Footie......Do any Portsmouth supporters post on this forum?

Yes, I'm a pompey fan. Born there and have followed them through all the divisions, including the old 4th division. Current situation is very sad and even if predictable the pain still hurts. In the years of premier league football it was clear to most that we were living beyond our means and was always likely to end badly.  That said the club have always had a strong and loyal support so even if we do get liquidated and have to resurrect the club like AFC Wimbledon, that team will get strong local support and eventually we'll be back to being what we mainly have been: a middle-ranking team in the second tier of English football.  

As they say in Portsmouth: "Pompey 'till I die"

MDS

..as a Southampton fan am I allowed to comment?

I'm in some agreement with Mike's comments but it's interesting to note that Saints and Pompey have both suffered the same fate following the stewarship of Harry Redknapp. Nothing against him as a manager (Tottenham shows that) but he can sure burn through money on players if left unchecked by weak financial and business management.

If it's any consolation, Saints (and Norwich and, hopefully, Charlton) show that it's possible to come back stronger. I do recognise that we were very lucky to get the (sadly missed) Markus Liebherr as an owner but I think the key appointment was Nicola Cortese on the business side who tends to be respected rather than loved by the fans. My reading of the Pompey situation is a bit of brinkmanship by the Receivers (didn't they try the same trick during last season?) which will be resolved at the eleventh hour leaving the club to find its feet in the first division?

Speaking from experience, the first divison is not so bad .... the strong support of the fans seems to carry more weight, you see more up and coming players developing their skills, you see managers with genuine talent fielding teams whose performances hugely exceed the individual talents of the players.....oh and although the fair weather supporters will turn their noses up, you also get the johnson paint trophy which can be great fun (we sold out our semi-final against MK Dons with 32000+ and then took 44000 to Wembley)

The other comment from me is that it's better to get it over with and start the road back than a long lingering death (I was talking to some Coventry fans when we played them away ...we won 4 -2 ... and they had been suffering for years before finally going down which they described as a truly miserable experience!)

So, from this "enemy" fan at least, keep the faith and see you in the Premiership in 3-5 years for more of those intense derbys that we seem to specialise in! (Besides if you get liquidated who would we sing about on the "terraces"?)

.......oh and in the meantime you're practically guaranteed to draw us at home in the FA Cup!

Well Martin, I can't really disagree with anything you say here.  And it makes a nice change to hear some balanced views without the blinding vitriol that usually pervades any exchanges between fans of our two clubs.

Another Harry trait is ignoring the developing youngsters. I sense a big part of the Saints' comeback has been the strength of the younger players coming through from a good and sustained investment at academy level. PFC has a way to catch up there because Harry was in charge for much longer with us.

Will we meet up again in the premier league in 3 - 5 years? My heart would like to think so but my head says Championship is more likely, but then when was footie ever about thinking with the head?   

MDS

Its got worse. Just had another look at the pompey website,1st team squad is now down to 4 players.

With the new season about to kick off what are they going to do ? play a team of kids.

Mista h

Kids will have to do I suppose but they plus a few trialists beat a full-strength Bolton side today 3-0