ColonelBlimp

Nothing, nothing at all.

A bill for a new clutch has ruined xmas for me and the missus.

2-0, Knight

0-0 

Yes, Merry Christmas everyone.

I just want promotion, this season, and forget last season ever happened.

2-0 Bird

0-1 Collins

2-0 mcgoldrick

A lot of women have no interest in Womans football and would rather watch the Mens game.

And a lot of men would rather watch Womens football because............

On 18/11/2022 at 10:03, 86 Hair Islands said:

OK, so a long, but final word from me on this latest rather unsavoury fiasco. The young Seb was quite irritating, but I'm not sure who the 'they' you refer to is. Do you mean the media? Sorry if I'm being a bit thick, but I've just slept for 9 hours for the first time in years and my brain is struggling to comprehend what's just happened ? 

From a wider perspective, I recall a lot of folk getting irked by Seb's finger wagging exploits, but the arrogance of youth is something we all go through in one shape or form and I think most would acknowledge that whilst he treated Webber poorly, he's shown in recent years that he's not that person. Max is experiencing a wholly new level of bilious vitriol and whilst I don't condone much of the Twatter fallout, Max and RBR must accept and shoulder the lion's share of the blame. Also, we British especially, are not always keen on teams or individuals who dominate their sport and are only too happy when they are knocked off their perch. Those who are driven are especially open to our disdain. It's not enough to be a champion, but rather one must win AND lose with equal panache and humility. It's something of a tough brief and Red Bull Racing have fallen short on this metric by a mile and for a long time.

With the Verstappen, it all feels rather different and rather more orchestrated. They've built their 'monster' from the ground up and it's now become a runaway train. As you astutely point out, their PR folk are having to work around the clock as the Max, Marko and Karen Gobshite Horner take it in turns to drop a bolark and as one fire is extinguished, another begins to rage elsewhere. Let's not forget that Verstappen senior is a nasty piece of work and for me, he also carries a fair share of the blame. 

For my part, I think this could have been turned into a 'win' of sorts, or at least used as an opportunity to show a little humility and to demonstrate an understanding that RBR is just one team in a wider competition. Something along the lines of: 

We understand the current optics and we take responsibility for our actions as a group. We simply ask that people remember that Max is still a young man, in a pressure cooker of a sport and on occasions and in the heat of battle, errors of judgement are made. In the public glare, regrettable things can be said and done and social media dictates that they will be scrutinised and rehashed to a level that drivers from earlier eras never experienced. This extreme pressure resides at the heart of this wonderful sport of ours and in some regards, is the very thing that makes it so compelling. These factors notwithstanding, we understand, acknowledge and embrace our wider responsibilities to F1, the fans and our owners, Red Bull. We will now sit down with our drivers and try to ensure we do better, both individually and as a group. Better for F1, better for its audience and better for our owners, Red Bull. We would simply ask that those looking inward take into account that at 300KPH, where every decision must be made in milliseconds, errors of judgement will inevitably follow. We fully grasp that while positive results are key, there are other factors in play and we will strive to do better.

Instead, we get lies upon lies, upon lies, the chief instigator playing the victim's card and a team who are perpetually compounding the very same mistakes that led them to this place. The Red Bull brand owners must be watching events unfurl with some disquiet and I'd say that 2023 will be a critical year for RBR, not in terms of their results on the track, but rather whether the sizeable RBR budget is yielding the positive PR benefits that Red Bull expect, or instead, negatively impacting brand perception. Not all publicity is positive, after all. And let's have it straight here, Red Bull finance all manner of sportsmen and sports teams across the globe and no other franchise comes remotely close to the levels of fallout we are seeing here. In some ways, I'm glad Dietrich Mateschitz is not around to see this latest fiasco, as I feel certain his F1 team fall a long way short of complementing his sporting ethos.

That seems fair comment.

Really really struggling to get excited about this World Cup.

Fifa have sunk lower into corruption and deceit than I thought was possible,  England have an uninspiring manager and team and wouldn't surprise me if we didn't get through the group.

Hoping Ecuador do the business this afternoon.

1 minute ago, ram59 said:

I would tend to agree with most of that, except the last bit. Yes in Portsmouth's case but not in every case, take MK Dons, no traditional fanbase results in low crowds, even in a fantastic stadium.

Oh absolutely, it's club specific. Would work for Pompey.

7 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

There's alway Portsmouth Historic Dockyard to visit whilst you're in Portsmouth, if you're into the history of the royal navy.

Safe journey everyone and hopefully the Pompey chimes are muted tonight.

Jeez, I remember, every summer my dad took us to Navy Days in Portsmouth and the Southampton International Boat Show.

And the Wild Mouse on Southsea Pier where it hung out over the sea, scary, ricketty old thing.

On 17/11/2022 at 13:38, Wistaston Ram said:

I have to disagree. Like us they have been through tough times (admin a couple of times) spending a lot of time in the bottom two divisions over the years but still getting decent crowds. I would put their potential fan base on par with Southampton and like the saints and us, creating extra capacity, be it a new ground or improving facilities at Fratton Park would I'm sure attract more fans, though of course what they do on the pitch will have a bearing on attendances. Proper traditional club with lots of history, looking forward to visiting Fratton Park tomorrow.

I'm going to disagree about that potential fanbase If I may? Agree with the rest

Having lived in Waterlooville and Bursledon I would have to say Pompey are a bigger club than Saints and also would pull in more fans if the Infrastructure was there.  There's loads of Pompey fans in Bognor as well which is miles away and in a different county.

If I was planning a new ground, it would be 10% bigger than Saints for bragging rights, and I think they'd average 10% more as well.

Fans will come if there's comfort to be had. 

1-0 Pompey

0-1 Sibley

I think the worst car i owned was a V reg (1980) Ford Fiesta - Got it from a second hand garage in Hayling Island, what a lemon.

Best car is tricky, I loved my 1st car, a 1972 VW Beetle 1300 but it was a bit rusty on the running boards and the brake pedal went to the floor.

I would have to say the best was MK1 Ford Focus 1.8, never broke down and had it for 8 years or so with many camping trips to the south of France/Spain, loaded to the brim with equipment and people (me, the missus and two sons)

6 hours ago, WhiteHorseRam said:

Rover 45. Total Crapola.

Had a Rover 420 2-litre, another car I loved until some old biddy rammed me on a roundabout.

1 hour ago, Gaspode said:

Many years ago I was sent for a day trip to one of the company's depots in Guildford - thought it would be a nice jolly until they gave me the keys to the pool car - an Autin Montego estate. It looked like a shed on wheels - and it drove like a shed on wheels. It just had no substance to it at all - slam the driver's door and the whole thing rattled - absolutely terrifying on the motorway in torrential rain.....the epitome of everything wrong with British car manufacturing in the late 1980s....

My Dad had an MG Montego, B278KPN - I drove it a few times, thought it was great.

Nowt wrong with a bit of David Beckham in your armpits.

Strange race, dull as dishwater.

Was hoping Lewis could win that, keep his record of winning every season going but alas, no.

There's always Brazil.

0-0

1-0 NML

I have Rammies Golden Ticket on VHS somewhere, should bin it really.

1-1 - Sibley

2-0, no fgsr