UpweySaint

So it's clearly not just a 'few total two@ts' but a sizeable percentage. As you say yourself you wouldn't even wear your Saints shirt into your local pub.

Err no. There's a difference between getting glares for acting like a d**k and somebody trying to take your head off. They're certainly in the minority.

But yeah my local in fratton, landlord is diehard pompey, it is a pompey pub. I would think somebody turning up in the le tiss arms in a pompey shirt would get told where to go too and rightly so. There's a difference between being a fan of a different club or just being an antagonistic tw*t.

Absolute rubbish. Walk around Fratton Park on a match day in a Saints shirt and see if it's just a small minority.

Oh come on that's just silly. You do that and it looks like you'r on the wind up and may well deserve being told where to go.

I maintain, day to day, you tell somebody in portsmouth you'r a saints fan they'l call you a c**t then forget about it. Most football fans are frankly happy to talk football. That and you'l find plenty of them will now also enjoy a good mutual "isnt that harry a w**nker" conversation.

Unless you're one who wants to go looking for trouble, message boards are where the warriors mostly come out to get stuck into the rivalry and hatred thing. I have in the past and continue to work with Pompey fans and its just banter (although pretty hard to take when we got thumped down at their place). Even after the 1-4 at home it wasn't rubbed in too much; probably because deep down they knew they had players they couldn't afford, and we were 2 divisions below.

Oh yeah you'l always find a few total tw*ts who use football as an excuse to have a scrap but you'r right it's mostly just good natured competion.

I think most sensible people its a friendly sporting rivalry, good for a bit of banter and bragging rights. I happen to live in portsmouth and, though I wont go into the local clad in a saints shirt, get nothing worse then a bit of stick for being a saints fan (never goes well when they crack on about losing to spurs when you ask if they're looking forwards to torquay away!)

Not sure the exact date but mine came over a week ago ... seems a bit mixed though but worth chasing up either way even if they just confirm they're en route

they've made some terrible choices with presenters imo, michael owen, rio ferdinand, jake humphreys, tim lovejoys... sounds like v.uncomfortable viewing yo

I've always liked Jake Humphreys. No idea how Ferdinand and Owen will be though ...

Could of been a similar case as this Forren bloke, just needed a little longer to 'settle in' and 'adapt'.

One a proven international chased by other premiership sides and has had a couple of months.

The other had yet to play a first team game and had five years...

You'r right, they're basically identical.

The biggest shouts I hate are.

 

'f-ing hit him'

'whack it forward'

Is this in the pie queue in the concourse...?

Done, keep up the good work pal, the best saints related blog around!

This is a joke, yes? He looks awful.

I quite like him actually but havent seen too much of him. Besides you don't get near the dutch squad being awful, how much better then awful is perfectly fair to speculate on though

I would throw in i've left a midweek evening kick off five minutes early in order to catch a train and I imagine some have genuine reasons for needing to beat the rush, quite why there is often such a mass exodus mind simply to not have to wait to get out of the concourse is beyond me ...

As far annoying habits, people slagging off the same player all game no matter what they do. One particularly large lady spent an entire ninety calling Rickie a "fat lazy c**t" and couldn't understand why he didnt spend the entire game closing down everyone on the pitch and scoring from every other touch ... the chap next to her looked thoroughly, she may not be brought back

So in January we buy a player for the following season not knowing what league we will be in and neither will he?

Coutinho seems to of progressed well at Liverpool?

I think you know there was an assumption we'd stay up, besides worse came to worse we'd have a norway international cb playing in the championship, sure he could have done the job

I know you'r on a wind up a touch but you acknowledge we did try and get coutinho? Just because we couldn't beat liverpool to a signing surely it shows that we at least knew he was the sort of player we liked?

On what grounds do you affirm we did crap business?

 

We went after Coutinho and lost out to Liverpool. We also signed a centre-half that the club acknowledged was for the future (his agent has also since stated the plan was for Forren to contribute starting next season). In the subsequent period we've also remained outside the relegation zone and look poised to confirm our survival in the league for next season, so there does not appear to be any bad consequences of waiting to sign the right players.

 

Conversely, our fellow lower-half rivals also stood still, and those who did invest have not seen ANY immediate positive impact whatsoever.

 

So it is hard to understand how you could even assume investment in January would have resulted in more points either, and even then, I'd be interested to learn your thoughts on who we should have signed and how you know they were available and for a price we could afford.

Throw in the change of management ... Poch could hardly come in and say "ah ive seen this fox lad on motd, dross" and demanded a new left back. Better off having a bit of time looking at thr squad first hand and deciding what needs to be done come the summer. Besides back in january, the way we'd looked to have turned things around, relegation wasn't really the buzzword flying around ...

Two crap transfer windows, of course we are going to struggle.

Yawn ....

Good sides need dribblers. People that are happy to take the ball in tight situations and have the touch and strength to hold players off and keep possession. We have several and that's why we've been able to play such attractive football all season. I'm not sure you can play him and Lallana in the same team, but it's great to have quality in reserve. Whenever Lallana has got injured over the last three years we have suffered terribly. I'm less worried with Gaston as an option.

 

I really enjoy watching him. He has a great first touch and a gracefulness on the ball. He does things with the ball that no other player at SMS can do. He has a tremendous burst of pace with the ball at his feet that allows him to move into spaces and make things happen. Too often he hasn't taken advantage of this movement in between the lines, with his final ball letting him down. Get that right a bit more often and even Barry will be singing his praises.

 

I don't want him to be sold primarily because I wonder if we'll be able to attract a similar talent. If fans keep with him I can see him becoming exactly the player they all hope he would be this season. People forget he's still young and he has the raw ability to succeed.

Spot on. Hopefully, should he come good, he'l appreciate the fans/club sticking by him and show a bit of long term loyalty.

Slightly off topic but didnt fancy starting a whole new thread for it, Poch 50-1 to take over at madrid while perhaps more surprisingly Adkins only 80-1 to take over at Arsenal!

Why comment on a thread if you think it's been done before? Strange people.

It has been done before, clearly. However no harm discussing it again though with a stuttering few weeks, if people dont want to partake i'd imagine they can just ignore it. Its exam season for me so any excuse not to revise i'l take!

Curtis Davies and Kasper Schmeichel - Jury still out for me. Always linked with a PL move, usually to newly promoted teams, but rarely anything concrete. Davies most recently linked with a move to Hull.

 

As good as people say, or is Championship their level?

I think, hope, Davies may finally have a chance to prove himself in the prem next term with all the nonsense going on at birmingham. You may be right that he may have found his level but i'd sure like to find out!

Speaking of, how unlikely would he be as a loan signing next year? To get ready to replace Evra and all...

Fancy Utd to have Baines should Moyes take over...

Anywhere from 12th and up without having to look over our shoulders at relegation and a nice cup run seems realistic and i'd be happy enough with.

Anything above would be just gravy!

Dont know about others but, as much as new faces would be nice/neccessary I would also like to see a bit more progression of players from the dev squad if possible. Would rather have the likes of seagers and gape on the bench instead of de ridder. The likes of JWP and Shaw have both had good seasons and can hopefully kick on, hopefully we can manage shaw to avoid him burning out, for all his quality it'd be nice if he didnt have to play a forty game season at such a tender age.

Potentially you could say that our Season in the Championship was just continued good form from League 1, could you not?

 

In all honesty I liked Adkins, thought he did a cracking job and was annoyed that he was sacked in the middle of our best run of the Season, but I can't see that if McDermott had spent £30m on his team that he wouldn't have done at least as well as Adkins. I think Adkins was woefully out of his depth in the Premiership, thinking he could go into games trying to be clever and not playing his strongest side.

Different opinion on NA and dont fancy a long debate on it but McDermott's signing at reading when they came up hardly set the world alight. That and Adkins didnt spend £30mil, the tranfer comittee did For all we know Adkins had to get on wikipedia when Mayuka turned up ...

but little at Burnley mate

Did ok at Burnley. Be interesting to see how he gets on next season with bmouth in the championship.

Do like Eddie Howe, done good things at bournemouth.

They have got it wrong but they have got it right more often, we got Mayuka and Forren and so e supposedly awesome Uruguayan as well, heaven knows when they arrive...........

We also got Jack Cork, Boruc, Lambert, Fonte ... over the last few years our transfer committie has given us the tools to acheive two promotions and a premiership squad better then at least three or four of the lot below us. I'd say, success.

Forren may come good, have some patience, wasn't exactly mega money.

Mayuka again plenty outside in the football world fancy his potential, I doubt we'l take a massive financial hit should he not come good.

Ramirez could go either way, too soon to say. If he doesnt have a better season next time around fine, call him a flop, fair?

Looks like the pitch invasion is defo on and well deserved now we're back in the battle (if we come out on top).

If it comes down to the last day of the season to guarentee safety it'l be likely. They wont show us on final score otherwise