the 70's

Are figures available re away support in the Prem? Notice that someone was bragging in the Pompey News that the 1,000 Pompey took to Leyton Orient was more than our following to Norwich!!

Anyone have an update on the availability of Gin Gan, Jose and our mystery new signing?

The Southampton Company of Union Men fairly tale is indeed a fabricated story to substantiate the S.C.U.M myth (hence Portsmyth FC) It was a group of Pompey fans, including 'Docker' Hughes, the predecessor to the icon who is John PFC Westwood, who started the story after Portsmouth Dockers reneged on an agreement not to handle Brittany Ferry ships which had moved up to Portsmouth from Plymouth in the autumn of 1976 and were mass picketed by groups of Soton Dockers led by Ritchie Pearce. The police were called to protect the Pompey Dockers in the commercial port down there. There are factual reports about this in the archives of the Daily Echo and the Portsmouth News whereas you will have to rely on 'folklore' passed on by the fertile imagination of some 'hard core' people down on Portsea Island, one of whom was recently fondly remembered in print by one of his peers having being seen, back in the 70's, up a tree eating his own vomit after taking a copious amount of mind altering drugs. Not surprisingly the person with an unusual dining habit passed away at a fairly early age but is still revered by some of the '657' clan.

Does anyone know how many 'Fans trust' clubs there are? One of the first, I recollect, was Non league Ebbsfleet who started with 27,000 odd members paying £35 each and they all had a say in the club's admin and team selection policy. However 3 years down the line only 3,500 members remain and the club is back in financial difficulty. Surely something similar couldn't happen to Portsmyth FC could it?

Unfortunately I am away from my Saints 'bible' but was talking to a Saints fan, of my generation, on the train and he mentioned Jimmy Greaves turning out for Saints in a friendly Can any one cast any light on this? I think I can remember an evening game under lights? I can also vaguely remember watching a Show Biz 11 game at the Dell in which the likes of Tommy Steele and Roy Castle played. Ironically later in life I played in a charity game in Bournemouth in which Roy Castle turned out (think he was in Panto there)before he some time later sadly died of lung cancer (even though he didnt smoke)

Anyone see the rather large piece in todays Times about Pompey Unfortunately only got a glance over someones shoulder on the train but last paragraph said something along the lines of ...'falling well down the South Coast pecking order compared to their resurgent neighbours at Southampton, Brighton and Bournemouth'...!! Perhaps add Plymouth and even the likes of Dover, Weymouth and Bognor in future years.