St Louis

I want us to go strong for this, as surely we do have a chance, albeit a slim one. We arent some League One/Two team who are just here for a fun day out and play teams like this once every 100 years. We were in the same division as them (and have been most seasons) until last summer. Only 10 months ago we drew 0-0 at home to Man City and lost narrowly (1-2 to an 89th min Odegaard goal) to Arsenal themselves. We are probably the best team in the division below them on current form, and definitely have more momentum/confidence than when we last played them, and I dont think our team is much weaker than it was back in May to be honest (certainly not mentally). I dont expect us to win, but surely we do have a (slim) chance and have to go for it big time. Unfortunately, I think Flynn Downes is eactly the sort of player we need in the middle of the park for a game like this (grit, determination, drive, aggression - we cant be soft and let them play their game), so its such a shame he's missing this one, which makes our chances slimmer.

In the summer when he left, as well as Stewart and Archer who are still here, we also had Onuachu, Juan, Brereton Diaz and Armstrong on the books. And were in the process of signing Downes. You can see why we let him go and why he wanted to go, as at the time he wasnt ahead of any of those 6 and was coming off the back of lots of injury issues and 3 unsuccessful loans in League One (he'd only scored 6 goals in 45 League One games and not shown much promise). Now in hindsight... he looks like he could be becoming the player we all thought he might (if he could stay injury free), so I'm really pleased for him. I do hope if this continues, that we did include some kind of buy-back or first-option clause in his sale (but I havent heard anywhere that we did).

Exactly my thoughts. They usually do say when its nothing serious and is good news. Hoping Tonda has a press conference tomorrow and we get a (positive) update on Scienza and Stewart, as both are so important to us for the run-in.

They are like a completely different team this year (10 wins & 3 defeats since the turn of the year). They aren't out of the playoff picture just yet, I think this will be a way harder test than many imagine. I think they'll come here to win, not just (low block) defend, as they need to catch us in the table, and a point doesnt really help them.

My mate placed an order with the same seller (via Bender) on 24th Feb, he had the initial order confirmation email, but had nothing since. Is that how it was for you, or did you get a dispatch email or anything? Also, how long did it take from ordering to arrival for you, my mate ordered 2 weeks ago today.

Oh, and I also much prefer the whole football experience of us being in The Championship (rather than Premier League)... no VAR, proper clubs with proper fan bases, no 'big 6' (or 8 or whatever it is now!), no SSN and mainstream media fawning over the only (big) clubs that matter, no turning up expecting to lose most weeks. I prefer the feeling of us being one of the better teams in a lesser league. It's a weird paradox to be in though, as I also want us to win all remaining games to get in the Playoffs, and then win the final at Wembley to put ourselves through it all again.

Mine is kind of similar.... Whilst I DO hate P*mpey (and I'll never forget them pelting us with rocks as we left Fratton in '04), but.... I would still prefer (and have FAR more respect for) someone who lives down this end of the country if they supported Portsmouth, than if they 'support' Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal, etc from their armchair. My biggest bug bear is people who don't support their local team (or team their Dad supported, etc), I instantly dont look at them the same way, whereas I would respect someone who said they supported Portsmouth if they live that way. However, I do take great joy in asking the plastic Liverpool fans "Are you looking forward to the World Cup this summer, who are you going to support?". The confusion in their face is priceless

I see that Manuel Neuer has suffered a calf muscle tear, they wouldn’t recall Peretz would they? 🤔

I'm not sure how people on here (or even the mainstream media) would really know whether certain players have that clause or not, so I'd take it with a pinch of salt. And even if true, your comparison is based on a video game. In the real world, I would imagine there are many players who you'd want to sign who wouldn't agree to those terms. I know in hindsight it could f*ck them up (if true), but hardly going to entice a player to join a Premier League (or just relegated to The Champ) team is it? "We are ambitious and planning on a quick return to the top echelons of the Prem, but by the way, I want you to agree to a 50% paycut if we end actually up in League One". I'm sure if you really want to sign a top player (and sell the club to him and his agent), you may have to leave some clauses out and hope you can sell them if all goes tits up.

Exactly that! And you could disrupt things further with changes in the first half and we could have gone in 0-4 down. He regrouped, changed the team and tactics and it worked a treat. I cant believe our manager turned around a 0-3 halftime deficit to WIN the game, and is still being criticised for not doing it right, getting lucky with a wonder strike, etc. Some managers would be too stubborn to change things even at halftime or would have gone into damage limitation mode, but Tonda switched it all up and went for the win. He knew he got it wrong and changed it, absolutely brilliant.

I think he recognised his mistakes and where it was going wrong in the first half. and made all the changes at the right time I'd say (we won!). Why cant he get some credit for that? I dont think many managers/teams would turn around a 0-3 halftime deficit... go pour a beer and f*cking enjoy it!

Yeah, 4 wins in the last 5 and a draw away in the derby... clueless!

Exactly... remember we brought in that awful inexperienced manager in 2001, Gordon Strachan? He'd just got top-flight stalwarts Coventry relegated for the first time in 34 years! How could he possibly do a job for a similar sized club like Saints?

So how do you know he is so crap then? He may well be, but I cant believe how many people have written him off already, and so many people calling him Downs 2.0 I remember when we signed Crouch, and the uproar from the fanbase as his stats were shocking and he'd never be able to play at the top level, that turned out OK, you just cant judge someone without seeing how they fit into a team/style. I also have little faith in SR given the absolute dross they have signed in recent years, but I'll at least give a player 10+ games before I decide how good/bad they are, this guy hasnt even stepped foot on the pitch yet! This is just the first two that come up, but plenty of videos of him actually scoring goals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Q34xguWvk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GVsax0BgGw

Is it just our fans who write players off before even seeing them play? I'd never heard of the bloke until yesterday, so will reserve judgement. But the positives... - An experienced International, having nearly 90 caps already and is desperate/driven to play well for the next 4 months to make the squad for his home World Cup (he averages a goal every 3 games for them, not bad in a crap team! But yeah, I know they play some poor opposition). - He's really experienced at club level too, having played in the MLS, Turkish Superlig, Belgian Pro League, La Liga and Eredivisie, and hes scored 120 in 360 game (1 in 3 average, which is decent isnt it?) - We've moaned for years that we lack height and strength in the team, especially up front, and now we look like we are getting a powerful, quick, 6' 2" striker to lead the line, which we've been crying out for for ages and should suit the league. Larin feels like a sensible, low-risk option up top to me, and he's only on loan. He’s a proper No.9 — big, strong, and knows how to play with his back to goal. Will give us a presence in the box, get on the end of crosses, and occupies centre-backs, which is something we’ve lacked at times. Can we just give the bloke a chance? I cant believe we are writing him off because he's Canadian (so a lazy/obvious comparison with his Yankee neighbour, Downs) and because some kids have posted a showreel of some missed chances. Have you looked at the video's where he does score? I'd recommend it as he looks better in those.