Bone Idle Gossip: That's lucky - 13 Pompey bosses in the early running in 'favourite manager' poll

We need things in our lives that are constant and football is one of them, which is why the chance to carry on talking about the beautiful game in the coming weeks and maybe months, even when there are no new games to dissect, will be vital.

I’ve never really relied on present-day football news and views to keep me going so it’s nice to be able to say with some certainty that this column will keep going through football’s shutdown without an eye being blinked. Whether many readers share my enthusiasm for the fact is another matter.

The current topic at hand is my poll to find out readers’ favourite Pompey manager and the first week of voting featured 13 different PFC bosses having votes cast.

I’m pleased to say that Bob Jackson, the boss who led Pompey to back-to-back First Division title wins in 1949 and 1950, has had a vote.

Alan Pryke said: ‘I’m not old enough to have watched his teams but my dad was, he stood on the Boilermakers’ Hump at home games. Bob’s record speaks for itself – our most successful manager ever.’

I’m trying to root out ironic votes that aren’t really meant but ones I have allowed so far because they seem genuinely-meant are for Avram Grant, Terry Fenwick and Ian St John.

The most votes cast so far are for the managers you’d expect to be popular, and two bosses of the past 40 years are pretty much neck and neck in the lead so far.

If you’ve not voted yet, please do by emailing [email protected] or tweeting @stevebone1 – the poll will run until the end of April, if not longer.

Read Bone Idle Gossip weekly in the Sports Mail and on this website