Source: Telegraph
Milan Mandaric: no one can blame me for Portsmouth's problems
As he prepares for Sunday's Championship play-off semi-final against Cardiff City, the Leicester City and former Portsmouth owner said: 'What does annoy me is when anyone tries to associate me with the club being run badly. [LNB]'It's a horrendous amount of debt for one football club and is something that someone has to explain. I do hope people realise there's another side to Portsmouth Football Club than this ugly number. [LNB] Related ArticlesEverton v Portsmouth: match previewPortsmouth debts rise to £138mPortsmouth confident over debt plansPortsmouth 3 Wolves 1Leicester 4 QPR 0Sport on television'Some weak owners have come in the last year or so and they should ask themselves, 'how did they allow this to happen?' The problems have not been there for a long time. [LNB]"The debt was not there when I was there. It has been created in the last 18 months.'[LNB]Mandaric bought Portsmouth in 1998, taking the club out of administration and, he said, spending around £7million of his own money in settling debts. [LNB]He invested £20million in taking Portsmouth into the Premier League and 'only got that back' because they were promoted and remained in the division. [LNB]'I then found a young guy who was ambitious and who could take it further than I could and wanted to run the club,' Mandaric said of Alexandre 'Sasha' Gaydamak, to whom he initially sold 50 per cent, then the rest of the club, in 2006. [LNB]'I spent six months with Sasha and he was a really good owner,' he said. [LNB]'Yes, he wanted to spend a little bit more money but there was no indication he was going to go wild and burden the club with debt. I believe I sold to the right person. [LNB]"He wanted to give the fans more than I could give them and maybe there were mistakes in spending more money than he should have. [LNB]'Sasha was trying to do his best but you have to ask yourself 'can you afford this?' and balance things out. That's why I probably did better than other people.'[LNB]Mandaric absolves Gaydamak from blame, with a succession of owners, following the latter's conclusion that he had overstretched himself, leading to a spiral of debt. 'If I knew it would have happened like this, of course I would not have let go [of Portsmouth],' he said. [LNB]'It's incredible what has happened and it breaks my heart. But I would hate for someone to be discouraged from getting involved. If someone comes in and does a proper job then he will be properly rewarded with a fantastic club.'[LNB]Mandaric acquired Leicester three years ago, with the club having suffered their own financial problems and administration, and is on the brink of taking them back to the Premier League. [LNB]'This is an old club and one of the top 10 or 12 in England,' he said. [LNB]He is convinced that, even if they fail in this season's play-offs, promotion is inevitable, sooner or later. [LNB]'I need to be realistic,' Mandaric said. 'There are five or six clubs at the top and then a group of five or six and I want to be in the middle of that group.' [LNB]
