rallyboy

how about Saints 1970 v Arsenal 2010? I think Wenger might have something to say afterwards, if it went the distance! I fancy us for a knockout or too many red cards by half time, or for them to get trench foot in the ruts. It's a different sport now, the state of the pitches back then, and tackling has changed even in two years, if you block the ball cleanly and fairly with the sole of the boot now you are asking for trouble. Grumpy old men thread!

I've always felt guilty about going to the Antarctic, there we were, high up in the league and going well, Jan 04. When we got back to mainland Argentina ten days later I logged on in the one internet cafe and discovered we had lost at home to Newcastle (3-0?), the whole thing fell apart from that week and here we are fifty odd league places lower than we were then, all because I went to the Antarctic. Then again it was my wife's fault we lost at Fratton because she switched the car radio on in Wiltshire. Makes sense to me. And the thieving baggage handlers had three Boca juniors shirts out of my luggage.

yeah, fair play to Mack. Interesting to see in the paper today that Liverpool could face administration over £282M bank debts but they wouldn't suffer a points penalty because it's their parent company, a company that only has one asset, the club, and the club is trading solvently - apparently! Are we to see the red and blue of Hampshire united in attacking a league that makes up it's rules as it goes along and looks after the big clubs? If they do go into administration and no points penalty is levied it will be scandalous. Then again the americans should get an award for managing to drive a huge and previously successful business into the ground in such a short space of time, makes Storrie look sharp.

just seen the highlights - very dodgy red card, stupid penalty, comedy defending, nice finish from Kitson, a deflected free kick, Nugent needed two attempts to hit a cow's arse - not sure that Pompey have turned a corner, but it certainly looks like Leicester have - spineless and unlucky, not a good combination. Cotterill's plucky crew are now the second worst team in the division - fire up the open-topped bus and pop the champagne!

few notes from a quick read through - better people than me can analyse in detail later! page 23 - nine and a half million owed to agents?? I note the story of Chanrai having paid off the creditors owed £2.5K and less and the charities has turned into, 'he will if the sale goes through'. Kept them off the vote though. And to clarify, the cva hasn't started as it relies on a new owner coming in, it's nine months from there that they go for liquidation, those dim creditors are still waiting for their first 3p. They are still deep in administration. squad of 30 listed 27 owned, 3 in on loan, 4 out on loan. There's some lengthy expensive looking contracts on there. Has he tried to hide the £2.4M accrued bonuses away from the salaries for potential buyers trying to see overheads?! reading this is very boring, someone else can take over, which funnily enough is what Chanrai said when he let his right to buy agreement expire!

The man from the FA at the helm, Spurs and Leicester City given full access to the books, third party clubs getting payments from transfers - they really are a community club, everyone gets involved! Solent also reported the little gem that Chanrai's agreement to buy has expired.... Does this mean he's had a closer look and decided that the bargain doesn't look as attractive as it did when the parachute money wasn't being diverted? If he's going off the whole idea it leaves the way open for that bankrupt northern child to have another crack at whacking even more debt into the black hole. Why else would he allow his hold on the club purchase to expire, he's either haggling very hard. or walking away. We weren't far out on the admin costs so far, AA is looking to get that up to about £3M by the time the club is finished, I mean, he's finished.

perhaps Genoa have forwarded the money to the likes of Udinese and some of the other ripped off creditors, or is offering them 3p in the pound this year? A business that kept a taxbill for £25M on the desk unpaid for a year, moaning about late payers.....a new comedy avenue opens up. Luckily AA'a cashflow preditictions are realistic and not in any way the work of a fantasist, so I can't see that a wait for a million quid will cause problems, his business model isn't that fragile is it?.... Poor plucky pompey.

in our case, history would suggest that the bookies know something the stats don't. On your analysis Gemmel - do you reckon they can cover cva and outgoings by using anything other than advanced parachute? I thought that Chanrai's only cheer is that money, but it's being directed to football creditors or needed to meet cva. Yes they have a strong championship 11 who seem incapable of playing together at the mo (they can't carry on this badly, can they?), so if they stay injury/suspension-free I can see them creeping up the table, but I reckon the real trouble is still in the accounts.

I wasn't impressed with two fat blokes screaming over the top abuse at Cortese at the final whistle, they obviously felt that Adkins reign of 90 minutes was enough time to turn things round and it was time to demand answers. Even if this behaviour was deeply rooted in their frustration at failing to get women, they shouldn't bring it into the Northam. And the 'over here' chants are I believe a nod to Dell history and earn their place in the setlist on tradition grounds.

I'm not even sure how a club in administration can be offering three year contracts to players? The contracts that they offer can be fantasy anyway, pompey won't have to pay, the FL will have to bale them out and pay football creditors if it all goes wrong again (not that it's stopped going wrong this time yet!) Most insolvent clubs are polite enough to have gaps between administrations, pompey seem keen to blend the two debacles into one lengthy crash. Consolidate your bankruptcies, don't bother to exit admin, just drive the business into the ground by repeating the mistakes that got you there in the first place!!

The FL will need a a while to make sense of any business plan that indicates that the business is sustainable in its current form. If it's that good a plan perhaps Chanrai might like to release his cash flow forecasts so we can all have a good laugh. And on Cotterill's comments, it's like Grant never left! - I'm sure the likes of QPR are petrified. That's another difference between the tow clubs, both have had poor starts, I don't hear Adkins suggesting that the top teams are dreading coming to St Marys. There's a lot to be said for dignified confidence over vulgar spin for the dim.

let's see who is having the poorer season.......next goal wins.....

even the referees are against poor plucky Pompey, that's the last two games they should have won. I think the FL should give them those six points at least, it really isn't fair. I feel sorry for them, oh hang on, I've got over it!

it's more about diff settings, and some amazing throttle control. Nice.

AA knows where the bodies are buried so Harry likes to keep him sweet so Spurs do favours for pompey - O'Hara, some quick cash for players, and the rather odd £1M loan via the Kaboul deal. BUT Harry has a chairman who wants a young player to sign a contract before he goes on loan, he also wants Harry to try and keep the club solvent (for a change), and most importantly, he wants his million quid back, and he doesn't want to pay the wages of a loan player to a club that owes him money. So I don't see this loan deal happening unless they cough up the money already owed, or AA delays the payment by agreeing to double the money they will owe for the loan as Spurs know under the football creditor rules they will get it eventually, whatever happens. How long before the parachute money runs out? Advanced Prem cash must be the only thing keeping them afloat, the little comfort blanket that's supposed to keep you warm for four seasons, not one.

mmmm, poorly supported club? You may want to think of a new topic a bit sharpish to change the subject, ask the bloke sat next to you at Fratton - you might need to shout though as you've got thirty empty seats between you. I see Brighton's new 22,000 stadium is getting there. Bournemouth's ground is okay, we're well sorted....dare I ask how the Harbour Superdome financed by World Cup money is going?....

he's got a point that as a town they haven't got the monopoly on racism but the best ever had to be when the Pompey father and son were racially abusing Hislop........their own goalkeeper!.......When they were 2-0 up! Every club has a minority of idiots but Pompey is definitely, in the style of the League of Gentleman, a club for 'local people'... Look at TCWTB - says it all, and he isn't a one off, there's a whole collection of them. You can ban his bell but he's still the face of the few.

that's a worrying indicator of where the finances are if they were happy to pay £12K a week to offload their 'star striker'.... They then take the odd decision to overpay two Prem rejects. We have been in a similar squad situation and the only answer is the clear the deadwood not add to it - Kanu?! And they must have at least eight players operating above their fantasy wagecap, a limit that the likes of Blackpool must be trying to run with Prem money coming in. Can we see the figures of how many Prem clubs are operating with a wagebill lower than Pompey's? I do hope Storrie is off the bonus structure by now, though on current form it won't be a great saving. The house of cards must be rocking again soon, and not in a good way.

you shouldn't knock them, it's a huge improvement on their start last season.....and they have got two goals now in six games. And that Palace side are going to be promotion contenders! As Dean Wilkins would say, perhaps they lost the game in both boxes, but mainly their own. Pompey can't be far off a good side, if Chanrai wants to wave goodbye to another £10M in the transfer market, and if they ever exit admin and file accounts, and avoid tax evasion charges and resultant penalties - they could be challengers! Come on Cotterill, spin that result into something positive!

The creditors gave him a big thumbs up (and a few extra fingers), he can do what he wants, idiots. I did say 500 pages back but it's worth repeating - as a businessman, if a random company ripped me off and owed me a few grand, then were forced into court and offered me a feeble 3p in the pound while living it up, I would consider the loss of a a couple of hundred quid as a bargain price for the pleasure of dancing on their filthy corporate graves and watching the crooked directors lose their jobs, cars, expenses and reputations. Sensible businessmen can see right through a dodgy CVA and would not accept such a deal that is so obviously unworkable. On a completely different case - any creditor who voted for the Pompey CVA deserves the shafting they are getting, so they had better not whinge when it goes awry. It was never viable.

could I just point out to anyone who will listen, I was offered this flat first and turned it down*. Mainly because I think the guy upstairs might be noisy and troublesome. I'm now returned to my little seaside bedsit and the neighbours think I'm some sort of hero as a result. *not verified as factual

I can see there being such a time gap between the offences and the potential tax evasion convictions that the FL will bottle it. They were quite happy to string Luton up a tree, crucify Leeds and keep Bournemouth under a ridiculous embargo yet I feel myself drifting into the Nick camp on this one - I reckon there will be convictions for tax evasion while at Pompey, but the club will escape unscathed. They've beaten so many charges already that they look untouchable. Mysteriously so.

not the glamorous appointment I was hoping for but he seems to be an educated man who has done very well thus far so I'm prepared to give him at least twenty minutes before ripping out my season ticket stubs and shouting abuse from beneath a pile of stewards. This whole escapade can be judged in May. Difficult to identify good managers from a CV - Tony Adams, Bryan Robson - two great leaders who learned the game under brilliant managers - whoops. I note that even as he announced the new manager Cortese made sure he reminded Bournemouth that their version of events looks shaky. The spin gives the overlooked Howe some street cred on his own patch, but not much elsewhere.

Hacker will get their fees up near a million by the time they get out - loads of all nighters preparing paperwork for european campaigns, transfer meetings in Greece and the US, detailed forensic accounting, pens for signing autographs, it's all going to stack up bigtime - plus the special bonus from the mystery new owner, whoever that turns out to be.... The only thing controlling the admin fees will be that they have to get it approved by, er, AA. Mmmm. Have they scored a second goal yet? I reckon they could have four by Christmas.

yeah I recall all the skate facts about the bloke who was a tank driver three years before he was born who had bought the club on borrowing, not cleared any debt, didn't own the ground, only wanted a crane contract (?) and was just after a quick buck. Desperate. Presumably the Cortese sinsister plans myth is a spin off from those original works of fiction, along with the legendary dock strike that no one can quite pin down and the shirt under the pitch fairytale that is dragged out whenever a new ground is built anywhere in the world. With Storrie teller on board it has always been a bit Brothers Grimm down there, these days it's just grim.