rallyboy

has the sleeping giant been smothered today? have we finally got it to flush? can there be another club in the British game associated with so many criminals? Send your answers on a postcard to Peter Storrie so he can alter it, in fact don't send it, wave it in his face, he likes that - no, not you Avram, don't wave that in his face.

It must be time for a final rousing speech from Storrie anytime now - new owner completing as we speak, fresh investment, stability, the way forward, freedom, the children are our future, passion, fight, democracy, the hand of history on his shoulder, nasty press, horrible taxman etc. If this is dragged out until the 1st, the court will have a better idea of the future funding required than a new owner would, so when a new consortium comes in they will be asked how much they have put on the table and the answer will be simple. If figure A doesn't match figure B......

good news is you only have one false dawn left, the deadline for the court is 4pm tomorrow.

fans are fickle. The Southsea Common hordes soon disbanded, the full houses are gone, a hardcore will remain in a doomsday scenario but there won't be a huge number. We had many fans wandering out when the 3rd or 4th goal went in at the weekend, presumably they were the additional 5,000 who hadn't been for a while but will no doubt be posing for the cameras outside Wembley with their picnic hampers and songsheets, in their Wright-Phillips shirts, telling South Today that 'Richard' Lambert is their favourite. Are we going to manage to take 44K to that but end up with a gate of 20K for the next home game? You have to accept that not everyone will want to put themselves out and if the club went pop a few people will use that reason to call it a day, their club will have died and any replacement won't be the same. You can't rely on those fringe supporters, they won't bother going to Havant to watch Athletico Pompey v Kettering on a rainy Tuesday. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, there is no grim reaper at the door, Pompey is a Prem club heading towards another fa cup win and the future is bright. For another 28 hours.

I think the cruise ship Insolvent Trading sailed a while back! Capt Storrie was at the helm then and I can't see him worrying about normal business practice and stepping down to prevent further charges. He is bullet-proof after all, you can only harm him by waving photocopied bank notes at him - an incident that may well inspire his next business.... Wouldn't it be a shame if all of their results were declared void sometime soon - one less goal for Rickie.

I take this report with a pinch of salt because I know that Storrie promoted a slightly different version of events immediately afterwards. It was initially suggested that he was unfairly abused by fans from possibly two of Hampshire's teams. After a day to reflect he has chosen to promote this new edited version of events. Tie that in with the News coverage of the nasty home fans attacking the angelic away fans and you have the blue-tinted version of the day. Don't believe the hype.

well if what he says is true the new owners will be a fortnight too late, they need to agree terms now as Wednesday is the day for facts, 1st March is just the day to announce who they arrest first. Keep up Storrie, it's your fantasy, you need to rewrite that bit of script a bit sharpish.

the media is just grasping that they have gained an advantage on the pitch by their criminal activity off it, and continue to do so with the ongoing recruitment. It's cheating and it's blatant, but that arrogance has walked them right into a trap where HMRC are waiting - they have less than three days to bank a massive donation, and to shred a lot of evidence. As Confusious say - Man who sticks two fingers up at the court and the taxman can look forward to groundsharing with Havant and Waterlooville sometime soon. Thanks for calling, it was so lovely to see you, hope you enjoyed your win, no I don't want my drive done, we don't need the wheel trims back thanks, and yes, you'll get a big welcome at Totton if the league accepts you. byeeee!

Has Avram Grant been hanging around with Storrie too long? One minute he's the shy retiring coach, next minute he's giving it large on the pitch like he's just won the title. Nice to see him embracing the media spotlight, though the old prossie-brotherer seemed less keen when he was shuffling around Horton Heath with his c*ck hanging out. I hope Fahim's £60/70M has cleared in the bank - it needs to be in there within the next 48hours to make the report, can't be a problem to a man of his wealth. I guess we'll be living in the shadows for another generation. NOT! Yesterday was their day, but the future is so very red and white.

I think Merov you may have suffered there because we have heard too many times from the likes of Storrie about how he told the court to do this and made the taxman do that, he also instructs the league on occasions - it's become a habit down that way to claim you are in control when the facts suggest otherwise - no big deal. Anyway, can I sell you some Citroen wheel trims? Low mileage, couple of hoof prints - or should that be yoof prints? I've had MUCH worse days at football, result on paper looks far worse than it was, maybe it was tougher on those who watched on tv and didn't get to outsing the few - off to Wembley, summer round the corner, life is still good.

put down hot drinks and move away from heavy machinery...... The News reports this morning that the clown prince himself 'Dr' Al Fahim is back and leading the chase to buy the club. He has plans to pay off debt in a year (meaning he still has nothing) and he claims to have agreed a £18M payoff to the child-maimer. Well it can't be as funny as his first comedy tour but maybe he has new material?

my understanding was that on that date they're still being judged on what state the business is in next Wednesday, the seven day deadline - is that right? The rest is just down to finding time to hear the case meaning further promises of phantom owners will count for nowt. Maybe the court hopes they just go pop in the meantime - the wages day will tell us much...and let's not imagine that date when accounts are due is a coincidence, the taxman is a clever bloke and he's offering them much rope.... Storrie will take this as a reprieve and won't bother about it until that morning. Panic ye not my pretties, they're still fatally wounded, they are just struggling to find a free slot at the Crem now.

the Prem's lawyers will be going barmy - the league complicit in shoring up a company that they knew was trading while insolvent? The court has suggested that, and the Prem had their own copy of the accounts so there will be no defence. Also it only needs a couple of the relegation rivals to say, 'okay you do that but if they finish above us we will sue' - a nervous few months for Scudamore and the worms could be all over the show. Pompey were quiet about the £2M advance - is that because one of their creditors was expecting it when it appeared later? BUT if they get £11M the taxman will want the lot - if Chanrai or Gaydamak don't have it away, and what's stopping that happening? If I was owed their amounts and the Prem was stupid enough to cough up a load thinking it was going to clear tax.... So if the league pay the tax direct the judge will then ask for proof of funding for the rest of the season - and the problem remains. They are fatally wounded, someone just offered them a plaster. Nice touch with the 6R4! - at least you now know my user name is not about extremism and steam events. If a Metro has room in the boot for shopping, you have the wrong model.

is this where they are now? £7.4M Vat £4.7M Paye £18M Chanrai £28M Armsboy £3M listed creditors £1.7M Good old Sol £5M Transfers £1M legal/accountancy/shredding? Lets look at the next six months for stability with some very 'back-of-an-envelope' maths..... £14M for wages and paye which I think they will ought to keep on top of! They must have some transfer money due in soon, let's guess that and some match income will account for Sol and their huge legal bills - though they will stall on these and run up further legal bills. I would say they could restructure the two big debts to hold onto the stadium but they are going to come in at £1.5M a month repayments? The others will need maybe half up front now and the rest a bit sharpish to keep them quiet. Plucking figures out of the air in the way that Storrie does business, I would say a new owner needs to put about £12M (half to taxman, rest to satisfy others) on the table next week and PROVE that he has £38M to put in before August. If he can invest more than £50M to get them to the relative sanctuary of Sky payment and season ticket sales - is that about £10M + £3M? he would then be approx £37M down and the proud owner of a struggling championship club facing charges of financial irregularities, and still with £30M debt to clear. With some creditors cleared and wage bill trimmed as the dive down the leagues gathers pace, the running costs would then drop to only £3.5M a month, income would be maybe half of that, and he would then need to file for administration at Christmas once he has lost approx £50M, Chanrai would then reclaim the stadium for the balance of his debt, and there would be nothing to sell. If we want to look really long term and make the business profitable you need a new squad and stadium as well so an ambitious owner would need to have £250M and a five year plan - a bit like putting a WRC spoiler on your Metro. Mmmmm - I wonder how that big bidding war is going between the two interested parties. Someone might scrape together £6M-£8M to cover an initial payment in the hope of seeing that Sky money but I don't see much proof of progress beyond that. And as for the league paying Pompey in advance to sign loan players to get them past their fellow league members….? Avram Grant charged with improper conduct? – No, he gets a lot more improper than that down at Unit One.

you have to think that HMRC are looking at the big legal picture regarding Redknapp, Mandaric, Storrie, Azougy etc... They must have several investigative teams liasing and sharing info around the winding up and the rest of it, the current delve into the books should assist all ongoing cases. If this is the tip of a dodgy iceberg I suggest we will need to launch a new thread. To try and cover a further year of investigation into Pompey's illegal trading and tax evasion on here could break the internet itself. Anyway, have we now established that they traded their entire history for a 1-0 win over a bankrupt mid-table championship side?

interesting note in the fa rules re a club that goes into liquidation - 'their results would be declared void'. Not just league results. So if we win, great, if they win and then lose it court - result scrubbed from the records. And does this all mean that Maradona isn't coming anymore?

so they have a week to organise a bidding war between these two massive consortiums looking to pump millions into the sleeping giant, and they also need to overturn the way that VAT is calculated in the UK. They still don't get it do they? It's over, let it go... But do pop round and say goodbye at the weekend, Ted's still waving.

to roll up with Azougy in tow is madness! He may be there to look after the arms dealer's interests but the presence of a convicted fraudster could annoy the court and HMRC, thus escalating the hearing into a speedy liquidation. Very odd tactics, right from day one.

if all goes well tomorrow, not only can they get the open top bus out to celebrate the point against Sunderland but they could afford to put some diesel in it to drive about a bit and look for the missing 200,000. Best fans in the world? I think they're in for a shock on Saturday if they think they are coming to a friendly little place like Wigan or Bolton. We might not have a Premiership side but St Marys will be a new experience for some of their guys, let's wind it up a few notches from tonight's great showing and give them a proper welcome.

looks like we are heading for a day in court tomorrow and a sweating Storrie coming out celebrating a four week stay of execution or some equally disappointing result, oh well. And calling him a fat Rupert is about as bad as it gets! Well all this excitement has to go on a back burner for a few hours, I'm about to hop on a train to Wembley town, calling at St Marys Central!!

They have had ample opportunities to pay and also to sell, in January they made no effort to do either. There has been no sign of the company addressing debt issues, until the court date looms... They have also left it to the last 24 hours to negotiate - these are all self-created problems and I see no reason for the authorities to grant much at all. Unpaid wages, unpaid creditors, but taking on new staff? And yes it is personal, because we tried to get by with youth team players to reduce costs, our form suffered as a result and we were hit with a double whammy. Other clubs have cut costs and been relegated on the back of money issues, Portsmouth has just continued to trade illegally. Hang them high Mr Taxman.

That article says he is willing to make an offer, BUT doesn't make any mention of the taxman recieving one let alone accepting it. I thought Chanrai initially loaned £18.5M and then a wage bill payment which plus the interest (Palace were borrowing at 18%) must make his debt £25M already, meaning he would personally want at least £30M payback if he sold. With many other debts and costs the club is starting to get very expensive. If HMRC do accept a new payment plan from him, the Pompey debt would just increase making them less attractive to a buyer. They need donations not loans. Even with a payoff tomorrow I see no progress beyond postponing implosion for another few weeks.

it's taken a few of us 230 pages but I reckon a couple of you have just thrown a shaft of sunlight onto a good theory that might make sense of some of the madness....listen up and consider this as a purely fictional version of events that couldn't possibly be true.....concentrate.... The whole Chanrai legal case against the arms dealer was a sham supported by dodgy contracts agreed between the two. They created backdated paperwork that would lead the unsuspecting court to the obvious conclusion of awarding a massive payout against Gaydamak - the only scenario that could release money from those frozen accounts. Chanrai then whacked 'his' payout of those unfrozen funds, into a vehicle that Gaydamak knew he could utilise for further laundering, and to pay off agreed fees to his partner for the 'unfreezing' work. All they needed was a mystery figure at the helm taking the pressure as they quietly removed those funds from said company - enter arab answer to Lord Lucan stage left. And if anyone found out and tried to halt it? 'There's £500K, look the other way', or the buck stops at the top, and how can you charge an owner who doesn't exist? Chanrai makes a few quid, looks like a big businessman who has generously assisted the club, gets some shares in a Sky TV cash generator/laundering business, and Gaydamak regains access to a huge chunk of his money that otherwise would be out of his reach. And when the fun and games fizzle out they end up owning adjoining pieces of land for a development project. This of course is a ludicrous story borne out of watching too many Bond films and no one would believe it to be true, though it oddly ticks most boxes. Everyone's a winner. Well, nearly everyone.

Very funny Mr CrabLungs - you obviously have far too much time on your hands, but you are using it wisely! Storrie moans the media have 'had the knife in all season' - no Pete, they have always printed the league tables, it's nothing personal. Though they may be preparing a new template for use later this week.

well it could be an interesting week! I do hope we can finish off MKD and that Carlisle do the same to Leeds. It would be nice if Kenwyne Jones scored a last minute winner at Fratton. I do hope the taxman and the judge are impatient on Wednesday. It would be understandable if Avram chucked it all in Thursday morning. And a few of their players decided to go the free agent route that afternoon. And Ricky Lambert crashed in a 98th minute winner on saturday. Don't the weeks fly by when you're enjoying yourself.