myPompey News

Caught (almost) red handed

2010-03-12T09:06:00Z

Al-Faraj's hand makes an appearance at Fratton Park

According to one of the more reputable newspapers, a heap of cash left Fratton Park during the past 6 months and little if any of it made its way to the taxman or for that matter the hundreds of local creditors still awaiting payment. Instead it appears that Chanrai recently 'withdrew' a few million, whilst prior to that the Pompey coffers were leaking in the direction of Al Faraj.

As far as Chanrai goes, taking a claimed £4m out whilst the courts were sabre rattling raises a few eyebrows even if, as he will no doubt claim, it was in part repayment for loans that should have been repaid earlier by the previous 'owner'.

But, news that the aforementioned 'previous owner' Al Faraj was diddling whilst Pompey burned is much more disturbing. Why? Well we have little evidence, if any, that the he ever put any money into the club, not his own in any case. One thing's for sure, he never showed his face. As an aside shouldn't that be rule number 3 in the Pompey Fit n Proper person's test? Insist that new owners take ownership of the club whilst physically at Fratton Park, preferably in front of witnesses from the Trust or such like. Rule number 1? Make sure they've got money. Rule number 2? Ensure they weren't introduced by Storrie.

News of the cash being withdrawn was leaked by someone close to the financial affairs of the Club. That most likely means one of our bankers, which we don't seem to have anymore, or more likely one of the senior figures still in residence at Fratton Park. Or perhaps one of those that lost their jobs this week. But either way, employed or otherwise, how come this person didn't speak up earlier?

Let's hope that the Administrator has the balls to get to the bottom of this mess. I don't have a problem with him making a name for himself at Fratton Park as long as really does look after the interests of the Club as a whole, not just those that through questionable practices, managed to find themselves at the top of the creditors list.

Rumours : O'Hara's a wanted man

2010-03-10T19:08:00Z

Jamie O'Hara is being linked to a move up to the North East this Summer with both Sunderland and Newcastle United said to be prepared to battle it out for his signature. O'Hara, recently engaged to model Danielle Lloyd, has settled on loan at Portsmouth and has surprised himself at how quickly he has become attached to the Fratton Park club and its fans. O'Hara's preference is believed to be a permanent move to struggling and sure to be relegated Pompey but it remains to be seen whether a deal could be done. A premanent move to the South Coast club would certainly suit O'Hara and his wife-to-be who is understood to be keen to remain close to london.

Fred to Birmingham??

2010-03-09T12:15:00Z

talking to a villa supporter today, he reckons that brum are going to make an offer for piqionne (spelling?)....said his brother rang him after the villa game, they got talking, fred's name came up cos of his two goals and his brother said dont worry he wont be playing as brum will pay up front and demand he doesnt play any games so as not to be injured....how true this is i dont know...........

Thank You (for nothing?) and Goodnight

2010-02-21T13:38:00Z

Our Premiership experience is now almost over. That's not being defeatist; it's simply realistic. Other clubs that would have contributed to our survival appear to be improving on the pitch at the same time as we are suffering a decline. Even Wolves have managed to complete a double over Spurs - we would setle for beating them just the once (and hopefully we still can). Games against the likes of Burnley, Hull, Bolton and Wolves were also until now viewed as proper six-pointers but does it really matter anymore whether we beat them or not? Almost certainly not.

But it's been an interesting time although when is it not interesting where Portsmouth Football Club are concerned? When Paul Merson stood arms aloft holding the Championship Trophy, it signalled the start of a seven year adventure. Seven years - should we feel grateful or short-changed? Call me naive if you like but when we achieved promotion to the top flight I firmly believed that we were back where we always belonged and were there to establish ourselves and be around for the long haul in the same way as the Everton's and Tottenham's of the world. Furthermore, I still see no reason why we shouldn't be as big as those clubs; and the Aston Villa's, Blackburn Rovers' and West Ham United's of the world. But for now, it's not meant to be.

The rug is now being pulled from under us and maybe I need to reassess my own expectations. Maybe come August 2010 we will in fact be 'back where we belong' and perhaps we should be grateful. I'm not dismissing the advantages of playing Premiership football but are we in a better state as a club following the experience? Absolutely not. Could we have avoided what has happened to us financially? Yes, of course BUT I believe in doing so, our seven year journey would surely have been curtailed still further than it is being now. It's been said by many over the past month or so that we chased the dream and we are now paying the price. And in all honesty, the price is disproportionately high. You get nothing for nothing but the cost of an experience and the success that it brought (success that incidentally feels a little hollow now) has proven to be extortionate.

Portsmouth Football Club now finds itself in an unprecedented position in our national game. Even the past, much publicised disasters at the likes of Leeds United and Newcastle United pale into insignificance compared to this. Unfortunate in many ways that it had to be us - such a financial tragedy has been waiting to happen within the game for some time, and increasingly so - Pompey are the chosen one in that respect. An example to everybody; an example that without doubt has been and will continue to be discussed in boardrooms at clubs throughout the league. And such discussions will surely result in corrective actions and revisions to processes as those clubs wake up to the reality that 'there but for the grace of God go I'. Pompey's plight has been a learning process for all; it's a shame we can't claim a royalty for the value of the training. What sort of a price could you put on that across the four divisions?

That effectively could be our legacy to English football if we cease to exist but even if we survive (and I'm sure we will, he says hopefully) our contribution in this way is significant. Football needs a serious financial correction and whilst I can't see our situation causing immediate and radical change I hope that maybe it will be at least the catalyst for thought by those that can effect change, the F.A., the Premier League, FIFA etc., followed then by change itself. These 'powers' now owe it to football to no longer just sit back and watch the financial hole get deeper.

For our part, we have taken quite a few great memories and of course the first major silverware that the club has won for over 50 years. I'm not going to get involved in a discussion here as to whether the cost of buying those memories was worth it. That I will leave open as the title of this article suggests. And perhaps we aren't in a position to answer it yet. Whether or not we suffer ultimate liquidation may need to be factored by some (although not me) into the decision making process on that one.

So that basically is that. We need to see out the remaining twelve Premiership matches and the team, for the fans, need to give their best in those games. And we also have an F.A. Cup Quarter-Final to look forward to and, if we can win that, another semi-final at Wembley. The fact that this is on the agenda in this season of turmoil and disappointment feels quite bizarre but it's something which, along with the victory in the last round of the F.A. Cup, can be something positive to remember the campaign by.

And at the time of writing, stories persist about another imminent takeover of the club. Something that offers the club a genuine opportunity of avoiding liquidation or administration which, for everybody concerned including the minor Creditors, we have to hope can be concluded over the next day or so. The word 'hope' has featured heavily in articles written by all and sundry about Porsmouth Football Club over the past months. Perhaps, in truth, that is really all that we have been left with following our seven years in the English Premier League.

Please, please don't resign Peter Storrie

2010-02-21T08:14:00Z

Class acts

Following recent calls for the resignation of Peter Storrie by our very own GoldenBoot (and other unnamed show me a cause and I'll cause it... activists), it struck me that Pompey's CEO deserved to have somebody fighting in his corner.

Trouble is I couldn't find anybody with a good word to say about the man.

Which is a shame really, because when everybody is having a go, our British sense of fair play dictates that even the guiltiest of guilty should have a fair hearing.

But does Peter Storrie deserve it?

Let's look briefly at the facts.

As one of the Prem's highest paid Chief Execs, Peter Storrie has presided over the biggest **** up in its eighteen year history. Yes we've seen other clubs struggle, notably Leeds and Derby (whose directors went on to be jailed) but nothing amongst these other clubs has seen INCOMPETENCE writ so large for so long.

Storrie defends himself (well who else would?) by spinning the same laughable "I'm only an employee " over and over... most recently after having a bunch of fives (sorry fivers) pushed in his face by on the ball Saints fans.

As if anyone ever believes him.

Remember it wasn't so long ago that he was claiming credit for keeping the Club afloat. Not so long after he'd told us that the Club wasn't in melt down and that in itself shortly after he'd tried to convince us that Defoe left because "he wanted to go...".

You see Peter Storrie relies on fans concentrating on the game and not on remembering what he said. The Press too have short memories, because if they bothered to check their archives they'd find contradiction after contradiction being spouted by the man that for so long has been the public face of the Club. The same man that behind the scenes pulled the strings and ultimately left this marionette a crumbled mess on the world's stage.

So why am I calling for Storrie to stay? Simple. Unlike those equally 'unloved' bankers that resigned and hid behind privacy laws to hide their personal and professional embarrassments, I want Storrie to stay in office and for someone, anyone, be it an Administrator or other 'public body' to expose him once and for all in full view of the world.

Love Pompey do you Peter Storrie? Well I don't believe a word of it and one day your actions that have been spun as being in the interests of Portsmouth Football Club for far too long now, will be exposed for what they really are.

Good news at last: Pompey debt written off

2010-02-20T14:29:00Z

just like that...

According to Soccernet there has been some positive news emerging from Fratton Park with Chanrai apparently taking possession of the ground in return for writing off some, but not all of his outstanding loans.

In addition, it is understood that previous owners have also been busy and have in turn written of their debts.

Peter Storrie had this to say to Soccernet.

"I am unable to comment on the latest developments regarding previous and existing owners. However, there has been some considerable movement concerning their debts, which have now been written off."

Who knows what this means. A large pinch of salt is recommended, but if true then this represents some of the most positive news for months.

We are not out of trouble yet, but it would seem that the interested parties realise that unless they work together to solve the problems they jointly created, they, and us, will emerge with nothing.

Full story here: Portsmouth owner takes Fratton Park to ease debt

INEVITABILITY SET TO STRIKE ON THE FIELD!

2010-02-19T21:26:00Z

Well, the 2009/10 Premier League season is fast approaching the home straight. Pompey have now played 25 of their 38 fixtures and provided we are in a position to fulfil those commitments there are 39 points still to play for. Theoretically, we could be sat at the bottom (which we are) with Zero points (which we aren’t) and victories in all of those remaining matches would see us accumulate a total of 39 points which would this season see us survive in the top flight. But that’s not going to happen is it.

And to be honest the writing has arguably been on the wall for us since pre-season. Much of the damage was done in January 2009 and further wounds were inflicted in the Summer to the extent that Pompey’s pre-season began with a roll-call of just 14 players. And despite a few reinforcements, the warm-up matches didn’t really instil too much confidence in our ability as a club to retain our Premiership status come May 2010. Less than flattering draws against both Havant & Waterlooville and Basingstoke Town were soon forgotten when Eastleigh were thumped 6-1 but then we Pompey fans tend to over-react consistently to both defeat and victory don’t we.

A pre-season trip to Portugal brought home the reality of the situation for the first time in the campaign with defeats at both Vitoria S.C. and Benfica, conceding six goals over the two games but tellingly failing to find the net in either. Admittedly, even I was encouraged by the 2-0 win over Glasgow Rangers in our final preparation game but lady luck immediately deserted us in the opening Premiership fixture.

FULHAM : Bobby Zamora’s ‘bum’ shot wrong-footed David James and consigned us to a single goal defeat at Fratton Park. Unlucky! Previous seasons result 1-1. Points lost = 1.

BIRMINGHAM CITY : Had opportunities to win but in fairness a draw would have been a fair result had we not conceded a controversial last minute penalty that resulted in a 1-0 defeat. Unlucky again! No previous season’s result to compare against but we took more than an average of 1 point per game from the relegated sides so we effectively lost ground again on our 2008/09 results.

ARSENAL : Outplayed at The Emirates; simple as that. A 4-1 defeat and bad luck didn’t play a part. Got battered in 2008/09 too so no worse off with this result.

HEREFORD : A 4-1 win in the Carling Cup was no more than we should have expected. But at least it was a win.

MANCHESTER CITY : A first half Adebayor goal gave Manchester City the points in another game where Pompey could consider themselves unfortunate not to get at least a point. Previous seasons result 2-0. Points lost 3.

BOLTON WANDERERS : A topsy turvy match remembered for some horrendous defending by the hosts (Pompey) and another last minute goal that gave the visitors a 3-2 win. Probably the game where my sub-conscious (at least) became concerned - and it was still only September. 2008/09 result 1-0. Points lost 3.

ASTON VILLA : A game of two halves. Poor Pompey were 2-0 down at half-time and could, with better finishing, have salvaged a draw following a much better second 45 minutes - but they didn’t. Previous season’s result 0-0. Points lost 1.

CARLISLE UNITED : Carling Cup, went a goal behind before running out 3-1 winners in not overly convincing fashion at Brunton Park.

EVERTON : Another team to ‘get away with it’ at Fratton Park. A solitary goal scored by one team who took their chances against another team who were proving that they were simply incapable of doing similar. 2008/09 result 2-1. Points lost 3.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS : Pompey’s first Premiership victory of the season on 3rd October against the side who were widely tipped as favourites for the drop. Says it all really. A slight gain in the points equation compared to 2008/09.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR : The one that most of us wanted to win and quite frankly we should have. But we didn’t. Defoe scored to put Spurs 2-0 up in the first half before Boateng scored a second half goal against his former club. We then battered them for the remainder of the game but fell to a 2-1 defeat. Previous season 2-0. Points lost 3.

HULL CITY : Talk about de ja vu. Another boring 0-0 at the home of the Tigers. Same as 2008/09.

STOKE CITY : Don’t get too excited. This 4-0 victory for Pompey came in the Carling Cup. A welcome result nonetheless but we DESPERATELY needed league points, even at this stage of the season.

WIGAN ATHLETIC : Some fans maybe thought that a corner had been turned. 4-0 against Stoke followed by another 4-0 against Wigan in The Premiership. Wow! We CAN score goals! Don’t be fooled - Wigan were as poor a Premiership team as I have seen on this particular day. But a welcome 3 points. 2008/09 result 1-2. 3 points GAINED!! At last!

BLACKBURN ROVERS : Brought back down to earth with a bump! They had Benny Macarthy and Jason Roberts up front, we had nobody of any note, and we defended poorly. Result 3-1 to the home side. Lost also in 2008/09 so no change there then.

STOKE CITY : Possibly a game that Pompey deserved something from but Ricardo Fuller’s goal was enough for the hosts who took all three points. Last season 2-2. Points lost 1.

MANCHESTER UNITED : Battered 1-4. Giggs - different class. BUT, played quite well and didn’t deserve the scoreline. 2008/09 0-1. No change.

ASTON VILLA : Lost this Carling Cup tie 4-2. Enough said. Don’t care anyway.

BURNLEY : A victory at home at last. It seems a long time since the last one. We won 2-0 but the Burnley Manager strongly believed that his side should have taken all three points. But they didn’t. Boot on the other foot for once. Didn’t play The Clarets in 2008/09 but the win represented a slight points increase over the sides relegated in 2008/09. So good news.

SUNDERLAND : Last season we travelled to The Stadium of Light and snatched a last minute equaliser. We did it again thanks to Younes Kaboul (Remember him?). We snatched a last minute winner last year in a 2-1 victory so 2 points lost here.

CHELSEA : Who cares. We lost again (narrowly though : 2-1). No change in terms of points.

LIVERPOOL : Liverpool got away with it in 2008/09. Losing 2-1 with 12 minutes to go, The Reds brought Torres off the bench and won 3-2. This season we deservedly beat them (and frustrated the hell out of Torres) by two goals to nil. 3 points GAINED!.

WEST HAM UNITED : Lost 2-0. Not a good performance. Never really looked like getting anything. Drew in 2008/09 so 1 point lost.

ARSENAL : Outplayed at Fratton Park; simple as that. A 4-1 defeat and bad luck didn’t play a part. Got battered in 2008/09 too so no worse off with this result. Haven’t I said all this before.

COVENTRY CITY : The reality that we weren’t a very good side at all hit home in this F.A. Cup tie. Coventry City are poor and we were no better. A 1-1 draw resulted in a replay which, a few days later, we won with an extra-time winner having equalised in injury time in normal time. Close!!

SUNDERLAND : The reward for beating Coventry was a Home tie in the F.A. Cup with Sunderland. A decent performance saw Pompey emerge as 2-1 winners which was great - but I really wanted league points, DESPERATELY!

WEST HAM UNITED : They absolutely battered us 4-1 in 2008/09 but at least we scraped a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park this time so 1 point gained.

MANCHESTER CITY : Lost 6-0 last season with a decent side; lost 2-0 this season with a poor side by comparison. That’s football I guess. No harm done when comparing this season’s results with last season.

FULHAM : Played as well as we have for weeks, especially in the first half BUT it’s all about taking your chances. Fulham scored one; we didn’t. Therefore, we lost 1-0 but compared to the 3-1 defeat in the previous season no real damage done in that respect.

MANCHESTER UNITED : It would be easy to pillory Pompey for this emphatic defeat (5-0) but in truth, at this moment in time, Manchester United could do it to anybody.

SUNDERLAND : The boys from the North East must be fed up with us. They went a goal ahead again but, as per usual, Pompey equalised and snatched a point. Both sides could have won it but because we beat The Mackems at Fratton Park last season it represents 2 points lost.

SOUTHAMPTON : The final two balls out of the drum for this F.A. Cup Draw. Fans were genuinely nervous prior to the game. Pompey had never won (or even drawn) at St. Mary’s; Southampton were playing very well (albeit in League 1) while Pompey were struggling both on and off the pitch. Potential upset? You bet it was! But we all slept soundly (if eventually!) on the night of February 13th following a 4-1 win courtesy of a much improved second half performance. We could have been out of the cup had the opposition taken their first half chances - but they didn’t, so we march onto the Quarter Finals and a Home tie with an in-form Birmingham City.

STOKE CITY : Tomorrow’s fixture. The first of the remaining 13. Currently on 16 points and arguably at least 20 points from safety this season. That alone says it all. In 25 matches we have accumulated 16 points and we need another 19 (or maybe even a couple more) from the final 13 games. Impossible? - No. Realistically achievable? - Probably not. Therefore, tomorrow is quite simply a MUST WIN. We beat them last season and if we don’t do similar this year ……… it’s 3 more points down the tubes compared to last year.

Personally I can’t see us reaching 30 points and that won’t be anywhere near enough. Currently, we are on target for about 31 points if we match last season’s results in the remaining fixtures. But then that includes a win at Everton. Can anybody really see us doing that this year??? Precisely. Relegation is almost inevitable and anything less than a win against Stoke will in my opinion make it a foregone conclusion. But if or more probably when relegation is confirmed this season it will be unfair to suggest that Pompey have under-achieved because in truth it was almost inevitable before a ball had been kicked.

Stoke's Pulis makes it 20,000 and one

2010-02-18T12:50:00Z

if only football was as simple as a long throw

So, Tony Pulis wants to know how Pompey got into so much debt does he?

If so then he joins the list of 20,000+ that have been asking the same question for some 18 odd months now.

Apparently Pulis reckons making our mistakes public can help other teams avoid similar problems. Sure we'll do that. Call it a 1 point payment from each club....

Anyway, I am sitting here wondering exactly what he means. Is he referring to us employing Redknapp, or would it be allowing countless foreign owners to buy us? Or maybe it was the wreckless spending on players, agents and heaven knows what else. Topped off with the Prem withholding payments and stopping us from trading when it was most needed.

Or could it be that we are paying £1.2m a year to a Chief Executive who somehow remains in charge come rain, wind, high water and winding up orders.

Of course Pulis used to ply his trade at Fratton Park, so one assumes he reckons it's all gone belly up since he left. True, but then again we did won something after he was fired - even if it has brought us to our knees.

Rory Delap anyone?

Do Southampton fans know more than we do?

2010-02-17T09:29:00Z

I'm not sure whether I want to laugh or cry about this...

but whenever myPompey carries a story about the plight of Portsmouth Football Club we get almost as many visits from up the road than we do from locals. Why is this?

Ok, let's get the wise cracks out of the way first shall we? We all know it's because Saints fans want to support a real team with real passion and even now are cursing their parents for not managing to 'drop' on the right side of Hampshire. There we are. I've said it. That should satisfy that sad and relatively small 'clump' of Pompey fans who seem to direct more energy towards the hatred of the 'Scum' than they do supporting their own team. It's one thing wanting to beat them on the pitch, quite another to spend your life frothing at the mouth at the mere mention of their name.

So.., back to the main point. Why is it that thousands of Saints fans hover over Portsea Island looking for any snippets that might make their day. Arsenists staking out their targets maybe and then going back for a self satisfying pat on their back when it's ablaze?

Think I'm being dramatic? Yes? Well have I got news for you. There's a web site up the road that seems to spend all its time discussing the affairs of Portsmouth Football Club. How do I know this? Closet Saints fan me? Nope. It's simple, when I check out myPompey's stats I see that a significant proportion of our 4,000+ unique visitors yesterday were linking to myPompey via Saints Web. A nice looking site with some serious dudes discussing PFC.

Serious? What do I mean? Well take a look and you'll see. 285 pages and counting of comments about the Pompey Takeover Saga. And some of the analysis is good, although it does beg the question why they can't find enough Saints stuff to occupy their day.

So my advice to all Pompey fans who want another take on the events at Fratton Park is to visit Saints Web and in particular the aforementioned thread. Once you cut through the occasional myopic rendition, which as we mentioned exists on both sides of the Hamble, you might find it very useful.

Or it might leave you wondering why that lot up the road appear to be spending all their day discussing us. Mind you, they do appear to be doing a better job of analysing the current financial situation than we do. And.., make of that what you will.

You can find them here: Saints Web - Pompey Takeover Saga

Post Saints: Am I the only one without a hangover?

2010-02-14T14:38:00Z

Not since Wembley has so much booze been drank by so many in celebration of so much.

Here we are after yet another milestone in Pompey's whore's drawers of a season, only this time it's a positive one. A win of this magnitude has been a long time coming and when it did show its head, the thumping of the red stripes sure did feel good.

Don't listen to those who tell you that it was only a third tier team. Saints well may well be languishing a couple of divisions below us, but had it not been for their ten point deduction, chances are we'd be playing in the same division next year. And look at what Leeds did to United. Fact is there are very few mugs playing football in any of the pro divisions and Southampton under Pardew certainly don't qualify as one of them.

Was yesterday a flash in the pan? For sure we won't see Premier teams fold like Southampton did, but neither will many put us under the same relentless pressure in midfield.

Looking at the team, yesterday was a bit of an epiphany for me, at least where Basinas is concerned. I thought he looked uncomfortable from the start and his exit to be replaced by Quincy, didn't come a moment too soon. It just goes to demonstrate the irony, as Campbell saw, that older players plying their trade in the Premier League get caught out in the lower divisions far more frequently than they do 'up top'.

At the other end of the age spectrum, I think Wilson lacks the promise that he showed when playing under Adams and if anything, yesterday he was a liability. Maybe Grant will try him as a wing back, or holding midfielder, but either way I don't think we can stay in this division relying on the lack of technique that the Irishman demonstrated in central defence. Maybe I am being too harsh. Perhaps he just needs to practice his jumping?

What next for Pompey? Well one Swallow doesn't make a summer, but it does suggest warmer winds are on their way. The team aint half bad now. Sure, we have the odd clunker, but for every one of those there are 2 or 3 very capable players. We need to remind ourselves that had we not undergone such a dire start to the season, we wouldn't even be in the relegation zone right now. Couple that to the Quarter finals of the Cup and it would almost equal the year of Redknapp's finest.

Play up Pompey

A minutes silence

2010-02-07T13:51:00Z

Lily (8), upholding the tradition north of the border.

Well I am not long back from Manchester. I did not arrive with much hope but left with a great deal less.

After respecting the minutes silence for the anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster I think it would have been fitting to have had a minutes silence after the game for Pompey's Premiership future!

It seemed as if we were beaten long before the whistle was even blown. Man United won at a canter it could have been double figures in all honesty. We spent the first 15 minutes of the game defending corners and were giving them so much time on the ball Fletcher could have knitted a few more " Norwich scarves" before passing to one of his teammates

We had a couple of chances before they scored but in reality even those chances were never going to go in. They were hit in hope more than expectation.

Boateng looked as though he is definitely not up for the fight and I am afraid the rest of our team, even though they huffed and puffed look like a team heading for relegation!

The only saving grace was my mate a Man U fan who I was supposed to be going with missed his bus from Aylesbury twice!!! Don't ask.

So I ended up taking my eldest daughter Lily ( 8 ) to her first game. She loved the experience apart from the result obviously. Her favourite player was Freddie P as she like his hair. Says it all really.

I was a proud dad hearing her belt out " Blue Army" in her broad Scots brogue!

It was my first time at Old Trafford and now I very much fear it will be my last.

However great support as usual though with the best chants of the day being

" shall we sing a song for you"

and

"5 nil and you still don't sing"

Just read all the other results and they have dealt us a cruel hand too.....but it's not over until it's over and next up Sunderland who really do not like playing us at Fratton so come on boys show me you still have some fight left in ye!

Mac.

SOS POMPEY: Right of Reply

2010-02-06T12:02:00Z

Mike Hall of SOS Pompey asked myPompey to publish a reply to this GoldenBoot article.

Here it is:

GoldenBoot: Asking why previous owners were allowed to take over the club with little if any scrutiny? Errr No!

Mike Hall: -Wrong. This was asked, but the results have to wait fro the minutes. We discussed the Pemier Leagues ability to have a face to face interview with any applicant to the FAPPT. Such an interview would have disqualified Al Fahim and Al Faraj in my opinion, simply because their answers would have been unlikely to withstand scrutiny. And Al Faraj wouldn't have come anyway. We suggested face to face, they accepted it.

GoldenBoot: Protesting against the Premier League for banning us from the transfer marker .... Eerrr No!.

Mike Hall: We didn't do this no, because they were absolutely right. We couldn't maintain our payments under contracts. Signing more players in a month when we had to sell players to pay the wages - how ridiculous is this? How are we going to pay them in February? Explain to me how allowing a football club with reckless owners employing a fraudster and who are unable to pay either of their major creditors, pay their players, pay their transfer fees, pay their suppliers should be signing more players? We had our website shut down last week until a director paid the bill on his credit card, and not one of the owners either. We can't keep our website going but should be allowed to sign more players? Don't be daft!

GoldenBoot: Holding the League to account for destroying the cashflow of the Club and withholding money and causing financial stress despite rubber stamping transfers, Errr NO!!

Mike Hall: The Premier League was protecting our cashflow. The premier league has a complete picture at all times of what is owed to who. They have to strike a balance between keeping back money to make sure we pay people, (like Watford who would otherwise have gone bust), and making sure the club can pay for things. However, at a time when Danny Azougy was running the club they made sure the money went straight to our creditors. You would rather Azougy had it than the premier league giv it to our creditors?

GoldenBoot: Offering the League the possibility of interfering with a privately owned business and in doing so potentially scaring off any chance of fresh investment... and a week before Mr Chainrai might have to fork out a few million to HMRC. Errrrr YES!

Mike Hall: We suggested to the league they place an observer onsite during the opening phase of Chainrais ownership. They will consider it. We did this because the point a fair few contributors have missed is this; Chainrai is not a new owner. Chainrai is connected to the Gaydamaks, Levi Kushnir, Ron Maneh, Yoram Yossifoff and Danny Azougy going back years. There is a matrix of deals between these guys that demonstrates beyond any doubt that they are a consortium. In fact, Arkadi Gaydamak owned Beitar Jerusalem. Danny Azougy went in to loot it. Chainrai took it over in a legal action shortly afterward and sold it. Does that sound familiar to you?

The money Balram Chainrai put into Pompey came from where? Arkadi Gaydamak. He took the money he got from Arkadi Gaydamak and put it into a club in which his old friends Ron Maneh, Yoram Yossifoff, (also involved in a number of the same deals as Chainrai and Gaydamak), and Danny Azougy were heavily involved.

Avram Grant signed his contract in Ron Manehs front room, with Yoram Yossifoff and Danny Azougy present according to the Jewish Chronicle. All these guys were involved in the August takeover attempt. All have been to games. All are advisers to 'Ali al Faraj'.

In other words, all the people heavily involved in running Pompey are not on the board. All are part of a close knit business circle going back years.

We have moved into the end game now, where Chainrai comes in, smiles at everyone, tells them what a good guy he is and negotiates the sale. Isn't it coincidental that at the moment a buyer firms up his interest Chainrai steps in and cuts Al Faraj out of the deal? There is now money to be made.

The aim of the Premier League is to ensure the club survives, and that is our aim too. The key to this is securing owners who are transparently interested in the club, not persuing some strange game across continents all involving the same names time and time again and always involving endless legal actions, high interest loans and Danny Azougy.

The Premier League has devoted a lot of time to ensuring our survival, and I hope all sensible Pompey fans will see that what is needed here is an end to this biblical plague of owners who all turn out to be connected to each other in some way.

Mike Hall

SOS Pompey

Doing nothing is not really an option

2010-02-05T16:00:00Z

It’s the same old story. You wait for one to come along and then a couple turn up at once. Not buses on this occasion but articles written by members of the Press that are directly related to the plight of Portsmouth Football Club but at the same time offer some constructive thoughts on the underlying problems within the game that have in turn contributed to the situations at Pompey, Plymouth, Crystal Palace, Hull City, West Ham United, Cardiff City and of course Manchester United. Yes, problems even at Old Trafford - who would have thought it?

Generally, in my opinion the press coverage has been less than kind to our club. Of course, in many ways we have loaded the gun for the hacks to fire at us and they have had their eager fingers on the trigger ready to shoot at will. After all, we could argue that it’s the clubs own fault for getting itself in this state to start with.

But in fairness to some of the media, there seems to be a genuine attempt at flying the flag for the club that seem destined to be the first bloodied victims of football’s ‘success at all costs’ era. And unfortunately, the fact that Portsmouth Football Club are reluctant pioneers in this way will always be to their eternal discredit in the eyes of the majority.

Two articles recently published take a look at the bigger picture and whilst much of what has been written is what we already know and have probably discussed amongst ourselves it is gratifying to see it written on a national level at last. This is not to say that the game suddenly has light at the end of the tunnel or that the football’s authorities will take any more notice but anything that raises the concerns that a lot of us close to Pompey have already voiced has to be a good thing.

Both articles focus firmly and squarely on club finances and, in the main, those at Pompey and Manchester United whereas a third looks at how one of our own fans is suffering as a result of the club’s indebtedness. The fan in question is being chased by Creditors and the Courts for the payment of bills owed by the club. Why? Because when the legal entity “Portsmouth Football Club Limited” ceased trading, he bought the name “for a laugh” and as a memento, to mount in a frame and display it with other Pompey memorabilia - as you do! What he could never have imagined is that as Pompey’s finances went into meltdown he would be deemed by some to be liable for the debt. Pretty scary stuff to be honest and with the value of claims arriving through his letter box totalling several hundreds of thousands of pounds including one of over £200,000 and also a tax demand it is understandable that it is currently the source of many a sleepless night. The situation will hopefully be resolved quickly and common sense will ultimately prevail but it has already impacted on his own credit rating and through absolutely no fault of his own. A very unfortunate casualty of this whole sorry mess.

‘Clubs paying the price for living the dream’ says another report. And that’s a fact. But it shouldn’t be ‘news’ to too many people. In truth, this financial wake-up call has been a long-time coming in football and has been a situation that has for far too long been ignored by the game in general, and not just Pompey, Manchester United, Cardiff City etc. Manchester United fans would claim to have seen the writing on the wall for their club five years ago. Furthermore, it has been said that a former Crystal Palace manager identified the seeds of serious overspend being sown as long ago as 1992. And as a lifelong Pompey fan, whilst I wallowed in the glory of our F.A. Cup win and jumped on the bandwagon demanding more and more money be made available to enable our ‘high maintenance’ manager to continue his hungry pursuit of celebrity footballers, I strongly believe that sub-consciously I knew some time ago that it would all end in tears. I could visualise the pitfalls of my club playing the high risk game that others were indulging in to achieve glory but what else could we do if we wanted to compete and, after all, if you don’t compete, what’s the point? Ignorance turned out to be bliss - but only temporarily. And perhaps this is the real disease that has spread through the game in the current era; Managers, Coaches, Commercial staff and fans all quite simply getting carried away on the assumption that the owners would effectively ‘gift’ the finances required to satisfy the players and more appropriately their agents exorbitant demands. Consequently, the media have had a field day - the existence of an abundance of raw material making a journalist’s life suddenly easier although resulting in the written product also becoming much more questionable at times. Quantity over quality seems to have been the order of the day from most Sports Desks, particularly where coverage of our club has been concerned although again, we (the club) have probably been our own worst enemies at times.

The final article that caught my eye, and one that I hope gains sufficient profile to have an impact, carries the title of ‘Debt mountains tower over clubs but football’s rulers turn a blind eye’. The headline alone struck a chord. For the inaction of the Premier League and Football League during the evolution of this monetary mess has been nothing short of scandalous in my opinion. How long have players wages been disproportionate to their role in life? But the Premier League maintained less than 18 months ago that their clubs’ debts were sustainable and subject to responsible management across the board. Yet around that same time we see two players leave Chelsea for Manchester City and in one fell swoop increase their wages from an estimated £50,000 per week to an estimated £80,000 in one case and £92,000 in the other. Now I know we’re not talking about cost of living increases being the expectation in the world of the WAG but why on earth, regardless of how much money an owner may have, would they authorise this sort of contract. None of them have surely become as wealthy as they apparently are by throwing money away. As if £50,000 per week wasn’t enough (and therein lies part of the problem by the way because wouldn’t £10,000 or even a ‘paltry‘ £5,000 PER WEEK (!) be sufficient?) what would have been so wrong or insulting about saying to the player, “Your salary will stay the same but we will pay you a signing-on fee of £X”, or, “We’ll give you a 5% increase on your existing salary plus a signing-on fee of £X”. And here is where some Agents, in my opinion, are a huge part of the problem. In the same way as it doesn’t pay for a Lawyer to act too quickly on its client’s behalf it doesn’t pay for an Agent to do anything but inflate his or her client’s contractual demands to an absolute limit. Why should they care about killing the goose that laid the Golden egg when they’ve earned a lifetime’s money in one or two big deals?

Most football clubs are now technically insolvent if you remove the financial backing, in whatever form it has been made available by the owners. And of course, when they decide to walk away as Sacha Gaydemak did from Fratton Park, the consequences are frightening unless a replacement benefactor can be quickly found. But in reality that doesn’t solve the root cause of football’s problems. The Premier League made a pathetically weak attempt (in my opinion) at introducing controls in the form of tests that determine the viability of both the club and prospective owner. The “Going Concern Test” is applied by accountants, presumably during the annual audit, and of course we at Pompey are fully aware of the now infamous “Fit and Proper Persons Test”. But the latter appears to be little more than a standard credit check, so why it took so long to carry out when our friend Al Fahim was attempting to buy the club is anybody’s guess. Had the League been clever enough to ask probing and in-depth questions in order to establish the real ability of an individual to successfully buy a Premiership football club then the time taken would be time well spent and both players and staff at a club along with its long suffering supporters would be able to perhaps feel confident that the incoming regime are indeed whatever they have claimed to be. But if the Test doesn’t ask, for example, “How much money do you initially plan to invest?”, “How is this investment being provided?”, and,” In what way do you plan to invest the money - e.g. Stadium, Training Facilities, Players etc?”, then what does it serve to achieve? What is the Business Plan? It’s a fair and obvious question …………………. isn’t it?

In some small part, due to the failure of these controls, Portsmouth Football Club find themselves on the brink of a financial catastrophe. [I say that without removing any of the blame for the situation from those parties whose culpability is certainly much greater]. The club need to secure fresh investment quickly, and it needs to be proper investment. Football in general needs to stop messing around with loans; moving debt around from lender to lender in the same way as we are encouraged domestically to shift credit card balances for an initial period of improved terms without necessarily ever reducing the actual liability. Rumours persist of negotiations between Peter Storrie and a new group of potential investors. We can only hope that something positive is just around the corner for our club but Pompey’s plight in truth is probably the thin end of the wedge as far as football is concerned. And as much as I want to be totally parochial (and Pompey are very much my priority) a solution to the bigger problem will also benefit our club in the long term and give us a chance to rebuild our reputation and standing in the game, both on and off the field.

Maybe ultimately, the majority of clubs will be owned by supporters in the same way as operates successfully at many clubs in the German league and also of course at Barcelona and Real Madrid. And if it can work there …….!

All in all, it’s a time of massive challenge for football in this country and it’s difficult to predict how it will all end. Recognising that certain things are wrong is a start. Convincing the authorities, the Premier League, Football League, UEFA, FIFA, that the ball is now in their court would be another significant step - and they would then need to take responsibility and act promptly to plan a way forward and introduce some form of regulatory controls. New owners must be prevented in the future from simply using borrowed money to finance the purchase of a football club. The banks may not like it but when the going gets tough the banks get going, as we now know to our cost at Pompey. Change is needed. Doing nothing is not an option if the current structure of our game is to survive.

Pompey taken over by Pawnbroker

2010-02-04T18:03:00Z

What do you think of that MOTD?

On the day that Avram emerged as one of our own, it transpires that owner #4, (hereafter referred to with numbers rather than names) is in fact a Pawnbroker.

Yep, exactly like the bloke in Fratton Road all those years ago, although it has to be said on a somewhat grander scale.

You see, rather than 'lending' mug punter £50 for the wife's wedding ring, #4 deals in somewhat bigger fish.

Football Clubs

It turns out that #3 hocked his share certificate for PFC when he borrowed some much needed cash from #4 and when repayments weren't made on time, just like a high street Pawnbroker, #4 took ownership of the goods. In this case Portsmouth Football Club.

It seems his first act was to get out the brasso and polish things up. Net result being some much needed changes in staff although Mr Teflon himself Peter Storrie continues as CEO, although you suspect with more power than he enjoyed under #3.

Good news? Well that depends. Could it be any worse? At least the bloke has some money, and by the looks of it, some balls!

Another Winding Up Petition

2010-01-28T22:46:00Z

Yet another creditor has joined the long list of companies suing PFC for outstanding debts. This time it's Grosvenor Basingstoke Properties Ltd which is ganging up with HMRC in an attempt to get the club wound up.

This coincides with Pompey's website going down due to more unpaid invoices, although unlike the other actions that continue unabated, the website was reinstated after a few hours of down time after yet more promises of payment.

And now tonight we have learned that both Peter Storrie and Avram Grant were both unaware that an unnamed 3^rd party at the Club was in negotiations with Spurs about the transfer of Younes Kaboul. Yep, you've got it, that man Redknapp is probably going to get his Wii mits on another of our players in circumstances just as tacky as those that accompanied the Defoe, Crouch and Kranjcar transfers. At least this time though, it's not just the fans that are being left out in the cold, add Storrie to that list too.

Storrie apparently has suggested that his position is becoming untenable. Why is that Peter? Something to do with not getting your extortionate wages paid on time, or maybe it's because you know how it feels to be treated like the Pompey fan you claim to be.

Whilst on the subject of Peter Storrie, I have this week written to him twice offering to write his biography for him. Seriously, why not? If any man knows the true story behind PFC then it's the man that now sits in the Directors box at matches with a face longer than Jacobs list of excuses.

And the mind boggles as to what we might call the biography - answers in the comments section please...

Money spinning biographies apart, the situation at Pompey is clearly deteriorating. With each mini triumph comes another major setback and you have to wonder how long the Club can keep its head above water.

As if fighting relegation on the field isn't bad enough, we are now fighting relegation off it too. What seemed early season as likely to be a death from a thousand cuts, has turned into a full on wet kiss with a tank of hungry piranhas. You just know it's going to get nasty and the only question now is whether to keep your eyes and ears glued to the latest events, or to turn away and look back when it's all over.

But, despite all the doom and gloom we are not down and out and as one hardy PFC exec reminded me the other day, there's still, despite appearances to the contrary, plenty of fight left in the Club yet.

Yes, we may well have multiple creditors trying to dissolve the business, but at the end of the day it's only money and compared to the debts at United and Liverpool, it's actually pretty modest. It's just a shame then that I, the eternal sub-optimist, am not being taken in by my own words. I don't know what you think, but perhaps it's something to do with the Club being run by faceless, near skint owners on the one hand and a comedian laywer on the other.

Hale the Fans