Guided Missile

....we are in a better position than many think, to survive. (Part 2) The pain we have gone through will be ten times worse for the "bigger" clubs over the coming months. It will happen soon and the pigs who have been at the Sky Sports trough will find that it will soon be empty. The balance sheets of these mercenary armies(or their banks) will soon be found to be nothing more than a mirage of creative accounting, that the Premier League have ignored for too long. Ashley has lost over £300M on HBOS shares, allegedly. A firesale of Newcastle is on the cards and relegation is not out of the question. If we found it hard, how will they cope? Even Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal are not immune to the firestorm engulfing the world's economy. Massive debts built on the assumption that there is an inifinite apetite for overpaid foreigners kicking a ball around at a strange time on the weekend (ie not 3:00pm on a Saturday) are going to be unsustainable and with many of the property assets (£10M for Fratton Park, anyone???) underpinning the balance sheets, a slight nudge that propelled some of the biggest financial institutions into oblivion, will be all it takes. Live with the pain at Southampton Football Club, turn up to as many of the games as possible, because soon, our model of sustainable football covered by income from the pockets of the real fans will be the daily diet of many of the clubs in the Premiership. As they sink, we will rise again, on the back of a vision of the economic reality that so many people are having to face in the financial community, but few inside football can see. Just be glad we are facing up to it now. Those in denial, not a few miles down the M27 will soon be jolted into a world of pain, along with a few others and their journey will go downhill far more rapidly than ours..... More rapidly than, Brighton and Hove Albion, IMHO. For those that are interested, here's a potted history of the Goldstone Ground, presumably the business model for Pompey's owner, Al Mirage, and so far away from ours, it's laughable: The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a football stadium and home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. between 1902 and 1997. The club currently plays at Withdean Stadium, a temporary stadium in the Brighton suburb of Withdean while a new stadium is built at Falmer on the outskirts of the city. After the sale of the ground to private developers, the area was changed to a row of warehouse style retail shops, along with a "drive-thru" Burger King outlet. The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road, Hove opposite Hove Park in a partly residential area. The area was previously part of Goldstone Farm and was first used for a football match by Hove F.C. on 7 September 1901. The Albion played there for the first time on 22 February 1902, and it became the club's permanent home the next season. The main West Stand was largely built in 1958 and consisted of seating and terraces. The South Stand was originally built in 1949 and served family spectators. The North Stand was built in 1984 and consisted solely of terraces. The East Stand was formed of uncovered terraces. Floodlights were first installed in 1961.[2] The ground also hosted football games for the 1948 Olympic Games, one of only two grounds outside London (the other being Fratton Park). The last game at The Goldstone was held on 26 April 1997, in which Brighton beat Doncaster Rovers 1-0. Between 1902 and 1997 the ground had admitted 22.9 million supporters to 2,174 games.[3] The largest attendance at the Goldstone was 36,747 when the Albion played Fulham F.C. on 27 December 1958.[4] The ground was sold by the board (who were trying to clear the club's mounting debts in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy) without consulting the fans, although no alternative football ground had been lined up. The then chairman, Bill Archer, aimed to profit from the sale of the lucrative development land on which the Goldstone stood. A ground share with Portsmouth never materialised and the club eventually arranged a ground-share with Gillingham at their Priestfield Stadium over 70 miles from Brighton. The Goldstone Ground was sold to property developers and it has since been redeveloped as a retail park which features several outlets including a new Toys 'R' Us store and a Burger King drive-thru.

...than any other season I can remember. Does anyone else feel the same? As you may have guessed, I always like to dredge up old posts. This one really stands the test of time and demonstrates why our club will never die. To be more precise: Call it a therapy thread, if you like. Therapy for the only assets that the administrator can't sell, yet are the club's greatest treasure, the fanbase. I would like to start by hoping that from this day on, the fans can continue to show the rest of the country how we respond to adversity. I am sure that when we stand inside our magnificant stadium, in the warm Spring Southampton sunshine, at the end of the next game, knowing that we are down, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" will echo round the ground and we will know that starting next season, we can only expect better things. So, my first positive thought is how much of a cult team we will become, stripped of our Championship arrogance and money. A sort of hard southern enclave of the underdog, swaying the neutral and earning respect. Working class, now Lowe has gone and southern to the core, now Wilde has gone. Respect is returning, in spades....

Totally confused and misleading. Manchester United play their home games outside the City of Manchester in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, which is in the Metropolitan County of Manchester, as are Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Wigan. By your logic, they also represent Manchester...

Manchester and Liverpool are 34 miles apart. Southampton and Portsmouth are 16 miles apart. But forgetting that, Manchester don't play their home games in the City of Manchester, but in Trafford, which is in Greater Manchester. Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Wigan also play their home games in Greater Manchester, although what that means, I don't know, apart from where you play your home games doesn't define a club. Its fans and its history that does that.

The same weird state of confusion that believes that Manchester United is a Manchester Football Team, despite playing all its home games in Trafford. Just to show how confused I am, I also believe that Trafford is a borough, about the same size as Southampton, from this abstract: The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800,[2] covers 41 square miles (106 km2),[3] and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston.

Exactly...as this abstract explains... The Portsmouth Urban Area, in south-east Hampshire, includes the following components (as defined by the Office for National Statistics) Fareham Portchester Gosport Havant Lee-on-the-Solent Portsmouth Stubbington Waterlooville Greater Portsmouth is an unofficial term sometimes used for the conurbation, but which sometimes refers only to Portsmouth, Havant and Waterlooville, and sometimes includes the whole of the Portsmouth Urban Area together with adjoining parts of West Sussex The Portsmouth urban area can be looked at as part of a larger multi-centred conurbation also including Greater Southampton South Hampshire or Solent City is a term used mainly to refer to the metropolitan area formed by the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton and their suburbs and commuter towns, in southern Hampshire, England region. PUSH (Partnership for Urban South Hampshire) is a partnership of local councils in this area to provide a more cohesive strategy for the area as a whole in key policy areas, and to act as pressure group for the area at the county and national level.

Why can't we, as the great John Lennon said, "Give war a chance..."?

I once saw the Saints play at Giants stadium, in New Jersey, in front of 75,000 fans. This stadium is home to two American football teams, the New York Jets and the New York Giants. So, we have two teams from New York, playing their home games in a different state. The stadium is being replaced in 2010 by the Meadowlands Stadium, modelled on the Allianz Stadium in Munich, right down to the changing colour of the stadium and the potential sponsor of the new building (Allianz btw, for $30M, although the Jewish lobby in New York frightened them off). This is worth a read. Maybe our esteemed German owner will show the same Germanic pragmatism as they have in Munich. I have a feeling the "little Englanders" we have for a fanbase will happily p! $$ on any bonfire he lights and watch with pleasure as Pompey go out of business and we languish outside the Premiership for another 20 years. Arsenal have shown that to make money and be successful you need a large crowd going every week. This part of the South could easily support 40,000 plus crowds for Premiership football, rock concerts and national games. Meanwhile, Eastleigh Borough Council!!! spunk £32M on a hotel at the Rosebowl, where they are ecstatic if 20,000 turn up and the average gate for a league game is about 2,000....

In real terms, the idea that Portsmouth and Southampton are separate cities died when the M27 was built. For all practical purposes, we are a conurbation that should be known as Solent City, two suburbs, 15 minutes by car, apart...

The Allianz Arena in Munich is home to Bayern and 1860 Munich. Look at the way the Germans arrange the Stadium: Allianz Arena is lit up in red when Bayern Munich play, in blue when 1860 Munich play and in white when in use by the German National Team. 1860 Munich play in the 2nd Tier of German Football, by the way...

As I posted in the original thread: "In fact, a lot of people from the M27 corridor from Chichester to Bournemouth, from the M3 corridor from Southampton to Basingstoke would go every week to see both teams. 45,000 capacity would be needed...and we may even end up with both clubs dominating the Premiership. Who knows?"

....I had the temerity to post this thread on our site. Fast forward and I can't help thinking that if we could get past the deep seated prejudices and concentrate on the economic and footballing sense of ground sharing, someone from the Portsmouth FC will fly to Switzerland and discuss probably the only option that will save the club and provide our club with a much larger income to fund our development. My interest was sparked by the news that the proposed Everton stadium has been kicked into touch. Read the article by Oliver Kay in the Times today. The reality will dawn on the two Liverpool clubs that the only way for them to survive and compete in the Premiership will be to share. This is an interesting extract: Going halves on grounds Clubs sharing a stadium has never taken root in this country, but there are examples abroad. San Siro, AC Milan and Inter Milan, capacity 80,018 They have shared a stadium for 62 years. Hosted Champions League finals, rugby matches and concerts. Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, 69,901 1860 Munich compete in Germany’s second tier, and with a considerably smaller fanbase to boot. The stadium, opened in 2005, will host the 2012 Champions League final. Luzhniki Olympic Complex, Spartak Moscow and Torpedo Moscow, 78,360 Maybe the most famous artificial football pitch in the world, where John Terry slipped as he ran up to take a penalty in the Champions League final in 2008. They have shared the home for 15 years. Maracanã, *Botafogo, Flamengo and Fluminense, 82,238 Brazil’s biggest and most famous stadium is home to three of Rio’s largest clubs. They share the ground not only with each other, but with volleyball matches, concerts and even a visit from the Pope. In 2016, the Maracanã will stage the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games. *I think Oliver Kay of the Times is wrong in this regard. Botafogo apparently play their home games at Estádio Olímpico João Havelange

I saw Ron Davies play many times at the Dell, walking there rather than taking the bus. In my humble opinion, having watched many great centre forwards play at the Dell, St. Marys and many other stadia all over the world, Ron Davies was the best orthodox centre forward in the world. You never watched him, but the way he hung in the air, defying gravity as he headed the ball, explained why Ted Bates thought he was the best centre forward in Europe. I think he underestimated him... Read this and learn...

I suggest you guys google slingbox and learn how to watch Sky on either an IPhone or Blackberry For the cost of the slingbox and no monthly fee. Sky will never be able to charge for this...

I particularly like this photo of him chatting with Robbie Savage

...managers he's played for and players he's faced, reckons that Alan Pardew was the best manager he ever played for. In the Sun today...for what it's worth. I wonder what our players currently think of AP...?

Cut the "noble cause" sh !t, Wes. As soon as many of the "fair weather" fans experience a little drizzle, they'll join you, shopping with the missus on a Saturday afternoon, again. Not that I don't welcome their presence on match days, but to suggest that the people that deserted the club in it's hour of need, somehow should show satisfaction that they brought about the situation we are lucky to find ourselves, is total b0ll0x and an insult to the fans that turned up during the hard times. Save your keyboard strokes for the supporters that inspired the new owner to buy us. I doubt that it was the gutless stayaways that you try hard to turn into people with a cause celebre. Their absence was due to far more mundane reasons than the previous chairman's social background...

Hence Yorkie bars...eaten well before the final whistle...

...unrealistic ones. Gratitude has replaced ingratitude. Relative harmony has replaced total disharmony and "Give us a wave, Pardew..." has replaced "Hang Lowe..." Attractive football has replaced dire hoofball and team spirit has replaced dis-spirit. Fiscal responsibility has replaced debt laden dreams but something just doesn't seem to have been replaced. That happens to be the unquenchable support the club has had, through thick and thin, from the ordinary fans. Wouldn't it be a nice gesture, at our next well-attended home game, for the club to make a small gesture of gratitude to those ordinary fans? A free Yorkie would be enough.... Fan's day....just one a season, Christ knows it has been earnt.

Definitely Lambert's goal and the Echo confirms this today....

...probably...

If you think that my original thread presents the same argument as the one made by David Conn over 10 years ago, then you obviously have a problem with the English language, which makes any attempt by me to debate, rather pointless. You appear to think that his statement in the book, that Newcastle, amongst a number of other Premiership clubs, such as Liverpool, are money making machines for the stock market, rather than clubs run for the fans, is still true today and that this, in some way is what I was arguing. Hope that's not too "snarky" for you....

Wes, I'll make this simple for you, so that you will understand why you are going back on ignore and everyone will see what a tool you are and that you only have yourself to blame. You pi $$ me off because you're a pompous old windbag who is constantly looking for a bandwagon to jump on or an opinion to hang on to. The evidence for this is that you accused me of plagiarising, yet out of over 3,000 posts, you have managed a sum total of 6 threads all of which have either been quotes of other publications as in the case of these: Alan Pardew's birthday I don't know whether it has been mentioned on any of the many threads about our new manager, but according to the announcement on the OS, tomorrow is Alan Pardew's birthday. McLeish after Bale McLeish is seeking to buy Gareth Bale from Spurs for Birmingham Saints owe Bournemouth money This has just been published:-Championship side Southampton's parent company went into administration recently and that appears to have had a knock on affect, with Southampton FC owing AFC Bournemouth money. Hatters consider legal action Just reported in thr last half hour:-Luton director Stephen Browne admits the club are prepared to take legal action against the Football League if they fail to dock points from Southampton. Stern shocks States Really? Did he score a spectacular goal? What is the matter with the OS? ...or this shameless cr @p: Would you BOYCOTT? Ways to get rid of Lowe and the board Well, I think that the time has come. We've had him forced back on us by the Quisling Wilde's alliance with Lowe and his cronies and there is nothing that can be done by way of an EGM to rid us of him through the shareholdings unless Wilde changes horses yet again. In summary, Wes, despite claiming that my threads are unoriginal and copied from someone else, you have in fact, demonstrated just how large a w @ank stain you are on the fabric of this website.

Different era, different argument, but don't let that stop you spouting bo££ox. Reading you and Wes, is liking watching a re-run of a poor Laurel and Hardy film...

In the same way that you are replying to my post, using the same medium, but simply using different words? Muppet...