Corporate Ho

As far as I'm aware I'm not saying we have a better record of attendence. Stats show that we haven't done for years. But plenty on here keep bringing it up largely, I guess, because it's absolutely the only thing you can top us with. As for the bigger club argument, I guess it depends on what criteria you judge it on. We get bigger crowds than you at present so does that make us a bigger club? Or maybe it's league status (which is what you judged it on for years I seem to remember) in which case we're the bigger club. Newcastle get bigger crowds than Liverpool, does that make them a bigger club? Or is it judged on trophies won? So many parameters to use. Maybe if you don't get an average crowd of 16,000 people this year we could bring up that we got average crowds of that size in the old 4th Div. Would that mean (according to Nick G's reasoning) that we're a bigger club than you? He seems to like historical stats to prove a point.

It's interesting how many times an attendence thread comes up on here isn't it? LOL. Nothing like being selective with the facts either. I noticed you picked one season when we were in Div 3 and got an average of 8500. What about the other years when we averaged 14,000? Or what about the year in Div 4 when we averaged 16,000? You seem to conveniently miss those out. Div 2 attendences tended to suffer for one reason, the fact that the club was being raped by first Deacon and then Gregory. If you suffered 15 years or more in the same way I'd love to see what your crowd figures were. Seeing as you lost 50% of your fan base over about two years I suspect you might see similar attendences. Of course, none of these are direct comparisons either. The only way to directly compare would be if we were in the same division, in similar sized stadiums with similar ticket prices. Of course you'll disagree. By the way, in our time in the Prem we've averaged attendences of 19938 in a stadium that held *****il last season) 20,200. That's 98% capacity. So I'm not sure where all these empty seats you keep saying you see on TV are. If you don't believe me, here's the stats. http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/england.htm You've probably read the papers Crabby. He was here, had a medical which he passed but then there was a problem. Some reports say it's because Pompey wanted to stagger the payments (seems strange then that if that were the case his club would have allowed him to fly over for a medical and to sign). Other reports say the problem was his agent asking for double the signing on fee that we agreed. Anyway, I wouldn't gloat too quickly. Croatian repoorts are saying the deal may be back on today. Wait and see, eh? I genuinely lol'd at the irony of Saints fans discussing the chip on Pompey fans shoulders in a thread on a Saints website that's now running to 17 pages and 25,000+ views. If you can find a post on a Pompey board that stretches on as far feel free to post it. Wait and see Crabby, wait and see. You might regret saying that.

Not yet. But he has flown to England to undergo a medical and should sign later today or tomorrow. Article from the Croatian press showing him at the airport. http://jutarnji.hr/sport/nogomet/clanak/art-2009,7,28,,171083.jl Your "fact" seems to be less than factual. Kalinic is here to sign for a fee of £6m+. We've also bid a fee of somewhere between £2.5 - £3.5m (reports vary) for Mahamadou Dabo, a young French full back who's just broken into the full french team and we've also bid something like £3m for Ross McCormack from Cardiff with more players reportedly on the way. What's McCormack like? You lot must have seen him play last season. I believe that's the case. Gaydamak got behind on payments to Standard Bank in South Africa and Crouch had to be sold to pay it off. Looks like Utaka and Belhadj might go as well. having said that, most Pompey fans would drive Utaka to his next club for nothing. He hasn't done a lot since he came here. Belhadj played against eastleigh though so maybe he'll stay. I don't think it's a case of no-one wanting to answer, more that it hasn't been reported anywhere. If it's been made public you should be able to find out just as easily as any Pompey fan, surely. I asked a friend at the club and was told it's somewhere around 12,000 so far but with numbers expected to go to the full 16,000 once the takeovers completed and new players start to arrive to calm people down a bit. Nice to see you registered and posting on a Pompey website too.

Deluded in what way?

This is what the Croatian Pompey fans have posted about the Kalinic deal. Latest report is that it's due to be completed today with £4m paid up front. Not saying we won't sell more players but I'd suggest you wait and see who we bring in before the window closes before gloating too much (not you Crabby, the rest on here). FWIW, I think we'll be in danger of going down IF we don't get some decent signings in. But I'll reserve judgement until I know what the squad's going to look like. http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Nogo...8/Default.aspx Now they are saying the transfer fee is 7.5m euros. - My dream has come true! It's not yet finalized, but God willing everything will be ok. And if it does go ok, I think I'll already be going tomorrow to England to have a medical and sign the contract. - Portsmouth is a big club, and the premiership, along with the premiera, is the strongest league in the world. Playing in Portsmouth would be a great challenge for me, an opportunity to prove myself, and to justify the faith shown in me, particularly people like manager Paul Hart, who insisted on my transfer. - The season starts already in August and I can't wait to play against the best, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. My first goal is to earn a place in the team. Oh, if I could already in the first round, when Fulham comes to us, be in the first team! - There won't be a problem, I believe I can hold my own against anyone. I believe that England suits me even better than Spain. He was recovering from injury and says he'll be ready to join in the first practice once he arrives in England. He'll share the dressing room with Niko Kranjcar, who was instrumental in bringing him to Pompey. - I haven't spoken to Niko yet, but I heard he spoke highly of me. I thank him for everything he has done for me. When I get to England he'll once again, I hope, be a big help to me, even in regards to the language. I understand English well, but I have to perfect speaking it.

Nick Nack, the posts may have been pertinent but why include my name in everything you post. It does make you look like a freak. And no transfer gossip threads as I can't start threads. Easy enough for even you to grasp I'd imagine. However, if you're interested, the players we've been linked with over the last couple of days are: Nikola Kalinic, Croatian striker from Hajduk Split - £6 - 8M Victo Obinna, Nigerian striker from Inter - £5.5m Bafetimbi Gomis, French striker from St Etienne - no fee mentioned Christien Poulsen, Swedish midfielder from Juve - £4m Actually, I think whoever posted what you're referring to may have meant this (link below). Which was a list Arabian Business News compiled of the most influential (not powerful) arabs in the world. Al Fahim actually ranked 4th, not 14th, but influence has f*** all to do with money. It's based on peoples cultural impact. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/power100/list?clr= And no surprise that you'd recognise it, eh Nick Nack

Does anyone else find Nick Nack's obsession with me a little concerning? He mentions me in almost everything he posts. Nick Nack, can I just ask - do you masturbate yourself to sleep at nights thinking about my posts? :confused: Part of the SKY money has been earmarked for Gaydamak. How much is the question but not all of it. Rumours are around £10m out of £40 - £50m. Plenty left over once the likes of Crouch and Campbell are off the wage bill. 1. Mostly lower league opposition in the cup run agreed. You seem to coveniently gloss over us beating Man U at Old Trafford though. Does that not count? 2. We overspent. What did you do when Wilde was in charge and trying to buy your way back to the Prem? I seem to remember plenty on here boasting you'd spent more than any other team in the Chumpionship. And we played in Europe because we qualified as winners, not because we lost to a team already qualified. 3. Gaydamak isn't taking all the SKY money. See above. 4. When you mentioned your youth academy I thought you were looking to the future. I was under the impression Bale and Walcott had already left you.

You seem to do a good job of half reading a lot of things I write, which is odd as you seem to be a fairly intelligent bloke. What I wrote is that the new investors he's now targetting are apparently looking to buy him out and take charge of the club completely. That's obviously not going to happen overnight. If you re- read my post again, you'll also see that I said that could happen by January, not that they'd wait for the transfer window. Nothing settled yet and things often change but it seems people are interested. Look at it this way - PFC's debts are now largely gone, the massive wage earners like Campbell and Crouch will be off the wage bill so we'd be a much more attractive proposition. Before any doofus says that we've only got 14 players there will obviously be more additions to the squad before the window closes. I've no doubt we're waiting for August so we don't have to pay new players wages for July (as most teams seem to be doing - you're hardly splashing the cash yourselves yet are you?). A few additions should be enough to see us maintain Prem status in a lower mid table level. Your new billionaire owner who's already said he won't be throwing cash around for players? Don't forget,we've achieved more in our "brief" seven years (and counting) in the Prem than you ever managed. One question about your youth academy. If it's so good, how come the players it's producing weren't even good enough to keep you in the championship? The ones I saw (and I'm not trolling here) looked lower league standard at best. Presumably they were the cream of the crop too? As for financially ****ed - one word for you: SKY

Not going to heppen, certainly not signing Eto'o/ Villa etc but wouldn't be surprised to see Maradona acting as some sort of "ambassador" (call it what you want) for PFC as he is allegedly quite good friends with Al Fahim. Only in the short term though. From what I hear the new investment Al Fahim wants to bring in will possibly be buying him out even by the Jan transfer window. It's clear there were always investors behind him who were providing the funding and whilst he's not exactly a pauper he's not got the funds to plough into the club that was talked about at the start.

Can't you read? I was told at the weekend that Gaydamak has accepted a greatly reduced price from Al Fahim but is taking the proceeds from player sales in lieu of payment, along with part of the SKY payment which is due at the start of August. It was this re-negotiation that held up the deal. Gaydamak just wants out and is being crippled by the loans he took out. The question is just how much funding Al Fahim has to pump into PFC once he takes over. I can't believe, given how important status is in the Arab world, that he'd go ahead with the deal if he had no cash to spend on the team resulting in relegation. Surely he'd just walk away. Similarly, if the club WERE on the brink of administration, again, why wouldn't he have just walked away before now. Why would his spokesman be saying that they're just waiting for the PL to ratify the FAPPT? If he was pulling out how come he's staying at the Meon Valley Country Club near Wickham with a full entourage right now? All the signs seem to be that the takeover will happen. Rumours about administration seem to have come from a Man Utd messageboard (and we all know how reliable messageboards are, don't we?). If there were any truth in it I'd have expected the media to pick up on it by now. The question is, what happens after the takeover.

# Correct. Therefore, as the PL have had Al Fahim's application paperwork for 10 days now (confirmed by the PL themselves) that paperwork must have stated who the main investor/ investors are wouldn't it? Can't imagine this paperwork would have been submitted if there was a possibility of anything being uncovered to stop it going through. The problem I've heard is how much cash is available once he takes ownership.

The Quay radio station (which is part owned by PFC) is reporting this morning that the takeover should be finalised either today or tomorrow. My understanding is that the loans Gaydamak took out are secured at least in part against him rtaher than 100% against the club. Proceeds from the sale of players such as Johnson, Crouch etc are going to Gaydamak to pay these loans rather than PFC and this is one of the things that's held the deal up as Al Fahim negotiated on the price he'd pay. I've also been told that a large part of the finance Al Fahim had in place has fallen through and that he won't have anywhere near the amount of money to spend on players and infrastructure that he planned. How much exactly will, I guess, become apparent quite quickly once/ if he takes ownership (radio reporting it's just waiting for the PL to ratify his FAPPT).

Neither did we. I think you'll find Cardiff and the other teams we played were all from the Chumpionship. I do seem to remember you struggling to a last minute equaliser at home to Millwall to force a replay though. Convenient that you seem to have forgotten that

Nice to know that your best memories are a few wins against Pompey. Funnily enough, my best memory is winning the cup (in living memory I might add). Although whenever I hear Amarillo it always cheers me up Altogether - sha la la la la la la la

Nick Nack, this post just goes to show how full of **** you really are. Not one Pompey fan I know or post I've seen has said Crouch or Distin would be "surplus to requirements". Sol TBF is now mid - 30's and starting to slow up so won't be such a big miss. I think your other post below shows the most Pompey fans are very worried. There are all sorts of rumours flying around and until everything is sorted no-one knows what's happening. Even I have to say things don't look good at the moment - which should cheer you all up on here immensley. Good appointment in Pardew IMO by the way

Heims is the guy who tried to buy Chelsea for £700m last season (Abramovich turned him down). There's lots of talk that, as he's involved with Al Fahim in Falcon Equity that he's the/ one of Al Fahim's backers. He's certainly advising Al Fahim. Read into that what you will. "The German fund manager who says he is putting together a bid for Chelsea today said he had assembled a consortium of eight international investors interested in buying the club. Holger Heims, an investment manager at Falcon Equity, said in an interview with Reuters that he and a group of six to seven other investors from Europe, the Middle East and Asia (does that sound familiar to anyone?) were preparing a takeover offer for the club but that they would not launch a hostile bid. He said Dr Sulaiman al Fahim, who represented Sheikh Mansour in his £200m takeover of Manchester City but was later sidelined after making a series of intemperate claims about transfer targets, was also working with the Switzerland-based private equity firm on a proposal to buy the west London club. So far no talks had been held with the owner, Roman Abramovich, Heims said. "We have no intention of launching a hostile takeover. This is only possible as a friendly deal," he added. Heims said he aimed to push the Chelsea brand further and saw strong growth potential in Asia and the Arab world. Heims declined to say how much the group was prepared to pay for Chelsea but said the investment had to add up in the medium to long run. Chelsea's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, has insisted that Abramovich, whose other investments have been hit by the global economic slump, is as committed to the club as ever. The Russian oligarch has threatened to sue the Sunday Times after it claimed he was looking for a buyer in the Middle East and earlier this month Kenyon told fans that any suggestion he was looking to sell was "rubbish". "There has been a lot of rumour and speculation surrounding Chelsea and the owner's commitment to the club," Kenyon told a fan's forum this month. "I can assure you on his behalf that this is totally unfounded and anything else you might read about this is rubbish. Chelsea is not for sale. The owner has not and is not looking to sell his interest in the club and he remains as committed as ever." Chelsea made a loss of £74.8m in 2007 but have promised to break even by 2010. The club believe that when their financial statements for 2008 are made public in the middle of next month, they will underline Abramovich's ongoing commitment. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jan/27/chelsea-takeover-holger-heims-roman-abramovich I think you're on the right lines. I don't believe any of the players could be sold without Al Fahim's consent, given that he's looking to buy the club and any sale would affect the value he must give his OK and that would obviously affect what he's willing to pay. Not sure you're right about what we would have to spend to improve the squad. Johnson is a big loss but is only a right back and as I've said, the widely reported "exodus" of players is nearly all deadwood that never played for the first team (Djimi Traore anyone?). Look at it this way, the only reason Al Fahim would want us is if we're in the Prem - why would he fail to spend the money necessary to keep us there? It wouldn't make sense. Fans are naturally anxious to see what happens but if the takeover happens (and everything I'm told and read suggests it will) I'm confident we'll have enought o finish at least mid table. Don't believe we'll be making huge signings (as some on here seem to be saying I and other Pompey fans are suggesting - show me where I've posted that please) but we'll sign players good enough to do the job.

I'm not sticking my head anywhere Crabby. The "exodus" that people keep talking about was a load of players that played about 5 first team games between them last season. Johnson was always going to go and we got good money for him and if Crouch goes it's with the new owners OK. I don't think we'll be spending lunatic money but with the players we already have at the club 4 or 5 players are all we need. The negative slant on the takeover from the media seems to be abating now, most of them seem to accept that it's going through and despite Dubai Phil's constant barrage about Al Fahim it's clear that the funding is coming from sources other/ as well as him. What's a "galatico"? :confused:

Nick Nack, you're obsessed with what I say. If you mention me anymore people will think you're Father Christmas. I think you're spot on. Al Fahim is haggling over the price and knows he can knock Gaydamak down. The only thing you're wrong about is the pizza operation which I thought everyone knew was Benelux, not New York. :cool: There have been a lot of posts similar to this one. Can anyone see the irony in Saints fans posting that Pompey are just a month from the start of the season with no manager appointed, best players sold off, very small squad, lack of time for team to gel etc etc? I'm sure the price is dropping. Surely that's a good thing for Pompey fans? :confused: Been widely reported that our shirts for this season were delivered way before Canterbury collapsed and are waiting in a warehouse to have the new sponsors name put on the front. Keep up.

Nick Nack, I'm sure I'm not the only one that pictures you standing in front of your laptop stamping your little feet in fury and scweaming and scweaming until you're sick at the mere temerity of Pompey to be in the top flight. I'll answer a few of your points. 1. Our promotion season was largely underwritten by the £5.5m we got for Crouch from Villa, not from a massive influx of cash by Mandaric. Yes, we paid higher wages than most other club but that was because we bought a player cheap and sold him for big money, just what you've always tried to do. 2. Morally bankrupt - ROTFPMSL. You are Ron Manager aren't you. 3. We weren't bankrupt. We'd been bought by that point. Just like you have now. Why should we still be in the lower leagues any more than you should? It's this ridiculous entitlement you feel that you belong in the top flight that makes me laugh more than anything. Give it up you childish cretin Apparently you're the inbred ****wit for mistaking Portsmouth for South Wales http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4719364.stm http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_49785.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/aug/30/childprotection.society

For a supposedly mature, grown man you really do come across as tupid sometimes. We "bought" the right did we. I assume then that you'll object if your new owner pays your way back into the Premiership? Bacause that's the only way you'll get there. Do you really think you somehow "belong" in the top flight? LOL Football's changed Nick Nack, no longer jumpers for goalposts. Grow up or follow another sport The "exodus" if players is hyped by the press. Johnson went because we agreed when he signed a new deal in the summer that he could go if a top four club came in for him. The new contract meant we got way more money for him than we would have if he hadn't signed it. Nick Nack tries to pooh pooh (I'm using a term I can imagine him using) this but it's very simple to understand surely? A player wants to play in the champs league and win things. More chance of that with a top four club. Any number of your players have done the same (lifelong Saints fan Wayne Bridge springs to mind). As for the others in the "exodus" it's largely out of contract deadwood that never got near the first team anyway. The likes of Djimi Traore, Jerome Thomas, Lauren, Glen Little, Noe Pamarot - they'll be a big loss won't they? I hope Kanu stays for another season but he's a squad player at best. Sean Davis is the biggest loss which says a lot about the rest of them. Sol will go to whoever pays the most and he's mid thirties now so no great loss although he's been good for us. Crouch will probably go too but I suspect this is because of a combination of the wages he's on and maybe the manager we have lined up wanting to play a different style of football.

There was an interesting quote in the arab press when he was interviewed about buying the club. He said, "I've not just bought a football club, I've bought a city". Leaving aside your infantile jokes that will no doubt follow that, it's interesting. Given that his background is in property development I suspect that he's going to leverage the goodwill he'll generate from the council to make money from property development once the market picks up. He's already said he's in this for the long haul so there's no quick buck. The media have been banging on about the fit and proper test ever since his bid became public. Plenty of them reported that Shinawatra was involved (5 Live included) which turned out to be completely false. Pompey and Al Fahim have been unusually tight lipped over the details on this one and none of the media have been right about any of it at any stage of the process. Al Fahim knows what the PL need for the FAPPT and I can't see how he would make any mistakes in what he presents to them. Can't see this test being a stumbling block. Only problem I can see is if Gaydamak refuses to drop the price or if there's an issue with terms of bank loan repayments and the way they're structured/ paid etc. You lot make me laugh. "Back where they belong" "Back where we belong". Look chaps, we are where we belong because we won enough points to stay in the Prem. You're where you belong because you ****ed up your chance when you refused to buy good enough players and pay decent salaries and then weren't good enough to avoid two (count them) relegations. You are where you belong. You've earned the right to be there. Just like we have.

All you need to know about Tony Adams is that every Pompey fan would be delighted if he was appointed as your manager. Nice guy, has overcome some personal demons but not cut out for a job as a football manager. OK as a coach, disaster as a main man.

Hydra Properties have nothing whatsoever to do with Man City or Pompey. As has been repeatedly stated. Keep up. But as Al Fahim is just an employee of Hydra and not it's owner why would that be an issue? Nick, you really do come across as thick sometimes. I've never said that the ground at the Hard would go ahead and work has started on the training ground, it obviously stopped when Gaydamak decided to sell the club until a new owner comes in. As for Johnson, as I've already replied to at least three of your posts on this topic (obsessed? You?), the reason Johnson signed a 4 (not 5) year contract was because we agreed to allow him to move if a top 4 club came in for him. If we hadn't agreed to that he wouldn't have signed it and if he hadn't signed that long term contract we wouldn't have got so much money for him. It's not rocket science, is it? Could you maybe confirm that you understand now so we don't have to go over it again. As for the various bidders who have been interested in Pompey you yourself have posted about interest from German and Far eastern groups so what you know that people have been sniffing around so stop playing silly buggers

LOL. Does a thread about Pompey's proposed takeover that reaches three pages in a couple of hours once again demonstrate just how little you care about Pompey? FWIW, while the deal could still fall apart I was told yesterday by someone who's actually involved in the takeover that whilst there were still a few issues to sort out it's still very much on. Time will tell I guess, but I wouldn't laugh too loudly too soon if I were you. I'm not party to the whole thing but if the rumour about where the money's coming from (and how much of it there is ready to be used on players and improving the club) are true you lot are going to be pig sick. Err, I think you'll find that Pompey's position is built on loans from banks rather than any money from Gaydamak. Britain's position in the world however is more than partly built on arms dealing. If you really find arms dealing that distasteful and want to assume a moral high ground I suggest you emigrate. I assume you're talking about Hydra Properties here. Rather than being "sacked" Al Fahim is no longer CEO of Hydra but is still a main board director of the company. As for raising the money from Abu Dhabi, that's not where it's rumoured to be coming from. Try Germany.

I'm ashamed of you lot. No-one's giving a thought to poor little Micky Fiasco, sat in his room at his mum's sobbing his little heart out. Saints fans aren't what they used to be. By the way, I take it your views on clubs being owned by foreign sugar daddies and buying their way to promotion are softening somewhat from what you've said to me in the past?