Wes Tender

What's 6 inches long and full of arrows? Custer's last stand.

It's a complete travesty, isn't it, that the better team didn't finish above us. Of course, it still remains to be seen whether they even gain promotion via the play-offs, so if they fail to achieve that, is it the case that they are better than Blackpool? It is arguable that the play-offs are a lottery and that the number of points advantage that WH had over Blackpool after the completion of the normal fixture list means that WH deserve to go up automatically. But then following that argument, our finish above WH is evidence enough that we are the better team. Whether WH are the better team on paper is debateable, but we play better together than them, or have the better manager, or other factors like that which have given us the advantage over them. And those factors, plus the team strengthening, are what will make us a decent mid-table team in the Premiership too next season, like Swansea and Norwich.

Balram Chainrai: So they have one of the Country's top managers, eh? Who would that be? Surely not the guy whose only previous experience in management was as caretaker manager of WBA for one match? :lol:

http://www.stevenagefc.com/page/LatestNewsDetail/0,,10839~2774573,00.html Nothing sums up the Skates' demise better than having an article by Stevenage about their new next season's rivals. Provided that they manage to even survive that long to play in the third division.

So on the verge of oblivion, their official site consoles the blue phew with an article about how they beat us 4-1 at Krap Nottarf whilst we were managed by Twitchy (Portsmouth is my spiritual home) Redcrap. http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/LatestNews/news/Great-Games-Pompey-4-Southampton-1-3427.aspx They even mention the part that they played in our relegation by losing to WBA, as if that is something to be proud of, losing a match. Well, Skates, clutch at straws if you like, if it makes you feel better. But that was years ago and becoming a distant memory for us. If you wish to trawl back even further, then consider which team it was who dominated the 27 years before that. And reflect for a while on what the future holds for your poxy run-down little club. A result like that is unlikely to happen again in the lifetimes of most Skate fans.

I should have added the winky thing.

It's the weight given to the rumour by its association with CB Fry that worries me. He's never wrong. And how very dare you suggest that anything he says is not taken seriously!

I struggle to recall any previous time when you have debated anything that seriously. It's something you appear incapable of, because as soon as somebody begins to get the better of you, you throw your toys out of the pram and go into your usual mode of condescending, arrogant, supercilious superiority. And then your cabal of wannabe Frys join in too, so that the thread degenerates into something resembling a primary school playground.

Yes, somebody is a sandwich short of a picnic putting them on the list. But then again, it's Fry, so it's really just a wind-up to get a reaction. You know how he reckons that the purpose of an internet forum is to have a laugh and extract the urine. It's not to debate anything remotely serious.

Definitely. It's too close to Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. They couldn't compete with them when it comes to mopping up all the latent support in Belper, Matlock, Bakewell and Buxton.

I suspect that you meant that we will forever be in his debt. Unless you meant that he should be grateful to our football club for offering him this incredible investment opportunity, buying us on the cheap and reaping the rewards when we gained promotion to the Premiership.

Mayflower Park is a decent sized area to have it. Where is the spare ground where it can be accommodated at Gunwharf? There isn't any. And what of the ferries, Brittany, Isle of Wight and Gosport that have to be allowed for? Proximity of decent large hotels? Southampton has two, right opposite the venue. Gunwharf? Just the small Holiday Inn. Road access to bring the boats and the general public to the venue? Excellent for Southampton, a bit of a nightmare for Portsmouth. Proximity of the City Centre? Again, Southampton wins, with plenty of Bars, Restaurants and shops within walking distance. And any member of the family who doesn't wish to look at the boats, can visit Ikea instead. Historical precedence giving good know-how of how these events are organised? Well, that's Southampton too. So yeah. It really is a tough choice.

Well, if Hollow Way still wants him if Blackpool don't go up, then we might use him as a makeweight in a deal for Matt Phillips.

Read it again. I concluded that as he is capable of cogent thought when he puts his mind to it, he must be on a wind-up. Is that abusing a fellow poster? Or perhaps I ought to have phrased it in such a way as to disguise the real meaning, you know, like how politicians call others liars by phrasing it as being economical with the truth. Now, how shall I say it? That perhaps his thought processes lack the ability to assimilate the information in such a way as to reach a logical conclusion that he comprehends. Either that, or he is being deliberately obtuse in order to stimulate a reaction, even when he himself does not necessarily hold those views. Better?

You're wasting your time, Frank. As you say, he's either a bit thick or on a wind-up. When he puts his mind to it, he is capable of some cogent thought, so we must conclude that he is probably being deliberately obtuse, i.e. on a wind-up.

Frank, as you insist on quoting him whilst he is on ignore, I might as well join in and disparage the nonsense he is spouting. If he is going to go all the way back to another era, (when football matches were mostly played at 3pm on a Saturday) as an example of how we might expect to fare in the near future, then we might as well compare how Strictly Come Dancing is likely to develop based on how well Come dancing did in the early eighties. And apparently teachers use white boards and pens now? Well, I never. Where is it all going to end,eh? What a long way they've come since the days of papyrus and quills! Ought we to have a look at what teachers earned in the early eighties to gauge what they should earn now? Refuse collectors? Dentists? No doubt all of these professions will have shown a uniform increase in their salaries exactly as is the case for all footballers and which can be worked out and projected on 30 years by applying the inflation increase as a norm. Or would the figures be distorted in the case of footballers by the obscene amounts of filthy lucre swilling around since Sky poked its nose into the game?

So our CB who scored 8 goals this season has slipped below his radar then? Phew. What a relief.

As usual, the voice of reason Frank. You ask why can't we have a sensible discussion on here without the need for insult and wind-up p*ss take? Why the negativity, patronizing and short-sighted responses? Well, it seems to me that those responsible are either not mature enough to indulge in sensible, intelligent debate, or they are just on a wind-up. As you say, if they were to indulge in these childish insults debating these things in the pub, somebody would have landed one on them. But because they are sat in front of a computer or on their smart phones, they can get away with it. I doubt that any who have been called names are that bothered about it; who knows what causes them to do it? Perhaps they were bullied in school or something like that.

I wonder whether Appleton emerges as favourite based on the poll results where we played a major part in getting him to the top of the votes? If so, absolutely delicious irony.

Now who do we know who is a CB capable of scoring 8 goals in a season? I can't think of anybody.

As the pundits said on Match of the Day yesterday, it must be encouraging for Southampton and Reading to see how Swansea and Norwich have fared in the Premiership since their promotions this season. I see absolutely no reason to believe that we could not do at least as well as them, as it is my opinion that we are as good as they were, if not better than them at the point where they gained promotion. Neither of them broke the bank with extra players before they began their Premiership campaigns and with a little bit of fine-tuning we could do the same. Adkins is as good a manager as Norwich's and Swansea's, so there is no area where they have any sort of advantage over us, on the contrary, if anything our financial situation could give us the edge.

You respond to a perfectly reasonable post as if it is in total agreement with everything you say, therefore that it refutes anything posted by others, whom you label autistics. Thus once again you make it clear in the eyes of any sensible, rational person that you are totally incapable of intelligent debate without resorting to puerile, childish insults against any who might hold a different viewpoint. However, I don't recall many disagreeing with the points raised by Blakey regarding what he sees as a reasonable step by step progression. He sees those other issues of stadium attendance, finance, our future ability as a squad, etc, as hypothetical and won't discuss them on that basis. However, you find yourself very ready to discuss those issues and amusingly don't see the irony of Blakey saying how hilarious it is reading all these hypothetical theories. But he must have got that wrong, eh, Fry? Everything that you say will happen must be fact and you have the benefit of all that historical perspective to assist you, even though there has never been a set of circumstances in all of our past history whereby we have such a strong financial base on which to build.

Perfectly sensible post. Yes, it will be important to increase the Corporate section, as there will undoubtedly be the demand and that is where the real money is made. But it must be accepted that only local companies will be interested. No companies from Weymouth, the New Forest, Basingstoke need apply, regardless of how big they are, especially if they had not attended matches before. I am assured that it will not be of interest to them.

For one supposedly so intelligent, your thought processes are remarkedly flawed. Just because I suggest that you don't know what is in the minds of potential fans in Weymouth, doesn't infer that I do; merely that you don't. As for the students, I did suggest that they would initially be attracted to go to watch the glory teams. What has the student population in Nottingham got to do with anything? I'm sure that equally they'd go to watch Forest if they were in the Premiership too. But they aren't. We are. That fact seems to have escaped you somehow.

10,000 more like you? No thanks; what a nightmare that would be! We would have the most arrogant fanbase of any club in English football. But you infer that it is only those with family ties, or those who were born here that will make up the potentail additional fans. We have one of the largest student populations in the country here in this City, with two Universities. I am led to understand that a lot of our current fan base comprises those who went to university here and started following us when they were students here. Now, accepting the premise that many of the current students are more likely to attend matches initially to watch us play the glory teams, that is an additional source of extra fans too. Or is that scenario outside the bounds of reality? And although I have witnessed the way that football has changed over a much longer period than you, I'll just have to accept that you must have a better perspective on things than me, because by inference if you say that your argument has perspective, then mine cannot.