Are Pompey on the brink?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1243828/Do-men-control-Portsmouth-want-football-club-superstore.html

Came upon this article. Quite a fascinating read. Seems Guydermec (spelling) is still owed £30m. February 10 could see them gone!

Now I am no fan of Pompey - far from it - and I know that many of their fans were gloating over our troubles last year. I would not stoop to their level.

I hope they do survive. The south coast rivalry we have, while sometime getting acrimonious especially from them, is worth preserving.

If they do go out of business - well I can live with that.

When I find myself feeling a tad sorry for them and thinking it'd be sad to see a football club go under I then remember vicious spite aimed at anything Southampton-related, the brick lobbed at my car once just because it had a Saints sticker in it (driving through Portsmouth from the Isle of Wight ferry to the Midlands; fortunately the damage was cosmetic), the skates in West Brom shirts when we were relegated from the Prem, the taunts and spite when we were in trouble last year, the vile names of 'scum', 'pony boys', 'pony f**kers' and so on, that alleged crook parading the cup in 2008, having our noses constantly rubbed in it for the past five years...nah, I don't give a toss about them and, although I do generally rise above it, I'd be lying if I said I'd be upset if they went bust but neither would I celebrate either. If one club had to be a joke club and implode in such spectacular style then, from a Saints perspective, there couldn't have been a better club for it to happen to than the Sad Blue Few.

It does seem as if the PL is bending over backwards not to punish them. The whole Sk8 scenario looks as dodgy as hell, they go from one crisis to another and, frankly, I wish the PL would stop pratting around and boot them out of the Premier League. I understand that Richard Scudamore (big cheese in the PL) introduced Fake Sheikh No 1 to the then owners of Portsmouth, Fake Sheikh No 1 then passed a 'Fit and Proper Persons' test, so the PL's reluctance to act *may* well be a bit of arse-covering. They can then rot in limbo until next season and start again in the CCC, preferably on a nice hefty points deduction. The PL's inability or unwillingness to act has been blamed on the fact they do not want their image tarnished but, in all honesty, I can't see how their failure to act can do anything BUT damage their image and I am not just saying this as a - somewhat biased, I admit - Saints fan who has no time whatsoever for the Sad Blew Few. Booting the Sk8s out of the league would restore the PL's dented credibility and show that they won't tolerate any nonsense. And what was that bollix about a waterlogged pitch at Nottarf Krap yesterday? It didn't rain that much and they had no more melted snow than anyone else... Stalling for time so they can get their African players back? This is all speculation, of course, far be it from me to cast any aspersions and I daresay we will find out what will happen and, hopefully, the full facts, in due course.

As for their challenge to the HMRC winding-up order, they are going to need the best of British luck on that one. The next few weeks are going to be very interesting.

Having grown up in Gosport and put up with all sorts of cr*p from their so called fans I dont care if they do go under. They have been on the fiddle for years and what is happening now has been on the cards for some time. The PL have until now turned a blind eye hoping some other mug will come along and pay off the debt but that looks highly unlikely now and the PL will have to do somehing or become the laughing stock of FIFA.

Hope Twitchy and his cronies all get done in the courts, a time inside would be fun for him but probably get a slap on the wrist, what would happen to you or I if we didnt pay our tax bill!! Twitchy, Storyteller and Mandolin all have stacks of money, simply greed!

See the latest from them is threatening to sue the PL, got to be dumbest move they could do! We all know what prats the FL are, and the PL are just the same, they make the rules so can do pretty much what they want. Suggest they may now want toask why pitch of a premier side couldnt take a small amunt of rain.

Hope HMRC, who must be hacked of that Chelsea get their hands on the sky money while they have to wait, win their case and push for the winding up order which will mean Administration, 9 point deduction, relegation and if we can avoid any last minute goals a local derby next year on an equal playing field, not their crap. and 6 easy points for us.

What is the expression: 'Sow the wind and you will reap the whirlwind' which could possibly be interpreted as 'your dodgy dealings will come back to haunt you, with interest'. That's what is happening to the sk8s, they have sown the wind with dodgy dealings and spending money they did not have and now the financial whirlwind is carrying them away.

matty07uk wrote:Having grown up in Gosport and put up with all sorts of cr*p from their so called fans I dont care if they do go under. They have been on the fiddle for years and what is happening now has been on the cards for some time. The PL have until now turned a blind eye hoping some other mug will come along and pay off the debt but that looks highly unlikely now and the PL will have to do somehing or become the laughing stock of FIFA.

Hope Twitchy and his cronies all get done in the courts, a time inside would be fun for him but probably get a slap on the wrist, what would happen to you or I if we didnt pay our tax bill!! Twitchy, Storyteller and Mandolin all have stacks of money, simply greed!

See the latest from them is threatening to sue the PL, got to be dumbest move they could do! We all know what prats the FL are, and the PL are just the same, they make the rules so can do pretty much what they want. Suggest they may now want toask why pitch of a premier side couldnt take a small amunt of rain.

Hope HMRC, who must be hacked of that Chelsea get their hands on the sky money while they have to wait, win their case and push for the winding up order which will mean Administration, 9 point deduction, relegation and if we can avoid any last minute goals a local derby next year on an equal playing field, not their crap. and 6 easy points for us.

Will the Skates buy themselves more time? I read that French side Lille are planning a 10 million euro bid for Younes Kaboul. Michel Seydoux, the president of Lille, is quoted in Le Parisien this morning saying he is willing "to put 10 million euros" on the table to secure the services of Kaboul.

Mind you that could include a wage packet and "other expenses". Lens may have something to say as they are always complaining that Pompey owe them money too.

Portsmouth have been dealt another blow after their application to have a winding up petition from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs struck out was dismissed by a High Court judge.
The club has argued that the VAT portion of its massive tax bill is too high by £7.5million, but failed to convince Mr Justice Newey of this.
A spokesperson for the Judicial Communications Office said: "At the High Court today Mr Justice Newey dismissed an application from Portsmouth Football Club Limited for a winding up petition to be struck out. A further hearing to consider HMRC's winding up petition will take place in due course."
That hearing is now expected on February 10, and the outcome could send Portsmouth a step closer to being the first Barclays Premier League club to drop into administration.

As the Metallica song goes:

For Whom The Bell Tolls...

Maybe not right now, but soon enough.

For Whom The Bell Tolls..Ring that one dopey Westwood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha ha. Just seen on Sky News that Sol Campbell is sueing Skates for £1.5m, for alleged nonpayment of appearance fees and image rights.

I wonder if any of their other high-profile former players will also come out of the woodwork over unpaid fees?

Be nice but I suspect most will want to keep a low profile so they dont expose just what they were being paid, £70k a week Crouch, Defoe, Johnson!! No wonder they are broke!! Never thought I would say this, thanks Harry

It gets worse: it seems Pompey still owe Udinese about £4 million for Sully Muntari and have missed a scheduled payment thought to be in the region of £700,000.

Pompey wanted to get Udinese to agree to defer the instalment, so that the Premier League would lift the transfer embargo and hand over £2 million in television payments it has withheld to distribute directly to football creditors.

Instead Udinese have taken a hard-line stance and have taken the case to Court for Arbitration for Sport the ultimate court of appeal in sport.

Udinese may argue for the entire £4 million be paid, claiming that Portsmouth's failure to meet the £700,000 instalment triggered a penalty clause requiring the outstanding balance to be settled immediately.

Never thought would like the taxman but his actions on a winding up order has got all the other people owed money getting twitchy they wont get anything unless they put in claims now.

Just wonder just how much they really owe.

It looks bad for the Sk8s. Normally you'd expect a club to go into admin and sort things out that way but, frankly, Pompey are so far up the malodorous brown creek without any means of propulsion that I think even admin won't be possible. It'll take either someone with bottomless pockets (and I can't see that happening, not with the ridiculous debts they have managed to rack up) or total liquidation to end this sorry tale.

If Pompey do disappear, surely that will force the football authorities to address the shifting sands that football finds itself on today? It's unsustainable. Today the skates, tomorrow Liverpool or even Manchester United?

I agree the debts that Man U and Liverpool have are huge but at least they have assets, stadiums, land, players plus commercial spending so for the big clubs will always be buyers but for smaller clubs in premiership thinks its a bit of curse. Players, agents, managers, chairman, chief executives all want their piece of the sky money (how much did Lowe drain from us!). Should introduce a wage cap like in American football, if it can work in the land of greed ought to be able to make work here except would need to be european league. Course there will be clamour wont work, no doubt pushed by the Agents who stand to lose the most!

matty07uk wrote:Be nice but I suspect most will want to keep a low profile so they dont expose just what they were being paid, £70k a week Crouch, Defoe, Johnson!! No wonder they are broke!! Never thought I would say this, thanks Harry

Double Agent Redknapp, or is that Triple Agent Redknapp? Anyway, after all the sh*t we put up with from the Sk8s about 'Agent Redknapp' when we went down I think that it is a particularly delicious piece of poetic justice that he has well and truly buggered them up - well, certainly had a hand in it, anyway. He only took Saints down, not helped to ruin us financially but he has completely and utterly almost single-handedly helped wreck the Skates.

I see their transfer embargo has been lifted. They really are a jammy bunch BUT can you see players wanting to go there? Not if they have any sense they won't.

It just gets better, official website goes off as havent paid the bill, advertising boards on Tuesday were switched off as havent paid the bill and good old arry cant resist a car boot sale and looks like buying couple of their few decent players and Dindane going to be sold by Lens to Birmingham. oh forgot looks like staff wont get paid at end of the week, again.

I guess if they cant pay the wages they may as well sell the players as they can walk out for nothing claiming breach of contract.

You have to feel sorry for what seems a genuine fan who didn't think twice about buying the company name!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/31/portsmouth-fan-told-pay-club-debts

Yep, I bet he wishes he'd steered well clear now.

How much longer before they completely implode, I wonder?

They look certs for relegation too

Interesting.........

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1147794.html

They seem to have yet another new owner when a Hong Kong businessman seized control. It was something to do with a loan secured against the club, which wasn't paid and so he seized it. Although whether he owns PFC or just the ground, I don't know.
Saved? Or just another rearrangement of deckchairs on the Titanic? I suspect the latter. Sk8s aren't out of the woods yet. The club has also asked HMRC for a postponement of their hearing next week - I hope they don't get it. I hope they don't wriggle out of this.

As a taxpayer I hope HRMC go ahead with the court hearing, they can always give them 28 days to find the money if investment is out there as they did with Notts County. Any more delays and even more of the cash that is there will be syphoned of into some off shore account somewhere.

Plus fact that Storrie has been given more control should worry the taxman, he hasnt been that honest with them in the past has he?

Notts county got 28 days and Chester City 42 to find the funding.
I hope Pompey are put into admin and given time.