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FM11: Portsmouth FC Thread: No Money, No Players.. But We're Still Fighting!

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Portsmouth FC

----Play Up Pompey----

___________________________________________

Brief History

Portsmouth Football Club was founded in 1898, the land in Goldsmith Avenue that became Fratton Park, the only home that the club has had, cost £4,950. The company formation costing £8,000 in £1 shares, guided by Brickwoods brewery boss John Brickwood. Pompey became Portsmouth Football Club Ltd in 1912. Prior to 1898 a local solicitor Arthur Cogswell had started an amatuer team including one player, A.C.Smith goalkeeper, who was actually Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Now universally known as Pompey the teams original nickname was the Shrimps due to their salmon pink kit.

The club's first manager was Frank Bretell and under his management the club had a successful opening season winning 20 of their 28 league games in the Southern Division, finishing runners up to Tottenham. The club had an excellent FA cup run in the 1928/29 season, only to lose 2-0 to Bolton in the final. Portsmouth won the FA cup in 1939, beating Wolves 4-1 in the final. This win producing the FA cup trivia question, which club has held the FA cup for the longest period? Due to the outbreak of WW2 Pompey didn't return the cup until the competition resumed after the war in 1945. Pompey won the League 1 (Top Division in England at the time) Championship 2 seasons in succession in 1948/49 and 1949/50 with goals from players such as Peter Harris and Ike Clarke. Aside from this successful early period Portsmouth have had a less successful time in the modern era. They earned promotion back to the 1st division under the management of Alan Ball, but only remained for 1 season 1987/88 before being relegated.

Under the control of Chairman Milan Mandaric who bought the club in 1998 and manager Harry Redknapp Pompey won the 1st division championship in the 2002/03 season, promoting them to the Barclays Premiership for the first time. After keeping the team in the Premiership for the first season Redknapp left the club under acrimonious circumstances mid way through the 2004/05 season, to the outrage of Pompey fans, joining arch rivals Southampton. The irony of this being when Pompey beat Redknapp's Southampton team 4-1 at Fratton Park toward the end of the 2004/05 season, Southampton eventually being relegated. Harry Redknapp suprisingly returned as Pompey manager in December 2005, after the departure of French manager Alain Perrin, Redknapp started to rebuild the squad and Pompey managed to narrowly avoid relegation, which had seemed inevitable most of the season. After a short period as joint Chairman, Milan Mandaric sold his remaining interest in the club to Sacha Gaydamak who became outright owner of the club in September 2006. Although the club had seemingly concluded a deal and had agreed planning permission with the City Council to redevelop Fratton Park. It appears that the new owner has greater ambitions for the ground redevolpment and plans are being developed to move the ground to the Port Solent area, north of the city.

17th May 2008, Portsmouth win the 2008 FA Cup Final, with a 1 - 0 victory over Cardiff City, Kanu scoring the winning goal.

Dubious Owners, Money Problems and Adminstration

On 26 May, Portsmouth accepted a bid from United Arab Emirates businessman Sulaiman Al Fahim to buy the club following negotiations led by Portsmouth executive chairman Peter Storrie on behalf of club owner Alexandre Gaydamak. A statement released by the club read "Portsmouth Football Club can confirm that it has accepted an offer from Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim to buy the club, and has been completed" "Executive chairman Peter Storrie concluded the deal with Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim in Rome on Tuesday night the 26 May".

Because of the financial problems suffered by the club, Portsmouth were forced to sell several of their top players and earners including Peter Crouch, Sylvain Distin, Glen Johnson and Niko Kranjčar. On 21 July, Al Fahim was appointed Non executive Chairman of Portsmouth. On Wednesday 19 August the official Portsmouth website announced that a rival consortium headed by current CEO Peter Storrie had also made a bid for the club; unknown at the time, this was backed by Ali Al-Faraj. Despite this, Al Fahim completed the takeover on 26 August; Al Faraj moved to review a takeover of West Ham United.

As the early stages of the 2009-10 season progressed the finances dried up and the club admitted on 1 October that some of their players and staff had not been paid. On 3 October, media outlets started to report that a deal was nearing completion for Ali al-Faraj to take control of the club. On 5 October, a deal was agreed for Al Faraj and his associates via British Virgin Islands registered company Falcondrone to hold a 90% majority holding, with Al-Fahim retaining 10% stake and the title of non-executive Chairman for two years. Falcondrone also agreed a deal with Gaydamak the right to buy, for £1, Miland Development (2004) Ltd, which owns various strategic pockets of land around the ground, once refinancing is complete. Two days after the Al-Faraj takeover was completed Portsmouth's former Technical Director Avram Grant returned as Director of football.

On 3 December 2009, it was announced that the club had failed to pay the players for the second consecutive month, on the 31st it was announced player's wages would again be paid late on 5 January 2010. According to common football contracts, the players then had the right to terminate their contracts and leave the club without any compensation for the club, upon giving two weeks notice. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) filed a winding-up petition against Portsmouth at the High Court in London on 23 December 2009. Initially, the club denied the winding-up order and a statement was released via the club's website. In the statement the club said that they expected the winding-up order to be retracted as the matter had been sorted, with the club co-operating with HMRC over all points raised in the winding-up order. The High Courts dismissed the claim, and a statement from Portsmouth said the Judge "considered any appeal to the Court of Appeal would have a 'real chance of success'".

It was announced on 5 January 2010 that the Premier League were to use Portsmouth's share of the latest installment of television broadcast monies to pay off the club's debts to other top-flight sides. Chelsea, Tottenham and Watford were all owed money by Portsmouth (as were Udinese and Lens). The Premier League split £7m between them. The action is allowed within league rules to protect clubs that are owed money from transfers.

On 26 January, the Premier League partially lifted the transfer embargo, and allowed the club to sign and register loanees, and players not registered to other clubs. Portsmouth managed to sell a few players, garnering the hope that bills and staff might get paid on time. On 28 January, the deep financial trouble of Pompey was further highlighted by the temporary closure of the Portsmouth website, after the club failed to pay their bills for its upkeep to their Bournemouth-based digital agency Juicy. The website was back live several hours later after Juicy announced a new financial arrangement with Portsmouth FC. As of 2 February 2010, Portsmouth FC staff and players appeared not to have been paid their wages on time for the fourth time in five months, causing Portsmouth's PFA representative to call for more openness from within the club.

On 4 February, Portsmouth was taken over by its fourth owner in one season: Balram Chainrai. A Nepalese businessman based in Hong Kong, Chainrai took over Portsmouth as part of a clause in a loan deal he made with the previous owners. He is thought to have given the club between £15m and £20m but the debts were not repaid. A full court hearing was held on 10 February 2010 and the club was given a 'stay-of-execution' for a further seven days with a view to securing a new buyer. If the club did not enter administration or the HMRC did not recover its money, the club could have been wound up by the Court and a Liquidator appointed. Insolvency specialist Vantis was appointed to prepare a statement of the club's assets and liabilities.

The club did not secure a new buyer by the 25 February deadline, and on 26 February UHY Hacker Young were appointed as administrators. A formal announcement was made that the club would be docked 9 points once the Premier League board met to agree when the points should formally be taken. The Premier League decided to delay their decision until the Court case on 15 March decided the club's fate. HMRC contested the Administration that was implemented on 26 February, but withdrew a winding-up order on 11 March having received documentation proving its validity. On 12 March Peter Storrie stepped down as the club's CEO, although he remained at the club in the short term as a Consultant to the Administrator. On 15 March a consortium fronted by Rob Lloyd entered a period of exclusivity to buy Portsmouth FC; Lloyd met 19 invited fans at the Hilton Portsmouth on Sunday 14th to outline his group's plans and to answer questions.

Fratton Park

Fratton Park is the home stadium of Portsmouth F.C., the city's traditional professional football club, and is situated in the English city-port of Portsmouth. The stadium is an intimidating one for visiting supporters, mostly because of the close proximity between the pitch and the stands. The loyal support of the club can often create a very loud and atmospheric game: famously during a UEFA Cup game in 2008 AC Milan star Ronaldinho said that: "It was the best atmosphere in the world of football". The game where Portsmouth drew with the Italian Giants.

The stadium currently has four stands, all seated. The pitch runs from east to west. The largest and most modern stand, at the ground's western end, is the Fratton End (commercially known by its sponsor name as JobSite UK stand). Along either side of the pitch are the North and South stands, both of which are two-tiered. At the eastern end is the Milton End (sponsored as Apollo stand), by far the smallest stand. Formerly the only roofless stand in the Premier League, a roof was added before the 2007/08 season. This stand is shared between home and away supporters. The original entrance to the Fratton End is notable for its mock Tudor façade. Following the arrival of former owner Alexandre Gaydamak several renovations were made to Fratton Park, including improved dressing rooms, the above-mentioned roof over the Milton end and a big-screen above the police box between the North Stand and Milton End. The North Stand was refreshed for the 2010/2011 season with renewed sponsorship by Mercedes-Benz (Ridgeway Group) which replaced the "Fratton Park Portsmouth" and the club crest.

Internal

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External

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Club Colours and Kit

Portsmouth's first ever kit had a shirt that was salmon pink in colour with white shorts and maroon socks. This kit lasted until 1909 when they changed to white shirts with royal blue shorts and socks. This kit lasted just two years before it was changed for blue shirts, white shorts and black socks. This was Portsmouth's home strip up until 1947 when the socks were changed to red; this coincided with the club's most successful period and has remained the favoured colours for the majority of the time since. Yellow and - more recently - gold have also been used as secondary colours on the club's home shirts.

The most frequent away colours used by Portsmouth have been white shirts with royal or navy blue shorts and either blue or white socks. The club has had white as either the second or third choice shirt for every season since 1998–99 to date. Other colours that have appeared several times on Portsmouth change kits have been yellow (usually with blue shorts) and red (often combined with black). Portsmouth have also briefly experimented with salmon pink, orange, navy blue and, perhaps most notably, gold change strips. From the 2006–07 season to the 2008–09 season the club have used black with a gold trim as their third choice colours. In the 2009–10 season the third kit was black with blue trim and thin blue hoops. The away kit was white with two navy blue vertical lines running the whole way down the side of the shirt, with the badge superimposed on top of them. The home kit has been the classic red white and blue kit, with plain blue shirt, plain white shorts and plain red socks. For the 2010 FA Cup Final, Portsmouth wore a change kit of white, maroon and pink.

Kit

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Club Crest

The official emblem contains a gold star and crescent on a blue shield, Portsmouth's adoption of the star and crescent (usually synonymous with Islam) is said to have come from when King Richard I, granted the city "a crescent of gold on a shade of azure, with a blazing star of eight points" which he had taken from the Byzantine Emperor's standard of Governor Isaac Komnenos, after capturing Cyprus.

Throughout its history Portsmouth have tried different variations of the crest before reverting back to the basic gold star and crescent. In the 1950s and 1960s the traditional crest was emblazoned on the shirt in white rather than gold but this was due to white being a cheaper alternative. Between 1980 and 1989 the club scrapped the original crest and replaced it with a new design. This crest showed a football on top of an anchor (representing the navy) and a sword (representing the army). An interchangeable version included a circular version of the star and crescent crest in place of the football. The return of the original crest in 1989 only lasted 4 years when it was replaced by the city's coat of arms in 1993. This design was based around the basic star and crescent but was unpopular with many fans who thought it was over elaborate. After only four seasons the original crest was again reinstated. In time for the 2007 season "Since 1898" was added to the badge underneath the club's name.

On 6 May 2008 Portsmouth FC unveiled a new crest which differs significantly from the old crest. It removes the 'three points' and the 'star and moon' now have a three dimensional look. The 'moon' also has more diameter and looks quite like the city's Coat of Arms.

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Memories

FA Cup Run 2010

Portsmouth FC's road to the 2010 FA Cup Final was "paved with anything but gold", as one commentator described it, but to the supporters, it meant everything.

It meant everything because, for an entire season, the world just seemed to crumble around Fratton Park. New owners took over the club and promised luxuries they never delivered, therefore dumping the club further into debt (which at one point exceeded over 70 million pounds), players had to be sold during the transfer window to raise funds which would be used to keep the club alive, which decimated the club to the bare bones. And, to top it all off, the club entered administration in March 2010, and was officially relegated to the Championship the following month, after a nine-point deduction was placed over the club's head for entering the administrative phase.

It all came together to create a horror year. But that didn't stop the players, the fans, or manager Avram Grant. They joined forces to revolt against all the bad stuff and bring some much needed joy to a gloomy season. A team with no money, not many fit players and an administrator running the place were now staring down the barrel of official Premier League relegation, but also a dream FA Cup final date. The match would be played against either Tottenham or Fulham. Spurs came out the eventual winners of the replay, and that meant that Pompey were on an FA Cup collision course with Harry Redknapp, the man who took Portsmouth all the way to Cup glory in 2008.

So, there they stood, proudly donning new Kappa jerseys, in front of 35,000 Portsmouth supporters in London at the national stadium, representing a club that had been through so much this season, yet had never given up. Heart, pride, passion and determination got the better of Redknapp's Tottenham outfit on the day, as Frederic Piquionne and Kevin Prince-Boateng sealed an incredible win for Portsmouth. Although Portsmouth lost in the final, 1-0 to Chelsea. The win over Spurs in the Semi-finals will be something I will always remember!

[video=youtube;u2NzXAtZ9Mg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2NzXAtZ9Mg

FA Cup Winners 2008

After an absence of nearly 60 years Portsmouth fans enjoyed their long-awaited day at Wembley in the FA Cup final, celebrating in style as the team ran out 1-0 winners against Cardiff City to claim the coveted trophy and return it to the South coast. After an eventful run to the final, defeating Manchester United away from home along the way, Portsmouth walked out onto the hallowed turf as favourites and duly dominated large portions of the game, taking the lead mid way through the first half before going on the attack to pressure the Cardiff back line. It was a deserved victory, and was the first time since 1995 that a club outside of England s Big Four has lifted the trophy. Many heroes graced the pitch that day as David James once again proved his class through an assured display; Glenn Johnson, whose tireless work down the right flank, was rewarded when he crossed for the goal; and Kanu who completed the fairytale with the winning strike. After years of trying Harry Redknapp finally realised the dream and led his team to his first major domestic trophy as manager. But the day truly belonged to the fans and the lasting memory will be the Pompey chimes bellowing out from the first whistle to the last.

Personally, my highlight of the 2008 Cup win was in the quarter finals against United. A game which we certain to lose according to all the press and media.

Man United had loads of chances and it was either pure luck or sheer determination we got away with a 1-0 win. The main part of the match that sticks in my head is the Glen Johnson header off the line, right place right time!

[video=youtube;oLwGWbmp8bU]

(Sorry for the American commentary, it was the only one I could find of the game!)

The Great Escape

For the 5,000-plus Pompey fans who made the long trip north, this game will stick forever in the memory. It was one in which Pompey knew that a fourth consecutive year in the Premiership would be guaranteed by a win combined with a failure by Birmingham to beat Newcastle.

And, despite trailing at half-time, that was achieved - a huge triumph for the players and for manager Harry Redknapp. Having returned to the club the previous December following a controversial tenure as manager of Southampton, Redknapp had found it difficult to win over many fans who had turned against him because he joined the 'old enemy.' But, amid scenes of post-match delirium at the JJB Stadium as fans celebrated Pompey's 2-1 win and the 0-0 draw at Birmingham that meant Premiership football would continue at Fratton, the chant was loud and clear: 'One Harry Redknapp, there's only one Harry Redknapp.'

From zero to hero, Redknapp soaked up the adulation as he strode across the pitch to applaud the 'Blue Army.' Then the players mobbed him. It was their way of saying thanks to the man who masterminded an amazing run in which the team took 20 points from nine games to propel themselves to safety.

The sheer grit behind that Great Escape was writ large at the JJB.

It is a shame I couldn't find the old video I use to have of the scenes after the game. Where Harry Redknapp was frantically looking at his watch and asking everyone if they knew what the Birmingham score was and if it had finished. Then, out of nowhere... one end of the stadium erupted in jubilation, as they had confirmation the game had finished 0-0! Harry Redknapp turns around and looks at the end of the stadium that was cheering, knowing that he had done the impossible. Special thanks should go out to Shay Given, who was absolutely amazing against Birmingham, making amazing saves and a one-on-one. So, here is our top 10 goals from that season, which includes the brilliant Pedro Mendes 3 wonder goals that was a major part of the unforgettable Great Escape!

The link to that video is here; Click.

Glen Johnson - Goal of the Season

[video=youtube;IACkXEs0d9s]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IACkXEs0d9s

Matty Taylor - Goal of the Season

[video=youtube;_U9dXJruVSY]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U9dXJruVSY

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Current First Team Squad

The Goalkeepers

GK - Jamie Ashdown - #1 - Goalkeeper joined Pompey from Reading in the summer of 2004 and has served as both first-choice and back-up stopper during his time on the south coast. Ashdown made his Blues debut in a Carling Cup victory at Tranmere in September 2004. He was released at the end of the 2009/10 season but Steve Cotterill brought him back after a sucessful trial.

GK - Darryl Flahavan - #37 - Keeper joined Pompey – initially on a one-month deal – in August 2010. Flahavan made 340 starts for Southend before joining Crystal Palace in 2008 and has had loan spells at Leeds and Oldham. He is the brother of former Pompey keeper Aaron Flahavan, who played more than 100 games for the club and was killed in a car crash in August 2001.

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Jamie Ashdown

The Defenders

DL - Carl Dickinson - #3 - Defender joined Pompey in August 2010 on a season-long loan from Stoke. The left-back made his debut a day after signing in a 1-1 draw with Reading at Fratton Park.

DL - Pete Gregory - #39 - Gregory signed professional terms in June 2010 and made his first-team debut when he came off the bench at Coventry on the opening day of the 2010/11 season.

DC - Hermann Hreidarsson - #6 - He was a vital part of the side that won the FA Cup and finished eighth in the Premier League in his first season at the club. Hreidarsson – who is equally at home at left-back or centre-back – is a real goalscoring threat from set-pieces and his netted seven goals for the Blues.

DC - Aaron Mokoena - #4 - He played in central midfield for most of the season but it was when he stepped back into defence that Pompey fans saw his best performances. Mokoena scored Pompey’s extra-time winner at Coventry in an FA Cup third round replay as the Blues made it to the final for the second time in three seasons.

DC - Joel Ward - #20 - Promising defender has come through the youth ranks at Fratton Park and had a successful loan spell with Bournemouth during the 2008/09 season. Ward made his first-team debut for the Blues in a Carling Cup victory over Hereford in August 2009 and then made three Premier League appearances later in the season.

DC - Ibrahima Sonko - #25 - Sonko joined Pompey on a season-long loan from Stoke in the summer of 2010. He made his debut in the 2-0 defeat at Coventry on the opening day of the 2010/11 season. The defender came to England in 2002 when he joined Brentford from French outfit Grenoble. From there he moved to Reading where he made 136 appearances in four years.

DC - Ricardo Rocha - #33 - Former Benfica and Tottenham defender initailly joined Pompey for the second half of the 2009/10 campaign but then rejoined the Blues in September 2010. He was named man-of-the-match for his display in the 2009/10 FA Cup semi-final victory over Spurs at Wembley and also played in the narrow defeat to Chelsea in the final.

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Aaron Mokoena

The Midfielders

MC - Liam Lawrence - #7 - Winger joined Pompey from Stoke alongside Dave Kitson in September 2010 in a deal that saw Marc Wilson move in the other direction. He made his Blues debut in a goalless home draw with Ipswich and scored his first goal in a Carling Cup defeat to Leicester.

MC - Hayden Mullins - #8 - Mullins joined Pompey from West Ham midway through the 2008/09 season and made his debut in a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Fratton Park. The former England under-21 international missed out on an appearance in the 2006 FA Cup final with the Hammers after being sent off in a league match a few weeks earlier. However, he did start at Wembley when Pompey reached the final in 2010, playing in an unfamiliar left-back role as the Blues were narrowly beaten by Chelsea.

MC - Michael Brown - #11 - Combative midfielder joined Pompey from Wigan in the summer of 2009 and has previously played for Manchester City, Hartlepool, Sheffield United, Tottenham and Fulham. He made his debut in a 1-0 home defeat against Manchester City and went on to make 33 appearances throughout the 2009/10 campaign.

MC - Richard Hughes - #22 - The longest-serving member of Pompey’s squad arrived at Fratton Park from Bournemouth in the summer of 2002. He has made over 150 appearances for the Blues since making his debut in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield United. Hughes has only scored two goals for Pompey – but one of them ensured the Blues beat Liverpool in the last eight of the FA Cup in 2004.

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Liam Lawrence

The Strikers

ST - Danny Webber - #9 - Former Manchester United striker turned down the chance of a contract extension at Old Trafford in 2003 in search of regular first team football. He found it with Watford and Sheffield United, before joining Pompey in the summer of 2009. Webber made his Blues debut in a 3-2 home defeat to Bolton and scored his first goal in a Carling Cup victory at Carlisle.

ST - David Nugent - #10 - Former England striker joined Pompey from Preston North End – where he scored 37 goals in 107 appearances – in the summer of 2007. He made his Blues debut in a 2-2 draw at Derby on the opening day of the 2007/08 campaign and scored his first goal against Leeds in the Carling Cup later that month.

ST - John Utaka - #17 - Nigeria international joined Pompey from French club Rennes in the summer of 2007 and scored on his debut in a 2-2 draw at Derby. Utaka wrote his name into Fratton folklore by setting up Kanu’s winning goals in both the semi-final and final of the 2008 FA Cup.

ST - Dave Kitson - #18 - Dave Kitson arrived from Stoke alongside Liam Lawrence at the end of the August transfer window in 2010 – in a deal that saw Marc Wilson move in the opposite direction. He made his Blues debut in a goalless draw with Ipswich at Fratton Park, before netting his first goal three days later at Crystal Palace.

ST - Nadir Ciftci - #24 - Dutch striker Ciftci signed professional terms in June 2010 and made his first-team debut when he came off the bench at Coventry on the opening day of the 2010/11 season. He scored his first goal just eight minutes into his first senior start in a 2-1 Carling Cup victory at Stevenage and then netted on his home debut in a 1-1 draw with Reading.

ST - Nwankwo Kanu - #27 - Kanu joined Pompey in the summer of 2006 and scored a brace on his debut against Blackburn – but was denied a hat-trick when he missed a penalty. He wrote his name in Fratton folklore by scoring the winning goal against Cardiff in the 2008 FA Cup final at Wembley – after also grabbing the only goal against West Brom in the previous round.

kitson.png

Dave Kitson

Club Information

Overview

Nation: England

Year Founded: 1898

Reputation: National

Legends: Linvoy Primus, Jimmy Dickinson

Fierce Rivals: Southampton

Other Rivals: Reading

Finances

Estimated Value: £6.75m

Balance: (£894,060)

Debt: 16.5m (Repaying £275k per month, until October 2015)

Transfer Budget:

Wage Budget:

Facilities

Stadium: Fratton Park

Capacity: 20600 (All Seated)

Under Soil Heating: No

Roof: No

Reserve Stadium: Westleigh Park, Havant

Corporate Facilities: Adequate

Training Facilities: Good

Youth Facilities: Good

Youth Recruitment: Average

Staff

Balram Chainrai - Chairmen

David Lampitt - Managing Director

Steve Cotterill - Manager

Guy Whittingham - Assistant Manager

Ian Woan - First Team Coach

John Keeley - Goalkeeping Coach

Chris Neville - Fitness Coach

Jon Fortescu - Fitness Coach

Paul Smalley - Youth Coach

Paul New - Physio

Steve Allen - Physio

Alex Jans - Scout

Transfer Embargo

Unfortunately, at the start of the game we have a transfer embargo in place. This prevents us from buying players until the 30th September 2010. This also stops us loaning players, which is a real kick in the teeth with such a small squad like ours. You should be able to bring in a couple of free players on the 30th Septemeber if there is any decent ones available still, and bring in as many loans as you can to look to cover all positions we are lacking at the club. Hopefully, come January you might be able to get some good players on loan from Premiership clubs if they haven't already been snapped up. More on them later.

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Squad Analysis

Overview

Well, the 2010/11 season was never going to look pretty after last years problems and being relegated, but with a very small squad and transfer embargo to deal with, it is only going to get harder. With more strikers than midfielders, lack of fullbacks and a gaping whole on the left wing... the squad is at barebones.

The good thing is, for a Championship side, we do have a pretty strong squad, with some really strong players, we just have to hope for less than no injuries all season. Hopefully you will be pushing for promotion in the first season, either by play-offs or second place. First place seems a bit ambitious. Hopefully, come January you should be able to sign a few loans and give the team some much needed back up, before major fatigue kicks in.

Unfortunately, I don't get to do a proper in-depth analysis, due to our lack of players, so I have tried to do the best with what I have.

Goalkeepers

In this department, you have the current number one who has been at the club many years looking for the number one shirt, which is Jamie Ashdown. Since signing for us, he has never really had a chance to prove his worth, but now we are in the Championship, he might just do the job! With the inability to sign players, you will have to make do with your second choice goalkeeper who doesn't look very good, Flahavan. Just hope nothing happends to Ashdown injury wise and you should be okay. Liam O'Brien has the potential to be better than Ashdown, so if you want to put confidence in him while your in the Championship, you might be able to raise his attributes enough to make him capable in the Premiership as backup, until he improves further.

- Target: N/A

- Youth Target: N/A

- Youth Prospect: Liam O'Brien

Centre Backs

Probably our strongest area, along with strikers. We have a great choice. Mokoena, the captain of the side and should be first choice when available, he is a quality player and should be a rock in the Championship. Alongside Mokoena, you could have Rocha (who thankfully can fill in at left back when needed) and also Hreidarsson, Sonko. Unfortunately, Hreidarsson is out for pretty much half the season, so you have to make do without him for a while. We have the on-loan Sonko who looks adequate for the level that we are at. Rocha was brilliant towards the end of the season for us and hopefully he will be just as good this time around after re-signing with us. In my own opinion you don't need anyone in this position come January, but if you want to bring in a backup loan, then it shouldn't be a problem.

- Target: N/A

- Youth Target: N/A

- Youth Prospect: Sam Magri

Fullbacks

Probably the weakest area along with the left wing. With Dickinson on the left, with the option of Rocha/Hreidarsson as backup, this hopefully wont be a problem. On the other side though, we have basically nothing, Mullins can play RB so for the time being it would be best to play him there. The first thing to do come January is to look for a loan RB. It is desperate, a youngster from the big teams would be fine. Unfortunately there isn't anything in the reserves or u18s that could even help you out either. Thankfully there is a lot of decent young RB's on the loan list, I have listed a few below but there is a couple more as well.

- Target: Kyle Naughton (Loan), Richard Stearman (Loan), Kyle Walker (Loan)

- Youth Target: N/A

- Youth Prospect: N/A

Midfielders

A position we seem to be lacking, just like the fullbacks. With only one wide midfielder each side, and if you are playing Mullins at RB, that leaves you two CM's as well, so you better hope for no injuries, at all. Lawrence will be your RM, with Ritchie as your LM. That leaves Brown and Hughes at CM. Thankfully Brown and Hughes are both good enough for the Championship and should do a pretty good job, even if they are both getting on a bit now. Unfortunately, there is no back up in this position, what you see is what you get. Although, Mokoena is capable of playing CM if you feel confident that your other defenders can do the job. In January, this is another position I would look to get a loan for, get a double sided wide midfielder and a backup CM. I will list a few below that you could keep an eye on.

- Target: Henri Lansbury (Loan), Jonjo Shelvey (Loan), Florent Cuvelier (Loan), Mark Randall (Loan), Gael Kakuta (Loan).

- Youth Target: N/A

- Youth Prospect: Ryan Williams

Strikers

This is a part of the squad you shouldn't have to worry about, and easily the strongest part of the squad. Having more strikers than midfielders is usually a rare thing, but with Portsmouth, it doesn't even shock me anymore. The good thing about this is if you need to raise funds you could sell one of them on. Kitson should be the star man here, and should pretty much make starting lineup when he is fit. Nugent is back in the Championship, so surely this must mean he will be hitting the back of the net as much as he use to back in the good ol' days? Well, he started pretty strongly for me, bagging 3 in his first 5 games. Utaka is the speed demon of the team, and should undoubtly be part of the squad on a regular basis, but due to him not being an out'n'out striker, he should probably be used as an impact substitute. Kanu, the man with the magical feet resigned to come back with us, and although he can't last full games anymore, he is another player you can shove on towards the end of a game to try and grab you a goal. Danny Webber on the other hand, should really only be used as backup, he isn't really good enough for Portsmouth, so use him when you need to.

- Target: N/A

- Youth Target: N/A

- Youth Prospect: Chinedu Vine

The Future Three

Sam Magri

The Portsmouth centre back captained the England U16 team during the successful Victory Shield campaign of 2009. He wore the armband at Deva Stadium when Kenny Swain’s young side defeated Northern Ireland 2-0. Sam made his U16 debut a month earlier in the 1-0 win over Wales.

The defender also travelled to France in March 2010 to help England reach the Final of the Montaigu Tournament where they lost to Portugal on penalties.

Sam is one of the most promising players to come through Portsmouth accademy in years, the boy has a bright future. As you can tell from above, he has already captained his country at the U16 level and in a couple years time would have broken into the Portsmouth side.

In FM, he has a 3 and a half star potental and has the potential to be as good as Mokoena. I would get him tutored as soon as possible and expose him to a couple of first team games as well. A little gem like this isn't what you want to be wasting.

Ryan Williams

Another 3 and a half star potential player just lurking in your U18s.

Possesses great acceleration and not much else at the start of the game, your best bet is to get him tutored as soon as possible. There isn't any tutors in the squad that would be able to do anything for Ryan, so you may have to wait until the following season before you will be able to get one.

He looks like it will take a lot of hard work and nurturing to get him at his best, but with the potential to be as good as Lawrence, you know it will be worth it.

Chinedu Vine

The last 3 and a half potential player in your U18s.

This guy has pretty reasonable acceleration and has a bit of pace about him, I had heard a lot about his pace before so was expecting it to be more than what it is in game.

Another player that will take a lot of tutoring and eventual games to be able to get him anywhere near his potential.

Again, there is no possible tutors that will benefit Vine, so you will probably have to wait until next season before you can really start to work on him.

Sam Magri

magri.png

Captaining His Country

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Formation and Lineup

You don't want to be too creative when it comes to formations in the Championship, because most of the time they just wont work. This year with Portsmouth, I personally think the best way to lineup the team is in a 4-4-2 formation (and they say the 4-4-2 is dying out!). We can get to use the best of our players this way, and it shouldn't make anything anymore complicated than it should be. If everyone is fit, then this is the lineup I would go for;

442.png

That is Hughes as a Central Midfielder (Defend) and Brown as a Ball Winning Midfielder (Support).

Kitson is an Advanced Forward (Attack) and Nugent is a Deep Lying Forward (Support).

Both the wide players are set as Wide Midfielders (Attack) but could easily be put back as (Support) when playing away from home.

There isn't any other formations that we could use that would utilise Lawrence or all of our other strikers.

There was the possibilty of 4-3-3, but due to being one MC short, it wouldn't work. Due to Mullins being played at RB.

But, if you can find a formation that works, post it in the thread. That is what this thread is here for, not just for me to be helping you but for all you to help each other!

--------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion

Why should you be choosing Portsmouth FC as your save on FM11?

- The challenge of taking a cash-strapped club back to the Premiership where they belong.

- The fun of having very little to work with, and if you succeed, it would be down to great management.

- A club that was close to winning a trophy just 5 months ago, how soon can you get one?

Portsmouth will make a quality save on this years FM. When I first knew they was going to be relegated, at first I was absolutely gutted, few tears in the eye... but then a thought come to my head; This is going to make one hell of an FM save next year! From first glances, it hasn't let me down either. Hope you lads give it a go, and don't let this thread become inactive like it did so many times in FM10!

And if your going to do it for anyone, do it for this guy;

Portsmouth_468x354.jpg

Play Up Pomey, Pompey Play Up!

.

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Great thread Ty, good work :)

Can I be the first to update then?

Managed to sign a few players on freebies, Rui Marques, Adriano Basso, a nice young winger called Ismael Fofana, someone else I think, but haven't loaded the game up!

Sporting a 4-2-3-1, with Kitson loan striker, and Hughes/Brown sitting in front of the back four, doing really well, into the third round of the league cup, only lost one out of 6 in the league, winning the others. Really going to enjoy this save I think!

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Have to say that this is a great thread Ty and certainly was worth the wait and will be a regular poster in here. I have already finished the demo with Pompey and my only signing was David McNamee until the embargo was lifted, then in come Shelvey, Kelly and Lansbury came in on loan and really boosted the playing numbers, I was gutted that I couldn't go further as somehow I manager to get into the Semi Finals of the League cup after beating Liverpool. Lawrence was the stand out player for me and was just fantastic as he is in real life.

Good luck everyone.

EDIT: Oh and well done for mentioning Sam Magri, this guy is a king and I made him the youngest ever player to play for Portsmouth. :cool:

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Sporting a 4-2-3-1, with Kitson loan striker, and Hughes/Brown sitting in front of the back four, doing really well, into the third round of the league cup, only lost one out of 6 in the league, winning the others. Really going to enjoy this save I think!

Hmm I think you have made a bad decision by not playing Nugent, he was very good for me and linked with Kitson very well, but of course its up to you \o/

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Have to say that this is a great thread Ty and certainly was worth the wait and will be a regular poster in here. I have already finished the demo with Pompey and my only signing was David McNamee until the embargo was lifted, then in come Shelvey, Kelly and Lansbury came in on loan and really boosted the playing numbers, I was gutted that I couldn't go further as somehow I manager to get into the Semi Finals of the League cup after beating Liverpool. Lawrence was the stand out player for me and was just fantastic as he is in real life.

Good luck everyone.

EDIT: Oh and well done for mentioning Sam Magri, this guy is a king and I made him the youngest ever player to play for Portsmouth. :cool:

Yeah I really don't think the demo will be that satisfying, 'cause you know it is going to end :(

Cannot wait to get the full game, hit January and bring in the young awesome players to boost the season.

Hehe ;)

I'd probably grow bored anyway, no transfer budget is boredom to me

Glory hunter.

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Hmm I think you have made a bad decision by not playing Nugent, he was very good for me and linked with Kitson very well, but of course its up to you \o/

Yeah, Nugent looks to be excellent so far. Him and Kitson are deadly together.

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Yeah I really don't think the demo will be that satisfying, 'cause you know it is going to end :(

Cannot wait to get the full game, hit January and bring in the young awesome players to boost the season.

Yeah becuase I know I won't be carrying it on due to the lack of players within the game etc. Yeah neither can I! Magri is a beast :cool:

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Yeah becuase I know I won't be carrying it on due to the lack of players within the game etc. Yeah neither can I! Magri is a beast :cool:

I just cannot wait to try and develop the three youngsters, it is going to be awesome!

I really need more players loaded and all that, I never carry on demo games.

Brilliant OP Ty, my only gripe is that youtube video of the FA Cup Quarter Final...

Was my favourite game all throughout that FA Cup. Just so many United fans demolished :D

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Too bad Nugent isn't like it in real life :D But yeah work very well together in the game, as does Lawrence - my best player by a country mile.

Oh, but Nugent in the Championship is epic! Can you not remember his Preston days, he was a goal machine!

Very impressive Ty.

:thup:

Thank you very much. :)

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Was my favourite game all throughout that FA Cup. Just so many United fans demolished :D

Remember (barely) watching it in the pub and believe me I was demolished by alcohol after it... just another reason to forget about it :(

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Remember (barely) watching it in the pub and believe me I was demolished by alcohol after it... just another reason to forget about it :(

I remember going absolutely crazy when we got the penalty and I saw the red card! It was the time we had the amazing squad. Which was far too great for Portsmouth, and we know why... because we didn't have the money to afford it! :(

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Nugent plays in AMC sometimes, just Kitson's better. :D

Fair enough, will be interesting to see how he does there

Oh, but Nugent in the Championship is epic! Can you not remember his Preston days, he was a goal machine!

Hmm his record was something like 1 in 3? So wasn't all that great, but he has been shocking in almost ever game he has played for us!

Remember (barely) watching it in the pub and believe me I was demolished by alcohol after it... just another reason to forget about it :(

Haha was a brilliant game, right up there with the best games I have seen.

I remember going absolutely crazy when we got the penalty and I saw the red card! It was the time we had the amazing squad. Which was far too great for Portsmouth, and we know why... because we didn't have the money to afford it! :(

Yes same, was a brilliant game and I will never forget it. Yes and now in real life it might all be over :(

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I just cannot wait to try and develop the three youngsters, it is going to be awesome!

I really need more players loaded and all that, I never carry on demo games.

Yeah I am going to concentrate on Magri though :cool: But will work on all of them, and yes so do I - makes the game so much more enjoyable, I hope the dark skin is also included.

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Yeah I am going to concentrate on Magri though :cool: But will work on all of them, and yes so do I - makes the game so much more enjoyable, I hope the dark skin is also included.

I don't mind this skin at the moment, I just love how responsive this years FM is. You click on stuff and it is there, I love that.

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I don't mind this skin at the moment, I just love how responsive this years FM is. You click on stuff and it is there, I love that.

Yeah it's not too bad but I think I will change to the dark if made available. Yes that is great, do you get a small lag though when you click on match results?

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Halford not at club so shoudlnt be on list

Kitson and Utaka is the key to promotion however

Yeah gutted about Halford, but obviously couldn't be added anyway due to short term loan!

I have completley forgot to mention Utaka :D This guy on fire for me, and I had him on the left wing. Kitson, Utaka and Lawrence for me :cool:

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Great thread!

Forgot the bonus points about clauses though.

Halford not at club so shoudlnt be on list

Kitson and Utaka is the key to promotion however

Ah, but the 'Current First Team Squad' is based on real life, and I see him on the website so I added him in, should I take him back out again then?

Phenomenal thread Tyoldinho. Very impressive indeed. ;)

So the key was tonsillitis?

Cheers man, with threads like yours I had to make sure mine was up to standards!

The key was 64 hours sleep in 3 days! Tonsilitis helped that!

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Tyoldinho, I was going to wait until the game proper came out but you have persuaded me to ditch Hull City and start anew with Pompey. In my far off Naval days IRL I had some games with them, only trials and friendlies. I recall one versus Southampton. They had a monster of a centre half named Huxford. He put the fear of the Lord into me. I was only 18/19 at the time. Happy days, what!

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Tyoldinho, I was going to wait until the game proper came out but you have persuaded me to ditch Hull City and start anew with Pompey. In my far off Naval days IRL I had some games with them, only trials and friendlies. I recall one versus Southampton. They had a monster of a centre half named Huxford. He put the fear of the Lord into me. I was only 18/19 at the time. Happy days, what!

Yeah, I am going to have a game with Pompey on the demo, then a few mess around ones. Then when the proper game comes out, start with my beloved Portsmouth.

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This looks like a really good challenge probably one of the toughest on FM11, looking forward to starting it once the game starts

Yeah it should be a quality save, last few FM's I have found Portsmouth to be too easy :thdn:

Good thread :thup:

Though I bet if I hadn't put much effort into the Saints one you wouldn't have done quite as much for this. ;) A shame that today's events could mean be the last version of FM with Pompey in it, but is most likely a case of brinkmanship to bring it to a conclusion.

Haha, I did see your thread was good quality - couldn't let the rivals get the better of us!

I am still not sure what to make of all the stuff that was on the news earlier, kind of upsetting :(

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edgar555

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Yeah it should be a quality save, last few FM's I have found Portsmouth to be too easy :thdn:

Haha, I did see your thread was good quality - couldn't let the rivals get the better of us!

I am still not sure what to make of all the stuff that was on the news earlier, kind of upsetting :(

I think its brinkmanship too. If you go to the wall Gaydamak gets nothing. He's greedy not stupid.

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