nPower Football League Thread 2012/13

[Adam]

Boo hoo. Be grateful you're still employed as the manager of a League One football club. If they had hads a £4 million budget in this league it would have been a travesty.

[hugobomb]

How any club who have essentially hounded out all their senior players for a lot less than they were legally owed can turn around and hand their manager a tranfer budget more than "fuck off and get some freebies and loans" is ridiculous, if they have a few million to throw at the club, why did they make such a big deal out of getting rid of all their players? Hope they go down again this season

[Matt]

How any club who have essentially hounded out all their senior players for a lot less than they were legally owed can turn around and hand their manager a tranfer budget more than "fuck off and get some freebies and loans" is ridiculous, if they have a few million to throw at the club, why did they make such a big deal out of getting rid of all their players? Hope they go down again this season

I imagine that it's a wage and transfer budget, no league one club would have a £4m transfer budget, few would have a £1.5m transfer budget.

[IAceI]

They're going to spend £4m of pretend money and end up in administration again.

[Crybaby Bunting]

There's really no point in me ranting anymore if football clubs are going to defy logic completely and bypass all the rules and regulations designed for preventing things like these.

See also, Newco Rangers.

[Matt]

They're going to spend £4m of pretend money and end up in administration again.

Well no, they're spending £1.5m and like I said it's probably going to be solely on wages, likely funded by ticket sales and television money. I'd be surprised if they spent anything on transfer fees.

[IAceI]

It was more of a joke than anything but fair enough.

[DavidMarrio]

I highly doubt Pompey will be buying anyone, the money will be spent on people coming in on free transfers to fund wages/signing on fees etc and loan deals.

Think they are trying to get a keeper from Reading on loan and I think they are trying to get Conor Clifford on loan from Chelsea

[Lineker]

Portsmouth are again facing the prospect of liquidation after potential owner Balram Chainrai announced he had withdrawn his offer to buy the club.

Administrator Trevor Birch had cleared the club's wage bill by 10 August, in accordance with Chainrai's stipulation.

But the club's former owner has pulled out of the purchase, leaving the Pompey Supporters' Trust as the only hope.

"We note Portpin's statement that it has withdrawn its bid for Portsmouth Football Club," said Birch.

Birch added in the statement: "In reviewing the options available to the club, we also note Portpin's offer to support any efforts to save Portsmouth in the forthcoming days.

"We are therefore urgently seeking a meeting with Portpin and the Pompey Supporters' Trust (PST) to determine if the Trust's bid can be brought to a successful conclusion.

"We are working behind the scenes with [manager] Michael Appleton to enable the club to field as strong a team as possible for its first League match on Saturday."

Pompey went into administration in February for the second time in three years after their parent company, Convers Sports Initiatives, had entered administration in November.

They were docked 10 points by the Football League at the time and were eventually relegated from the Championship. The club are said to be £58m in debt.

Chainrai's company Portpin and the PST have been vying for control of the club for several months.

On Monday manager Appleton called Chainrai "unprofessional" after being told his playing budget had been reduced from £4m to £1.5m as promised to him in May.

The Pompey Supporters' Trust have offered Chainrai £2.75m for the club, to include Fratton Park. The Hong Kong businessman has £12m secured credit against the club and owns the stadium.

He had offered creditors of the club two pence in the pound as part of a company voluntary arrangement, something the PST have matched.

Fans have already pledged almost £2m and a combination of associate directors and individual 'high net worth' investors another £1m.

Last Thursday Portsmouth City Council agreed a £1.45m bridging loan to the Trust, in the event of a 'commercial' solution not emerging.

"This is the moment we have been waiting for," said Trust spokesperson Colin Farmery.

"Fans need to be ready to come up with the money they have pledged. It is a pivotal moment in the club's history.

"We welcome the fact Portpin have stated they want to help save the club. It is in no-one's interests Pompey are liquidated.

"I am certain Pompey fans, the city of Portsmouth and the wider football family will be able to do what is needed to make Pompey the biggest community club of its type in the UK."

Pompey will start the new season on minus 10 points and on Tuesday fielded a team that included nine youth-team players in the League Cup.

They're boned.

[Matt]

Just start over with AFC Portsmouth and let this sorry club die.

[Summers]

so.. when they go bust? what happens? it's very close to the season starting for all this.

[britneyspearsisgod]

I don't see why the Supporter's Trust couldn't get a deal together. I believe they've got enough support from the Council and the city to make it happen.

The sensible thing to do would be to liquidate and start afresh, but that's obviously easy to say from the outside.

[Berober]

I hear Rangers are corrupt and poor with their money...

[Lineker]

I imagine the league will just go ahead with one team less?

[Colly]

Could they move to the Scottish third division?

[Crybaby Bunting]

Of course, the cynic makes me think that they tried to get the four big players off contract so they could use the remaining wage budget to pay the owners and staff.

They have barely any players and clearly not enough to start a season, so two weeks or so of fully draining the Portsmouth funds before packing it in sounds about right.

[DavidMarrio]

I'm guessing it'd just be an automatic 6 points for each team if they were to get liquidated, that would make the most sense. Too close to the start of the season to be moving teams up a division.

[Crybaby Bunting]

The SPL 'promoted' Dundee about five days before the season kicked off.

But I see the problem. Even if you give every team 6 points you'll still have to work out how many teams need to go up next season across the league setup.

I think they'll fast track a team in and hope for the best, although a team will have to be fast tracked into every other league until the Blue Square (or even beyond that)

Because the alternative is to lose out on two rounds worth of games and have less games played which will surely mess up advertising?

[Lineker]

Portsmouth have been given special dispensation by the Football League to start the season on zero points despite being in administration.

Football League rules state that clubs who begin a season in administration start on -10 points.

But Pompey will now be penalised as and when they exit administration.

"The League will continue working with the administrator in an effort to secure the future of the club," the Football League said in a statement.

The Football League announced in July that Pompey would begin the new season with a points deduction.

They were relegated from the Championship last season after being deducted 10 points after going into administration for the second time in three years.

Portsmouth's administrator Trevor Birch is currently in talks with the Pompey Supporters' Trust who remain the club's last hope of avoiding liquidation.

They are attempting to complete a takeover of the stricken club.

"Given the ongoing dialogue between the administrator and the Supporters' Trust, the Board has given its consent to Portsmouth beginning the new season in administration," added the statement.

"The club will start on zero points, with the conditions of membership announced at the Board's previous meeting - including a 10-point deduction - not coming into effect unless and until the club exits administration."

[MDK]

Bugger, was hoping they would be on -10 points so at least we won't be bottom at the end of September