rallyboy

chased by sharks? They are owned by sharks! Who'd have thought getting into bed with organised crime and people who make their living selling landmines or loaning cash could get you into trouble... Their run is very impressive, that has to be said - but how long can the threadbare, down to the bones, plucky little squad stay lucky? Maybe the wheels will come off the highest paid XI's charge just when they get within touching distance - that's the risk you take when you deliberately choose quality over quantity. But on current form Lampitt and Cotterill's decision may yet prove to be inspired, or commercially suicidal.

Matheo Tiscott - the best player ever to pull on two Saints shirts? With silky-skilled hardman Davedick Strongchap alongside him we could take on the world!

for the 96, justice.

Leon Best - unlucky! twice.

On paper, they have a lot of winnable games to come and they are on an amazing run so the payoffs are possible. On grass, they have a significant gap to close and the games are running out. I still see them falling short and finishing maybe two or three points adrift of salvation. 7th or 8th would be a good season for a club desperately facing up to life post-admin, but an appalling effort for the most expensive XI in the division. Funnily enough both of us are facing up to a crunch of a season where we have paid more than most people in the division so we have to go up - Adkins is closer to delivering than Cotterill, but both divisions could go either way. Tis a funny old game, I do hope we are laughing in May.....

I'm gearing up for a horrific play off experience - horrific with regard to pressure on fans rather than results. Automatic promotion is slipping away but let's cheer ourselves up. Playoff semi, beat Huddersfield 4-1 at home, 1-1 up there, thank you very much. Then we'll see how much pressure the likes of Bournemouth fancy, easy to play in front of a few thousand, let's see how they fancy 40,000 Saints fans at Old Trafford - remember how we swept Carlisle away at Wembley, big day, huge pressure, our players delivered. The big stage is made for Lambert, Chambo, Lallana, Fonte etc - difficult to get excited in front of 4,000 at some freezing hellhole but cometh the hour, cometh the men. Hopefully. No doubt Ferguson junior is hoping for a big day at Old Trafford, that might pile pressure on him and then we'll see how he likes it. Tell his missus to keep out of the way that week. That aside I'll take automatic promotion if it becomes more likely - it would be my plan A! Sorry to sound a bit positive.

well that's always interesting reading, there's few places to hide on a balance sheet. Experts in this field will be able to give more insight but my understanding is that the club is still a cash cow for the arms dealer - £8K a month (?) in rent for offices and car park plus a ransom fee of £250K to smooth the way with the bank, but that pales into insignificance - is that an estimated potential £40M in transfer fees from the 2010 financial statement that fooled the Prem and will drive the cva, BUT it has thus far generated just £7.4M? If that is the case it could equate to a £30M shortfall by the summer. AA is suggesting that the club employs 510 people, he still implies that these are full time. At all levels, Hacker staff average hourly rate for admin work? - £222, nice. pompey have ploughed money into the future and invested in an academy - total amount invested thus far - £10K - a figure which has already gone on rent. The club took nearly a 50% cut of the Primus charity match income for expenses..... Charities now paid but the small businesses that were promised their debts under £2,500 in May last year still wait - this was a personal pledge by the owner. In the sale of the club to Chanrai there is a freehold property figure - is that Fratton Park coming in at £7M? Wages seem to be about £700K a month, a significant drop, though I couldn't see the fee costs of loan players - to put into context, Haim's cost would add approx £170K to the total monthly wagebill of the 510. My two favourites - the overpaid players who wanted legal advice during admin - the club paid £37K for this, just consider that for a mo, players on £40K a week wanted help, the club paid for it......and a little gem - they were late with the VAT payment in the last quarter - an odd oversight if all is rosy in the garden. That missed £150K payment was a massive drop from previous periods, indicating a massive drop in income. I also note that the US tour that was fully paid for by sponsors and didn't cost the club a penny, as suspected did in reality cost the club a few pennies. Got bored after this - someone else can study it and tell us where the business is actually heading, feel free to correct anything but be aware of NI etc before you get too clever.

you have all got it wrong!! We don't need technical skills and the ability to create and finish chances, nor the fitness levels and physical strength to compete. As cliche-peddling pundits are always telling us, the game isn't about putting the ball in their net more than they put it in ours, no, the game is about opinions, and belief. Our players need more opinions, and they need to believe in them - it's that simple. Even Merrington is wrong when he tells us that we need that little bit of quality in the final third - no Dave -belief is what we require, that goes beyond any technical skills. Apparently.

they have some very winnable games coming up, I would suggest it's between them, Leeds and Leicester for the last play-off lottery ticket - let's see which squad runs out of legs and luck first. And the way we are going, perhaps we will have two exciting play-offs to suffer on the south coast, ours for promotion, there's for survival. Not sure I'm looking forward to our season being decided in one game at Old Trafford, or a two-legged affair against someone like Huddersfield....pivotal moment for our two seasons this month. Time for them to cheer us up with a missed payment, failed FaPPT, or a cotterill press statement about plucky little pompey, the highest paid XI in the division.

isn't the parachute £16M + £16M + £8M + £8M? I'm guessing they have already spent or need the £32M to clear football debts in year one - leaving three years to go on ever-decreasing income, with Prem income or rich owners the only answer. They will be financially-outmuscled by the likes of Hull as time goes on, unless they continue to trade insolvently.

so are you suggesting the new russian is not just connected to organised crime but also a neighbour of the man at the heart of pompey's tax evasion investigations, who was also one of Storrie's closest associates through the 'dodgiest' times? If true, that would make it a very small and scary world indeed. Add in the man who was at Leeds with Ridsdale and there is a dream team forming. There can't be enough left on the carcass for all of them. Let's see what payday brings, or will they just be calling it 'day' this month?

so are you going for the same name as a girl band that made the Spice Girls look talented? How about S-Club? I think that's what the Sun called us.....

they are on a season-saving run, it must be time for Lord Ho Lucan to post again..... Winning games is great but that isn't the main problem - points won't pay the wages, nor will those gates.

so he doesn't want to make a profit, he has three or four groups queueing to take over, and the main stumbling block is that he's slowly, slowly, falling in love with the club..... They've certainly been lucky to link up with the only ruthless loan shark in the world who has no interest in making money because he's too busy writing poetry and picking wild flowers. Why did Sky waste their time on this pointless programme that could have been written on the back of an envelope six months ago? When will someone be brave enough to push the legal limits and broadcast what we all know, and some of what we suspect? There are enough facts out there to make an interesting programme.

Crab, those charming Youtube shots from the squatter camp in Soweto east will never be repeated. Not because they won't reach another final, they just don't own the car park anymore. I'd be wary of putting up a tent on land owned by a bloke who sells landmines for a living. I'll get the sleeping bags from a safe distance while you bang the pegs in.....

Benjii I am truly honoured. Unless of course this is an unofficial award and then I - a. might not bother to go b. will attack fellow nominees in the press c. might launch a borderline racist attack on a member of the judging committee. d. will demand a few quid just for showing up. e. ignore the award and instead use every thread to promote or condone weak pro/anti Cortese/Lowe/Wilde/Crouch views, endlessly debate whether someone should have a season ticket or not, promote/condone far right/left politics as a default setting, and the golden rule of forums everywhere - at no point will I allow my ignorance of a subject prevent me from having a strong opinion on it. f. shall accept the award with dignity and use the occasion to unite the fanbase.* Or I might just carry on ripping into a soft target, like a criminally-run, tarmac-laying, money-laundering, arms-dealing, charity-raping, business-shafting, creditor-ignoring, poorly-supported, sister-bothering, mafia-linked, tax-evading, lucky heather-carrying, history-rewriting, balance sheet ignorant, extra-fingered, carpark-hiring, toothless, rule-bending, fish-abusing, caravan-based, morally-bankrupt and properly bankrupt, excuse for a football club. See you on the takeover thread. *It's likely to be d.

not worried yet, there are swings and roundabouts to postponed fixtures. Rochdale may lose their current momentum and be an easier game, Charlton won't be looking forward to two games against us now that their form has slipped, Bournemouth will reflect on two dropped points yesterday and they all know we are right behind them - that brings pressure. And we have planned for this scenario, we have depth in the squad for when things get busy, and most important of all, Lallana is enjoying extra recovery time. I couldn't believe how everyone has been winning at the top and we just couldn't make progress - well some of them have cracked now. Win a couple on the trot and we could become an unstoppable steamroller - 6 points a week would change the look of the table very quickly. It won't be easy, but our position has improved in two games without us having to do anything. Happier with the table than I was a fortnight ago.

You don't have to have a qualification in English to post on sites, the odd spelling lapse or lack of grammar is no big deal. BUT if you are trying to be clever, and this is where their problems lie - a basic grasp of the language you are attempting should be a starting point. Re the comments from our challenged friend who believes that pompey is all about freedom etc - was Haliros the greek god of tax evasion and charity theft? They hate Skammers and Scullers? - presumably some of them think they have about three local rivals with similar names, or they just have a hatred of rowing clubs. Either way they do have an odd collection of people following them.... The lesson is, know your limits, if you left school at the age of eight to pursue a career in tarmac-laying and horse-theft, don't try and mix it with the big boys on t'interweb. And re the table, if they win 12 of their last 15 I reckon they could make the playoffs and a lottery of a one off game - 90 mins to save the club as a going concern. That overpaid, understaffed squad would be quite tired by then..... To sum up, they need to put together a run that has never have been seen before at this level, or at this stage of the season. Never, in the field of human conflict, have so few been paid so much, to achieve so little.

I'm there and shout Red Army at anyone in a Saints shirt - I saw about four last year.

Phil, we all know you really earn your living as a model, first the off the shoulder golfing bib, now the frilly tux - just embrace your creative side and strutt down that catwalk tonight as if Gok Wan herself was mentoring you. Barring that, grill any eastern european financial experts you happen across....

perhaps he should concentrate less on self-promotion and more on paying his barbills. Do Hartlepool pretend to be Newcastle's rivals? Are Everton worried about Tranmere? As we pointed out to them earlier, there is only one south coast derby. This isn't it. It's just a big game against promotion rivals, as is Charlton etc, his attempt to play mind games has fallen rather flat and made him look even sillier than he did when he ignored his invoices.

are you suggesting the main funding came from Potpin? Yes, Pol Pot had to be linked to the arms dealer - suddenly it all makes sense!! Khmer you rouges! Just when pompey thought their season had turned a corner, Ipswich put their 2-0 win at mighty Doncaster firmly into context. I see they are due to sign David Cotterill from Swansea today for the rest of the season - with a clause meaning he can go back after 28 days. From the comments I reckon his club just wants him to have four or five games to get fit and then they'll have him back for their run-in - I can't see any other reason Swansea would release a first team player with their position in the table. Could be confusing for pompey's mentally fragile manager who will want to know who this third Cotterill is.... Move on 28 days and cue him moaning about the completely predictable scenario of Swansea taking 'his' player back etc. Any due diligence progress? Anyone else been shot?

let's celebrate it three months late, and lets leave the organisation to someone who isn't actually involved with the forum and regularly criticises it. And anyone who suggests McIntyre is a comedian deserves to be fiddled with.

NONE of us know all the facts yet many still want to leap to take sides. My personal viewpoint is I have great respect for Matt, Lawrie and the old players - many are legends and we'll never forget the times we shared with them. And without Markus and Nicola we wouldn't have a club, their project is to get us back to the levels Lawrie achieved in a different era. This is not a black and white issue, we don't have to take sides, you can support the great names AND the current regime - while being disappointed by both on occasions. I believe from what I see on here between the knee-jerk postings is that there are many people share that middleground view - two thirds of the fanbase maybe? You tell me... But if we want to analyse the problems surrounding the weekend, this is where we all start guessing as we don't have all the facts - As a major part of the club's history did Nicola have an invite to these unofficial events? If yes and he declined, boo to him. If no, disgracefully insulting. What exactly did Lawrie do to upset the current regime? If we knew the detail which side would we take? Did Matt's unfortunate link with Pinnacle damage the Leibherr bid and delay the project or is Nicola being over-sensitive on that? Matt was doing his best to help the club, but some suggest Pinnacle were messing up our whole season - two views of one simple thing. We don't know the facts - so I suspect disappointing behaviour has occurred on both sides. As for the BBC stirring it up - you just ask the club about the award they have given Lawrie and you get that answer, simple journalism - but the factual response is altered by the delivery of the presenter who gave the impression it was sinister.... The flimsy argument that Cortese doesn't care about the club's history? Look at the shirt. And look at yesterday when he allowed a plaque to be put up regarding loss of life in the blitz, a campaign that has fallen on deaf ears for decades - the man who doesn't care about the club and city's history made it happen. No big fuss, no gobbing off in the press, he just did it. He's in charge of my club, was vital in saving it and is trying to bring us success. I love the legends of the club, and in Nicola I trust. Anyone who is really not happy with his management should boycott the club, presumably as they did with Wembley last season. Stop putting money into a regime they despise and let the rest of the fanbase vote with their feet. I think it will be a lonely protest.

where are all these emergency loan players that they promised? I see them staying up, clearing out the squad, hopefully getting a mid-summer points penalty that will send new signings running, and starting next season with a 5-0 drubbing at St Marys. Or Fratton. I'm not fussy, as Tiger would say.