Chin Strain

Their playing staff is worth considerably more than ours - Boateng and Kaboul are worth a fair amount, as is Belhadj. Granted that some of that will go to other clubs, but they'll also be entitled to Sky money (albeit parachute payments). The ground is probably worth around £5m (we got that for the Dell 9 years ago). As or us, the stadium was a white elephant for Norwich Union. As soon as we went under they were left with a plot of land in a poor part of town, with a stadium on it that nobody would ever use. Without a football club the stadium is effectively worthless (makes you wonder why anyone would lend for a football stadium...), apart from the land it sits on. Staplewood is probably worth around £5m, plus the worth of any players - Llalana was probably the only one worth anything at around £1m. Bear in mind that McGolderick and Surman (I think) were sold whilst in admin. £13m was probably about right. Bet Norwich Union were stoked that Barclays pulled the plug on their £4m facility and cost NU around £20m!

No, he owns the land around FP. FP itself is subject to security against the Chainrai loan. Chainrai sued (and won) Arcadi Gaydamak for $23m this year http://archive.globes.co.il/searchgl/Court%20orders%20Gaydamak%20to%20pay%20Kushnir,%20Chainrai%20$23m_h_hd_2L34nDZaqDbmnC30mDJ0mC34sBcXqRMm0.html Chainrai suddenly turns up with a 'financial interest only' in Pompey. Now why would he want to loan money to Pompey? Why would he be interested in the ground? Would it be a surprise if the land around the ground went to Chainrai as part of the settlement deal? Is he likely to want the football club? I smell serious trouble for Pompey

I would be surprised if the creditors accept an offer that is less than the value of the assets, i.e. FP knocked down for development plus all players sold. Any administrator will be looking for at least that value, so approx £15m - £20m. Nobody's going to buy them at that price. They;re stuffed, assets will be liquidated and club will fold. End of.

I can't see the Sky money is anywhere near enough for them. Storrie admitted that it wasn't when he talked about living within their means. They need someone with a blank cheque. They may survive if they stay up, as there may be someone out there whose attracted by owning a PL club. However, the real cost of buying them is the cost of the debt (£60m - £90m) plus the cost of a stadium (£50m) plus a training facility (£10m). The one thing you can't buy is 32k supporters to fill the stadium and make them viable. In the meantime, someone has to bankroll them whilst all this is happening. Basically, they're looking at someone to spunk upwards of £200m in order to survive at this level.......in a recession.....

The stadium land is secured to Chainrai. The land around the ground is owned by Gaydamak, as SAF failed to take up the option to buy it. Chainrai recently sued Arcadi Gaydamak for $23m, and won. Suddenly he turns up as the latest loan provider to a football club that he's probably never heard of, and takes the ground as security. Club don't pay, he gets the ground, Gaydamak coughs up part of the $23m in the shape of the land around the ground, Chainrai builds a shopping complex / housing development / commercial venture of some sort. Gaydamak stands in line for his share of the player sales and asset stripping. Pompey declared homeless, bankrupt and busted down the leagues a la Aldershot to start again (presumably sharing a ground with Havant & Waterlooville). I suspect this is the likely scenario.

HMRC seem to be doing a good job at the moment..... If the two Arabs bought the debts in exchange for the land then they're stark raving bonkers - the land may be worth £5m, but nowhere near the levels of debt that Pompey have.

Part of the current problem is that the progress on the field has been largely at the expense of any progress off the field. If they had at least parted with some of the cash that they've been blowing on extortionate wages and transfer fees, on some kind of infrastructure (ground / training facility) then they may be a worthwhile punt for a wealthy owner. As they haven't, they're borderline worthless. Storrie, let's not forget, earns in excess of £1.25m p.a. (if you believe what you read). Surely someone in his position should be able to spot a decent investor from someone who's flying a kite. To get caught once is poor...to get caught twice is inexcusable. I've been saying to my Pompey supporting friends for years that they have nothing tangible to show for the years of indulgence, starting with Mandaric. Now it looks like that lack of infrastructure will cost them dearly.

I don't think Gaydamak will make any money out of this. Chenrai has successfully sued Arcadi Gaydamak in Israel for $23m as he failed to buy one of Chenrai's companies, as promised in a legally binding document. Add in that Chenrai has 'no interest in investing in Pompey' (and has come from nowhere) to the fact that Gaydamak owns the land around the ground, and you have the final piece in the jigsaw for repayment of the $23m. I suspect that the Gaydamak's are almost financially ruined, and will be looking to reap any cash they can from player sales. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Gaydamak who was the one who pushed Pompey over the edge.

I think you'll find that Al Faim and Al Faraj have put approximately nothing into the club. They may own / have owned the club, but it wouldn't have cost anything to buy in the first place given the level of outstanding debt and poor facilities. SAF was probably getting a bit excited about the kudos that he thought owning a PL club would bring. Al Faraj (if he exists) I suspect is having a punt on them keeping their PL status and making a quick buck. Either way, these two don't have a pot to **** in. What strikes me as odd is why Chainnrai wants to provide loans to Pompey to pay the wages - he's either getting an extortionate interest rate, or has an interest in the ground (that is the security against the loans), and potential to develop it. This may be tied up with him suing Arcadi Gaydamak and winning $23m. Gaydamak senior (sorry, junior....) also owns the land around the ground. Do I smell a commercial development?

The only way the players will be paid tomorrow is if Pompey have been given FA permission to sell players, and receive money, prior to the window opening (I understand that this has been requested). Otherwise, expect players wages to be deferred until the first transfer fee comes in. Also, most clubs want to stage transfer fee payments over a number of months / years, some with add ons for appearances etc. With Pompey's current plight, they will be after cash up front deals. Without a doubt this will involve a lower fee received.

I guess the difference is that we had something saleable to a new buyer. Pompey haven't got any such assets, and have a ground secured against a loan to a HK businessman. Any buyer of Pompey will have to stump up at least the worth of the assets - probably around £10 - £15m - and hope that Gaydamak and Chainrai don't still have other plans for the ground and land surrounding it. The question is; who is going to stump up that kind of money for a name? Markus bought a brand new ground, great training facilities and big catchment area for his £13m. I can honestly see Pompey going out of business completely.

TBF 4 of those were in August and early September when Pardew was still sorting the team out.

TBF Todd only 'played' for us 10 times between 97-98 so he doesn't count. He is, however, the worst player I have ever seen in a Saints shirt.....comfortably (I include Ali Dia in that). What makes it worse is Jones spunked £850k on him. Ouch.

Portsmouth F.C.

I think you're right PES. We struggled to sell the club with our facilities. With yours, and a couple of creditors who are not about to kiss goodbye to what's owed to them, you'll be looking at finding someone with at least £10m to buy the club from the administrators. Then they'll have to find another £50m (probably nearer £75m) minimum to get the club to the sort of standards, facilities wise, that we have.

Hmmm, I see you've added £110k to the actual asking price....is that your finders fee?!

True. He's renting until March, and then moving into the summer house. They've also got a plot of land that they will be building a house on, and that's the plan, although they need to get their ideas down on paper first, so it may take a while!

I agree. Nobody is going to pay good money for the club given the level of debt. As far as I see it, only Gaydamak stands to lose anything by admin. Even then, he'll be looking to recoup as much as possible by selling off assets....including the ground. Everyone else seems to have taken a speculative punt on finding someone to give them a quick profit. I don't see either SAF or Al Faraj having actually put money in to the situation (maybe SAF has, but only because he's a plank). The money to fund the wages seems to have come from a loan from Chainnai, who has been in court with Arcadi Gaydamak this year....work that one out.... In short, I think they're a reasonable proposition for someone taking them for next to nothing from an administrator, and running them based on income generated. Admin will almost certainly mean relegation, so they may get parachute payments, assuming that's not part of any administration order. Apart from that, they're borderline worthless unless someone (bank, Gaydamak, Chainnai) are prepared to write off their debt. The Administrator will work for the creditors to get the best deal. The land is probably worth a few million (assuming that's owned by PFC as opposed to Gaydamak....). Otherwise, where's the attraction? They need a new ground, training facility and a complete rebuild. So you need someone with a bare minimum £50m to build that. In the 2-3 years it takes to build all that, who knows which division they'll be in. If NEwcastle with their proven supporter bases and fantastic facilities can't attract a buyer at £50m - £100m, how will Pompey....bearing in mind Newcastle look like swapping places with Pompey? I can honestly see them going to the wall.

I suspect it's down to finances rather than work permit, if you believe everything you hear about the Glazers.

You've gone and got that horribly wrong...

This is a good read.... That's a lot of money to find in a month....and it excludes however much they need to pay to lift the transfer embargo. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/02/portsmouth-transfer-embargo

He should never pay for this club again, after his missed penalty at QPR in his last game (I think). He just wandered up the pitch not giving a toss, whilst QPR broke up the other end. I also heard that Doddy smacked him in the mouth after one stroppy incident.

Yes, and then he took a dive later in the game trying to get a penalty. You may remember that MS got in his face and had a right go at him. MS told me that Henry said to him 'I stayed on my feet at the start of the game'. Bit of an aside, but Henry asked Claus where MS was the next time we played Arsenal, when MS was injured. 'He's a crazy man' said Henry.....:rock:

Not quite. Maradona in 86 was loads worse.