spyinthesky

Puncheon reminded me of a slightly better version of Ryan Smith. Started well enough here then faded. Undoubted skills but fannies around too much. Certainly not a tackler. Have a soft spot for the Tangerines especially when their mascot used to be a live duck (no idea why) Also forgot that Stephen Crainey joins the Ex Saints contingent of Brett/Euell and now Beattie. Blackpool v Stoke will be interesting for all Saints fans

BB Interested to know whether you think £2k p w is too high or too Lowe. I would have thought that a player rated high enough to warrant a 5 yr deal (and signing from a top Prem club) would be looking for a minimum of £2k pw I remember seeing our 3 rd choice 'keeper a few seasons back when were in the Championship (unfortunately can't recollect his name) driving a Porche Cayenne and thinking at the time he must be on a reasonable wedge

Poor old Tommy, criticised by Grimsby fans for being the tallest pile of ****e ever seen between the sticks at Blundell Park' Probably found his level at Eastbourne but dont be surprised to see him back here at the end of the loan period to complete the 5 yr contract agreed by Mr Lowe Then there is young Anthony. Not wanted by Stockport, bottom of the old Div 4 and shipping goals like a collander. Two wonderfully astute signings

We went 1-0 down in this game (Tony Knapp OG??) Wolves were in top form at the time so this was a wonderful result Seem to recollect that we scored the 9th with about 15-20 mins to go and the crowd kept chanting 'We want 10' think we hit the woodwork a couple of times. This at a time when the atmosphere at the Dell was fairly sedate Of course we signed the Wolves keeper Dave Maclaren soon after but he didnt do well for us. Remember the Milton Rd end singing some time after - 'No Goals today Maclaren's gone away, we've got a Goalkeeper his name is Gerry Gurr'.. to the Herman's Hermit's song 'No milk today'

Third biggest crowd of the round so far!!!

Corps Good to hear from you. Happy New Year Point of detail, I think most posters work on press reports (OK they can be wrong) that Pompey have the THIRD highest wage bill in the Championship. Re Ritchie and Pack Cotterill has said publically that neither of them are of sufficient quality for the Championship so bye bye btw I don't think that it is just your friendly Saints fans who are 'surprised' at the way your club is being run. P

Is O'Hara still injured? Wouldnt surprise me if he ended up back at Pompey Decent player

On the basis that the Gob****es had problems with the Revenue in the past, wonder whether they will be able to cope with the additional 2.5% Vat on tickets sales etc for here on in? I suppose the 'cash only' arrangement will help!!

Am I being a bit naive here. Stoke let a player go on a free who then, overnight, turns into a £4m player. I know things are never black and white with Pompey but cant really see the Stoke Board/management being so gullible, unless there is a monster sell on clause added. Surely Stoke must have learned after paying an inflated price for Marc Wilson but then again so many unanswered questions in football

I guess Le Tizz will be missing once again. When you consider some of the no marks who get a gong you have to wonder why Le Tizz has been overlooked. No disrespect to Alan Knight but what he has he achieved at Pompey compared to Le Tizz here.

Must add my name to the list who found David Luker very helpful and amenable Hope his replacement is as good

Hampshire Police raided a terrace house behind Fratton Library early this morning. Inside they found a large cache of Soviet made armaments, seventeen anti- personnel landmines, false passports and a boxes of brown envelopes. Local grandmother, Clamydia Westwwod-Jones (31), said.. I'm shocked, I have lived here all my life like and never knew there was a Library in Fratton.'

Wonder what he is doing with his time now? 3rd choice keeper, no reserve team. Still I suppose he gets a decent wedge. Wouldn't surprise me if dear old Rupes put him on £3/£4k per week as well as a 5 yr deal I reckon it was Tommy's Dad who wrote the letter extolling Rupe's credentials at the club's last (& final) AGM!!

I can remember a Cup Tie as a youngster v Blackpool when I think Stanley Matthews (the Beckham of his day) played against Tommy Traynor. Think we lost 2-1 They had a mascot (old chap with a brolly) who had a pet duck that waggled around in the goal mouth. We had Bill Bray with his rattle. Any one remember him? 2-4-6-8 who you you appreciate. Oh the memories!!

For both 1st and 2nd round Ties??

Looked the real deal when he first arrived and initially thrived under the Dutch regime However he often tends to go for the eye catching long ball when something shorter would suffice. He is not particularly quick and doesn't get goals (albeit from a defensive midfield position) If we were able to get a decent fee for him I think the money could wisely be invested in more suitable players for our current position. That said he certainly wouldn't be high up my list of player to lose

A mate of mine has placed a large bet on us meeting Bournemouth in the Play Off Finals at Wembley If so could cause massive problems with transport bearing in mind issues with availability of trains and coaches for the JPT Final. Segregation en route would be another issue Worst of all what if we lost!!!

Havent got my reference books handy How many times have we played them before yesterday? Programme article says once in 2007 (lost 2-1 in Carling Cup) Elsewhere David Bull says 3 times, all in League Cup, ic a 4-1 away win in 1996

Trying to take a balanced view here (a bit like Ho who has a chip on both shoulders), it would be interesting to know how many of us Saints fans would have enjoyed our 'moment of success' if dodgy owners had provided us with a platform for success. Whilst Rupert and Co were nowhere in the same League as the criminals at Pompey, they did get up to some unsavoury if not unlawful acts and whilst the team was doing OK most of us shoved this to the back of our collective minds. Rupert & Co were challenged on the dealings with the club by the SISA activists who, in turn were ridiculed, by some as trouble makers. I suppose at the end of the day many Pompey fans see their club as bigger and better than us. Certainly when it comes to dodgy dealings they win hands down

A useful topic i think our squad is not as geared up for a successful go at the Championship as many people think. Would be interesting to see how the current team would (hypothetically) fare against the team that made the playoffs three years ago. I suspect we are not as strong as Pompey are at the moment with their new acquisitions. Having dispensed with Pulis, Forecast (if we can on his wonderfully negotiated 5 yr deal!!) Mills, Wotton,Jaidi, Holmes and Connolly, I would put question marks alongside Puncheon, Seaborne & Martin and possibly even Harding, Hammond and Schneiderlin. Dickson I have not seen enough of the make a proper assessment. Lambert (especially) and Barnard will be exposed by their lack of pace in the division. Guly (if he stays) may possibly prosper. Think we would need a midfielder a step up from Chaplow All comes down to how much money is available. If a reasonable wedge then, in my opinion, need to bring in: Central Defender (possibly two) Defensive Midfielder Creative Midfielder Left sided attacker One Central striker One 'support striker (with pace)

Ho I think holepuncture may be using the 'porstmuff' vernacular in this missive. If you check out his other posts, directed mainly at Saints fans, spelling and composition are as one would expect in the higher stratum of Hampshire society.

Talking to friends the other day about the Adam and Eve where we cut our teeth as youngsters Anyone remember Arthur Sherriff who was one of the original DJ's and then went on to work at the Top Rank, eventually ending up as an A&R man (with Elton John??) Also Carol Hamilton, an attractive blond girl (well lady in age terms) who was married to the chap who owned Hamilton Electronics in London Rd The club was owned by Mr & Mrs Bignall who also owned the Checkpoint cafe near the Bargate (now Bouzy Rouge) Mr Bignall was an ex motor racer (apparently) and always had a decent looking young filly in tow. By comparison Mrs Bignall was an old sour puss who hated people chewing gum Re the Top Rank was Johnnie Diamond the DJ there or was he at the Pier? He was a bit of a local celeb and ended up being a Bingo caller at Portswood Mecca Also remember the resident Band the Top Rank. Don't recollect their name (Brian Ross??) but the leaders daughter was the main singer (generally out of tune) The dance floor was generally empty when the band was on but then got jammed for the 'pick up' slow dances. Eddie Holman's 'Hey there Lonely Girl' being particularly remembered

I used to travel to a lot of away games in the 60's/70's and 80's Closest I got to damage was being hit in the face by a (very!!) hot meat pie stood on the terraces at Ninian Park in the mid 60's. People in front of me saw it coming. They all ducked an d I got it full in the kisser!! I was wearing a brand new reefer jacket (Xmas present) and could never get rid of the smell. Coach was an old Shamrock & Rambler (no heating) and we had to look after one lad who had been attacked with an iron bar by Cardiff fans. Nearly came to grief at Elland Rd in the 70's when at Uni there. Stood amongst the Leeds fans and shouted out in anger when Billy Bremner fooled the Ref into giving a pen after an incident with Gerry Gurr. I was probably one of very few Saints fans there that day and fortunately the people around me took it all with amusement rather than hostility

Rumours are that the building contract was with 'Terry the Jerry' builder. However he experienced a couple of problems. First one was overrunning on a big executive house project on Hayling Island and then on some 'sporting' project on Portsea Island which went into administration.

I heard that the third year option was at the players discretion. If this is true then another strange deal Mr Lowe dreamt up for us. Not sure how the Andrew Davies deal benefited us but Pulis must be on around £3k per week = £450k over the term of his contract!!