spyinthesky

When I was the nominated linesman and occasional Ref for my lads Tyro team, I had to be CRB checked. There was no unsupervised contact with kids but I had to go through the procedure and pay for the Police check. It all seemed rather unnecessary then but understand the reasons more readily now btw the abuse I got as a lino/ref at tyro level was far more than when I had to do it occasionally at Sunday league level.!!!

Any one see Sutton Utd Manager, Paul Doswell (and his son) interviewed after Sutton's last minute winner on Saturday, say he wanted Saints as he and his son are massive fans? Of course 'Dozzie' is a local lad but it was good to hear someone look forward to playing a side other than Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Utd and the other usual suspects .

I am really please for Sam especially as he went to the same school as my sons. Have never been that impressed with him before this season - rated him an OK player (shows what I know) - and thought he would probably find his level in the lower leagues after his, not outstanding, spell with Southend last season. However he has fitted in extremely well at an unfamiliar position. Effectively we have three left backs so it will be interesting what position the club see Sam developing into. Also development of the clubs senior 'juniors' such as Sims, Hesketh, Gape, Gallagher, Mc Carthy, Isgrove, Lewis , Seagar (when fit) will also be interesting.

Accept it is not always best to sign players in January but my 'wish list' is: 1. Replacement for Martina 2. Replacement for Fonte - if he goes 3. Central defensive cover, assuming Gardos and Stevens are either ruled out through injury or not being good enough 4. Striker!!! 5. No 4 will unfortunately have to be at the expense of Jay Rod which is a shame but..... 6. Transfer out of Jordy C to be replaced by a more robust midfielder (possibly have to wait until the summer)

Discussing this 'handle' last night after the disappointment of the afternoon. It was agreed that we are all mightily cheesed off that a succession of players have been sold off and, had they stayed, we might actually have moved forward at a quicker pace than at present. That said if the club had not invested in the Academy and instead bought a succession of duffers, with little or no sell on value (it is accepted we have had a few unfortunately!!), we would be in a worse place than we are. So the consensus was, we should be proud of the club's policy even though it is grates when good players are sold off. As Graham Souness said in his Sunday Times column today, Saints fans are a fair bunch with reasonable expectations and that is a good reputation to have for managers and players alike.

Sunday Times (normally a well informed paper) reckons Saints (Les?) has agreed to allow Fonte to leave in January Doesn't say who is in the frame Apparently Everton had a £9m bid turned down before the start of the season. Could be a busy January unless the club tells Puell there is no money available until VVD is sold!!

Any recommendations about the best model to fit and a suitable fitter?

T'was Tonto's horse was a 'Pinto' called 'Scout'

I wonder how many people on here remember Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels?

A few Pompey fans had Martin Allen down to replace Paul Cook when the latter takes over from Herr Klippity Klopp as Liverpool Manager. However Martin has chosen to join a rival club with ambitions to escape from lower league mediocracy and is now the new boss at Eastleigh

And memories for me too. Cold and foggy night at Elland Rd for the first leg. Very few Saints fans at the game. Battered and 2-0 down before a most unexpected recovery to 2-2 Great atmosphere for the return. Terry Curran (not a favourite with many Saints fans at the time) scores a very rare goal and then we are under the cosh for the rest of the game We finally win through but lose to Nottm Forest in an entertaining final

I do hope that your source is better than mine!!!! I have to admit to being comforted by your post as you are generally on the money

Heard from a normally reliable source that a deal has been agreed with Asian interests and a new club owner will be announced next month so, if true, it could be a few days or a few weeks away. Purchase price mentioned has reduced significantly from what seemingly was a relatively high figure but is still substantial. As someone who has been very grateful for what the Liebherrs have done for the club, I am very cautious about the possibility of new owners. That said we are in a much better place now than during all the uncertain times leading up to the Liebherrs acquisition. However on the downside, our collective aspirations are far higher now!!

Hughies, Accept poor choice of words and you are quite correct to take me to task on this. 'Notorious' is defined as well known or famous, typically for some bad quality or deed. It is fair to say I am now 'notorious' for poor sentence creation and I should have made it clear that the term reflected the singular not the plural. My apologies.

Nice to hear However do we know if the contract with VVD allows him to be sold if the club receive an offer above a certain figure. This could be as low as £25/£30m at the time of renegotiating his contract as player values seem to have soared in recent times

Under 23's Olomola scores Gardos off injured Good result against top of the league team Separately U23's Checkatrade game v Reading on Weds 21st December KO 7pm Prices £5.00 + concessions

I think that longer term Ross Barkley has more in his locker but yesterday JWP totally outshone him

Terry Paine and Mick Channon both did well on their debuts but it was via the Youth team and Reserves them days rather than the Academy and Under 23's in today's parlance

Nice one!!

UKIP's Paul Nuttal, with a sore throat, could fill in seamlessly at Pompey if Paul Cook wanted to do a part time job swap as party leader

HK I think that most fans, me included, thought the reported £34m for Mane was a very decent deal for us at the time. Doesn't really look like it now though I guess that most Celtic thought £10m ish for VVD was reasonable but they will be reflecting on his value now. Similarly we all thought £25m for Adam Lallana was an Ok fee especially as he struggled initially at first. Now it is reported that PSG are looking to bid £45m for him. Transfer fees have really gone mad!!

On the subject of Koeman, I guess he can only really be judged on his record at Everton when he is able to mould his own team, presumably starting in January when he starts to spend some of the substantial transfer budget he has been promised. At the moment Everton look like a team with talent but let down by an ageing back line and underperforming younger players. As a unit it they look miles off the quality of their rivals across Stanley Park, for example

Some of us 'old uns' remember OOOH AAAH Terry Hurlock turning up in a beat up builders van!!!

I thought the San Siro PA volume was a tad loud and the 'drum and bass' music (is that the right description?) rather repetitive but the music volume yesterday was 'epic' Good to hear 'Twist & Shout' by the Beatles though (almost as good as the Isley Bros original)

Rather strange Very good turnout but very quiet. Normally Everton fan are quite vociferous