Weston Saint

STATEMENT OF "NO CONFIDENCE" IN THE BOARD OF PFC The time has come for those who support Portsmouth Football Club to make their feelings known about the chaotic ownership and top level management of PFC. After almost three months under new ownership, we still have no clear idea about the state of the club other than that it is in a financial mess. Creditors, players and staff are being paid late and short term loans being raised in order to try to meet running costs. The club is seemingly rudderless with anonymous owners who refuse to communicate with the fans. There is great anxiety that the club is being carved up and being bled dry by people who seem not to care whether we have a stable playing environment or whether its fan base is so wounded by the parlous state of the club that their passion and support is being sorely tested. It must be made clear, however, that every single Pompey fan supports wholeheartedly the players, coaching staff and all the administrative staff who, on a daily basis and under what must be severely trying circumstances, keep this great club running. We salute their dedication. We have been told on several occasions this year by owners, prospective owners and executives that the club would be moved to new levels we would not believe. Sadly it is now obvious fans have been deceived and the very future of our great club is at stake. We make no demands, we simply want to see our Football Club run by people with openness, honesty and integrity. And on those three principles we say to the Board. "We have NO CONFIDENCE in you

I agree with your overall interpretation on this thread regarding the offside.

No in general terms I am happy with this years play. Best season since Premiership but is winning ALL important? I am entitled to comment when the game is poor as was the first half. That is all I and others who support my view are saying. Nothing wrong with that.

If we are not going to play football pleasing on the eye for a fair amount of time then count me out. I can sit home in the armchair watching the videprinter latest scores as we grind out results. Winning is the number one priority for the team and for the supporters but if it is not good football many will find no desire to go and watch the experience

His goal yesterday put Forest 3rd in the Championship

You missed my point. You cannot give wide players better service if they are not there.

Bern, the first half was crap and it was of Saints making. Lallana and Antonio got little service, some on here have said. That is because they were not wide to receive. They were bunched up in the middle making it easy for Tranmere. Yes we scored 3 goals again BUT Pardew has a long way to go to get us competative enough to get promotion and hold our position in the Championship. We are all in agreement that our results have been fantastic but many of us that go week in, week out can see we are not yet the real deal. That is what Duncan is trying to say.

Absolutely awful first half. Second to the ball, no width and Pardew said and did nothing. Second half looked the same but suddenly a fantastic pass from the ever aware Connolly and a great finish by Harding. From then I could not see us losing against a poor and toothless Tranmere. James and Antonio poor. Connolly movement and positioning, Jaidi's heading strength and Perry's awareness at the back were our strength but no doublt Lambert was man of the match with 2 goals, a good penalty and a fantastic free kick. Lallana failed to emulate his recent wide play but was still tricky particularly in the second half. Bart did not have to do much but looked firm in goal. Davis will not find an automatic passage back. Good result in the end. I am happy.

Would that not be construed as favourtism by many? Kingsland pay the same price as Itchen. If Itchen were given any period that would be detremental to the Kingsland season ticket holders who might want to book the first day to get a similar position on the opposite side of the ground. It is bad enough saying that the stand is closed without then saying season ticket holders in that stand are treated less favourably still than the Itchen. There must be a level playing field when ground restrictions apply.

I do despair at some of the comments on this thread. Of course a Southampton Football supporters we want what is best for our club and the planning facilities look very good but spare a thought for those residents who live nearby. They have a right to put their point of view when it affects their daily life. Over the years Staplewood has changed in all recognition. The roads around the complex are inadequate and the parking is a known problem. Anyone who has been to Staplewood for a reserve game or the like will be aware of the issues. Let the locals have their say and that includes Southampton Football Club who occupy the land. It is not for others away from the area to make judgements. I thought the email printed was perfectly reasonable and from someone who is and will be affected by the development. I happen to know the Nash’s personally and they are good people. Let’s move on.

I can understand Whitey Grandads initial frustration. When you buy a season ticket you know it does not include cup games but you expect to have first pick for your usual seat. Cost cutting is necessary in this division and few will argue with that. Why the Itchen open? Well I suspect that is because the Corporate Boxes and "Directors" seats are in that stand. The Northam holds our noisiest supporters. I would suggest Whitey emails David Lucker, point out his frustration but understanding and ask if he would email should the sales justify opening Kingsland Central later this month so that he can make a decision when and where to puchase a seat for the game.

Last 10 league games Won 7 - Drew 2 - Lost 1 - For 25 - Against 13 - Points 23 out of 30 Champions form. It's good to be a Saints fan

Just shows our confidence when we want teams around us to beat those at the top rather than looking over our shoulders. Walsall have a good home record and a goal scoring ratio there of 2 to 1. Usually I would take the draw but if our team can keep their confidence, shape and form we could just nick this one.

Reported by a Pompey fan to have come from Jacob by email last night. Fact or fiction you have to smile! "Says there is a slight delay because the were let down by a funder... they are working round the clock to address the situation Also stresses that the club's situation is now more stable than september i.e. progress has been made albeit slower than preferred" http://thepompeychimes.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52592

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6941596.ece It shouldn’t have taken a car crash, a swirl of internet rumours and a grudging apology to make us notice that something was seriously wrong with Tiger Woods. Witnessing him snap and snarl his way around a golf course was proof enough. Even Woods’ two post-crash statements, worded as though written by a committee of lawyers, were appropriately tortured. “I’m human and I’m not perfect,” he wrote when the story broke on Sunday. Yesterday, in a kind of non-confession confession, he retreated to saying he is “a long way short of perfect”. Now he tells us. Woods has been fighting the imperfections of humanity all his life. Being human demands weakness, vulnerability and unpredictability; Woods has always eschewed all three. His template has been half-god, half-machine — a god to his fans, a machine to himself. Who can be surprised that he is starting to crack under the strain? Forget who did what to whom near a fire hydrant in Florida. The important question is why being so gloriously good at golf cannot even raise a smile out of Tiger Woods. The answer extends far beyond the world of sport. It’s not all his fault. The sport industry delights in celebrating the elimination of weakness. Denying being human has become professionalism’s raison d’être. Coaches prefer willing cogs in a wheel, sponsors want shiny faces on billboards, governing bodies seek stars without opinions. And if the agents and coaches can’t quite eliminate what’s left of your personality, there are always the sports psychologists to finish the job. We have come full circle. Once sport was a means of building character; now it seeks to eliminate character. As a grudging genius, Woods has been the apotheosis of modern professionalism. There is no joy in Woods’ golf, let alone (it would seem) his private life. He interacts with the sporting public as little a possible, as though fans are an unnecessary encumbrance rather than the lifeblood of sport. Those who once criticised Don Bradman for being a machine knew nothing of Tiger Woods. He plays sport as though his own humanity is something to be rebutted rather than embraced. Some sportsmen affect coldness as a competitive mask. With Woods, you sense it goes all the way to his core, as if personality is a form of weakness, a flaw to be ironed out of his game like a faulty backswing. Did it have to be this way? Woods has always seemed predestined, but we once hoped for a better kind of destiny. A dozen years ago he won his first major by the huge margin of 12 shots, at the conservative Augusta National club, deep in the American South. Here, we hoped, was a handsome young black sportsman who would catapult America’s least multicultural sport into a more liberal future. But far from being a brave new dawn, Woods’ career has merely exacerbated what was wrong with the way sportsmen are held up as role models. The Woods legend has entrenched the cult of professional obsession, the Malcolm Gladwell view that anyone can be a genius so long as they practise for 10,000 hours. Woods has been the ultimate pin-up boy for that way of life. It’s long overdue for a serious rethink. The Woods PR machine has also indulged the myth of sporting exceptionalism. Mistaking mere winners for supermen shortchanges everyone. Brilliant sportsman, whatever they may tell you, are a lot like everyone else. Yes, sportsmen have to make sacrifices to get to the top; yes, there is a lot of pressure when they get there; yes, it’s a tough life. So is being a great surgeon, so is being a great teacher, so is being a great actor. The pursuit of excellence, whatever the discipline, demands bravery and dedication. Sporting exceptionalism — that sport is a special realm populated by a superbreed — is a myth sold to gullible fans to boost TV viewing figures. There are also limits to human specialisation. Both capitalism and professionalism converge in encouraging the pursuit of doing one thing very well. But no job, least of all playing a game, should dominate your life to the point where it becomes a joyless exercise in self-denial. Doing only one thing for ever, without ever wondering if it can be entirely fulfilling, suits very few human beings. It is a practical point as well as a moral one. Excessive narrowness isn’t just bad for you as a person, it’s bad for you as a performer. When I was captain of Middlesex, I used to dread seeing overkeen young cricketers reading Tiger Woods books. The Tiger approach, by legitimising introspective obsessiveness, nearly always made them play worse on the field. The monomania of Tiger Woods or Geoff Boycott doesn’t work for many people. Now we are learning that it isn’t even working for Tiger Woods. And anyway, surely one day it is only natural that golfers must fall out of love with golf. Tiger does not owe it to his fans to keep winning; his fans owe it to Tiger that they don’t demand that he ruins his life in the pursuit of hitting a golf ball. Tiring of sport should be considered an essential part of growing up, a human badge of honour, not a cause for reproach. Professional sport is stuck in a dangerous state of arrested development where it demands that grown adults indefinitely retain the egotistical narrow-mindedness of teenagers. Let's hope Woods’ unravelling prompts a shift in mood. So far he has been the standard-bearer for our age of professionalism: workaholic relentlessness, nothing left to chance, the elimination of emotion, it’s only the winning that counts, say nothing, follow the endorsements. Throughout that grim and joyless narrative, Woods has found the orthodoxy of professionalism to be all too willing an accomplice. Now it is time for Act II, not only for Tiger, but for the way we think about success. It’s time we all grew up — and allowed sportsmen to do the same. Ed Smith is a former England cricketer. He is now a Times leader writer. http://www.edsmith.org.uk Excellent article by a very intelligent ex Cricketer

Lallana is happy. He wants to develop with Saints. Question is, if we do not get promoted and he continues to develop there comes a time when he needs a higher challenge. If and when that time comes I am sure Saints will not stand in the way of his development. Should not be an issue for the rest of this season though.

Moths round a light comes to mind again. The question is posters, are you a moth or are you the light? And beatlesaint, I have never mentioned 19C health on here. Nor would I.

Hart has left according to SSN

Camilla bought a new pair of shoes for her wedding which got increasingly tighter & tighter as the day went on. That night after the festivities were finally over, she & Charles had retired to their room at the palace. Camilla flopped on the bed and said 'Please remove my shoes darling, ones feet are killing one.' Ever obedient, the Prince of Wales attacked her right shoe with vigour But it would not budge. 'Harder' yelled Camilla. 'Harder?' Charles yelled back, 'I'm trying darling! But it's just so bloody tight!' 'Come on give it all you've got ' she cried. Finally when it released, Charles let out a big groan, and Camilla exclaimed 'Oh God, that feels so good.' In their bedroom next door The Queen turned to Prince Phillip and said, 'See, I told you she would still be a virgin with a face like that!' Meanwhile back in the other bedroom Charles was attempting to remove the other shoe when he cried out 'Oh god, darling this ones even tighter' At which point Prince Phillip turned and said to the Queen: 'That's my boy, Once a Navy man, always a Navy man!'

Unfortunately although we were previously a public company and Lowe was indeed accountable to the shareholders, with the cartel of over 35% support and a perceived reluctance on the true opponents to force the issue we were in no real different a position that we find ourselves now on decision making. The only difference is Mr Liebherr has much more to lose if it all goes wrong. At present we appear to be in safe hands and most of us support the long term view and not the short term "throw the money at it" approach. Long may it continue. The test will come when we have the skills in the team but need that extra cash to push to the next level, and the next, and the next until we are an established entertaining Premier club.

Agree, very enjoyable.

No he lives in Surrey but was with me at the Norwich game on Saturday.

And now we know why he ran to Pardew. He was called in mid week to discuss dropping him to the bench to accomodate 4 5 1 formation as Pardew does not think we are strong enough to play 4 4 2 against a team that passes it about. Connolly appears to have given him the hair dryer treatment

Babysham, Pernod and a dash of blackcurrent. Called it a purple passion back in the early 70's.

Agree. Spoke to Drew Surmans father on the telephone today. Drew made his full Premier league debut for Wolves against Chelsea. Started on the left of midfield but then moved into the centre. Bad result but Drew seemed to hold his own and will be very disappointed if he is does not start next game.