rallyboy

it clearly overstepped the guidelines for filming, or it was the worst bit of policing since they released Pompey fans into the car park at the final whistle. If it was part of a serious operation it could have been done less obviously and more professionally, from the gantry with proper kit - but sweeping handheld wobbly pans by a man dressed as the Kommander of a Panzer are of little use unless they record crime as it occurs - as I saw no arrests I presume it was just an idiot with a camera looking for other idiots. His attitude suggested it was a deliberate act to intimidate the customers of Southampton FC. A senior officer made a very poor decision, or an officer on the ground chose to attempt inciting a riot. Either way the action was of no use in reducing crime or catching offenders, and the taxpayer financed it, thus whacking another wedge between fans and police. Hopefully Mr Marshall will review policy and send PC Spielberg back to doing prom night dvd's for friends.

not just a rule-bending disgrace if allowed but a business that has no value because thay can't buy young players or invest in anything. All their income is pouring straight through in wages - exactly what got them into trouble in the first place. Six months ago their only asset was an ability to generate Prem money. Now their only asset is access to half the remaining parachute money. The business is fecked without new money, same as it was 654 pages ago.

maybe the league are just waiting for AA to file the 2009-2010 accounts as per their new ruling this summer - now that's a fag packet I want to read the back of! Once he's done that the FL can look at approving the CVA and checking out a potential new owner, I'm sure it won't take too long.

good point that - a shrewd and serious businessman would have waited for the CVA approval and then been in there like a rat up a drainpipe. As soon as the large chunk of debt was written off the plan could be launched - finalise the takeover deal that was obviously done with AA months before, pump money into the squad and prepare to attempt an immediate return to the big money world of the Prem - only pausing to close the annoying 653 page thread down the road. But would do we see? A half-hearted and lengthy change of ownership - he hasn't even done the FaPP test that was mentioned a month ago, not the action of someone who wants a club. No sign of new funding, no sign of a serious attempt at moving the club forward....there's a limit to how long you wait for developments, the CVA was key - unless he doesn't believe it's viability either?....or he believes the FL won't approve it.... Meanwhile Palace have exited admin smoothly, embargo lifted and planning a future - though signing Edgar Davids would suggest they haven't learned their financial lesson yet. Meanwhile folk hero Avram continues to support his own theory that you can't take their spirit but you can help yourself to most of their staff - he has Pompey bent over like a Thai crack addict behind an industrial estate skip. More laughs to come.

Markus and his best friend planned to take Saints back to the Prem. I would wager that Nicola's dedication to his friend's dream is likely to be even stronger today than it was a fortnight ago, I just hope that his positive drive doesn't manifest itself in over-ruthless decision-making. The Liebherr family have a reputation for integrity, their support of the plan that Markus left is likely to be considerable. Leaving aside the fact that some suggest that Nicola does appear to have the knack of breaking too many eggs when making omlettes, he's a man that Markus trusted completely, even if we don't approve of everything he's done or the way that he wants to bring that success, we all want the same thing, and this may be the time to get behind his plans, I for one will certainly cut him more slack than I would have done before, he's lost his best friend. Until Nicola and the Liebherr family watch a Saints team walk out again in the Premiership they will all consider that the last wish of Markus has not been honoured. No one with pride walks away from unfinished business so I would expect Nicola and the family to be guardians of our club future for several years - I wish them every success. The Markus dream is still on track - mind the doors, it's going to be a bumpy ride and we won't be taking prisoners anymore - all aboard.

sorry pfc123 mate but you are believing the hype again, you only have the AA version of events with an extra twist of News give-them-what-they-want-to-hear spin. Reading between his own lines - You didn't need Chanrai's money because AA ploughed his way through the 2011 money instead - suicidal long term planning. He spent just £8M in 3 months and makes out that's a good thing - that rate of spending will see the club back in admin shortly. Vantis suggested the club needed £12M a month to clear debt and trade solvently, they were right - AA just ignored the debt, traded insolvently and managed to write off some under the CVA. So forget the court and the taxman - the FL still need to give their approval of the CVA?....interesting. He is convinced they will - but they may not be as easily conned as the high court. That'll be the world according to AA then. Any bets on them still being in admin on Sept 16th? - AA hasn't met one of his PR puff dream deadlines yet.

three years ago when we were telling them the figures didn't stack up I was being told by them that there was no problem, there were millions coming into the club from Sky, they didn't get it then that there were millions going through the club from Sky. I gave up trying to explain that it was a house of cards, they didn't get it then and if they don't get it now, they never will. One or two of the european clubs shafted by the CVA may advise Genoa that they don't actually have to pay, or they can offer a pittance as full settlement in three months. Pompey have lost street cred through their european dealings and it might come back to haunt them. As for the words of the FL chairman, that was the first time they have issued a clear warning to Pompey that their card is marked, from that I suspect they are keen to restrict any transfer activity until the books balance.... The CVA is still millions short of minimum target, who will be paying the wages when the advanced parachute money runs out? Those pesky wages go out every month and even though they've been reduced from 96% of turnover (maybe they are still 96% of current turnover!), it's still a sum to find, along with debt repayment - and I do hope they are on top of PAYE and NI and VAT. Let's see if the business that can make it to Christmas without failing to meet the CVA or the wages.

Glad I went, Markus was there for us, we were there for him - a great service, idiotic phone owners aside, and nice story about the single watch. And if you want to see the order of service there's a shot of one on the Echo site - that's me holding it.

interesting thread as it makes you realise that moments in sport really burn into your memory. Six against Utd - Waterlooville high street. Camara scoring the 4th against Norwich - Looe Bay. The last great escape - driving through Wiltshire. Keegan signing - I was at the Dell and Joan Murray told me out of the window of the commercial dept. And as an aside, Elvis died on my paper round! - Daily Mirror plus Titbits magazine. Fortunately I've been at more than I've missed but the association of places with events from afar will always be there.

Personally I would like to see an empty seat at the front of the directors box for every future home game. And if you don't want to see me singing his name and shedding tears at the same time, don't go in the Northam on Saturday! We owe him so much, I hope he realised how much we appreciated what he did for us.

my recollection is of a significant minority making noise, not all - but still the worst observed minute in sporting history. I'm not aware of a club ever having to stage a second attempt. As for Pompey being out of the woods, Chanrai needs to put a few million quid into the black hole to make that happen. The cva may have fooled the judge but like all spin and pr, it needs to be backed up with payments and that's not the Pompey strongpoint - according to the official papers AA says it needs £15M now and a few million to get to Christmas. The only way it could be met by any new revised figures would be if it was illegally put together with exagerated debt to shaft the taxpayer, supported by lies in the high court. And I'm sure that can't be the case as it would lead to further charges - and there are enough of those in the pipeline as it is. Though we all suspect that AA has a freemasonry arrangement that has stood him in good stead, I can't see how else he has got this far without being imprisoned. So, finally it's time to pay up, let's see the colour of their money.....

having witnessed the appalling behaviour for Ted's silence when in just 60 secs a new generation of hardline Pompey-haters was born, and rightfully so, it must be said that I've been pleasantly surprised by the sensible line taken by the vast majority of Pompey fans at this time. The idiots that came to St Marys that night tarnished their club name forever - maybe the rest now realise that it caused huge longterm damage to the club and 'the bestest fans' and they don't want a repeat. Before that game they were considered passionate and noisy - but that reputation died that night. Yes there have been idiot postings about Markus, but only a small number of the very few have made themselves look stupid. I thought this could never happen but.... Ho is nearly, partially-right with some of his comments on this one - though I would dispute his suggestion that it would be the same if it were our fans. There would be jokes, nothing is sacred in comedy, but I'm not aware of Saints fans ever abusing a minute's silence in front of a family who have suffered a loss - and that is Pompey's burden, and motivation for some on here to go overboard with abuse - the worst owngoal in football history - never to be forgotten, and unlike the docks strike etc, it really happened. So fair play to the respectful majority, there have been some thoughtful messages from the other end of the M27 - and eternal hateful condemnation to the rest, especially those who come on here and think they can get away with it - we know who they are. Let's move on from this aspect of our owner's passing.

Chanrai looking to sell on? Anyone would think from that statement that he's owned the club for ages and was responsible for misleading the Prem, asset-stripping the carcass, driving the business into administration and bank-rolling said farce. It seems that he's just been an innocent bystander who had no idea what AA would do and by good fortune now seems to be in the best position to give creditors their money. Pity he didn't think of that approach when whoever was in charge was sanctioning higher wages, shafting local businesses and thieving from charities. Oh hang on, he was in charge then, and has been throughout. I guess we have to wish him good luck with the FaPP test, though he shouldn't need it as torturers, arms dealers and money-launderers have all been given a clean bill of health in then past.

can it be officially closed and frozen, suspended in web land just awaiting the moment when the cva fails and then we can all pile back in like Avram at a seedy industrial estate brothel?

does it mean that some clown reckons there's £23M of assets left in the business should it all go pop? That's nearly as funny as the £39M squad valuation!

panic ye not, the thread has ground to a halt a couple of times before but they've always pumped life into it by doing something criminal or saying something absurd - Storrie getting arrested between non-firesales, Grant bothering prossies, the kitman's wages - there's always some unlikely stunt that crops up to keep us amused. So I have faith in AA, he has a comical moment welling up inside him at all times, and if he doesn't deliver, Cotterill has demonstrated the potential to spout deluded rubbish about getting the embargo lifted for good behaviour, or we can just look at TCWTB and feel better about ourselves. This is just the silly season lull before the next hilarious storm, we will still be 'aving a larf mush' for a while..... Though on this subject I guess we need to accept that the comedy can't go on forever, we will need an exit strategy, this thread has been too special just to be flushed down a toilet, it needs a proper send off when the time comes.

yes Deano you silly sausage, you just misunderstood that for comic effect, Kanu is only 42. How would you describe the side of a ship? Irony.

following on from Oldnick's comment, at the weekend I ran into a senior journalist who had access to every minute of the trial evidence and whose outlet was covering it in great detail, with a very local bias. I asked him what he thought about the case and he too was astonished at the result, and couldn't believe that they 'got away with it' on all counts. It seems that the taxman's QC's performance was regarded by some as slightly lacking in quailty or direction, but I couldn't agree with that, I'm sure he did really well and just got unlucky on the day. Twice. I think the taxman needs to take a long hard look at how they operate when they get to court in future. It's no good putting in all the hard work on the books over several years if you then hand the baton to a vague simpleton. I don't see how the current set up could win a watertight case against Storrie, Redknapp and Manadaric - in light of recent results they must regard themselves as untouchable, no matter what evidence is produced.

Many clubs have tried similar things over the last twenty years and each and every one has been forced into a U-turn - there should have been a clue there. And if there are people on here who think it doesn't matter that Southampton FC is making enemies at an alarming rate for no reason - well it does. It's unwise to go to war with people who buy ink in bulk, they can create any damaging image of the club they want and that has clear commercial implications. I don't want us booed everywhere we go because the Sun says we're a monster that thinks itself too important for the division. It's no longer a local storm-in-a-teacup dispute, it's now the Echo PLUS the entire national print media V Cortese, and his boss may be less happy about that.

.....Hiroshima.....Harrisburg.....Sellafield.....Fratton.....Dubious-activity.....

building a squad from scratch with a big wagebill would be great, but inheriting a bunch of overpaid losers and trying to offload them to bring in fresh isn't such a great scenario - and we have been there. I would regard Pardew's best bits of business as 1. Buying Lambert. 2. Offloading Saga. Pompey now have a whole load of Sagas and Rasiaks on their books, and every week they remain there the wagebill is unsustainable. So AA has set a ridiculous wagecap that insults creditors everywhere - but they don't yet have the freedom to utilise it, nor the funding to honour the court-approved cva.

so how much will Chanrai have to throw at it in all? Let's say £18M for the cva, plus cover a £10M loss this season? If they go down that leaves him with a League One club with no facilities that owes him the best part of £50M - approx £40M more than it would then be worth. That might be why he's thinking about it....as Peter Jones would say, this isn't a business, there's no way it will make a profit, and that's why I'm out.

the cup win was clearly illegal, as was this years cup run - ask the charities and taxpayers that had to pay for them, with the info that has been released in court and the accounts statements that's beyond debate. Even on a day when we have our annual dodgy start there's always a Coventry to cheer us up - unless Injustice Mann decides later tonight that it was in fact a draw. No doubt they were brave and unlucky, I do hope Cotterill's as funny as Grant was. Poor little plucky Pompey, beaten 2-0 by one of their relegation rivals - that's the first six pointer of the season gone awry. Normal service resumed.

sorry pfc123, slight hiccup on the facts front...... you don't have a debt level that can be serviced yet, and you don't have £48M to come. Other than that, spot on! The figures clearly show that the business is still unsustainable without further 28% loans and wage reductions. The court victory was progress, but not a long term solution. You may well say you don't care what anybody thinks about you - Gary Glitter says the same, but he knows what people are thinking when they look at him.

nice work. So apart from AA's figures being adrift by a mere £34M and the cva being completely unworkable, Injustice Mann didn't miss a thing! The parachute payments still seem to be a grey area with several versions of what they have already had, but the real crippler must be the wagebill with a few heavy earners still guzzling with their snouts in the Fratton trough. And I'm not convinced that we've seen the last of Storrie at the scene of the crime, he's still loitering.....