spyinthesky

When he first signed for Palace I thought it was an excellent choice However in recent times he seems to have regressed. Would not be averse to him replacing Claisie dependent on cost to acquire and wages. However would prefer a bit more height and physicality in midfield and the ability to score a goal or two bearing in mind our

Offside has been far more difficult to call nowadays. Looking at the Chelsea v Everton game on MOTD there seemed to be two clear situations where a Chelsea player was stood directly in the eye line of our ex keeper when a goal bound shot was made but the goal was given. Even if the player was completely static surely he must be interfering with play? Made me think back to one of the best 'non' goals I witnessed at the Dell. An acrobatic volley by Kevin Keegan from the left hand edge of the penalty area ruled out by David Armstrong deemed to be in an offside position some way away from the goal

So is it pay at the gate (ie ticket office) only? It is odd that the club have hardly advertised the game and we will then be subject to ridicule in some areas for a very low gate

I am struggling to find any information on the game Any ideas please?

I have it on very good authority that Cortese was in direct discussions on the Itchen waterfront opportunities when he first came to the club Unfortunately he then seemed to become embroiled in other issues (some good some not so good) so the initial enthusiasm appeared to wane as other matters took priority. However the possibilities for development remain

Yes interesting post. As mentioned in the past, it appears that most/all of the land along the Itchen river frontage, adjacent to the stadium is owned by the City Council and leased to a number of businesses (primarily aggregate companies who bring in their sea dredged products by sea) on long term leases. It has long been the objective of the City Council to 'gentrify' the waterfront and presumably they reclaimed the old Town Depot area by the Itchen bridge as part of the plan. Similarly the old TVS building site is now being developed for housing. Interestingly Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was in Southampton last week giving his support for port owners (ABP) plans to have another go at expanding the port area at Dibden Bay. Last time ABP tried this, focussing on a big container terminal, they failed but this time their plans are likely to include facilities to store cars and aggregate which may be more acceptable to local residents especially if the Government was prepared to assist with improving road and rail access to the Waterside. The relocation idea may be important if plans for HS2 and Heathrow expansion and other transport related projects proceed as these will require lots of building materials. So you could see a scenario where the aggregate wharves are transferred elsewhere with a bit of a sweetner chucked in and the area vacated turned into a mix of leisure, housing and perhaps some more amenable marine businesses.

One thing that may be worthy of consideration is the perceived value of the club. How does £200m rank against the estimated value of other clubs of similar size? Presumably if this figure was reached it would leave the Liebherr family with a net 'profit' of around £150m assuming their investment has increased beyond the initial purchase price. However it could be argued that the playing squad has a value north of £150m and there are other assets to consider including the stadium and training ground. Perhaps others with more experience in valuing businesses might have useful contributions to make. btw I agree with the majority that I hope Kat and family continue to run the club perhaps with the prospect of an additional capital injection but, as ever, we have to be careful what we wish for

First of all I am very happy with the progress of our club under the stewardship of the Liebherr family However if there was further investment to the ongoing benefit of the club I would like to see: 1. Improvement to the stadium and surrounding area in line with the attached plans 2. Development of the adjacent Itchen Quay area to include the relocation of the aggregate operations (anyone interested should look at the recently published Southampton Port Draft Plan which seems to provide for this as part of proposed Dibden Bay development). This would really improve the outlook of the river frontage around St Marys 3. Improvement of a metro style light rail system to include access to the Northam spur line and possible extension to the Royal Pier/Town Quay area. 4. Final upgrade to the Marchwood Training facility 5. Increased investment in the playing squad to make us real challengers for honours

Unfortunately Savile then moved over to Cunard who continued to fete him for his celebrity presence. However the Southampton Dockers didn't like him apparently as he never tipped. I was once on a Cunard ship when he was a passenger and his behaviour was very odd as was his dress sense (mainly track suits, string vests and lots of jewellery, even on formal nights.) Apart from a guy around his own age he travelled with he was very much a loner

Can any of the 'oldies' remember a group of Saints fans offering to help raise funds for Pompey when they were in financial difficulties during the 'Deacon Days' and were told in no uncertain terms to 'Get Lost'.

To be fair I don't think it was quite as dramatic as you suggest (interesting take nonetheless) Certainly the owners of Portsmouth Commercial Docks (I believe it was and remains Portsmouth City Council) were looking to win business away from Southampton and other south coast ports which were not part of the NDLB scheme which, in some respect, you could probably understand. I think the thing that really irritated the Soton and other South Coast Scheme Registered Dockers was that Pompey Dockers were part of a South Coast co-operative and the Portsmouth men reneged on a prior agreement not to steal trade off one another

Duncan, The background to the Dockers dispute in the commercial docks in Portsmouth can be found in the archives of the Daily Echo on/around the 24th November 1976 and details would undoubtedly be replicated in the Portsmouth News (would be interested to discover their take on the matter). Some random details taken from microfiche copies of the Echo held in Soton Central Library: ...Ten coachloads of Southampton Dockers turned up outside Portsmouth's Albert Johnson Quay in the biggest show of strength in the week old dispute over the carrying of freight on the St Malo ferry. The normal picket line of about a dozen men was reinforced to near 800 in an effort to stop lorries using the quay which handles trade with the Channel Islands. Shop steward Mr Albert Francis (as an aside I think Albie works on the main door at St Marys nowadays so could verify all this if required) said: 'The ports of Southampton, Poole and Weymouth are also closed and we expect Plymouth dockers will be out as well. We want to show that we are no longer prepared to tolerate unregistered ports taking away business from registered ports. All the ferry companies have told us they are interested in using Portsmouth. As long as Portsmouth is unregistered it will always be able to supply cheaper labour'... Another report quoted John Ashman, Regional Secretary of the Transport Workers Union, who had been told by employers that the development in freight services at Portsmouth could mean loss of jobs at other south coast ports including Weymouth, Poole and particularly Plymouth as well as Southampton where it was considered there was every likelihood that Townsend Thoresen would seek to operate cargo from Portsmouth to France Echo Headline on 24th November ...'Docks Men and Police in Skirmish' ... As the dust settled from last night's battle of Portsmouth, coaches were again being laid on to take Southampton dockers to the ferry terminal to meet the 'blacked' vessel Armorique when she arrives from St Malo at 7.30pm As the Southampton dockers moved into position a determined line of 300 police moved across the road leading to the Albert Johnson Quay. There was a clash and some fists flew. There were struggles on the ground. A docker arrested during the disturbance has been charged with using threatening behaviour and will appear at Portsmouth Magistrates on December 15th. The car belonging to the UK general Manager of Brittany Ferries was surrounded by angry dockers whilst others broke through to the quayside where freight was arriving on the Armorique. There are reports as the dispute progressed but these are the main items. So I think the reports in the Echo certainly indicates that the only verifiable 'Dock Strike' involving Southampton and Portsmouth port workers was the one in 1976 (ironically enough just after we won the FA Cup) It also reinforces the view that Portsmouth dockers broke ranks with their colleagues along the south coast in respect of a joint agreement not to allow shipping lines to play one port off against the other to reduce costs, especially as Portsmouth was not a National Dock Registered port and did not, therefore, have to pay the National Dock Labour Board levy. I find it absolutely fascinating how a story of so called 'strike breaking' can have been turned round so dramatically to exonerate one party and blame another and, as a consequence, become part of misrepresented folk law. As an aside the Echo cost 6p at the time and the pound was trading at 1.685 against the dollar!!! Hope this helps. Might make an interesting chapter in any of your future publications and certainly the Scummer misinformation needs to be broadcast to a wider audience

Fair play to Dubai Saints for their banner as well as Italia Saints and all others from various parts of Hampshire and beyond. Made our support look very colourful and visible. There were a few people on our flight with quite big banners on poles which took a while to get pushed through the scanners. Unsure how they were stored on the plane

Seems some of their fans are determined to return to the 'Green Street' days in their new taxpayer funded new stadium. Attacks on random Sunderland fans appears to have followed a pattern of most West Ham games this season. Fortunately our visit seems to have gone relatively trouble free.

Ironically I met a lady from Doncaster, and her son, prior to the Hull away game a season or two back. She follows Saints as she used to fancy Steve Moran!!

We were only thinking before the game how much energy/vocal effort had been used up by many supporters before the game. Seems that OWTS and other songs had been through a few renditions in various locations before the game. We saved ourselves for the 'main event' and accordingly were pitch perfect (pun intended!!)

Thoughts on my first foreign away trip 1. Flights to/from Bournemouth to Bergamo very straightforward 2. Parking at Bournemouth Airport £22.00 for a day!! 3. Coach transfer to/from San Siro well organised 4. Metro to/from San Siro to Duomo clean, not crowded and relatively cheap 3 euros return. 5. Great to see so many Saints fans around the city - all seemed well behaved and a credit to the club. 6. However some Saints fans need to sort out their fashion sense and waistlines!! 7. San Siro impressive on the outside and a grand scale inside. 8. Walk up to our lofty position probably made a few of us realise our fitness needs to be improved (view from the top tier must be interesting!!) 9. Seats and walkways very dirty - doubt if they are ever cleaned. 10. No toilet paper in the traps!! Bit of a problem for those requiring a decent dump 11. PA system very impressive but monotonous music continuously played before/after game not to my taste 12. No match programme. 13. Doubt if design of seats/stairwells at San Siro would be allowed over here. Would only need someone to lose their footing on the narrow stairwells between the seating and it would cause a cascade with nowhere for the people in front to steady themselves. 14. Number of Saints stickers on the exit stairwells to remind others of our visit, 15. Great atmosphere served up by our fans. Shame we don't have a greater range of songs. 16. The amount of quite impressive catering outlets outside the ground. 17. Rather annoying presence of people selling good luck charms. 18. Number of Half & Half scarves on display. Normally a bit of a 'no/no' but understandable this time. 19. Feeling a bit chilly as the evening progressed after a sunny and warm day. Glad I wasn't one of those hardy souls in Tee shirt and shorts!!! 20. Sheer number of fully tooled up police in city centre and at game plus hundreds of stewards out in force after the game. Seemed as though there were as many police/stewards as away fans. 21. Number of school age kids throwing a 'sicky' to get to the game. 22. Arriving back at Bournemouth same time as the team and their entourage 23. Missing out the opportunity to meet Trousers!! 24. All in all a very interesting and enjoyable experience. Shame about the result. 25. Well done to all who went. You were a credit to the club.

Fourthed Nice touch to get the pin badge as a small reminder of the trip and also to get free soft drinks and a snack aboard The two reps were on hand to provide advice when required. Exceeded expectations Good crowd on board too

It would also have been nice if the players agents had collectively contributed but perhaps that is stretching the realms of possibility a bit too far.

Seems that the club has donated £20k Have heard that the players donated £200 each and the club made up the rest. If the player donation figure is correct, I guess we will all have our individual views about whether this was a suitable figure. Also heard that the support given to Franny by the Cancer Research PR team was very poor and it was only the intervention of a local PR company, who gave their time for free, which enabled Franny's fine efforts to get wider publicity both locally and nationally (eg MOTD2)

Not a big drinker so wonder if there is much to do around the San Siro ie Places of interest/Restaurants etc

Bought my wife a 2 year old car which has no service book but a computer print out which provides no information on what services have been undertaken and when the next service is due. How do you find relevant info?

Factless Allen?

Apparently we are interested in him along with Man Utd, Stoke and WBA. Speculation I know but anyone seen him play?

Presume all tickets sold for this game?