JackFrost

When on earth did we sign Graham Poll?

Crouch signed for us in July 2004 after Sturrock was appointed in March 2004. Yahia and Jakobsson were indeed Wigley signings, Yahia was brought in as a replacement for Fitz Hall

I wonder how his runner beans are coming along

Fair play to Oldham beating Tranmere away from home and leaving Pompey 10 points from safety again (before deductions)

Sturrock's record with us wasn't as bad as people are making out P13 W5 D2 L6 Roughly mid table form That said I think there were two main reasons to his departure. From day one there was a big personality clash between him and Lowe and their respective attitudes towards how things should be done. As alluded to above I remember hearing that rumour about how Lowe turned up to some press conference/media interview or smth in his best suit only for Sturrock to turn up in an egg stained t-shirt. It seemed to get to him in some way and feed on to the players because as soon as Jason Dodd apparently knocked on Lowe's door re: Sturrock, that was the end of him. The situation became unmanageable and it was always Sturrock that was going to get the chop. I actually think Sturrock should never have been given the job in the first place (weren't we linked with Bruno Metsu at that time?) and his entire time here appeared to be not much short of a shambles, even if the results weren't as bad as some people make out. It was always going to end in tears, especially when Steve Wigley was the best Lowe could come up with after Sturrock left.

Louise Mensch i wouldn't say no to

Chris Lucketti I remember him signing a short term loan deal with us, he played about 4 games but did brilliantly I seem to recall.

I seem to remember seeing him on the wing in a reserve game and whilst he had decent technique he was too lightweight. The other team's winger kept leaning into him and easing him off the ball on a lot of occasions. It led to White being pretty ineffective. After being subbed for Alex Ostlund their player tried the same trick on AO and ended up flat on his back.

I also seem to remember John got sent off after two bookable offences - the first of which came after he took his shirt off after celebrating one of his goals

It took 4 posts

I said hello to a Hartlepool supporting friend of mine this morning. He said he went to the game last night and was absolutely gutted 'pool didn't win the game as they wasted chance after chance after chance. He said (and he's a level-headed bloke) Hartlepool should have won 4 or 5-0, and Pompey were one of the worst teams he's ever seen play in over 30 years of going to football matches. His mate reckons his pub side could beat them and they'd do well to stay up in League 2 next season judging by what he saw.

How many posts do we reckon before Mario Licka's partner appears?

Problem is the bloke has a complete inability to help himself. He had a very tough start in life and was first having treatment for obsessive behaviour at the age of 10. It's clearly an area of his life that he's never been able to control. Do I feel sorry for him? I do in part, but if it was a straight choice between 'yes' or 'no' I'd actually have to side towards 'no'. Sure he's had a difficult start in life but I've personally known countless people who have had similar starts and have turned their lives around with significantly less help than Gascoigne's had over the years. The guy at least knows his problems and his demons so he's got somewhere but there's something about him that stops his recovery and puts him back to square one each time. There does seem to be a streak of his personality that demands attention and he ultimately can't overcome it, and it's a streak that's got to the level of nastiness where he's repeatedly drunk himself to near-death or domestically abused his ex-wife over a couple of years. Course I don't know him and don't know his problems and am putting forward educated guesswork but I do think there is a certain stubborness to him that is stopping him ultimately overcoming his problems. I think part of him doesn't want to be helped.

And whilst I'll always have a lot of sympathy and gratitude for Nigel Adkins, if the club's progress and success continue in a similar vein to what we have already achieved under Cortese I frankly could not give a flying f**k.

What a result, just what a result! And we were without Shaw, Fonte, Ramirez and Lallana (for most of the game)

Depends what you call "getting away with it" IMO if they'd got away with it they'd still be in the PL having secured a half decent buyer. Since it all hit the fan they've been largely free falling through the divisions and almost certainly going to be in league 2 next season (assuming they aren't kicked out the league at the end of the season) Their are never going to just "disappear" or "cease to exist" whilst their in the FL, even if they do get wound up after dropping into the conference or below an "AFC Pompey" will simply replace them. Personally I think them free falling through the leagues with the accompanying hilarity has been the best thing for them. It's been slow and painful for them, and by continuing to sign players they can't afford even after/whilst they've been in admin it's been self-harming in the long-term. If the club had been liquidated, they'd be a complete irrelevance after a week or so. By being kept alive their a laughing stock that are becoming a complete irrelevance.

Yep, agree with that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21353952 I have nothing but respect and admiration for what MLT did on the football pitch for us but when you look at his various tweets and the 'club' statement on the above page it's very clear that only one of the individuals in this "feud" has brains. There are two key things that MLT doesn't appear to understand, 1) The success that Cortese has achieved at this club will ultimately win over the support of the vast majority of fans, and this will be exacerbated by MLT's support of the Fialka Fiasco. Money and success talk far louder than the opinions of an ex-player, even someone with the legendary status of MLT. 2) In any situation in life, If Person A has constant digs (deserved or not) at Person B over a long period of time they ultimately don't make Person B look like a ****, they make Person A look like a ****. Unfortunately for MLT, Cortese is well aware of this, hence the repeated silence whenever MLT has a dig. The best thing MLT can do is just shut up, and if he has any serious disagreements regarding serious issues with how the club is run then he needs to put his views forward in a measured and professional manner. We all know he doesn't like Cortese, him constantly harping on about it unfortunately says more about him and less about Cortese. Cortese has done some negative things whilst here, his treatment of Adkins is the biggest gripe with me and probably plenty of other people. But ultimately the club has achieved phenomenal success under him and the club has gone up two divisions. Not even his biggest critics can deny that.

Did we ever find out who cut Keith's phone line? . . . .

What is it that kills them again?

Has Akpo been bashed by his brother yet?

I thought it was quite ARTistic

Down: Reading Villa Wigan

Very hard to say but the best indicator is the old Ronaldo comparison. Since the beginning of the 09-10 La Liga season when Ronaldo went to Real, Ronaldo has played 122, scored 133, with 33 assists. Messi has played 126, scored 148, with 51 assists For their respective countries Messi has 31 in 76, where Ronaldo has 37 in 100. It's impossible to predict but if Messi played in the Man U team he'd probably reproduce Ronaldo's 07-08 form and a bit more each season IMO so around a goal a game plus numerous assists. Obviously there are plenty of other factors but until he plays in the PL it's impossible to say.

It's alpine in disguise