Top of the League.

[Blue Walter]

How lucky are we. The league is supposedly weaker, and every other club in the league has seemingly been weaker, as they have failed to take advantage of it.

I didn't say "every club was weaker". I said it was weaker mainly due to Ipswich not being in League One. I actually agree with the Derby County fans who thought the middle section of the league was stronger. Conversely some of the teams going down this season are better than last seasons relegated teams.

so how is the league weaker then? if the middle teams are stronger, the bottom teams are stronger, that can only mean the top teams are too other wise they wouldnt be at the top, so that means the league must be stronger this season than last, barring one team in ipswich??
or am i completely missing a point here

Yes you are missing the point. The fact there was no Ipswich means we didn't have to contend with an extra ordinary talented team in League One terms. Barnsley were weakened by having to sell their best players and not being able to replace them. We are at the top because we are much better than last season. We didn't have to compete with Sheffield Wednesday and the way theylthrew money at getting promotion. We have won the league because we have the best team this season and the competition was on a much leveller playing field.

Do you know what Walter, I give up, you have contradicted yourself on absolutely every level

As far as I am concerned the table speaks for itself, you can not do what we have done by being lucky and relying on other teams to be carp

For goodness sake! Do you read my posts? I don't blame you if you don't, but you obviously only think what you want if you do. Try and understand that I am not disagreeing with you a great deal. If you do read them you will note that I was quoting what some opposition fans were saying, not what I think, just conveying what some of them said. You will also note that my view is that we are deserving champions because we have been the best team in the league. Not by luck but because we have been the best team. That is what I have said so there is no contradiction there. Earlier I made an assertion that at this point of the season teams are generally in the position that they should be. Luck evens itself out over the 46 games. In fact I think we have been unlucky losing so many first choice player to season long injuries, which is what I have also said.

Where we do disagree is that I am surprised how well we have fared this season, especially given the injuries we have had. I also think that League One was weaker at the top end with the likes of Ipswich & Sheffield Wednesday not being there, which is somethingwe do appear to disagree onl. Even then I think Pompey are stronger than last season and we quite possibly would have fared better if we had this team last season. I haven't said that we won the league because the other teams were rubbish, it's you saying that is what I have said. Just check my posts to see where you say I have contradicted myself, these are the views I have posted. I plainly said that the opposition views were not consistent with my views. Amongst those views tendered by the less complimentary views are posts that are more considered and congratulating to us as well.

I really don't understand why you need to completely misconstrue everything I post. This is far from the first time you have done this. Just go and read what I have posted and you will see that I haven't. There is disagreement between us, obviously, but that is the way of the world, not the end of it. Bizarrely we have both got we want which is a hugely successful season for our team yet you seem to want to nit pick everything I have said, or more like what I haven't said.

So if the league was weaker because the teams that went up last season weren't there, that must mean that every year the league gets weaker and weaker? Who ever wins next year will say its weaker because we aren't there? No point celebrating being champions really is there, **** league that gets worse every year because the best teams go up ??
Why does it matter how strong the league is was or might be, you have to beat the teams that are in that league, and we have orives to be the best team in this league, just celebrate that and forget trying to out any sort of downer on it for a change

I am sorry but it is a pointless debate with you. Just one thing though, do you think one of the promoted teams this season will be challenging at the top of the Championship next season? The fact Ipswich is indicates thier strength. On second thoughts don't answer. I am done debating with you.

[Pompey55]

Ipswich by all intents and purposes build a team in league one over 2 seasons (spending plenty) which was pretty much a championship team in waiting and strengthen over close season
That has been a bit of a gamble which could pay off however I don't think even allowing for extra income from the championship could back fire in relation to FFP if not promoted soon
Think we will continue the step by step approach and consolidate before pushing for the premiership
In many areas we already have a core of players I believe will be comfortable at championship level

[Blue Walter]

Ipswich by all intents and purposes build a team in league one over 2 seasons (spending plenty) which was pretty much a championship team in waiting and strengthen over close season
That has been a bit of a gamble which could pay off however I don't think even allowing for extra income from the championship could back fire in relation to FFP if not promoted soon
Think we will continue the step by step approach and consolidate before pushing for the premiership
In many areas we already have a core of players I believe will be comfortable at championship level

Yes I agree, it could all blow up in their faces. I wasn't saying I agreed with their approach or saying it was something we should do. I was merely pointing out that, by whichever way they done it, they had a Championship team in League One last season. That made them the stand out class act of League One and a club it was difficult to compete with both financially and on the pitch. With them around it virtually meant that only one automatic spot was up for grabs. They could end up on a with sanctions if their spending is found to have broken the rules, who knows. Sheffield Wednesday were the same and spent an awful amount of money on getting promotion. Money that other League One clubs could not, or would not, match. This season was a much more even playing field with Peterborough & Barnsley could not spend the money they got through transfers. Derby were still financially handcuffed. That is the point I was making that the big spenders have been absent this season, although I do agree that this season Pompey squad is better than last year and we may well have done a Plymouth.

I agree with you and we have done it far more pragmatically and financially viable, although our playing budget has been widened recently than before.

[NSRailings]

BW, for God's sake just be happy.

[Pompey55]

All I can say is my granddaughter who has travelled around the country for the last 2 seasons with me called Tuesday “the best day of her life”
Think that sums up how many of our younger fans who have been starved if any success will be feeling at the moment
And they are our future

[Blue Walter]

BW, for God's sake just be happy.

I am. What have I said on here that would suggest I am not happy? After the season we have just had any Pompey supporter has got to be happy.

What I am not happy about is that I have been misquoted. So why don't you ask the certain person who keeps misquoting me the same question? I have posted a view on how I see things, which is not a lot different to anyone else. It's just an opinion that is all, surely there is nothing wrong with that.

Have you read the posts leading up to this?

[Sam_Brown]

bl**dy hell. Just goes to show some things never change lol.

[Blue Walter]

bl**dy hell. Just goes to show some things never change lol.

No, you are right it doesn't.

[PeteM]

All I can say is my granddaughter who has travelled around the country for the last 2 seasons with me called Tuesday “the best day of her life”
Think that sums up how many of our younger fans who have been starved if any success will be feeling at the moment
And they are our future

And this is one of the best things about the season we've just had - it'll inspire the next generation of Pompey fans and your post genuinely made me smile because it's just brilliant to hear that the club we all love has allowed them to feel those emotions.

Most of us on here are old enough to remember some periods of success before, but that first successful side that you fall in love with will always be special to you, and your granddaughter will always have a special place in her heart for this group of players. For me it was the early 90s side that got to the FA Cup semi-finals and within a whisker of promotion the season after, and although I've seen better Pompey sides since, I'll always love that team.

[Blue Walter]

All I can say is my granddaughter who has travelled around the country for the last 2 seasons with me called Tuesday “the best day of her life”
Think that sums up how many of our younger fans who have been starved if any success will be feeling at the moment
And they are our future

And this is one of the best things about the season we've just had - it'll inspire the next generation of Pompey fans and your post genuinely made me smile because it's just brilliant to hear that the club we all love has allowed them to feel those emotions.

Most of us on here are old enough to remember some periods of success before, but that first successful side that you fall in love with will always be special to you, and your granddaughter will always have a special place in her heart for this group of players. For me it was the early 90s side that got to the FA Cup semi-finals and within a whisker of promotion the season after, and although I've seen better Pompey sides since, I'll always love that team.

Absolutely agree with this. My first flush of success was in 1963 with the old Third Division Championship. That particular success turned me from a Portsmouth spectator into a Portsmouth fan.

[Portchesterblue2]

How lucky are we. The league is supposedly weaker, and every other club in the league has seemingly been weaker, as they have failed to take advantage of it.

I didn't say "every club was weaker". I said it was weaker mainly due to Ipswich not being in League One. I actually agree with the Derby County fans who thought the middle section of the league was stronger. Conversely some of the teams going down this season are better than last seasons relegated teams.

so how is the league weaker then? if the middle teams are stronger, the bottom teams are stronger, that can only mean the top teams are too other wise they wouldnt be at the top, so that means the league must be stronger this season than last, barring one team in ipswich??
or am i completely missing a point here

Yes you are missing the point. The fact there was no Ipswich means we didn't have to contend with an extra ordinary talented team in League One terms. Barnsley were weakened by having to sell their best players and not being able to replace them. We are at the top because we are much better than last season. We didn't have to compete with Sheffield Wednesday and the way theylthrew money at getting promotion. We have won the league because we have the best team this season and the competition was on a much leveller playing field.

Do you know what Walter, I give up, you have contradicted yourself on absolutely every level

As far as I am concerned the table speaks for itself, you can not do what we have done by being lucky and relying on other teams to be carp

For goodness sake! Do you read my posts? I don't blame you if you don't, but you obviously only think what you want if you do. Try and understand that I am not disagreeing with you a great deal. If you do read them you will note that I was quoting what some opposition fans were saying, not what I think, just conveying what some of them said. You will also note that my view is that we are deserving champions because we have been the best team in the league. Not by luck but because we have been the best team. That is what I have said so there is no contradiction there. Earlier I made an assertion that at this point of the season teams are generally in the position that they should be. Luck evens itself out over the 46 games. In fact I think we have been unlucky losing so many first choice player to season long injuries, which is what I have also said.

Where we do disagree is that I am surprised how well we have fared this season, especially given the injuries we have had. I also think that League One was weaker at the top end with the likes of Ipswich & Sheffield Wednesday not being there, which is somethingwe do appear to disagree onl. Even then I think Pompey are stronger than last season and we quite possibly would have fared better if we had this team last season. I haven't said that we won the league because the other teams were rubbish, it's you saying that is what I have said. Just check my posts to see where you say I have contradicted myself, these are the views I have posted. I plainly said that the opposition views were not consistent with my views. Amongst those views tendered by the less complimentary views are posts that are more considered and congratulating to us as well.

I really don't understand why you need to completely misconstrue everything I post. This is far from the first time you have done this. Just go and read what I have posted and you will see that I haven't. There is disagreement between us, obviously, but that is the way of the world, not the end of it. Bizarrely we have both got we want which is a hugely successful season for our team yet you seem to want to nit pick everything I have said, or more like what I haven't said.

So if the league was weaker because the teams that went up last season weren't there, that must mean that every year the league gets weaker and weaker? Who ever wins next year will say its weaker because we aren't there? No point celebrating being champions really is there, **** league that gets worse every year because the best teams go up ??
Why does it matter how strong the league is was or might be, you have to beat the teams that are in that league, and we have orives to be the best team in this league, just celebrate that and forget trying to out any sort of downer on it for a change

I am sorry but it is a pointless debate with you. Just one thing though, do you think one of the promoted teams this season will be challenging at the top of the Championship next season? The fact Ipswich is indicates thier strength. On second thoughts don't answer. I am done debating with you.

Sorry Walter but I am going to answer lol who knows who will be challenging at the top of the championship, and yes Ipswich certainly are, however your other example of Sheffield Wednesday certainly arent

[Blue Walter]

OK, I think it best to leave it there. But just for the record I am absolutely delighted with the way this season has turned out. I also believe we are the best team in this league, as the table shows. I do think League One was much more of a level playing field this season without the likes of Ipswich & Sheffield Wednesday throwing money at their teams, which the other clubs couldn't match or not willing to match. I believe Ipswich were the best side in League One for years due to thier spending, which may well come back to haunt them. Wednesday appear to have lost their gamble and may well suffer the consequences. I don't think our club should follow their example and are doing the right things.

These are the views I have consistently posted here on this thread, my post are there for anyone to check that statement. To say otherwise is a misinterpretation of what I have written. If you still need to contridict this then please do read my post first before you set out to ridicule what I have said. Also please do remember that I am entitled to an opinion which, I accept, can be wide of the mark at times but I can't see where I have disagreed too much with the general concensus of the thread. It is fine to disagree with an opinion but really bad manners to ridicule and misconstrue it to suit your own agenda.

I will leave you with that rather long winded, and quite possibly, boring answer and leave you to it.

[BlueinPLtwenty]

Absolutely agree with this. My first flush of success was in 1963 with the old Third Division Championship. That particular success turned me from a Portsmouth spectator into a Portsmouth fan.

Do you mean 1962 or 1983?

[Blue Walter]

Absolutely agree with this. My first flush of success was in 1963 with the old Third Division Championship. That particular success turned me from a Portsmouth spectator into a Portsmouth fan.

Do you mean 1962 or 1983?

It was 1962, I do beg your pardon.