Clifford Nelson

Soren Larsen is a 28 year old danish international striker who has been released by Tolouse. He previously played for Schalke 04 in the German top division, but came into the shadow of Kevin Kuranyi. There are rumours that he might be returning to Sweden where is was a veritable goal machine before being bought by the germans. He ought to be worth a look.

Foreign or english, what is the evidence? Apart from Alf Ramsey (over 40 years ago!) and Bobby Robson, who has actually done well for England? FA has hired the most successful managers they can lay their hands on, and still something eludes us. Is this really about the manager at all?

Waigo's goals to game ratio was quite exceptional, but it was also clear to me that he belonged up front, or preferably on the right of a front three in a 4-3-3/4-5-1. Sadly he got most of his chances as wide right or even wide left of a 4-4-2, where he was less convincing as he wasn't a genuine line runner and crosser. Nevertheless it would be interesting to see the stats on his 'assists', because I think there was a load of them. Let's be fair, AP never fancied him, and he seems to have failed to warm the heart of many fans, who seems to prefer Antonio, as clearly did AP. I can't see him come back here, and I think he need to go somewhere where he is more appreciated. I will miss him because I think he is genuinely talented, but we will move on.

Since a left back seemed to be the last thing we needed is there something else behind it? I remember that AP subbed Harding at one point and expressed himself rather cryptically about the reasons, which made me think that Harding wasn't the easiest player to manage off the field. Since I also thought it was strange that Reading released him it might be an explanation. We have now got three LBs, four if we count Seabourne, and five if we recognise the existence of Molineux. On the other hand not a single RB. There was a mention in the Echo that AP isn't expected to sign many players this summer, but if the signing of Dickson is to strengthen then I can see numerous signings coming our way, because there isn't an area which doesn't need strengthening outside LB and possibly CB.

It doesn't look like such a small number to me, although I don't think neither you or I know exactly how many. To suggest that 99% are happy is a throw away remark, though, and not a reflection of reality. It reminds me of the russian's in the days of communism suggesting that 99% voted for the party. It's called propaganda.

It is no doubt a struggle to fill a newspaper daily even if there is no obvious news to report. I wonder what you would fill it with?

I think you might be a bit quick to dismiss all the visible anxiety there is out there. Dismissing or ignoring it won't make it go away. Ignoring your customers has never been a good strategy for any business, and customers of football clubs are especially volatile. A bit of management of the communications could change all this negativity, and it wouldn't cost a fortune either.

Maybe Alps is on to something, after all. When there is a huge vacuum opening up where we all hope there will be news, it's inevitable that that vacuum is filled with whatever else is out there: Exasperation, frustration, hopes, wishes, and rumours. But because every single rumour eventually dies a death because nothing is happening, even the rumours are looking tatty. In order to keep the fans from moaning about the owner/manager/director or whoever else is there to be shot at, maybe the club could manage the PR machine during the summer a bit better. Even statements like: "We are discussing various options at the moment but there is nothing yet to report." might be better than us believing that there is nothing going on at all. I was delighted when the new regime was coming in, in a small part so that the OS could be managed properly to become the first place to look for news. The old regime was leaking like the proverbial sieve, so that the whole world already knew what was going on before it came up on OS. Maybe we've just gotten a little bit to far the other way? Alps, not for the first time personifies the frustration, but just look around and you'll see that there are plenty of Alps around.

When names like that turns up it makes me think of the ghastly experiments we had to endure. That past was not a better place to be in. We have started to look like a serious football club again.

The first thing coming to me is that I'm hoping that this pre-season will be one where we will beat lower quality opposition with some style, and that I don't have to hear some pillock (like Stewart Henderson last year and Portvliet the year before that, and Burley and....) trying to say that the results don't matter. On this I'm on the same page as AP. The winning habit matters every time!

Adu is looking for playing regularly and re-starting a career which hasn't gotten anywhere since before he joined Real Salt Lake. Maybe he can, maybe he can't, but he isn't a current superstar on the pitch and L1 with us must for him seem as good as anything else. On his current history there is more chance that he'll become another bit player than a superstar. I really can't fathom what all the unbridled enthusiasm is all about.

Maybe you're right, but he keeps on being labeled "striker" and "forward" when you start reading up on him. What's more is that he has only played 45 first team games in the last three years. Before signing for Benfica in 2007 he had a lacklustre period with Real Salt Lake. He never broke into the Benfica side and was loaned to AC Monaco for a year, not to learn, but with "an option to buy". Monaco didn't excercise the option, because Adu didn't make it. After that he hasn't made it at Belenenses, and he has recently struggled in Greece. The Youtube pictures shows a very young man with an impressive box of tricks. According to those who have followed him he hasn't retained the tricks, and not learnt the tactics of the game. I haven't seen him play at all outside the Youtube clips, and maybe he would be worth a punt, but he has got a lot to prove. Nothing to get prematurely excited about.

Is somebody who scores 1 in 7 great for team morale?

Compare the boredom with the panic stricken anxiety we struggled with last year, and remember what it felt like when we realised that our perceived saviour was Mickey Fialka, a north london letting agent. Our last hope was an unknown swiss consortium, what on earth did they know about football! That is currently what life in a city eastwards of here is like, although there are no 'hats in the ring'. (Funny that, is there anybody out there who has ever literally flung his hat in a ring?!) On reflection I think I'll put up with a bit of boredom.

I have got no connection with the Echo, so no axe to grind. But I am convinced that the day newspapers, whether we like their reporting or not, stop reporting what they think are news, and start bowing and scraping at anybody's door, then this nation will be in a perilous state. I'm somewhat worried that the idea of a free press seems to be an oddity to NC, because the press on the continent behave in much the same way as ours in relation to news.

I'm glad Weston put the record straight. What matters now is what we do next season. No -10points; no lack of pre-season; no lack of foundation for a first eleven and therefore no dodgy start to the season. Sounds very much like No Excuses to me. By christmas we will be in an automatic promotion spot or we'll be looking at a new manager... No pressure then... We will therefore have a solution to our chronic problem with playing bottom teams on their own pitches. I'm looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to a number of new players, and that is an area where by and large AP has shown to be a decent judge. And to the 4-4-2 supporters I note that Mourinho played 4-2-1-3, and did rather well. Could that possibly be an acceptable way to proceed, or are we still convinced that anything outside 4-4-2 is unacceptable and corrupts the british way?

The reason that season tickets used to be available early with discounts was that the club was desperate for money. This is no longer the case, so there is no reason to rush things. It's good news in itself that. A rumour doing the rounds is that the season tickets will cost £125 to celebrate the anniversary. I don't believe it myself, and I haven't got a good source for it either, but what the heck, one can always dream.

You don't really mean that you prefer the Russian press?

I pay taxes, you pay taxes, and that is the money who pays for our troops in Afghanistan, schools, police etc. etc. Why football clubs think they should have some different tax arrangements is an offence to our troops as well as to you and me. It's strange to feel that I'm on the side of the HMRC.

Triesman is as I post reported on 5 Live to be standing down.

Tabloids are hardly newspapers in the true sense. They prey on prejudice and report celebrity and gossip. That's why I can't understand why they are exempt VAT. When it comes to Triesman they seem to have reported an actual piece of news. That is what they should be doing. The person who should carry all the responsibility is Triesman, and his supporters, not the papers. Only in war is it acceptable for papers to be censured, and self censorship should be limited. The risk for us possibly landing the World Cup can't be a good enough reason to withhold the truth.

CVA appears the only hope (or threat, depending where you happen to stand). It isn't difficult to understand what the fans want, or how they feel. Let's remember what we felt like this time last year. What is much more of a struggle is to understand what possibly could be the attraction to take this debt laden albatross on unless you are a dyed in the wool supporter with little interest in your children's inheritance. Some of the heavier debts is secured against the real estate, so even with a CVA you take over something which can't carry it's own costs and therefore can't plan for any reasonable future. If they are playing at all next season I guess they will fall straight through CCC and that we will see them dropping when we're going up next year. That will be the end of competitive games maybe for all time. Part of me is in jubilation to see all the Pompey arrogance having to be paid for at last, but another part wonders how happy I will be if our biggest derbys in the future will be against Bournemouth!

Amongst the supporters speaking as a collective there are two interesting trends: A - The attitude to some players (sack them, get rid of them, etc. or "can easily be replaced") such as Wotton, Papa Waigo (12 goals in 11 starts) and Lloyd James. B - The sentimental wish to retain players who hasn't played any dominant part for some time, just in case, such as Perry, Thomas and surprisingly Lloyd James. If you were to try to manage the team by following advice from the fans you would end up seriously bewildered.

It is refreshing that being "decent" is no longer good enough.

I bet it will be a very long time until we find another bit player who will score 12 goals in only 11 starts for the club, quite apart from the numbers of assists he's contributed. We have an option to buy him, but I can't see him back here, which is sad. Those who have said that he was "inconsistent" or thought that we'll easily find replacement for him ought to take a close look at his contribution.