Micky

I know. Blind faith or just pure stupidity, what do you think...?

Whilst obviously not the answer I wanted to hear - many thanks.

Does anyone know if a company can make a permanant employee redundant and hand their duties to a contractor who may be better geographically located to undertake them?

Exactly as I see it. Markus would have agreed a set operating budget and we continue to work within it. It is all part of the 5 year plan, we (Markus) could lose money for the first couple of years, but he is investing for the future and will re-coup his initial outlays so long as the plan bears fruits. Remember - these are business people who have proved their crudentials over a long period of time, they are seeing the bigger picture, in for the long term and gearing this business (SFC) for success.

I'm actually in Germany as I type (I come here every month due to my work), unfortunately nowhere near Munich though. Irrespective it is a great place to be around Xmas time and the beer is good anytime, although I tend to drink it in rather smaller glasses than the steins used in Munich - a man could drown in one of those..! For three hundred notes plus beer money - I'd go for it, chance to check out some good old German culture...

Anybody...?

Sounds to me it was more a speculative comment rather than fact, it would have been splashed all over SSN by now if there was firm substance behind it, surely.

But who one R2 said it? Was it a casual comment from a guest or was it part of a news bulletin?

No, this is true. What he omitted though, was that it was being redeveloped as a car park...!

You'll probably find that every club in the PL is in debt to some extent, I think that Man Utd are in to about 600 million. But this is termed 'manageable debt' - i.e. it can be covered by thier presence in the top flight - creditors are confident that it can be repayed over the terms of the agreement - so long as they maintain current performance. For the big four - this probably is true (although Liverpool will suffer from the early European exit), however the smaller clubs, Hull, Pompey etc are feeling the pinch and are struggling to 'manage' their debt. The system is all wrong - when a 'big' club folds (don't know that Pompey qualify there) the PL will probably take steps to act to try to avoid it becoming a trend. The problem is that they will not wish to change the model too much - don't forget, the men at the PL do 'very nicely thank you' due to the world wide brand that they market. Clubs in debt are here to stay for some time - ain't you just glad that we aren't one of them eh?

I don't think that the situation at Pompey is that bad, surely if it were, this section of their forum would be chokka - but not a single entry: http://thepompeychimes.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13412 Obviously the Blue Few have faith in their owners.

In club football I'm not sure, but in a major International Competition when 9 or 10 players might be involved in taking penalties, it's got to be an area where expert coaching would be nothing but a benefit.

I think it was Dave Whealan who predicted as much a couple of years ago - saying that it could happen to a PL club, and he is as good a judge as any I guess. As for the other sentiments - I agree.

Very good question - the PL's dillema..!

Bizarre indeed, but perhaps he has a payment clause in his contract that becomes effective if they try to offload him, which they can't afford to pay. Also, I believe that some of the outstanding debts, which could be called in at anytime, are secured against a 'gentlemans' agreement and the owed party. Therefore, shoot the 'gentleman' and the amounts outstanding would probably need to be paid up. Good old Pompey - sounds like a lose lose situation to me...!

This is how I understood his intentions as well. But, it begs the question, if you are about to enter into a major transaction to take controlling shares of any company with the view to making a quick profit, why didn't you check it out properly before hand. Surely it is plain for everyone to see that there is absolutely no chance of buying Pompey, (or any football club for that matter) and offloading it 6 months down the line for a profit. The whole concept is flawed, which you would imagine any intelligent business person seeing right from the off. Perhaps he should have given Mike Ashley a call for advice if that was his plan..!

Good job fellas, so far the guy has to turn up naked, gaggin' for a shyte with a gob full of Beta Blockers - great advice, the jobs as good as his...!

Months....!!! or minutes....??

Looks like James might be on his bike, shame we're not in the CCC - he might consider a return: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1233744/Head-banger-Stoke-boss-Tony-Pulis-striker-James-Beattie-Christmas-party-bust-up.html

I'm well aware of that - but what I am saying is that it is a council decission as to whether the WC comes to town. There probably isn't a FC in it's right mind that would not want WC games played on its park - but the fact remains, the decission is borne by money (and infrastructure - I agree) - and the bidding parties will, in the first instance be governmental. Don't forget PFC are out of the running because the council (rightly or wrongly) decided that it did not want to foot the bill.

Thank god somebody managed to restore some semblance of order on this thread. Couldn't agree more - this is not a football decission, it is a political one taken by the local council. I say taken, because I'm assuming that they did at least debate whether or not to bid. It's pointless blaming any of the footballing authorities, it is out of their hands. Now, back to that ten points - who took them off us...????

Hahaha - I see he made a great impression with his first post then...! First letter of every word in capitals wound a few up... you gotta love him - get him back here.

As I said, it needs a 'team of tweakers' to make it work and iron out the 'fine detail' - but just think how much incentive it would give teams at both the top and bottom of the leagues. *** Why the hell do I wait until 1.30 in the morning to come out with these damn radical ideas...? ***

No help required here - honest. But it's an idea in it's infancy, it needs tweaking, fine tuning - but it could work...! It wouldn't come into play every season - but I beleive that where a club is offering absolutely nothing competitive to the league in which they are playing then mid term relegation should be a consideration. It would liven the lower league up as well - teams would want to get off to a good start - who you play is the luck of the draw, a bit like when you play them over the course of the season is a factor. As I said previously - it is a radical idea, and it is just that - but it could work.