trousers

People can always give the author some constructive feedback on Twitter: @johnclarke1

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@MajorRaverMatt: When you look at #pompey legends, you look at Dickinson, Knight, Primus, Whittingham, you can add Greg Halford to that list 4try to save us.

And, bang on cue.... @pn_neil_allen: RT @IanDarkeESPN: Greg Halford attitude fantastic in basically writing off last 2 years of Pompey deal to help club survive. Refreshing and selfless Carlsberg don't do media love-ins, but if they did...

As you know, I do like a good analogy and that's up there with the best :-)

Hands up, guilty as charged m'lud :-) The trouble with this takeover saga malarkey is that it's often impossible to separate reallity from make-believe. I hereby offer an apology for my schoolboy error and hope my fellow nutjobs can forgive my momentary lapse of reason.... :-)

Ian 'Moose' Abrahams "knew" about the 'Caroll to West Ham' story long before any other journos as far as I can make out do working backwards from there would be a good start for Liverpool I'd imagine

So much so I'm half expecting Cilla Black and Bob Carolgees to make a last gasp bid for the club. Not that we haven't had a lorra lorra laffs already...

So, in other words, when Allen proclaims that "zero to hero" Halford has "written off £1.5m" he's writing it in a way that will appeal to the fickle Pompey fans. That figures.

Don't forget Appy told us a few weeks ago that he's got "18" players lined up who are all "desperate" to join Pompey as soon as the embargo is lifted... (chortle)

Nah...the SWF Hansard does show that he explicitly chose the 'no date' option. :-)

Isn't the conundrum here that the PPs were designed to help clubs pay high premier league bills (such as player contracts) when they fall into a lower revenue generating league. However, with Pompey's potential 'new' owner insisting that all the high earners are removed from the wage bill before he takes ownership doesn't that LOGICALLY remove the requirement for PPs? I'm guessing the Premier League's PP rules aren't flexible in that they will dish out the payments whether the recipient club has any high wage earners left on their books or not. All of which makes the PPs a somewhat arbitrary and blanket solution in the first place.

Mr Phil isn't denying that...he's merely pointing out he chose 'carry on regardless' in the 'guess the liquidation date' competition :-)

@pn_neil_allen: Halford: I didn't want to jeopardise the future of #Pompey http://t.co/DUd6VyNM To be hounded out of £1.5m (which was rightfully his) is a scandal. Are you watching Football League? Does this sit comfortably with the aims of your much cherished Football Creditor laws? And are you watching Gordon Taylor...? How can you stand by and let one of your members give up £1.5m because they were hounded to do so? Is there any more shame left to be squeezed out of that club?

I've actually no idea how the golden share thing works but was just basing my theory on the fact that they've been conditionally offered in for next season and haven't yet accepted it. Given old newco won't exist one way or the other then it's a theory that holds up logically even if not in reality :-)

I'm thinking Birch too. With AA you more or less knew what was coming next (I.e. some hair brained scheme or other) but there's more of a surprise element with Birch as he has a veneer of normality about him, ergo it's much more entertaining when he comes up with something ludicrous.

The Football League have invited Pompey to participate in League One next season as long as they accept the conditions of participation. One of those conditions is a -10 point penalty. The points penalty will become applicable once Pompey accept the invite, which hasn't happened yet. As of this moment on time, Pompey are not actually a Football League club. As such, pre-season league tables shouldn't be showing Pompey at all to be completely accurate.

Neil Allen on TalkSport this hour

Lens played in another PSV friendly at the weekend

@pn_neil_allen: Touching interview today with @GregHalford15 over his #Pompey sacrifice. There are players out there who do get what clubs mean to fans. Shame there aren't any journalists who get what a morally corrupt club means to c.£130m worth of creditors.

PFA chief Gordon Taylor alluded to his members offering that very compromise to the "potential new owners" last week but, once again, the British media and press simply glossed over it. To me, Taylor's comments last week were amongst the most important we've heard throughout this saga but they were never followed up by the media/press.

Because the two potential new owners (Chainrai and The Trust) have made their offers of taking over the club conditional on the players relinquishing what they are owed. If the players chose to ignore these demands and instead hang on for the parachute payments they (supposedly) wouldn't get them because the club would be liquidated and the parachute payments would then be withheld and redistributed to other clubs by the Premier League (so the prevailing wisdom goes) So, in other words, the players are being forced to give up what is rightly theirs.

Do we know the date of the last parachute payment? Sometime in 2014? I'll set my alarm.

Are you certain about that? Doesn't the fact that the leaving players (bar Kanu) have 'voluntarily' re-negotiated what they are owed (and the repayment terms) then it's a matter for the administrator to transfer the responsibility to 'NewNewCo' rather than the tab being picked up via FC 'insurance'. Doesn't that only kick in if the players stand their ground on existing contracts? I've no idea.

That's the question no journalist on the planet has had the ingenuity to ask the football authorities yet.