rallyboy

just the usual spin, smoke, mirrors and column inches that rarely result in a signing and distract the dim from the ongoing crisis. As annoying for the few as it is for the rest of us by now I would imagine. Chatting to two pompey fans the other night, they reckon Brighton will do well and we will struggle, mainly based on a game they saw on the telly two years ago.... They also think our team is built around Chamberlain. I'd like to think they will be in for a shock - I expect us to top the south coast group of three. Saints 8th/10th, Brighton 12th, Pompey 14th? Sadly I don't think we will quite double their season ticket sales - according to the ticket office we have done 14,500 thus far.

the theft from the cancer charity and local businesses was outside of the fans control. Just a pity that most of the few stood alongside the bloke who was doing it and cheered when those crimes brought success. Really difficult to arrogantly celebrate victories bought by these crooks, and then attempt to distance yourself from the crimes that funded it. Good luck with that intricate move. We won the cup and beat the scummers, but we hate the man who funded it because he was a crook..... Ethics isn't a county where people drive souped up Fiestas and the girls are all hairdressers.

Mike Read getting a brickie to build a garage around Smiley Miley's car at Castle Field during the show - my how he didn't laugh! Steve Wright down there too. Simon Mayo with Travis was the last one I recall. Then I got a bit old and music went wrong.

our little three way competition didn't capture the imagination of the fans, similar to the Linvoy Primus game, so I see little difference. The test is games that matter, and the acid test is midweek away games. The figures show quite clearly who has the strongest fanbase in Hampshire. We may not be the bestest, but there are far more in red and white these days. The blue few dwindled as soon as the debts stacked up - when the going got tough, many left.

I'll be in there on monday and wednesday capturing the week for posterity. Saw the breakthrough in the digging, the walk through, and the emergency day in there, it really is quite a high tech tunnel with every safety measure you can imagine. And a VERY loud tannoy, though they can hack into your car radio and broadcast emergency instructions on that - which impressed me. The new road had better be an improvement, I'll miss the Hindhead lights, they were so much fun.

I will be the bloke leaving Brighton at home about ten mins from time so I can get to London for Carter USM at Brixton. And abandoning the family Christmas away to be back for Boxing Day. I think that makes me a bad person....

Advanced Maths the Storrie way. A pompey fan on The News site demonstrates the complex figure-juggling required to run a viable transfer policy and keep on top of budgets - Varney on the left, Lawerence on the right, and Norris making Runs from midfield. Sounds to me like a fairly good quartet

went to an event in Gosport this morning and the subject got onto football. It was asked of 50 people, mainly schoolkids, 'any saints fans here?'. Two or three of us made noise. Then we had the predictable rallying call 'Any pompey fans here?'..... Silence! Which scientifically proves beyond all doubt, Gosport has gone all red and white! Or perhaps just a worrying glimpse for the few into the future for a traditionally blue town. And on that theme, there are too many Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd shirts about everywhere.

don't worry about us Mack, we're a little sleepy giant that is just pleased to be back from Lg1. If we can stay up and maybe get a couple of draws against our superior neighbours, our modest and second bestest fanbase might consider that a good season. I just hope our limited squad can avoid relegation to reduce all those crippling debts that are mounting up... Yes, after six years in the wilderness we are just happy to be taking part. Your club has had all the fun and still looks far stronger, it will certainly be a while before we can claim bragging rights on the south coast again. Approx 18 days. Tick them off Mack, your time is nearly over.

yes Mack, what with all of our mounting debts and ownership problems we might have to play in skins this season. After all we could only afford one stripe last year.

certainly did, he straightened his leg and followed through. The sort of occasion when dim commentators say 'he got the ball' or 'it was an accidental clash'. Maybe he was trying to improve Varney's looks - or his ability to take penalties? Either way it must have been nice to see far less empty seats in the old stadium, pity the new owners and the visit of Chelsea wasn't sufficient to sell out. Champagne moment? Must have been when £36K a week outcast and traitor Tal Ben Haim popped up to score the winner.

having done due diligence the Russians knew this was outstanding, so they either bought the problem from Chanrai with the rest of the debt or agreed that it was his. If it wasn't part of the sale surely they would have said asap? As Lampitt is still spending club legal and accountancy fees on avoiding a £115K debt it is clearly a club problem and not a former owner problem. As the Russians are so rich why don't they just pay this debt and stop wasting professional fees in an effort to wriggle out of obligations? Had they paid this small amount on day one they would have bought incredible PR and local support. To say the situation is unclear after this length of time is ridiculous. AA spent a fortune on researching this and he had it all down very clearly in black and white ages ago. There is nothing to dispute. On a similar note, lucky the child-maimer was dim enough to personally commit to Gosport that he would return the £300K rather than doing it through the club. They dodged a bullet there.

I think the club made it fairly clear about renewing - 'priority' is the key word, and who would hope their seat remained unsold through a general sale? Putting smugness aside for a mo, if people choose not to as a result of a price increase or a quid to park, that is their choice and I have no problem with that. But if their decision is a knee jerk protest, it might just be a decision that annoys them approx 23 times in the next nine months. As I renewed I recalled that I certainly had my moneysworth last season, and with Wembley the year before, I've had value for money of late. Gone are the days of coming away from the theatre of gloom wondering where your £28 just went - hopefully... So I'm on the bus.

funny that, I did compare Chanrai to Tony a few hundred pages back! A company owed him money so he took control of it to clear the debt, chucking the previous guys out on the street - that was how Chanrai the loan shark just called himself the new 'owner'. Though he could never decide whether he was a creditor or the owner, depending on the situation, and now as a gold card creditor he is top of the list to be repaid, while the Russians as owners can't take anything yet. Legally. And these new guys wouldn't look out of place on a New Jersey wharf at 3am emptying a lorry into their Spykers.

I still don't understand why Man Utd weren't docked points, their debt is much bigger.

My mum had one recently. I would observe that it can be painful, you have to work hard to get up and about, and depending on which hospital, the after care can be a little chaotic so take control if you feel you are being poorly nursed. After four months she is walking better than she has for years and the alternative is that your current knee slowly falls apart and the operation is forced upon you rather than you taking the decision when you want to. The surgeon plays up the negative aspects and tells you that it is a major op, which it is. They don't like to sell you the idea that it will improve your life in case it doesn't, but given the choice of a failing knee that is ****ing you off or a chance of inmproved mobility its a no brainer. Good luck, be prepared for hard work, but the benefits are there if you want them.

like most football fans, the few who have done a U-turn and welcomed him back are saying he's a good player. Then again anyone being paid enough to finance three proven championship players should be pretty good. Approx £280 of every current season ticket holder's money will go directly out of the club and into the pocket of one player. His presence continues to damage the business. Any small creditors been paid by these overly-generous Russians yet? I thought not.

I know that sales climbed by at least two today and the car park barrier is so full of our money that it broke at lunchtime. Personally I was so offended by it not being in full working order that I rang up the News of the World and demanded that they put me on the front page looking miserable and pointing at something. Though on reflection, I actually rang the Echo, but it was the News of the World that rang me back....

Dune, are you on sensible pills today? I agree.... Spot on, we all knew what the NoTW was like but I didn't realise that so many policemen and women are corrupt. As for royal protection officers selling their soul for £1000 - astonishing. He could've asked £20K for that info, it was an odd transaction - £1k to kill your career and prove yourself morally bankrupt. MPs, bankers, police and media - the UK doesn't look very clever from the outside at the mo - and the streets of Southampton are paved with rubbish bags. Maybe its time for us to stop wagging fingers and lecturing the world on corruption, a free press, and how to govern.

Ho is now trying to bore the thread to death. yeah sorry Ho, I forget, you are the only one that's intelligent enough to have made full sense of the roles of Chanrai, child-maimer, AA and various Sheiks in the ongoing criminality at pompey. As you are dismissing all the theories that have been proposed on here do please explain the real story to us simpletons, using all your great insider knowledge that has earned you so much respect on here....and please keep it brief, without repeating the stuff about gossip that no one believes. yawn.

Mmmmm. Looks like no one is buying the 'I was just posting far-fetched gossip and not bragging' defence. By now I think even the thickest people here have fully grasped that theory, it's just that no one believes it. So, guilty - sentenced to a few months of polite modesty, humble pie, and extensive anti-delusion counselling - next case...

The line from The News that tells me that the lunatic experiment 'quality over quantity' is set to continue - For Cotterill, a squad of 20 remains the target. Why don't they just get some lower league players in as squad players and then we can avoid all the moaning when it all goes pear-shaped and they pretend they have no subs? You might fool the few and the league, but you ain't fooling us Mr C. You've taken the decision to pile all your budget into a handful of players, we all know what will happen. Last season you got away without too many injuries, your luck will run out - don't go bleating when it does.

60%? - tis true, I've taken this thread under my wing as a comedy rant outlet. I also waste enough of my life on here without investing a fiver. I tend to find I get more sense on this thread than the main forum so I get less involved in the mundane 'is car parking too pricey?' and 'what beer is Cortese ordering?' sort of issues.

looks like the starter at a big fat Portsea wedding reception. I see Graham Rix has got some of his pinups on the wall.

Halford was on £15K a week last season, no doubt he's taken a big cut to fit into their wagecap agreed under the financial plan approved by the FL - all in return for the golden share..... Like the previous financial report, not worth the paper it was printed on. But then again even Storrie looks prudent compared with Leicester City. Did I miss them win the Euromillions three consecutive times? They have lost money every season for five years so their debt is escalating, last season their wages were 89% of turnover, yet they are now going on a mental shopping spree. We cannot compete with their transfer policy, and I wouldn't want us to. Call me old fashioned but I'd rather we kept the club stable and didn't go up than gamble the lot again. In fact the only good thing is that if they wanted to buy anyone off us their bonkers buying spree is upping the value of our squad. Mills for £5M?? From their trading the likes of Fonte and Lambert are now worth £10M each - Lallana would be about £45M! Without promotion, Leicester are 18 months from a return into administration. That's a bit of pressure on someone in a Wembley playoff game in May.