If it came to liquidation and a phoenix club started its (hopefully) rapid rise toward the Football League we will probably all be queuing up to agree with that sentiment. However, it is perfectly natural to try and cling on to life, such that it is, so any-thing that can keep the current Portsmouth FC in existence is understandably the choice most of us would prefer at the moment.
What amazes me is the head in the sand attitude of a lot of the Blue Phew, take this quote about the JPT Trophy wjd "Not worried about the Johnson's Paint trophy, we should play the kids in that one as it's meaningless. Having won the FA Cup and then gone into a second final recently, this too holds little fascination. We should just focus on the league then the season after next we can get back to beating Southampton in the Championship! ". It makes you wonder if they think the Trophy is tainted because we have won it! Did we find it meaningless? The fact that we could have taken 70,000 to Wembley if they let us, would suggest otherwise.
Putting things into perspective, a particularly ugly painting has just sold for £74m, they could have got Skate for a lot less, a real work of art! It's a Scream!
To be entirely fair, the Johnson's Paint Trophy is meaningless to Pompey next season. What with the firesale over the summer and having a first team that will likely be kids promoted from the youth team and loans I dont think we can afford the luxory of a cup run. Priority is to stablize and survive.
I saw the Saints win the FA Cup at Wembley and lose at Cardiff in the final. I went to Wembley for the League Cup final and the ZDS final but I still enjoyed the JPT cup final. Many Pompey fans took the mickey when we won the JPT so they cannot be seen to be taking it to seriously now can they? I do not derive my pleasure from what others say I should enjoy and Pompey should go for it never mind the fact there will be those seeking retribution for the mockery we endured. As for "we should play the kids in that one" I have to say that is what will be happening in just about every Pompey game for the next couple of years.
I'm sure the JPT wont be any more a priority for us than the Carling Cup is to the typical Premier League or Championship side. That said, you can't knock a day out at Wembley, whatever the competition!
Disagree Devon...the JPT is a chance for some success and a respite from league matches. We loved it, had a great day out and, more importantly, gave our late owner some reward for his investment. The pleasure on Markus's face was the most important thing from that day, though we didn't realise that at the time. If Pompey get to Wembley, you will love it too after all the recent turmoil. Don't knock it till you try it!
I don't think the JPT was necessarily a priority for Saints, in fact we rode our luck on a few occasions. Torquay were 2-0 up at St Mary's in the first game before we won on penalties, and then a late equaliser v Norwich for another win on penalties. All the ties were at home of course (think there was a special rule that Saints couldn't be drawn away), and the next thing we knew we were 180 minutes from Wembley. Like many of these things you care if you're in and don't care if you're not.
I think you hit the nail on the head there. To make the Carling Cup comparison again; if you go out in the first or second round you shrug your shoulders and say "so what", but if you're still in the competition at the quarter final stage, you suddenly see the Wembley arch on the horizon, glowing like a beacon. I think the same could be said of sides playing in the JPT
The JPT made our first season in League 1 a 'successful' one which otherwise it wouldn't have been. It gave Pardew a few games in the next season when Nicola wanted to give him the bum's rush. Then we got Adkins and all's well that ends well. Hope you have some good times, Devon.
The important thing about the JPT was Alan Pardew felt that he wanted to win every game. He said we needed to get the "winning mentality" again after losing so many games of football. The JPT is an opportunity to do that. The final was a fantastic day and frankly any Saints fan who belittles that competition now would be a tad inconsistent! Of course, should Pompey reach the final, I would fully expect those who talked about the "paint-pot" to not bother going to Wembley or even to watch the highlights as their disdain will surely demand this?
Yeah.... Fully appreciate that you would want to keep hold if what you have got currently... Despite his battered, bruised and tarnished it is. I felt the same about Saints a few years ago.... And probably got to the point where I made my peace with the fact the club wouldn't exist for much longer. I don't know as much as others, but from what I read, the chances of a saviour with serious cash to spare/lose are getting less by the day. It will be a tumultuous few weeks for the other side of Hampshire, and I only hope that we are playing a Pompey team of some sorts on an equal footing again soon.
League 1 could be wide open next year if Charlton and the Sheffields go up, so it wouldn't shock me to see Pompey hanging around the edges of the top six should Appleton remain, even if much of the squad departs; there probably won't be any runaway favourites, and it looks like a league where good management and a bit of determination could make all the difference.
Pompey fans just need to get through this next period. It almost coincides with our timing of troubles too in terms of the season being over and the clock ticking towards July. I'll never forget this time three years ago and the fear that there would be no Southampton FC. This is why I feel for Pompey fans now and hope they get a positive outcome soon. I have a feeling their ending won't be as kind as ours was. To me, we need Pompey to survive. I'm not one of the gang that say they hope they are back in the Premier league with us, I like us being a league above them. I do however want them to get through this period as quickly as possible and survive. When they do, they can build sensibly and long for a decent cup draw and a trip to St Mary's.
If Pompey's return to solvency and expansion is as quick as double Saints' time it will be a miracle in my opinion. I don't think that statement makes me a doom-mercheant; more a realist. Unless Father Christmas decides to buy the club PDQ I fear our 'haul' may be a very very long one. A repeat of our journey at the end of the 1970s, culminating in a couple of seasons in the Fourth Division [League Two] is, it pains me to say, a distinct possibility [assuming we survive that is] if no owner/money appears over the horizon
I'm afraid that I don't see Pompey surviving long enough sit in League 2 for a couple of seasons - My personal opinion is that we'll see an AFC Portsmouth in the combined counties league (where AFC Wimbledon started) or one of the other tier 9 leagues. Perhaps the Wessex League would be more appropriate. As much as it hurts now, in the longer term, it may well be the better option for Pompey as a football club - no offence, but if I was looking to invest in one of the clubs relagated from the Championship, it'd probably be Coventry not Pompey - like us they have a premiership set-up there & you could probably turn them around for about £30-50mn or so invested wisely up front. Pompey need a whole lot more work than that. If you do get bought, it'll be by a fan and you saw how "well" that turned out for Saints.
The only problem with plan B is that if it is successful it will surely attract the attention of people wanting to buy it for good reasons and bad. When someone comes along offering a cash investment and promises to buy new players, how do you tell the difference between the crooks, the naive and the real deal?
As I mentioned in an earlier comment; I think the Pompey fan base could work in our favour. I reckon that if the club is liquidated "AFC Pompey" would attract a hard core following of 5-6,000 (unlike sides such as Scarborough Athletic, Chester, FC Halifax). Surely the powers that be would realise it just isn't practical on, among other things, safety grounds, to place the side so far down the non-league pyramid. I really couldn't see us being put any lower than Southern League Div 1 South and West. Incidentally, the highest attendance in SL Div 1 S&W this season was 792 (Poole v Wimborne) and in the SL Prem it was 901 (Weymouth v Totton). For that reason I think Conference South would be more practical. Even there, I think the division's record attendance would be under threat (currently 5,022 Weymouth v St Albans on 17 April 2006)
