Pompey boss Appleton goes on signing spree ahead of Cherries clash

7:00am Friday 17th August 2012 in Cherries News

PORTSMOUTH were last night given the go-ahead to start the new season while in administration, with boss Michael Appleton embarking on a 48-hour transfer spree ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Cherries .

Pompey’s future remains uncertain after former owner Balram Chainrai withdrew his offer to buy the club, but the Pompey Supporters’ Trust remains hopeful of completing a takeover.

Pompey face another 10-point deduction but the Football League say that will not come into effect until the club exits administration, meaning they will begin the npower League One season on zero.

Appleton, meanwhile, yesterday put the finishing touches to a number of month-by-month deals, with The News reporting players “queuing at the training ground to sign”.

Jon Harley, Brian Howard and Izale McLeod all penned rolling deals at Fratton Park yesterday, along with Mustapha Dumbuya, Luke Rodgers, Liam Walker, Kieran Djilali, Lee Williamson, Conor Clifford and Jack Compton.

Appleton has had a host of trialists training with the club including Harley, Howard and McLeod, but had been unable to offer them contracts and was forced to field a virtual youth side in the 3-0 Capital One Cup defeat at Plymouth on Tuesday night.

Birch told The News: “We can sign players, but only on a monthly contract. That means there is no liability for the club. And it can afford to employ them on such terms during administration.

“For the players there is no risk. If the club is liquidated they will be able to move to another club, even if it is outside the transfer window.

“Even in administration they will be paid under the terms of their monthly contract.”

Comments(10)

pokesdown1 says...
7:25am Fri 17 Aug 12

Beyond belief.

BUT in a way I`m glad for them.

Murdoch and Redknapp.

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DansAFCB says...
8:44am Fri 17 Aug 12

It is beyond belief!!!!!! Why weren't we allowed to do this, the FL our total toss.ers! Steve Lovell offered to play for free and they still said no!? Where has the money come from for them to sign 10 players? They wont be playing for free, and have obviously been given half decent money to sign on a monthly basis!....... Makes me laugh, I am sure that the FL wanted rid of us!!! No other teams have been hit as hard as us, Rotherham and poor Luton!

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djd says...
8:54am Fri 17 Aug 12

The system is so obviously biased when one club is so positively favoured compared with other clubs that have been in the same predicament.
It seems that, because Pompey was such a big club and has the potential to be so again, the FL has favoured them.
As you say, clubs like poor little Cherries, Luton & Rotherham are not important to those who sit in judgement.

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Nickolai says...
9:32am Fri 17 Aug 12

Because Pompey once played in the premiergree, therefore they must take precedence over any lowly clubs who are not worth the FL's efforts.

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Square Old Codger says...
9:58am Fri 17 Aug 12

Some sour grapes here, it is good that the FL has been positive here , for once and have given Pompey a lifeline, after all the Pompey supporters have done nothing wrong and their supporters , as did many of ours , are putting their hard earned cash on line to try and save their Club. Tomorrows game will now be a real contest, Pompey, players and supporters alike will be fired up and the atmosphere there will be terrific. Our own experience, when the Cherries has their backs to the wall and the player's raised their game should tell us that. If Paul Groves goes there with his usual defensive approach to a game - we could be in trouble - lets have an exciting game - attack for once -we have the better players , it's going to be determination and the will to win that will decide this game. Quite looking forward to it, even though I am going with my Portsmouth based Cousin. May the best team win!

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pokesdown1 says...
10:11am Fri 17 Aug 12

Best to forget tomorrows game I reckon.

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Piston_Broke says...
11:47am Fri 17 Aug 12

The real reason that the FA/FL are being lenient with Pompey is because they know that they are responsible for a very large percentage of PFC's problems. During Pompey's last administration, the FA actually appointed a new CEO for the club, namely David Lampitt. This was a vain attempt by the FA to prevent Pompey becoming a laughing stock, and tarnishing the image of their beloved Premier League. As it turned out, Lampitt was the one largely responsible for agreeing ridiculous contracts with average players, and he forgot to insert relegation clauses, should the club suffer that fate. Over 2 years later, Tal Ben Haim was still entitled to £36,000 per WEEK!
The ineptitude of the FPP test has hit new heights at Pompey - look at the list of owners the club has had - A Money Launderer, A Loan Shark, An Arms Dealer, A Skint Sheikh, A Fake Sheikh, and before all that, Milan Mandaric, yet the Fit & Proper persons test has approved them all. Millions and millions of pounds has "vanished" out of Fratton Park over the last few years, the FA know it, the FL know it, HMRC know it. Of course, a criminal investigation will never take place, as it would be far too complex, involving characters from all around the world, off-shore bank accounts etc etc, and the only ones who would be left accountable for the whole fiasco that is PFC would be the FA, and the FL. Oh, and maybe Rosie!

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Piston_Broke says...
12:24pm Fri 17 Aug 12

DansAFCB wrote:
It is beyond belief!!!!!! Why weren't we allowed to do this, the FL our total toss.ers! Steve Lovell offered to play for free and they still said no!? Where has the money come from for them to sign 10 players? They wont be playing for free, and have obviously been given half decent money to sign on a monthly basis!....... Makes me laugh, I am sure that the FL wanted rid of us!!! No other teams have been hit as hard as us, Rotherham and poor Luton!
To answer a couple of questions you raise:
1) The FL deemed that we already had enough players on the books, hence blocked our move for Steve Lovell. At 9am yesterday, Pompey had zero senior players.
2) The money at Pompey has come from an instalment of their parachute payments (approx £4million). Having money in the club could actually present a real danger to the club, as creditors could now press for liquidation, realising that this outcome would see them receive more of what they are owed than the Supporters Trust buy-out will offer them. Whilst the administrator will do everything he can to keep the club afloat and try to make it attractive to potential buyers, he is legally bound by the high court to take the option which is financially best for the creditors.
Pompey are still in very very deep u-no-what!

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The Renegade Master says...
2:06pm Fri 17 Aug 12

I wouldn't want to see Pompey fold, but at the same time they MUST be treated in the same manner that our club and the likes of Luton Town were treated. If they survive in similar circumstances to us then they should also be facing at least a 17 point deduction too.

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Piston_Broke says...
3:17pm Fri 17 Aug 12

The Renegade Master wrote:
I wouldn't want to see Pompey fold, but at the same time they MUST be treated in the same manner that our club and the likes of Luton Town were treated. If they survive in similar circumstances to us then they should also be facing at least a 17 point deduction too.
Luton Town were given their 30 point deduction for "serious financial irregularities", not actual insolvency issues at that time. As usual, the victims were not the cause of the original problem, but the very people trying to sort the club out in its time of needing help.
Pompey were handed the standard 10 point deduction on entering administration (again) in February 2012. In the end, that punishment relegated them from the Championship.
Football League Insolvency Rules state that "A club starting a new season in Administration will be given an automatic 10 point penalty". The FL have applied this to Pompey, albeit that it will only be applied when they come out of admin. If, however, they exit admin without an agreed CVA (as AFCB and Rotherham did), then the FL can, and will, apply a further points deduction. So far, the only leniency shown towards Pompey is that of allowing them to sign players on monthly contracts, to enable them to remain competitive and sustain the integrity of League One, whilst the administrator attempts to keep the club alive. If they do manage to get the -10 points overturned, or don't incur a further penalty if they exit admin without a CVA in place, then we would have cause to complain. At the moment, we don't.

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