nPower Football League Thread 2012/13

[Lineker]

Portsmouth defender Tal Ben Haim says administrators PKF will be to blame if the club are liquidated on Friday.

Administrator Trevor Birch has set a 10 August deadline for all the club's senior players to leave Portsmouth or reach compromise agreements over wages.

Just Ben Haim, on wages of £36,000 a week, and midfielder Liam Lawrence remain, but the Israeli says if the club close down it is not their fault.

"The blood is very much on their (PKF) hands," said Ben Haim.

Former owner Balram Chainrai and the Pompey Supporters Trust are vying for control of the club, but will only bring Portsmouth out of liquidation via a company voluntary arrangement once the wage bill is cleared.

Administrators have set the 10 August deadline for this to happen but time is now running out and Birch has urged Ben Haim to follow the example of his former team-mates and accept a compromise.

"Many of his former team-mates were in the same situation yet made big sacrifices and showed that the club is more important than any individual," Birch told BBC Sport.

"Many non-football creditors, some small local businesses, have also told me that they'd be willing to take a personal financial hit in order to keep the club going."

Ben Haim says he is prepared to come to a compromise, but will not be bullied into a deal.

"I signed a four-year contract with Portsmouth in 2009," said Ben Haim.

"Since then, because of the club's failure to manage its finances on no less than two occasions I have personally lost a figure in excess of £2m. I currently have approximately one year left on my contract.

"I want this club to survive and I will do everything possible to enable this historic club to continue to play football in the Football League."

He added: "Since February 2012, when PKF were appointed, the only thing we have heard is that it is more likely than not that they are going to have to liquidate the club.

"This approach has destroyed the team spirit and led to the club being relegated from a position and with a squad everybody expected to stay in the Championship.

"Also this talk of liquidation has done nothing but destroy any interest from any other party, other than Mr Chainrai, to buy the club. What a ridiculous position."

Ben Haim says that despite Pompey's perilous position, only recently have the administrators started talking to the players.

"Most of the negotiations were done through the media," he added.

"When they actually sat and talked to us through the manager, the majority of the players moved quickly to do what was best for the club and themselves.

"As far as I'm concerned, an offer has been made to me only recently. I have offered to waive a further £1.5m of my current contract. They now tell me this is not good enough.

"The fact is that we are only about £300,000 apart in negotiations. If they want to liquidate the club for that money while they still charge their huge fees then all I can say is that the blood is very much on their hands."

Birch countered: "I understand why nobody wants to lose money - whether they are players or the club's other creditors. Tal Ben Haim is not alone here.

"There's the pain felt by the club's employees who lost their jobs or took pay cuts earlier in the year.

"If we all keep that in mind over the next couple of days then there is hope that the club may survive."

[Crybaby Bunting]

Tal Ben Haim ends up looking pretty good from the whole saga, I think he knows that the August 10th deadline is a joke and is playing chicken with the administrators just because he can.

They've already said that the club cannot physically continue if they have ONE of those players still on their payroll, if the club is still running on August 10th with one or both players then either the administrators are being financially irresponsible or they lied about how long that the club can stay afloat.

[Summers]

And if it isn't, then the players who wont fuck off have killed the club. Lovely.

[Matt]

I don't see why TBH should have to cancel his contract, no-one's going to pay him close to 36k per week and I doubt the payoff that Pompey are offering is going to be anywhere near the difference.

[Summers]

he'll get less if they go bust. and why would you want to kill the club that paid your wages for the past x years anyway? it's just a tad bit nasty.

[Matt]

Would be a valid point if they'd paid his wages half of the time.

[Summers]

still a valid point. he'll get less if they go bust. no pay off, and be part of killing a football club.

[Thrilla]

Also, look at it from a different point of view. If it were you working for a big company that was going bust and they couldn't sack you for whatever reason, you'd carry on collecting the paycheque for as long as possible. Well, I would.

[Adam]

Ben Haim nor Lawrence nor any other player is to blame if this club goes bust. Anybody who says that they are is being foolish if you ask me. The blame lies at the feet at the various people who have run this club into the ground for the past 4-5 years, from Gaydamak through to administrators like Andronikou. It is not the players fault that they were offered stupidly large wages that the club couldn't afford. Nobody here would turn down 36k a week if it was offered to them. As Matt points out they haven't even paid TBH or Lawrence their wages a lot of the time.

Lawrence as well as Dave Kitson for me are the glaring example of the sheer catastrophic stupidity that has gone on at this club. In autun 2010 when Portsmouth had just been relegated to the Championship in administration, administrator Andronikou sanctioned the signings of these two players on 25k a week each, which is just daft wages for any team in the Championship nevermind a club with no money who owes a multitude of creditors thousands and millions more.

The people in charge have a lot to answer for, as do the administrators. So do the footballing authorities for ever allowing such people into the influential positions that they held at this club.

Edited August 7, 2012 by AdamDRFC

[hugobomb]

Ben Haim nor Lawrence nor any other player is to blame if this club goes bust. Anybody who says that they are is being foolish if you ask me. The blame lies at the feet at the various people who have run this club into the ground for the past 4-5 years, from Gaydamak through to administrators like Andronikou. It is not the players fault that they were offered stupidly large wages that the club couldn't afford. Nobody here would turn down 36k a week if it was offered to them. As Matt points out they haven't even paid TBH or Lawrence their wages a lot of the time.

Lawrence as well as Dave Kitson for me are the glaring example of the sheer catastrophic stupidity that has gone on at this club. In autun 2010 when Portsmouth had just been relegated to the Championship in administration, administrator Andronikou sanctioned the signings of these two players on 25k a week each, which is just daft wages for any team in the Championship nevermind a club with no money who owes a multitude of creditors thousands and millions more.

The people in charge have a lot to answer for, as do the administrators. So do the footballing authorities for ever allowing such people into the influential positions that they held at this club.

This. It reminds me of when Bogarde was being vilified for staying at Chelsea until the end of his contract "How dare he want the money we promised to pay him! We changed our mind on him so he should leave and take a smaller wage somewhere else.", fuck off should he, you agreed to pay him X amount for Y years, he's perfectly within his right to get every penny of it. In Portsmouth case, nobody forced them to offer TBH £36K a week, they offered it of their own free will and he accepted it. Just because they've now decided that £36K a week is a stupid amount to pay someone in League One (or the Championship for that matter) means fuck all, he has a legal contract and it's their job to come up with an acceptable comprimise, not his.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Anybody who saw Portsmouth in 2009 (or so, when they signed Tal Ben Haim) knew that they were goners, the deal itself stank of a 'show of ambition' to tempt future investors rather than a logical signing for football reasons. The investors then came but weren't the investors that they imagined, instead con-men pretending to be Arab billionaires.

Unfortunately they were caught up in the 'fake sheik' wave after the Man City takeover, hundreds of people started cropping up pretending to be billionaires but instead ended up being linked to significantly shady businessmen. Notts County were another, but that seems to have been swept under the carpet lately. Malaga 'might' be one, but there's evidence to suggest that they have money, just probably not as much as they let on. The problem is that Portsmouth didn't just have one, they had about three in quick succession (Al Fahin, Al Faraj and one more if I remember correctly)

The whole Portsmouth thing is a total mess, the fans should have walked away and started Portsmouth Phoenix FC when they were in the Championship, but naturally they chose their hearts instead of their heads and there was always the belief that someone would come out to save them. In football it always seems that when a club need to be saved, it is saved at the last minute. Yet with clubs costing significantly more to run than in the 80s/90s and the millionaire football club supporter owner becoming a thing of the past... it's going to result in a few horror stories instead of happy endings sooner rather than later.

I don't blame the fans at all, it's their club and they can do whatever they like with it. I do however think that the club is actually beyond repair after ten years of absolute madness. Not only has there been effectively a five year asset strip, but the club's money was actually funded by a loan by the son of an Israeli arms dealer. The real story is why Gaydamak, the son of a very rich Israeli family pretended that it was investment and not a loan, and did anyone at the club know it was just a loan? Was the football club itself used for the purpose of money laundering? Guardian writer Jonathan Wilson was writing a lengthy report about the inner workings of Portsmouth and was unable to ever publish his findings for legal reasons.

There are hundreds of shady characters in this saga and I really think that Portsmouth fans will never get their original club back because of all the ties to them. Gayamak (and possibly his father if rumors are to believed), Storrie, Al Faraj, Al Fahin, Chanrai, Antonov, the previous administrators and the current ones if they are lying about the August 10th deadline. All of these guys have turned a prestigious local club into a situation that I don't think anyone will be able to unravel unless the club goes bust.

Basically Portsmouth fans have the choice of walking away and starting a new club or watching a team constantly struggle to avoid liquidation as they plummet down the leagues. It's not pretty at all, but might be the clean break they need to free themselves from ten years of being played about with by arms dealers, war criminals, asset strippers and invisible men.

This is partly why I think that Ben Haim and co should hold firm. Yes, they will be considered partly responsible for making the club fold, but they'll take the choice out of the fans hands and allow them to start afresh. The alternative is watching the new chairmen of Portsmouth (who look a lot more like asset strippers than 'saviors') fumble a team together, push for promotion (because there is no money to be made in League 1) and end up overspending again. Of course, they might actually be honest people and get free transfers and youth players and try to run it as a proper club, but with all the mystery surrounding Portsmouth and the past ten years, it's really hard to consider that anyone with integrity would take on a problem like Portsmouth unless they were a lifelong supporter. They are basically playing pass the bomb with the ultimate get out clause of "I did all I could but it wasn't enough" if the money runs out.

[Lineker]

In more positive news:

AFC Wimbledon have announced plans to return to the London Borough of Merton by building a new ground at Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium.

The Dons hope to build a multi-purpose venue with an initial capacity of 12,000, which could be increased to 22,000 seats at a later date.

The League Two side currently play at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames.

Chief executive Erik Samuelson said: "This is an important step in a journey we started some years ago."

League football has not been played in the borough since 1991, when the original Wimbledon FC were forced to move away from Plough Lane following the publication of the Taylor Report, which recommended that all top-flight sides should play in all-seater stadia.

The club shared Selhurst Park with Crystal Palace until 2002, when they were given permission to move to Milton Keynes.

AFC Wimbledon, who were formed in response to the relocation, have played all their home games at Kingsmeadow and bought the ground from Kingstonian in March 2003.

The club rose from the non-league ranks by winning five promotions in the space of nine seasons, culminating in a return to the Football League with victory in the Blue Square Bet Premier play-off final in May 2011.

The club now aim to acquire the Greyhound Stadium site but face competition after other parties who have expressed an interest in developing the site.

Samuelson continued: "We have a long way to go and many hurdles to clear but we want to build a stadium that is embedded in the community.

"To realise that ambition we have developed a cohesive and well thought through strategy.

"We are grateful for Merton Council who have provided strong support for our aims and who have demonstrated over the last few months that they understand our needs and share our vision for the next step in our growth."

Merton Council Leader Stephen Alambritis said: "The council will now assess all responses received and work... to find the best solution to continue sporting legacy on the Wimbledon greyhound site."

In other news, Crawley Town have appointed Richie Barker as their new manager after agreeing compensation with Bury. The 37-year-old has signed a two-year deal with the West Sussex club.

[R.W.]

Hey Split, I'm heading down to Ipswich next weekend for the game - mind if I beat you if we lose

[Thrilla]

Was contemplating heading to that but its £86.50 on the train for a return. :/

Or over six hours one way on a coach!

[Lineker]

Portsmouth defender Tal Ben Haim has reached a compromise deal over his wages and has left the stricken club.

The departure of Ben Haim was the last major stumbling block in the club's attempts to avoid liquidation.

Administrator Trevor Birch had said the club would close on 10 August unless all the senior players left.

"I am pleased to announce that we have reached a compromise agreement with Tal Ben Haim, who will now leave the club," administrator Birch told BBC Sport.

Only midfielder Liam Lawrence remains but he is a target for Cardiff City, while Kanu has left but is still seeking compensation over unpaid wages. That dispute will be settled by a Football League tribunal.

Lawrence has also previously said he would come to a compromise over his wages if the club could not move him on before 10 August.

"We expect to make an announcement on Liam Lawrence's future later today [Thursday] and, whilst the situation with Kanu has not yet been resolved, we are cautiously optimistic about our prospects," added Birch.

With Ben Haim gone and just Lawrence remaining, prospective buyers Portpin (former owner Balram Chainrai's company) can now start the process of bringing the club out of administration via a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

Creditors have already agreed Chainrai's offer of two pence in the pound, while the Pompey Supporters Trust are also hopeful of taking control of the club.

They will find out on Thursday if Portsmouth City Council will loan them £1.45m to help with their £2.75m offer to Chainrai for the club.

"The progress that we have made over the past 24 hours means that there is now a much better prospect of meeting the conditions of the CVA, completing the sale of the club and avoiding liquidation," said Birch.

"As a result, we will now push on with our negotiations with Portpin, with a view to finalising a deal in the next few days.

"There is still more to do, and the club's future is not yet guaranteed. But we're in a stronger position and will now take some additional time to try to conclude matters."

Ben Haim had been on wages of £36,000 a week and his departure is a major boost to the financially-troubled club.

He had accused administrators of trying to bully him into a compromise deal, adding if the club were to fold they would have "blood on their hands".

The 30-year-old had claimed to have lost in excess of £2m since joining in 2009 but said on Tuesday there was just a £300,000 shortfall between the parties.

[MDK]

All you need is a good book and the time will fly by.

Or Nytol.

[Thrilla]

True but I probably can't afford it at the minute anyway as I'm moving house. I've already penciled in Charlton away and the ones nearer to me, Derby, Forest, Leicester, so should be getting to quite a few games this season.

[MDK]

Our opening game is against Charlton, spooky.

I might actually go down the Orient and catch a game this season, its been ages.

[Lineker]

Ha, I am also going to Charlton away this year (with Watford)

[MDK]

Charlton meet up

We can all go to Matalan!