Wes Tender

Dealing with the issue of Alan Pardew's backroom staff, pure conjecture from me as to the reason for the delay, if indeed it is accepted that there has been undue delay... Pardew lost his job at Charlton last November as far as I'm aware. Therefore he has been twiddling his thumbs metaphorically since then. Now as a reasonably successful manager in the top flight for some of his career, he must be reasonably well off financially. But what of his former backroom staff? They have probably gained employment elsewhere, have mortgages to pay, family settled, etc. If they are with other clubs, then negotiations with their current employers will take time, arrangements need to be made possibly to uproot from their current area. If those people are happy where they are, others will need to be approached. In that respect, the timescale since Pardew's arrival has not been long.

Patience or impatience?

And in the meantime they release several rumours of big time signings that are a certainty, but which mysteriously fall though at the last minute. Is this a delaying tactic to keep the blue few faithful onside? After the Maradona fiasco, it now emerges that Finnan's agent told The News last week that he was staying at Espanol. We'll see who is right soon enough.

He was playing for a second rate team in France, you know. As for his mates not having heard of us or being unable to find Southampton on a map, there must be some really thick people in that area of France then. I think that you'll find that if his mates are a similar age to him, then they'll certainly know that we were a mainstay in the Premiership for 27 years and if they watched the FA Cup in 2003, which they might well have, they'll have no problem remembering us or our city. Most people with even a basic education would know that we are an important British port, even if they watched the Titanic film, in the same way that most Southampton people recognise that Le Havre, Cherbourg, Marseille and Toulon are French Ports. Most of our fans would know the names of the top French clubs by hearing of them in the European football matches. Taxi drivers in Bangkok have heard of us and delight in reeling off names like Le Tisser. Quite why you don't credit the French players with the same facility to know about us is beyond me.

We'll probably have a good idea how it's shaping up for both clubs by Christmas. But I have very confidence that after 3 years, we will be above you in the Fizzy Pop. Are you really that confident that it will not be so? Your confidence in your new owner must have gone down rapidly over the past few weeks.

Interesting to read that, SW11 and to witness the vast improvement in our play against Hearts on Saturday. On the one hand we are told that Pardew had not been able to spend time coaching and then we see this remarkable improvement. Could it be that in the little time that he spent with the players, the message that he got over was simply that they had a short time to make an impression on him, that anybody who didn't give 100% effort would be out of the door? Maybe the message was delivered with sufficient force and lack of ambiguity that the players' minds were focussed sharply on their futures and produced hte desired effect.

Everybody knows that it becomes easier with each passing year to obtain a GCSE in English. The highlighted bit just illustrates how poor the grammar has become in recent times. It is not would of, but would have. You can abbreviate it to would've if you like, but the 've is abbreviated from have, not of. H.T.H

Another two rumoured to be on the way out of Krap Nottarf soon; John Utaka and Nadir Belhadj. Reading the comments from Skate fans on hearing the news, many of them are ready to cut their throats, especially if Belhadj goes. Oh dear.

And of course, exactly the same thing applies to you too. Or do you think that they tell the truth to you, but lies to us? Look, the attempt to support your club against your main local rivals is admirable. But just not credible.

So how old are you, pfc123? Perhaps you are old enough to remember the glory years for Pompey, but on the other hand senility is creeping up on you and things looked better than they really were.

I was countering Stevo's accusation that just because I hate cricket, that I must be narrow-minded, or indeed female. As this is a football forum, let anybody who wishes to discuss cricket go into the lounge, or a cricket forum.

I was born in 1949. Do you really suggest that I look at a period before I was born, in the middle if the last century, to establish whether Pompey or Saints were the better team historically? Your arguments really are based on the thinnest straw-cluching.

Yes, thank you, give me a female please. I would watch Rugby, Tennis, Basketball and Beach Volleyball amongst others before I had to endure the boredom that is cricket.

Selective and choosey.

Who the hell's interested in cricket? I'd rather watch paint dry. I couldn't care less whether it was a choice between Hampshire playing West Indies or Saints playing Bognor Regis; I'd be there watching the football.

Captainchris says that Mills was poor, yet I read a report of the match in the Edingburgh Evening News saying, "Pardew withdrew his side's most influential player, Mills, shortly after the hour" It's all about opinions, but I thought that Mills gave a decent account of himself, but perhaps chris is right and us others are mistaken.

As I said in the other thread, IMO he was man of the match. How refreshing to see a RB get to the byeline and put in such devastating crosses into the box. It was bread and butter for Rasiak in particular. Several times I also noted that his passing was into areas that caused the Jambos' defence problems and he was also good with the throw-ins too. I also think that he reminded me a lot of Dodd, in that although a yard short of pace, that extra yard is in his head in anticipation and positioning. It was very seldom throughout the entire game that anybody got the better of him. Sign him up, Alan. He is a born winner.

Just got back. A really good game, which proves that either Scottish Premier League football is not as good as Division three English football, or else our team is not as crap as some would have us believe. Hearing the team selection to start the match, I thought that the team looked reasonable; certainly what I would consider our strongest team apart from the debate about whether John or Rasiak were the better striker. Pardew perhaps thought that it was better to play either one with a younger pacier foil in Paterson, so had John on first and then gave Rasiak a crack later. And although John looked solid and useful during his spell, Rasiak was simply outstanding, scoring pretty well with his first touch of the ball, but also scoring another good goal too. It has to be said though that Rasiak's two goals were courtesy of our two new full backs Murty and Harding. Murty put in a man of the match performance IMO and got to the byeline several times and put some devastating balls into the box, one of which was finished ably by Rasiak. Lallana looked useful, Gillett was his usual bustling self, Mills shows good promise and Perry and Thomas looked commanding at CB. So we have a solid back four, a promising midfield and a bit of a connundrum up front. Oh, not to forget Davies, who had little to do, but must be the best keeper in this division. This match was so different to the Ajax one and granted that Hearts aren't Ajax, but one is left wondering whether this team and the tactics employed today might have produced a different result. Certainly the team seemed to be motivated and had a massive confidence boost with going one up. Having a win by 3 goals and a clean sheet will enable Pardew to give them a mighty pat on the back and some belief in themselves. I suspect that it is much clearer in his mind as to where the changes need to be made, where new players brought in might produce improvements. On this evidence, Murty must be signed, Harding is a good buy and Rasiak and John could certainly have a future here if they want to stay. Just by the by; where was Schneiderlin today? Is he injured?

So I look forward with keen anticipation to reading your warts and all account of events when you come to write your historical perspective on it all, Duncan.

That's very disrespectful to Krap Nottarf. It's an antique and maybe somebody will slap a listed building order on it.

Is Terry Venables back in the frame waving his £1 in the air?

Who is this rich owner you're talking about?

I'm not expert on these things, but it's cocaine that's sniffed, right?

QUOTE=SW5 SAINT;393100 Yes, we did. If the stadium was not sold to capacity, it was only because the away team didn't fill its allocation. We always sold ours, the bulk of it with STs.

Are we talking Markus Leibherr here, or Fahim?