Pay up Pompey

[CumbrianRam]

Administrator Andrew Andronikou does not believe Portsmouth will be hit by a points deduction.

Pompey's owners Convers Sport Initiatives entered administration on Tuesday leading to the club's owner Vladimir Antonov stepping down.

Andronikou acted as an administrator at Pompey last year and has now been appointed to a similar role with CSI.

"I can't see how the club can be deducted points. There's no football debts," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"What the club need now is someone to come in with the necessary resources to take the club forward."

Last week, Antonov and his business partner Raimondas Baranauskas appeared in court in connection with the alleged asset stripping of a bank in Lithuania.

Prosecutors in Lithuania want to question Antonov and Baranauskas as part of an investigation into claims involving Snoras Bank.

There were concerns that Pompey could be given a points deduction following the precedent set by south coast rivals Southampton in 2009.

Then, the Saints' parent company, Southampton Leisure Holdings (SLH), went into administration and an independent investigation by the Football League found the club and SLH were "inextricably linked as one economic entity".

Southampton were subsequently deducted 10 points.

Despite downplaying the chances of the club being dealt a points penalty, Andronikou acknowledged that it is now important for the club to find new investment.

"We need to find a purchaser to put funds into the club around the new year," he added.

"Our remit really is to find a new owner. Historically in every club's cash-flow profile the end of the season is the most gruelling so it's important to get something sorted for then."

The Fratton Park side became the first Premier League club to enter administration in 2010 and were consequently deducted nine points on their way to relegation from the top flight.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15963854.stm

[p.shilton]

Sorry if this is being discussed elsewhere but they are really pissing me off. All of the debts they couldn't be arsed to pay last time and they are still not in a position to pay their taxes? Just wind the club up- they are obviously not viable. I know of a company in Derby tht have gone under as a result of them not paying for stuff, showing how far the selfish ******** can reach. why should they be allowed to keep going?

[url=http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11674/7448120/Pompey-facing-winding-up-order]http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11674/7448120/Pompey-facing-winding-up-order

[StaffsRam]

I agree.

I kind of feel sorry for their fans, but until a club is made an example of then the likes of Portsmouth, Leeds and Leicester will continue to cheat their way out of trouble.

It makes our achievement of actually paying off our debts all the more galling, but I'm still glad we've done it.

[CumbrianRam]

How come they don't get points deducted when in a simiar situation with a parent company Southampton did?

[CumbrianRam]

Two years after the last one...

Portsmouth have been issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid £1.6m tax bill.

The club's chief-executive David Lampitt told BBC Radio Solent on Saturday that Pompey had failed to meet their last two payments of £800,000.

Portsmouth are currently searching for new owners after their parent company, Convers Sport Initiatives (CSI), entered administration in November.

Italian businessman Joseph Cala pulled out of a deal to buy Pompey on Friday.

There is an urgency to complete a deal with fresh backers, as investment is needed if Portsmouth are to meet ongoing running costs.

"This period, while we search for a new owner, was always going to be difficult from a cash flow point of view," Lampitt said on Saturday.

"The club does not have the funding that would have been there if our previous owner had been in place. It has been a difficult two months to balance the financial position of the football club.

"We are in a difficult position and will remain in a difficult position until the ownership is sorted.

"For the time being, it is a matter between us and HMRC and we have to manage that as best we can."

CSI's administrator Andrew Andronikou said on Friday that he hoped to finalise a deal to find a new owner within a week.

"The process of finding a new owner continues. We have got other interested parties, and we have had other interested parties all along," said Andronikou.

BBC South understands that any purchaser would need to provide £12m as proof of funds, and assurances they could meet another £20m in repayments to former creditors, Balram Chainrai and Alexandre Gaydamak.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16706372.stm?utm_source=sportsindexuk&utm_medium=twitter

[p.shilton]

IF this keeps Forest up I am going to be very p*ssed off!

[uttoxram75]

Start the collection for Pompey. I'll remortgage the house and live in poverty for the rest of me life to save a grand old club like that.... 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rolleyes:' /> 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

[CumbrianRam]

If I was in charge of the Football League I'd relegate them then deducted 25 points next season. They have already been in admin 2 times in the pasT.

[froggg]

Quite right feck em and the muppet with the dreds.... 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' /> 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ph34r' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ph34r:' />

[orangefleece]

Sorry if this is being discussed elsewhere but they are really pissing me off. All of the debts they couldn't be arsed to pay last time and they are still not in a position to pay their taxes? Just wind the club up- they are obviously not viable. I know of a company in Derby tht have gone under as a result of them not paying for stuff, showing how far the selfish ******** can reach. why should they be allowed to keep going? [url=http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11674/7448120/Pompey-facing-winding-up-order]http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11674/7448120/Pompey-facing-winding-up-order

I agree Shilts, it annoys the hell out of me, you'd of thought that after there great escape ( on a technicality ) something would of been put in place at the club to stop this happening again but seeing as they have drifted from owner to owner in the past two years its not that surprising.

If one overseas business man can't sort it and then the second can't, then i think you'd have to raise the question, are the club an actual viable business?, and with the latest annoucement it appears not.

For all the talk that goes off with regarding TG it appears to me that we seem to be trading on a realistic footing, which means the club is not under threat as a business.

[p.shilton]

Nice post- exactly my point. Clubs such as ourselves are trying to do the right thing and being run responsibly whilst jokers like Portsmouth get away with what is basically cheating. By cheating I mean cheating the COUNTRY out of money- this is beyond football.

Florist and Fester can be construed as cheating as they spend significantly more than is brought in through football- as do many (if not most) of the successful teams in every division of the league. Tax evasion is a very serious deal - ask 'Arry- It makes me sick that while many business' are folding through the economic climate this excuse for a football club are allowed to take the piss time after time. Fold them and fold them now

[trekkie_ram]

Imagine the extra support Southampton could gain if Portsmouth folded. Those extra 3 people could make the difference.

[Donny Ram]

Personal tax evasion is punished severely yet football clubs seem to just ride rough shot over HMRC and cost the country millions in unpaid taxes. The whole creditor priority principal that exists in the world of football is completely wrong, football creditors should not get priority and football should be governed by the same rules as every other industry.

The vast majority of football clubs are small turnover business' that have far more publicity, as they are in the puiblic eye, than their status deserves. As a consequence of the public exposure they are in many cases run badly, Pompey being a case in point.

[Red_Dawn]

Nice post- exactly my point. Clubs such as ourselves are trying to do the right thing and being run responsibly whilst jokers like Portsmouth get away with what is basically cheating. By cheating I mean cheating the COUNTRY out of money- this is beyond football.

Florist and Fester can be construed as cheating as they spend significantly more than is brought in through football- as do many (if not most) of the successful teams in every division of the league. Tax evasion is a very serious deal - ask 'Arry- It makes me sick that while many business' are folding through the economic climate this excuse for a football club are allowed to take the piss time after time. Fold them and fold them now

Its very easy to say that Forest are 'cheaters' because we spend over our turnover bill, but we havent had the option of parachute payments to cover costs whilst we strip the deadwood from our squad like you have. You have been in better position to balance the books than others, not to say we haven't been terribly run.

Oh,before you say it, yes we are going to feel the effect of it when we go down. The club will probably end up in a similar position as Portsmouth.

[Donny Ram]

Its very easy to say that Forest are 'cheaters' because we spend over our turnover bill, but we havent had the option of parachute payments to cover costs whilst we strip the deadwood from our squad like you have. You have been in better position to balance the books than others, not to say we haven't been terribly run.

Oh,before you say it, yes we are going to feel the effect of it when we go down. The club will probably end up in a similar position as Portsmouth.

I think the point is that parachute payments are their to support a club following relegation, not to spend in advance on chasing promotion. It all comes home to roost in the end with clubs left with a big debt to pay back.

I love the local derby games and really hope we enjoy this fixture next year (I know I'll get criticism on here for saying this), my concerns for Forest are the level of interest payments that will be required to service the debt if no buyer is found. Mr D may say publically that he doesn't want any money back but the issue, even in this situation, would be buying a business with excessive overheads in a future market where investment and costs will be controlled.

Narrow margins of success or failure on the pitch can result in financial catastrophe for football clubs as the debacle at Leeds demonstrated all too well. The trouble is that football clubs just don't learn their lesson, as Pompey demonstrate at the moment. There's no dig at Forest in particular at this, just a general observation.

Billy does have a track record in bringing in players on excessive wages and throwing his teddy out of the pram when the chairman calls time on his spending spree. Again, no dig at Forest but a factual observation based on repeating circumstances surrounding Billy. A good manager, well possibly on the pitch but is that enough in todays day and age of balancing the books?

[Red_Dawn]

What you have said is very true, but to a bigger extent it is much more McClarens fault, and Doughty for allowing him to be so reckless with the player wages. Billy wasn't too bad here, I suspect he learnt a few things whilst at Derby to be honest.

I dont think that anyone bar Earnshaw was on 12k a week or more, and his contract was let to run down and not renewed as a result of that. In steps McClaren who then signs (we are told) 4-5 players all on 10-18k a week. Absolutely stupid, particularly considering they have ALL been complete and utter failures.

Cotterill has done an absolutely terrible job so far, but if we go down theres two people are are mostly to blame for this. Doughty and McClaren. No way we can balance the books with McClowns signings on expensive AND long contracts. The club is big big trouble.

[Donny Ram]

I really hope Forest sort out the mess financially that seems to be looming on the horizon. I note that Dougherty left the board completely at the back end of the year, according to alterations in directorships details filed at companies house.

It would seem McClaren has a lot to answer for, not just for the on the pitch failings either.

[SillyBilly]

It is beyond a joke now, just fold them up and it'll do the rest of football the world of good. If they survive it makes you wonder just how bad things would have to get for a club to go under. Weren't Cardiff supposed to be bust by now as well?

[StaffsRam]

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16797287.stm]http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16797287.stm

Failed to pay the players wages in January.

[ramblur]

Personal tax evasion is punished severely yet football clubs seem to just ride rough shot over HMRC and cost the country millions in unpaid taxes. The whole creditor priority principal that exists in the world of football is completely wrong, football creditors should not get priority and football should be governed by the same rules as every other industry.

The vast majority of football clubs are small turnover business' that have far more publicity, as they are in the puiblic eye, than their status deserves. As a consequence of the public exposure they are in many cases run badly, Pompey being a case in point.

I think directors should be made personally liable for any non payment of taxes basically collected by the club on an agency basis for the Revenue.When a fan pays for his/her ticket,he/she has paid over an element of VAT and is entitled to expect this to be forwarded.