Ipswich have today made an improved bid for Ward and Pearce, do you think we will sell? The first bid was apparently in the region of £1 million, which in my opinion is no way near enough, but with the outstanding tax bill i can see us being forced to sell them on the cheap. If these two were to be sold i fear that its the beginning of the end, relegation would become a huge possibility. Sorry to be so negative but i can see us sliding down the leagues, unless a new buyer can be found within the next week, but as my name suggests, Portsmouth till i die!
Even if you do have to sell you should try to stick until at least the £1.6m is offered and then with all the add ons that sometimes become part of the deal. Your problem then is who takes their place in the team?
Exactly, our squad is small enough as it is, we have a couple of 17 year olds who are quite highly rated, but not ready to be playing championship football week in week out. Definitely Pearce, he has been a rock at the back and is probably one of the main reasons why our defensive record is pretty good, he would be sorely missed.
There's no reason to worry guys! Calamity Clegg our CEO couldn't pull a whore in a knocking shop so I doubt if we will get a deal done he's that ****ing clueless!
The club must do all it can to hold on to these players. I just hope we can come up with an owner who has more than just green shield stamps in his wallet so stories like this can become a thing of the past.
I agree Devon but is there anybody that you could sell to bale you out short-term? Trouble with promising youngsters is that when thrown into the deep end they can survive for a game or two but then they could flounder with the strength of opposing players being too much for them. We found that out with our stupid Dutch experiment.
Sorry Dev but if it means getting relegated by paying bills you owe, so be it. We sold any body who was worth a few quid to pay bills AND yes we still would have gone to the wall if we Marcus L hadn't have brought us last hour. We were Very Very Lucky All you can hopeful is you get lucky too.
I agree, these two need to be shipped out, and soon! Do we not except the bids, and get wound up becuase the taxman is pissed off that yet again we've failed to pay our taxes, or do we sell a couple of players, and fight to survive. The other thing is that if we don't sell and the club goes in to admin, that'll be -30pts (and relegation anyway).
I don't think relegation is the main issue, obviously no fan wants to see there club relegated but if selling players allows supporters the opportunity to carry on supporting the club they love for as long as possible, then paying the bills is right on all accounts.
I can't see a way out for Pompey without the short term cash injection from their sale, but that's about all it will do. I really feel for Michael Appleton. He's already shown what he's about but now his hands are well and truly tied. I really fear for us now. How much more of this **** do we have to suffer?
Are you sure about that? According to Admin Andy this is (just) a cashflow problem, which means short-term - until other fund funds arrive, not a financial problem where the books won't balance at the end of the year. At the moment the club needs £1.6m to pay this bill then it will need the salaries of ALL staff and NIC/TAX in February, plus any VAT due at the end of the quarter, don't know if that is December, January or February. If the sale of PFC goes through then we will have sold 2 or 3 of our most "valuable" players and we'll be heading off to league 1 at the end of the season, because we won't recover from that in time. If the sale doesn't go through then Chan the Man will step back in to protect his "investment" and will deal with the cashflow. Or - if there is no sale and Chan decides to pull the plug then PFC will go into liquidation, the covenant will be overturned (as there is no football club) and he will get his money back by selling FP to Tesco's and Gaydamak will sell his bit of land and get his money back. Yes of course we have to pay our bills, there is no argument about that, but 1) the FL allowed Etuhu to be signed and there is no way they didn't know about the HMRC payment and 2) Admin Andy says "we are not fazed" by this........... so ........ let's wait and see.
I do hope your assumptions are correct 3rd eye. The Football League are so inept, one wonders if they are aware of anything that is going on around them. 'Born Pompey' seems to think a consortium are still negotiating to buy the club - I very much hope he is right, and there is some light at the end of the tunnel
i personally think admin andy is a bluffer and knows exactly what he's doing, he likes the attention from the press and makes the most of his time in front of them, but i think overall this is just scaremongering to hurry along the potential buyers. he done near enough the same thing last time round. could well be wrong but imo the petition and winding up order will take longer to process then it will take for us to find a buyer. once a few high earners are off of our books the club should be a viable business option. there will be no overnight miracles but with appletons preference for youthful players and some bright prospects coming through the ranks maybe it could work out in the long run.
So do I Wooperts. These assumptions are based on everything I have read lately. The best scenario won't happen unfortunately, that being me winning a big Euromillions jackpot because I'd buy PFC and give it to us fans to run. That's not going to happen I just see the situation as so critical now that it's do or die - we either try and keep hold of our best assets and get over this particular hump or the whole thing comes crashing down around our ears and it's APFC and sharing H&W grounds. Whatever way, those 2 robbing barstewards won't lose out. If you want a glass half-full thought - we've just entered the Year of the Dragon, which is associated with Good Fortune..... oh god how desperate am I? Stephen Henderson has just tweeted that he's too depressed to read the papers. But we aint dead yet and while there's life there's hope........... and bornpompey's predictions! Keep the Faith!
I think the morale effects on the players could be a significant detriment if this drags on too long.
Without a doubt - even well paid employees lose momentum when the situation of their employers is so precarious, as I'm sure most of us know.
Here we go again - Leicester are after Jason Pearce, apparently hoping to get him on the cheap because of our cashflow crisis. No point in selling if we don't make enough to pay the bills.
