Skates next season

[EssEffCee]

With their away win yesterday they're upto 18th and now 7 points clear of the relegation zone so the return of the derbies looking extremely likely next season.

Do we think Hants finest will decide to implement the bubble again? I really hope not and they decide to trust the fans but I can't see it sadly. They don't seem as common elsewhere now though so may be a chance we can make our own way there.

I wonder if we're going to give them more tickets than they're entitled to for their visit here. The structure of the new away end doesn't seem to have much flexibility in offering less than 3k.

[CB Fry]

12 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

I wonder if we're going to give them more tickets than they're entitled to for their visit here.

You've lost me from the start. Why do you think we would do this and why would we need to do this?

[Gloucester Saint]

Struggling to give a flying fuck until the match days and even then I’ll struggle to work up much interest.

Besides which, there’s rather a lot for the club to do by then:

- Somehow get three more points to avoid Derby’s wooden 🥄 

- Sell £125m of the few decent players and pay some contracts up and retire others (Bazanu, Stewart, Larios)

- Buy £60-70m on 4-5 players to blow the other sides out of the water. Pace and strength right through the spine. New first XI goalkeeper essential as well. Blow the Neves record fee out of the water on at least one of those.

- Offload a load more crap on nominal fees to offset their bloated wages

- Re-integrate the successful loan players (Edwards, Charles) and extend contracts. I think Sheff Utd will go up so you can add another £10m to the £125m coming in above. 

- Appoint a high calibre manager name for that level (Cooper would be one example) and arrange a tough pre-season programme to drill the defence and test out the pressing game.

Edited Sunday at 10:16 by Gloucester Saint

[Gingeletiss]

18 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Struggling to give a flying fuck until the match days and even then I’ll struggle to work up much interest.

Besides which, there’s rather a lot for the club to do by then:

- Somehow get three more points to avoid Derby’s wooden 🥄 

- Sell £125m of the few decent players and pay some contracts up and retire others (Bazanu, Stewart, Larios)

- Buy £60-70m on 4-5 players to blow the other sides out of the water. Pace and strength right through the spine. New first XI goalkeeper essential as well. Blow the Neves record fee out of the water on at least one of those.

- Offload a load more crap on nominal fees to offset their bloated wages

- Re-integrate the successful loan players (Edwards, Charles) and extend contracts. I think Sheff Utd will go up so you can add another £10m to the £125m coming in above. 

- Appoint a high calibre manager name for that level (Cooper would be one example) and arrange a tough pre-season programme to drill the defence and test out the pressing game.

Gloucester Saint for manager, you’ve heard it here first.

[EssEffCee]

31 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

You've lost me from the start. Why do you think we would do this and why would we need to do this?

 I explained why in the next sentence - because the new away end has permanent looking walls surrounding it so it doesn't seem immediately obvious how you could give only 2k of it and have Saints fans in the rest.

[Appy]

3 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

 I explained why in the next sentence - because the new away end has permanent looking walls surrounding it so it doesn't seem immediately obvious how you could give only 2k of it and have Saints fans in the rest.

 

It’ll be a reduced attendance for that game, they’ll just put netting up either side and block off a block of seats, we’re not giving them more than we have to. 
 

On your point on bubble games, I think it’s very likely we have them again.

[Gloucester Saint]

12 minutes ago, Gingeletiss said:

Gloucester Saint for manager, you’ve heard it here first.

I’d make Clough look like a softie

[EssEffCee]

3 minutes ago, Appy said:

It’ll be a reduced attendance for that game, they’ll just put netting up either side and block off a block of seats, we’re not giving them more than we have to. 
 

On your point on bubble games, I think it’s very likely we have them again.

Well we gave lots of teams more than we had to last season but I take your point and you're probably right that for them lot they'll just be happy to have 1k empty seats in the away end. Police might even force it.

Building the away end the way they have does seem rather short sighted though when an immediate return to the championship with different allocation rules was always likely.

Sadly I suspect you're right re the bubble but they have been sacked off elsewhere in recent years including Blackburn and Burnley so there might be a slight chance.

I doubt they'd fancy escorting the Skates through Hoglands though.

[Gloucester Saint]

29 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

Well we gave lots of teams more than we had to last season but I take your point and you're probably right that for them lot they'll just be happy to have 1k empty seats in the away end. Police might even force it.

Building the away end the way they have does seem rather short sighted though when an immediate return to the championship with different allocation rules was always likely.

Sadly I suspect you're right re the bubble but they have been sacked off elsewhere in recent years including Blackburn and Burnley so there might be a slight chance.

I doubt they'd fancy escorting the Skates through Hoglands though.

The statues would be something else for Westwood to urinate on for a start. Their fans might argue for a double bubble - one for them and another for just him with the Police and stewards (wearing masks), plus the poor skates sat next to him issued with industrial nose pegs. Industrial Karcher pressure wash for the away end afterwards.

Edited Sunday at 11:22 by Gloucester Saint

[die Mannyschaft]

I thought the bubble worked well apart from the Saints fans that smashed our own coach window from inside.  Pompey fans shouldn't get any tickets at our ground. 

[Noodles34]

The worse thing about next years derbies? The way we are presently, we haven’t got a chance. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

Fuck me, with this bunch of spineless pussies we’ll get absolutely battered at their dump. 

[Green]

We didn't have a bubble for the league cup game and as far as I'm aware there weren't any incidents so don't see why they would bring it back. 

As others have said, my main concern is finding players with a backbone who want to play for us and put some effort in. 

[Tamesaint]

I enjoyed the bubble. Being driven through that shithole exchanging V's with toothless teenagers who had babies in arms is one of my fondest memories of that season. 😁

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, Green said:

We didn't have a bubble for the league cup game

I thought we did. I certainly got on a bingo bus at SMS, and I’m surprised I would have done that if I didn’t need to….

Edited Sunday at 16:05 by Lord Duckhunter

[CB Fry]

5 hours ago, EssEffCee said:

Well we gave lots of teams more than we had to last season but I take your point and you're probably right that for them lot they'll just be happy to have 1k empty seats in the away end. Police might even force it.

Building the away end the way they have does seem rather short sighted though when an immediate return to the championship with different allocation rules was always likely.

Sadly I suspect you're right re the bubble but they have been sacked off elsewhere in recent years including Blackburn and Burnley so there might be a slight chance.

I doubt they'd fancy escorting the Skates through Hoglands though.

I don't think it is that "short sighted" to not plan the entire stadium design over one match which we haven't played for over a decade.

We'd plan for Premier League allocations, and if we happen to be in the league below then apart from Pompey there isn't that much of an issue for any other Championship opponents.

Old Bill probably happy with 2,000 seats and a bit of room for netting/etc for the Skates.

[Football Special]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I thought we did. I certainly got on a bingo bus at SMS, and I’m surprised I would have done that if I didn’t need to….

League cup 2019 was optional, think they encouraged fans to get the coach but myself and plenty others got the train, nice walk to the stadium making friends along the way 

This was a good episode of Copa90 for that game 

 

[EssEffCee]

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

I don't think it is that "short sighted" to not plan the entire stadium design over one match which we haven't played for over a decade.

We'd plan for Premier League allocations, and if we happen to be in the league below then apart from Pompey there isn't that much of an issue for any other Championship opponents.

Old Bill probably happy with 2,000 seats and a bit of room for netting/etc for the Skates.

I was talking in general rather than specifically this game for that short sighted part. I might be wrong but I don't see how there's a way to segregate fans within that area meaning we have to offer more to clubs than they're entitled to and/or have empty seats for teams with a smaller following.

Edited Sunday at 17:28 by EssEffCee

[Mixedkebab]

Along with VAR and (surely) winning more matches, the Derbies are the main positives of relegation for me.

Yes it’s vile if they win but gives us something to get fired up about- the play offs last season showed our fans can get some fire in their bellies when they have to 

[Football Special]

I think it will be a bubble, they did it for Sunderland v Newcastle and still do it for south Wales derby, Swansea even made fans have ID to match ticket purchase when handing over ticket.

[CB Fry]

30 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

I was talking in general rather than specifically this game for that short sighted part. I might be wrong but I don't see how there's a way to segregate fans within that area meaning we have to offer more to clubs than they're entitled to and/or have empty seats for teams with a smaller following.

I don't think the demand for tickets for Championship matches vs Preston and Swansea are really that high for this ever to be an actual problem.

[Convict Colony]

All i care about is hopefully signing Danny Rohl and his majestic hairline for next season.

Honestly though i think he has a big upside so like players who come to us for a bit to build up their profile i will take the east german from saxon switzerland (yes yes MLG I am taking poetic licence its pretty fucking close to saxon switzerland) as out next taxi off the rank.

1 year in championship, keep us in the prem and then a big german club comes in.

[LGTL]

Not sure they’ll go for the bubble, I remember reading that it just wasn’t cost effective for Hampshire OB for the League Cup game, and I can’t seen their budget having increased since then. 

Fully expect both games to be 12pm on a Sunday though. 

[Turkish]

4 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I thought we did. I certainly got on a bingo bus at SMS, and I’m surprised I would have done that if I didn’t need to….

It was the 1-1 draw in 2011 we had the bubble. I remember it well as been for a couple of pints before getting on and soon as it set off I desperately needed a piss, have no idea how I managed to hold it in the whole journey but somehow did. 

[Turkish]

They will be shitting themselves at the thought of facing us, on and off the pitch. 

[LGTL]

They’re going to be in for a shock when they try and kick off, only to be confronted with Margaret and Janet sat down in the Kingsland 😂

[Andrew Watson]

Very rarely agree with Lord Duckhunter ,however could not agree more when he says this lot of pussies will get hammered at Fratton Park.

[OldNick]

On 16/02/2025 at 10:39, EssEffCee said:

 I explained why in the next sentence - because the new away end has permanent looking walls surrounding it so it doesn't seem immediately obvious how you could give only 2k of it and have Saints fans in the rest.

 

Why would we contemplate giving them more tickets???? Having 2k+ of them is a headache enough for the authorities. I fuly expect the clu to not sell season tackets in the margins closest to the away fans as the attendances will be lower next season. Give them the minimum as we only will get 1500  i susect at theirs.

No way can yourely on the fans to not be segregated and will need a bubble, but you never know. Sadly the hatred on both sides is too much for it not to happen. Personally I dont hate them, jsut like the banter but not the violence

[Lee On Solent Saint]

13 hours ago, Andrew Watson said:

Very rarely agree with Lord Duckhunter ,however could not agree more when he says this lot of pussies will get hammered at Fratton Park.

Have you seen them play recently? They are utter fuckin gash. Even us at our worse would beat them. 

[Turkish]

With the Chapel Kop one end, the Northam wall the other and the DEF waiting outside their a-holes will be visibly twitching from the moment they wake up in their slum that morning

[franniesTache]

16 hours ago, LGTL said:

Not sure they’ll go for the bubble, I remember reading that it just wasn’t cost effective for Hampshire OB for the League Cup game, and I can’t seen their budget having increased since then. 

Fully expect both games to be 12pm on a Sunday though. 

Think the reason for the lack of bubble was to do with how little time the Hants old bill had to organise it rather than anything else. Personally think they'll have a bubble again this time sadly, which f*cking ruins it.

Wonder if we'll get a load of "free" tickets like we did at the league cup game with the saints fans coming in two to a ticket 👀

Also wonder if the skates will pump crowd noise into the away end using their tannoy system again?

That league cup game really shattered a lot of their myths to pieces, not that they'd admit to it. 

[Matthew Le God]

14 hours ago, Andrew Watson said:

Very rarely agree with Lord Duckhunter ,however could not agree more when he says this lot of pussies will get hammered at Fratton Park.

We are a shambles in the PL, but we remain light years ahead of Pompey in terms of player quality. 

[Patrick Bateman]

20 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Have you seen them play recently? They are utter fuckin gash. Even us at our worse would beat them. 

I think the point is that we have a load of melts in the team who would crumble in a derby at Fratton park. I hope I'm wrong though.

I'd love to have had Alcaraz here for this one, at least he had fight in him. 

[trousers]

17 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

We are a shambles in the PL, but we remain light years ahead of Pompey in terms of player quality. 

Here's hoping we're as far ahead in terms of player mentality too... 

[Lord Duckhunter]

10 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

I think the point is that we have a load of melts in the team who would crumble in a derby at Fratton park. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

That’s exactly what I’m saying. These fairies will wet themselves. Ability doesn’t come into it, you need real men rolling their sleeves up and fighting. The likes of  Will Smallbone & Flynn Downes mincing around just won’t cut it. Too many go missing as it is, I dread to think what they’ll be like in a proper derby . 

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, Patrick Bateman said:

I think the point is that we have a load of melts in the team who would crumble in a derby at Fratton park. I hope I'm wrong though.

I'd love to have had Alcaraz here for this one, at least he had fight in him. 

I'd predict he'd be sent off, which wouldn't help our chances.

[hypochondriac]

I'm still annoyed at Guly for ducking out the way for the equaliser at their dump. Players have the chance to be fondly remembered which would make a change because the vast majority of players I don't give a fuck about. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

If we continue to play 5 at the back and piddle around with the ball across the back line, we will come unstuck against teams that press us hard. And if a team has made it to the Championship then that’s through hard graft or a higher level of skill or both. So I don’t think for one minute we’ll get an easy game in either of the two derby games, unless of course the club upgrades the 1st team significantly which I’m really not confident about based on (a) long term existing contracts for poor players and (b) past performance in the transfer market.

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

If we continue to play 5 at the back and piddle around with the ball across the back line, we will come unstuck against teams that press us hard. And if a team has made it to the Championship then that’s through hard graft or a higher level of skill or both. So I don’t think for one minute we’ll get an easy game in either of the two derby games, unless of course the club upgrades the 1st team significantly which I’m really not confident about based on (a) long term existing contracts for poor players and (b) past performance in the transfer market.

If we play five at the back in the championship then I'll be calling for the manager's head from the first game. I fear his risk averse steady football isn't going to translate well to a league where we need to take the game to our opponents and dominate. 

Secondly what long term contracts for poor players are you thinking of? We are in a much better position on that front than the last time we went down. 

Edited Monday at 16:14 by hypochondriac

[Matthew Le God]

4 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

If we play five at the back in the championship then I'll be calling for the manager's head from the first game. I fear his risk averse steady football isn't going to translate well to a league where we need to take the game to our opponents and dominate. 

3 centre back systems are not automatically defensive and risk-averse. 

Edited Monday at 16:17 by Matthew Le God

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

3 centre back systems are not automatically defensive and risk-averse. 

It is under this manager, both with us and historically with other clubs. 

[LGTL]

3 hours ago, franniesTache said:

Think the reason for the lack of bubble was to do with how little time the Hants old bill had to organise it rather than anything else. Personally think they'll have a bubble again this time sadly, which f*cking ruins it.

Wonder if we'll get a load of "free" tickets like we did at the league cup game with the saints fans coming in two to a ticket 👀

Also wonder if the skates will pump crowd noise into the away end using their tannoy system again?

That league cup game really shattered a lot of their myths to pieces, not that they'd admit to it. 

If they go back to the bubble it’ll probably be the worst day out next season. 

Biggest myth that night was their unwavering support despite being 0-4 down. Utter bollocks, what actually happened was the pumped noise into the away end as you mentioned, followed by 5 minutes of duh duh duh at the end, all for the cameras of course. That night ruined them. 

Edited Monday at 16:22 by LGTL

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

It is under this manager, both with us and historically with other clubs. 

We scored a similar amount of goals to the other relegated clubs in the Championship (Saints 87, Leicester 89, Leeds 81) but conceded 63 goals under Russell Martin (22 more than Leicester, 20 more than Leeds). Perhaps a better defensive structure would help address that and our top Championship level attacking players will still provide a goal threat.

[hypochondriac]

5 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

We scored a similar amount of goals to the other relegated clubs in the Championship (Saints 87, Leicester 89, Leeds 81) but conceded 63 goals under Russell Martin (22 more than Leicester, 20 more than Leeds). Perhaps a better defensive structure would help address that and our top Championship level attacking players will still provide a goal threat.

If you look at the views of other fans, the main descriptions of Juric that I saw are variations of overly cautious and stubborn, "defensive football that can be difficult to watch" and "no goals". I also read how poor his teams are at scoring goals and providing a goal threat. Combine that with zero experience of the Championship football or English football prior to these few games and I worry that he isn't going to set us up correctly to dominate teams which is what I feel we need to do if we want to get automatic promotion. We need to be near or at the top of the league from the very start and I just can't see us being that kind of team under him. 

[Turkish]

18 minutes ago, LGTL said:

If they go back to the bubble it’ll probably be the worst day out next season. 

Biggest myth that night was their unwavering support despite being 0-4 down. Utter bollocks, what actually happened was the pumped noise into the away end as you mentioned, followed by 5 minutes of duh duh duh at the end, all for the cameras of course. That night ruined them. 

 

Passion innit, you just dont get is scummers

[hypochondriac]

6 minutes ago, Turkish said:

 

Passion innit, you just dont get is scummers

Loved watching that.

[Matthew Le God]

Similar would happen at every stadium in those circumstances, yet many Pompey fans think it doesn't at Fratton Park. They are delusional and believe their own Ports-Myths of a mythical loyal and noisy fanbase! 😁

[franniesTache]

54 minutes ago, LGTL said:

If they go back to the bubble it’ll probably be the worst day out next season. 

Biggest myth that night was their unwavering support despite being 0-4 down. Utter bollocks, what actually happened was the pumped noise into the away end as you mentioned, followed by 5 minutes of duh duh duh at the end, all for the cameras of course. That night ruined them. 

That away end was one of the best away ends i've been in in 40 odd years of going, a load of the bingo bus lot swerved it and it seemed to be mostly lads. The celebrations for when the goals went in were incredible and the noise was something else.

Also one of the only times i'll join in with the scummers stuff, especially coming out of the ground when we were lined up behind the stand and you just had that ominous "Scummers, Scummers" ringing out. It wasn't at a million miles an hour, it was slow and purposeful, fucking great way to mock them.

Sadly next season we'll end up with a bunch of out of towners and posh kids grabbing the tickets and singing about players cocks and pantomime songs instead of real vitriol and hatred like it should be.

[Appy]

I think Mousinho is a better manager than Juric, so hopefully we won’t have to worry about them going head to head next year. 

Edited Monday at 18:42 by Appy

[Gloucester Saint]

3 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

I'm still annoyed at Guly for ducking out the way for the equaliser at their dump. Players have the chance to be fondly remembered which would make a change because the vast majority of players I don't give a fuck about. 

Shearer went a huge rant about it post-match on the BBC about what the hell Guly was doing at the back post.