Pompey Takeover Saga

[Micky]

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/514290265?-11209

 

Just an update ladies and gentlemen

 

To be fair to them (the trust) they appear to be doing a good job of highlighting this issue and not pulling any punches with their reporting and assessment of it.

 

The 'spin' that is being quoted though is somewhat hard to believe. The club have no problems in negotiation complex transfer arrangements for numerous players, but can't see their way through the 'red tape' that blocks payment to the man in the street. Me, sceptical at best.

 

And to think that this is a matter of only 120k (is that right?), which in footballing terms is nothing short of loose change, is pretty disgusting really. 2 or 3 weeks wages of some of their high earners and the man in the street could get his money back.

 

Is the club just showing contempt for it's supporters, or is it actively really trying to repay what those supporters are owed. I wonder.

[gaz]

THAT is what is depressing many skate mates I have. It's what I and others on here foresaw when we tried to put a Virtual arm round OldNick to tell him not to worry about "Them Getting Away With It".

 

They survived, and remain stuck in the same lingering nightmare.

 

I think the phrase is, ''We're alive....but are we living?''

 

To be fair to them (the trust) they appear to be doing a good job of highlighting this issue and not pulling any punches with their reporting and assessment of it.

 

The 'spin' that is being quoted though is somewhat hard to believe. The club have no problems in negotiation complex transfer arrangements for numerous players, but can't see their way through the 'red tape' that blocks payment to the man in the street. Me, sceptical at best.

 

And to think that this is a matter of only 120k (is that right?), which in footballing terms is nothing short of loose change, is pretty disgusting really. 2 or 3 weeks wages of some of their high earners and the man in the street could get his money back.

 

Is the club just showing contempt for it's supporters, or is it actively really trying to repay what those supporters are owed. I wonder.

 

The Trust should be applauded for their work in trying to get to the bottom of things. I can see them doing the fundraising and paying off the small creditors rather than the club though.

[JackFrost]

Here you go!

 

Woopert Lowe, we had a funny song (for those protesting whilst attending matches) called Swing Lowe...

 

 

 

I think someone even mixed a song up about it, 'Lowe must Go' or something...

 

Now get down to the Hard and go mud diving for some pennies - the rich Sotonians are chucking money off the side, dont miss out!

 

Ah yes, one of the few things that brought most of the fans together back then - a whole rendition of 'Swing Lowe'.

 

"Swing Lowe, swing Rupert Lowe

Hang him from the Itchen Bridge"

 

that's as far as I remember of that number these days

[eurosaint]

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/514290265?-11209

 

Just an update ladies and gentlemen

 

Hats off to their trust for being realistic in that "this issue reflects badly on PFC, the club and it's supporters" !

It's just a pity that serial deniers such as Corp Ho Ho prefer to 'defend the indefensible' !!!

[100%Red&White]

I think the statistical gems you are after are these...

 

1994/1995 - Championship - av attendance: 8,269

1995/1996 - Championship - av attendance: 9,407

1996/1997 - Championship - av attendance: 8,854

 

Basically when pompey have a boycott similar to ours their support drops to AFC Bournemouth levels.

 

Corpy ho-ho-ho was quoting our worse attendances that season (to watch the Youth team get relegated - actually very good crowds for Youth football!) our best was well over 25,000 I believe. Whereas the figures you quote for the blue-few were their 'average', I'm sure if you look a bit closer you'll see plenty of fartton games with gates of around 5 or 6000. Probably around the same time they were getting just a couple of thousand for home cup games.

[saintjay77]

I can understand the difficulties in paying the small creditors as it does create a situation where people would rather 2.5k than 20p in the £ of 2.6k. So sorting out who gets what must be tricky.

 

Arguing over who should pay it makes the club look like absolute tools though.

 

Maybe there are no rules in place to stop this kind of sweetner from being offered in the 1st place. Seems to me like it's nothing more than a feel good factor offer for the owners to try and get votes needed but opens up so many problems the authorities could do with making it illegal in the future.

[rallyboy]

all the debts were proven to AA and he listed them to the court after carefully investigating each and every one of them - so there is nothing to dispute.

 

Unless of course the debt figures he conjured up don't quite match the figures now due for payment?

Did he move a decimal point or two perhaps, just to leave the taxman in the cold?...now people are watching to see what is paid and the figures don't quite add up.

A meeting with HMRC and the court to explain that would be a meeting worth delaying.

 

(Thats a little conspiracy just to keep Ho amused, better than listening to ludicrous pub myths and publically declaring them as fact.)

 

 

Lampitt says pompey are a third party to all that has gone before.

He is distancing them from the debt, but still happy to be associated with the cup win?

 

The old problem, trying to embrace the glory while ignoring the crime behind it.

Gobbing off about Harry and the arms dealer's achievements but slagging them off after they've left the sinking ship.

Tis a confusing and fickle business when a cup is financed by taxpayers and you have to be selective about the bits you want to remember.

 

Unlike accountancy that is quite simple and generally goes like this -

Small creditor does agreed work.

He bills you.

You pay it.

 

By now they must have paid more in management and accountancy fees to ignore this debt than to pay it.

But the simple cost of closing the book on this massive PR gaffe that has bankrupted local businesses and damaged the club name even further?

 

Less than a months wages for one player.

[View From The Top]

What I protested about was that we were no longer even remotely trying to operate as a football club, we were trying to reduce outgoings. The team was incapable of competing in the league it was in because we had sold or loaned out anyone who could play at that level. Add to that a manager with less experience than the average schoolmaster, and many people, me included, did not think it was worth propping up Rupert lowe and Mike Wilde by buying tickets.

 

I and others like me knew that the only way to rid our selves of Lowe was to stop going, and force the club into admin, or into the ownership of someone else. It was a gamble that could have had very serious consequences, but the alternative, in my mind was worse.

 

When Lowe and Wilde were removed by the administrator, I started going to games again.

 

None of this has any relevance to you lot, apart from the fact once again it underlines the different approaches each club took to going bust. One tried to balance the books and avoid it, the other just hoped it would go away.

 

Now we are a football club again I and many others will accept good and bad times, and support it with ticket money, but I would stop going if we reverted to playing the Youth Team and charging £30 to watch again.

 

We won't know if your fans are the same, because you have refused to play the youth team, preferring the has-been approach, and still the attendance drops.

 

Excellent.

[holepuncture]

Small creditor does agreed work.

He bills you.

You pay it.

 

By now they must have paid more in management and accountancy fees to ignore this debt than to pay it.

But the simple cost of closing the book on this massive PR gaffe that has bankrupted local businesses and damaged the club name even further?

 

Less than a months wages for one player.

 

Very well put Rallyboy, they are a disgrace and once again, in a similar mould to the St.Johns Ambulance scandal, they are expecting the mug fans to pay it off again...

 

The same with the childrens cancer charities, just guilt the fans into setting up a just-giving page, and let them scrape the funds together... **** em says Limpitt... weve got multimillion pound player bids to worry about, who gives a **** if terry the builder goes under, or if some little cancer ridden child dies because were stitching them of vital equipment and funding... **** em all, im the former FA HEAD OF INTEGRITY and il do whatever the **** i like...

 

any problems, please take it up with Mr. Dubovs revolver...

 

Fair play to the pompey trust, but it really is utterly disgusting that they are having to intervene at all on such an awful scenario...

 

How utterly shameful of pompey to act like this, it is truly staggering and perhaps the dwindling attendences reflect the moral realisation from the skates that they just cant endorse their murderous football club any longer...

 

first it was maiming children in Angola, that was at a distance and they had just signed Defoe so they didnt care... now they are killing local kids and signing crocked benjanis the skate fans have perhaps found a shred of moral fibre?

 

I dont think there is a single entity in the history of sport that has behaved anywhere near as despicably as the skate fc

 

you dirty cheating skate bastards....

[stevegrant]

For whoever it was that found that CCJ at Northampton County Court, did the listing show who had made the claim against the club? On a slightly more general note, is it possible to find a list of CCJs dished out by a court on a particular day?

[Wes Tender]

What I protested about was that we were no longer even remotely trying to operate as a football club, we were trying to reduce outgoings. The team was incapable of competing in the league it was in because we had sold or loaned out anyone who could play at that level. Add to that a manager with less experience than the average schoolmaster, and many people, me included, did not think it was worth propping up Rupert lowe and Mike Wilde by buying tickets.

 

I and others like me knew that the only way to rid our selves of Lowe was to stop going, and force the club into admin, or into the ownership of someone else. It was a gamble that could have had very serious consequences, but the alternative, in my mind was worse.

 

When Lowe and Wilde were removed by the administrator, I started going to games again.

 

None of this has any relevance to you lot, apart from the fact once again it underlines the different approaches each club took to going bust. One tried to balance the books and avoid it, the other just hoped it would go away.

 

Now we are a football club again I and many others will accept good and bad times, and support it with ticket money, but I would stop going if we reverted to playing the Youth Team and charging £30 to watch again.

 

We won't know if your fans are the same, because you have refused to play the youth team, preferring the has-been approach, and still the attendance drops.

 

I was in exactly the same position regarding the boycott of matches, even though holding a ST at the time. Likewise, I took a stand that ultimately I'd prefer to miss matches I'd paid for in the expectation that if sufficient others took the same stand, Lowe and the Quisling would not be able to sustain the finances and would be forced out. Yes, it was a gamble with very high stakes, but I always considered ourselves a good investment with the assets we had.

 

So Corp Whore, you will just have to accept that it is entirely possible that there were actually sufficient quantity of other like-minded individuals to have reduced the numbers below the level of financial break-even. If you cannot entertain that possibility, then tough titties; I'm not going to lose to lose any sleep over it.

[70's Mike]

financial break even means nothing at Fratton, even with a full house they cannot take enough to pay the bills

[Saints foreva]

http://fansonline.net/portsmouth/mb/view.php?id=366069

 

£20m in debt? No pot to **** in? We were interested in that new striker they've got?

 

Where do they get this information from?

 

Deluded fools.

[Thedelldays]

http://fansonline.net/portsmouth/mb/view.php?id=366069

 

£20m in debt? No pot to **** in? We were interested in that new striker they've got?

 

Where do they get this information from?

 

Deluded fools.

christ on a bike.....they are very bitter again....guess normal service is resumed when you read utter trash like that......

[SuperMikey]

http://fansonline.net/portsmouth/mb/view.php?id=366069

 

£20m in debt? No pot to **** in? We were interested in that new striker they've got?

 

Where do they get this information from?

 

Deluded fools.

 

With the lack of information coming out of the club, there's only going to be hearsay around concerning our financial situation. Wouldn't be surprised if we were in debt at the moment, although £20m is a rather laughable figure considering our debts were cleared when ML bought the club this time 2 years ago. Racking up £20m in debt in 2 seasons would be very difficult indeed for a club that spent 2 years in League One, especially considering we've spent...

 

Transfers 2009-Present (Prices estimated in some cases)

2009-10 (£3.35m)

Murty - Free

Jaidi - Free

Harding - Free

Lambert - £1.2m

Hammond - £400k

Fonte - £1.2m

Seaborne - £275k

Otsemobor - Free

Barnard - £125k

Puncheon - £150k

2010-11 (£1.3m)

Richardson - £200k

Dickson - £130k

Butterfield - Free

Guly - £600k

Chaplow - £80k

Forte - £100k

Stephens - £200k

2011-12 (£4.05m)

De Ridder - £1.5m

Cork - £750k

Fox - £1.8m

 

I tot that up to around £8.7m, which is covered by Oxo's transfer by a long way. Each seasons' spending would be mostly covered by ST sales, TV money and investment from ML as well, so I can't see much debt being racked up through there. Are we still paying the mortgage on SMS, or was that cleared by ML as well?

 

It's easy to speculate when there's no cold, hard facts circulating around about our situation financially.

[Katalinic]

For whoever it was that found that CCJ at Northampton County Court, did the listing show who had made the claim against the club? On a slightly more general note, is it possible to find a list of CCJs dished out by a court on a particular day?

 

I found the post you are referring to and checked against Portsmouth Football Club (2010) Limited but there are no CCJ's against them which presumably means it was either an error or satisfied.

[gaz]

With the lack of information coming out of the club, there's only going to be hearsay around concerning our financial situation. Wouldn't be surprised if we were in debt at the moment, although £20m is a rather laughable figure considering our debts were cleared when ML bought the club this time 2 years ago. Racking up £20m in debt in 2 seasons would be very difficult indeed for a club that spent 2 years in League One, especially considering we've spent...

 

Transfers 2009-Present (Prices estimated in some cases)

2009-10 (£3.35m)

Murty - Free

Jaidi - Free

Harding - Free

Lambert - £1.2m

Hammond - £400k

Fonte - £1.2m

Seaborne - £275k

Otsemobor - Free

Barnard - £125k

Puncheon - £150k

2010-11 (£1.3m)

Richardson - £200k

Dickson - £130k

Butterfield - Free

Guly - £600k

Chaplow - £80k

Forte - £100k

Stephens - £200k

2011-12 (£4.05m)

De Ridder - £1.5m

Cork - £750k

Fox - £1.8m

 

I tot that up to around £8.7m, which is covered by Oxo's transfer by a long way. Each seasons' spending would be mostly covered by ST sales, TV money and investment from ML as well, so I can't see much debt being racked up through there. Are we still paying the mortgage on SMS, or was that cleared by ML as well?

 

It's easy to speculate when there's no cold, hard facts circulating around about our situation financially.

 

 

Don't worry, the thick Skate barstewards could never learn add up properly when they have 12 fingers per hand.

[COMEONYOUREDS]

pompey have the "best 11,000 fans in the world"

 

Pound for pound, THE GRATEST

[Frank's cousin]

Have to laugh.... that Skate site does reveal a combination of bitterness and stupidity - with the odd decent fan trying to offer a blanced opinion - seriously thay must be as stupid.... The annual accounts do indeed show a liabilty all to ML (now his estate) which is typical for such privately owned enterprizes as it is better for tax reasons etc and is equivilent to the money paid for the club - The day to day finances show we are working within a budget that is affordable for our income with Liebherr Estate funding certain projects such as Staplewood etc. Although NC is quite rightly quiet on these issues (it is afterall the way the Swiss do business), He did at one time hint that its Markus left 'provision' in his will for the club, and that he had already sought assurnaces from the family that they woudl continue to support MLs vision. Now it may well be that eventually they do wish to sell the sell the club. However, The great thing for saints will be that we will be sold as a club that is debt free, has a solid infrastructure and a great potential to be an established prem clunb once more. I am also convinced that both the family and NC would not sell to some two bit russians of dubious charater or local numpties who leverage the club to pay for the purchase... I genuinely believe this not out of some false sense of wishful thinking, but because EVERYTHING ML and NC have done both previously and with Saints has been honorable and with a strong sense of ethics and integrity - ML was reknowned in business for having supported the growth of his companies WITHOUT ever borrowing or getting into debt, but through wise investment (as we see now with Staplewood) - So even if the long term aim was/is a sale, we can rest assured that teh reason they will make a good return is because they have Built a viable, and strong business that will be a very attractive proposition - sure there is the risk that any future buyer might cock it all up/play thing/flease teh club etc... I have no crystal ball... but given the closeness of the friendship between Markus and NC, The integrity they have shown to date, I can only see such a sale going ahead if we were placed in the 'right' hands.

 

To pompey I say this: I believe its disgraceful the way various owners have treated your club - and I would forget about idolising Mandrich as a'real football person' - he is like most only in it for the money, otherwise he would have done far better due diligence before selling out to the various complex owners that followed - or did he not care about you once he took his 30 mil?

 

We were VERY lucky in finding ML, we cant deny that. BUt I will say again, despite what most Saints think, we were worth a punt by ML and NC because in the past someone took teh decison to invest in infrastructure and was willing to do this despite the often very vocal calls from many fans for more spending or 'investment' in the first team - money for transfers to line other clubs pockets and huge wages that just dissappear - sure he got the balance wrong, but the legacy was that we appeared on the NC radar as a good proposition... remember a 30K seater stadium is now going to cost in excess of 100mil... I genuinely hope that one day pompey get a decent owner who is prepared to develop their club - football needs decent rivalries (without the stupid hatred) - but what goes around comes around - if their club really wants to attract someone who is ethical and insightful about what the club means, the club needs to exorcise about 120 mil demons first - accept what has happened as wrong and make amends - maybe then they will find more folk willing to see them as genuinely worth developing. The denial and bitterness leaves a very bad smell hanging over the place and thats is never goiung to attract a genuine white knight.

[Chez]

I can understand the difficulties in paying the small creditors as it does create a situation where people would rather 2.5k than 20p in the £ of 2.6k. So sorting out who gets what must be tricky.

 

PFC may be saying this is the reason but it's utter ********. The creditors had to put their claim in long ago. PFC just pay out to those that fell under £2500 at the time and ignore any reduced claims. Bull**** excuse.

[CumbrianSaint]

Apologies if this has already been posted but here are some leaked documents from Harrys tax case

 

http://thestory.ie/2011/08/03/harry-redknapp-tax-evasion-and-mandarics-offshore-account/

[Chez]

 

It's easy to speculate when there's no cold, hard facts circulating around about our situation financially.

except the set of accounts that were published showing there was well over £20m of debt, albeit to the owner.

[spyinthesky]

I like the article from Swiss Rambler.

 

The comments about the Middle Eastern gentlemen interested in Pompey amongst them Sheik Yermoney, Sheik Itallabout, Sheik Rattelanroll and Sheik Anvac were spot on.

 

Wonder if anyone can reproduce Harrys flow chart of responses to post match interviews contained within the article.

 

Interesting that poor old Harry has suffered with an arson attack on a property on which he was trying to obtain planning permission in Southsea. So unfortunate.

[Thedelldays]

I like the article from Swiss Rambler.

 

The comments about the Middle Eastern gentlemen interested in Pompey amongst them Sheik Yermoney, Sheik Itallabout, Sheik Rattelanroll and Sheik Anvac were spot on.

 

Wonder if anyone can reproduce Harrys flow chart of responses to post match interviews contained within the article.

 

Interesting that poor old Harry has suffered with an arson attack on a property on which he was trying to obtain planning permission in Southsea. So unfortunate.

[EastleighSoulBoy]

I like the article from Swiss Rambler.

 

The comments about the Middle Eastern gentlemen interested in Pompey amongst them Sheik Yermoney, Sheik Itallabout, Sheik Rattelanroll and Sheik Anvac were spot on.

 

Wonder if anyone can reproduce Harrys flow chart of responses to post match interviews contained within the article.

 

Interesting that poor old Harry has suffered with an arson attack on a property on which he was trying to obtain planning permission in Southsea. So unfortunate.

 

I see what you are getting at with that last paragraph, cynical just like me but you don't really think someone was given a stuffed brown envelope, some matches and that address.......surely not?

 

Then suddenly he finds some £600K to fund the council building 'social housing' elsewhere other than within his development.

 

Such dubious thoughts never crossed my mind.

[Crab Lungs]

christ on a bike.....they are very bitter again....guess normal service is resumed when you read utter trash like that......

 

That is one of the most retarded conversations I've ever read. More shameless posturing over their past, stupid accusations and undervaluing Lallana "he's not that good". Idiots. I bet they think Liam Lawrence is better, ROFL.

[Crab Lungs]

They seem to think "pwning" someone is making up baseless facts and peddling them as truth until they pass out. F()cking retards.

[um pahars]

christ on a bike.....they are very bitter again....guess normal service is resumed when you read utter trash like that......

 

Indeed.

 

When you see threads and posts like that (the bitterness and angst is quality), then I think it is safe to assume that we are once again in the ascendancy and the 6 year blip in my lifetime has been corrected.

 

Some of the stuff on that thread is as small time as trying to justify the S.C.U.M. acronym.

[Gingeletiss]

Had a little chuckle....SSN reports that Poopey are unchanged from the team that beat Reading, not ferking hard that to predict!

[bridge too far]

I like the article from Swiss Rambler.

 

The comments about the Middle Eastern gentlemen interested in Pompey amongst them Sheik Yermoney, Sheik Itallabout, Sheik Rattelanroll and Sheik Anvac were spot on.

 

Wonder if anyone can reproduce Harrys flow chart of responses to post match interviews contained within the article.

 

Interesting that poor old Harry has suffered with an arson attack on a property on which he was trying to obtain planning permission in Southsea. So unfortunate.

 

Not wishing to excuse 'poor old 'arry' but I think he has planning permission for the property NEXT DOOR to the one that burned down, TBF. However, I guess it's quite handy to have that building burn down. Insurance and all that (allegedly).

[St Chalet]

Have the new owners been pictures in scarf or football shirt yet?

[70's Mike]

Have the new owners been pictures in scarf or football shirt yet?

 

nah just a tracksuit

[Saint_John]

I was reading the Daily Hate in a Coffee Shop this evening and I had to laugh at Des Kelly's comments re the Cheats :-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2028020/Des-Kelly-Tottenham-wont-forward-Arsenal-rejects.html

West Ham's Frederic Piquionne has been fined for fly-tipping after dumping unwanted rubbish in a nearby village. So could Portsmouth Football Club also face a fine, since they dumped Piquionne at the Boleyn Ground and I believe this also falls into the category of unwanted rubbish?

[the colonel]

Nation Lottery to visit Portsmouth (FC?) next week to give out monies.......perhaps they have now conned the lottery to pay off all their debts? Conned everyone else so????

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

Not wishing to excuse 'poor old 'arry' but I think he has planning permission for the property NEXT DOOR to the one that burned down, TBF. However, I guess it's quite handy to have that building burn down. Insurance and all that (allegedly).

 

Saggy Chops owns both sites. The one next door got knocked down ages ago and was to be completely rebuilt for flats. The one that got burnt down had planning permission for flats but was to be a renovation with the outside kept the same. Not sure whether it is convenient or not for the ugly

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

http://fansonline.net/portsmouth/mb/view.php?id=366069

 

£20m in debt? No pot to **** in? We were interested in that new striker they've got?

 

Where do they get this information from?

 

Deluded fools.

 

Apparently we don't own our training ground!

[Merovingian]

Had a little chuckle....SSN reports that Poopey are unchanged from the team that beat Reading, not ferking hard that to predict!

 

sort of is really as we left 3 players out of the squad

 

Huseklepp in just 5 mins looked our best player by a country mile, happy to say we look like mid table could be achieved which will be welcome all things considered

[CB Saint]

Apparently we don't own our training ground!

 

We don't, we lease it from a trust.

[sidthesquid]

We don't, we lease it from a trust.

 

What trust?

[CB Saint]

What trust?

 

Actually I think I f*cked up here. Certainly part of our facilities is leased but I think some is recognised in our balance sheet.

 

Re the trust - it is an old family trust (not mine unfortunately!). I know one of the trustees.

[Um Bongo]

7 points now.

 

Come on boys, Catch up. Getting a little one sided.

[dubai_phil]

Actually I think I f*cked up here. Certainly part of our facilities is leased but I think some is recognised in our balance sheet.

 

Re the trust - it is an old family trust (not mine unfortunately!). I know one of the trustees.

 

We own a large chuck of it, always have done. We also do lease a large chunk (that we could not buy) and we always have done.

 

Anyone plays with Google maps can see the shape of the whole Staplewood area and that is then pretty clear which area the extra practice pitches are on.

 

Jacksons Farm was always a plan B. The only reason that would have been needed would have been IF that edge of New Forest area had been changed to be approved for housing development.

 

HTH

[CB Saint]

We own a large chuck of it, always have done. We also do lease a large chunk (that we could not buy) and we always have done.

 

Anyone plays with Google maps can see the shape of the whole Staplewood area and that is then pretty clear which area the extra practice pitches are on.

 

Jacksons Farm was always a plan B. The only reason that would have been needed would have been IF that edge of New Forest area had been changed to be approved for housing development.

 

HTH

 

thanks phil. Caffeine hadn't reached the synapses when I posted the first response

[70's Mike]

We own a large chuck of it, always have done. We also do lease a large chunk (that we could not buy) and we always have done.

 

Anyone plays with Google maps can see the shape of the whole Staplewood area and that is then pretty clear which area the extra practice pitches are on.

 

Jacksons Farm was always a plan B. The only reason that would have been needed would have been IF that edge of New Forest area had been changed to be approved for housing development.

 

HTH

 

bought from Peter Price's company Road Sea I believe

[St Chalet]

Transfer Window looming shut. How much money do we reckon the Codfather will splash / want to clean?

[dubai_phil]

Transfer Window looming shut. How much money do we reckon the Codfather will splash / want to clean?

 

Shouldn't be too hard to work out, would need some Petrol Heads on the task.

 

He tried to buy Bompey at the start of last season (source Bompey Echo), it didn't happen.

 

Shortly afterwards CSI or some part of it announced they were Sponsoring an F1 team (believe it may have been Renault Williams). The guess was he spent his Bompey cash for the year on that.

 

So Petrol Heads task 1) Are they still a sponsor this season? 2) How much would it cost to put a logo on some wheels in F1?

 

If they are still sponsoring F1 then a fair guess would be they have less to spend than without that.....

[rallyboy]

Any new mystery investors coming in from Libya?....

 

Not sure they need to spend anything as Cotterill points out after every game that they were either -

a. robbed by the ref.

b. the better side.

 

No, they are doing fine with that squad - and how depleted can it get by December?

 

Rather than wasting time on strengthening I presume Lampitt is concentrating all of his efforts on trying to make sense of that hugely complicated and confusing paying back a charity scenario.

 

No funds for small creditors but here's another new striker!....the madness and criminality continues.

[Toomer]

bought from Peter Price's company Road Sea I believe

 

That is correct Mike, played for Road Sea in my younger days bloody good set up it was at the time.

[miserableoldgit]

Radio Solent quoting Clotterill saying that he wants three more signings before the window closes.

[Corporate Ho]

What I protested about was that we were no longer even remotely trying to operate as a football club, we were trying to reduce outgoings. The team was incapable of competing in the league it was in because we had sold or loaned out anyone who could play at that level. Add to that a manager with less experience than the average schoolmaster, and many people, me included, did not think it was worth propping up Rupert lowe and Mike Wilde by buying tickets.

 

I and others like me knew that the only way to rid our selves of Lowe was to stop going, and force the club into admin, or into the ownership of someone else. It was a gamble that could have had very serious consequences, but the alternative, in my mind was worse.

 

Let's be clear, when I said your boycott was "mythical" I was referring to an something organised and orchestrated en masse by one group rather than people just getting fed up and voting with their feet which is clearly what happened. Nothing wrong with that, you didn't like the "product" so stopped going. Pompey fans had to put up with that for 20 years or so, is it any wonder our gates dropped. Yours halved in a couple of years.

 

But back to depressed's post. What you seem to be saying is that you stopped going because you'd been overspending on players (by £700K a month according to one of your own fans in the replies section to The Echo article) and when Lowe tried to balance the books and you had to play some youth players you didn't like it because you weren't competitive and protested/ boycotted/ stopped going. That is what you wrote, isn't it?

 

Forget the Attendances, forget the Troll, the reason that this thread will have time to run and that the numbers are declining is that, putting it bluntly, the new boys in town don't appear to be selling a FUTURE for that scrap yard & it's customers. It is still all about the NOW, Plasters being applied to gaping wounds. Poopey - the club with the foresight of a Goldfish.

 

THAT is what is depressing many skate mates I have.

 

So what you're saying Phil is that Pompey fans you know feel this may be yet another false dawn and aren't prepared to pay £30 for tickets until the new owners prove they're not just another bunch of chancers. That's your reasoning, isn't it? Which is what I've been saying. Thanks for backing my stance, good to know you agree with me

 

Many Moons ago on the old Saints forever, the dull old attendance argument came up and there were some hideous (Sub 10,000) attendances quoted from years gone by for the blue few.....corps argument (And no doubt he will deny it, but 100% true) was they were protesting and staying away because of Gregory

 

Remember that corpy old boy :) :)

 

But our stay away protests don't count :)

 

Your "protests" are the same as our "protests". Get taken for a ride, poor value for money/ entertainment - vote with your feet. like I said, we had to put up with that from a succession of owners for 20 years. You try it for that long and see the effect on your gates

 

To be fair to them (the trust) they appear to be doing a good job of highlighting this issue and not pulling any punches with their reporting and assessment of it.

 

The 'spin' that is being quoted though is somewhat hard to believe. The club have no problems in negotiation complex transfer arrangements for numerous players, but can't see their way through the 'red tape' that blocks payment to the man in the street. Me, sceptical at best.

 

And to think that this is a matter of only 120k (is that right?), which in footballing terms is nothing short of loose change, is pretty disgusting really. 2 or 3 weeks wages of some of their high earners and the man in the street could get his money back.

 

Is the club just showing contempt for it's supporters, or is it actively really trying to repay what those supporters are owed. I wonder.

 

Chainrai agreed to pay the small creditors. It's a matter of public record. So let him pay them

 

Couple of other points. Lampitt says the charities were paid back in January. Would be surprised if they weren't given he's made a public statement:

 

"Similarly the fact that we have now paid in full the three main charities (Tom Prince, Harbour Cancer Trust and Faith & Football) that were owed money by the old company is part of that same process. We said that we wanted to have this done by Christmas and we have now, I hope, put to bed one of the most shameful aspects of the legacy we inherited. Our best wishes go out to each of those charities for the coming year."

http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/LatestNews/news/David-Lampitt-s-January-Diary-1771.aspx

 

Also, on the subject of attendences, I can't believe none of you felt you could share with me the fact that anyone with a ticket can bring along someone under 11 free of charge in the family section. Not knocking it, think it's a great initiative. Just surprised no-one mentioned it in the attendence talk