Portsmouth - the next Leeds?

[Sluffy]

Maybe something for the "Why don't Bolton go for glory?" posters to think about -


Good News

Portsmouth owner (Gaydamak) paid £52 million to buy the club in January / summer 2006

Spent big on players - £67.3m since January 2005

Won the FA Cup last year.

Bad News

Sold Diarra for £20m, and Defoe for £15m in January and brought in a 33 year old Greek and Hayden Mullins instead (plus £4.5m on an Algerian)

One point above the relegation zone, out of all cup competitions, carrying a reported £80m of debt and without a manager.

"At the end of last season, we were expecting the club to go out and spend about £20m-£30m on three or four big signings to strengthen the team," Kevin Ryan, secretary of the Portsmouth supporters' club, told BBC Sport.

But Portsmouth are a club who have chased the dream for two or three years and lived beyond their means in terms of finance and Premier League position. Now we're feeling the financial consequences."

Winning the FA Cup, and therefore earning a Uefa Cup spot, will go down as one of Portsmouth's finest achievements.

But many close to the club believe that in attempting to reach such heights the seeds of their demise were sown.

On 7 December 2008, Gaydamak announced he was putting Portsmouth up for sale. He described the need for a new stadium and training ground as "imperative", adding he was unable to fulfil the club's needs.

With wages accounting for 60% of Portsmouth's turnover, according to chief executive Peter Storrie, and several outstanding payments due on transfer fees, the financial situation is not looking good.

After Portsmouth's recent defeat at Fulham, it is understood the players held a mini crisis meeting, which Crouch described as "a ruck".

Almost as important is the injection of some much-needed funds, which will only come if Gaydamak can find a buyer (possibly for a knockdown £18m) who is prepared to build a new stadium and invest in the club.

If Portsmouth are relegated, selling a Championship club in the current economic climate would prove near impossible.


Read all about it here -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/portsmouth/7879229.stm

[Manny]

I remember when they signed Defoe, Redknapp said he needed to sell Benjani because they couldn't afford both, along with Crouch who they'd also splashed out on.

Something big has gone wrong there though, when you consider the money they've got back through selling Defoe and Diarra and they're still £80m in the shíte!

[Sluffy]

Well big transfers also bring big wages.

Blackburn have reported some financial information to day and three things I found very interesting

1 - 80% of the club's income is spent on wages.

2 - They don't have a Eddie Davies to fund them - it seems Walkers money is not their anymore

3 - Because of 1 and 2 above their financess are so much on a knife edge that one 'bad' transfer purchase could send them over the edge - "You can make a small mistake, everyone does, but we can't go out and spend £5m on a player who is not good enough. That would kill us because our finances are so finely balanced"  Blackburn chairman John Williams.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/7884183.stm

[BWFC MONK]

These are the exact points and comparisons to our club that shows how good a job Megson is doing.
OK we don't have the Okocha's and Hiero's of this world anymore, but I'd sooner take Premiership football every week than playing in league 1 like Leeds or struggling in the championship like Southampton.

I think Megson has made some very good signings, Elmander, Taylor, Cahill. The young lad Davis looks a prospect.
Plus Megson has got rid of high earners and balanced the books well while keeping us competitive.