This morning while enjoying my breakfast I picked up the sports pages of the Times only to read the biggest load of misleading tosh I have ever seen printed in a newspaper. The suggestions being made by the author of the article I was reading were absolutely outlandish and so far from the truth that they were on the other side of the universe. I read PFC was the buy of the century anyone with a bit of money was on to a really good thing buying them. The article went on to say they were the largest undeveloped "big" club left in England and that their balance sheet had improved over the last few years and they have eye catching talent in their youth set up and they have more than 200,000 fans. The whole piece was almost an advert trying to sell PFC to some poor gullible individual by distorting the facts to such an extent that they were no longer true. So to whom should I complain about this pack of lies? Was it just a very poor piece of journalism in which case the Press Complaints Commission I suppose. Or was it a pack of lies designed to flog a dodgy product to the gullible in which case the Advetising Standards Authority would be the right people. As far as the article is concerned I have folded the page and torn it into convenient pieces and put them on a hook in the bathroom. After I have finished writing this I shall be making appropriate use of those pieces of paper.
Complain, oh no. Sit back, have a sip of tea & wait for the next installment of; 'This time next year Rodney.' Some say, the greatest show on earth.
Let me get this 100% straight here. You want to complain about the Times because it printed an article written by the chairman Portsmouth Supporters Trust. A man trying to promote the potential of his club to a wider audience in the hopes that it will attract a buyer that could save the club from oblivion. Seems kind of petty on you side.
Oh do not be drawn into the Godder's web! Those who have read the great man before know the wonders of his missives on here. It has to be said that I for one am struggling to see how Portsmouth FC fits any of the descriptors, but we all wear rose coloured specs when analysing our own team. I suspect it might take more than this sort of desperate plea to attract a sane buyer.
No I commend him for doing so. What I am complaining about is the distortion of the truth. PoorOldPompey (everyone say aagh in that tone you use when someone tells you his cat has just died) PFC a good buy? More like Good bye.
I would take that paper back to the newsagent Godders and demand your money back or at least 20% of it and buy yourself a bag of Humbugs
But what was said was not an outright lie. The bit about being the "largest undeveloped big club in England" is a bit of a stretch, though there is no doubt whatsoever about the club being undeveloped - and has lacked any major investment in facilities since the 1950's - and the failure to develop has stopped Pompey reaching it potential over the years The bit about there being 200,000 fans is a stretch as well as that's about the size of the population of the City and not all of them are going to support Portsmouth. Realistically there is a core group of about 12/13,000 die hard supporters and potentially about 30/50,000 additional glory hunters - who we all frown on but they are a major source of income in good times. We do have several top prospects in our youth squad - two have been snapped up by Premier League teams this season and several have been called up to Under 17's, 18's and 21's international teams in recent years. The problem lies with the failure to develop them beyond youth level, which is something the club has not done since before Redknapp took over in 2002 and not done on a consistant level since the 1940's. The balance sheet has been reduced and is being reduced now and the main debt is the CVA. The CVA is not unmanagable - the bit about paying it with parachute payments is rather optimistic though - but anyone taking over will lose a considerable amount of money to that. Any new owner, however, will have to continue to reduce the balance sheet to get Pompey back on a sustainable plan. The land around Fratton Park that has been given the go ahead for development is a plus point once Gaydamak is paid off. There are good and bad points about Portsmouth which any potential owner will have to consider before taking over. The article may play up the good points but that is hardly unusual from a fans perspective - most fans play up the good point of their club at any level while playing down the bad.
Imagine they go out of business (stop cheering at the back!), it would be a wonderful opportunity for a millionnaire to have the fun of restarting a club from scratch with the aid of supporters groups. There would be a lot of supporters in waiting, no debt and it would be relatively cheap to set up a non-league team.
Deep, deep really deep down in my heart of hearts (that assumes I have one of course) I really hope Pompey survive. However it is oh such joy teasing the life out of the much suffering Pompey fans at the moment. I am sure they will exact their revenge should we get beaten by Leeds today.
"As far as the article is concerned I have folded the page and torn it into convenient pieces and put them on a hook in the bathroom. After I have finished writing this I shall be making appropriate use of those pieces of paper." Charmin. (yes I know it's cushelle now, who thought up that name) Is the hook next to the step in bath Godders? It will give you something to read when you are in the suds. Try to piece together again, a story about Pompey, a feat many have tried and, in the main, failed dismally.
5' 4" is not short and I do hope you are not being heightist PM! Next you'll be insulting wiskery mean with beards and a limp then I will really feel victimised.
The very lovely Mrs Godders has nothing to complain about in that department as when talking about that most essential part of my anatomy she always says "construit comme un cheval". She obviously uses over exageration in the same way as the author of the Times article does.
Hey, if we didn't have Gaydamak and Chanrai screwing us over, we wouldn't necessarily be that bad an option. Not like our debts (if you exclude the debts owed to those two) are that massive.
I was hoping that pop star bloke would buy you as he has a deep love for the club and hopefully would want to restore it's finances and build for the future with out wrecking the budget. You desperately need a level headed owner to restore some pride and respect.
Except me Godders............ I got wise to you a very long time ago. I can read you like I can recognise SB3 when he's out on his visits................ ooooopps incoming
