Wes Tender

Just watched the highlights on i-player, (from about 49.50 onwards) At least a bit longer to watch than usual, due to the number of goals! They sit up and take notice that we have Lambert and Barnard in a rich vein of scoring form, but also that Lallana has 15 himself. Also intersting to watch the Wycombe Wanderers match shortly afterwards and for those who were not there in our match against them to see that awful pitch, which was commented on by Claridge.

Whereas I don't subscribe to the hysteria that there is something that has happened recently that means that AP's job is in jeopardy (I think that AP reacting to some inane questioning from the journalist is possibly closer to the mark) nevertheless, I am happy to add myself to those who wish to state their support for him and the job he has done since he came here. I confess that when his name was announced, I was a little disappointed, influenced by what I had considered to have been a failure with Charlton. I would have loved us to have got the other former Charlton and West Ham manager Alan Curbishley. But I have reconsidered my opinion in light of the way that he has handled our situation since his arrival. As others have pointed out, it was probably the hardest job to change the culture of failure that was prevalent here following the worst excesses of the Lowe years. Initially, he had to work with the players he inherited, not having had the luxury of replacing many of those players and with no pre-season. Remember that he also had no backroom staff to take some weight off his shoulders. The passage of time has proven that the majority of his signings have been inspired and that goes for the backroom staff too. Realistically, it has only been since the January transfer window that the team can be considered to be entirely his. There have been some reverses against teams that we had expected on the basis of our Premiership history to have beaten convincingly. Easy to look at defeats to teams like Swindon and Brighton and bemoan how low we have fallen if we can't beat them, or the likes of Wykeham Wanderers. But there have been some surprises and upsets caused by those teams against the leagues high flyers. A few weeks ago, when we played Leeds, we were expecting a tonking from them and were happy that we ran them close. But a couple of games ago, Walsall beat them. I suspect that if this current team played Leeds now, we would run rings around them. It is natural that we should feel low after a result like the Wykeham one, but then winning so convincingly against Norwich before and Walsall after, ought to give some prespective to the season. If we beat Huddersfield and Leeds in the near future, I really do feel that we could go on a run of unbeaten games and then who knows what the outcome will be?

Let's hope that he's as prolific a scorer as Claus was, eh?

On Match of the Day, the pundits discussed the 9 point penalty following the interview with well known local massage parlour regular Grant. Linneker opined that the nine point penalty was unfair on the Skates and that there ought not to be these penalties. Previously, I had a great deal of respect for Linneker, but now I feel that his main vocation ought to be advertising potato crisps.

There WAS the possibility of us appealing our points deduction because we had hoped to use a technicality to get us off it. As it was, that technicality might have held water in a court of law, but Mawhinney had threatened that if we challenged it, the penalty would have been greater. The grey area was that we were part of a club effectively and the club makes the rules. I was not railing against Grant playing mind games when I'm sure that he is probably intelligent enough to realise that there is no way that they will get away with it. What rankled was the naivety of the journalist, who if he was going to enquire about the points deduction, ought to have been well enough briefed about it to have had some sort of comeback that wouldn't have made him look as if he didn't know what he was doing.

So, Avram Grant is interviewed by Radio Solent and the reporter asks him whether a points deduction is fair. No, says Grant, it's not fair on the players or the fans. We will appeal it. So the reporter then asks what will be the effect on the team if the points deduction is imposed... What sort of excuse for a reporter is this? Is he a professional, or some pimply youth on work experience? The points deduction will be made because it is the rules. The points deduction will not be because of the players or the fans; it will be because the people who ran the club ran up massive debts buying players that they did not have the income to afford, thus giving their club an advantage over those teams who were more circumspect about their expenditure. Even if Grant either does not have the intelligence to understand this, or is just being deliberately disingenuous, does not mean that the reporter cannot try and exercise his brain cells and tell him that the points deduction will be imposed, or if it is not, then it will be a travesty and a cop-out of epic proportions by the FA.

The best home performance of the season. We were majestic. I think that Walsall gave us too much respect, or else they just didn't seem to want it as much as us. For much of the game, they appeared to be like startled rabbits caught in the headlights. We were able to pass the ball around with ease and play with width for a change. It would be a comfort to say that no team in this division could live with us when we have a team like that, playing like that, but we appear to be a bit Jekyll and Hyde sometimes. We beat the league leaders Norwich fairly convincingly, but look ordinary against lowly Wykeham. Will the real Southampton please stand up? I will start to have a bit more belief if we manage to do the same against Huddersfield on Tuesday. But I'll enjoy this result very much until then, as it really was difficult to fault anybody's performance in a Saint's shirt today. At times, it did look as if it were a third division team playing a Premiership outfit and I don't think that it is exagerating much to say that, considering that the range of passing, defending, movement and attacking play could easily have graced some Premiership matches. At the very least, there are one or two players already up to Premiership standard and more who are at championship level. There are one or two others who are developing steadily towards that standard too. Do we have the best team in the division? Maybe. I certainly think that Puncheon was an inspired addition, as was Fonte. Otsemobor had a reasonable game too and Barnard is growing in confidence as he adds goals to his tally. The new signings do seem to have made a difference and the sum of the parts is beginning to look rather more than the individuals as they gel as a team.

Unlikely though, isn't it? We had very little debt, a decent stadium and training ground and much potential. If there are Chinese Bilionaires out there wanting a toy to play with, then there are plenty of other clubs that they could buy into with decent stadia and other facilities, clubs in the Premiership rather than ones with such a recent shameful history and headed towards oblivion. We were a decent investment opportunity; they aren't.

I must say what fun its been the past few months, watching the Skates self-destructing. It gives me some comfort when thinking back to them being in the Premiership, winning the FA Cup and knocking us out of the Cup, that everything has been achieved on the back of such incredible financial incompetance that they have now received their come-uppance in the doomsday scenario that they now face. In many ways, I had hoped that they would be liquidated and have to start again from the lowest rung of the football structure in this country. But in hindsight, perhaps it will be preferable to watch them slowly descend to those depths through points deductions, sale of any quality player assets, falling attendances and lack of investment. Many have asked how any sane Saints fan could wish total annihilation onto even our most hated rivals, but personally, I would not miss them that much for one simple reason; we played it by the rules and ended up in the third division. They cheated their way to the Premiership, to the FA Cup and to victory over us recently. It seems eminently reasonable to me under the circumstances that the third division ought to be the minimum depths that they should plumb. It really is quite an admission I make when I say that Lowe acted with some honour and dignity by comparison. Like many, I accept that the Skates do have some sensible, intelligent fans. Some post on here and others I know through business. For them I feel sympathy and understanding. However, they are just a small minority. For all those who came on here giving it large, gloating at our demise less than a year ago and for all those Neanderthals who constitute their more representative fanbase, why should I care a toss whether their poxy little club lived or died? It has been encouraging that during the past few months, the plastics that wore their shirts in our part of Hampshire have diminished in numbers, either through shame, or because they have switched their allegiances to some other team that is not such an embarassment. I look forward to the time that even fewer of them will exist. At long last, it is beginning to penetrate even the thickest of craniums of the blue few, that the price paid for the Premiership status, FA Cup and beating us, might not after all have been worth paying. The pendulum is now very firmly set on its course in our favour. Their crappy little relic of a stadium that they don't own, lack of training facilities, inability to afford decent players and future lack of investment will determine that it will be decades until they get back to the top flight, if ever.

It would indeed be great if there really is something in GM's findings that Jacobs, on behalf of Chainrai, attempted to dispose of PFC assets after the winding-up order had been served. However, did I also read on GM's original post on this that subsequently he had added that there might have been a charge in Chainrai's name on just Fratton Park, made at the time of the loan to Al Mirage? If so, then it all might be above board. Naturally, I sincerely hope not. But thanks for spending the time digging this up, GM.

I am sorry to hear of your recent trials and tribulations and hope that your life returns to some sort of normality soon. When such events intrude into one's life, then we get a sharper perspective on things. I hope that you get to see not only the full 90 minutes on Saturday, but also a convincing Saints win.

I agree with the general thrust of what you say and certainly as one who had prayed over a period of several years that the former charlatans who ran this club would one day be gone, I am ecstatic that we have all those plusses in place that you have listed. But this is a forum and anybody is fully entitled to post their thoughts on any aspect of the club, as they see fit. Look at it this way; if it were not for the moaners, you would have had no reason to post this thread and invite the responses and debate that will ensue.

I particularly liked the last line:- "But even if there is a late problem, personally I am going to try and remember that there are millions of football fans who would gladly swap places with us tomorrow..." What a difference less than a year down the road.

I well remember Corporate Ho coming onto this site at the time of our administration and giving it large about how the Skates were simultaneously heading for the heights with their fake sheik number one. If I remember correctly, I also recall him entering the debate about whether we or they were in the better position at the time that we had been taken over by multi-billionaire Markus Liebherr and that it appeared that Fahim was not quite as wealthy as he first appeared. Even when fake sheik number two turned up, it seemed as if the jammy gits down the road had landed on their feet once more, although we were oce again in the ascendancy. There are one or two decent Skates who come on here and debate these things with humility and magnaminity. I feel genuine sorrow for them and some business acquaintances I have who are just unlucky enough to be Pompey supporters. But I'm afraid that I do not feel any sympathy towards those such a Corporate Ho who have gloated at our demise and cannot see how really good it feels to be rubbing their noses in it when the boot is on the other foot. I really do not know which option I would prefer; either them going into liquidation very soon and having to start in the lowest league that will allow them to join it, or to watch their slow demise with relegations at the end of this season, a further 20 points deduction next season taking them down to the third division and probably even another one the year after. Either way, we will very soon be above them once again, but this time it will probably be more than another quarter of a century before they get back to level terms with us, if ever again.

Is that a fact?

How come when you quoted me, it put virtually everything into lower case? ??:

A further fly in the ointment for me, is that Chainrai has spoken to the FA and they inform him that further monies are due to the Skates because of television revenues before the end of the season and also that there would be another £32 million total of parachute payments for the next two seasons. TV revenues, fair enough, but I don't see why they should be entitled to the parachute payments unless they are ring-fenced towards payment of footballing debts. Personally, I don't see why they should be paid anyway, as the relegation and administration are as a direct result of the incompetance of the club's management. And the prize for the most outrageous bullsh*t of the year so far, goes to Chainrai's spokesman Phil Hall, for these comments in the Guardian:- The club may potentially be allowed by the Premier League to sell players while in administration, outside the transfer window. "Administration would mean the club re-emerging as a healthy financial entity," Hall said. "The club would then become an attractive proposition for a potential buyer who could invest new funds in rebuilding the club's future. "We would like to ask the fans, the staff and management of Portsmouth Football Club for their support and patience should this step be taken, as they believe it is the only route left open to them. The serving of this notice means the winding-up order is automatically suspended. It means the club is safe, it can fulfil its fixtures and as far as is possible, it is business as usual." Accepted that he must put the best possible spin on it all, but to recap on the Skates situation following administration:- The nine points deduction will consign them to the Fizzy Pop division next season. A further 20 point deduction is possibly awaiting them when they get there. Any players of any quality will have left and it will be difficult to attract replacements, as their financial predicament will still remain precarious. Presumably, Grant will be off too, unless the attractions of the Southampton massage parlours prove too strong. They do not own their ground and will have to fork out quite a bit in rent, provided that the transfer of the ground as an asset is found to be legal whilst the club was the subject of a winding-up order. Attendances will undoubtedly fall drastically when they are no longer a Premiership team and all the plastics will depart once they are playing the equivalent teams to S****horpe, Peterborough and Plymouth rather than ManUre, Liverpool, Chelski and the Arse. So anybody stupid enough to invest in the basket case that is Portsmouth Football Club, will accept that they will almost certainly be in League 1 the year after next, (if they do not go into liquidation) and that they will have ever decreasing attendances in a crappy stadium they don't own, with a team of youngsters and has beens. A really healthy financial entity and an attractie propostion for an investor, eh, Mr Hall?

I wonder whether there will be repercussions concerning the situation on whether Chainrai can apply for administration or not. It seems a moot point to me, as he is obviously a creditor, but surely his status as owner precludes him from applying for administration? I also feel doubtful as to whether the winding-up order would be suspended as he says. Again, I wonder whether the only way that could happen was if the debt to those who brought the winding-up order was settled in full and if not, then the club would be deemed to be insolvent. I'm not expert in these things, but it would seem strange if the winding-up order could be overcome in such an easy fashion. Furthermore, club assets such as the ground have been shifted into Chainrai's ownership whilst the winding order was in place. Is that entirely Kosher? But even if they do manage to slip through this net, I look forward like you to months of entertainment when the administrator starts to delve into the can of worms that includes dodgy dealings of former owners and managers, the two fake sheiks and other inpecunious charlatans that have been associated with them these past few years.

The mention of the £3 booking fee for telephone bookings was buried two thirds of the way down the page under the heading of Postal Applications. As somebody else commented, they were hardly making it clear, were they? It ought to have been included either with the prices, or indeed if they were really concerned at notifying us about it, above the prices as a separate item. But that doesn't change my opinion that a charge for each ticket is blatant profiteering if it is part of one transaction with one payment. You say that I should have had the foresight to have checked up on my log in arrangements before booking in. Why? I have a ST for all of the home games I attend and have always gone to the booking office to buy tickets for other matches. So I have never had to use the online booking service. I used the facility to register to book online and it told me that my customer number and email address were already recognised. I used every possible password and alternative email address combination without success, but when I attempted to use the facility to have them email my password, it doesn't work. I believe others have had the same problem, so there is obviously a glitch in their software. Is that my fault too? Happily, although it has cost me more to book these tickets by phone, I have saved money by getting tickets on the Greyhound bus, so I'm probably ahead of the game overall. Paradoxically, it was far easier to book the tickets for the Greyhound Bus. Perhaps the club ought to have a word with them about how to set it all up efficiently.

Agreed. But I spent a lot of the time trying to get some tickets sorted and at the time that I did read this thread then, these issues hadn't been addressed. We're fortunate to have these matters aired on here, but what of all the poor fans who have to rely on the OS or the Echo for their information?

Just a thought; when the Skates are liquidated and begin their slow but painful resurrection from one step up from the Tyro league, would the Greyhound Stadium have enough playing area inside of the dog track to accomodate a pitch? I have been to a couple of other tracks where this would have been a possibility. That way, they could share the stadium running costs and the expression "going to the dogs" would have a double-edged resonance.

Would they be given a parachute payment next year? Why would that be that they get relegated because of a deduction of points because of their financial impropriety and then rewarded with a parachute payment just because they are relegated from the Premiership? In any event, I suspect that The9 and others who appear to have expertise on matters involving administration and liquidation are correct when they say that the club can only be placed into administration by either the courts or the preferred creditors whilst the subject of a winding up order. The directors or owner do not have that ability apparently, but presumably where some of the preferred creditors and directors are the same people, they are still excluded from being able to bring about the administration. Also as I understand it, administration would not take place if the assets of the club are considered too small or that the prospects of them being sold and kept afloat as a going concern are not viable.

The 03 tickets were to see us as a Premiership team play Arsenal, at the final of the greatest football cup competition on Earth, at a stadium at least as good as Wembley. This is to watch us as a third division team, play another third division team in a tin pot (literally) trophy. Don't get me wrong; I will enjoy it as much, provided that we win, but I just feel that there is some blatant profiteering going on. And yes, I will certianly be passing on the booking fees to the other two ticket holders that we booked for.

I've only just read the issues regarding the booking online. I had tried to book online yesterday but despite telling me that an account existed with those details of user name and customer number, it would not let me proceed, even via selecting the "forgotten password" option. Having attempted numerous times to book via the phone yesterday, I managed to get through today to book 4 tickets. However, I was flabergasted to learn that there is a booking fee of £3 per ticket As there was only one transaction, with one payment, I think that this is grossly unfair. An extra £12 cost above the already high ticket prices is blatant profiteering, especially when it was not possible to book online through no fault of my own. I wish that I had seen these last few posts of contact information to sort out the online booking.

I could also easily extrapolate the new league table by taking away all the Pompey results so far. That is no problem at all. However, there are also the ongoing fixtures to the end of the season to consider. What do you propose for that? A Pools panel to decide what the result of the remaining fixtures would be? That is the reason why I said that it would be a major headache for the football authorities. Your statement regarding the circumstances of the club following liquidation, should that occur, is wide of the mark. They wouldn't end up in Division two. Following liquidation, they would cease to exist as a club and would have to start again at whatever level they would be accepted. So the likelihood is that they would have to start in the Blue Square South division. They are a prospect for somebody to buy them out of administration, but hardly attractive as they stand now, or in the event of liquidation.