rallyboy

I can't recall our club being in such good condition - big plans, great squad, delivering on the pitch, investment likely to be available, and of course well managed at all levels. If there was a league of the 92 clubs grading fans' satisfaction with their lot, I reckon we have gone in two years from about 90th right up into the top four. Who is having more fun at the moment? Norwich perhaps, but even Brighton can't be as confident about the future - I reckon Cortese has created one of the happiest bunch of fans in the UK. Even the miserable ones who managed to move swiftly from promotion celebrations to fearing a potential increase in ticket prices - that window of positivity lasted 25mins yesterday. We are living a fantastic era for the club - soak it up!

Markus and Nicola have given us a fantastic two years, it might get tougher next season but in Nige, Nicola unearthed a gem of a manager, an amazing appointment that had me underwhelmed at the time. Whatever the reasons, his decision on Pardew has been fully vindicated, but let's not forget the quality of some of Pardew's signings as well. In Nicola we trust. Tonight is for celebrating so I won't launch a bitter attack on the likes of Ferguson junior and Poyet whose behaviour has been disgraceful, they could learn a lot about the game from Huddersfield who behind us have been the best football team since January - they should be okay through the playoffs. In fact I would love to see Ferguson's little face when they get turned over at Old Trafford - his missus will be in trouble that night. And what of Puncheon, he got on the wrong bus bigtime. Bournemouth? Pay your bar bills, stop making up stories about your manager and learn some respect for your betters - then we might all get on again. And finally the pompey fans who tried to tell me we were in big trouble, up to our ears in debt and up for sale last January - hope the Norwich fans don't ruin your pitch, if you still own it. It is a fantastic time to be a Saint. The future is so very red and white. Join me for my birthday party at St Marys on saturday - all welcome.

he's a coaching legend but he still hasn't matched the equally talented Avram Grant's record of 73 weeks in the relegation zone out of 74 - makes you wonder what he was doing in the other week. Just stumbled across a Chelsea/Bournemouth supporter who was talking absolute crap and reminded me of the most deluded of the few in their prime. It seems that Cotterill has done a fantastic job, he only has the highest paid team because of players he inherited!pompey are a much bigger club than us because of their league position and their support, he's sure they'll finish above us next year if we go up, and Bournemouth didn't really mean it when they were gobbing off in the build up to our game. I was gobsmacked when he started going on about pompey and the great hero Cotterill, you come to realise that some people are so ignorant on footballing matters that they don't deserve your attention, let alone a conversation about it. So today is meant to be the great unveil and introduction of the new money launderers..... Or has their main investor been killed in Pakistan?

Boro's equaliser, Villa's 3rd, Bent's last minute winner - today Mr Adkins can bury all of those moments. He has quietly kept the lid on the expectation but has been 100% confident from day one that promotion is our destiny. He has the bus motoring now, we are all rowing in the same direction, he is chipping away, chipping away. I'm looking forward to the moment when Nige goes crazy and runs all over the pitch, or at least steams his glasses up. I would love us to win promotion at home but I would love it even more if we didn't need a thing from the Walsall game. So sort it today Nige. I hope we will be unstoppable - the bus is going too quick for Plymouth.

Saints shirts spotted in Petersfield and Oakhanger today - there's only one club in Hampshire and the county is being reclaimed mile by mile. With Brighton squeezing pompey from the east as well it's all looking as bit like the opening credits of Dad's Army. It's turning into the blue very few.

I don't call Poyet's tactics football, and in the end he proved he couldn't hack it against the passing teams. They are champions because they did a more professional job on the likes of Rochdale, fair play to them for that, but the comfortable distance looks very slim now. Must have been a right damp squib of a farewell party.

after earlier disagreements they really cared about the results against us and Huddersfield - but they just weren't good enough. Poyet's team doesn't seem to like pressure, or maybe his ballboys were off form? He's happy grounding out results against a few lesser clubs but when it came to the crunch his team bottled it. Twice. So we have now established that the two best football teams in the division sit in 2nd and 3rd - or does he think Huddersfield play like Dagenham too? If Poyet isn't careful he'll find that he has failed to keep up with us since that original throwaway comment was made. A month ago I thought they were worthy champions but it appears that they have limped over the line and would now not fare well if thrown into playoffs against the likes of Bmouth.

there's a bloke in the Northam who slags off Davies every game, claims he's the worst keeper in the division and was slating Nige and Cortese only two games ago. He's obviously a better judge of players than the professionals that voted for Davies, his comments about the other two look pretty stupid as well. Sadly there isn't a compulsory IQ test at the ticket office.

they have their biggest fixtures to come - tax evasion, and the liquidation report. Surely no one can cover up the blatant financial irregularities or insolvent trading that they have tried to leave behind? If nothing comes of those two enquiries then we can congratulate Nick as he called it correct all along and football will have been made to look ridiculous. And if the taxman isn't capable of getting his money back either, Cameron can stick his cuts where the sun don't shine as he obviously doesn't need the revenue that badly. When much richer clubs are still complaining about being outbid by mid-table, post-admin businesses a division lower then it's all gone bonkers if no action is taken. At least the few have abandoned them so the claim to be the bestest is as funny as a bitter uruguayan with a trembling lip refusing to shake hands after his side has been mugged next to their little long jump pit. There is only one club down here - and that's why they just refer to us as the south coast club.

pressure is properly cranked up on Huddersfield now. Their biggest problem is that we have all just been educated by that coaching genius down the coast and we now realise that Dagenham are as good as us. That could be good enough for a draw up there - if we see a Saints win and Udders draw - it's over bar the shouting.

when we beat Spurs in the cup a few years back I could only get a ticket in their section. One spurs fan went mental and I recall him frothing at the mouth and screaming 'Poyet you useless effing C*nt!!!' At the time I thought it was well out of order, but on reflection it was, and still is, fair comment. He really is cheap and nasty. Loser

playing the game the correct way and shaking hands at the end doesn't seem to feature in Poyet's world. In the two games against us he tried to pull every trick in the book, tonight he just looks a complete idiot. Did they really print Nige's throwaway comments on the programme, and make up banners? How feeble. Sounds like they timewasted as usual and it sounds like their manager is so embarrased about failing to back up his big mouth with big deeds that he won't even shake hands.... Brighton looks a shabby club tonight, as did Bmouth after their gobby build up and capitulation, there's a lot to be said for the quiet approach. They are worthy champions over the season, but there is little class or sporting behaviour there. Nige just needs the win at Fratton for the full set. A good three points, now back to business on Monday. So everyone, get back on the bus and keep rowing it in the right direction, just keep chipping away, quietly gathering the points we need.

we need belief! And that little bit of magic in the final third, big players stepping up to the plate, confidence, rub of the green, team spirit - it's about who wants it most! No it's not. It's very simply about who grinds out the most points, it doesn't matter whether they look like Brazil or Wimbledon or believe or not. Points. So let's start with one or three today.

despite their great win today Huddersfield must be wondering what on earth they have to do. They are unbeaten since about 1978 which would normally be enough to win you the title, yet despite that amazing run they are not even in charge of their own destiny. We are.

following some concerns about what could go wrong in the next few days I've cheered up a bit. We have had a week of recovery, Lallana will be back, as confirmed champions their play will be less intense than they want or realise - we can get a result there. If Huddersfield slip up today as well then all is well again. Onwards and upwards.

I think the trouble with that Phil is that at least one of the parachute payments is required to clear the football debt, and Chanrai won't walk away without making some sort of profit, he's a loan shark after all! He might have to accept it's a quid now and £2M a year until the end of time? Difficult to service all that and keep the toothless but persistent taxman at bay. Either way those overheads still don't make it a business, even if you further delay the CVA, paying off Redknapp and Storrie's great signings won't be cheap, paying off Cotterill's crazy signings could be even more. A new team could be assembled on the cheap with the simple aim of surviving in the division but that would be hard work - see dutch experiment.... And the ticking timebomb you still have is the failing half empty stadium that doesn't cover overheads, surrounded by other people's land. Tis a slippery slope. The Russians must look and ask themselves, how will this make us money? A. By stabilising, avoiding further penalties and then through investment making it's way back to the Prem where the finance would then allow ground redevelopment, thus leaving the club in the position that a few of us have been in - competing at the highest level, unable to afford players good enough to keep us there. In an ideal world getting back up will take three years and maybe £50M? Unless they have £100M to put on the table, it's just a bonkers fantasy. For the one millionth time we refer the potential buyers to about thirty other clubs that would make more sense as an investment. Unless of course they have very special reasons for looking at the pompey business model that has operated so efficiently for child-maimers, loan sharks and convicted fraudsters in the last few years.

I'd go back to the mid-nineties and invite Markus to a game at The Dell, see if he fancied a little project. I'd also get him a camera and a huge empty photo album.

I read that there were rousing renditions at Cardiff last week of 'when Sol went up...'. Nice to remember him so fondly and to celebrate his great part in the club history. Takes the edge of the sentimental chant somewhat when you remember that he still hasn't been paid. And in that little singsong the few sum up the last few years - they want to celebrate the cup, but they don't want to pick up the bill.

I believe the deal is done and may well have been done in January - to the extent where his future employers convinced themselves they already owned him and could therefore influence his development by offering free advice regarding his selection and care. A bit like telling your mate you will buy his car next year and then telling him not to take it out in the rain. I'm sure Mr Cortese will have dealt with any external advice robustly. Hopefully our terms are favourable and will allow us to build. With time he should develop from a good player into a great player, I wish him well, but the money that has been quoted is far too good to turn down for a player whose form has been patchy. Any deal won't sit well with Nicola's Barcelona dream but he is a businessman and sometimes people make you an unusually high offer and you can't say no. It will be easier to hang onto academy players once we get out of this division. I'd love to see him back before the end of the season but I fear we have seen the last of him. Chamberlain that is, not Puncheon.

re the getting away with it Nick, there are levels... Many would like them to be legally held to account for the cheating at some point, with points deductions for the blatant financial irregularities and insolvent trading - or perhaps there will be an honest attempt at addressing some of the debt. So for me and many others, until they have been treated like Leeds, Swindon, Bmouth or Luton etc, they have escaped justice. But their remaining fans might feel that going from cup finals and games against Utd and Milan to being bent over and fiddled with by the likes of Coventry at home isn't quite getting away with it. Let's recall we were two divisions beneath them not long ago and they had billionaires aplenty ready to take them into the top four while we were trying to hang onto our ground. Not sure they feel they have got away with it as much as you feel they have. That said, delusion among the few is rife and no doubt we will soon have to hear about all the Prem players they will be signing in the summer as the master tactician Cotterill builds a club that will dominate european football for the next twenty years. He's done a fantastic job you know.* *Presumably this was some decorating or diy for his missus, because it certainly wasn't at Fratton.

so not only are they the bestest and most passionate fans who always turn out in huge numbers, they are now the most sceptical in the league as well. So many awards to hold, those extra fingers must help out.

surely you're not suggesting that he's squeezing the last dregs of cash out prior to legging it?? Before their nasty overpaid squad disbands for the final time I wonder if Chanrai mentioned to the Russians his ongoing legal right to the majority of any transfer monies? Or the fact that the surrounding land isn't included. Do they know about the CVA? or the pending court cases? Or the liquidation investigation? At least they have three years of parachute payments to come...... There must be loads of little surprises awaiting the unwary. Hope they got someone better than Al Fahim to do the due diligence. And in case no one mentioned it, Cotterill has worked miracles - he's a coaching genius - not a cheap option in desperate times. Apparently

sorry Nick, don't share your optimism for a change. I fear the away games, more than I did before Saturday. Orient was a battle, Rochdale and Rovers were not much better, the squad is getting battered and I hoped Huddersfield would crack by now. Not normally one of the wrist-slitters but I have a bad feeling about the next seven days and I think we need MK Dons to do us a big favour. I look forward to the physio and then the players proving those doubts to be unfounded. Cheer me up Nige, produce two or three of the injured players fully recovered at the weekend. And on a different issue, I saw the Rochdale manager post-defeat saying his players were exhausted after putting everything into the game on Tuesday. Cheers guys, raise your game for us and then have a breather against other teams. Nice. That's what we have to put up with week in week out, it's not our arrogance, just small clubs in their cup finals.

To take the highest paid XI in the division and coach them to mid-table mediocrity amid chaotic disciplinary problems sets Cotterill apart from most managers. Miracle worker? Maybe not, but he is certainly special... Though I'm still not convinced about his definition of quality in the whole ongoing and disastrous quality over quantity experiment that he intends to repeat next season. If there is one. I've enjoyed the terrific job he's done as much as I'm enjoying the craggy old prossie-botherer's latest relegation debacle. You can't take his spirit, but if you pop down to Upton Park you can have the three points anytime you fancy.

strangely concerned tonight despite a great 3 points.... Barnard's season looks over, we are missing Lallana horrendously, and I was disappointed that Charlton couldn't muster any fight. I'm just a little worried that we are wandering towards a defeat at Brighton and the table will suddenly make scary reading. imo the biggest game next week is MK Dons v Huddersfield. If Udders got turned over there the pressure is off and a point at the Withdean would do nicely. I don't want us to end up battering Plymouth's/Walsall's goal in the 90th minute desperately looking for a vital goal as we did today. Unless of course Davis comes up and heads the promotion-winning goal in the 95th minute of game 46 - then it might be worth waiting for! Though I'm sure someone will still moan about it.