Source: Telegraph
David James attacks 'irresponsible' spending at Portsmouth
The goalkeeper also said the present board had promised to explain how the club were "£60 million in debt". However, he added pointedly: "They also said we'd get paid on time." [LNB]It remains a distinct possibility that, despite the claims on Sunday by executive director Mark Jacob that no player has to be sold this month unless manager Avram Grant wants them to go, James along with other first-team players such as Younes Kaboul, Nadir Belhadj and Aruna Dindane will have to leave this month. [LNB] Related ArticlesPortsmouth finally pay players but financial pressure increasesPortsmouth: players will be paid todayPortsmouth players still not paidPortsmouth fail to pay team againPortsmouth's plight a symptom of Premier League excessSport on television"Who would have thought that playing in the Premier League, winning the FA Cup, and playing in Europe would bring such disaster?" said James, who had hoped to secure a move to Tottenham Hotspur last summer. "Unbelievably we are now paying the price for that success at Portsmouth. [LNB]After we won the Cup, I was told that one of our financial people predicted it would ruin us. They were right. The heavy bonus culture, endemic in our game, became the curse as the earnings of the Cup run did not tally up with the bonuses paid out." [LNB]The 39 year-old's criticisms came as Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, called for Portsmouth owner Ali Al-Faraj to be "up front" about the financial problems. [LNB]"It's always a possibility when you see that clubs overreach themselves," Taylor said. "But you do like clubs to be in the ownership of people who are prepared to declare their interests and be up front about it and you want them to be football lovers involved for the right reasons." [LNB]Al-Faraj, who acquired the club in October, is yet to visit Fratton Park and there was an extraordinary admission yesterday by Jacob that he had yet to meet him. [LNB]Jacob went on to claim that he had urged Al-Faraj to make an appearance and hoped he would do so soon while disputing claims that the club's debts are between £60 million and £100 million. [LNB]Portsmouth are challenging the winding-up petition served on them by HM Revenue and Customs before Christmas and will go to court on Wednesday to argue the VAT portion of their massive tax debt is £7.5 million too high. [LNB]
