Wes Tender

We are as likely as Man Utd to go down.

They're still laundering money, but on a much smaller scale.

I think that he meant to say "whether you have 8,000 at X money or 18000 at Y money. But the maths at Skateland never stacked up before, so I wouldn't expect their new bloke to be clued up on the basics of Algebra.

They can revive those special days when they beat us all they like. With the passage of time, memories fade and they will look more and more desperate and moronic for trying to gain some crumb of comfort by remembering those precious few days. The pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction that we have had the last laugh and can throw that song right back in their faces. For all of their optimism of how they will now quickly start to climb their way back up the leagues, the reality is that we will be above them for many, many more years to come. Whenever they try and remind us of days like that one in the future, the most hurtful thing for them is to have us pity them, or laugh at them.

Agreed. And if a player can't be arsed to give his all, regardless of the significance of the game, then he can't call himself a true professional. I'm not singling anybody out here, but generalising.

Leon Best is certainly a contender for greatest own goal scored by a former Saints player. I don't think that he'll ever score a more accomplished header in his career. Shame it was such a significant one in such a a crucial match for us. A couple of decent Belgians playing for two of those teams :- Lukaku and Benteke. Or does Lukaku count as a Chelsea player?

The irony of Turkish declaring that some posters are ruining threads is delicious. And I agree with you, that it isn't pedantry to point out two errors which undermine the entire basis of the thread. If the thread title called for posters to nominate the eleven best Saints players of all time and the suggestions included George Best, would one be a pedant for pointing out that he never played for us?

And therefore probably West Brom too. But I thought that the anywhere north of Watford was the North.

What a complete and utter moron he is. I have some Skate fans who are clients of my business and I ask them if it was worth it bearing in mind the repercussions, the short term glory of winning the FA CUp, their short stay in the Premiership with all of those star players they couldn't afford. They all say yes, it was worth it, they will have those memories of their several visits to Wembley to hold dear for the rest of their lives, plus the bragging rights over us. So how about this Skate? Does he think that it was all worth it? If so, then they haven't been punished enough.

And they are taking the place of many of the Japanese fans who would have been filling the stadium had we not got shot of Lee.

I sent an email detailing similar points and got the identical reply to you. I have subsequently written back to Amanda asking why she had not provided the explanation that I asked for, why was the points deduction being made this season instead of next? I pointed out that effectively it therefore constituted no punishment at all and asked whether it was the intention that this points deduction was to be considered a punishment or not. I also said that there was now a precedent set by the FL, that would be copied by any other feckless overspenders who wished to gain an advantage over their rivals by spending money they didn't have on better players and then avoiding points penalties when they came out of Administration. Like you, I insinuated that other clubs who had transgressed to a lesser degree and had been more heavily punished, were likely to feel very aggrieved and that Portsmouth had received more favourable and biassed treatment for some reason. I called them spineless, gutless and a joke. How about others writing to them to express their disgust?

Well, I care that they didn't get the -10 points deduction carried over to next season and have emailed the FL to the effect that they are a spineless, gutless organisation that has made themselves a laughing stock. I have asked them what the point was of having the deduction if it wasn't meant to be a punishment, as it cannot be deemed to be a punishment by definition if it has zero effect on anything. They have also set a precedent for any future clubs who find themselves in the same predicament. I have asked them what other clubs who were punished more severely for arguably lesser demeanours are likely to feel and also what those businesses, charities and the taxman will think of their toothless attempt at retribution. I asked for a reply detailing their reasoning behind their decision and wondered whether there was some bias towards them because of the fans' trust takeover. I won't hold my breath on a reply beyond the usual empty platitudes. I really do think that as many people as possible should harangue them and tell them that they are disappointed that the FL has no more spine than a jellyfish.

I see you have an avatar of him smiling. That can't be right, because he never smiles apparently. Has it been photo-shopped?

I agree with your opinion that this isn't a matter of making a fast buck and getting out. Neither do I think that we have yet reached the point of optimum return on the Liebherr's investment even if they were only in it for short term gain. Clubs' revenues from TV have risen substantially recently and will probably continue to do so next year too. Continued success of the team will also increase our marketability and the revenues from that. There are exciting future player prospects rising through the Academy who for a fairly minor outlay could produce a substantial return if sold, not that we seem to be contemplating that strategy anyway. Apart from any other consideration, the Liebherr name will be enhanced further by association with our continuing success and the wider recognition that we will gain Worldwide if we made it into the Champions League.

Not at all. I expressed the opinion that on the face of it, Laudrup had employed the better tactics for the match. The comment about the players' fitness regime was conjecture. The use of the phrases about "niggling doubts" and "sneaking suspicions" should have given you a clue there. But if you want to have your own little conspiracy theory about me having an anti-Pochettino agenda, then feel free if it makes you feel good. Wrong again, making you look the ridiculous one. My position, clearly stated more than once, is that I will wait and see how the season finishes for us before deciding whether Pochettino is the better manager than Adkins. That seems to me to be an eminently reasonable position to hold, but if you've already made up your own mind, then good for you. I've been impressed at our ability to outplay the top teams, but a bit flummoxed that we haven't been able to beat the likes of QPR, Norwich, Wigan, Newcastle and West Ham. Do you have any thoughts as to why that is, or are you wary of debating it, in case somebody might think that you have an agenda against Pocchettino?

A couple of posters mention that in their opinion this is a game that we would have lost under Adkins. And yet I'm not utterly convinced that Pochettino's tactics were spot on and the impression I gained was that Laudrup had employed the better tactics. For a team under Pochettino which has gained a reputation for the high pressing game, that wasn't much in evidence during the first twenty minutes, except from Swansea. Most of their attacks were down their right wing, probably exploiting our weaker flank with Fox at LB and utilising the pace of Dyer, who ought to have got them a goal or two had his finishing been better. Results against the good passing teams have given an indication that our high pressing game is effective, whereas the hoofers and those who park the proverbial bus in front of their goal are much harder to break down. So because Swansea play decent passing football, why were we so ineffective against them and what became of our high pressing game? I also harbour a niggling doubt about Pochettino's reputation for the hard regime of fitness preparation. It has become clear that the seemingly bizarre substitution of Lambert so early in the match was because he had taken a knock, but that he had been below par these past couple of weeks fitness wise. Also that Lallana had trouble shaking off a groin strain. I just have a sneaking suspicion that Adkins with his background as a physiopherapist might have gone a bit easier with players carrying injuries and that the current fitness regime could be detrimental to some players' recovery. Just an opinion. As for anything else, I wonder why Fox gets the nod over Shaw? Isn't Shaw fully fit? Surely if he was, he would have been the much better option against the pace of Dyer? And I also have the feeling that there is no room in the team for playing Lallana and Ramirez together either.

It was mis-translated. What he meant to say was that he enjoyed playing against Man Ure.

Not as much fun as we're going to have observing your "possibly rocky road to recovery."

That's exactly what I thought. Surely these You Tube vids are supposed to highlight what a great player it they are. I'm underwhelmed.

That's not a real stadium; they've photoshopped it.

Is this Skate now going to admit that when they were in the Premiership and cheated to win the FA Cup by buying in players that they couldn't afford, it wasn't worth it and they wish to wipe clean of that history? No, I didn't think so. Most of the cretins are perfectly happy to gloat about how their history is more illustrious than ours, being as how they won two FA Cups, beat us a couple of times recently, one of the victories coming when they were Premiership and us third division. I bet that when they scaled those dizzy heights, very few of them were secretly hoping that they could be relegated three divisions to the level where the game was much more honest and unsullied by the greed and capitalism prevalent at the top. And how are we naive? Plastic? Deluded? As for childish, equally is he going to call all of the Skate fans childish when they gloated at our demise? Or does he credit them for not being as childish as some of ours. Or does he acknowledge that both sets of fans are capable of childishness, in which case he is being a hypocrite. If I were him, I'd tone down the insults, as it only tends to highlight how riled he has become because of the jibes from Saints fans. It really must have hurt him to have us laugh at him like this.

They must be looking forward to their fixture list next season, with the older fans reacquainting themselves with the fourth division grounds they used to love visiting in days gone by. What a mouth watering prospect, visiting the mighty footballing teams that are Fleetwood, Burton Albion, Morecambe and Accrington Stanley. Ah! That brings back memories of how famous that team were, so much so that they featured in a prominent TV commercial:- And as somebody pointed out in a post to the News forum, the 1 4-1 takes on an entirely new significance now that the Skates have gone from the 1st to the 4th divisions in record time.

Were you educated in Thatcher's Britain? If so, then that is an area where she failed dismally, judging by your poor command of the language.

Come on Charlie. Do a statistical assassination of Fox. You know you want to and you'd probably have more posters aggreeing with you too.