rallyboy

If I ever want to know anything I'll always ask the ITV audience for their informed opinion.

Turf sale not going well? Need to promote your latest begging campaign and conjure up the tears of hope spirit again? We must be due another heartwarming car-wash/cycle ride tale anyday - no doubt starring a young and defiant, plucky rosy-cheeked street urchin with a penchant for right wing extremism and shameless self-publicity. It might be just a dirty square of island turf to other clubs, but this modest piece of u**** grass, this small Suffolk Punch-dodging piece of England, this tear-stained sod of grassy hope, it says more about the turfy pride of the mighty blue city than lesser grass ever could! Just one square on it's own is barely big enough to sustain an old corner flag. But when gathered with many it will have the strength of a mighty field!

Difficult. Can't confirm. Nor deny. Anything.

portsmyth no.836. The support the team receives through thick and thin is spellbinding Er, no it isn't, check out the unsold seats when they tried to pack-the-park. It only sells out when big clubs go there, clubs like Milan, and Southampton. And don't tell me 15,000 is good for League Two - yes it is.... Just as it would be if West Ham, Newcastle, Leeds, and all the other clubs that live in the shadow of the bestest played at that level. But those little clubs can't compete with the plucky blue army, oh no. Nor can Boca Juniors, or Poznan, or Galatasary, or Celtic etc. Because the little cross-eyed minnow pompey is the club that claims to be the best supported in world football. Empty seats don't support the claim, but I'm sure that their support through thick and thin is spellbinding! And if they are so on track with funding, why are they dragging in scabby tatted chavs to beg for £250K?

The football gods are cruel and mischievous...... I see Rickie missing a penalty in front of the Kop, or even one in the World Cup.

how many more times is the deadline to buy 'shares' going to be extended? Do the people who originally 'bought shares' realise that in very simple terms - with every extension, their percentage of ownership in something that they don't own, but that holds an ever-reducing percentage in a football club that they have minority voting rights in and little control over, reduces? To put it another way, if you and ten other people shared a cake, if you then introduced another ten people to the party, your slice gets smaller. Not that they get a slice. Cos the cake is owned by property developers.

It's quite simply a clear breach of FIFA rules so there will be a massive fine to follow. Possibly even bigger than the crippling 3000 Euros that clubs and countries tend to get docked every time their fans are racist. Unless of course FIFA is riddled with corruption and inefficiency and has no interest in upholding its own agendas, then they might just shrug their shoulders, cosy up to the politicians, and concentrate on making sure that 75% of the refs are way out of their depth in the World Cup. But that would seem unlikely.

I recently visited Normandy and then the Somme and Ypres. Other than standing on the beach and looking across where it all happened, I found the most moving bit in Normandy was actually at the Pegasus Bridge Museum. There is a weapon display there and it brings home the stark reality of what they faced. If I was sat at the top of the beach with a machine gun that dishes out 600 rounds a minute and has a range of 4km, I'd be fairly confident that no one is coming up that beach in one piece. The bravery shown by the forces on the beaches and from the Paras was extraordinary, and as referenced above, very British - low key. Imagine wandering up the road under heavy fire with your bagpiper playing? The fact that some of the veterans had to jump through hoops today to get passes to attend services, and that their police escort didn't even show up, says something too. When the guys jumped out into the water to liberate France seventy years ago no bastard asked them for an effing pass. And today when their transport didn't work out they just sorted it themselves. Top men. I guess we'd all like to think that if asked we might be as committed and brave as some of those guys were back then, but thankfully I've never been tested. They stood up and proved their worth. Respect. And long may their visits to Normandy continue.

Yes the former hero is now villainous deadwood that is being cleared to bring in the new battling heroes who will gobble up the bulging warchest and lead the mighty blue army back to upper midtable glory.

Can't be traded? Don't have any real value? The money goes to the Trust not the club? What a fricking bombshell that is! It's as if these so called 'shares' are in fact just donations sold to simpletons via emotional blackmail, smoke, mirrors, and smallprint that is glossed-over in the PDT's chosen media partner's regular sales bulletin begging letters, and the donations are being used to prop up an unsustainable business model that refuses to reduce wages and has delusions of grandeur based on some success just after D-Day... I wish someone had said before. I'm now just starting to wonder if this is 'real fan ownership' after all.

Before the recent departures you would think the decision to leave would be difficult but in light of the ongoing clearout of coaches and some players, it's a no-brainer. I'd also question how people like Lovren must feel as they see the squad being dismantled around them - we need to apply a handbrake before a sales flurry turns into a stampede. I begrudge no one the chance to better themselves and Lallana, Shaw and Rickie can do that. We need a strong managerial appointment as soon as possible to reassure the players that we do actually have a plan and intend to be competitive. But today it all looks a bit rudderless and Lallana's statement is fully understandable so let's cash in when his stock should be highest - after the World Cup. Ditto Shaw. Keep calm and appoint a good manager.

All the best Rickie, that was a golden era. What an honour it was to share and witness his journey from factory to World Cup finals - sad to see him go, but if you love em... Now let's build a new side.

You think we need to adopt a **** with a bell? Have you read some of the people on the main board? I think we just need the bell.

FarehamRed makes a good point, Krueger takes any flak over this sale, the last thing a new manager would want to start his new job with would be selling a legend or a clearout. See the case of Clough v Leeds fans. Either way, I still love Rickie - and in geography news, Fareham is red and white!

yeah Mack, slight price difference though. Looks like we are going to get more in cash for a 32-year-old supersub than the whole of plucky pompey cost the property developers. Times have changed. You'll be able to sing, scummahs going down with £200M in the bank....

He was an overweight goal poacher when he joined us. We've shared his journey from League One to the World Cup, it has been amazing for everyone. Whether the deal is great for us I'm not sure, but it's great for him, and I don't begrudge him the chance to go home. Legend is an overused term. Rickie is a legend. So who will be the first retarded tosser to boo him if he gets a game at SMS?

We really could do with a new ground design sometime soon. I miss those Maradona Harbourdomes that would host World Cup Finals, with their underwater casinos, seabed Mr Clive factory outlets and porpoise-petting zoos. I'm not sure that the proposed £1billion compulsory purchase of real estate is now justified in League Two. That was an era!

I got twelve. Course I didn't! But some smug fantasist always comes on claiming to have done better than anyone else. That is a tough set of words, some of which I would avoid using as I'm not certain how to spell them!

Indeed, sorry to see him go, he did a tremendous job for us - but on a personal level it is difficult to get too attached to someone who kept such a low profile. Without wanting to sound all sour grapes, is he the man for Spurs? If you analyse what we have done so well under him it is the continuity through all levels of the club that allows the blooding of youth, the quality of the academy, the attractive football. We still have all that, he hasn't taken it all with him. Our attacking football bordered on the naive on occasions and we struggled to break down some poor teams, so without wanting to ignore the record points haul, even the biggest Poch fan has to admit that the great season we had, could've been even better. The Spurs job entails managing an overpaid squad that needs half a rebuild, and managing enormous and deluded expectations. Some at Spurs believe they are bigger than Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool. They are clearly not. Other than attractive football, his strengths at SMS don't really fit the Spurs job, I don't see them dropping half a dozen big names and blooding youth - but that's their problem. We need a quality appointment asap. Wavering players currently have a great excuse for leaving. Either way we are going to end the summer in a really strong position, or as the richest midtable club in the division. Saints are no longer a soft touch in the transfer market - Lallana and Shaw will cost you £80M, and we'll chuck in Hoiveld for an extra £5M. Another new era begins.

Hold the front page - they sold six t-shirts in a day... I only came on here because the main board currently has too many people clearly troubled by mental issues making stuff up and generally being knee-jerk and overly-theatrical about what might and might not happen - but that leisurewear bombshell from Fatpipes did cheer me up. Anyway, back to the sobbing - if Poch goes I'll never attend a football match ever again, it's all too much...etc

I think I might just await some facts before going all kneejerk. In the meantime, anyone who has run out of commas, here are a few for you to use so we can understand your posts. ,,,,,,,,,,,

That's a blow. They sounded like experienced guys who could survive with the raft. While the recovery of the yacht may answer some questions it's a sad end to the search.

you have to feel sorry for Spurs fans, now they don't know whether to slag off Poch as a smalltime loser who they never wanted, or hold fire in case he does appear and they have to admit that he was always their first choice.

That is clearly begging, dressed up a bit. I understand why a new club might want investment to start, but one year in, income way ahead of projections, why are they still asking their fans to dig deep and pay for things? And if things are that bad, how can they increase their playing budget as claimed, prior to season ticket renewals? They must be the only club that spends the summer sat next to a cashpoint with a scabby dog, a bit of cardboard and a paper cup.

But he's not gone... He's still out there quietly briefing media on Southampton issues, and now through interviews. Meltdown, crisis? I liked much of what he achieved at SMS, he was a vital part of the journey, though I was often uncomfortable with some of his actions. But now, for me his stock falls a little more with every tabloid PR campaign. Hopefully he'll get a new job, stop talking to pet journalists, and we can all move on.