So, I use Twitter a lot and I follow a few Portsmouth fans and through them see the views of other fans but the negativity on Twitter is really tiresome (yes, I know that's rich coming from me, but I generally get over my negativity some time after whatever causes it i.e. a play-off loss). Anyhow, I'm not sure if anyone here uses Twitter but there seems to be a number of what I would class as conspiracy theories: The Eisners purpose is parasitic similar to that of the likes of Chanrai and their intention is just to siphon money out the club The Eisners don't actually want promotion Jackett has been told to not deliver promotion A bunch of similar nonsense However, I think this is all rubbish because it makes no sense for the following reasons: 1) If the Einsers purpose was to siphon money out of a club, why would they buy a club which has a money pit of a stadium (which is fairly small anyway) when there are plenty of other clubs out there who don't have money pits of a stadium which they can siphon money off? The likes of Charlton, Sunderland, maybe even Ipswich. Why go for Portsmouth? 2) If the Eisners intentions were to siphon money, why would they have a vested interest in playing in League One? The income streams in league 1 from sponsorship and TV money are much lower than in the Championship. Even if we were relegation fodder in the Championship I'm sure we'd be bringing in more money than we would in League One (yes I know wages are higher, but if your ambitions were simply avoiding relegation (or even getting relegated and getting a season of pay days ala those clubs that get promoted to the PL for one season) then you wouldn't need to spend much on wages as you'd still get the TV and sponsorship income. Furthermore, the club would be worth a lot more in the championship to the Eisners could sell for more if they did sell. 3) You may or may not like Jackett but do you really think he lacks that much integrity or professionalism that he would intentionally avoid promotion? He knows that trophies and promotions are the things that go down in history and the things people would look back at. Would he really throw that away? Plus, it might lead to other job opportunities in the future. Success breeds success after all. 4) The Eisners are billionaires. Michael was former CEO of Disney. What would then be the point in siphoning off money from a League One club? The amount of money they could siphon would be a tiny fraction compared to their other sources. It literally makes no sense. Bare in mind when Chanrai was our owner, initially we were in the PL and then we had parachute payments. Same with Antanov so yes, there's a lot more scope for siphoning money out of us. 4) The Eisners biggest fault may be their loyalty to Jackett but you've gotta understand, they're American and in American sports (or at least the NFL) coaches are generally given a fair amount of time. Take Hue Jackson who was coach for the Cleveland Browns. In 2 seasons he won 2 games out of 32 and yet he did make it a few weeks into his 3rd season. I'm sure there's other examples too (a lot of NFL coaches have been coaches for a while) and given we've reached the play offs in 2 consecutive seasons, Jackett hasn't been a complete disaster. 5) People are expecting huge amounts of cash to be thrown around but they always said from the start that they would be sensible and not do that so they're just doing what they said. Players come and go regardless and the likes of Lowe and Clarke would go to a higher level regardless. We have to face the fact that we're a League One club and Championship or Premier League clubs will (nearly) always be a bigger draw. So ultimately I've not yet lost faith in the owners. I do believe their intentions are good but they may make mistakes along the way but given the current situation, we would be been screwed if were owned by the PST still, they weren't exactly loaded with money. The Twitter bunch annoy me, their negativity and in some cases even offensive comments towards our owners. So what do other people think... Do you have faith still or have you lost your faith in the owners?
Lapras, it is the same ridiculous attitude of some fans on certain Pompey related Facebook pages. God help any fellow Pompey fans who have the sheer audacity to argue with them about their comments or question their support for the club. I steer well clear of commenting on certain sites for this very reason. A number of these "argumentative" fans appear to be quite young and immature. The number of times I have read all the "Jackett Out!" comments just because we have lost a match after say a four match unbeaten run is quite amusing in a way, but also extremely frustrating to read. Some "normal" fans have pointed out to these brainless idiots that Kenny Jackett has got us into the play-offs, and into the EFL Cup final at Wembley two years running, but these berks merely ignore the actual statistics and continue to spit their bile again and again to the delight of their fellow thinking "so called fans". I'm sure all clubs have their fair share of identical supporters following their respective clubs, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept ! By the way, I am delighted with the Eisners for their wonderful support of PFC. Without them, I don't believe our club would still be in the Football League.
Well they're just my views. Unless you're saying my points agree with your points so that I've already written your points (in which case it sounds like you haven't lost faith yet). I just feel like there's a section of Portsmouth fans who are very entitled and very melodramatic. It's as if they want things to be bad, they almost wish or relish it. I think the Portsmouth News also plays on these feelings.
The Portsmouth News are to blame for their poor journalism at times. They relish any story that stirs up fan's feelings, often for the wrong reasons. If you want to see an explosive football fans site, then look out for 'Pasoti' which is a Plymouth Argyle fans site. If Argyle lose a match during the season, then the site is invaded by a bunch of utter morons spouting venom at each other, calling for the manager, or any particular player they dislike at that time to be hung, drawn and quartered ! Makes Pompey fans look like absolute angels !! Sunderland fans have the 'RTG Message Board' which is another explosive site to watch if you are a masochist, or have those kinds of tendencies
I agree with your point of view. Whatever Jackett does, will never please the guys who want him out. I suppose they would be happy with a latter day Terry Fenwick.
Same with the owners I suspect. Partly because they're American and partly because they're not the PST. But hey, at the very least through the Eisners I discovered Bojack Horseman for which I am very thankful. And they may not have completely rebuilt Fratton Park but they've done more than a lot of our previous owners. Gaydamak added a roof to the Milton End... and... that's about it in recent years (except for a bit of health and safety work by the PST).
So I've done it. I've muted the words Pompey and Jackett from my Twitter feed. What crazy times they are that I have to mute the team I support from my Twitter feed, but I cannot take the negativity of the Portsmouth 'fans' on Twitter (there are a few level headed ones though). They make me seem positively optimistic.
Or what's left of it at least! Just today people were criticising Lee Brown for comments last year about the atmosphere at Fratton Park and the pressure of the fans causing players to make mistakes... Well I'm sorry, but he's right. I don't go to Fratton too often, but there have been times when if we're not tonking the opposition 3-0 or whatever, the fans will start to get on the backs of the players, the chanting will go right out the window and the atmosphere, while not necessarily hostile, won't be particularly pleasant. Unfortunately I'm too self-conscious to start a chant on my own and chant when no-one around me is.
