Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Crisis club Portsmouth have been docked nine points by the Premier League for going into administration last month.
It means the bottom-placed side are now 17 points from safety with nine games left, making relegation almost certain.
With debts of about £60m, Pompey became the first Premier League club in history to enter administration.
Manager Avram Grant said last month: “Football should be decided on the pitch not in the courts, not in the Premier League offices.”
The announcement came a day after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) formally dropped its challenge over the validity of the club’s move into administration.
In a statement, the Premier League said: “Following the High Court’s decision that Portsmouth FC’s administration is valid the Premier League board convened to apply the League’s rules and policies in relation to a member club suffering an event of insolvency.
“As a result Portsmouth FC has been deducted nine points with immediate effect. As part of this process the board met with the administrator to agree how we will work together for the remainder of the season to ensure that the club is able fulfil its commitments.”
Premier League rules dictate that clubs entering administration are automatically deducted nine points – a point less than in the Football League as there are fewer clubs in the division – and means Grant’s side are now firmly rooted to the foot of the table, 14 points behind Burnley and Hull, in 18th and 19th spot. (BBC Sport)

So if your a betting man, or just someone who likes to take massive risks, now would be the time to put your life savings on Pompey staying up. One can only imagine what odds you would get on that miracle occurring.

Clearly no one wants to see a club punished in this manner but its unavoidable if you run your club is such a shoddy manner. Peter Storrie and Co. have a lot to answer for and expect a few legal battles in the coming months as blame is rightly apportioned.

It remains to be seen whether the south coast side will have make further player sales in order to stave off further financial heartache but the club would do well to keep hold of Avram Grant as he would be the type of boss who could engineer a swift return to the top tier.

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Luckily for Pompey Liverpool took their foot of the gas and only managed one more goal, Torres scoring his second. Belhadj scored a consolation goal in the dying minutes.

The win puts Liverpool back in the Champions League hunt and Rafa will hope that the convincing nature of the win will appease the fans and stifle speculation about his future as Anfield boss.

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Highlights

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Alex McLeish’s side were seen as relegation candidates when the season started but now they have a realistic shot at finishing in a Europa League spot and the win makes up for Birmingham’s loss to Pompey in the FA Cup Quarter Finals just three days previously.

Perhaps most pleasing for the Brum boss was the fact that his side clinched their first away Premier League win of 2010.

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Avram Grant’s side Pompey side can feel proud of their achievements as they edged past in form Birmingham thanks to two goals in three minutes that put the south coast side into the hat for the last four of the competition.

Find, Compare and Buy Portsmouth Tickets at

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Portsmouth’s administrator has placed a valuation on the club for the first time and insists the Premier League outfit are an attractive investment.
“I think buyers will need in excess of £30m to buy the club,” Andrew Andronikou told BBC Sport.
“It’s a good opportunity to buy a club with a great history and I really want to focus on finding the right buyer.
“The Premier League have offered their hand and I’m very comfortable that the club will be starting next season.”
Portsmouth became the first Premier League club in history to enter administration after racking up debts of “£60-£70m”.
Andronikou is confident Pompey will survive but admits the club will have to cut costs significantly and find ways of raising much-needed funds.
He is due to meet Premier League chairmen on Thursday to explore the possibility of allowing the club to sell players and then take them back on loan for the remainder of the season.
However, he said he is keen not to to go down the route of selling players because it would weaken the team and could therefore devalue the Premier League run-in.
“It’s new territory for the Premier League, but I’m sure we can reach a commercial compromise,” added Andronikou, an insolvency practitioner from UHY Hacker Young.
“They can’t loan us money, but they can help us with future parachute payments and a variation of transfer window – the idea of a sale and loan of players.
“But I’m aware that I’m dealing with professional athletes and there is a danger of distorting the competition.”

Pompey face a nine-point deduction for going into administration.
That would leave the Hampshire club on 10 points – 14 from safety and virtual certainties for relegation to the Championship.
“I know we have the wherewithal to finish the season, though there will have to be cost cutting from top to bottom,” said Andronikou, who estimates Portsmouth’s playing squad is worth £38m. (BBC Sport)

So what now for Portsmouth? It seems highly unlikely that the Premier League will bend any rules to help the south coast side, and nor should they, so that would mean a certain drop to the Championship and then what? In all likelihood they will then need to sell their best players to make ends meet which will mean they will have to hope their youth policy is producing some top financially viable talent so that they can keep themselves from suffering successive relegations.

If they can somehow keep Avram Grant at the club then they have a chance of bouncing straight back but in many ways the playing side of the equation is less problematic than finding the money that prevents the club from folding before the season even ends.

The fact that the club is for sale for an amount a little more than the cost Manchester City paid for frankly average defender Joleon Lescott probably says all that needs to be said about the state the game could find itself in if it continues to use money in an obscene and unsustainable manner

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

It was another day of false promises for Portsmouth fans today. Chief Executive Peter Storrie had previously insisted, even last week, that the new new owners would find another set of more permanent new owners willing to embrace the debt and bring stability as Pompey fought for survival against the odds. Several parties are still apparently in talks to become the latest to take ownership of the Fratton Park outfit, but for fans clinging to hopes of Premier League football such boardroom discussions, despite their far reaching financial implications, will mean little. After all the deeds to the club seem to have changed hands so often this season that even the most loyal supporter would find it hard to keep track and probably doesn’t care who sits in the executive boxes as long as their club is playing at the level it deserves.

The problem for Pompey fans is that after today Premiership football slipped away from them for next season. The almost laughable comings and goings in the distant boardroom has finally had serious, undoable repercussions on the pitch. The nine point penalty imposed following the club’s entry into a painful process of administration almost certainly dooms Pompey to bottom place in the table. The shock at a top flight club with a history such as Portsmouth’s reaching such depths of financial woe is widespread, as the Prime Minister himself commented on events. Rarely do big politicians comment on sporting matters but the added ingredient of fiscal responsibility must have made a sympathetic statement to fans attractive for No.10. Some would find such a statement, with its emphasis on prudent financial practice, ironic given Gordon Brown’s record of presiding over an era of consequence free credit and a ballooning budget deficit as Chancellor and financial collapse, recession and dodgy banking as Prime Minister. However clearly recent trends show that big money owners, often from abroad, can lead to irresponsible and impatient behaviour that threatens the long term stability of our beloved clubs, in favour of glamorous short term goals.

It might be argued that the recession will inevitably lead to tougher times for every area of the economy, football clubs included. Whilst this may be true, the fundamental issue is not one of extreme, temporary financial hardship but one of regulation and responsibility. People will always watch football, just as they will always go to the cinema. During the recession the film industry has actually seen people flocking to the big screens in greater numbers. Of course the cinema is now a cheaper experience than most football matches and film studios still felt the pinch as the global market contracted, but ultimately the demand for football remains strong and consistent.

The real issue that has led to so many cases of turmoil over the course of the season, with Portsmouth being the most high profile example of failure, is the FA and Premier League’s inability to screen candidates for ownership. The initial failure to find an appropriate owner to replace Mr Sasha Gaydamak is the cause of all Pompey’s subsequent woes. Elsewhere too there are worrying signs for football fans. AFC Bournemouth, also of the south coast, face a winding up order despite success on the field this season. In the Premier League an influx of wealthy foreigners looks unsustainable; the miracle at Man City in particular might be a bubble waiting to burst. Long established title contenders like Liverpool and Manchester United find themselves unexpectedly limited by shady Americans who promised extravagance and undying support at first but this quickly gave way to infighting on Merseyside and enormous debts in Salford at the world’s richest club. Arsenal fans hold their breath as a Russian tycoon edges towards control of the shares and sections of the Chelsea faithful must still wonder if Mr Abramovich will suddenly tire of the London club’s failure in Europe and abruptly walk away. It should be noted that British owners are no more reliable, just look at Mike Ashley and Newcastle Utd.

Who then is responsible for handing the world’s richest club to a Glazer family who can’t afford it? How were Pompey allowed to jump from owner to owner, with none yet proving suitable? It is at times like these that one sympathizes with old school purists, who rage in disgust at the ludicrous money in football today and look longingly back to the days when fans were local and footballers local heroes. However in reality such backward thinking nostalgia is impractical and foolish given the tremendous spectacle the game has grown to become. Entertainment and accessibility have increased as well as the enormous liberating potential football clubs have as a vehicle for wealth in the local community. This progression should not be frowned upon and lamented, but there is a need for it to be managed correctly so that the maximum amount of people benefit and the club remains a stable asset of the area for years to come. Such gross mismanagement and incompetence with such large sums of money can only be rivaled by the greed driven mistakes of bankers in recent times. However the bankers were playing a risky game for high rewards. Whilst there is money in football today the sort of men who buy clubs have made their millions elsewhere in much more productive areas; it is generally acknowledged that you will put more money into a club than you will get out as an owner, it’s about extravagance and theatre, a plaything at which wealthy associates might meet, not profit. Why then are such dramatic catastrophes occurring? Clearly in some cases men without sufficient means to buy a club have been allowed to do so and then to make things worse have acted with incompetence. Something must be changed by the authorities to safeguard jobs, money and treasured clubs with vibrant football legacies.

I mentioned both the Prime Minister and Mike Ashley in this article. I end by saying that Portsmouth must learn lessons from both as they enter administration. Mike Ashley, despite scandals and meddling that led to Newcastle’s relegation, has somehow restored the Magpies (perhaps by backing away from team affairs) so that they look like clinching automatic promotion straight back to the Premiership with ease. Portsmouth could dwell on shattered dreams like the floating new stadium in the harbor or past glories like their FA Cup triumph or they could begin rebuilding now in preparation for a competitive Championship campaign. That means finding a sensible owner who understands the club’s importance but also stays out of the limelight and team affairs. Which brings me to the Prime Minister. The forthcoming General Election shall be dominated by the divide on when to begin cutting the deficit and the PM’s view is that cuts shouldn’t start till next year or the tiny recovery, revised up to 0.3% growth as of today, shall be endangered. The administrator taking charge of Pompey promised that deep cuts will be introduced to save the club from complete meltdown. Although fans will want whatever is necessary to save the club they will also not want to replicate the slide of their bitter rivals Southampton down the leagues. A Newcastle-esque immediate return is preferable as each year in the Championship will make promotion harder to acquire. Therefore those in charge at Pompey must follow the Prime Minister in opposing dramatic cuts, i.e. “firesales” of the best players at the team’s core, but making those that are necessary. Pompey’s administration and the recession are both calamities but both provide opportunities for rebuilding from scratch and with wise decisions, stronger foundations will be laid.

Read more from Liam Trim by CLICKING HERE

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Find, Compare and Buy Portsmouth Tickets at

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Debt-laden Portsmouth have been called “completely dysfunctional” as they prepare to become the first Premier League club to enter administration.
Accountant Nick O’Reilly of Vantis, who recently examined the club’s books, said Pompey’s business methods had gone “against all good governance”.
“I came away not knowing who controlled what,” O’Reilly told BBC Sport.
Portsmouth will enter administration on Friday and be docked nine points, leaving them facing certain relegation.
With debts of about £60m, they were due to face a winding-up order on 1 March over an unpaid £11.7m tax bill owed to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
However, that action was suspended when the Fratton Park club declared earlier this week its intention to go into administration unless a buyer for the club could be found.
Phil Hall, spokesman for Pompey owner Balram Chainrai, claimed four parties were interested in a possible takeover but Thursday’s deadline passed without any indication that a deal was close.
Administrator Andrew Andronikou, of insolvency experts UHY Hacker Young, will now begin the process of cutting costs at the club to try to keep it as a viable entity.
Chainrai became Portsmouth’s fourth owner of the season earlier this month, taking 90% of the club’s shares after previous owner Ali Al Faraj defaulted on loan payments due to the Hong Kong-based businessman.

Pompey’s financial woes have been well documented.
Players have been paid late on four occasions this season, while the club is also involved in a separate dispute with former owner Sacha Gaydamak over whether they have missed a deadline in paying a £9m chunk of the £28m they owe him.
The Premier League also withheld £2m of transfer payments recently and diverted a £7m slice of TV revenue to Chelsea and Watford to cover the signings of Glen Johnson and Tommy Smith respectively. (BBC Sport)

Seeing at the club were already eight points from safety the loss of nine more points won’t have made a great deal of difference and the important thing now is for the club to rid itself of any influences who were part of the ‘dysfunctional’ board that led the club into this horrific state of affairs. Quite how Chief Executive Peter Storrie is still present at Fratton Park (and drawing a massive wage), is beyond me.

If they can they should keep hold of Avram Grant because he could be just the man to bring Portsmouth from the dead. The financial restrictions related to being in administration will probably lead to further player sales and it may be that the south coast club needs to build on youth programmes to help them out of this mess as investing in new players could be impossible for the next 18 months or so.

They need to get themselves some responsible owners and start from scratch. If they can get through this immediate crisis then the future may not need to be all that grim.

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Find, Compare and Buy Portsmouth Tickets at

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has defended his £1m-plus salary but vowed to take a pay cut as the club prepares for administration.
Last year Storrie earned £1.2m, a 30% increase on his previous year’s salary despite the club’s reported £70m debt.
Storrie said: “I’ve seen £1.4m bandied around, but my basic salary is less than half of what’s been reported.”
Portsmouth will go into administration by Friday unless a buyer is found for the Premier League’s bottom club.
Explaining his remuneration package at the financially-stricken club, Storrie told the Portsmouth News: “The rest of [my salary] has been a bonus given by former owner Sacha Gaydamak every year.

The administrator wants me to help him sell the club to the right person
Peter Storrie
“That’s in recognition of me keeping the club going for him by selling players.
“I’m prepared to cut my basic [salary] quite substantially,” added Storrie.
“I have already spoken to the administrator and he wants to keep things settled, which means me staying on.
“I will work with him and I believe he wants me to help him sell the club to the right person.
“There will be cuts at all levels. That’s something for the administrator to do to make sure the club keeps going. I will be taking a big cut as well.” (BBC Sport)

Can anyone tell me whats wrong with this picture? Is it me or doesn’t seem like Mr. Storrie is getting a rather large sum of money to basically ruin a football club? Rewarded for incompetency and apparently now he is saying that Portsmouth’s administrator wants the Chief Executive to help the club find the right person to take over, isn’t that like the blind leading the blind? Why would Peter Storrie be well placed to advise on this matter? He is a very big part of the reason the club is in the mess its in right now and now he is being used to help Pompey get out of their might big pickle they are in? Absurd.

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Find, Compare and Buy Portsmouth Tickets at

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Portsmouth owner Balram Chainrai has promised the club “will not close” as it emerged a South African consortium is interested in buying Pompey.
The unnamed group is one of “four or five interested parties” considering taking over the cash-strapped club.
“Balram met the South Africans on Friday and they have promised to provide proof of funds on Monday,” Chainrai’s spokesman told BBC Sport.
“Balram will do whatever it takes to save the club. It will not close.”
The Premier League club recently survived a winding-up order, but is due to return to court on 1 March over the winding-up petition.
Chainrai recently became the club’s fourth owner of the season, taking 90% of the club shares after the previous owner Ali Al Faraj defaulted on loan payments due to him.
“The club have had false dawns before and we have to be certain these funds are genuine,” added the spokesman. “If they aren’t forthcoming we’ll have to look to other solutions.”

Chief executive Peter Storrie expressed hope that the South African consortium would complete a deal to buy Pompey on Monday.
“We need to have it from the bank, we need to see that the funds are there and they can take it forward,” he said. “We need to see it, the Premier League need to see it, everybody needs to see that there are funds there.
“The bank information will come through their lawyers, proof of funds from their banks to Balram Chainrai’s lawyers and if that happens the phone call will come and we will be all systems go on Monday night.
“But at this moment it is out of our hands and in the South African group’s hands.”
Storrie did admit that he was slightly sceptical of the move following the takeovers by Sulaiman Al Fahim and Ali Al Faraj, where neither had the capital to take the club forward.
“I would hope (the deal goes through) but you never know for sure,” he stated. “In the past we had Sulaiman putting forward to fans groups that he had x million lined up to come into the club and Ali Al Faraj did the same thing and they didn’t.
“So you are always sceptical, but you are also hopeful as all we want is this football club to survive.
Storrie said that there were other options of investment if the South African deal did not come to fruition, adding: “We have other irons in the fire and other options available.
“There is another group, not as advanced as the South African group, but they could be very quickly. It’s not dead until it’s dead is my philosophy in life and we will work through the next few days to keep the club alive.”
Hong Kong-based businessman Chainrai is also considering putting together a consortium of his own, but has not ruled out placing the Premier League’s bottom club in administration. (BBC Sport)

There is probably not a football fan who doesn’t wish Pompey to get themselves out of this financial mess but I do think that not enough attention has been paid to those who have put the Fratton Park in this position, both those who are no longer at the club and indeed Chief Exectuive Peter Storrie. Those people may hope that there part in the near downfall of the south coast club will somehow go unnoticed but I sincerely hope that their activities are analysed and if suitable, people punished.

It would be all to easy to blame the spiraling situation within the game and point to the Premier League bubble that may or may not be about to burst, but we are talking about a Premier League side who are very close to going out of business and this despite the club selling a wealth of players for big money and still the club has more debtors than it cares to count.

First things first, stabilize the club, then when that is done (even if it means a ten point penalty which may as well be taken this term rather than next season in the Championship) the likes of Mr. Storrie need to be held to account.

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Portsmouth 1-0 Stoke City (Piquionne)

Portsmouth 1-1 Stoke City (Huth)

Portsmouth 1-2 Stoke City (Diao)

Don’t forget to check out Online Football Manager!