Wes Tender

Pahars, anybody? Latvia were crap on the International stage, so why would we be interested in him?

Well, I'm relieved. We already have a Fonte and a Forte and another player with a similar name would be confusing to Journos and commentators.

I agree that the time has come not to respond to his trolling on this particular debate on whether we had a boycott or not. After all, only an idiot responds to hypothetical scenarios that are as ridiculous as those proposed by Corpse. If he wishes to debate something else between our two clubs, then fair enough, but Um Pahars' response to his obvious lack of knowledge about the Lowe boycotts is game set and match as far as I'm concerned. Anything else from him will be just p*ss and wind.

If the moon was made of cheese, do you think that it would be a suitable proposition to mine the stuff and send it back to Earth to feed the starving masses on our planet? I'm only posing it as a hypothetical question, you understand. It's only slightly more preposterous than your hypothetical scenario. And I note that you have seen the fault in your reasoning above, that if a billionaire was found by Lowe to invest, we'd stop the protest against Lowe. Because as I pointed out, the billionaire would assume control, not allow Lowe to continue. Did the penny finally drop?

OK, you can only fill the capacity that you have, but when we are now on a level playing field, same division, how come you can't even do that? The fact remains that we were producing higher attendances than you often when we were two divisions below you and certainly a lot more often again last season when a division below.

Not only is it a very dead duck, but it is well and truly stuffed, a bit like your club. And as a goodwill gesture, we'll throw in a goose, as yours was well and truly cooked some time ago.

You're either an idiot, or otherwise you know very little of the internal financial structure of Saints during the Lowe years. Which is it? If the second, then you're in the company of the majority of Saints fans who up until the return of Lowe with the Quisling, knew very little about the structure of the PLC and the shareholdings, although by then, many on here were pretty savvy about it. Most were not aware that before Wilde's intervention, the major shareholders had less than 30% of the club, Lowe holding just 6% or so and that changed with Wilde when at the time of the EGM, had it gone ahead, the balance between the pro and anti-Lowe factions was on a knife edge, but probably with a majority against Lowe and his cronies. That is obviously why he moved aside. Had you been aware of this, then surely you would not be making such ridiculous statements as those you make above, as even somebody with a basic grasp of finances would realise that a billionaire or anybody with more than £15 million in fact, could buy a controlling share of the club. Lowe always tried to insinuate that £25 million would get him to move aside, but that was bluff and guff. Nobody with serious money would take over to allow Lowe to continue and he certainly did not have the money to invest himself. So your argument that had somebody with money taken over we would have stopped the boycotts is totally spurious,as with Lowe gone, there would not be the need for boycotts. Attendances rose when he went, even in the third division, proof positive that numbers had declined because Lowe was a significant factor in that decline.

Look, several posters have explained it to you in plain English, so that even a simpleton could understand it. If you choose to ignore their explanations or to refute them, then bully for you. But you cannot really continue to claim that nobody has attempted to respond about the falling attendance numbers during the boycotts. I suspect that there is a parallel element of your fanbase, some more honourable and moral fans (you must have at least a few), who are also boycotting your matches. Otherwise, you would have to admit that all of your falling attendance was due to the fact that JCL fans were deserting the sinking ship that is Pompey. But of course, if you accept that some of those fans are boycotting your matches on a matter of principle, then it shouldn't be a great feat of imagination to accept that we also had similar fans here, should it?

Expectations of a capaciy crowd will increase when we are in the Premiership, not playing in the first division against the likes of Millwall. This is only common sense, which apparently you lack. But since you continue to raise the Everest thing as your idea of a crap analogy, perhaps it is time to remind everybody of your own crap analogy, you know, the one where you compared the inclination for players to sign for one club or another as being similar to the situation facing Supermarket staff.

Since I have been on holiday from early August, Saints haven't lost a single match. Now I'm back and going to be watching my first home match of my ST tomorrow, I'm bound to jinx us.

I was in exactly the same position regarding the boycott of matches, even though holding a ST at the time. Likewise, I took a stand that ultimately I'd prefer to miss matches I'd paid for in the expectation that if sufficient others took the same stand, Lowe and the Quisling would not be able to sustain the finances and would be forced out. Yes, it was a gamble with very high stakes, but I always considered ourselves a good investment with the assets we had. So Corp Whore, you will just have to accept that it is entirely possible that there were actually sufficient quantity of other like-minded individuals to have reduced the numbers below the level of financial break-even. If you cannot entertain that possibility, then tough titties; I'm not going to lose to lose any sleep over it.

Yes, I'm really looking forward to the results of that forensic investigation being published. Best case outcome will be that it is found that Android manipulated the finances illegally to avoid HMRC having a sufficient percentage to veto the CVA and that simultaneously it will be proven that Storrieteller continued trading illegally beyond the point when the Skates were insolvent. I can actually give the investigators a lead as to where they can find the damning evidence. Under the carpet where the Android swept it.

But thanks for answering on behalf of pfc123 and at the same time exposing the very reason why we pour scorn on the Skates, whose figures according to you, should have been sustainable and yet you went under owing £130 million and cheated the taxpayer, local businesses, charities and schools.

Yes, you have an opinion and it is distorted by your blinkered view of your club. Read the list of players I listed above that were at your club and then if you wish to justify your position, tell me how much they were being paid and what their transfer fees were. Then tell me what the club's income was. That is the only way that you can convince us that you could afford them.

Played in the team that beat ManUre 6-3, would you believe?

The truth of the matter of the FA Cup was in fact a mix of the two. Firstly, you had an easy run apart from the Man Utd match, when as you say, Lady Luck shone on Cheats United. You even had an easy final too. Teams like Ipswich, Plymouth, Preston, West Brom and Cardiff are hardly deemed to be the hardest to beat. Especially when you consider item number two, the team that you had that season. Apart from England team players like James, Campbell, Johnson and Defoe, you also had several other quality international standard players in your squad. These include the likes of Diarra,Pamarot, Hreidersson, Utaka, Diop, Lauren, Muntari, Krancjar, Benjani, Traore and Mendez. Now, I'm sure that in common with most Skates, you are in denial about how your train crash happened and who was to blame, but I would say that the squad I have just listed was one that you could not afford, because the wage levels and transfer fees were at a level way beyond your income.

Could it be that the signing of Jemal is taking longer than that of Cork because there were no visa requirements for Cork? Just a thought. As to the other defenders that we have at the club, they are professional footballers, some youngsters, some at the end of their careers. But they ought to understand that a club with ambitions will have cover for all positions and that if they are good enough, or because of injuries or suspensions, they will get a shot at playing at one stage or another. They have the incentive that if they perform well and the club realises its ambitions, they could be playing in the Premiership. If they don't make the grade, so what? Should we shed any tears over it?

The price is higher this year because last year we were watching third rate football instead of second rate. Most people go to watch Saints playing another team. The other teams are also now second rate instead of third rate. It might have escaped your notice, but there are some new players in the team this coming season. A pity that you won't be seeing De Ridder or Cork and who ever else we sign. Most seem pretty impressed with what they've seen of them so far. If you'd rather go and see third rate bands playing at the Brook, then that's your prerogative. Each to their own.

Q.How are you? A. I'm good. That annoys me more than anything. And DJs over here like Steve Wright and the ginger tosser use it because they feel it makes them sound trendy and current. Whenever somebody responds that way to my polite enquiry as to their general health and wellbeing, I often quietly think - I didn't ask you about your behaviour. In the case of girls, I usually think - That's a shame. Personally I much prefer bad girls.

But then you have missed the entire point of my post, which was that regardless of the figures put up by MLG and those put up to counter them by you, statistical comparisons on attendances between those clubs are largely futile, for the reasons I gave. Even comparing the attendances between us and the Skates has been deemed by pfc123 to be unfair because in his opinion a level playing field does not exist, so quite how increasing the number of clubs whose attendances are analysed will make those comparisons somehow more viable, I don't know. Your statistics prove nothing, but neither do MLG's. All they demonstrate is numbers attending, which might have been increased or decreased for any number of reasons rather than the building of a new stadium.

Great that it will be televised. I sincerely hope that we thrash the cheating bastards and a real bonus if it is witnessed by far more people than otherwise.

Is this true? I'm scandalised. There ought to be a campaign to at least have the proceeds of the sale of their old ground being put towards the loss that the taxpayer bears.

It's all about opinions, but I'd rather have the second string we could put together now. In particualr, I'm not terribly impressed with that midfield, nor Kenton in the heart of defence and I'd bracket Ormerod with Barnard as similar contributors up front, although yes please to Pahars.

I agree with most of this. Certainly another signing at centre back would be nice and Jamel would fit the bill for me. Yes, another striker too, somebody with a bit of pace would be good, but with what we've got and provided Connolly stays fit, we aren't that far off up there, especially with the quality of players who can now provide them with the service. But I agree broadly with the sentiments of the OP. I can't remember when we had such strength in depth. Adkins could put out two separate teams and there would be some lively debate as to which was the stronger.

That isn't surrounded; that's sandwiched.