From the Snooze (Friday)

[stefeni]

FORMER Pompey owner Balram Chainrai could make a dramatic return to the club as a last resort in a move that could split fans.Representatives for Mr Chainrai and his firm Portpin gave the strongest indication yet at yesterday’s creditors’ meeting that the former owner is waiting in the wings to make a reluctant return to Fratton Park.

They said: ‘Portpin and Mr Chainrai have made it clear that he will not let the club go into liquidation. It’s got too much of a proud history for that to have to happen.’

Mr Chainrai, who is owed £18.6m, previously stressed the club’s administrator Trevor Birch should only call on him as a last resort to save Pompey.

But yesterday Mr Birch said, if necessary, he will go back to Mr Chainrai in his quest to find a new owner.

Representatives for Portpin, including Mr Chainrai’s brother Deepak, and Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI), Pompey’s former parent company, voted against the administrator’s proposals amended by HMRC.

The proposal was for Pompey to exit administration through a CVA, with the liquidation of operating company Portsmouth Football Club Limited (2010), before an HMRC investigation into its affairs.

In Mr Birch’s initial proposal, which was passed, he is looking to find the club a new buyer, bring it out of administration through a CVA, or liquidate the company should this not happen.

Colin Farmery, editor of website True Blue Army, said Mr Chainrai’s return could be ‘damaging’ to the club.

He said: ‘Any prospect of Balram Chainrai coming back would be an unfortunate turn of events because it would split the fan base.

‘There’s some fans out there that think he’s part of the problem and won’t see him supporting the club, but another part of the fans that would want it to survive.

‘It would be damaging.’

Bob Beech, of SOS Pompey, said: ‘If you said to me Balram Chainrai or liquidation, I would take liquidation.

‘Every time he gets to the gates at Frogmore Road Pompey’s problems get worse. Fans need to take their heads out of the sand, he’s not the saviour.’

Bill Gillon, owner of website Pompey Online, said: ‘Fans have been asking themselves if he comes back would it be preferable over liquidation? I would have him back if that was the choice but his responsibilities in terms of what he wants to sell the club have to be nailed down.’

Football finance expert professor Tony Arnold, of the University of Leicester, said: ‘If he thinks liquidation seriously threatens his £18.6m then even quite a lot of new money that gets him the parachute payments over the next two years would leave him better off than under liquidation.’


represented in a creditors’ committee. Ian Fields, of Havant business Genesis 1 Ltd, put himself forward to represent those from the community still owed cash at yesterday’s creditors’ meeting.

The committee, which was approved by attendees, is formed by representatives from Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI), Portpin, the Professional Footballers’ Association and Baker Tilly – liquidators of Portsmouth City Football Club.

Representatives from Portpin said small creditors owed £2,500 or less could be paid if Balram Chainrai returns.

Small creditor Steve Bone is owed money for contributions to the match day programme.

He said: ‘I’m a creditor and a fan and I want the club to survive – I would forgo my small debt to see the club survive.

‘Portpin need to answer “what does the future hold for the club if you come in again?”.’

Roger Higgins, whose firm Unilight UK is owed £924, said: ‘I would rather see the club going rather than go under.

‘But there’s a massive wage bill and I know that’s putting people off.’


POMPEY administrator Trevor Birch says he is doing all he can to find a buyer before Pompey’s cash runs out.In yesterday’s creditors’ meeting he said there is no bid on the table yet and the club’s future is ‘50/50’.

Those present at the meeting voted to approve the administrators’ proposals and form a creditors’ committee.

He said: ‘With the proposals approved, my PKF colleagues and I can now continue with the process of restructuring the business’ finances and finding a buyer for the club.

‘In our view, a sale of the club as a going concern and subsequent CVA will result in the best possible outcome for everyone involved, including the creditors.

‘Time is not on our side though. The Football League’s annual meeting from May 31 - June 1 is a crucial date for us.’


Trevor Birch will launch the Pompey fire sale tomorrow.And the administrator insists up to six players have already attracted interest from other clubs.

The Championship transfer window will officially re-open following the last round of games, which will effectively be tomorrow afternoon.

Pompey make the trip to Nottingham Forest for the season finale (12.30pm kick-off).

Realistically, no prospective deals will be completed until the start of next week.

Keeper Stephen Henderson will be the first to depart – making his loan move to West Ham permanent.

Jason Pearce is set for a move to Leeds United and is expected to be Neil Warnock’s first summer signing.

Birch has revealed a number of other Pompey players are also being coveted as Championship rivals seek to pick the Fratton Park bones.

Erik Huseklepp, currently on loan with Birmingham, has been linked with a return to Norway with Brann.

Joel Ward has been a long-time target for Ipswich and held talks with Tractor Boys boss Paul Jewell during the emergency loan window.

In addition, Pini Zahavi – the agent of Tal Ben Haim – told The News this week there is interest in his client.

With the Blues desperate for cash, all offers will be listened to.

The administrators are also striving to slash Pompey’s £12m annual wage bill down to £5m as they look to make the club manageable.

And Birch is hoping to make in-roads – starting tomorrow.

He said: ‘As soon as the season is over we can start selling players.

‘Thank goodness for that, otherwise it would be impossible (to continue).

‘I am talking to clubs all the time because we must sell as soon as possible.

‘At this moment in time I don’t want to name names but there are five or six players attracting interest.

‘It is still early days. Plenty more talking needs to be done and that will gather pace once the transfer window opens.

‘Anyone is up for sale. We need to sell players of this football club. It is an unfortunate fact.’

Birch is also continuing talks with the PFA over wages.

He held initial talks with the playing staff on Tuesday, raising the issue of more pay deferrals.

Yesterday, Birch met PFA representative Nick Cusack to thrash out a potential deal.

Success could buy the Blues extra time to find an owner before the money runs out.

Potentially, that could take them into early June.

In the meantime, talks are still ongoing.

‘I would say we could keep going until June,’ added Birch.

‘That depends on the situation with the players and what they are owed and deferrals.

‘If that can happen, then it will give us longer to find a solution.’


Stuart Gray is set to leave Pompey.And The News understands Nottingham Forest are hot favourites to recruit the departing Blues first-team coach.

Former Fratton boss Steve Cotterill is keen to add Gray to his backroom staff at the City Ground.

Pompey face Cotterill’s side in their final game in the Championship tomorrow.

But Gray will not be involved in the clash, with his days at the club at an end.

Administrator Trevor Birch said Gray and fellow coach Guy Whittingham’s jobs were under threat, with one of them having to leave the club, and further redundancies being made.

Boss Michael Appleton revealed he and Gray, who has long been linked with a move to Forest, had an honest discussion at the club’s training ground yesterday.

And Appleton hinted he had to make a tough call about the way forward.

He said: ‘I had a good chat with Stu yesterday and we’ve had a frank conversation.

‘What you aren’t aware of is someone’s mental frame of mind. It’s a difficult situation for everyone.

‘I think I have to look at the bigger picture all the time.

‘Sometimes you might seem a bit hard faced, but a football club is not about one individual.

‘I’ve got to think of the best interests of all the players and staff. Some decisions are taken out of your hands, like the staffing one.

‘There’s nothing I can do about those. There’s a realisation they need to be done. Certain decisions I will have an influence on, and rightly so regarding the player situation.

‘If I’m backed into a corner and have to make a decision then so be it. I don’t l like doing it, but at the end of the day someone has to do it.’

Steve Cotterill admits he had his doubts over Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI).But he never dreamed the regime of the owners who once employed him would result in Pompey being taken to the brink of liquidation.

Cotterill was the manager when CSI took over the Blues on June 1 last year.

The group promised to create a stable club and implement a five-year plan consisting of both a training ground and new stadium.

Pompey’s boss was also given permission to recruit players, with seven signed during the summer – the majority for transfer fees.

Cotterill quit Fratton Park in mid-October after being head-hunted by Nottingham Forest.

Barely six weeks later, CSI entered administration, launching a sequence of events which today has left Pompey in its current form facing extinction if a buyer cannot be unearthed within the next month.

Cotterill insists he had his concerns over CSI trio Vladimir Antonov, Roman Dubov and Chris Akers when he was in the Pompey hot seat.

The 47-year-old claims he spent just 20 minutes in the company of majority share holder Antonov during the five months they were together at Fratton.

Yet, it was CSI’s overall handling of the club which raised Cotterill’s misgivings.

It is a touch of irony that Pompey end their Championship stay with a trip to Cotterill’s Forest tomorrow.

And for the manager who played such a crucial role in keeping the Blues in England’s second tier last season, it’s a visit which is tinged with sadness.

Cotterill said: ‘It’s really sad what has happened to Portsmouth. The fans were a different class to me when I was there.

‘Their supporters have had more bad owners than good. I really hope someone comes in and has the love, care and affection for the club so it can go from strength to strength again.

‘CSI came in during the summer and it seemed the club were having fit-and-proper owners.

‘Even as an ex-manager, it is really tough to see what has happened. It is a terrible, terrible shame.

‘But I always felt that something was always not right when they were there.

‘I could never put my finger on it, it was pure gut instinct. I am not talking with hindsight here, either.

‘For a start, it was very difficult to get an answer off them about anything.

‘When they took over the club I had no detailed conversations with them. As manager, that was very frustrating.

‘I never spoke to Antonov for any more than 20 minutes in total for the five months we were there together.

‘I spoke to Dubov on a bit more of a regular basis, but it was not an ideal situation.

‘As people, to me, they seemed always on an emotional rollercoaster and I don’t think that brings stability to a football club.

‘Without doubt, that influenced what was going on around them. You can’t run a club like that, it certainly does not allow you to manage.

‘I was never, ever sure of anything. Something was not quite right there.’

Michael Appleton replaced Cotterill on November 10 last year.

Appleton inherited a squad largely assembled by his predecessor the previous summer and a Championship wage bill approaching £12m.

Cotterill played no part in deciding contracts, transfer fees and salaries during his stint, though.

And when the CSI regime imploded, it left Pompey with an unsustainable wage bill as the club struggles to stay afloat.

Administrator Trevor Birch is seeking to slash that by around 60 per cent, bringing the annual wage bill down to £5m.

Cotterill, though, maintains he improved the playing staff.

He added: ‘I feel for Michael. I know some of the pit falls he is up against and hope he gets the chance to rebuild it.

‘In the end, I felt I was putting a good squad together there, a decent mix of age and experience, and it would have improved again over the summer.

‘I brought in people like Jason Pearce and Stephen Henderson, young lads I got for bargains who have done really well.

‘We needed more goals in the team and that was supplemented by Erik Huseklepp, Luke Varney and David Norris. I also signed Greg Halford.

‘Then there was Marko Futacs, who originally came on a week’s trial and has done well.

‘We even made £2m and got Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson in exchange for Marc Wilson the year earlier.

‘I have a lot of close friends that still work at Portsmouth and I still speak to the players on the odd occasion.

‘It is a terrible shame what has happened there. It’s a really good football club with really good fans.’


David Norris prepared for Pompey’s Championship finale and told Blues fans: This is for you.Norris has called for his team to deliver a fitting performance for the travelling blue army as they wave goodbye to the English game’s second tier at Nottingham Forest tomorrow.

The 31-year-old knows supporters will travel to the City Ground in their thousands, as they have done all season.

And the midfielder believes it is crucial Pompey deliver a display that can provide optimism for fans moving forward.

Norris said: ‘The club and fans deserve so much better.

‘It would be nice to go out with a win for them.

‘They are going to travel there in their thousands, as they always do.

‘It would be nice to show our appreciation with a win and get three points for them.

‘It would be nice to be able to give them some hope over the summer.’

With the relegation battle now done and dusted, tomorrow’s game has little significance in terms of the Championship table.

Norris believes the games against fellow-strugglers Bristol City and Coventry were the crucial ones in deciding his team’s fate this season.

Pompey lost 2-0 at the Sky Blues – who ended up dropping down into League One with them – and drew 0-0 against Bristol City at Fratton Park, despite battering the Robins in the second half.

He said: ‘Bristol City at home and Coventry away are ones that stand out.

‘We needed to win and pick up points. They are the what ifs, if we were looking to stay up.’

Despite a slow start to his Pompey career after a free transfer from Ipswich last summer, Norris became a key player in the second half of the campaign.

He will always be remembered for his last-gasp leveller in the 2-2 derby draw at Southampton.

Championship clubs are expected to make a move for him this summer, though.

And one of Pompey’s highest-paid players rued the fact that the Blues could not find more consistency to put together a successful survival run-in.

Norris added: ‘A few weeks ago we said we didn’t want the 10-point difference to make a difference, but we were so up and down.

‘That was the main aim, and if we had been more consistent we would have stayed up.

‘Everyone was all over the place for a few weeks.’

[Lost in Transportation]

Cotterill said: ‘It’s really sad what has happened to Portsmouth. The fans were a different class to me when I was there.

‘Their supporters have had more bad owners than good. I really hope someone comes in and has the love, care and affection for the club so it can go from strength to strength again.

‘CSI came in during the summer and it seemed the club were having fit-and-proper owners.

‘Even as an ex-manager, it is really tough to see what has happened. It is a terrible, terrible shame.

‘But I always felt that something was always not right when they were there.

‘I could never put my finger on it, it was pure gut instinct. I am not talking with hindsight here, either.

You sure about that Steve...

[Ronnie Pander]

Cotterill said: ‘It’s really sad what has happened to Portsmouth. The fans were a different class to me when I was there.

‘Their supporters have had more bad owners than good. I really hope someone comes in and has the love, care and affection for the club so it can go from strength to strength again.

‘CSI came in during the summer and it seemed the club were having fit-and-proper owners.

‘Even as an ex-manager, it is really tough to see what has happened. It is a terrible, terrible shame.

‘But I always felt that something was always not right when they were there.

‘I could never put my finger on it, it was pure gut instinct. I am not talking with hindsight here, either.

You sure about that Steve...

Nah, he's right. When CSI took over he probably took 5 minutes and Googled Antonov...

[Mick Hill]

We should of gone into liquidation while we were still in the league and stuck are fingers up to the FA. i think that they all wanted us to last the season out so it does not mess up any league standings and cause a right mess up. Now the only people who care are us fans.
Do the administatrators care either, i am not sure, maybe they were working with the FA with this in mind.

Only a theory, might be totally wrong though.

[Locky_McLockface]

Do the administatrators care either, i am not sure, maybe they were working with the FA with this in mind.

The administrators have a legal duty to do what's best for the creditors, not what's best for the supporters. I honestly don't think that Trev has any hidden agenda, I have far more time for him than I now do for Andronikou. Whilst Andronikou saw off HMRC (and I do appreciate what he did there), he structured the CVA in such a way that it was impossible for anyone other than Chainrai to buy us.

[just blue]

We should of gone into liquidation while we were still in the league and stuck are fingers up to the FA. i think that they all wanted us to last the season out so it does not mess up any league standings and cause a right mess up. Now the only people who care are us fans.

Yes, I have thought this - they were just looking after their interests while appearing to be helping us by keeping us going until the end of the season.