TopGun

I have no issue with people who make good points but have trouble with spelling. You can discern those people quite easily and quickly. It remains the case that many poor spellers are generally ill-educated and fairly ignorant of a relevant issue at hand.

I'm encouraged by Trevor Birch's slash and cut actions. I don't necessarily want Pompey to be liquidated but I want them to understand what is reasonably fair. It's totally clear that Andronikou had entirely different priorities in mind (i.e. protecting Chanrai) but it's pretty obvious he could have taken the same actions as Birch has done in the last few days to cut costs. It's also clear that he didn't believe he would get the buy in from the players to forego a month's wages, although I don't expect that was on his own priority list as he was just hoping to get to admin in order to liquidate assets for Chanrai anyway. Either way, it's interesting as Saints observers. The outstanding CVA looks to be the biggie even if they get to April on cashflow.

TDD is not right because any purchasing decision of that magnitude would have to be in line with government policy signed off by the top politicians and civil servants at the MOD in the first place before the procurement committee get hold of it. The same senior politicians and civil servants would also sign off (or not) on the ultimate decision of the procurement committee for something as expensive as this. They don't want yet another purchasing cock up at the MOD!

I was wondering about that. Birch has made 33 people redundant and says it will save the club £400,000 a month. That's an average gross salary of over £12k each month to those laid off. Lampitt must have been on a massive salary. No wonder they are ficked...

In terms of the tender issued to which Siemens and Bombardier responded, it is "totally what counts." The tender has criteria that are specific and certainly do not include potential welfare costs to the families of employees laid off by Bombardier. Nor should they. If Bombardier offers a class product at a competitive price, then the Ministry of Transport and other buyers abroad will buy it. As it stands, Siemens and Alstom sell the most new passenger train units because they have the best products at good value for money.

I just love the way that the thicker end of the blue phew are going mental about Erick the Viking being loaned out and still claiming that they need to bring better play players in. They really don't get Birch's 6-week warning.

Bombardier offered a less suitable and more expensive Crossrail trains solution than Siemens. That's pretty much all that counts. Bombardier has just gained a new smaller order from the Department of Transport but the message was clear. Up your game or don't whine when you don't get selected under the rules of a fair tender process. That seems absolutely fair to me. BL/Austin-Rover/MG-Rover went out of business and rightly so because they made crap cars and the Germans made good ones for the same price. Same issues at play here.

Yay!

Not necessarily true. That's how it is currently designated in the Portsmouth Council Local Development Plan but that could be varied if it became obvious that there was nobody prepared to pay to play football at Fratton Park and that it was likely to become a derelict piece of land instead. Local people would call for other leisure facilities like a swimming pool instead because they always do, but that needs to pay its way also so wouldn't happen. That leaves new housing or retail.

TB seems to be indicating that there is £2m to run the club until the end of the season unless they get new cash or creditors take it easy. But that's not enough. I hope TB won't go native like the previous lot but I can't see it happening.

With all the quasi-patriotic nonsense being spewed by Dune (who else?) about the UK being christian, blah blah etc, and best hymns, blah blah, perhaps posters would like to offer up views on best national anthems... England play Wales at Twickenham this Saturday and Wales are hot favourites to win. But is their anthem a winner? Maybe the French or even the Yanks can belt a tune out... Perhaps the Iranians have a good one. Let's see some good examples. Any takers?

It is a ridiculous statement to say the UK is a christian country as our legislation is based on entirely secular values, some of which happen to also be those listed in the bible. Individuals may be christians, the state and nation is clearly not. It doesn't surprise me that Dune and Delldays have difficulty understanding this though!

I think Trevor Birch is probably going to be a straight administrator but I can't see how he is going to pay the footballing wages contracted to Tal Ben Haim, Varney, Kitson, Lawrence, Norris etc out of a £2m pot. Each one of them is probably on more than Rickie Lambert. TB is going to have to magic up funds very quickly or call it a day.

I'm sure a Dave's Insanity Source suppository would get rid of all things infected or itching.

I'd expect it is all hot air and nothing will happen.

I quite like him. Breath of fresh air compared to the usual manager speak. He's a bit like Robbie Savage. Love or hate.

I'd guess that the presence of TB may cause some of the creditors who are threatening to cut off vital goods and services PFC needs to operate to hold off a little longer. But he's a true magician if he manages to find an investor before the existing cash runs out.

I feel happy about this because it'll stop the rampant cheating that we all despise so much about PFC. Not sure whether they will survive because both Chinny and Birch can still reach for the off switch but at least the festering corruption has been removed. It will be interesting to see how the Blue Few react to the inevitable player reductions.

Presumably Chainrai still has the option to close Pompey down by liquidating CSI... He may decide enough is enough and fold his cards now in order to call in his £17m charge. If he does that, it will be very soon as he doesn't want PKF paying out what little money there is in the bank to other non-secured creditors.

The odd creature at the top right is related to TCWTB.

The Last Days of Pompeii Once a very widely read book and now relatively neglected, it culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Days_of_Pompeii There's a famous painting also by an artist called Karl Briullov (he was a Russian too) but I can't figure out how to post images! There's got to be a photoshopper who can make hay...

To bring the chess analogy back again, it seems to me as though Pompey/CSI/UHI have a king and a pawn left whilst their opposition is closing in with a rook and a queen. Pompey's only chance is to get that pawn to the other side of the board and that's a virtual impossibility. Just a few moves to play out before checkmate.

Excellent recall and summary. Thank you. I guess there are three possible outcomes tomorrow: 1. Admin granted to UHI Hacker Young 2. Admin granted to an alternative administrator 3. Refusal of admin. With the appointment of Justice Norris my bets would be Option 1 - 25% Option 2 - 50% Option 3 - 25%

That was it. She let them off the hook after Justice Norris had voiced his concerns. I'd hope that has relevance tomorrow.

I think Norris oversaw the initial hearing last time and ultimately got countermanded by a different woman judge subsequently at a second hearing. I could be wrong. I'm sure others will remember her name.