NSS

a) If it only cost a grand for a family of five to go to Australia I'm sure he'd have been able to do so before now. This would have contributed to making it possible, not paid for the entire cost of such a trip. b) So the fact that a travel company/tourist board offers a chance to win such a prize, for someone to attempt to win it is a sickening act of selfishness is it? c) You know nothing about him, nor me, so for all you know we both may give up a lot of our time to help others (irrespective of any football club they may or may not support). Of course, everyone's entitled to their viewpoint, but surely it would have sufficed for you to decline the invitation without resorting to uninformed, speculative and churlish name-calling. As it happens, and as I'm sure you'll be pleased to know, he was only 4th at the midday deadline so I guess he'll just have to keep saving - just as any other big-hearted and reasonable 'Saint' like you would do. Cheers!

Fair play, though a far-fetched comparison.

Now lying 2nd behind 'Shiny Dollar' who seems to have made a huge surge since yesterday. Less than 2.5 hours to go so please vote if you haven't already, and many thanks to those of you who've already done so. PS. Nice to see some of you feel that helping a fellow Saints fan is not Saints related. Around 50 Pompey fans have given him their support via a similar link on another forum.

Three points against Brighton tonight - but only if 100 of you vote today.

A good friend of mine, (who happens to be a Saints fan), has entered a competition to win £1,000 worth of 'Visit Queensland' holiday vouchers. If he wins, it means he and his wife and kids will be able to visit relatives (dad and two brothers) in Australia next year, for the first time in almost 10 years. So, if any of you would be kind enough to help, he (Richard) would be most grateful. Please click on http://www.bigqueensland.com/#/userbigthings/bigthing/328/details and then wait for the page to load. It will eventually show a map and then zoom into Rich's entry (which is called 4X and will display as a pint of beer). Then click on the 'Like' symbol alongside and you'll get a message saying that for your to count you have to enter the compo. It takes about two minutes and you can enter a fake email address to avoid getting junk mail from the Queensland Tourist Board. Once you've created your own entry, you have to go back to the http://www.bigqueensland.com/#/userbigthings/bigthing/328/details link and click again on the 'Like' button. You will then see the 4X pint grow in height. He's currently top of the leader board, but only by about 10 votes and with just over 24 hours to go he could easily lose still. So please, if you could spare a minute or two it would mean a lot to him. Cheers!

Cheers Ziggy. Good to see you again after so long, and many thanks to your OH too.

Firstly, a huge thank you to the 20 volunteers, including those from this board who gave up their pre-match drinking time, without whom today's collection would not have been possible. Secondly, many thanks to Southampton Football Club for granting us this charity collection, it is greatly appreciated, and I'd like to thank Mark Abrahams (Community Manager) in particular for his assistance in organising and promoting the collection. Finally, to all who donated today, your generosity has resulted in a total of £1,602.99 being raised for the Smile4Rich Appeal, every penny of which will help us to provide the Wessex Neurological Centre with the tools that will make it possible to save even more lives. So please, give yourselves a round of well deserved applause. Thank you again, and please.... Keep Smiling!

Blimey, small world indeed Rob! She'll be one of those shaking a bucket tomorrow. And many thanks in advance.

Appreciate the kind words and messages of support, and the generous assistance being provided by posters on this board. I understand the club will be posting details of the collection on the club web site on Friday morning. Rich's mum & dad will be among those rattling buckets on Saturday afternoon, and they've asked me to convey their thanks for your support. Cheers all, and Keep Smiling!

Seconded. Many thanks Steve.

Thanks Weston, and also to Lindford & Frank's Cousin for their assistance. And thanks in advance to all who donate on the day. Every penny really does make a difference. For more about Ricky's amazing recovery, please see http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/734182/50-medics-3-brain-ops-and-155k-of-platinum-save-Ricky-Fernandez.html Keep Smiling!

Actually Nick, I still believe that Pinnacle (and TL) were absolutely serious about buying Saints and that, had they done so, they'd have been very good for your club. For whatever reason, and no I don't fully understand what went wrong, they failed to complete the deal. That certainly wasn't Tony's decision, but then it wasn't his money either. Did I take any pleasure in that? No, I didn't. Did I at any stage laugh at your (or any other Saints fans') expense? No, I didn't. As I said at the time, I've been there in the past with Pompey, and it seems we're there again now. It ain't nice. It ain't funny. And I wouldn't wish it on any fan of any club. What I will say is this. The eventual deal, i.e. the purchase by Herr Liebher (sp?), seems to be a great result for Saints - and yes, even better than Pinnacle's deal might have been had it been concluded. However, if any of you think TL was anthing other than utterly sincere in his attempts then you are wrong. The fact then that he, and to a lesser extent Matt, have been vilified for their efforts is, IMHO, ridiculous. At the end of the day they were doing their best to save your club. How much time, effort and money did you expend on trying to save Saints? (And yes, it cost TL financially too - if only through the fact that he wasted 10 weeks or so when he could have been earning from other projects). Anyway, if you play in the golf day you'll get the chance to meet and talk to Tony. And you never know, if you take your head out of the bunker you might even find that you like him.

Aftenoon my Stripey friends. Apologies for dropping this into the thread but I can't start my own. Of course, if anyone would care to create a new thread for it then I'd be most grateful. I have some places left for our charity golf day if anyone is interested, or if you know anyone who plays then please forward info below. Cheers! Ryder Cup-style Charity Golf Day In aid of the Smile4Rich Appeal for the Wessex Neurological Centre Quindell Club - Wednesday 9th September 2009 Teams captained by Saints and Pompey Legends - Matt Le Tissier & Guy Whittingham Based on Ryder Cup golf, but played over 27 holes in a single day, comprising 9 holes of 4-balls and 18 holes of singles, this format has been hugely popular with those who’ve played in previous years, and has produced nail-biting finishes, last year requiring a sudden-death play-off to split the teams (which saw MLT slicing his tee-shot into the car park, resulting in a Pompey win ). Aside from the honour for the winning team of lifting the ‘Smile4Rich Trophy’, there’ll be a medal for every participant, plus trophies and some great prizes to be won in our ‘Longest Drive’ and ‘Nearest-the-Pin’ competitions, and a brand new car worth £10,000 for a hole-in-one! This is a really enjoyable format (not your average charity golf day), and at a cost of just £100 per pair of players (including coffee/tea & bacon roll on arrival, and a ‘Brunch’ breakfast after the first 9 holes) it represents fantastic value too. For full details and an entry form, please email info@smile4rich.co.uk or click the following link http://www.smile4rich.co.uk/fundraising/event-detail-28 but you'll have to be quick as places are limited and entries must be submitted by the end of August. There are also some great sponsorship opportunities available from just £75!

Aftenoon my Stripey friends. Apologies for dropping this into the thread but I can't start my own. Of course, if anyone would care to create a new thread for it then I'd be most grateful. I have some places left for our charity golf day if anyone is interested, or if you know anyone who plays then please forward info below. Cheers! Ryder Cup-style Charity Golf DayIn aid of the Smile4Rich Appeal for the Wessex Neurological Centre Quindell Club - Wednesday 9th September 2009 Teams captained by Saints and Pompey Legends - Matt Le Tissier & Guy Whittingham Based on Ryder Cup golf, but played over 27 holes in a single day, comprising 9 holes of 4-balls and 18 holes of singles, this format has been hugely popular with those who’ve played in previous years, and has produced nail-biting finishes, last year requiring a sudden-death play-off to split the teams (which saw MLT slicing his tee-shot into the car park, resulting in a Pompey win ). Aside from the honour for the winning team of lifting the ‘Smile4Rich Trophy’, there’ll be a medal for every participant, plus trophies and some great prizes to be won in our ‘Longest Drive’ and ‘Nearest-the-Pin’ competitions, and a brand new car worth £10,000 for a hole-in-one! This is a really enjoyable format (not your average charity golf day), and at a cost of just £100 per pair of players (including coffee/tea & bacon roll on arrival, and a ‘Brunch’ breakfast after the first 9 holes) it represents fantastic value too. For full details and an entry form, please email info@smile4rich.co.uk or click the following link http://www.smile4rich.co.uk/fundraising/event-detail-28 but you'll have to be quick as places are limited and entries must be submitted by the end of August. There are also some great sponsorship opportunities available from just £75!

Evening all. Thought I'd let the dust settle for a few days before dropping in to convey my congratulations on the completion of the buyout. I am, genuinely, pleased for you that the future of Saints has been secured, and it looks as though your new Swiss owner will be very good for your club. As you can probably guess, I'd have preferred the Pinnacle Group's bid had been successful, but that was sadly not to be. I appreciate you all have your own thoughts as to how realistic their attempt to purchase the club ever was but, knowing Tony Lynam as I do, I know that he was utterly sincere in his attempts to complete the deal. Whether the full truth of his efforts (and the true identity of the backers he was representing) will ever become public knowledge remains to be seen, but I guess that is pretty much irrelevant now. Anyway, you have a pretty lively forum here so I may pop in from time to time to enjoy the banter. Until then, I shall leave you with my best wishes for a decent season. Hampshire, and the South Coast, deserves two top flight teams - I just hope that by the time Saints return to that level that Pompey are still there to renew what should, IMHO, be a fierce but friendly rivalry between the fans of neighbouring clubs/cities. Play Up Pompey! (Sorry, couldn't resist it) PS> If you read this GM (as you haven't replied to my email), let me know when would be good for that beer I owe you.