With Pompey and Soton in deep trouble......

[GT49er]

Point of order - have we ever been the top South Coast club? Did we ever finish ahead of Southampton in our first division years?

 

[Stoo82]

You mean before the £70 million (or whatever figure the club have plucked out of thin air) stadium has been built?

yeah. But we have the Blooms. We are the Man City of League one.

 

[Silent Bob]

You mean before the £70 million (or whatever figure the club have plucked out of thin air) stadium has been built?

A mortgage is a bit different to spunking it all up the wall on transfer fees and wages, with no prospect of increased income.

 

[coventrygull]

I think a lot of clubs will be going to the wall in the next few years

 

[clapham_gull]

Portsmouth may well be £80m in debt or whatever it is, but if they go down they will sell every player they have of any worth (Johnson, Krajcar, Crouch, Distin etc).

Working on the assumption that any transfers fees have been paid in full.

Remember Leeds.....

 

[Withdean Wanderer]

Oh, I missed out Darlington.

 

[coventrygull]

May be clubs in crisis needs an update. I understand Dorchester town are in deep shit

 

[clapham_gull]

Yeah, but they also have £15m for Defoe (minus whatever they still owed on him) and £20m for Diarra coming their way. I do think they have just about enough assets not to go to the wall Leeds style.

Problem is the reality is very different when a club goes down like that.

That's why the parachute payment was introduced, because relegation from the Premiership (unless very very carefully planned) is a potential financial nightmare.

Loss of Television Rights (huge)
Drop in Corporate Events and any other commercial activities.
Drop in gate receipts

etc.. etc...

The list goes on.

All of a sudden a big "Premiership Company" is moved into a much smaller market with much smaller rewards and unless there is a watertight plan in place, pretty much anything can happen.

Won't we all led to believe that Charlton were one of the best run clubs business wise ? Well is they are in trouble, imagine what Portsmouth are facing.

The fact that Portsmouth are in the amount of debt they are already are, doesn't suggest to me that relegation will be anything other than painful.

I wouldn't rely on the headline transfer fees either. They are usually more complex with payment being made in instalments, fees to agents and money going to player themselves.

The fact they let Redknapp go with so much as a whisper suggest that the compensation money came in very handy.

 

[clapham_gull]

Yeah, I do agree with you, but surely if they go down they will a) sell everyone and as a result b) reduce the wage bill massively. The £20m+ they would then get in parachute payments for two years would then mean they would, in effect, be running at a big PROFIT for the next two years. Would this not be enough to see them through?

It would be interesting to know exactly who Portsmouth's debts are owed to, as I expect that would be the deciding factor in how hard they will feel relegation.

I'm sure Charlton and Southampton fans were saying exactly the same thing. See edited post.

With due respect, what you are saying is exactly what a Southampton fan was saying to me a few years ago.

In fact he added the classic (yes he really did say this ) "They all play long ball in the lower leagues, so with Crouch in the team we will cream it..."

According the wonderfully reliable News of the World before Christmas, Portsmouth owe 60m and I think the important point, are losing 25m a year.

( obviously can't say whether that is true...)

But if it is, if they are losing 25m a year in the premiership, how do you think they will handle a drop to the championship.

 

[itszamora]

Yeah, but they also have £15m for Defoe (minus whatever they still owed on him) and £20m for Diarra coming their way. I do think they have just about enough assets not to go to the wall Leeds style.

Portsmouth's assets are nothing compared to what Leeds had. If they go down I think they'll be in very serious trouble.

 

[house your seagull]

we've got a piece about south coast clubs in the new TSLR out on saturday.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Yeah, I do agree with you, but surely if they go down they will a) sell everyone and as a result b) reduce the wage bill massively.

Don't assume that all the players will be bought. The headliners would go but the bulk of the squad would remain, on contracts, for as long as the contract term. This is what would cause them most trouble. Former Prem squad players on huge wages who are not cutting a swathe through the Championship but who cost big bucks with no prospect of being off-loaded.

Also, as it's been explained to me, clubs like pompey have to pay more for the middle level players because they are a less attractive proposition than some alternatives. This compounds the problem.

 

[bhaexpress]

With all the expertise shown in the last twenty four hours I think that we should have a carpet warehouse built onto the side of the stadium to augment our income.

 

[Hiney]

Point of order - have we ever been the top South Coast club? Did we ever finish ahead of Southampton in our first division years?

No we didn't.

 

[perth seagull]

Nope, it will be PLYMOUTH

Here's the correct answer, should have been the end of the discussion.

 

[borowha]

Eastbourne Borough will be there or there abouts when Falmer is ready,best run club in the conference.

 

[champion7]

The south coast could have it's own league.