spyinthesky

Reminds me of going to see France v Uruguay at the old White City Athletics stadium during the early rounds of the 1966 World Cup. Not designed for football. QPR had a season or two there back in the dim and distant past and soon went back to Loftus Road. Interesting to read the comments of West Ham fans about the number of empty seats in a supposed 'Full House' and the suggestion that quite a few fans had purchased £99 kids tickets which meant that they only had to go to 3 or 4 games to make this worthwhile versus buying tickets on a game by game basis.

Whilst we could have won by a hatfull with more incisive finishing and less athletic goalkeeping, very little has been said on this and the West Ham boards re Bertrands hand ball. Definitely a pen and could have inspired a West Ham fightback. Think we would have been aggrieved if that decision had not gone our way. That said, after such an abject performance, I guess this board would have been at the same level of meltdown as the Hammers forums and the penalty decision would have been overtaken by more general concern

Agree with you

Interesting view on Claisie I thought he was poor last night and it is disappointing to me that he has yet to justify his £8m or so price tag. His performances so far have been average at best, in my opinion.

Agree Perhaps that is why Newcastle, apparently, bid £5m for him prior to the deadline

Cant see any mention here of Fraser Forsters save. Where I was sat it was a certain goal until he made, what seemed to be, an outstanding save. Thought we dominated possession and chances and should have won by more - but didn't

There was a group of Sparta fans in the Itchen. No problems However they were 'guarded' by what looked like a few schoolboy/girl stewards who would have required protection if the away fans group had kicked off

Didn't realise he was still playing (for Raith Rovers) Seems an age ago we were wondering whether he would sign and lead us into a brighter world. Decent enough player who never seemed to live up to the hype at the time

Understand Jason Dodd took over from Lew Chatterley as Sports Coach at Winchester College

I wonder if (and it is a big IF) there is a European or World Super League, whether those English clubs participating would look to play their second string/U23's in the domestic league?

I do hope you are able to bring us the success the Aussie fan did a season or two back when he came over for his first game...8-0 v Sunderland!!

Interesting article in yesterdays Sunday Times Interview with Jon Smith of First Artist. One bit that caught the eye "You get reports of players on £100k a week. They probably aren't Probably on £60k and then there will be bonuses of £30k if he is in the starting lineup, £20k if he comes on after 60 mins. The interesting thing for me is to watch these games and think... 'is that a football substitution or a manager saving himself and his club £50k by putting the player on in the 75th minute rather than the start of the second half. I don't think this is in the forefront of the Managers mind but I think it is part of the equation. Likewise there might be a player he wants to encourage, who he knows is on a bonus contract. So in the 90th minute they go on as substitute and earn 20 grand. Look out for a certain transfer in January: if it comes off it will look incongruous but stem from a business strategy. There is a young English player (who he wont name but we can guess he plays for WBA) who almost moved between two middling Premiership clubs. The would be vendors wanted £20m and the prospective buyers were £2-£3m short with their bid. Come January this player will be in the last 6 months of his contract and, as he is under 24, free to negotiate a contract abroad. He will go somewhere like Belgium for a compensation fee of around £400k. He'll have a year or so to ply his trade there and then come back here for circa £10-£15m The buying club will have got him cheap, his wage deal will be enhanced by a few million because there is a smaller transfer fee and his agents will end up with between £4-£6m"

Was watching a programme on Scottish football. Really interesting. Pompey remind me of Gretna

It is also worthy of note that in the two years when Pompey won the league soon after WW11, when grounds were full throughout the country, Pompey only averaged 37,000 in a ground with a capacity of 50,000

I have had to referee/lino at local level and, believe me, its not easy. Suspect it is even harder at top level due to the speed of action That said I am often out of my seat yelling at the ref and lino at Saints games

I think the Daily Mail table is quite interesting From our own perspective there will be some supporters who think we should have spent more money on strengthening the side (and we appear to have a theoretical sum of around £20m to buy players without going into the red). There may be others who applaud the club for ensuring the club doesn't put itself into hock and risk financial meltdown. Certainly if the team can perform well this season with the current squad then fair play to the Board. It certainly shows the disparity between our negative spend and the outlay of the likes of Bournemouth, Burnley and Sunderland where there is a difference of around £40m between their outlay and ours. Out of interest I tried to work out the Daily Mail's figures ie £43.8m outlay versus £64m revenue I got to Money Received Mane £35m Pelle £13m Wanyama £11m Juanmi £3m TOTAL £62m (plus Koeman £5m?) Transfer Outlay Hodjberg £12.8m Bouffal £16.0m Redmond £12.0m McCarthy £2.0m TOTAL £42.8m Appreciate any corrections to my assumptions

Especially since Pompey have been the most successful club on the South Coast for centuries and have had the largest stadium for all bar 14 years

Like it!!

I do hope that our squad is strong enough to keep us away from the bottom of the table and our new manager makes sure that his tactics suit the squad. Still I suppose we should be pretty well minted, in comparison to other clubs, when it comes to the January window.

No sign of Isgrove Injured or out on loan or permanent transfer I suppose

Hutch Good post Like you I have supported Saints for a long time and, at the early stages, never expected them to reach the heights of Division 1. Then it was a long period of fighting relegation then concerns about the future of the club before the recent resurgence. Problem is us supporters (particularly the newcomers) have an increased expectation level and any downward movement in the League position causes meltdown. I am quite happy for regular mid table finishes, without any flirtation with relegation, plus a go at the various cups. Like you I think it is unrealistic for us (and any club of our size) to challenge for the top places unless we get a mega rich Asian owner who is happy to chuck vast amounts of money at the club.

Vectis Thanks for correcting me on this. It is interesting to note that Harrison Reed (27.01.95), Sam McQueen (06.02.95) and Jack Stephens (27.01.94) would be classed as over age players, as would Lloyd Isgrove ( 12.01.93) if he was considered. Whereas Pierre Hojberg (05.08.95) and Matt Targett (18.09.95) would be classed as Under 21's. I could see merit in fielding your suggested line up with the added inclusion of an overage GK (Mccarthy or Taylor), plus Martina (if he is not on his way out) and one out of Claisie/JWP for leadership and match practice

Anyone going? Likely team??? 1.McCarthy** 2.Cucina** (or Valery) 3.McQeen 4. Reed 5. Stephens 6. Yoshida** (or Jones) 7. Johnson 8. Ward Prowse 9. Rodriguez** (or Olomola) 10. Clasie 11. Sims Subs Isgrove/Hesketh/O'Connor/Gape/Wood ** Over 23's

Duncan Have to agree with you re Targett In a team performance of mediocracy I thought Targett was one of the better performers. I like the look of Hojberg but contributed towards the goal, losing possession (for the second time in quick succession, a fact he was man enough to acknowledge) Disappointed with Charlie Austin's performance today and hopefully Jay R's goal will cause a rethink on his loan move. Fortunately the goal was the result of the keeper's mistake (after playing well otherwise) but at least JR had a shot. Too early to comment on Puel at the moment but it is a waste of time him being interviewed. It is impossible to understand what he has to say. I just hope his (and Eric Black's) appointments don't turn out to be the same as the 'Villa' effect predicted by an earlier poster.

The 'oldies' definition of a team's set up. 1. Goalkeeper/Custodian - Max 6', often shorter. Played in a green roll neck sweater knitted by his Gran. Wore his Mum's gardening gloves and a flat hat to keep off the chill or the sun, dependent on the season. Used to get thumped regularly by the opposition centre forward during the game (especially if playing against George Kirby) Often used to let the full backs take his goal kicks as probably suffering from concussion after the first 10 minutes of the game 2. Right Back Never used to stray beyond the halfway line. Sometimes passed the ball sideways to his right wing half, otherwise belted it forward towards the attackers. Spent a lot of time kicking the opponents left winger or passing the ball back to his goalie who could then pick up the ball before he was assaulted by the big centre forward (see George Kirby) 3. Left Back Same duties as Right Back but generally sporting a left foot and baggier shorts. 4. Right half Often a small, terrier like player (Billy Bremner/Nobby Stiles/Brian O'Neill). Accepted passes from his full back. Ran around the field a lot kicking ankles and knees and shouting at the ref. Couldn't kick the ball very far and rarely scored a goal 5. Centre Half Normally between 5'11" to possibly 6'1" tops. Could head a ball well. No passing technique. Often wandered round in a daze as a consequence of heading the heavy leather football too often or suffering an (accidental) elbow in the face from George Kirby. 6. Left Half Generally taller than the Right Half but shorter than the Centre half and more defensively minded. Often had to pair up with the Centre Half to overcome the gentle aggressiveness of George Kirby 7. Outside Right Nippy right footed winger with good pace and a decent body swerve and could arrow crosses onto the centre forwards head Once he had beaten his full back there was no other defender likely to apprehend him Sometimes tracked back. Occasional efforts at tackling. Didn't often win the ball but developed great technique in the skill of 'ankle tapping' to the annoyance of the opponents overweight and balding left back. 8. Inside Right Generally a 'poacher' who would stand talking to the centre forward around the halfway line mark for most of the game with occasional forays into the opponents penalty area. Not likely to wander back to his own area to defend a corner or indeed perform any defensive duties. 9. Centre Forward Almost always 6'0" ish and able to head the ball pretty well. Not so good with his feet and not possessing a great deal of pace. Never penalised by the Ref unless he actually de-capitated the opposing goalie (and in the case of Peter Grummit, George Kirby got away with it) 10. Inside left Often a left footed midfield player able to orchestrate play until such time as he was eventually scythed down by the opposing right half after which he spent the rest of the game hobbling on the left wing and getting in the way of the left winger 11. Left Winger Opposite of the right winger but possibly quicker and not so skilful. Never tracked back or tackled. Quite good looking unless you were Jimmy Leadbetter of Ipswich Town who was the spitting image of Old Man Steptoe.