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What next for Portsmouth?

Author: John Harris
Date: 01/03/2010
Football betting

Now that Portsmouth are finally in administration, where does that leave the beleaguered south coast strugglers?

Not only do they sit at the foot of the Premier League table and four points (possibly 13 with a likely penalty) from safety, the club are riddled with debt and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs are actively seeking a winding-up petition to close the Fratton Park outfit down.

With on and off-field problems blighting them, they are the overwhelming online betting favourites to be relegated from England's elite division this term.

Chief executive Peter Storrie is cutting a disillusioned figure as he attempt to stave off such a threat but he has some work on his hands if his objective is to come to fruition.

Several potential backers and buyers have pulled out as the borrowed time handed by the High Court is running out.

Former owner Alexandre Gaydamak claims to be owed £28million and former defender Sol Campbell is suing the club for around £1.7million, citing image rights and contract breaches as his reasons.

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Although al Fahim has offered his 10 per cent stake in the club to the Pompey Supporters' Trust, the potential recipients are curious as to what would happen if they accept the handout with the club in such a mess.

At the weekend, the club made a heart-felt plea to the Premier League, requesting special dispensation to allow them to sell players outside the current transfer window.

They suggested this was one way to pay off some of the debts that had curtailed their steady progress in the Premier League, but after critical responses from rival teams and managers, the league threw out their approach.

Current owner Balram Chainrai, a Hong Kong-based investor, who incidentally is the club's fourth in the last year, has claimed that a South African consortium is in talks to complete a takeover.

This could be the shining light at the end of the tunnel the club needs but, after severe uncertainty in recent times, nobody will be naive enough to think they are out of the woods.

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