rallyboy

so another player is likely to return tomorrow with his tail between his legs - that Hoseclip bloke who went to Birmingham and gobbed off, giving it large about putting us in our place. That must be another £15K a week to find - every little helps! Play-offs couldn't have gone much worse for Birch.

pompey are beyond a joke club but Blackburn are coming up fast on the rails. Or should that be off the rails? They are looking at bankruptcy and a further relegation - when they miss their first wage or tax bill no doubt the authorities will come down on them as heavy as they did with the likes of Luton. Meanwhile West Ham still have their date with destiny, and if it's against Birmingham they'll both need an administrator sat on the bench at Wembley - that would be winner takes all, losers goes bankrupt. Most important that we retain our new status and keep the books under control for a year or two, it could be carnage all around us - hopefully we got out little 'hiccup' out of the way early doors and beat the rush. How's that Trust takeover shaping up?

the fans have been fantastic, packed the park, didn't boo Kitson and Varney, didn't get arrested at Coventry - some clubs they went to this season even said it was the most annoying noise ever made by 150 people, and even though there were so few of them, it was always nice to see them go home. Doncaster even wrote them a letter and said you might have been presented with three points by a dodgy ref but we'll still see you next season - and please keep up the transfer policy, it makes our bonkers attempt at staying up look sensible. The bestest really have stepped up to the plate, creating an intimidating atmosphere at fortress fratton that terrified the likes of Derby and Millwall, shook them to their core, they were so scared they could barely get back on their coach after easy victories - they still have nightmares about rows of empty blue seats and rather fatty showers. And when Saints went there it was like Galatasary against Boca Juniors - the noise in the arena was deafening, Foxy looked well petrified when a cross-eyed ten year old threw the ball away from him, and he didn't even know what the time was as Stage One of the ground development hadn't been completed. He was so intimidated he just ran away, like scummers do, all the way to the Premier League. And the few wouldn't boo like Blackburn fans did, no, they are the most respected fanbase in the country, in a slightly patronising and sarcastic media-cartoon sort of way... The self-proclaimed bestest are legends in their own lunchtimes - they weren't even frightened when their special buses had dog walkers look at them in a nasty way. They just stood proud, shoulder-to-shoulder, behind Appy's battling troops who gave their all in the relegation fight. They stood defiant, as they did on that homo-erotic poster, they were relegated as one. And the fundraising proves their strength in both quality and quantity, putting their money where there toothless mouths are. Giving it all that for five years, and the 250,000 celebrating a glorious 1-0 victory against a midtable bankrupt Championship side, no wonder the fans want to take control. So it came to the crunch and they had to show their support in hard cash. Now, the dismal but predictable failure of the Trust scheme could be laughed at by cruel people who've had to suffer several years of arrogant boasting from people who give themselves awards for their own support, as the amount doesn't even cover a third of one player's wages - but let's look on the bright side. If they want to raise about £10M to put the club back on it's feet I'm sure there's some flexibility with the deadline of three weeks, they really need to be raising approx £400,000 a day now. The bestest are currently generating £1,800 a day - and even ToyBoy might admit that that represents a small shortfall. Chanrai might not be the answer but AA can help, he can massage a few debts, mislead a court or two, move a few decimal points and Bingo! - the Trust will be right on track.

I suspect Bournemouth won't be getting their £50K just yet - another little chunk off the parachutes, chipping away at the possibility of future stability. The ignorance of their plight among some is still staggering. Some people think they still have £16M to come, and are complaining about Birch selling players on the cheap? What part of pompey could be liquidated at any point now don't you understand?? It wasn't just a bad dream, that was your season, mush.

there can be no doubt that their wagebill is going up faster than the pledges of investment to the Trust. The business has become even more insolvent in the last few days. Just need Henderson deal to fall through and their entire transfer policy will officially qualify as a debacle. I see no firesale.....no firesale, means no new owner of any sort.

Blackburn fans packed the park for a big match - no chance of pompey fans doing that. The few are way too busy trying to keep up with sorting the thousands of applications for Trust membership. Thankfully Ticket Office Manager Liam Lawrence is back tomorrow to get on top of the backlog - and to claim his astronomical wages that will once again cripple the business. Fair play to him, steered Cardiff away from the top two and still manages to do damage to pompey. He must be looking forward to playing at Crawley.

enough is enough Birchy, pull the shutters down - if you have any heart put them out of their misery as this bumbling carcass no longer has quality of life.

sell Pearce in January for a million, or accept half of that while paying him a further £200K in wages, and not change the outcome of the season in any way? That mistake, or the plucky battling hero's refusal to abandon his wages cost pompey about £700K in four months. Birch's decision making is coming over all Peter Storrie. Which is funnily enough very similar to what a gurning Uncle Avram did on a memorable club outing to Horton Heath - paid for by sponsors.... At least they now have a few hundred grand to redirect to creditors, how much of that income will sort out the British Legion? It won't cover Ben Haim through the summer. Appy claims we are not a joke club. The fact that you have to say that, confirms that you are.

one of the Gosport wards had a turnout of 13% last night. If people won't go out and vote for free, and they won't pay £25 to pack the park, how are you going to get 70 people to pledge £1000 everyday for a fortnight? The Trust is becoming a bit of a distraction, a Plan B perhaps, but I can't see that they are actually assisting Plan A, people think they are the answer, they aren't. Chanrai must be the only game in town, and he's going to split the remains of the few, and I can't see why he would spend anymore money. If Birch doesn't strip out all of the high earners, I can't see why Chanrai would dive back in. But I have found a positive in West Ham's win last night... Lawrence will be back on Tuesday! The cost of paying him until August would wipe out a third of the Trust's current warchest. I reckon the figures might be starting to stack up. Then again I am off my face on a cocktail of horse tranquilisers and tomato feed and really shouldn't be operating heavy machinery, let alone doing due diligence with the intention of chucking £10M down a big black hole.

we've heard all the funded by sponsors stuff before. Last time the accounts later showed large hotel and travel costs for the US holiday so Birch will have find some cash from somewhere to make that happen. I just admire their optimism, planning for beyond next week. As for making it to July - It's good to have a dream. I wonder how the 1,000 pledges in 14 days is going - the only things moving slower must be due diligence by new owners, the sale of Ben Haim, and glaciation.

My old gardening mate Hayling Pete gave us one of those exotic Ben Haim pot plants for the patio, he said it would be really good. But the little fecker took root and sucked all the life out of the shrubbery, it never bloomed despite us spending a fortune on it, just sat in the corner taking up space. I left it out all winter last year and it still wouldn't budge, was a ba$tard to get rid of, I couldn't even give it away in the end. It was one of the main reasons we were forced to concrete over the grass and had to sell the land to Tesco. That and the fact that I was paying a gardener £36,000 a week. Hopefully my spindly Kitson tree will fare better - the leaves turn a beautiful red in the autumn.

I'm with Steve on this one - they have embraced every manager in the disturbing style of an abuse-victim - their emotions have gone awry and they now believe that all of their managers are wonderful and will look after them. We had it with prossie-bothering, relegation expert and embarassing centre-circle speech monkey Avram who abandoned them and went to West Ham where he annnounced he had joined a club with the best fans in the world, then Cotterill was a tactical genius for narrowly steering the highest paid squad in the division away from relegation. They only went off him when he left. Now Appy has worked miracles inspiring his overpaid greed monsters all the way to league one. Perhaps a glance at the last three seasons' league tables might offer a better indication of who did a good job...looks like none of them to me. As for the Telegraph, their piece the other day was wholly inaccurate, I don't see anything different in that one. Several thousand people have already pledged? No they haven't. 20 or so supporters are considering putting up £50K plus? No they're not. Spin don't pay the bills.

it did make me chuckle when I saw that a few mischievous individuals have taken Appy from about 4%, to 31% and hot favourite, in 24 hours. I do hope the WBA board are swayed by public opinion. Some of you are just messing with their minds now for your own entertainment, haven't we had enough excitement for one week?....though if that's what the Birmingham public wants then who are we to argue. Power to the people!...whatever their motives...byebye Appy, get out while you can.

latest skate gossip I've heard - apparently they should be favourites to bounce back as 'there isn't a lot of quality in League One'....good luck with that plan. To save ploughing through thousands of posts, what is the latest on the CSI debt? They said it is £28M according to Birch, did I miss something? Has AA used his limited power and made it conveniently leap from £10.8 or is it just skates not understanding what's going on again?

I can already see where this one is heading... West Brom must have ZERO interest in handing over mid-table respectability to an inexperienced manager who recently marched his plucky troops directly from Fortress Fratton into League One. But for local people with a local club that will translate into... Hands off! - Fratton hero is going nowhere! Loyal Appy has spurned the advances of the Premier League outfit and has told them he's staying to fight his corner, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the mighty blues' bestest, and pledging his future to proud pompey as the lads launch a glorious bid to immediately return to the Championship! yawn. Don't believe the hype. That said.....I could see Roy taking him to the England coaching set-up, which would be a better escape route than even Cotterill managed!

is that Paul Walsh having a conference call with his backers? We'd have noticed if that had sailed into Ocean Village. Anyway I've arranged myself a good night out tonight... Going to watch the City Utd game tonight with three mates at one of their houses - and they are all skates! Can't wait to see their faces when I let off a red flare in his living room....

pompey to sack the administrator? How does that work then? The club has no power to do anything. Telegraph story looks like a work experience effort on a quiet Sunday - having basic facts wrong raises question mark over the whole credibility of the piece. Think I'll await the PR version The News will churn out to the faithful. Meanwhile Birch has some big decisions to make now the season is over and he ticked that box. No income....big wage earners returning, deferred wages needing to be paid, could be a busy week or two.

they really picked the wrong day to get on the pitch for a show of strength! As we both exit the division in different directions, us to try and consolidate a future at the top table, them to try and find enough money to complete the week, perhaps a ceasefire could be called? Even I feel a bit guilty about ripping into them this weekend, it would be cruel, like punching a blind tramp - dignity is a fine trait in a victor. That said....I still see rubbish being spouted... I might respect a ceasefire on the more acidic posts, all those gags about stadiums with jockey wheels, sister-bothering, money-laundering, extra digits, prostitutes, undersea fantasy worlds, Riquelme etc. I might, if I didn't keep on seeing bizarre self-promotion about the best fans in the world and the following.... Lawrence was going to fire Cardiff above us and feck our season. Henderson joined the 'champions' West Ham. Huskellop was going to launch Birmingham's challenge to knock us off our perch. Norris scored the goal that would deny us promotion. Hilariously, ALL of this turned out to be the usual deluded b0ll0x!! So I'm considering a fragile ceasefire.....which could collapse with the first mention of a mythical dock strike. And to the eternal question.... Their nearest rivals were 50 places below them not long ago, they have now been promoted as pompey have been relegated. The scummers even had six points they didn't need and gave them to Bristol City. The rivals are off to The Emirates and Old Trafford, pompey might not even make it to play Crawley Town. Their last game even featured ex-Saint Dexter sending them on their way to the backwaters, the last ten months could barely have been worse for them. So, have they got away with it? They can put on a brave and cross-eyed face, but looking at the facts of their nightmare season, I think the answer must be a resounding NO. Justice is finally being served.

Firesale? The building burned down nearly two and a half years ago, yet they only start a firesale today?! The stock is beyond repair, much of it was pretty ropey when they got it, and some of the few believe they can get £2/£3M for Ben Haim! New thinking required down the road - It's been mass clearout time since 2010, just get rid of the wages. And for god's sake stop worshipping the players who have damaged the club, it makes you look silly. Man Utd striker Danny Welbeck earns less than the majority of the pompey first team - let's just look at that in the cold light of day. The richest club in the world with 75,000 gates and massive international commercial income, pays significantly less to some players than the likes of Kitson are earning?.... And they think the firesale will be easy! - the bonkers wages alone mean that the likes of Man Utd could not, or would not afford Ben Haim etc. That fact of the month should get through to even the dimmest amoeba that pompey have been gaining a sporting advantage by outbidding rivals with money they could never afford. But they don't want reality. Appy's plucky battling heroes, never giving up, the great escape, Fortress fratton packed to the rafters with the bestest getting behind the loyal troops. Even if the club survives hopefully we've heard the last of that type of embarrassing b0ll0x. They were neither plucky nor loyal, the park was nowhere near packed, and Derby and Millwall stormed said fortress without breaking sweat as the troops proved to be a bunch of lethargic Girl Guides who only played when they fancied. As for the homo-erotic Escape poster of Appy, I thought it was a long lost and previously-banned Frankie Goes to Hollywood single now released under the 30 year rule. Pity, was looking forward to hearing it.

calm down my pretty ones - it is already set in stone...banish those nerves. There is nothing WE can change, and we don't need to. We saw it in him the day he appeared, we've celebrated the fact in song for three years. You cannot argue against fate. Tomorrow, Rickie will take us to the Premier League.

things don't get any better... I'm trying to buy World Cup finals tickets in the Maradona Suite, Upper Tier of the Limbless Child Stand at the Harbourdome and TicketBa$tard are treating me like a looney. What is their problem? Anyone know the best to travel to the arena? I know there is parking for 80,000 and the two new rail stations serving the whole complex run every fifteen minutes to London and Paris, but I'm tempted to go over on the Gosport Ferry. And with the stadium sticking out halfway across the harbour, if the number of people is too much I could probably jump across. Any good places to eat pre-match in the pompey village complex built on the land compulsory-purchased for £500M? I've heard that Jamie Oliver's place is quite good, the one next to the underwater casino and leather shop - makes the Spinnaker Tower look like a project delivered six years late with the main item not working. Anyway, need to get back online because if the Southsea 250,000 are on there that'll be most of the World Cup tickets gone. I take it the new stadium has the traditional hot and cold running fat? Can't wait to see England walk out in the arena, the three lions draped over the huge bronze statues of Storrie and Lampitt....I know it's wrong but as a Saints fan, like the rest of football, I'm really jealous of what they've created. You have to give it to them, it's quite a feat to take the club from where it was fifteen years ago, hopelessly in debt, no future, living in the shadows of rivals, owned by idiots, supported by myth-peddling, heather-selling, sister-bothering simpletons, staring down the barrel of the lower leagues with only charity-raping to look forward to - now look at them! I'm a little green-eyed monster - grrrr.

jealousy? :lol:

going out in a mo, returning later to plough through 10 pages of thread no doubt. Predictions for today - Some random pikey will announce that the situation is worse than they thought. UnAppy will put on a brave face while his agent organises a move as his staff are removed from around him. Birch will put on his serious face and appeal for a new owner, perhaps adding a new deadline. Trousers will come up with a ridiculous farm animal-themed excuse for not going to work. A toothless simpleton will appear on Sky saying that the club will never die and that they are the bestest in the world. Ben Haim will lie on a beach faraway, sipping cool drinks. Peter Storrie will prepare yet another press statement deflecting the blame. The FL will act all concerned, in public. Another charity-shafting will be confirmed. Nothing will change.

Let's have some clarity amid the confusion - some blunt facts for the few. 1. The Trust cannot afford the club, nor should it. There is nowhere near enough financial backing, all they would be doing is taking on HUGE debt. The Trust idea is 100% doomed to fail. 2. All senior players are ridiculously overpaid. 3. If a player pledges their loyalty it's not a good thing, you need ALL of them to leave - see point 2. 4. The business is WAY beyond worthless, even organised crime and money launderers can no longer see a profit there. 5. The only answer is STILL someone with about £10M in cash, and further money to invest - by now I think we've established that they don't exist. 6. The parachute payments are being frittered away on Ben Haim etc and Chanrai will outbid any attempt to buy the club for peanuts, so don't believe the fantasy accounting being discussed. 7. It's over. 8. It really is.

by the end of the week a fund supporting a marathon runner that nobody knew will exceed the pompey Trust's warchest. And no one will go into debt to give, no one will be worried about losing an investment, they will just have been moved by her story and her efforts to help others. To support something financially you need an emotional attachment - so the sad fact is that not enough people care about pompey. Football results - Irony and Karma League Division 3, pompey 0, Charity 5.