Portsmouth AGAIN

[thebish]

"pay up pompey, pay up pompey"

[bristol_Wanderer3]

Interesting view from a Pompey fan commenting on this Guardian article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-c ... ier-league

I disagree with the description of "haemorrhaging spending" that David Conn uses to describe the finances of Portsmouth Football Club.

This requires context. In August 2009, PFC paid the outstanding monies owed to Standard Bank which was in the region of £30m using transfer income, sky money and season ticket income. This had the effect of hollowing out the finances of the club and meant that the business had a cashflow problem. Any purchaser of the club would (or should) have been aware of that from any due diligence on the club. There were income streams but the timing of these were not conducive to running a business smoothly. Anybody aware of running a business knows that cashflow problems can easily kill a business.

So when Al Fahim took control of PFC, there was around £50m of debt. Half of which was owed to Sacha Gaydamak (£28m) which was agreed to be paid in two instalments: January 2010 then the rest in 2012. The club had an overdraft facility with Barclays at £10m which was guaranteed by Gaydamak with agreed payment schedules. HMRC were owed around £10m, mostly generated by the transfer sales which had kept the club above water. In August 2009, HMRC would have agreed to a payment schedule which could be timed with the income streams of PFC.

Then you have the running costs associated with a premier league club. The playing staff wage bill had been considerably reduced by departures and although there were still a few players earning exceptional wages, the squad salary total was more in line with the lower half of the Premier League and the quality considerably reduced.

So although the playing side of the squad was compromised by the delay in the takeover, the financial side wasn't as desperate as journalists made it out to be. It required some investment and liquidity to survive as a club. However that never occurred.

The six/seven weeks under the control of Al Fahim can only be described as bizarre. Despite the obvious problem of cashflow, Al Fahim never addressed it. He went round the world looking for £50m when I believe that £10m would have allowed the club breathing room up to the January window. So the cashflow problem resulted in September's wages not being paid. This allowed Falcondrone to get a foothold in PFC through a £5m loan and with the help of Peter Storrie stirring up the supporters, Al Fahim was forced to sell 90% of the club in October.

What has happened since beggars belief.

One of the more interesting pieces of information that has come out is that between the takeover in October and today, the club has received in excess of £50m of income. Mark Jacob confirmed that prior to the January Sky monies and sales of Kaboul and Begovic, the club has received £40m of income. Half of which is the Chainrai loans - charged against the club as David Conn wrote, the rest have come though gate receipts, transfer fees payments etc.

So where has the money been going? Not to outgoing transfer fees as the Premier League have had to freeze money in order to pay these. Some £4m has been paid to HMRC according to Jacob. Some £7.5m went to Barclays (more on this below). Wages have been paid eventually (approx £8m I think). However other running costs haven't been paid on time and creditors have only received money through legal action or camping themselves out in the reception room at Fratton Park.

The Barclays Bank case is particularly curious. As I said above, the bank had a guarantee from Sacha Gaydamak using assets worth £2.5m as collateral. One of the first actions of Falcondrone ownership was to default the schedule of payments on the overdraft. The assets used by Gaydamak were seized by the bank and the account facilities frozen. Falcondrone paid the remaining £7.5m but PFC do not have an overdraft facility. The winding up order from HMRC have placed further restrictions on the bank account which creates further cashflow problems.

The club have been cutting costs - for example the academy have seen its satellite facilities removed, staff sacked, bills have not been paid. The youth team coaches were repossessed last month. The training ground kitchen facilities have also been repossessed due to non-payment. The finance director resigned her directorship and become an employee. She was complaining last week of not being given money to pay day-to-day bills in her new role as finance manager.

In short, the club is being driven into the ground and is operating as a zombie club while Daniel Azougy, the three times convicted fraudster, operates as the de facto owner of PFC.

And then there is the maths. If the club has received £50m in the 13 weeks since the takeover, why is it in the crises it is where day-to-day payments can't be made? Something stinks rotten at the heart of PFC. David Conn, your article merely touches the surface.

[bobo the clown]

Interesting view from a Pompey fan commenting on this Guardian article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-c ... ier-league

I disagree with the description of "haemorrhaging spending" that David Conn uses to describe the finances of Portsmouth Football Club.

This requires context. In August 2009, PFC paid the outstanding monies owed to Standard Bank which was in the region of £30m using transfer income, sky money and season ticket income. This had the effect of ..........................................

....................... And then there is the maths. If the club has received £50m in the 13 weeks since the takeover, why is it in the crises it is where day-to-day payments can't be made? Something stinks rotten at the heart of PFC. David Conn, your article merely touches the surface.

Wow !!

Obviously no-one at this distance can possibly challenge this degree of detailed analysis, but it's tremendously well written and suggests truly murky dealings. Almost that it's current position is being deliberately manoeuvered.

[hisroyalgingerness]

They must have a well paid tealady

[CAPSLOCK]

Interesting view from a Pompey fan commenting on this Guardian article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-c ... ier-league

I disagree with the description of "haemorrhaging spending" that David Conn uses to describe the finances of Portsmouth Football Club.

This requires context. In August 2009, PFC paid the outstanding monies owed to Standard Bank which was in the region of £30m using transfer income, sky money and season ticket income. This had the effect of ..........................................

....................... And then there is the maths. If the club has received £50m in the 13 weeks since the takeover, why is it in the crises it is where day-to-day payments can't be made? Something stinks rotten at the heart of PFC. David Conn, your article merely touches the surface.

Wow !!

Obviously no-one at this distance can possibly challenge this degree of detailed analysis, but it's tremendously well written and suggests truly murky dealings. Almost that it's current position is being deliberately manoeuvered.

FWIW, I'd trust Conn to know the facts

[Lord Kangana]

Anyhoo, on the plus side for us they've lost again tonight, so if they can just keep going til summer, I can then start to feel truly sorry for them and their plight.

And as a doubleplus good, Fulham have played midweek, so if we can play high tempo against them, we could wear them out. Maybe.

[hisroyalgingerness]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... visit.html

And this has finally been confirmed, naughty boy

[hisroyalgingerness]

Anyhoo, on the plus side for us they've lost again tonight, so if they can just keep going til summer, I can then start to feel truly sorry for them and their plight.

And as a doubleplus good, Fulham have played midweek, so if we can play high tempo against them, we could wear them out. Maybe.

Honestly, high-tempo. what next? You'll be suggesting we pick it up and run with it

[Lord Kangana]

It was late, I'd had a couple of drinks.

[H. Pedersen]

The headline says it all:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 497491.stm

Premier League crisis club Portsmouth have been taken over by their fourth different owner of the season.

Hong Kong-based businessman Balram Chainrai has bought 90% of the club's shares from previous owner Ali Al Faraj after invoking a repayment clause.

BBC sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said: "He is understood not to be interested in a long-term ownership, just averting the current crisis."

Chainrai's company Portpin may sell the club before the end of the season.

A Pompey spokesman said: "Portpin have exercised a clause in their contractual agreement to take a controlling interest. They are taking control on a temporary basis to allow new owners to be found.

"Portpin's aim is to come in and stabilise the club, sort out the business with the winding-up order from HMRC and sell it on to new owners.

"New directors will be appointed to the board and Peter Storrie will remain as chief executive and will be running the club."

Farquhar added on BBC Radio 5 live: "Chainrai has invoked a clause in a loan contract he struck with the club's third owner this year, Ali Al Faraj, giving him the right to take over 90% of the shares should they default on repayments to him.

"He recently loaned the club £15m to £20m to help get them through their current financial crisis, which still isn't resolved and now the loans have not been repaid he's the new owner of the club on that basis.

"The thing is, for people like Chainrai and former owner Sacha Gaydamak that the money they have put into the club would be lost if Portsmouth went into liquidation.

"That's the real risk for them, so they need to keep the club afloat by doing whatever they can."

Pompey have lurched from one crisis to the next in recent months, with the club facing a winding-up petition from HM Revenue & Customs at the High Court on 10 February.

They have been late paying wages four times this season and chief executive Peter Storrie appeared before a crown court accused of tax evasion in January.

Meanwhile, Pompey manager Avram Grant said he will continue to try to save the Premier League strugglers but remains non-committal about his long-term future.

The cash-strapped club remain rooted to the bottom of the table after a 1-0 defeat by Fulham on Wednesday.

Key players Asmir Begovic and Younes Kaboul were sold against Grant's wishes in January and the club face a winding up on 10 February for unpaid taxes.

But Grant stated: "As long as I am here, I will keep fighting."

Portsmouth have been late paying wages four times this season because of debts of £60m and the players' wages for January were finally paid on Wednesday.

But, for the moment, Grant is committed to trying to keep Portsmouth in the top flight, with a trip to Manchester United the next challenge on Saturday.

"I think that we need to do our best all the time and as long as we have a chance, we have to fight," he added.

"It's a very interesting time because it's very hard times off the pitch but what I see on the pitch I'm very proud of the players. I think if everything was a little bit more calm the results would be even better."

Pompey and England goalkeeper David James told BBC Radio 5 live of the "frustration" felt by the players at the situation.

"You try and tell the lads that you do get paid even if it's a week late, 10 days or whatever - we are getting paid one way or the other," said James.

"We're not sure if we've got anyone else to sell to get paid.

"The fact is we do get paid and there are other clubs with players who aren't getting paid and historically there have been other clubs that players haven't got paid, so it could be worse."

[Lord Kangana]

Sounds like an asset stripper to me. They'll probably only exist in name by the time he's finished.

[H. Pedersen]

This picture compilation is from the BBC . . . the one in the bottom right made me laugh out loud.



..................................................................................^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[thebish]

Sounds like an asset stripper to me. They'll probably only exist in name by the time he's finished.

what is the potential value of their assets - set against their liabilities?

[Lord Kangana]

The ground and its land primarily, but I'd suspect the playing staff will fetch a bit. Do Pompey have a training ground? If they do, it'll go. Which leads us back to Gaydamak, who, so I'm lead to believe, still owns the area around the ground. He did this as insurance against getting his money. The question I'd really love to ask is, if he sold the club, why did he feel the need to retain certain ownerships as "insurance"? That strikes me as odd, that he had little confidence in the buyers.

[as]

God bless Harry Redknapp and his dodgy dealings

[BWFC_Insane]

The ground and its land primarily, but I'd suspect the playing staff will fetch a bit. Do Pompey have a training ground? If they do, it'll go. Which leads us back to Gaydamak, who, so I'm lead to believe, still owns the area around the ground. He did this as insurance against getting his money. The question I'd really love to ask is, if he sold the club, why did he feel the need to retain certain ownerships as "insurance"? That strikes me as odd, that he had little confidence in the buyers.

The land is protected apparently and thus worth very little indeed!

[Lord Kangana]

Protected by who though? My understanding its Gaydamak. Can't imagine the local council standing in the way if he sats "The ground or the club. Your choice". Cos I bet he will if they stop him.

[BWFC_Insane]

Protected by who though? My understanding its Gaydamak. Can't imagine the local council standing in the way if he sats "The ground or the club. Your choice". Cos I bet he will if they stop him.

The council who have apparently said this week they will not permit a change of use for the land and hence not grant planning permission for any development.

[Athers]

Well the good news is that I've just asked the bookie and they'll pay out on relegation if Pompey go out of business

[BWFC_Insane]

Well the good news is that I've just asked the bookie and they'll pay out on relegation if Pompey go out of business

The other good news is, its a horrible place, a long journey and a hell hole of a ground so with a bit of luck we'll never have to go there again!