But even in our darkest downs, we were never so close to liquidation as Portsmouth. Just a few short weeks from the start ofthe new season, starting in the third tier and having been hit by another 10 point penalty, the club only has 8 players on contracts. And in order to survive, it needs these players to get off the books. The players include Tal Ben Haim, Greg Halford, Erik Huseklepp, Dave Kitson, Liam Lawrence, David Norris, Luke Varney, Kanu Now, of course Trevor Birch would love to get a fee for these players, but the most important thing is for them to leave the club with no further obligations, or take a massive pay cut. It is the only way the club will survive. But these players are demanding their massive Premiership pay-checks (£36k per week for Tal Ben Haim) and don't seem to give a **** about the long-term future of the club. We have been linked with 3 of these players - Halford, Norris and Varney. Is it Trevor Birch holding out or is it the players? If these players are holding out for us to match their current pay levels, or are party to the reason why a club goes out of existence, I - for one - do not want to see their ****ty little faces anywhere near my beloved club. This is why Alan Smith should be praised as a true saviour of Leeds United, and players like Harry Kewell should be left to rot in the sewer and never play again.
I agree Elmo - this is all that stinks in football. Ben Haim is owed silly money by Pomey - all of these players could have gone earlier to ease thier suffering - like Brown season before last, but they hung in for the dollars and let the club drift in and out of the **** and no they are so far down they are beyond saving. Feel sorry for the Pompy fans as they are the ones that suffer the most, but I hope all those players mentioned feel their pain at some point in their lives. RIP Pompey
Saviour as in someone who saved us? From what? The debts paid off by the waived signing-on fee? A minor payment which doubtless only wiped a minor debt we'd have welched on during admin anyway? I think your semantics are getting a bit creative. Identical, in fact, to the Bates Lovers with their 'Ken saved us' lectures. In fact, they had a better argument. Get over it: the People's Hero, Smudgey Wudgey the Beloved the Immortal the Irreplaceable is gone forever, never to return, never to be accepted by the matchgoing Leeds fans, and he's now plying his trade for third tier never-beens from a New Town with no football pedigree. Anyway your overall point that Pompey are ****ed looks very true.
100% agree elmo As for Smith and him giving his £1m signing on fee to the club which is to be applauded, when you see what the Pompy players are doing. You also need to remember that scumchester rovers paid us top whack for him, and paid it all up front to ease the debt. The other clubs who came in for Smith were wanting to pay on the never never. Kanu apparently wants £3m to leave because thats what he would have earned, the scrote, greedy bastord. These players would rather see a club die rather than go elsewhere and earn their wages. Yes I know they were given those contracts, but surely they could see that this club have had problems constantly and must have known they would be in trouble again. football creditor rule needs binning because its unethical and illegal in normal business. Why should I pay my taxes and get taxed extra because of the shortfall made by football clubs. I'm struggling to cover my own costs, never mind subsidise football clubs ffs
Spot on Elmo. Smith deserves nothing but praise for waiving the signing on fee. Unfortunately, ultimately it was a waste of time and he might as well have collected it anyway. Pity the likes of Batty and Kelly weren't of the same frame of mind. If memory serves me right, they collected every penny from their contracts with not a worry whether Leeds went under or not
I think Smith deserves praise too, but lets not forget that money never went to the club... It went to desperate money grabbing men who were bleeding the club dry. I applaud the HMRC for making Rangers go bust, clubs that gamble should have to fold and start at the bottom of the pile. What Trevor Cherry is doing at Pompy is a disgrace, they should fold and start again in League 2 or in the Conference. You would not treat any other business like this, the deadwood is dragging the club to the bottom. I truly believe Leeds would have returned to the top of the pile by now if we had gone bust in 2002.
Tal Ben Haim, Greg Halford, Erik Huseklepp, Dave Kitson, Liam Lawrence, David Norris and Kanu Hang your heads in shame. If Portsmouth goes out of business while you remain on their books, I hope you NEVER get to play football again. You won't get any payoff and you won't get your wages. And no club should EVER take you on. You should be pariahs, unclean lepers to the society of football. And your agents should have their licences revoked.
