I popped in to see my mum yesterday and she was talking about how well Pompey had done to get to the cup final (no, she wasn't doing it to wind me up, there are just more footballing neutrals in our family and I'm not one of the bitter brigade when it comes to 'hating' Pompey per se)
I tried to explain to her that Pompey 'cheated' their way to the final by fielding players they couldn't afford and that saints had tried to rescue their debt situation in the last 18 months before admin whereas Pompey had poured fuel on the fire in the same timeframe.
The reply was "yes, but it's not the players or fans fault is it?"
I gave up at that point for fear of entering a vicious circle but my sad conclusion is that 'most' neutrals who like watching a bit of football (and as far as the Pompey/saints admin sagas are concerned there are many more neutrals than those with a vested interest) are inclined to divorce the 'football club' from the 'boardroom' and cannot see why the fans and players should be penalised for something that was out of their control.
Maybe they've got a fair point? Maybe they haven't? But it seems to be a prevalent view out there.