Post by QPR Report on Aug 16, 2009 6:56:23 GMT
Unusual for a player to be writing this way on his own club
David James/Observer
How on earth did Portsmouth get into this mess?
-Portsmouth have sold £80m worth of players - so where has it all gone?
The car park at Pompey's training ground is looking a bit different these days, what with all the goings on at the club. In truth it is not an exaggeration to say that this has been a most surreal start to the season.
Hearing that dreaded word – administration – attached to a Premier League club, albeit speculatively, is unprecedented in this division. Hearing it in association with your own club is much worse. When I sat in the crowd for our pre-season friendly at Havant & Waterlooville, many of the fans were anxious to talk about what lay in store for us. Thankfully we have been told we have a new owner lined up and the future is bright, but until everything is signed, sealed and delivered we are all – fans, players and staff – prone to worry.
It is, after all, a difficult situation to get your head around. Premier League clubs have always maintained this untouchable aura, and yet suddenly even millions of pounds in television revenue and sponsorship may not be enough to keep you financially afloat.
We have all read about lower league clubs struggling to survive, but I've never been at a club that was worried about its own finances before – even at Watford. In fact, previously my only connection to a club like that has been as a Luton fan and, although it pains me to say it, Luton's troubles were never entirely surprising. For years the club seemed to survive on a shoestring budget, with a dodgy stadium, low revenue and small attendances.
But at Portsmouth it's a different scenario altogether – we avoided relegation, we won the FA Cup, we're planning a new stadium, we're a side who would like to think we have the potential to stay in the Premier League for a good long spell now, after the experience we've accumulated. This league is supposed to be bulletproof. But over the summer months, as we began to sell our players, those left in the dressing room couldn't help looking round and wondering, "Who's next?" As players and staff queried the security of their employment, it was an uncomfortable irony that Jobsite.co.uk were our new shirt sponsors when Canterbury, who make the kit, went into administration last month.
You can't help but start wondering whose fault is this? Why is it happening? That's a difficult question to answer when the club has accumulated almost £80m in player transfers in the last calendar year – so where has all that income gone? You look at your own wages and you naturally worry about the rest of the staff at the club. To think that perhaps one of them might lose their job because of the situation, you ask yourself: "Is it because of what I'm earning?" It is an uncomfortable fact that the salary of a staff member who might lose their job is dwarfed by the money being generated by the first team – in which case how can we not afford to keep them? The numbers just don't seem to stack up.
It all goes back to the age-old problem of football clubs existing beyond their means, living in deficit all the time. This may be just a wobble, soon to be smoothed over, but surely the league has to be concerned that something like this can happen to one of its clubs? All anybody wants is answers, and the sooner we get them the sooner everyone can stop worrying.
In the meantime international players, or wannabe ones, will be holding on to their hats as they ride out the start of the season hoping it won't have an adverse effect on their chances of making the World Cup finals next year. World Cups are precious.
But when a club starts selling off its assets the quality of the team inevitably deteriorates, meaning those remaining are left with a difficult task. I'm just hoping that with all the experience of the players that we have we can forge together a team that works well this season.
We have reason to keep the faith. The worst case doomsday scenario that the media talked about has not happened. We're still here, we haven't gone into administration and we've started the new season with a 1-0 loss to Fulham. Having that opening game to focus on has been a real positive for the team and I know that looking forward to seeing the fans at Fratton Park and playing football has kept us all going this summer. Now we just want to keep going, play good football and put the memory of that d***ed word "administration" ever being mentioned in the same breath as our club very far behind us.
David James has donated his fee for this column to charity
www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/aug/16/david-james-portsmouth-takeover-finances
David James/Observer
How on earth did Portsmouth get into this mess?
-Portsmouth have sold £80m worth of players - so where has it all gone?
The car park at Pompey's training ground is looking a bit different these days, what with all the goings on at the club. In truth it is not an exaggeration to say that this has been a most surreal start to the season.
Hearing that dreaded word – administration – attached to a Premier League club, albeit speculatively, is unprecedented in this division. Hearing it in association with your own club is much worse. When I sat in the crowd for our pre-season friendly at Havant & Waterlooville, many of the fans were anxious to talk about what lay in store for us. Thankfully we have been told we have a new owner lined up and the future is bright, but until everything is signed, sealed and delivered we are all – fans, players and staff – prone to worry.
It is, after all, a difficult situation to get your head around. Premier League clubs have always maintained this untouchable aura, and yet suddenly even millions of pounds in television revenue and sponsorship may not be enough to keep you financially afloat.
We have all read about lower league clubs struggling to survive, but I've never been at a club that was worried about its own finances before – even at Watford. In fact, previously my only connection to a club like that has been as a Luton fan and, although it pains me to say it, Luton's troubles were never entirely surprising. For years the club seemed to survive on a shoestring budget, with a dodgy stadium, low revenue and small attendances.
But at Portsmouth it's a different scenario altogether – we avoided relegation, we won the FA Cup, we're planning a new stadium, we're a side who would like to think we have the potential to stay in the Premier League for a good long spell now, after the experience we've accumulated. This league is supposed to be bulletproof. But over the summer months, as we began to sell our players, those left in the dressing room couldn't help looking round and wondering, "Who's next?" As players and staff queried the security of their employment, it was an uncomfortable irony that Jobsite.co.uk were our new shirt sponsors when Canterbury, who make the kit, went into administration last month.
You can't help but start wondering whose fault is this? Why is it happening? That's a difficult question to answer when the club has accumulated almost £80m in player transfers in the last calendar year – so where has all that income gone? You look at your own wages and you naturally worry about the rest of the staff at the club. To think that perhaps one of them might lose their job because of the situation, you ask yourself: "Is it because of what I'm earning?" It is an uncomfortable fact that the salary of a staff member who might lose their job is dwarfed by the money being generated by the first team – in which case how can we not afford to keep them? The numbers just don't seem to stack up.
It all goes back to the age-old problem of football clubs existing beyond their means, living in deficit all the time. This may be just a wobble, soon to be smoothed over, but surely the league has to be concerned that something like this can happen to one of its clubs? All anybody wants is answers, and the sooner we get them the sooner everyone can stop worrying.
In the meantime international players, or wannabe ones, will be holding on to their hats as they ride out the start of the season hoping it won't have an adverse effect on their chances of making the World Cup finals next year. World Cups are precious.
But when a club starts selling off its assets the quality of the team inevitably deteriorates, meaning those remaining are left with a difficult task. I'm just hoping that with all the experience of the players that we have we can forge together a team that works well this season.
We have reason to keep the faith. The worst case doomsday scenario that the media talked about has not happened. We're still here, we haven't gone into administration and we've started the new season with a 1-0 loss to Fulham. Having that opening game to focus on has been a real positive for the team and I know that looking forward to seeing the fans at Fratton Park and playing football has kept us all going this summer. Now we just want to keep going, play good football and put the memory of that d***ed word "administration" ever being mentioned in the same breath as our club very far behind us.
David James has donated his fee for this column to charity
www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/aug/16/david-james-portsmouth-takeover-finances