Wes Tender

Such great fans just before the reverse takeover that they could screw over the club for personal financial gain, inviting their business cronies onto the board to strengthen their power base. And regarding a post further down about Lowe saying that we could have a fan on the board if we had 10% of the shares, that of course would have meant that that shareholding would be greater than those held by most individual board members and nearly twice what Lowe had as chairman. That would entail that fans' shareholding being sufficient under certain circumstances to hold the balance of power on the board and not therefore something that the board would have encouraged.

It is far to early to think in terms of probabilities, but not too early to discuss possibilities. If no other team from the third division had ever achieved back to back promotions to the Premiership, then reasonable doubt could be cast upon our chances of achieving it. But Norwich did it just last season and it could be argued that we were/are at least as good as them. In the season they got promoted to the Championship, we beat them twice and drew once. Even now that they are in the Premiership, I suspect that we might beat them if we played them tomorrow. OK, so there are all the naysayers who claim that this division is as hard as its ever been with teams like West Ham, Middlesborough and Brum having been relegated, but we already beat Brum and it is again debateable whether the other two would beat us in both home and away matches. If those teams are so good, why did they get relegated? We have the impetus of confidence gained from having a settled squad who have been together for some time, a winning mentality. Fair enough to wait until the turn of the year and see where we are then, but having broken club records to get where we are now, there is little reason not to at least consider the possibility that we could do a Norwich.

Well, today on the Radio 2 news, I did catch a mention after they had said that ManUre had gone top after beating Chelski, that Southampton had gone top of the Championship. I don't think that it is often that they mention the Championship at all.

So you stand by your assertion that it is rarely that opinion is so divided on a player? And now you're trying to qualify it by narrowing it down to recent signings. That wasn't what you said.

You say that nobody had made up their mind about Jos before he began playing for us, but that is untrue. Having reread the original thread, I am reminded that there was an opinion posted that he was not better than our fourth choice CB. Another that he was a desperation buy because we had missed other targets. Now, granted that looking at who posted those comments, they can be dismissed as the ramblings of WUMs, nevertheless, they are contrary to your assertions. I noted also that you yourself were underwhelmed by the signing before he had even kicked a ball for us. Regarding whether there is a consensus about Jos, I would say that there is, but if you believe otherwise, then by all means comfort yourself that you must be right. The vast majority of posts say that he is either improving or doing alright. There are only a couple that argue otherwise, but if you wish to say that there are a number of differing opinions, you will not be persuaded otherwise. But I still challenge your assertion that it is rare that a player has divided opinion so much. If I had more time available, I could easily debunk that claim by listed you dozens of other players on whom opinion is divided. I'm sure that others could furnish you with extensive lists if you wish to challenge it and stand by your claim.

Quite. Like me, you probably take issue with this statement:- This forum is littered with diverse divided opinions about several players, but in the case of Jos, some had even made up their minds about him based on the opinions of forum members of his former club. Additionally, like you, I question the assertion that there has not been some sort of consensus about this player's ability. Perhaps the definition would be helpful to Hypo:- Definition a generally accepted opinion or decision among a group of people The general consensus in the office is that he's useless at his job. Could we reach a consensus on this matter? Let's take a vote. Looking back over the thread, I'd say that the majority of posters had reached a general consensus in their opinion, mostly along the lines of he's getting better, or otherwise let's wait and see.

Is it rare? We seem to have divided opinions quite often on this forum, especially with players who have only been here five minutes. Heck, we even do it with players before they have even arrived here. Put me in the camp with those who say that he is improving, as one would expect with a player beginning to develop an understanding with his team mates, which does take time.

A decent enough player whose career and potential have been blighted by a bad temperament and attitude. I wouldn't want him anywhere near the team personally.

Grow up sonny

No it doesn't. Do you really believe that the use of a derogatory name for a despised rival is indicative that any further opinion expressed about that team is ill-informed?

I don't think that Chez was highlighting what Lawrence was saying, as much as the drivel that spouted forth from Clotterill's mouth. If promoted teams do well for a couple of years, then that does not have much bearing on how this season would pan out between the three South Coast clubs, does it? Is he saying that as both us and Brighton were just promoted, we would be expected to do better than the Skates? And presumably the Skates underwent that Clotterill scenario whereby after a couple of decent years in the Premiership, they lost all of their good but low paid players to bigger clubs, so that all they were left with were higher paid players, causing them to struggle? The man's an imbecile.

http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/LatestNews/news/Watch-Pompey-v-Southampton-In-Style-2556.aspx Just got to love the oxymoron here; Watch the South Coast derby in style in their poxy lounge. And what a bargain! A two course "brunch", a free matchday programme and a team sheet! A free parking space. And all for just £75. But that is conditional on you punishing yourself even further by having to attend another selected game and paying £75/£125 for the privilege. I would have thought that the more effective marketing ploy for this fleapit would be along the lines of the old music hall joke. First prize is a ticket to see the match. Second prize is two tickets to see the match.

Pardew did a decent job. But Adkins has done an even better one and it appears to me that he is the one who has fostered the better team spirit, unity and also the more entertaining and effective style of football. A year ago, Adkins was really more of an unknown quantity, but this year has given enough credence to make comparisons between the two managers. Would anybody swap Adkins back for Pardew now? I certainly wouldn't.

Did we score those five goals in five minutes? No. The thread is about the best five minutes in Saint's history. We did come close to three goals in five minutes, taking 6 minutes for Berkovic (83) and Ostenstad (85 & 89) to score them, but we only scored 3 in the first half, not five. But when bemoaning that we do not currently have players of the calibre of MLT, Berkovic or Ostenstad at the club now, it is instructive to consider that the team that thrashed ManUre also comprised such iconic luminaries of the footballing pantheon as Trigger Dryden, Potter (what became of him?), Simon definitely not Bobby Charlton, Alan Neilson and Magilton the crab. Whether this team is better than that team all things considered, is debateable. That team in 1996/7 was:- D Beasant, J Dodd, S Charlton (G Potter, 70), R Dryden, C Lundekvam , U van Gobbel, M Oakley, M Le Tissier (G Watson), E Ostenstad, E Berkovic, A Neilson (J Magilton, 75)

I've still got my paper license, albeit it's in four pieces where its torn along the creases. And yet that is valid until I'm 70 I believe. So as far as I'm aware, I'm under no obligation to renew it, no photos needing updating. OK, it's inconvenient requiring my passport as identification for some things, but better then having to renew the license from time to time. What is far more stupid and another stealthy way to make money for the Government, is the requirement for infants to have their own passports and then having to renew them at 5 years old. Photos of a baby are not really identifiable as the same person 3 or 4 years later and it used to be the case that children could be added to the parents' passports without the need for photos of them.

The success of China's economy has very little to do with Communism, as they have embraced Capitalism in all but name. There are only a few Communist states remaining and I don't see Cuba, Albania and North Korea for example as shining examples of it working.

Well, Frank, your usage of the English language is certainly evolving. In which direction is hard to say though.

Tangs isn't bad. They do a buffet that is apparently freshly prepared. A buffet is not something you would eat in a Chinese, as having the food standing under heat for an hour or two is totally against the principles of Chinese cuisine. Buffets in an Indian restaurant are good, as the flavours can develop further. I agree with you, Kraken, the standard of Chnese takeaways is generally awful.

Others who frankly might have been unsure for various reasons, took the sensible stance of "wait and see". Now, as that is a position condemned by some who point out that this is an internet forum and therefore people are allowed to go off at half-cock based on hearsay, opinions of fans from other forums, what they feel in their water, etc, those who called it right are entitled to a little gloat. However, those who said that it would not go well, that we were wrong to get rid of Pardew, they have been proven wrong by events and might learn something from this the next time around when somebody new comes in. Viewed as progress thus far, it is really a quite incredible record and deserves applause. Although we are off to a record-breaking flying start to the season in this division, it is still early days. I hope that we can continue at the pace we have set so the last remnants of doubt are laid to rest.

Yes, leaving St Mary's with a big grin on your face is now the default situation.

Quite frankly, Corpse, AA has already had previous form in past administrations where he has acted unprofessionally at the very least and has been severely censured for it as a result. Nobody can really believe that the state of affairs regarding the debt levels at Pompey were not manipulated by him upwards, in order to prevent HMRC from achieving the percentage that they required to halt the CVA. On that basis of mistrust of the ethical and moral standing of AA, yes, I am quite prepared to believe that AA is capable of deceit over matters like this. Exactly in the same way that I hold most others who have been associated with the running of your poxy little club in the same contempt.

Really? You can always tell when our fans feel that there have been a string of decisions that have gone against us unfairly; when a decision is finally given our way, there is prolonged sarcastic cheering. Did you not hear it on at least a couple of occasions?

I'm block 42 Northam, right behind the right hand goal post and high enough up to have a really good view. Had Derbyshire gone down arse over elbow, he might have got some benefit of the doubt, as it could have looked a bit less like a dive. But most of the Northam edge closest to the incident and most of the Itchen closest will have seen it for what it was; a really blatant dive. Simulation is a good word for it, as it looked like the acting of somebody schooled in amateur dramatics. But because McClaren had the temerity to mention the incident in the post match interview as justification for Forest's loss of at least one point and the nerve to insist that "everybody" in the stadium would have thought that a penatly was justified, he has made himself look a prize pr*ck. Nothing new there then.

A very good summary, exactly as I saw it. We looked very nervy at the back and Forest certainly had their chances to have taken the match, but having heard from Adkins that Richardson and Harding both carried knocks, it was a valiant back to the wall effort from a defence where three of the players were not the usual ones who had experience of playing together.

Just watched the match highlights on the Football League Show and that tw*t McLaren stated that when Derbyshire went down in the box, everybody in the stadium thought "penalty". Well, actually, McLaren, they didn't. Your lot might well have crossed their fingers and hoped that a penalty would have been awarded, but everybody else in the stadium thought you cheating, diving bastard, Derbyshire. The referee was a damned sight closer to you and he called it right. Cheats. Naturally, you're calling this that you should have got something more from the match because your job is on the line.