Portsmouth

[CJ]

even though no money changed hands recently they still cleared debt so it shows how much more debt they where in

how does storrie come out of any of this with any credit?

he is worse than Ridsdale.

[Exiled_red]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...961026,00.html

Pompey transfer bid rejected
Bottom club told they won't be allow to offload any of their squad
Last updated: 20th February 2010

The Premier League have rejected Portsmouth's appeal to be allowed to sell players outside of the transfer window.

Pompey had hoped to be able to offload some of their squad to help ease their financial problems, with the club reportedly £60million in debt.

They are due to return to court on March 1 to face a winding-up petition from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs in the High Court.

Porstmouth had made the unique request to the Premier League and Fifa had already suggested they would look favourably on the idea.

However, the Premier League board have now confirmed they will not give the go-ahead to let them sell players following the closure of the January window.

A Premier League statement read: "The Premier League board can confirm they have been actively considering a request from Portsmouth to transfer players outside of the Transfer Window.

"We are grateful for positive assistance from Fifa and the FA but, having given the matter further consideration and taking into account all factors, the Premier League board have decided that this would not be an appropriate course of action at this time."

Portsmouth currently sit bottom of The Premier League, seven points adrift of nearest rivals Burnley. They face Stoke City on Saturday at Fratton Park

[Reece]

Correct decision IMO, however damaging it may potentially be.

[Leyton388]

They got themselves into this mess so they cant expect anyone else to bail them out.

[darkstar]

Correct decision. Rules are rules. If just brings into question, why didn't they sell these same players in January, when they had the legal opportunity?

[lickedlollipop]

go for Belhadj

[The_weatherman]

Correct decision. Rules are rules. If just brings into question, why didn't they sell these same players in January, when they had the legal opportunity?

Which players exactly are they going to sell in order to bring in sufficient funds? Belhadji is one who could fetch some money and maybe their keepers but who else, half of their team is on loan and the other half is in their 30's or arrived on free not much money to be had in all honesty. Don't they need something like 20 million just to survive this season?

[The_weatherman]

They got themselves into this mess so they cant expect anyone else to bail them out.

Oh, like the private banks who went under but the taxpayers have to bail out?

[Craig_H]

Oh, like the private banks who went under but the taxpayers have to bail out?

But the entire future of the UK doesnt depend on Portsmouth, though.

[The_weatherman]

But the entire future of the UK doesnt depend on Portsmouth, though.

No, not directly But who knows, anyway I'm not sure they would have raised those 20m. through sales anyway, in january or now.

[peekay]

They just got Redknappened. Funny not a word in the media regarding his transfer policies.

[Woobus]

They just got Redknappened. Funny not a word in the media regarding his transfer policies.

Dont know how much you could blame him, the owners would have told him he had the money to spend he would have been foolish not to take them up on their offer.

[BobTheCharmer]

Football is in a right mess. look at the finances of the countrys two biggest teams.

Its why I think Burnley are a shining light. They know they have a good chance of going down but they know the club will survive if they do. They haven't spent £10m and paid high wages in the hope they'll survive. It's the right way to operate.

I've always maintained that when the rich foreign owners get bored, the next genersation of fans are missing as live football as been hidden away on sky for years, the game will be ****ed. you'll have a handful of clubs left and the others that are the heartbeat of the local communities will be long gone.

RIP Pompey. Lets hope your death will be the wakeup call for others.

[spud_gun]

From todays Observer

Really comes as no surprise to find that Harry Redknapp is still screwing money out of Portsmouth. He's a ****ing crook

----------------------------------

Portsmouth's wage bill for the current season is more than £50m, Observer Sport has learned. If they are to remain a going concern they must find a crippling £4.3m a month to pay it, until May at the earliest.

Once tax and NI payments are added to the basic £1.8m players receive each month, and other staff wages are taken into account, the club are still shelling out far more in wages than their Premier league TV money and matchday income combined. The chief executive, Peter Storrie, accounts for more than £100,000 a month and earns £1.4m a year.

Some sources at the club suggested that the monthly outgoings include payments to ex-players, and even former manager Harry Redknapp, though this was not confirmed by a club spokesman who declined to comment on the wage bill.

The players, many of whom have since been sold, who won the 2008 FA Cup and qualified for the Uefa Cup were promised bonuses that added up to far more money than Portsmouth made in their Cup run. Some of this money is still outstanding.

In a January column for Observer Sport goalkeeper David James wrote: "After we won the Cup I was told that one of our financial people predicted it would ruin us. They were right. The heavy bonus culture, endemic in our game, became the curse as the earnings of the Cup run did not tally up with the bonuses paid out.

"I'm a big fan of performance-related pay, but if it's not within the realms of reality then it's just irresponsible. Who would have thought qualifying for Europe and winning the FA Cup would cause such problems?"

"It doesn't surprise in me in the least, its symptomatic of the chaotic regimes we have had at Fratton Park in recent years," said Colin Farmery, of the Pompey Virtual Alliance, a coalition of various supporters groups.

The size of the wage bill explains why the financially stricken club are all but certain to become the first in Premier League history to enter administration.

Manager Avram Grant has the smallest squad in the League, with numbers depleted by the departure since last summer of 14 players, among them Sol Campbell, Peter Crouch, Glen Johnson, Sylvain Distin, Niko Kranjcar, Djimi Traoré, Sean Davis, Younes Kaboul, and David Nugent, who is on loan at Burnley but not off the wage bill. Nugent's wages are jointly taken care of by Portsmouth and Burnley.

Portsmouth's highest earner is David James, who is paid around £50,000 a week. But beyond the England goalkeeper very few players are thought to earn a similar salary. John Utaka has been widely reported as earning £80,000 a week, though the club say the real *figure is about a third of that. He does, however, boost his earnings *considerably with bonus payments.

Redknapp, speaking on Friday, denied that wages were the problem but made no mention of hefty bonuses. He is thought to been awarded a £1m bonus for *winning the FA Cup, with his *players picking up in excess of £250,000 a-man.

He said: "People talk nonsense about wages, you see all this rubbish about John Utaka earning eighty grand a week, he's not. He's earning £28,000 a week. Peter Storrie told me that, Peter showed me his contract the other week.

"They keep saying about the wages they paid, it's rubbish. I don't know where the money's gone, it's gone *somewhere."

Beyond the wage bill, the Observer Sportcan reveal other costs that explain why *Portsmouth are in such trouble. They appear certain to go into administration, which would mean a nine-point *deduction and certain relegation.

The club owe nearly £10m in unpaid transfer fees, and £4.4m to agents, among them Pini Zahavi, the Israeli agent, and the Stellar group, which are owed £2.3m and £310,000 respectively.

Portsmouth are due at the High Court tomorrow week for the winding-up petition served by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, which will decide the fate of the 112-year-old club.

Given the scale of the debts, estimated at £60m, and the outgoings, it appears highly improbable that any new investment or buyer will be found before the 1 March hearing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/21/bonuses-chaotic-portsmouth-brink-collapse

[Craig_H]

I dont like myself for saying it, but i'm starting to hope they get wound up and the results are declared void.

Which would leave the race for 4th looking like this:

4th Liverpool P26 Pts 45
5th Spurs P26 Pts 43
6th Man City P25 Pts 40
7th Villa P25 Pts 39

How sweet would that be