hutch

And here now as well. Call me a liar for 15 minutes.

Salary payments at the end of the month Transfer window closes

Pardew's too busy signing players. Merrington's writing the script.

Still 25 minutes to go. I'll let you know.

I doubt it. He's just not going to Stoke.

It's coming, but not for another hour or so here (I'm about 40 miles away)

Definately. Poll?

If the new signings work, surely we need to keep Murty for the cup games? Some of the others are tied.

Yeah, but if the owner, manager, club and player had anything to do with the skates, it's probably true, it had nothing to do with football.

Bright and sunny here this morning. But at this time of year that can change very quickly.

Well, that should make ole Saggy's chops sag a bit more. Wouldn't it be nice if Spuds did the decent thing? I'm sure Saggy's garden needs a lot of attention. Now that the full extent of their predicament is becoming a reality, I am actually begining to feel a bit sorry for the Club and the true Blue Few. I think Saggy has a lot to do with the recent depth of the animosity between the 2 clubs. COYCPS!!!!!

Weather's not great down here at the moment. Don't give up hope yet.

Nah, it's because the Skates won't accept a promise of a cut of future giro revenue as payment anymore. They want cash.

I agree, Dune. Personally I would ban all blue-rinsed Grannies from all airports and aeroplanes.

Am I wrong in thinking that it doesn't really matter to PFC what the PL decide? It seems to me that the embargo will only be lifted if Pompey can clear all their outstanding football-related debts (no matter how) and convince the PL that they will meet their future football-related liabilities. The options are that: a) The PL use Pompey's Sky payment to pay clubs. There is some doubt about how much is due or overdue, and whether foreign club debts are included. So that may or may not clear the current debt. If the PL don't pay Pompey's foreign debts, they will surely require a guarantee that Pompey will before lifting the embargo. b) The PL give the money to Pompey on the understanding that Pompey will clear those debts themselves Now, here's where I'm guessing and applying common sense rather than knowledge of insolvency practice, but is it not the case that HMRC's winding-up petition was pre-emptive? If Pompey get the money, and spend it on anything other than paying their tax bills, and HMRC succeed in Court next month (do they ever lose?), will the Directors not become personally liable for the tax bills? So the PL can either give the money to Pompey so that it eventually finds it's way into HM's half-empty coffers, or to the clubs and let HM whistle. And either way the embargo will stay in place. And even if it was lifted, DP's comments are valid. How on earth would Pompey persuade any PL-standard football players to join them? Oh, I know - give them a cut of future TV money instead of wages. Sorted.

Could they take Ferdinand (or any other player) in part exchange with the embargo in place? I assume the embargo applies to registering any additional players to play for Pompey until it is lifted.

... and :- "First, we have to stay up and we can only do that if the Premier League lifts our transfer embargo." They think it's all over. It is now!

No. Apparently it's Johnny, his father, his brother, his cousin and his uncle. So it's only 2 of them.

Haven't they got a tough replay at Derby tonight? That should keep them fresh.

I'm not expecting to still be in League 1 the season after next, so we won't be playing them then.

Maybe they are begining to see the light! http://frattonise.blogspot.com/2010/01/help-dig-pompey-out-of-mire.html

... and, provided that you buy good players, with a few years left in them, the transfer fee is not really an issue. You would expect to get that back, and a bit more, if you need to. The real issue is wages, and we have a very good income for this league, due to the almost astonishing attendance figures and the cup runs. NC doesn't seem to me to be the type to bust the budget on a whim or an ego trip.

Whatever the squad is valued at, a lot of that value is in players who have already played for 2 clubs this season, therefore their value cannot be realised now when the cash is urgently needed. Offload players to a new club now, who would then pay their wages for 6 months before they play? What do you think.

Surely Portsmouth Football Club have already been replaced by AFC Portsmouth. My understanding of the definition of a PROFESSIONAL sportsman is someone who gets paid for participating in sport. I do hope they pay the players soon. I want them to hang on by the skin of their teeth for the rest of this season, and take the penalty points next season in the CCC.

You have to hand it to Storrie. He was spot on. This is definately a new level that I don't believe. But I suspect there are plenty more new levels to come.