spyinthesky

Sad news indeed. However on a lighter note any one remember the ditty...'No goals today Maclaren's gone away, we've got a goalkeeper his name is Gerry Gurr'... Sang to the tune of Hermans Hermits ..'No milk today'..a poptastic hit of the time.

Will Norwich field a full strength side bearing in mind they are looking for an instant return to the Prem which would be their priority Remember well the 5-4 game and also the JPT cup tie at St Marys

Duncan I have some degree of sympathy for your view on this However circumstances were far different at the time and one lone voice would have found it very difficult to be heard amongst the general consensus at the time of sweeping such things under the carpet and, in fact, implicating the innocent party as well as the perpetrator. I played football with a couple of lads who 'came out' in later life (we had our suspicions but nothing else) and they would have been slaughtered by some of their more 'vocal' teammates if the truth had been known. I am pretty sure if I had been subject to abuse at the time I would have kept it quiet for the shame it would have brought on me As I posted earlier I have a good mate, a real tough lad, who went through abuse as a youngster and kept it quiet for many years and, unbeknown to us, it affected his life as he grew up and I guess it still does to some extent

The way I see it, for what its worth, is that Jose was offered a decent pay rise but not an extended contract due to his age Much as I like Jose as a player and as for what he has achieved with the club, I would agree with the clubs stance if my assumption is correct

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!!