rallyboy

Chanrai on Birch - there is a 90 per cent chance the club is going to be liquidated, but it’s not going to be his fault Don't think so. Translates as -a loan shark who has offered to pick up the pieces before liquidation says something nice about the bloke who is trying to avoid it, in the hope that he looks favourably on him in return. Chanrai implies that he will step in to keep his assets alive, so that says they will finish the season. Making it to May is one challenge - but starting next season in any sort of sensible shape might be the really tough one, especially if they drop. I'd like to know more about the state of CVA1, there has been too much rumour and not enough fact. Has it been reduced, will it fail, is agreeing one to dodge penalties and not honouring it okay?

bear in mind I met Mr W when he was sober and with no posse, that might have a bearing on how sensible he is at any given time... If we're happy that the league has closed all avenues to legal action or pressure then it works for me. I just feared that with so many clubs likely to see their circumstances change that the pressure of member clubs could lead to internal pressure to see them dragged to the last weekend against all odds, if not court action. Back to the big question then - how the feck are they going to make it to the last day of the season?? Chanrai must be the only game in town, with AA ready to step in and throttle the last ounce of life out of his CVA. I can only see a bleak and dramatically short future for the pluckiest bestest supported club in the world. Went past Fratton Park just now - no sign of the mobility scooter, most disappointed.

I confessed a while back on here that I met Westwood and discussed football last year, he sounded more sensible and realistic than most from the east, though he was sober at the time. I believe the clever Tevez 'arrangement' cost £30M in compensation. If pompey go pop the points damage might prevent West Ham from going up, leaving them and Sheffield Utd in big trouble. The league cannot assist, but pompey's demise without completing the season would be the football authorities' worst nightmare. Imagine legal cases brought by clubs whose positions change. 'We played 46 games, you have docked us points because of something out of our control - you are responsible for producing a league where everyone plays 46 games - and you didn't' etc. So I don't see pompey going pop before May. But I'm curious to see how on earth they avoid it - I guess Chanrai will have to fall in love again, but like Uncle Avram he seems obsessed with chucking money down the hole. Has Chinny struck oil under the park and doesn't want anyone to know? There is something odd going on with AA meeting the Trust as well.....are they on a cover-up mission from their last visit?...the court bribe, the overly keen meeting with Birch?.... I smell something fishy, and it isn't Petersfield's antique book supplier...

has Storrie got confused and fined himself 5 years experience as he was so poor at his job, or is he working on an administration principle of only counting 80 days out of every 100? No wonder he couldn't understand basic maths. And why Gemmel is attacking poor Pete's working record I really don't know, it's not that bad. It was the same with Fred West - years working as a builder with no problems, but it's the little bit of raping and murdering that attracts the headlines. He did none of that for literally months, but you nutjobs only harp on about the bad times! Same with poor old Sutcliffe - a victim of the media - really efficient lorry driver, but slightly less efficient prossie-murderer, so no one recalls how his tachographs were really well kept. Storrie only bankrupted about three clubs, but he spent ages when some of them were really close to actually being nearly solvent - so give the poor bloke a break. Or another win bonus.

Wake up Media, let's not confuse 'deferred wages' with the term 'paycut' - two VERY different things. Unless HMS Liquidator cruises past the Round Tower sometime soon...which is unlikely. Though I can't see how they will get a new CVA agreed, those involved aren't as dim as the last lot, and AA isn't there to make up the figures. And the only incentive, the parachute payments, are getting gobbled up everyday by deferred wages, the longer that goes on the less Chinny can trouser. Imagine AA pulling the strings again?! - that would be insane, and I would then have some sympathy for the small sensible section of the fanbase. But even taking the loan shark's debt out of the mix for a mo it still looks beyond salvation. The club is tainted beyond repair. As for sitting down with the elusive arms dealer and appealing to his caring side, Birch would be better off holding peace talks in the Gaza Strip. No Avram, it's not a night club. And no, we won't drive you there.

are we being expected to believe that Chanrai has done due diligence, passed the FaPPT, and exchanged contracts with Birch...ALL in one sunday afternoon? Not the craziest thing that's happened down there I suppose.... I guess he must be falling back in love with the club. Can someone get hold of the kitman's son, we need to get this clarified by a reliable source, perhaps he has a number for the toyman. Can we expect an emergency loan spending spree tomorrow amid the rallying cry of Appy's battling troops bravely bidding for play off glory at a packed Fortress Fratton? Or will Chanrai's priority be to sort out those unfortunate creditors that got royally bummed by him in a 'clerical error' last time? Plenty more laughs either way.

Even the FL must have concerns about someone who has twice put a club into administration being a fit and proper person to have a third go. I can't see what Chanrai would gain by returning, it looks like a desperate last-ditch attempt to try and rescue a situation that's drifted from his control. He won't risk further investment, he might do the old CSI trick of generously 'writing off debt' (in return for equity) but the business has had it and the few would only become fewer with a return of the Chinster - and what is there for him as the parachute money is becoming as elusive as Appy's eyebrows. I reckon Chinny's had it - his attempted bribe at the court was his last chance. Is it time for the pompey kit to have gold stars around the badge representing the number of times they've historically shafted creditors? Or perhaps little red V's. I'm not surprised about the reserve keeper's wage, it would take a lot for me to be shocked by any financial detail emerging from the park that time forgot. Though if they paid off a creditor, accepted blame for their plight, or even apologised to a charity - now that would surprise me.

I reckon it's bubbling up nicely. Squad weakening, Chanrai getting desperate, judgement day is coming. The genuine progress this time is a proper administrator reducing the wagebill. The sporting advantage they've helped themselves to for a decade is being stripped back and that has to be good for the league. When Lord Lucan Lampitt refused to reduce costs during January I thought they were going to flick the Vs all the way to oblivion. So I'm happy that justice is slowly being dealt out on the pitch, we just need to expose this ridiculous myth about the park being packed by the bestest, and 'thousands' demonstrating at the end against nothing in particular. How long before the penny drops andthe few start to spot the potential of a farewell hammering at SMS? Will we see desperate last minute calls for liquidation in the build-up? Chanrai will be the good excuse for that one. I 4-1 look forward to their visit and would be most disappointed if they dodge it.

Howe without Wolanin would be like Syd Little launching a solo world tour. He's lost his backer, he is now a tyre-kicker. Nice of Lampitt to help out, they're all so supportive, once it's too late.

go out for the evening and miss four pages. I would say that something significant has happened while I've been out reminding myself why I don't go to Andover more often.... Earlier I thought that some mad pompey fan would drag some money together and bankrupt themselves, but I reckon the last chance for that just exited stage left. Not only has the Howe gang pulled out, but they have also labelled the business as f+cked. So by my reckoning that was the last mad person in the universe likely to take it on. Tis over. Probably. Let's just hope they can make it to St Mary's.

How glorious would your team have to be to gamble the whole future? Would you take a Champions League final victory over Barcelona with a 50-50 chance of liquidation? Would a single Premier League title be worth the risk? Or would you see your club liquidated in return for a forgettable 1-0 win over a bankrupt mid-table Championship side in a fading cup competition? I thought the arms dealer's payment would signal the CVA starting correctly but if Birch says there are other payments he can't make then it's a heap of trouble. Failing to exit with a CVA is a massive points penalty, failing to honour one must be the same surely? That would immediately relegate them. Anyone want to buy an insolvently-trading League One club with £100M+ of debt? But if cashflow is that poor it's irrelevant - they won't finish the season. Is their final act going to be dodging a St Marys humiliation? Unlike some I don't specifically wish to see them liquidated, BUT I'd just like them to pay the price for cheating - and the seriousness of the sentence has been in their own hands for two years. Had they behaved post-admin they would be okay, but they chose to gamble EVERYTHING. Difficult to be sympathetic in those circumstances. In fact the more they talk of shafting the creditors, the less sympathetic I feel. They just flick the Vs at every opportunity, judgement day will come. And as PaulS points out, looks like the club is about to step on the financial equivalent of one of Gaydamak's finest - BOOM! Is that Gaydamak the cup-financing hero, or Gaydamak the bloke responsible for all woes? - I forget which one we have to pretend he is. Lucky things only went wrong the day AFTER the cup final, or that would look like it was cheating all along.

haha - silly Phil got accused by Ho of getting stuff wrong! A little bit like Avram calling you a pervert....or Lampitt laughing at your cashflow forecast. Harry criticising your handwriting and honesty. Cotterill saying you need to accept reality. Al Fahim asking you for a choc ice and telling you your shirt is too small. Appy asking what happened to your eyebrows. Cala saying your ideas are fanciful. Lawrence and Kitson shouting 'greedy' at you. Storrie accusing you of reckless spending. Gaydamak calling you a warmonger. Antonov questioning your ethics. Al Faraj suggesting you up your public profile. Ben Haim saying you should give value for money. Andronikou questioning your conflict of interests. TCWTB saying you look ridiculous. Yes you did read it correctly, Ho accused someone of getting stuff wrong.

Huseklepp talks the talk....but he don't walk. The big fans’ favourite also promised the Fratton faithful he is aiming to halt local rivals Southampton’s bid to make the Premier League, having swapped a relegation dogfight for a promotion chase. He was given a cameo appearance from the bench against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The Norwegian international failed to score on his debut. But he is hoping he can still put a smile on the faces of Pompey fans over the rest of the season. ‘I have a new challenge and I have to focus on that but I can still help Portsmouth against teams at the bottom. ‘And I really hope to push Southampton out of second place' commented the lanky overpriced whale-murdering mercenary, shortly after failing miserably to either defeat Forest to help pompey, or to push Saints out of 2nd.

not enough of pompey's debt is 'football' so a change won't help them too much. In general terms, if HMRC win their case it will just mean Fifa and UK football authorities will have to introduce further sporting sanctions. As we've seen with pompey, they don't have to pay the football debt if they don't want to - it just means they wouldn't get the golden share, so the FL etc always have some sort of hold beyond UK law - remember our inability to appeal deductions. A new rule might be that failure to pay football debts in full = two division relegation? Failure to pay a European club would mean a ban from European competition next time they qualify, etc. That would make clubs look at what would cost them more. If West Ham knew they could write off a shedload but would start life in League Two next season it might look less attractive. Despite the FL and FA looking toothless of late I can't see them permitting consequence-free administrations - and Fifa won't let them. Say what you want about Mr Cortese but his forward planning re the academy status and his declared aim for the club to be self-funding is a blueprint for all to follow. And when Ho starts quoting pub myths about us missing tax payments and our spending being out of control - we could have broken the bank to secure Hooper in Jan but we didn't. It was obvious he had his price even if Celtic didn't, rightly so IMO, we didn't go there. While we did pay to get out of League One, our business model looks to me to be sound, at the moment. Unfortunately for other clubs, they needed to start this type of business plan a year or two back - that ship has sailed, and anyone who took on stupid longterm wages and ignored debt is likely to sink. And that brings us back to the good ship pompey, sailing into a Cala casino near you sometime soon.

good luck with that Crab, could be your great legacy, the project that fills the rest of your days...get Phil to edit, he has a way of saying things succinctly. To the point. Without dragging it out. Or over-engineering it. I'd be aware though that you just need another managerial visit to a brothel, or Ho reappearing to tell us about great new minted investors and you'll never keep up with the new pages rolling in. The train wreck is ploughing on - as is the social commentary of it. And as you skip through the 1129 pages, do feel free to pick out the bit where we guesstimated their running losses and came up with the same figure that Birch has mentioned. I recall that we were pretty accurate on that £8M a year figure? Seem to remember being called a nutjob for saying it at the time, but it sounds like 'at least £500K a month' was a good guess. Makes you wonder though, if we could accurately identify the club ownership and debt issues on here just by googling, studying and guessing, how could directors at pompey stand by and watch it all happen? And how could those few on pompey boards who Ho assures us have ALWAYS been several weeks ahead of us investigating, not highlight those issues, and address them? Two mysteries for the price of one! - buy one, get the second one paid for by West Brom.

good news breaking for the few. Liam Lawrence has said he's not looking to get away on loan... Hooray for the glorious hero, bring on the marching band, fire up the open top bus! In fact he says he is going to hang onto his hefty contract until they prise it from his greedy fingers, draining every last penny that Lampitt agreed to give him. As one of the senior pub thugs in the dressing room I presume he's speaking for all the battling £15K a week plus band when he says that they are all standing together, and looking forward to gathering all that cash. So the brave rallying cry is go pack the park*, because without your money there's a millionaire out there tonight who might not be able to buy shiny tat. With the signing of another player who is known to police, Appy's dressing room is looking more like a remand centre than a place of sporting excellence. They must have been gutted to lose out on Marlon King - he would have been the sex pest gem in their little criminal crown. *if the park is more than half full we'll all pretend that Fortess Fratton was 'packed' - it fits the media agenda.

you have to admire the cheek of the bloke. Methinks uncle Peter is trying to rebuild his public image by pretending he didn't do half the stuff he did, and thinks that if he keeps saying stuff it actually becomes a fact. Also, if you keep pointing at HMRC and shouting a bit, people might not notice you trousering win bonuses. No Pete me old mucker, you gave out ridiculous contracts, crazy image rights deals, discussed confidential pompey salaries with the manager of Spurs, welcomed a potless Arab or two with open arms, and you were the main driving force behind the three year train crash that is still hobbling along. But if you want to go on telly and look innocent, well, good luck with that plan. You'll always be a legend in Southampton.

a little present for all those pompey fans who still think a fan's buyout is realistic. . There you go, it's a little dot. You can use it to abruptly end sentences like, that's the last we'll see of Chanrai. Or, those extra 3,000 people will really make a difference. And just like the 30 year old Paulsgrove woman with extended family, this is called grammar. This little dot can be utilised throughout grammar - but it's urgent use in this case is as a decimal point. When you look at those debts and think , 'we only need to raise a few quid between us' - well, that's the time to get your decimal point and put it in the correct place. It'll be scary, but time well spent. Because you'll then realise that a few fans chipping in to save the club would be like trying to drain the Solent using a leaky thimble. On a very rainy day.

I'm surprised Mr Birch needs ANY additional money as this was discussed at court. They wouldn't have dodged liquidation without explaining how administration was going to be funded... Did their figures not quite stack up after all? I blame other people, they should sue someone, it's not fair. I bet there's a leaked email about banks getting together and being nasty to them as well. Any sign of the underwater leather sale consortium? The kitman's son who I see socially every few weeks, tells me that they are minted, we are talking billions from Kuwait, or somewhere else in that part of China, the Mr Clive Harbourdome will be just the start.

the skate who told me this seems clued up and genuine. 1126 pages in and that's the first time I've seen those words in that order. If Birch needs a million plus put on the table he needs one of Howe's minted mates to cough it up. Trouble is you want some guarantees for that sort of amount, and no guarantee can be offered - nor can it be seen as a deposit for a slightly-troubled business that can be turned round. The best person to cough up that sort of money without too many questions is a loan shark - or someone with dirty cash to clean. And that's the cul-de-sac they've driven up. In financial terms this is called being in a little bit of a pickle.

so the FL is mainly worried about being able to support their actions in court. That might explain why they are being very careful about imposing penalties. Pity they didn't have that attitude when legally Southampton FC didn't go into, and has never been in administration, even though morally a penalty was due. A bit late to get picky about the rules, what was wrong with the making it up as they went along approach? I still don't see how the league is to blame if you don't do correct due diligence yourself. They have the power to veto any decision you make, their role isnt to approve buyers. The club made the decision to get into bed with crooks - fully supported by the fans and the CEO. If you can't do the time, don't moan and blame others when the blatantly predictable occurs. As for the official referees' email to remind them about the plan to deny pompey penalties etc....

yeah two of their injured players chucked their crutches down when Billy Graham came in the dressing room at half time. so Liam Lawrence's Pack my Wallet campaign turned into a bit of a damp squib then... That pocket of muddy children that stayed behind looks about the same size as last time - described by some media as several thousand strong. Might sound a silly question but what exactly are they staying behind for? What is the point? Surely you give the team better support by doing it before the loyal heroes tip your cash into their boot and drive home to London. This is just people who don't want to go home - understandable, but they have to - there's hedgehog for tea, and those sisters don't impregnate themselves. Oh well, another lesson learned by Birch, you only sell out when a big club comes to town and people pay to see them. Been a funny sort of week to the east. Made me laugh anyway, even if Sour Mash doesn't quite get it yet and wants this thread closed. Chill SM, don't visit if it upsets you. The equation that simplifies it. They are our rivals + They heaped abuse on us + They are having a nightmare = (funny x 100)

‘Just stick with us. We are in this together – us and the supporters – make no bones about that.’ Muttered £20K-a-week, injury-prone and underperforming midfielder Lawrence, as he bottled a passer-by for looking funny at his Ferrari, before rubbing salt in the wounds of a recently-sacked office worker by taking their job as part of a feeble PR stunt. 'It's always someone else's fault', he continued rather predictably, 'and as long as I can blur the connection between my ridiculous salary and the club's financial problems then all is good' the pub thug said, before stealing lunch money from a small child en route to a short promo video shoot in a prison cell where he is being held on charges of brand marketing copyright theft from a Mr Cortese. Yeah, all in it together - the battling troops Lawrence, Kitson, Ben Haim....but not Mildred from the office who had to go to save £200 a week, she can jog on! All united, as one. Cut the spin, it's boring.

from my understanding of what Antonov said, if he isn't jailed he is happy to write off the CSI debt, for a return to part ownership of the business. So yes, a trust has to find millions of pounds to invest, and their reward is to go into partnership with the russians.... And they also have to see off Chanrai and AA.... So the likely outcome if a fan trust managed to raise £5M (lot of sponsored caravan washes) is a consortium with the last two owners still pulling the strings - and the child-maimer circling like a vulture. Good business plan. A supporter's buyout just ain't gonna happen without mega-rich fans - and they are few and far between. I don't think many of them have spotted where the decimal point is yet - and in fact if there is a point.

as far as a new buyer goes, I'm just starting to think that perhaps the figures might not stack up. That looks like a lot of cash needed in the first year of ownership, even if Chanrai and CVA1 take a hit. And let's not confuse wage cuts with deferred - two very different things. The players are guaranteed their dirty cash, they had no choice in the matter of delaying it, and it was the greedy three that pushed them over the edge, so let's drop all the 'our heroic lads showing the pompey spirit' b0ll0x that I've seen in The News comments. And I've seen Lawrence trying to pass a ball eight yards so I wouldn't trust him to sit the correct way on a toilet, if they had one, let alone operate a ticket office. Can't see that getting footballers involved in admin work is a shrewd move. The ship is sinking yet the battling troops at Fortress Fratton spin continues, and when there isn't enough of that let's just make something up about Saints. Yeah we are really teetering on the brink mate, it could go either way.... We really need to stop giving asylum seekers and kiddie fiddlers all those free tickets, but it's the only way we can fill the ground. More myths from the supporters who couldn't Pack a fricking suitcase. Is the Omnibot2000 the one with real chrome and a surprised look on its cyber face?