sidthesquid

There have been times when we haven’t been able to afford food ....... They clearly need to invest in some better squirrel traps. Oh wait, they don't do infrastructure, do they?

The thing I am not sure about is the 'non-contract' status of Appy's Heroes. Personally I doubt they are being paid the £2 or £3k/week they might expect on a contract because you'd like to think that the FL might have something to say. So, are they truly prepared to play for expenses only, or are they (as is traditional on the Septic Isle) being told to play for free now and defer the £5k/week until the PST warchest is opened up in due course, when it will be added to their contracts? I hope for the players' sakes that they are playing for contracts elsewhere and not just believing the collective delusion that consumes people as they land on the island in the swamp. The other thing regarding players is how much harder it is going to be to get the ex-players to agree to another swathe of pay-cuts now they are free of the place and the swamp-gas is clearing from their minds. When old Halford gets to turn out for Forest reserves v Rochdale reserves, he will a) think that he might never earn £15k/week again, and b) talk to guys on £500/week who will ask him what kind of nutter he is foregoing all that cash so that they can spunk it away on another overpaid team to get them promoted. And Kanu in his old-people's home and Kitson signing on will have similar thoughts.

One little thought - if TB and the trust emotionally blackmail the ex-players into waiving the 75% of the 50% of what was rightfully theirs, 'for the bestest fans in the world,' is there anything to stop Chinny reappearing, saying 'I'll do a deal now at whatever the trust offer plus 5%', which Bircho is then duty-bound to accept for the creditors?

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7999254/ http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11674/7999393 http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2012/8/17/3249793/chelsea-fc-transfer-news-conor-clifford-loan Have I miised something - are they saved? No more non-leaguers - loans in from Chelsea, Celtic & Leeds ffs. Where are you, OldNick to tell that you were right all along?

33 including the woman with pushchair. However using my Bestest-o-tronic(TM) calculator their are at least 4,000 people queuing

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-past/appy-delight-at-capturing-league-s-best-williamson-1-4173752 Presumably the promise of a way better deal than he was offered by Sheff Utd is the reason he is there. Yet again, logic is left on the hard-shoulder of the M275

It really beggars belief, doesn't it? I can accept that the deluded phew are simple island-dwelling inbreds who revere Neil Allen as the village wise-man. But Bircho & Appy must have some understanding of the true nature of their financial plight, as indeed must those players. So unless either Bircho & Appy just don't care anymore, or the swamp-gas has infected their brains, they must see how crass and unsustainable signing all his '£4million budget' players is, even if only for a month. Or are the players so utterly deluded after mixing with the above that they are prepared to play for next to nothing for a month because they still genuinely believe there is a £5k/week contract at the end of the rainbow? As ever, events on the septic isle surpass fiction.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-past/pompey-targetting-10-player-swoop-before-weekend-1-4166058 Birch is saying it. Is it me or there really some alternative universe going on in the island in the swamp? Even now, staring oblivion in the face & all they are worried about is being 'competitive,' busily signing up players they clearly can't afford. Normal rules of logic, justice & even nature just cease at the M275 junction. Just as we think finally, finally they are getting their just desserts, they slip from our grasp and go off to start all over again like some horror-movie baddie. And that is why we are obsessed - because it is a complusive mix of drama, comedy, nightmarish horror (think TCWTB & Little Avram) and with more twists and turns than a twisty-turny thing.

But it has to be with their consent - hence no Howard or McLeod.

But they can only sign players with the express permission of the FL, regardless of the players' status - which presumably they gave in these cases and not in the case of the other triallists.

They were only given dispensation as they didn't have a goalie & presumably as they'd sanctioned Westwood as a coach he slipped through because they took pity in a modest way on them. Not the same as a free hand though.

We were worse under him than Wigley and he signed some of the worst players ever to pull on the shirt. We had no team spirit under him and clearly didn't give a damn. As for the first year in the CCC he said publicly that if he couldn't sign Clinton Morrison (ffs!) there was no-one else he wanted to sign and didn't, even though was reputedly money available. Over-rated as a manager, a gruesome human being whose main skill is knowing how to play the media, I hold him largely resposible for our relegation and I would tear up my ST if he came back.

I'm happy with a close game - their lads are going to be physically & emotionally drained on Saturday, a much tougher and more important game. Bring on a Skate equaliser and extra time.

I was thinking that - Appy has spent the whole summer courting Championship level players who are not going to be signing rather than League 2/Conference players looking for a few cheap but good signings to build a team around. Bompey proved you can succeed on no cash and a bunch of unknowns, but the Skates considered that beneath them. It just makes his current whining even funnier.

Old Appymort has gone even further down in my estimation. Surely he must have realised that the £4million budget was way over the odds for League One, but it troubled him not one jot that the only way that could be afforded was to feck over everyone who ever touched that diseased club. And now reality bites he is whingeing to the press. Dpo you think the Septic isle is built on some festering, bubbling swamp like the 'matmos' in Barbarella? (Showing my age, but elder gentlemen with a passing interest in sci-fi and a youthful Jane Fonda's pert physique will know what I mean). Everyone who ever goes there gets corrupted and deluded.

Is this the most mental thread ever?

Thing is in times of austerity would an astute business person want to take the risk.. The answer to that one is no. My nagging fear, though - and please correct me if I'm wrong - is that Chinny takes control then promptly sells it on for a £million or more to another dodgy East European who then starts churning the cash and maybe gets them promoted into the bargain. The trust gaining control is my dream scenario - the in-fighting amongst the in-breds as the reality of their situation takes hold could keep us amused for years yet.

There is something in the water on that island, I'm sure of it. Appy started out as a reasonably sane and intelligent individual, but has ended up spouting the same gibberish they all do. So it's going to be Howard & McLeod v Argyle, taking it in turns to be rush goalie.

I did a detailed calculation (Not easy since I gave up smoking) & reckoned that the deferred wages alone totalled £4miilion, never mind compromise deals so that figure is probably not far off the mark. And why Appy might not get the chance to outbid his rivals for Howard & co.

Exactly. No reputable businessman would touch them with a barge-pole, but no reputable club-owner would sell it to a dodgy East-European for several sacks of used notes and a promissary note from the pensioners of Lithuania. By definition they will attract another dirty owner, but there are no shortage of those looking to clean up their image and their cash as they hide in full view in English football. And Chinny can't lose - another admin if it goes wrong, a bigger valuation/pay-off if they get back up.

My concern, in those dark OldNick moments in the middle of the night is that Chinny regains control and immediately 'sells' the club onto yet another murky individual who will pump in borrowed cash to make them 'competitive.' Eventually they must strike lucky with this plan - Appy seems a goodish manager - and when they do they will build the momentum, even if they don't make it up this season, to move forward. You don't have to spend big to outbid most League One teams and whatever we might like to believe there are only two clubs - Coventry & Sheff Utd (& possibly Preston) that are bigger than them. I still think the signing or otherwise of Brian Howard is the real indicator of where they go next. And I doubt Chinny will 'own' the club by Xmas, though his charge will still be there for the next time they go into admin.

I may be wrong about the kids - it was an article in the Snooze some weeks ago - but the point is he surely isn't that rich that if a Champ team are offering him a deal on £5k plus a week, I don't believe he will sign for £2k at Fatpipes Park.

Having ridden it out to the end, there may be a few spare quids down the back of the sofa to make him go quietly. Kanu is possibly more of a problem as he truly has nothing to lose, as a retired great-grandfather back in his native country. Sadly I now think they will survive, and our over-optimism may come back to haunt us. What troubles me is that their bunch of 'no-hoper' triallists have actually won both their games and it gives the club some momentum to go into the season, including persuading better players to join them. I think Howard is the tester - he said publicly that he would like to stay in the south and has settled his kids in school etc in Hampshire - BUT money talks. If he walks away from Championship offers to join the DCFSBs it can only because their offer is at least close to the other offers and it will signal a new 'quality over quantity' campaign. If he goes elsewhere it might just suggest that they are offering him a wage they can actually afford to pay. As ever an interesting week ahead

Also, don't forget the good old deferrals - conservatively 30 weeks of 12 X £12,000 week is £4million plus over 4 years, which means £1million/season has to be found just to pay off the deferred wages, never mind any others deals done with the high earners. How is it these Skates always overlook the little financial details?

I believe the financial/wage controls don't come in till next season - hence why the DFCSBs are planning to throw money at a new squad to escape and the FL gave them a -10 to discourage them.