TopGun

Far worse things to be called!!

I think they're non-contract players but TB has dressed the term up as a monthly contract on the basis that he has the money to pay them some peanuts for a month. I guess he's also footing the short term insurance that will be required on the players. It's clear that he can't sign contracted players until the FL lifts the embargo.

Yeah but at least they're just a load of down on luck and not very good desperados in the main. So not going to be much good.

This is just a barely veiled demand of little consequence that Birch keeps his bills down between now and December. He's going to have plenty to do and he isn't going to reduce his hourly fees. Porky Penny adding nothing to the issue but getting a bit more publicity.

So it seems that a few things will happen today: * Portsmouth possibly sign 10 non-contract players to get around the embargo. Obviously they will be some of the triallists and other free agents so probably a rag-tag lot but I think we want to know the terms on which the FL has allowed them to sign these individuals. * News is reporting the PST have until December to turn pledges into cash so they will definitely enter the new season in admin if FL and PKF allow it it. So no 10 point reduction yet either. * Birch to get more fees if admin continues.

The FL have replied to my enquiry about whether Pompey had fielded an ineligible player last night in Ashley Westwood. They state that he had signed non-contract terms so was eligible. I was referred to section 56 of this document that explains it. http://www.football-league.co.uk/regulations/20110629/section-6-players_2293633_2125731#56 I reckon that this is what Jordan Cross is referring to also when he says that there will be movement on the player front today or tomorrow. Portsmouth are attempting to bolster the ranks by signing all the triallists on non-contract terms for Saturday.

Naming Richard Hughes is significant as he has been acting on behalf of the other players, so I don't imagine they're going to roll over to the PST and drop the TB agreed compromises of £8m by £6m.

What a tough interview!

I've just sent an enquiry/complaint to the FL about Pompey playing Ashley Westwood as an unregistered player in the game earlier. I don't see how he was allowed to play as somebody brought in as a coach under the player transfer embargo. I'll let nutjobs know whether I get a response.

I guess you need to state how much they can afford as monthly rent.

I think he can get loans until 30 August as well as freebies and purchases but they have to be out of admin first.

Yes, my mistake, I meant 1300CHF rather than Euros. 1500CHF is probably a good rate for a 2-bed apartment now.

Excellente. It's going to be fun whatever happens.

I think it's clear that there are a few hacked off councillors who voted through the £1.45m possible loan funds to the PST when both the PST and PKF hid the £1.8m fees from them. A charade that lasted two days until Chinny spilt the beans via the press! Quite excellent that Appy is starting to lose the plot in public though. We are witnessing a meltdown.

Chinny is asking for £200K off the £1.8m PKF fees and deferment of a further £200K... http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11674/7984047/Chainrai-calls-for-admin-fee-cut Also says he will invest PPs into the club to "rebuild it from the bottom." Hmmm...

That's over 4 years as creditors under a new Portpin regime. The PPs would be collected sooner and Portpin would then likely walk off having put Pompey back into admin and subsequent liquidation. Nobody including TB thinks that the £8.4m to the players is for real.

My sister lives in Thoiry, a French village in the Jura foothills just beyond CERN. Very nice standard of living and easy 25 minute commute to central Geneva. Not cheap though. But it's far less congested traffic on that side of Geneva than travelling in from the south-east of Geneva as the roads on that side are bad in rush hour. She previously rented a reasonable sized modern 2-bed serviced apartment on the road in from CERN about a mile from the centre for about 1300 Euros per month. It was right on the tram route so was pretty good for most things. My sister drove her UK-plated car for a couple of years but then got hassled by the authorities about it so she bought a French-registered car when she moved to Thoiry. Geneva can appear expensive but most people get paid a good salary and the taxes are lighter than UK ones.

Nestle one assumes?

It was confirmed to me earlier by a PCC councillor that the PPs for the next 11 months are £5.58m. He also said that Birch will be paid from PPs already received by the club. That leaves a bit of ambiguity if £5.58m is about to land on the coffers of the PFC owner and Birch is just about to exit but it adds up.

I'm with BTF's view. I've struggled to figure out what Dune even does for a living as he seems to post here all day long. I guess there must be life assurance from when his partner had enough and topped herself!!

But the PCC loan proposal is based on no commercial purchaser for the club i.e. no Chinny. So all it ever was is a political statement, not one they have to follow through with. I have very little doubt that the PCC officers and lead councillors had a pre-council meeting about this. If Chinny pulls out, then they have to make good their otherwise empty promises made only for PR reasons. But they will be reasonably confident that they are not on the hook as TB will have told them Chinny is about to sign. Which possibly only delays more torture for PFC fans used to Prem with no questions asked, but that's beside the immediate point for the politicans.

I guess the main plus point is that Pompey are now on a fair playing field financially assuming Chinny does the deal. If the PST had £350,000 down as player purchasing funds for the season and a total player salary outlay of £2.6m I'd think we can assume that Chinny won't be much different, if not less, as he will sweep up the £11.8m parachutes outstanding (minus whatever TBH gained as last man standing and whatever PKF and the other football creditors are due). Plus they will be scrutinised for five years in theory. So they start at -10 points, have relatively few funds in comparison to the whopping credit card funded monies they have had before and are in a similar revenue situation to L1 teams like Coventry, Doncaster and Preston, except they have to pay CVA dues. So probably at least three seasons of L1 anyway and very unlikely to do much in the Championship afterwards. And that ignores the FP and surrounding land issues as well as a lack of a decent training ground and so on.

That's my take on it also. Local politicians are depressingly predictable.

Got this back from Cllr Mason, Head of Resources: Dear The administrator informs us that his fees will be taken from 'parachute payments' already received by the club. For all legal purposes he is the club. The parachute payments due in the next eleven months total £5.58 million. This will be a difficult call for the Council since although any loan would come out of reserves, we still have to make very substantial on-going cuts for the year 2013-2014. I regret that since I will be out of the country on Thursday I will not be able to be at the Full Council. Hugh Mason.

The council may vote yes in principle but it's the conditions that will scupper it in reality - e.g. x amount of money on deposit plus loan security for the £1.45m. Not that it probably matters if Chinny's doing the deal with TB.