Matthew Le God

Why have you brought the Sunday Times into it? The opening post was discussing the Forbes rich list.

If they did get liquidated in the summer you'd get your money back.

Irrelevant. It is a Forbe's World rich list not UK list. Reason why he probably isn't on it would be that not all wealthy people make their collective wealth known if it is tied up in many areas. Some liquid cash and some tied up in investments. It has been reported in numerous media outlets he is a billionaire worth circa £2.6 billion and also by Pardew and Cortese that he is a billionaire. Examples... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article6666035.ece http://news.icm.ac.uk/business/swiss-national-buys-southampton-fc/2559/

NickG, over how many games is that table in the opening post? Is it 34?

That table of Nick's also includes a large number of games before the January window when Saints made significant changes which also took a while to bed in. With a full pre season together and the current squad, it "should" be even better than the form in Nick's table suggests.

He is out of contract, confirmed by Antonio in interview and Reading's website. If someone is out of contract the current club has no power other than to offer a deal themselves and hope he chooses ahead of anyone else. Pardew is either confusing "talking with Reading" with "talking to Antonio's agent" or they are discussing a compensation package due to him ending a contract and under 23 years old. I can't remember quite how the compensation would work as although Antonio is under 23 he isn't a product of Readings academy, so there may or may not be any to be paid.

Antonio is a definite to sign and I think Waigo is still worth contract.

You only have to listen to him on the radio to realise he doesn't have a clue even about some of the basics of the game. Many professionals in many fields don't have a clue about their chosen profession, that is no guarantee of knowledge. Anyway, Antonio was interviewed a couple of weeks ago to confirm he is out of contract. Thus Merrington is wrong, nothing Reading can do to stop him choosing from joining Saints if he wants.

Ignore Merrington he doesn't have a clue.

Strange, because I don't see what there is to discuss with Reading. He is out of contract in the summer and free to speak to whoever he wants. He isn't a Reading youth player so little in the way of compensation if any.

Fulham's Aaron Hughes is apparently also available for £1 million and is being sold by Pompey according to the fax sent to clubs. I wonder how Fulham feel?

Since the beginning of October 2009 and the last 33 League Games, Saints have had top 2 form.

From Saturday's always reliable Mirror... http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Portsmouth-FA-Cup-heroes-put-up-for-sale-by-fax-just-three-weeks-ahead-of-the-final-at-Wembley-Exclusive-article402779.html Some of those values are laughable, as is the £30 million total and the agents feeling hard done by.

I did say that in the opening post.

Well the south London based fans of AFC Wimbledon manage it and Portsmouth have more fans than the original Wimbledon ever did.

Irrelevant really. Most teams that bounce straight back keep a number of players from the relegation season. Newcastle and West Brom although they lost some big players kept the core. Both I would suggest were also better when they went down than Pompey are now. Pompey in the summer will send back all loans and sell or let go most senior players to reduce the wage bill and create so cash from sales. The administrator has already indicated next season Pompey will have a squad of youth players and free transfers (which due to a low budget will only be the ones that no other Championship side or the better League One sides wanted). Points deduction or not Pompey at present look like they will struggle to stay up next season. All a points deduction will do is make it harder. Extremely little chance of a promotion campaign unless a miracle of huge proportions happens and some rich and stupid sees an investment opportunity that no one else does.

Interesting that Sky are doing this so early - 3 games to go in previous season. They have no idea of every team that will be in the League (one from Sheff Weds/Watford/Palace to come down and two from Leeds/Millwall/Huddersfield/Charlton/Swindon to go up and a host of League Two teams still possibly could go up). Nor have they considered the squads for 2010/11 which will all change massively between now and the start of the season, even between now and the end of June when contracts end. They have also included Bournemouth who are still to confirm promotion (although it does look extremely likely). http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-one/coca-cola-league-1/next-season Nice to see Saints as favourites though :cool:

12 Threads down the page or 2nd thread that appears on a forum search for "Gareth Bale" http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=21955

There isn't much pressure on Charlton. Only Colchester can catch them(not Saints anymore). It would also require Charlton losing all their games and Colchester winning all of theirs, along with an 8 goal swing in goal difference.

Do you have a link to a news story about this?

If I were a Pompey fan I wouldn't buy a season ticket until after an exit from administration or at least do it on a credit card so I could get the money back.

There is a difference from saying most get around 1k and there is an average of 2k. Teams like Luton and Oxford have much larger attendances and thus raise the average. However that doesn't mean the majority of the clubs in the league don't have

Most conference teams have attendances of around 1k. AFC Pompey could ground share with Havant & Waterlooville which can hold 4k. 4k is not an unreasonable amount of Pompey fans to stick with them, 50% of current season ticket holders. It would give them an income far in excess of every other non league club and they'd be able to attract and afford the best players at that level. They'd climb through quickly into League Two, be debt free and possibly able to build a new stadium more quickly than they could if the original club didn't fold.

Conference Premier. The same league a new Pompey team may well start in. Remember a fans Saints team was potentially going to join the conference and Pompey fans have been having similar discussions. It is different from AFC Wimbledon or FC United of Manchester. Neither of those teams were the direct replacement for an existing club, they were protest teams. AFC Pompey would have a relatively huge fanbsae for non league and thus start much higher in the pyramid than AFC Wimbledon or FC United of Manchester.

1) If Pompey died and were wound up then the fans would form a new Pompey team in the non league. This new team would climb through the leagues at a rapid pace and have an upward trajectory and the club would grow with success. This new club would have no debts would have a very large supporter base for the level they are playing. This supporter base would grow as they rise through the leagues. The lack of debt would make it easier to build a new training ground and stadium. They'd be winning games week in week out for years to come. 2) If Pompey survive the summer but stubble on without new investment they will fall through the Leagues on a downward spiral. They would still have debts to pay back over a 4 or 5 year CVA agreement taking up most parachute money and little hope of a new stadium or training ground any time soon. They'd be losing games week in week out for years to come. Which would you prefer?