With a few hours of the transfer window left, I am sat here wondering what will be left of the team come 5pm?

The saddest thing about the whole affair (aside from the honest, hardworking, backroom staff not being paid again) is the news that Swindon are looking to sign Matt Ritchie.
Matt is a local lad, a Pompey fan, and a promising talent. That we can't even give him a future - that we need to sell him for a few grand - is another damning indictment on this club.

Thing is, I actually agree with all those rival fans, pundits etc. who say this is karma. We spent well beyond our means and allegedly didn't pay our taxes - the latter point effectively means we were cheating all other clubs. I agreed with David Moyes when he singled us out a while ago for helping to inflate transfer fees / wages.

We won the FA Cup, but we played mediocre football against lower league opposition throughout the campaign. We limped to victory. The exception was the quarter final at Old Trafford when we were very lucky, but at least our 'stars' gave some indication as to why they were on ridiculous wages.

I don't blame Harry. I blame the owner at the time, Gaydamak. He helped save the club by buying out Mandaric. But he then started signing cheques and sanctioning contracts that his backside couldn't cover. No doubt Harry and Peter Storrie were trying their luck and seeing how far they could go, but the buck stopped with Gaydamak. (although Harry's recent comments about not breaking the Spurs wage structure had me laughing and seething in equal measure!)

So, I know we deserve this punishment, and when Saints put us out of the cup it'll be another bitter pill to swallow.

But spare a thought for a Pompey fan who just wants his club to survive.

You'd have to be a bit of a bastard to laugh at a club that might go out of existence, to be honest.

I'm genuinely sorry for Steve Finnan.

'Onest 'Arry? Not so much.

I do feel for you Leon. And all Pompey fans.

Except that bloke with the bell

i was at the city-portsmouth game yesterday and you had to be impressed by the portsmouth fans, many shirtless on an extremely cold day, who throughout the ninety minutes kept up a constant level of support for a team that gave them nothing back. the city crowd seemed to become hypnotised by the beat of their drum and lapsed into a trancelike state, out of which they briefly stirred to acclaim the goals.

i was there on a corporate junket with etihad and was impressed with city's corporate hospitality. since you ask: champagne, smoked salmon, chicken with cous cous, creme brulee, cheese board, another piece of salmon at the end of the match in a kind of prawn risotto, and as much white wine as i could swallow. the seats were like the ones you see on the real madrid subs' bench and radiated a cosy heat to the back and buttocks, with the obvious result that most of the people in my box slept through much of the second half.

The_Liquidator wrote:
You'd have to be a bit of a bastard to laugh at a club that might go out of existence, to be honest.

Indeed... but many are, unfortunately. This inevitably includes some people who claim to be Saints fans.

I know I - and many other Pompey fans who are true football fans - didn't laugh at the possibility of Southampton going out of business. Banter is fine, but no one wants fans of another team to lose their club. I'd stretch that even to MK Dons (just!)

And also, who wants to lose derby days forever?

one slightly depressing aspect of the day was when joe corrigan and alex williams arrived in to do their meet & greet. i felt sorry for them as they made their way around the tables with fixed grins, making forced conversation with people who had no idea who they were, though i suppose it must beat whatever else they might have on.

garcia wrote:
i was at the city-portsmouth game yesterday and you had to be impressed by the portsmouth fans, many shirtless on an extremely cold day, who throughout the ninety minutes kept up a constant level of support for a team that gave them nothing back. the city crowd seemed to become hypnotised by the beat of their drum and lapsed into a trancelike state, out of which they briefly stirred to acclaim the goals.

i was there on a corporate junket with etihad and was impressed with city's corporate hospitality. since you ask: champagne, smoked salmon, chicken with cous cous, creme brulee, cheese board, another piece of salmon at the end of the match in a kind of prawn risotto, and as much white wine as i could swallow. the seats were like the ones you see on the real madrid subs' bench and radiated a cosy heat to the back and buttocks, with the obvious result that most of the people in my box slept through much of the second half.

Yeah, I watched the game on Sky and you could hear the Pompey fans loud and clear. Great stuff!

I think corporate hospitality at Fratton Park this season consists of nipping over to the KFC on the nearby retail park! (possibly with a half-time Bovril)

what is the real situation with Pompey here? Is it: pay couple of millions pounds to the taxman or what? What happens in such situation if they don’t pay?

Are they totally expelled from the league? Or drop one division? Or what?

Cause in Belgium. RWDM just ceased to exist…but for example in Poland you drop down a division or two….there’s also another scheme that you change ownership, create new entity and it plays in the same division. But without the debts created by the previous club. Doesn’t it make sense? It just depends who do you know in polish FA.

plus: I spoke with my Pompey friend last night and he says that to protect how wonderful the EPL is they will keep Pompey going until the end of the season. It would not look good for the Best league in the World if one of its teams went bust. Even though all 20 teams probably owe more than Africa does to the World Bank.

When Middlesbrough went bust in the summer of 1986 we were allowed to continue in the division we were due to play in on the proviso that the new club paid off the debts of the old one over time – I believe (and I was thirteen at the time and not paying full attention) we had to get FA permission before signing any player until this was done. Again, those who had their eye on the ball then suggest that we were rather made an example of and things weren’t so harsh (or to be honest, fair) for clubs before us, or even since.

Are there any examples of biggish clubs in England (I can think of Thirs Lanark in Scotland) who did go bust any properly cease to exist, without a successor club at around the same level?

All I’m thinking is, if some Southampton fans are wishing bankruptcy on Pompey are they really just thinking in the context of it being a load of football misery for few years for Pompey fans but ultimately things just carrying on as before rather the rivalry being extinguished?

Indeed... but many are, unfortunately. This inevitably includes some people who claim to be Saints fans.

I know I - and many other Pompey fans who are true football fans - didn't laugh at the possibility of Southampton going out of business.

I'm not sure if the above is an attempt at point-scoring. I don't think Pompey going out of business is anything other than a scandal and a tragedy.

Having been there last year, I remember nasty jokes but found them pretty irrelevant compared to the terrible uncertainty of the actual situation.

This is funny though.

Lucy Waterman wrote:
Indeed... but many are, unfortunately. This inevitably includes some people who claim to be Saints fans.

I know I - and many other Pompey fans who are true football fans - didn't laugh at the possibility of Southampton going out of business.

I'm not sure if the above is an attempt at point-scoring. I don't think Pompey going out of business is anything other than a scandal and a tragedy.

Having been there last year, I remember nasty jokes but found them pretty irrelevant compared to the terrible uncertainty of the actual situation.

This is funny though.

Not an attempt at point scoring at all - as I say, it is people 'claiming' to be Saints fans.

I know that real Saints fans, for example my friends who support Southampton, understand only too well the predicament we are in and sympathise fully.

Don't know if this has been noted elsewhere, but HFC Haarlem the club that gave the world Kick Smit and Ruud Gullit folded last week after 121 years.

There was a thread about it TPC.

I think the title involved a Harlem/Haarlem pun, but I'm not sure...

I spare a thought for the non-playing staff at Pompey. We hear a lot about the players not being paid but I feel for the clerical staff, maintenance etc. who are probably living from paycheck to paycheck anyway and don't have the residue of last months 150,000 pounds to survive on.

And why does Avram Grant bother with the EPL? He was sacked after taking Chelsea to the Champions League final, was hired by Portsmouth as a transparent "Non-replacement" for Paul Hart, who had kept the team together with spit and string, and is now kept out of the loop as the club searches desperately for a dignified death. Is Grant being paid?

I don't want to see Pompey fold. A proud club with a fine history, but what a fucking mess!

Leon Tricker wrote:
With a few hours of the transfer window left, I am sat here wondering what will be left of the team come 5pm?

The saddest thing about the whole affair (aside from the honest, hardworking, backroom staff not being paid again) is the news that Swindon are looking to sign Matt Ritchie.
Matt is a local lad, a Pompey fan, and a promising talent. That we can't even give him a future - that we need to sell him for a few grand - is another damning indictment on this club.

Thing is, I actually agree with all those rival fans, pundits etc. who say this is karma. We spent well beyond our means and allegedly didn't pay our taxes - the latter point effectively means we were cheating all other clubs. I agreed with David Moyes when he singled us out a while ago for helping to inflate transfer fees / wages.

We won the FA Cup, but we played mediocre football against lower league opposition throughout the campaign. We limped to victory. The exception was the quarter final at Old Trafford when we were very lucky, but at least our 'stars' gave some indication as to why they were on ridiculous wages.

I don't blame Harry. I blame the owner at the time, Gaydamak. He helped save the club by buying out Mandaric. But he then started signing cheques and sanctioning contracts that his backside couldn't cover. No doubt Harry and Peter Storrie were trying their luck and seeing how far they could go, but the buck stopped with Gaydamak. (although Harry's recent comments about not breaking the Spurs wage structure had me laughing and seething in equal measure!)

So, I know we deserve this punishment, and when Saints put us out of the cup it'll be another bitter pill to swallow.

But spare a thought for a Pompey fan who just wants his club to survive.


Cheer up.

It could be worse...


news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8492385.stm

Another month, another owner.

Bloody hell.

Still, could be worse


www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/28382...sited-a-brothel.html

It was probably the worst kept secret going in football.

Unlike the real mystery of just where Pompey keep finding these owners.

It's like the first set of rejects at casting for the next James Bond villan.