rallyboy

Is Phil Istine the guy who built it? I blame him for not putting in sprinklers in 1163.

It's a great distraction story from more serious news. An iconic building suffered damage, much of it was saved, no one was hurt - and it was not 30 mins from Total Destruction as is being claimed. Sad, but not the end of the world... People gather for vigils and sing hymns across the front pages so corporations throw in millions to help, meanwhile the homeless still starve just around the corner and civil disorder continues. Perhaps Mrs May should look at St Paul's...

I still don't quite understand how Hughes could come in and inspire an appalling team to turn it around like he did - he kept us up. But he followed that up by building his own team to fail in the most spectacular of ways. Bizarre. Rare credit must go to the board for not repeating the mistake of a year earlier when they gave a failing manager too long. It's been an odd journey.

Ralph has done an incredible job. Let's hope we can hold onto him for a bit - a phrase I haven't used for the last three managers.

The league had better not mess up the fixtures again! I was assured all of last season that we were playing them this season, but when I checked last summer I couldn't find either game. I've now had nine months of being told that they'll be playing us in league fixtures next season, do we know when those games will be announced?

By now the whole ground must be Grade II listing...

That table supports my memory of Leicester being gently ushered to the title as the season went on - even refs like a fairytale, bless them.

Neil was great - he did Forever in Bluebirds and You Don't Give Me Decisions Anymore and finished with the one he wrote about the sound of his own voice - Beautiful Noise.

It's no time for being petty - they've had a great day out at Wembley and beating a big club like League One Sunderland is an achievement. No doubt some will ask questions about whether the players will ever get paid. but that's out of order, it's not like they're running at a loss again. I'm just pleased for the loyal fans who partially-boycotted, then came good in the end, they're the ones that count. I often wondered where 657 came from, apparently it was the average attendance for their home games on the glorious cup run of 2019.

I see battling plucky fratton hero Defoe has cemented his place on the old villainometer by saying that he's supporting Sunderland today.

Warsash makes a valid point - Beech not going to Wembley is a proper boycott. You can't get on your high horse in the winter and stay in the warm, then roll up for the big games in the spring, wearing your half-and-half scarf like nothing happened. Fair play to him.

Am I?

You have to feel sorry for Birmingham City, they couldn't have predicted that. It's not like they brought in a manager with a history of unusual transfer activity leading to financial problems at every club that he's joined. Possibly their unluckiest decision since they appointed Harold Shipman as first team doctor.

I'm sure they'll be some diehards at Wembley who in reality have seen fewer pompey games than one of our own players.

The only comparison is the JPT - I believe that was approx 51,000?

I see another of the former owners of the former club that used to be formerly known as pompey, has been banged-up. It was the one who certainly didn't have people shot or launder criminal money through the club, which I believe everyone decided must the fault of the FA rather than those who appointed him and let him buy players to win football matches. I'm sure all of that messy business will be cleared-up when this ongoing forensic investigation into the accounts is completed - a process so laboured it's now making Brexit look like a trip to Aldi.

Call me old fashioned but I'm going to hold fire and see if any actual facts surface regarding the main charge. At the moment we know that one bloke was abusive on his walk home, but his behaviour wasn't deemed serious enough to warrant anything more than a telling off, for being a ****.

Had a player performed that badly he would never play for us again. It was as if someone claiming to be Collina had rung up and suggested his cousin should be allowed to have a go at reffing. He was so poor it was beyond ridiculous. If Kevin was a racehorse they'd have summoned the course vet and ended the sorry debacle behind sheets, as an act of mercy.

Is that a picture of DLT at the Radio One Xmas party?

Had he been on the ground then he'd have no complaints as he'd blocked a goalbound effort. But his arm prevented the ball hitting the bloke in Row TT - the ball was going out for a goalkick, he gained nothing from having his arm away from his side. It's just unfortunate that it's come straight after their 'good fortune' against us, it just confirms the feeling that some clubs are 'lucky', in every game.

The guy is incredible - it would be great if the dressing room could do something special for a guy who was once a leader in there.. Many footballers fade away after their careers, Franny has gone from strength-to-strength and demonstrated what a unique character he is. Our tenners or twentys are great, but a senior pro probably wouldn't miss four or five grand - and that's the sort of support he deserves.

Oh no, I don't think I can make that date either. That's the night that I normally drop off my dog to meet shady characters at motorway service stations to collect envelopes of filthy cash, paid in return for signing unsuitable players that my dog's club neither wants nor needs, a criminal act that could lead the business into financial collapse, but works for my dog, because it also charges the players for giving them inflated and lengthy deals that make no football sense to anyone.

Consistency has left the building. I recall Yoshida being given offside in recent years when he peeked one eye and his nose around a defender - technically off. I also recall him being given offside this season when he was nowhere near the ball! In comparison, Lukaku was clearly off, a very simple decision. And don't start me on Prowsie's ability to lean on a Brighton central defender and knock him over - that penalty decision could still cost us. If that was a penalty, we are owed approx 130 of them, including two from the weekend, and probably another couple this week.

Swings and roundabouts - today we could have been 2-0 up and their second goal disallowed because it was offside, but next week we might win a throw-in on the halfway line that really should be theirs. It all evens-out.

The man who has tired of seeing that has tired of life. A double wardrobe in a swimsuit performing with the grace of a barrow full of rubble being fly-tipped into Hilsea Lido. At least she's stopped harvesting the votes of simpletons by defending tax evasion.