rallyboy

feet firmly on gas? Or is that head firmly in oven?... any tears shed would form a river of hope - nice one G! Maybe plucky Capt Whittingham and Petty Officer Awford can guide the plucky troopship through the backwaters of despair and eventually a tide of blue emotion and property developers will wash our brave heroes onto a beach of glory... Or they'll rot in the corner of a stinky harbour. Even now I find it staggering that so many people on Portsea do not understand the simple facts. When you have to explain to senior journalists who write on the subject, and to fans who are involved with the rescue packages, that this is not a 2nd penalty for the same crime, you fear for their masterplan for the future. It ain't rocket surgery. We've been joking on here for ages about how it's not fair and that Man Utd have debt, some of the few believe that! And how's the appeal going, the one that in itself is a resignation of the Golden Share? The one that says, we are ignoring your conditions by appealing and no longer wish to partake in league football? The FL listed it as a condition, it didn't need clarifying unless you are VERY dim, so as Al Murray would say, not news! But nice to hear it again. As for the ones chucking toys about and moaning about the authorities ruining their season, nothing has changed since they bought that season ticket for the Hindenburg. It was alight when you got on, what did you think would happen? You did the crime, just do the time - even if it turns into hard labour in the Wessex League.

Shaw is an awesome prospect, how good will he be when he's fully developed? With him and Clyne looking this solid we look like a unit. On the refs, yes we have had some shocking examples but MoTD just demonstrates the appaling quality on show at the moment. Thankfully we haven't been robbed too much yet, but it will happen. Their boss must be hugely embarrassed at the current crop - as a group they are the worst I've seen for a while. Some of the decisions in other games beggar belief - and it looks like a linesman these days is nothing more than a ref who is so bad they won't let him have a whistle. A good team might have equalised from those two ridiculous free-kicks at the death, then again a good ref would've allowed the 'goal' or awarded a penalty for the push by the keeper. But the best thing for me is we look so much better than many of the teams around us. QPR v Wigan was like a Keystone Cops convention, Villa are toothless, Sunderland in freefall. IF this run of form continues and we can get some cosnistency away from home, you have to take your hat off to Nige who was right on the brink a few weeks back - and to Nicola for not jumping the gun, despite the media heaping the pressure on. It's like we had a plan all along...sort of.

they'll have that fricking open topped bus out again tomorrow - the plucky underdogs battling to a draw on Merseyside roared on by the famous blue army...

thankfully judges don't read the Mail so that bit of PR was wasted. Mr Birch, please refrain from babbling on about liquidation, this court is ONLY deciding the potential value of a slab of unoccupied grassy wasteland with four sheds on it - what you do with the court decision is none of our concern. And make sure you take that public gallery circus back to Monkey World or the Romany Museum when we've finished.

I'm confused! Should I boo Ben Haim for being a skate, or applaud him for ripping the ar$e out of their bank account? He's done more damage to them than any other player, so by inviting him round Harry has firmly nailed his flag to the f'ck pompey mast. And Ben Haim is still due a few quid from the heroes of 2011/12 fund, so pretty soon he could be getting paid by Harry and the Trust! The only way that anymore icing could be balanced on this particular cake is if he is really sh!t and leads Harry's plucky boys all the way to the Championship.

I heard quite a chunk of that Solent phone-in - it was no more than a desperate filler for the end of the week when proper ideas have run out. They were proposing that the two clubs merge which would solve pompey's financial issues and we could utilise their best players to help us move up the league... As a concept I think it's still work in progress. Most people I heard told them it was bonkers. TCWTB came across fairly sensibly, as he does when sober, Clive Foley had a gentle jousting match with Farmery but resisted saying that we might consider a merger if they stopped stealing from charities. A couple of randoms dragged the debate off towards hooliganism but the guy who did make me chuckle was 'Kyle'. PresenterBoy accused him of being immature when he said that he would love it if pompey lost more money and ended up playing in the Sunday league, 'because it means I can laugh at them a bit more'. Difficult to argue with.

If Team Chinster cannot guarantee the former player debt then that brings the Trust bid to a halt too. The only budget they have bothered to release had a £6M shortfall, and we still await an explanation for how that, and the ambitious attendance projection shortfall will be bridged. Let's not forget that Birch was reluctant to give a thumbs-up to their fantasy scheme until they gave up on a fan buyout and got into bed with property developers. But surely this case is just about land value, and I can't see Trev getting to drag the judge off into sentimental bestest plucky vital to the community land. Doddery judge doesn't care whether little johnny cuddled his sister for the first time under the south stand in 1934 during half time, or that the club generates £300M a year for local businesses. Tis very simple. Is this a fair price for the land? Yes or no are the options. His job is to cut through the surrounding spin and get to the facts and the law. Let's see if he manages it better than previous judges.

more likely to beTrust and bust.

I think this case is quite different to previous ones. There should be little emotion in this one, there's no pleading for the plucky club's life, this is just about a bit of land. There will be a judge who probably doesn't even know what football is, he or she will be presented with valuations of a bit of land. The result of their decision is of no interest to them, they just need to rule on a value. If the Trust has done all their calculations on the land's value with a football club, then they have dropped a big clanger. All potential uses and values will be considered before a value is set, and if the court wants to lean towards a middle ground figure then they should have offered £300K! And the court doesn't care what their budget or funding is. The only thing that matters is the commercial value of the ground. Cross-eyed mudlarks pleading for yet another 'last chance' will be ignored on this occasion as they are irrelevant.

The PDT can spin this as a rubber-stamping gig all they want, they're trying to convince themselves. In previous court cases where they've been up to their tits in steaming pig's sh!t but come up smelling of roses, pompey have had Chinny on THEIR side.... I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but he's more slippery than a greased-up slippery thing on St Slippy's Day. So I'm sure he and AA have some good stuff up their sleeves - and even if Chinny loses the case, he'll probably just ignore the judgement and hold them to ransom! - either way, he won't be walking. As for the Trust claims about a settlement. Most lawyers always fancy their chances shortly before massive defeats. Lawyers love taking high risks, at other people's expense! It's like Birch, he drives the bus over yet another cliff but walks away and leaves others to sort out the wreckage. So their legal advice is probably very encouraging, in fact, as very encouraging as the other sides'. The nutjob feeling today seems to be towards some sort of additional payout to Chanrai on top of the base price - that could seriously derail the property developers who are blatantly trying to drive into ownership dressed as a fan buyout. If the court decides that a significant future chunk should go to the loan shark it would reduce PDT profits, perhaps make the development unworkable, render the Trust deal even more underfunded, and derail the whole rickety house of cards. And it's pretty rickety already. Despite Farmboy's confidence, I'll be more open-mouthed than a Horton Heath masseur if Chanrai is consigned to pompey history before Christmas.

dear Nicola, my club has a proud history of thieving charity cash, money-laundering, stealing from pensioners and war veterans, spending season ticket money on prostitutes, and using blood money from child-maiming to fund madly unsustainable growth. We are currently trading insolvently while trying to con a court that we're not property developers, and if we succeed we will be shafting taxpayers, local businesses, and former players alike. You may recall that we came round to your club and behaved like animals, don't forget that we also regularly insult the memory of your best friend by accusing him of being a Nazi, and we often spread malicious rumours about yourself, and the business. We know that you have a thriving foundation that is doing great work and that all the clubs' efforts are concentrated on that, but we think you should make an exception for us, especially as we currently have the fewest organised criminals and loan sharks within our boardroom for a decade. So give us money! yours sincerely random pompey fan.

that is one busy fence! First we had the Great Wall of China, then The Maginot Line, now the Fence of Unpledged Cash. It replaces the hanging gardens of Babylon in the all time wonders list, they were relegated after losing a vital playoff in Stonehenge's rather dated and cosy stadium.

Presumably the Trust's dream scenario is that the judge finds in favour of their property developers and it's go, go, go! Birch then asks them to put the cash on the table - and that might be a problem. Their big weekend fundraiser sounded like a bit of a damp squib from the credit union press release published on the News site. I particularly liked the links - Get your loan here! By now they should have their finance in place and be leaning on Birch and the court to let them get on with it. At the moment the only people benefiting are property developers and a loan company. But I guess it's been that way for a decade. If you've taken out a loan and the takeover doesn't happen, can you cancel it?... It is definitely time for a new club. As for the cashflow, a fortnight without a game and Trev's fees keep ticking along... He's gobbling up the Trust's future funding like a rampant pig in a sticky bun shop. Go on Trev, fill yer boots!

if Watford get hit with a points penalty for the financial irregularities from their past and pompey plough on regardless, can we can organise a joint eyebrow-raising and jaw-dropping session for followers of the Football League's decision-making process? Hopefully it won't come to that and Micah Hall's much-heralded editing and adaptation of this thread will give the authorities enough rope to dish out some justice.

if Watford get hit with a points penalty for the financial irregularities from their past and pompey plough on regardless, can we can organise a joint eyebrow-raising and jaw-dropping session for followers of the Football League's decision-making process? Hopefully it won't come to that and Micah Hall's much-heralded editing and adaptation of this thread will give the authorities enough rope to dish out some justice.

I didn't know that Olive from On the Buses had a twin brother. Anyway, calm down my little nutjob friends, I'd be surprised if the take-up is quite that low. But with no figures, no financial plans and no transparency, we can only guess. IF they really are struggling then expect to see a big media campaign next week, 'Trust or bust', 'this really is the end unless you step forward', but of course the real losers will be the property developers. Without someone giving them money and fronting their heart-tugging takeover, their profits will be limited and liquidation could be next. That would mean they'd have to pay a commercial rate for the land like other developers, rather than a 'fan's rates' price as proposed by the PDT. As Birch sets a record for the slowest administration in history and the Trust finalises their bid in the time it took a lame tortoise to join the 92 club, I'd hazard a guess that they are now just waiting on the court case. They are in limbo. Not for any good reason, they just don't seem to know the meaning of the word urgent. I know it's complex but surely by now you either give detail of your finalised bid or you withdraw, they don't seem to be doing either. Meanwhile I hear that Hearts are mounting a fan bid, so they could beat pompey to the title of the bestest ever in the world - if they too ignore Exeter etc.

the old villainherometer has just blown up - things change too fast. Keeper makes debut, gets a ride around the city on an open top bus after their draw, gets on the first train home, and as it trundles away from Fratton Station carrying him to freedom, he shouts out of the window that one day he'd like to be a club great - he just didn't say which club. Spiteful old FL making them adhere to rules again, it's not fair. And they're being punished for the same offence a third time. Though they can easily overturn the points penalty, that belongs to the other club, the old one - or the one before that. Boo, nasty authorities! They must be jealous like the rest of us.

they can't delay the court case, I've heard it on good authority that they have already won their glorious battle and will definitely have the keys before Christmas. Probably. Despite Nutjobs suggesting that the legal process can work slower than Birch on double-time after a lengthy lunch, all the PDT's chosen media partners have been assuring us that it's a done deal and is no more than a rubber-stamping event. In the meantime they've given up on packing the park and are now just trying to muster 1898 colour-blind people who need a new coat for winter. As already mentioned the club is only two years old so presumably the 1898 figure refers to the number of creditors still awaiting payment? Or is it the date when they last had a football club in the city that was trading solvently? Though I believe the full history indicates that they were involved with financial irregularities back then as well - wasn't their first attempt liquidated around the early 1900s? What a farce. As for the slowest cyclist in Europe, what a plucky little 15-year-old hero he is. His glorious effort warms the heart and restores your faith in young people and their ability to badly perform pointless lame gestures for self-promotion. Not exactly Paris-Dakar is it? It also makes you wonder what did he do with his two kids while he was out on this great adventure.

so no financial details will be offered to potential investors until after the court case.... Does that mean everything is on hold because they fear defeat in court, or do they expect people to blindly cough up money to help the property developers gain control? Any delay at this stage seems unwise. I understand they want pledges in asap, but even the dimmest person deserves to know what type of blackhole their hard-earned grand is disappearing into. Perhaps their sales drive day for the personal loan company will throw up some facts. Little info, fantasy accounting, a property developing deal dressed up as a fan buyout, a misguided media love-in and an invitation to take on personal debt - It all sounds a bit seedy and desperate. but what else can we do Rallyboy you fricking Nutjob? Turn the clock back five years and trade solvently perhaps? - or just do the time after doing the crime.

Smaller clubs than pompey don't take that many to Coventry. You can mock the photo but that's more people than you realise - don't forget that their ground holds 180,000. West Ham took 170 when they last went, Leeds 234, we only managed 38 - and this season I hear that Sheffield Utd sent ALL of their tickets back as none of their fans were deemed passionate enough to attend. So pompey might not have a very big following from that photo, but they sold out their allocation with ease - in fact there was a bit of a riot when Liam Lawrence put up the sold out signs, they had to turn away thousands, the locals were revolting. That big empty space around them is called segregation, the police kept them kettled to prevent the Coventry fans becoming jealous like us - but it didn't work, they now have their own micro-thread on the bestest. In technical terms, if you look carefully, I think they grade that fixure as a four steward job.

you might be surprised to know that those plucky few huddled together in some souless, fat-free, safety-aware, fire-resistant, flat-pack stadium, are all unique customers. None of them have ever supported pompey before, thus making the club a sleepy giant like no other. I've got a bit of paper that says it's so. The PDT will be quids-in when they pick up those keys, it's a little goldmine - the only undeveloped club ever, anywhere, probably. And my son Rotterdam Trixibelle Bootlid agrees.

I'm sure they announced that the club generates £300M a year for the city and that all the shafted creditors and the taxman should pray for their continued support. Just another blatant myth that went unchallenged on the Isle of Fatpipe. No one batted an eyelid, it was like a practical joke, a competition to see who could keep a straight face the longest. Avram Grant won. Sadly it wasn't just his gravedigger face that he kept straight. I know Micah Hall loves running the glory leg after Nutjobs have done the research so perhaps he could look into that ridiculous claim after he's asked someone sensible like Frank Zappa or Bob Geldof to rename the kids for him.

a pompey fan lecturing football on financial planning, honesty and integrity? Perhaps they'd like to have a pop at people who utilise tax-avoidance schemes too. Up next, Peter Sutcliffe explains how women deserve respect and equality in the workplace, whatever their job, while on BBC2 you can see a repeat of the Panorama special exposing how famous people abuse their positions, a hard-hitting documentary presented by Jimmy Savile. Later, John Terry uses his opportunity presenting the MOBO awards to campaign for the rights of disabled drivers, and launches an attack on unfaithful husbands.

I do hope that this incoming championship striker is as good as that Premiership midfielder they had, the one who was going to rip up League One, show those lower league peasants how the game should be played, and lead the sport into a new era. Though I guess he got his dream move to a bigger club - pompey gave him the opportunity, but you can't hold onto your great players when the European giants like Barnsley come calling with their tempting offers to pay your wages on time, not racially abuse you if you play badly, and not introduce you to more new players every week. A neutral might suggest that their recruitment policy looks a little chaotic at the moment. I know they are restricted, but they have clearly overspent on shiny tat. Along with Rocha that would be two players they have taken on who are not match fit and have just used pompey as a well paid training camp - like that summer holiday, but with less daytrips to see monkeys on rocks. It's funny how things go. The club future is in the balance, but the season has to stumble on. They've moved a stage beyond rearranging Titanic furniture - as the icy waters lap around the musicians' ankles they're now choosing which cushions go with the deckchairs.

It's become increasingly obvious that they either have friends in high places or have been VERY lucky in their previous courtroom dealings, so I really won't be surprised if the judge finds in favour of the property developers, rather than for the loan shark property developer. BUT, Chinny is no mug, and he hasn't become rich from being nice to people. He may already have planted a high offer by Al Fahim, he can produce his own independent valuations, he has Trevor's £13M figure, and he can talk about the freedom of development without a club there. He also has AA up his sleeve. For a judge to tell the Trust they can have it for £2.75M seems pretty unlikely. I can't see why a court would present a developer with a clear profit against a commercial rival. But if he does, can anyone confirm whether Chinny can step in at that point and offer (himself) £3M? If he can, the very few are more *****ed than anyone of us ever imagined. And if Chanrai is facing a massive loss surely he goes nuclear and offers Birch more than the Trust. Birch putting his name forward to the league shouldn't be a consideration, this is about selling a business, not being a member of a private club. If they refuse his ownership he could drag it through courts for ages. Especially as he doesn't want to be in their league, he would just want to buy and liquidate - getting more from that than he would from Trust ownership. He would also get to screw the now marooned property developer who has bought next door for no reason at all. Plenty more laughs whatever the outcome in court.