Fitzhugh Fella

Well OB I speak has someone who would not really lose too much sleep if PFC went out of business all together - that is a bit pathetic and nasty I know, especially as there must be some decent Pompey fans out there, but I just think 20 years from now Saints will be a better supported club thanks to people in Fareham, Bishops Waltham, Titchfield etc gravitating towards St Marys because there is nowhere else. However the hatred thing has got out of hand now and I think someone could really get hurt one day or quite frankly killed which just does not bear thinking about. I think PFC fans started it all off with their bitter jealousy in the 70s and things have escalated. My Dad used to cycle to Pompey in the 40s from So'ton to watch what was a good team but today he "distinctly dislikes" them. I remember going to Farton in 1966 and even as a kid not really having strong feelings either way but all that seems to have changed now and I don't think it will ever change back. Society is becoming incresingly polorised. Tbh if you asked me would I prefer to get to Wembley in the JPT or beat PFC in the 5th round I would probably plump for the former because the day would linger longer in our folklore, and I am certain it is third on AP's priorities. Times have indeed changed.

oops Freudian slip - this has nothing to do with Avram Grant

Strange this because there was a piece in the Echo last Thursday quoting Pardew saying the club would not appeal, especially as the 3 match ban could be extended to 4.

At the end of the day beating Poopey will not feature highly on his cv whereas finishing near a play off position will. Unfortunately these days managers have to keep more of an eye on the bigger picture and satisfying our rabid desires (my own included) by thrashing the skates pales into insignificance put up against a good showing in the bed and butter business of gaining promotion.

I think you are right. For all his faults Ian B was a bloody nice guy.

Indeed Dave. Contrary to what Ottery is imagining I am not grumpy at all, although I think results are better than performances. However, for the record, I would not even consider replacing AP until we had failed to get promoted next season. However, I don't think Cortese has a lot of patience, and there is probably a very good reason why.

According to one of today's Redtops he has been interviewed for the vacant position at Reading.

D your criticism of AP is interesting and no doubt many on here will disagree but there are times when he does seem to have a blind side and James's continual presence is a good example. As for me I will stick my neck out and say I don't think AP will be here this time next year. Not saying Pardew leaving will be a good thing, particularly because we need stability and continuity, - it's just I have a funny feeling.....

Agree

I think the penny has dropped for him - about 2 months late. Can't believe he fell for all the bull**** - think he will resign soon, get out before his reputation gets anymore tattered.

I agree with you that it is nice to know how highly Saints value a player but while we are now under private ownership ML is quite within his rights to withhold information such as this.

How about "For whom the bell tolls"

You've got me thinking of good titles, but I'm still trying to think of one for ours who's who coming out later this year.

Yeah he caught my eye in that game too.

Buy this man a beer! Post of the week so far on this thread.

His form does fluctuate - when he's good he is a delight but then he can be awful. I think our dip in form in the last few months has coincided with him going off the boil. Perhaps he is carrying an injury as the Echo mentioned he was 50/50 for last night but something appears amiss at present.

This is ridiculous - I am having to put aside about 45 minutes a day purely allocated to reading this thread and associated links. This is getting time consuming but like watching all decent soaps it is compulsive, addictive and great fun.

I think tonight's results probably finish off any realistic hopes. To think that even with the 10 points added back in we would still be 4 points away, says it all. Concentrate on the Cups time, I think and also start planning for next season.

You don't know BA. There are 8 reps on our main committee and 7 of us on are on gross misconduct charges. Think that probably says it all about the way BA intend to "burn" the reps (their word not mine). Sure we hope to have a chance in a tribunal and BA will take that on the chin, but we will lose our jobs. BA will have done what they want - neutralise the Union. In my particular case I merely acted the way I have done in my 12 years as a secretary, BA declined to take me off my flying duties to do vital union work (update the database as instructed by Justice Cox). I carried out my union duties instead of flying and have got charged with gross misconduct and had my salary stopped, without even a preliminary investigation. There is a good chance I will lose my job - I have 2 youngish kids, but I believe it is right to stand up to a bully regardless of the consequence. I would not do that (after 34 years) unless I sincerely believed that what BA are currently doing to be 100% wrong.

Err - don't think you quite get it - perhaps you better go and look irony up in your dictionary before you start throwing insults like retard around. ****in hell and you are a mod

you rebel you but I tend to agree!

And I suppose you think the slaves were lucky to be fed. What is it with this "people are lucky to have jobs" philosophy we have in this country?

Your post makes sense, and thanks for debating it properly. The 12 days of Xmas was a high risk strategy but we reckoned the public were never going to support us anyway and it would take something "jaw-dropping" to capture WW's attention. In the days before Justice Cox's somewhat bizarre decision he had started to yield a bit which was all we were after. Anything less than the 12 days of Xmas just would not have got him to the table. It was a case of needs must I am afraid. We actually accept there must be a reduction in BA's cost base but cuts must be proportionally fair - for instance the managerial grades have been completely unaffected about from voluntary redundacies. Believe me we have made an offer far in excess of anything a cabin crew union has offered before. At one stage we even found more money than BA were demanding. But St Bletch this is now very ideological (hence the appointment of Tony McCarthy from the Royal Mail) and Walsh is only in this to neutralise the unions. Incidentally - you heard it here first we will not be going on strike at Easter. We made our point, we got Walsh's attention so there is no need to unneccesarily hurt the general public unduly. One last point re us balloting members who subsequently left. On the day notification was given to BA over how many crew we were balloting those leavers had no confirmation that they would be alowed to leave - and legal advice taken was that if there was any chance they would be asked to participate in industrial action then they must be sent a ballot paper. Chances are had we not balloted them we would still have been injuncted. A lot of those people who did leave are contemporaries of mine and I can assure you virtually all of them that didn't vote would, had they remained flying have voted to go on strike. The 92% would therefore have been a lot higher. Most of BA staff absolutely despise Walsh's style of management. BA, like I said, has made a profit in 18 out of the 20 or so years since it became a privately owned company - so it aint in need of that much surgery.

So all these threads and we finally get to find out what really happened to Saganowski

Its a fair point. I started flying in 1976 and it was a different world then. My salary is reasonable to good I suppose but I have been climbing the scale for 34 years and I have reached the top of the promotional file. Nevertheless if I retired this year my pension would be about 15 grand per annum. In 1997 BA imposed new starter rates which means anyone who became BA crew after that were on much lower payscales - they now probably make up 80% of crew, so to use pre 97 crew as the example is disingenious. Within 5 to 10 years the whole airline will be post 97 joiners and very cost effective. Other areas within BA have been asked to give up hardly anything despite what the press say. Pilots who earn massive wages have been asked to make very small changes complete out of proportion to what we have been asked. I have no problem with high wages for pilots, after all they keep the damn things in the air but they should proportionally be expected to give up the same as us. BA are simply being oportunistic. We knew all about these proposed changes to our terms and conditions well before the recession, Walsh is now using it to decimate what is, trust me a hard-working non-militant work force. And it is not all about serving tea. Personally I was involved in a full scale evacuation of a jumbo at Heathrow when we got 376 passengers out of an a/c that caught fire on take off and my wife saved the life of a young girl who had a severe asthma attack on a flight between Bermuda and London which ended up diverting to St Mawgans in Cornwall. I don't want pity just a little more understanding, we are trained and paid to do this after all, but what I do want if f I am going to be made to give up standards pertaining to my terms and conditions that they are negotiated, as they always have been in the past, and not part of a smash and grab raid by a man who wants to turn a once proud national airline into an imitation poor mans Ryanair.