Source: Daily_Mail
The dream becomes a nightmare as Portsmouth plummet towards oblivion
They were ‘chasing the dream’. An FA Cup win, a European adventure, plans for a new
stadium and talk of storming to the top of the Barclays Premier League.
But suddenly Portsmouth are living a nightmare. In debt to the tune of £67million and in real danger of starting the season with a team of cast-offs, rumours are swirling that the proposed takeover by Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim is in peril.
Al Fahim, already installed as Pompey chairman, and Alexandre Gaydamak, the club’s current owner, were last night busily trying to reinforce their commitment to pushing
the deal through.
Paul Hart Manager of Portsmouth
Hard times: Hart
Manager Paul Hart, meanwhile, continued to plan ahead with a threadbare squad of just 16 outfield players, some of whom may, too, be sold if the stalemate cannot be broken.
Hart has one troubled striker at his disposal — David Nugent — plus veteran Kanu, who is out of contract but training on the promise of a new deal.
The club thought they had a £6m package in place to sign Croatia’s 21-year-old Nikola Kalinic from Hajduk Split but were gazumped by Blackburn, flush with £20m from the sale of Roque Santa Cruz.
With Hermann Hreidarsson and Papa Bouba Diop injured, Hart’s squad for two friendlies in Portugal last weekend were bolstered by three trialists and Academy scholars.
‘Considering the situation we did well to keep it to four,’ said Hart after a 4-0 defeat by Benfica, in which Steve Finnan, one of two free transfer signings made this summer, limped off with a hamstring injury 25 minutes into his debut.
Hart has other signings planned but knows these players will not wait forever.
Time is ticking too fast for Pompey. The season starts in 10 days at home to Fulham and the transfer window closes on August 31, a significant date at Fratton Park for other reasons.
It is when £36m of bank loans — the majority of which are owed to the Standard Bank
of South Africa — must be repaid.
Attempts to renegotiate the repayments proved futile, hence the frenzy of selling.
Sulley Muntari, Pedro Mendes, Lassana Diarra, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Peter Crouch have all gone since Portsmouth won the FA Cup in May last year, fetching more than £78m.
Portsmouth's Lassana Diarra (L) and Pedro Mendes celebrate with the FA Cup
Halcyon days: Diarra and Mendes - now plying their trade away from Fratton Park - celebrate with the FA Cup
The club took £5m from Spurs for manager Harry Redknapp, and seven more senior players left this summer, including top earner Sol Campbell.
A runaway annual wage bill which had lurched beyond £55m has been tamed, but it may not be the end.
If Al Fahim’s takeover is not completed soon, more players will have to go. Several clubs are on the trail of Sylvain Distin and feelers have been put out to gauge interest
in the likes of David James, who attracts Spurs, John Utaka, Diop, Nadir Belhadj and Niko Kranjcar.
Al Fahim has completed due diligence on his takeover and passed the League’s fit and proper persons test. He has agreed a price for Portsmouth — thought to cover
at least the £24m loaned to the club by owner Gaydamak at an annual interest rate of 15 per cent — and signed the terms sheet.
All that ought to remain is for the sale and purchase agreement to be signed, the Premier League to check the details and Al Fahim to be installed.
Except the whole procedure appears to have ground to a halt, to the fury of Portsmouth.
In a private email reply to a supporter’s question, which was somehow leaked to the media, executive chairman Peter Storrie admitted he was ‘frustrated’ by the inertia.
Concern is mounting that Al Fahim cannot deliver and Pompey did little to banish that with a statement yesterday.
‘While it is our intention to add strength to the existing squad, we cannot rule out the possibility of having to sell more players should the takeover not happen,’ it read.
‘Everyone at the club shares the frustration of supporters. We know only too well that we need to add to the first-team squad but at this moment in time there is a limited amount we can do.’
Football - New Portsmouth owner Sulaiman al Fahim
Delay: Fahim
Al Fahim rejects allegations that he has lost one or more major backers. He insists this is a lone venture and the delay is simply due to its complexity.
Last night he said: ‘We are in the final stages of the transaction and I will exercise every effort to complete it as soon as possible in the interest of both the club and its supporters.’
This week UEFA issued a familiar warning on the kind of over-borrowing which has become the trademark of English football’s top division.
‘There are stories concerning some clubs that are of significant concern,’ said UEFA’s general secretary David Taylor.
‘We’ve seen what happened in recent years with a number of very high profile clubs; Leeds United, for example.’
Portsmouth have made drastic cuts in a bid to avert a Leeds-style meltdown, but the
backlash could see them go into a campaign with one of the most inadequate squads in Premier League history.
The dream has truly died.
