spyinthesky

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

Thought he had a good game

Glad you mentioned it, Thought it was far too loud and what was the 'music' they were playing just before the start of each half!!! Bring back the Albion Band!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some suggestion that both players were auditioning to become fully fledged members of the 657 crew and it all got out of hand Still a few pints with the Manager and Chairman down their favourite hostelry will put it all to rights

In case anyone is interested the Pompey News 'Ace' reporter, Mr N Allen, has brought out a new book for pre Christmas release. It will be on sale at various high class book sellers at a very reasonable £16.99 per copy. Title is 'Played Up Pompey' and includes interviews with 'stars' from Pompey's past, all presented in short paragraphs, with plenty of pictures, for ease of reading. Likelihood is that quite a few of the initial print run will end up at a certain second hand book shop in Petersfield with a price tag of £1.99, some time in the new year.

I really hope Sam makes it with us. However he is not the answer to our current problems in front of goal We desperately need a proven goalscorer

Speculation only No names suggested

I have never booed That said I did join in with the Man Utd crowd booing from the away end when we won 1-0 at Old Trafford last season with extreme relish. I have to say that was a great feeling!!! I guess like Duncan (Fitzhugh Fella) I have been a supporter long enough to realise these disappointments follow every team and Saints are no exception. Personally I don't think booing your team does no good. I think it is more productive to show support in times of adversity.

Looks like Hampshire Police are now involved. Perhaps this involves one of our notorious previous Youth team coaches going back to the 1980's Fact of life that, in the past, there were a number of unsavoury people associated with football at amateur and professional level. I have a good mate who suffered and personally I played for a local team manager in my teens who, unknown to me, had a reputation for getting involved in the game for the wrong reasons. Very fortunately I had no idea about this and never suffered but, on reflection, the signs were there.

We are where we are and all share a great sense of disappointment and frustration, especially after the insipid display last night. I know we can all look at 'ifs, buts and maybe's' but IF we had taken just one of the many chances in Milan and IF VVD had put away the glorious chance in Israel the situation would be a lot brighter today. That said we have been playing championship level teams in Europe with both Inter and Prague not able to play their full strength sides. Add the Hull display into the bargain (and also Liverpool where the score could have been 3 or 4-0 if they had taken gilt edged chances) and we are suddenly looking a poor side bereft of confidence and an ability to score goals. All that said, if I was the Manager with the priority of staying in the Prem, I would have the same rotation policy as Puel. The side he put out last night (on paper at least) should really have been capable of beating Sparta. They reckon the more you pay players the better chance there is of success. I reckon we pay our players (and Manager) far more than Sparta, Beersheeva and Hull but it certainly hasn't shown in the performances!!!

Martina came with a pretty poor reputation from the Dutch fans who used to post on here Nevertheless he seemed to fit into the right back role reasonably well, aided no doubt by the screamer against Arsenal. However he has really regressed this season and really looks pants in recent games. Wonder if Koeman is still interested in paying £1m for him in January?