spyinthesky

Only problem I had from 'The Gods' was that the screen was too small and it was difficult to distinguish what was being shown on the action footgage. Easy to comment on the running order retrospectively but more about Ron Davies,European Campaigns the influence of our foreign players etc etc would have been good. Felt a bit sorry fro some of the attendees such as Steve Williams, Glen Cockerill etc would contributed a good deal to recent club history but never got the chance to speak However Mike Osman did a decent job and, as usual Lawrie, Shearer and MLT (especially) spoke very well Good evening all in all

From Day 1 there has been speculation that part of the club's takeover by the Liebherrs was the possible development potential both on and off the field of play Part of this was getting hold of land in the proximity of the Stadium, including the water frontage and the gasometers. I know for a fact that Mr Cortese originally had cursory discussions with the relevant authorities about developing along the River Itchen but these didnt seem to get very far on the basis that companies, such as Hanson operating the aggegates wharves, were on long term Council leases, or owned the land Freehold, and would have nowhere else to go In view of this, from an outsiders perspective, there didnt see too much mileage in this particular opportunity However heard a little rumour recently (from a decent source) that discussions are underway to relocate some, or all, of the Aggregate business to the, soon to be vacated, Town Depot closer to the Itchen Bridge and the necessary permissions for the land and waterside activity were in the pipeline. Previously this was going to be the site of a new Snow Dome but apparently potential developers have been stalling on offers If the Aggregate businesses could be relocated this would allow interested parties (SFC?) some interesting development possibilities on the vacated waterfront site. In addition this may link into a separate rumour that the club are keen to take on the Lease of Unit 17 on the Trading Estate to the back of the Chapel end which is currently available. If they were also able to obtain this and the adjacent building, and possibly the Gasometer site at some stage in the future, all of a sudden the current stadium footprint increases substantially and adds value to the Liebherr family investment. I suppose it is a case of 'watch this space' Would be interested to know if any one else has picked this up?

Was at the event last night Great to see so many Saints related players and officials. (Not current ones obviously) Also some old faces who are long time supporters of the club Didnt seem much of a recession when the Auction was held!! No adverse comments made re the current regime apart from possibly one fairly restrained one. Tommy Doc presented Lawrie Mack with the 'Lifetime Award', which was a nice touch The Cabaret chappie was really good. Supposed to be an Armenian Immigrant but presumably British. A v funny routine He could also play the piano really well as part of his act No idea of his name but a star in the making All in all a thoroughly enjoyable evening only spoilt by a quite appalling main course served up by the De Vere Onto the Mayflower tonight!!

Duncan Just a bit more background on the Ex Saints bit As I understand it The Box at St Marys is paid for by Clive Webster?? who is a v keen Saints fan having made his money in the Care Home Business. He also has a horse or two (Archers Rd?) under training with Mick Channon at Lambourne He is actively involved in the Old Saints Professionals (or wording similar to this, which Tim Manns runs from Jersey) Whatever the organisation is called it has the same ideals, aims and objectives as the Ex Saints but don't think they are the same organisation. As regards Roy Beazley both he and his wife have been through a lot in latter years healthwise so wish him well I think he got a CBE or something similar for his charity work after spending many years working for the NHS and in the Docks as well as being v active in local football , often with Steve Beaney who sadly died a few years ago Roy remains v matey with John Sydenham finally it seems a little odd to me that having majored on the 125 yr anniversary, the club hasnt done more to celebrate the whole history of the club which has been allowed to continue, and hopefully flourish, under the new ownership.

Duncan You are closer to the goings on at the club than most What is your take on the Ex Saints situation. The original Ex Saints was fronted by Roy Beazley and a nuber of 1960's/70's Saints like Bob McCarthy, Stuart Williams, Ken Jones, Dennis Hollywood, Dennis Pring etc In more recent times (possibly due to the age profile of the older players) more recent ex players have taken on the mantle and there has been a more 'professional' aspect to the organisation, run by Tim Manns I understand that there has been friction between the 'old guard' and the new Ex Saints (operating under a slightly different name) Do you know who is actually organising the De Vere event tonight and the Mayflower one tomorrow? I attended a charity event at St Marys last year (think it was Ex Saints connected) and the organiser was v uncomplimentary abouit the asistance given by the club and Mr Cortese (can't remember exactly what the particular issue was) There does seem to be some friction sculling around between the club and others. This is a shame as we all want the Saints to prosper and the Liebherr/Cortese setup has generally been positive but all this can be tainted by disputes within/without the club

As a bit of an attendance geek was surprised to see the crowd figure quoted as 10,162,which is enormous for Morecombe Even showed his figure on the Morecombe site but Cheltenham indicated 1,162, bit of a difference. Any one know the real figure? Whilst researching this see that MLT headlined a Sporting Dinner on Friday night at the Arena Stadium which was 'sold out' Perhaps lots of attendees stayed behind after the dinner to watch the game!!

Whilst trying to find out the Saints Academy result v Fulham, I happened to look at the Fulham site. There is a long eulogy there bigging up the ex owner of Harrods and long standing supporter of the British Royal Family Talk about self promotion. Think he should get his PR team to show thre North Koreans a thing or two. Perhaps he is in line to take over from Mubarak!! Interestingly one of the promotional photos shows him with John Mortimore, ex Saints President/Chief Scout etc, who I saw in B & Q recently. Thought he was an ex Chelsea man No info from Fulham or Saints site on the Academy result so anyone know the result? Game v rock bottom Pompey next week!!

Think one of the big problems for players of both teams was the very hard pitch and swirling wind But hey an 8 goal thriller, that's what football used to be like We gained two last minute points at Exeter and lost two last night Need to make sure we maximise possibilities in next 3 gmes

The Dept store Mayes went broke because it was always 'Owen & Owen' (Apologies!!) Worked in Owen Owen during a summer school holiday before I went to Uni in the 60's. Started off in the Accounts Office with one bloke (the Manager) and about 20 women!! Used to have chips 3 times a day in the staff canteen and the girls used to fight to sit with me as I was a 'novelty' Hated working Thursday as it was a long day Ended up working in menswear and a couple of mates used to shoplift, which was quite embarrasing Around that time a lot of the big stores used to put forward big floats for the Soton Carnival which was big event at the time. Actually went out with Carnival Queen for a while. Also went out with a girl who used to go Ballroom Dancing with Percy Horns daughter Really used to enjoy the Adam & Eve (the first Disco in town?) and bought my clothes from Gran Moda, one of the original Men's Boutiques Halcyon days!! Still see one or two faces from these days at St Marys

Look closely I was looking over the 'Winter' sign on the lower Chocco Box. When Martin Chivers received the pass from Dave Webb up the East Stand touchline bfore crossing for Terry Paine to hit the winnwer, I reckon the ball was out of play. Without the extra point from that game we maught not have gone up to the 1st Division

Their Academy uses the old AC Delco ground just up the road. Understand that they would like to move back to Pompey but HMS Collingwood are still owned thousands and wont have them back at any price. Also whilst in admin they 'acquired' 3 new Mec Mini Vans for ferrying what's left of their Academy around

On the theme of Pompey anyone seen the front of the 'News' internet site today. Article there about 'A night out for staff when wet fish was big business' Taken from the 50's I guess when Pompey were doing OK Perhaps there is a definite link between fish obsession and football success.

Apparently President Mubarak of Eygpt is matey with Chanrai and he may be interested in investing some of his Presidential bonus in a historic ruin when he finally is given his Cairo version of the P45

Puncheon reminded me of a slightly better version of Ryan Smith. Started well enough here then faded. Undoubted skills but fannies around too much. Certainly not a tackler. Have a soft spot for the Tangerines especially when their mascot used to be a live duck (no idea why) Also forgot that Stephen Crainey joins the Ex Saints contingent of Brett/Euell and now Beattie. Blackpool v Stoke will be interesting for all Saints fans

BB Interested to know whether you think £2k p w is too high or too Lowe. I would have thought that a player rated high enough to warrant a 5 yr deal (and signing from a top Prem club) would be looking for a minimum of £2k pw I remember seeing our 3 rd choice 'keeper a few seasons back when were in the Championship (unfortunately can't recollect his name) driving a Porche Cayenne and thinking at the time he must be on a reasonable wedge

Poor old Tommy, criticised by Grimsby fans for being the tallest pile of ****e ever seen between the sticks at Blundell Park' Probably found his level at Eastbourne but dont be surprised to see him back here at the end of the loan period to complete the 5 yr contract agreed by Mr Lowe Then there is young Anthony. Not wanted by Stockport, bottom of the old Div 4 and shipping goals like a collander. Two wonderfully astute signings

We went 1-0 down in this game (Tony Knapp OG??) Wolves were in top form at the time so this was a wonderful result Seem to recollect that we scored the 9th with about 15-20 mins to go and the crowd kept chanting 'We want 10' think we hit the woodwork a couple of times. This at a time when the atmosphere at the Dell was fairly sedate Of course we signed the Wolves keeper Dave Maclaren soon after but he didnt do well for us. Remember the Milton Rd end singing some time after - 'No Goals today Maclaren's gone away, we've got a Goalkeeper his name is Gerry Gurr'.. to the Herman's Hermit's song 'No milk today'

Third biggest crowd of the round so far!!!

Corps Good to hear from you. Happy New Year Point of detail, I think most posters work on press reports (OK they can be wrong) that Pompey have the THIRD highest wage bill in the Championship. Re Ritchie and Pack Cotterill has said publically that neither of them are of sufficient quality for the Championship so bye bye btw I don't think that it is just your friendly Saints fans who are 'surprised' at the way your club is being run. P

Is O'Hara still injured? Wouldnt surprise me if he ended up back at Pompey Decent player

On the basis that the Gob****es had problems with the Revenue in the past, wonder whether they will be able to cope with the additional 2.5% Vat on tickets sales etc for here on in? I suppose the 'cash only' arrangement will help!!

Am I being a bit naive here. Stoke let a player go on a free who then, overnight, turns into a £4m player. I know things are never black and white with Pompey but cant really see the Stoke Board/management being so gullible, unless there is a monster sell on clause added. Surely Stoke must have learned after paying an inflated price for Marc Wilson but then again so many unanswered questions in football

I guess Le Tizz will be missing once again. When you consider some of the no marks who get a gong you have to wonder why Le Tizz has been overlooked. No disrespect to Alan Knight but what he has he achieved at Pompey compared to Le Tizz here.

Must add my name to the list who found David Luker very helpful and amenable Hope his replacement is as good

Hampshire Police raided a terrace house behind Fratton Library early this morning. Inside they found a large cache of Soviet made armaments, seventeen anti- personnel landmines, false passports and a boxes of brown envelopes. Local grandmother, Clamydia Westwwod-Jones (31), said.. I'm shocked, I have lived here all my life like and never knew there was a Library in Fratton.'