Guided Missile

The victim, who was seriously injured and placed in a medically induced coma by hospital staff, formerly owned banks in Russia and Moldova. It is understood he is under armed guard by Met officers to prevent a further assassination attempt. He is on Moldova's wanted list over allegations of an illegal bank takeover and embezzlement. He has also been named as a witness and a suspect in the shooting of Russian banker Alexander Antonov in Moscow in 2009 by three ethnic Chechens. He reportedly told journalists several times: "If I go back to Russia they will kill me." Antonov's son Vladimir has been linked with buying Portsmouth Football Club. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "The victim was shot a number of times as he entered a block of flats by a suspect who is described as white, 6ft tall and of slim build.

Great to see that Fabrice is showing signs of recovery. Apparently he asked what he had missed since falling into a coma. When he was told that Torres had scored for Chelsea, he said, Christ, how long was I out...?

Pompey didn't pay a penny to football creditors, the Premier League did. Pompey survived in the Premier League to (not)collect their parachute payments, on the back of local businesses, charities and the taxpayer (that's you and me, toyboy) Southampton Football Club paid back every creditor in full. Now get back to your Pot Noodles and look forward to St. Marys on the 7th April. It'll be two hours of ritual humiliation....

You really are a total f* ckwit, Steve. The football creditors were paid by the Premier League directly from your ill gotten parachute payments. If they'd paid the parachute payments to you lot, most of it would have disappeared. Talking about defending the indefensible.

Hang your heads in shame....

Last CVA Completion Statement: The Football Creditors in this matter total approximately £22.4 million. This category of creditors will be paid in full by the FAPL by way of a direct deduction from the club's allocated parachute payments. Alexandre Gaydamak (“AG”) AG holds a fixed and floating charge over all Club assets. The debenture is subrogated following the payment in full of Barclays Bank Plc’s loan facility. Barclays Bank Plc registered a fixed and floating charge over the Club’s assets on 19 August 2008. AG is currently owed circa £2,400,000 under his debenture and will be paid from contributions received into the Liquidation as per the sale agreement and from any other assets realised in accordance with the Insolvency Act 1986. Portpin Limited (“Portpin”) Portpin hold a fixed and floating charge of £17,000,000 over all assets, which was registered with Companies House on 21 October 2009. Portpin hold a deed of priority over the Freehold stadium, known as Fratton Park, in priority to Barclays Bank Plc and AG’s debenture. I advise that under the terms of the sale and purchase agreement Portpin have now transferred this debenture to PFC10. Unsecured non‐preferential The trade and expense creditors, as per the statement of affairs, totalled £83,338,967. I advise, however, that a number of claims which were originally believed to be ‘football creditors’ no longer fall into that category (these are detailed further in the attached Administration final report). This would, therefore, increase the unsecured creditor claims by £3,829,151 giving a total of £87,168,118. Debts 2009 £22,400,000 + £2,400,000 + £17,000,000 + £87,168,118 = £128,968,118 Debts 2010 Who knows?

Portsmouth City Council have obviously noticed that Eastleigh Borough Council have rescued Hampshire Cricket Club and the Rose Bowl for £6.5M of taxpayers money, plus £32M for a new hotel. If they can afford it, I am sure Portsmouth, with their tax base, can.

I think the thief has already been apprehended:

Birch has just finished a lunch meeting at Claridges with a potential owner and his representatives. I should find out later in the week how it went. If I was a Pompey fan, I wouldn't get my hopes up. I think it is more of the "famous ex-footballer plus a nice Jewish boy from London", than Roman Abramovich....

Portsmouth: Sleeping giant, South Coast area, seeks white knight with keen eye for bargain The Portsmouth fans would be a huge asset to a new ownerJamie McDonald/Getty Images Ashley Brown March 3 2012 12:01AM Saturday Soapbox Portsmouth are the largest undeveloped “big” club left in England. Buying Pompey could be a simpler deal than you might think. In fact, it could be the football club deal of the century for a bold investor with working capital who is prepared to make a medium to long-term investment. Too many characters and too much baggage are obscuring the deal on offer. No one said it would be easy, but there is a real opportunity at Pompey. Behind the headlines are important facts; the club could be available for a knockdown price. Next to it lies 10½ acres of development land for sale. Portsmouth City Council’s government-approved planning brief for the land allows for retail, residential and stadium development. All of this combined with support of commercial partners, the local authority, local people and the inability to build more or less anything without including a new stadium is an interesting opportunity for the right bidder. The club’s balance sheet has improved in the past two years. The main debt still weighing the club down is the Creditors Voluntary Arrangement due after the club’s exit from administration in 2010. However, this can be neutralised by the remainder of the club’s parachute payments from the Premier League. With an excellent young manager, several good young players in the first team and eye-catching talents in the youth set-up, Pompey are a low-cost investment with a prospective upside. The Pompey Supporters Trust is ready to help an honest owner to develop a sustainable business plan that can deal with the historical problems. The fact that Pompey are the biggest bargain in football is still not the best reason to buy the club. Before “crisis-club Pompey”, the clichéd sobriquet of choice was “sleeping giant”. The giant has stirred in the modern era, if not quite awakened. After the dubious distinction of becoming the first former champions to drop to the fourth division, crowds of more than 25,000 broke all records. In 1981, third-division Pompey took 15,000 fans to Anfield for a second-round League Cup tie. The famous Pompey chimes are as loud and proud as ever, despite the disastrous past few years. The fans would be a huge asset to a new owner — and fan involvement is the key to Pompey’s future. Portsmouth owners, by and large, have followed the same path to ruin by signing expensive players and raising costs above income without investing in the infrastructure of the club. In 2008 this approach peaked and troughed with the club winning the FA Cup and bankrupting themselves in the process. More than 200,000 fans celebrated the Cup win on Southsea Common, oblivious to the looming disaster of the next four years.The club have a huge catchment area, with eight million people living within 90 minutes of the ground. Imagine spending your whole life watching your team miss open goals. That is what it is to support Portsmouth. It doesn’t have to be like this. For years we have prayed for an honest owner who has the common sense to know that when you build a cathedral you start with the foundations — not the stained-glass windows. Despite the club’s knack of biting the hand of friendship, goodwill abounds on all sides. Loyalty and passion from the fans are guaranteed, but there is one compelling reason to buy Pompey beyond hearing thousands of people singing your name or giving you the Freedom of the City — it could be an absolutely outstanding deal. • Ashley Brown is chairman of the Pompey Supporters Trust.

Read it and weep:

Also, conveniently ignoring the fact that, as part of the transfer to Arsenal, Mark Chamberlain was employed as a "consultant" by Arsenal, for £200K a year...

Who the f*** is laughing now?

I actually know the details of a proposed takeover and the people involved. I PM'd Steve Grant with these details and have since had the facts confirmed over the weekend. Expect something coming out in the press in the next week or so.. Won't say anymore out of respect to a close friend...

Interesting comment by the judge, as reported in todays Times: "Mr Justice Norris criticised the football creditors’ rule, which is subject to a separate legal challenge by HMRC. “People who do pay their energy bills and the ordinary traders who provide services would wonder why they should subsidise the club’s wage bill. Why it is that they’re involuntary loans to the club of their outstanding bills and why they will only get back pence in the pound for the services they have provided?” he said. He questioned whether directors were guilty of wrongful trading. Despite the demise of CSI, which the judge said had provided a “blood transfusion” to a bleeding business, the club paid its players in full for November and December knowing it could not cover the £812,790 monthly PAYE bill." He must have been following this thread...

The Football League has accused Portsmouth's former owner Vladimir Antonov of misleading the football authorities at the time of his Fratton Park takeover last summer. The surprisingly candid remarks came in an email exchange, seen by the BBC, between Pompey fan Paul Chalmers-Stevens and the Football League's customer services department. Responding to the fan's questions about what checks the Football League did on Antonov when he bought the club in June 2011, the Football League claimed it was not its fault as it had been misled. "The steps taken by the Football League were based upon evidence of proof of funding, together with related business plans," it said. "It appears that the evidence was at best misleading and possibly fraudulent with the league not being alone in accepting this evidence." The BBC attempted to contact Antonov about these claims but was unable to reach him.

I have three of these stoves fitted in the house and I'm sitting in front of one right now. They are simple the best, IMO. Figure around £2K each fitted including flue lining. These are the guys to fit one...

"For you, Herr Alex, ze six nations iz over"

That's all I'd employ Alex Salmond to commentate on. But Rugby?? Thank God we have an independent broadcasting organisation in the BBC. Apparently, Alex thinks they are run by Nazis.

Why the hell would I engage in a debate about football finances with a toy salesman who calls me gormless, because, if you're so f*** ing clever with finances, why aren't you rich, like me?

Just as it looked like the club would have to fold, the cavalry arrived in the shape of Markus Liebherr, whose DMWSL 613 Limited acquired the share capital of the football club (and other group companies) from the administrators of Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc on 8 July 2009. Not only did the new owner save the club, but he also paid the debts in full, as opposed to many new owners who only pay a few pennies in the pound for debts owed, leaving many small business and public authorities out of pocket. Liebherr’s initial statement was equally encouraging, “I believe we have a superb opportunity to rebuild this great club. This will require resources, planning, hard work and patience. We should not expect instant success, but our fans, employees and stakeholders can expect 100% commitment from me and my team.” Importantly, Liebherr cleared the debts to the bank, tax authorities and trade creditors as part of the acquisition, replacing them with a £20 million shareholder loan that is not repayable for at least five years. This gives Southampton a major advantage compared to many other clubs that are still burdened by debt. Indeed, Football League chairman Greg Clarke has stated, “Debt’s the biggest problem. If I had to list the 10 things about football that keep me awake at night, it would be debt one to 10.” So, the club is now financially stable, even after Liebherr’s death. His estate “is committed to the continued investment in order to achieve success for Southampton football club.” Although nobody should expect the new owners to throw money around, they have ambitious objectives, as outlined by current chairman, Nicola Cortese, “The plan remains the Premier League by 2014.” Original mythbusting article here.

Interestingly, Willie McKay, a Scottish football agent is based in Monaco. On 28 November 2007 it was reported by BBC News that McKay – together with Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp and Managing Director Peter Storrie, former Portsmouth and then acting Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric, and former Portsmouth footballer Amdy Faye, on loan at Rangers – had been arrested by City of London Police in relation to the ongoing inquiries into allegations of corruption in football.

Storrie was tried in a related case and a verdict reached, which cannot be reported, because of the ongoing case involving Redknapp and Mad n' Rich. I can tell you, however, that he was found ******