CSI: Portsmouth - Our future hanging by a thread, a career thread that is.

[Nottingham Forest]

If he doesn't, his finances will stay bad and he'll probably keep going into admin. Due to legal reasons, teams can't be liquidated. But, I think FM, from what I have seen overcompensates for that by making you go into admin more often if your finances are really bad.

[Ty]

So why the need to balance the books then? Just keep all the players, go for promotion, and carry on?

Kinda ruins the whole point of what I am doing to be honest.

I am not pushing for promotion. I am saving Portsmouth.

[Rikulec]

And what are you gonna do after you save them?

[Ty]

Rebuild, sums it all up in one word.

Portsmouth have 1 reserve player on my save, the only depth I have is my youth that have been promoted.

I want to build a great team, with a reserve side. Without doing a previous Portsmouth and paying top players fees and wages we can't afford basically.

[cerud]

Looking forward to seeing if you can save the club. In all the careers I've seen, Portsmouth ends up falling down the leagues hard.

[Ty]

Looking forward to seeing if you can save the club. In all the careers I've seen, Portsmouth ends up falling down the leagues hard.

Yeah the reason I started this type of save because my mate said that on his Career save Pompey fell down to BSP and in my other save with Northampton, Portsmouth were in League 2 I had to do something about it.

[B.W.G]

Not a bad start to the season,impressive victory over Swansea in the cup.Portsmouth are in League 2 on my save so hopefully we can see them have some success in the future

[deltablue]

Good finances are still important even if you'll always stay afloat.

[Ty]

Surprise package Pompey fire their way out of the negatives to push up the table. In a turn of events on the South Coast, Portsmouth have managed to get back into the positive points a lot sooner than was expected from the club. Experts are pointing the finger at the way new manager Ty Clark is getting the team to play and the way he has brought the squad together.

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September Results

What an incredible month for the club, and how very unexpected it is. I thought the struggle would be the first couple of months and then get easier as time went on, but the rejuvenated squad has come out of the blocks all guns blazing to fire us up the league.

The boy Hdiouad confirmed our win with a nice team goal against Burnley. They didn't really threaten us and we took the only chances we got, an easy 3 points in all. Against Hull we could of been there all day and neither team would of scored, it wasn't an excellent performance from either keeper, it was just some of the worst finishing you will see all season.

The shocking result of the month was against Cardiff, where new boy transfer Songo'o rounded up the goals for an incredible 4-1 win. All 4 of my attacking players on the pitch scored which was nice. (More to follow about Songo'o). Against Barnsley we didn't really create much, neither did they and it ended as a draw. We could of possibly sneaked it at the end but I am happy with a draw away to Barnsley.

Training

The youngsters in the team are already starting to improve, especially some of the defenders. The faster they can develop, the better it is for us.

Webster has been a stand out player this month. He has trained well and improved in his strength, concerntration and tackling. Hopefully with a bit of mentoring as he is still only a 16 year old, he will go a long way.

He can play all along the back line and provides excellent cover. Fortunately for him, we have lacked in the LB department since the first day so he has been my starting LB and he has made that position his own. He has just came second in the Young Player of the Month award deservedly, and hope to see even more from him in the coming months.

As you can see, he has played in 8 of our 9 league games which is pretty impressive. With an average rating of 7.09 he is also one of the better defenders in the squad at the moment.

[Ty]

No surprise round for Portsmouth as they crash out the Carling Cup to a dominant full strength side. Kenny Dalglish obviously is after a trophy this season.

---

Third Round

No surprise result and we got battered, fortunately Varney's injury wasn't too serious and has only put him out for a week or so.

The result was 3-0 but it could of been so, so much more.

Nevermind, an expereince none the less and we wasn't even expected to beat Swansea. So this was just a bonus for us!

[Ty]

Portsmouth wrap up the free signing of Cameroon international and former Pompey player Franck Songo'o. After being on trial with French club Stade Reims, Franck was without a club until Cockerill (Scout at Pompey) saw the wide midfielder training at a Stade Reims on one of his latest assignments.

-----

Frank Songo'o

After a previous unsuccessful spell at Portsmouth, the ex-Barcelona youth star was loaned out to Championship clubs before leaving on a free. He then spent the next few seasons in Spain at various clubs before becoming a free agent.

A few fans were nervy about the signing of Franck after his previous time at the club and not making a real impact, but were happy to welcome him back with the clubs current state.

Songo'o signed a 3 year deal on a £600 a week, which for a 24 year old in the market today is a terrific piece of business from Ty Clark. The Pompey boss was all praise for the winger after he signed the deal and expected great things for the new boy.

It took only 3 days for Songo'o to repay the faith in which Ty put into him, when he made his debut against Cardiff. A towering header in the second half see him score on his debut, but previously in the first half delivered a perfect ball into Benjani to score.

After two games it is already looking like Ty has made the right call in signing him. Pompey boss Clark was available for an interview after the Barnsley game;

Franck has made a great start and has done everything asked of him. Ever since he arrived at training I knew he would have something special, his technique and tireless attitude can win us games. I hope he can keep it up!

[Ty]

The Championship

A good start puts us out of the negatives but there is a long way to go yet. We are scoring a lot of goals which is a major plus side, something I was worried about with my tactics but it all looks to be going well so far.

[Deisler26]

Excellent start. I'm really considering taking over Pompey for my final career before the new one!

[tomtuck01]

Very interesting stuff thus far Ty. Laid out and presented beautifully.

[Ty]

Money Issues at Fratton Park

With more payments coming out to pay back loans, Portsmouth are starting to feel the pinch. It is guaranteed that they will have to sell in the coming transfer window. Ty Clark has done his best with offloading the most of the wages, but still needs to do more to keep Pompey afloat.

-----

It isn't any secret that Portsmouth have had their money struggles in the past couple seasons, but things have taken a turn for the worst in the past 2 months when more money is coming out of the club than going in. Ty has struggled to offload Mokoena who is on £28k a week. If Mokoena was to reduce his wages below £15k then he could have a future at the club, but with both parties struggling to knock out a deal it will look like he will milk the club for the full wages until his contract expires, unless another club comes in for him.

With the previous loan payments coming out monthly, Portsmouth's finances become a lot worse with the added stress of further £275k payments being drained from the club every month. The problem is Portsmouth have a lot more years of paying these so it could cause concern to Clark's rebuilding of the squad he had hoped for.

With the South Coast outfit making a loss of £1m for the October month, the board decided that it was best to sell any clauses linking to the club to raise all money possible. Milan bosses met with Pompey chairmen to agree a fee of £1.29m for the 10% profit clause on Kevin-Prince Boateng, which was agreed when Portsmouth sold the Ghanian.

The current state of the club has left the Portsmouth board to not allow anymore players to sign for the club until the wages are positive. Although this may delay Ty's plans, he feels it is best for the club and is happy to work with his current squad until the situation is sorted.

[SRL88]

Cracking thread Ty. Love the updates .

[Kyle Seddon]

Best thread going. Really enjoying the updates.

[Ty]

Excellent start. I'm really considering taking over Pompey for my final career before the new one!

You should, it is a lot of fun!

Very interesting stuff thus far Ty. Laid out and presented beautifully.

Cheers Tom. The presentation/posts are what is taking the most time

Cracking thread Ty. Love the updates .

Cheers, good to see you back after your foolish mistake

Best thread going. Really enjoying the updates.

Appreciate the nice words! Another update coming in a little while.

[Ty]

Pompey shoot up the league with a brilliant month. With help from stand out player Varney, Portsmouth have managed to climb the table and out to safety.

-----

October Results

This month was totally unexpected and out of the blue, but Varney really decided to up his game. If we hadn't lost to Forest on the opening day of the month, it could of been a full month of wins which would of been brilliant.

After the Forest defeat, I thought to myself "Here we go, the depressing start to the season begins" but if anything it motivated the squad to play better than before. Luke Varneys 5 goals in games gave us positive wins against Ipswich and Peterborough. In the game against Peterborough, he scored two penalties after 'Boro was only interested in kicking our attacking front line.

In a scrappy game against Reading, an 82nd minute winner came from a Reading player into his own net. McAnuff was the unfortunate player. The real victory of the month was in the next game when we beat Middlesboro in a shock 2-0 snatch and grab away from home. It was both new boys Hdiouad and Songo'o who scored us the goals, with a combined wage less than Middlesboro's lowest earner on the pitch. Looking to be two quality signings for the club.

Awards

It is only third place, but I felt it was worthy of showing.

Youth Players

A lot of these guys are improving all round now, with Alex Grant the defender the next to really improve in the past month.

Grant, who is still only 16 has been given a few appearances for the first time and shown that he has the ability and potential to stay there. Have been very impressed by him and like Webster, has a promising future at the club.

[iHeadHunta x]

Fantastic month buddy! Keep it up

[Ty]

Money Coming In

Portsmouth who was looking in terrible shape only a few weeks ago has turned their finances around. Injections from the board and clauses have meant Pompey are not far from breaking even.

-----

The board was the first to inject some money into the club, giving the club £200k.

The second payment into the club was from Stoke, due to former Pompey player Begovic activating an international appearance clause on his contract.

Pompey boss Ty Clark said that he hoped the media would stop looking at the finances and troubles at the club, and concentrate more on the football in which the team is playing. Pompey who got 12 points from their last 5 games have been impressing everyone recently with their style of play and the positive attitude in which they going into games.

[b101]

A great month both on and off the pitch there - keep it up! Do any of the Pompey youngsters have particularly good potential that you know of? I seem to remember Magri can turn out decently...

[Ty]

I got a bit carried away playing last night, and went through a couple of months in excitement of playing.

So will be doing the Nov/Dec update together, with a table of the league in there (I haven't got one for October unfortunately).

[Ty]

A great month both on and off the pitch there - keep it up! Do any of the Pompey youngsters have particularly good potential that you know of? I seem to remember Magri can turn out decently...

I am not sure, I haven't looked at any potential from the editor on FM12 (on previous FMs, it was all I cared about).

Magri has Sunderland sniffing around him, so I think he might have an average/high potential. A couple of the other youngsters in the club have 3.5/4/4.5 stars so it could turn out good for a couple of them.

[SRL88]

Cracking month Ty .

[Ty]

Cracking month Ty .

You've seen nothing yet

As I said in a post up there, I got excited playing last night... you'll see soon enough.

[iHeadHunta x]

Brilliant month mate and doing a very good job!

[Ty]

Portsmouth who are looking to be pushing up the table faster than before, have been talked about non-stop in the last couple months. It looks as if survival has been accomplished, but the clubs finances again are plummeting below negative. If Portsmouth didn't have their -10 points, they would be sitting in second place, Pompey boss Clark must be feeling pig sick that his team could of been so high.

-----

November/December Fixtures

As previously said, I went through these months without an update in between due to playing last night and getting excited and kept playing more games. This run is amazing, didn't even think anything like this would happen. A lot of credit goes to the defence, which I will get on to later, phenomenal.

In our six wins this month, we didn't concede a single goal, and with the 0-0 result as well... we kept 7 clean sheets. This means having just hit January we have only conceded 15 goals which is incredible. Due to their being a lot of games in this update, I will highlight the main ones and explain them;

Leeds - Beating Leeds 3-0 away was a brilliant result. Even though they are close to the bottom, going to Leeds is always a tricky place to pick up any points. Songo'o (who is now second top scorer for Portsmouth) was on top form to score two goals, I can't praise this guy enough. He is really repaying the fans in the trust they have given him. Former Pompey player Michael Brown, got sent off through frustration in the space of two minutes. Two bookings a minute either side of the half time break, saw Brown get sent off and let Pompey coast to the win.

Blackpool - They dominated after we took the lead, we had no answer to them. We scored and lost control of the game. Our heads dropped after this game which ultimately lost us the game when we faced Derby.

Birmingham - When all was looking grim, like we was finally going to hit a slump of results... Franck took control of the game and scored the only goal of the game to see us rise against Brum. Solid result which got us back on our feet to face...

Southampton - The first of the years South Coast derbies, and it was hosted by us. Sky Sports was there, it was our only TV game of the year so far along with Reading. Southampton who are pushing for promotion, didn't even look like harming us and we dominated. It was a great win for Portsmouth and all the fans who have been worried over the last few months with talks of the club liquidating and money problems. A glorious win which see us jump up a couple places on the table.

Watford - Going into this game we was 'favourites', for the first time in ages we was actually favourites for a game. The bookies have finally realised that we are capable of winning games. We stuck to our game plan and beat them with ease, Varney popping up again to net after scoring against Doncaster a couple games before.

Championship

Well, if I had no idea we would be flying this high going into the new year. A great season so far, scoring a shed load of goals and conceded the least in the Championship, we are looking solid. If we had no -10 points, promotion could of been a reality this season...

In a pre-match interview with Clark, he talked about his Pompey side and their performance of late. He heaped praise on the team spirit and how well the team have come together. He added that the younger players of the team have really benifited from the determination and tutoring of the older players such as Norris, Benjani and Varney.

[SRL88]

Not bad I suppose .

[Ty]

Monthly Awards

Pompey boss Ty Clark took the December Manager of the Month. In an interview after receiving the award, Clark said;

This is wonderful and unexpected. It isn't me that is putting in 110% every game, it is the lads on the pitch. I can't claim all the credit.

It was also Pompey's Huseklepp who took two places in the November Goal of the Month competition, seeing two of his cracking efforts make the final decision.

Transfer Window

This is where it would all fall apart if too many people leave during this window.

Blackpool, title contenders, are looking at the transfer of taking Varney back to Bloomfield Road. Strong competition could come from Stoke, who are also thought to have major interest in the player. Varney who has been a big success at Pompey this season, has scored 9 goals to help the club climb the table.

With money needed at the club and the wages still in the negative, the board may take this into their own hands and try to offload the player to the interested clubs if an offer comes in.

Halford has also been attracting interest lately, with 3 Premiership clubs all sniffing around him. QPR, Bolton and Fulham all declaring in the media lately that Halford is a player they are looking at signing. These two players leaving could take as much as £30k off the wage bill but leave Clark with a massive hole in his squad to fill.

[Ty]

The Defence

It isn't just the Pompey front line attracting the attention for their goals, but also the back line in which has prevented big teams such as Southampton, Reading and Middlesborough to score.

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Surprise package Portsmouth has really stood out this season for their defensive qualities. With 12 clean sheets in the 24 games they have played, Pompey seem to have nailed the perfect defensive strategy. They start most games with the back line of;

Experienced centre back Mokoena is accompanied with Halford, Webster and Pearce for the majority of Pompey's game. Halford who was expected to start most games RM this season was dropped further back with the signing of Franck Songo'o. Webster was promoted from the youth team earlier on in the summer to give Portsmouth more depth in the defence but impressed new boss Ty Clark and was given the starting role at LB.

Mokoena who was the bookies favourite to be the first one out of the Pompey door during the summer, was kept at the club through lack of interest but has worked out in the clubs favour with the bullying defender giving the back line some experience and leadership.

His partner, Jason Pearce who started his career at Portsmouth but couldn't get his first appearance for the club during his time there, left to get first team experience. After successful seasons at Bournemouth, where he previously moved on a free transfer, he returned to the South Coast at the start of the 11/12 season. He has proved he is able to make the step up again and has cemented his place in the starting eleven.

Joel Ward, who can play a host of different positions has made 19 appearances this season and 7 off the bench. He has covered most positions when injuries and fitness worries have surfaced. Clark has said previously he wants to train Ward to a central defender as he feels that the young lads can make a difference there, rather than be a 'fill in player'.

Sam Magri has been primarily used as a substitute this season, he is still very young and has a long way to go. Having captained the England youth team he has great leadership and will be a vital part of Ty's plans in the future. Sunderland have been looking at the possibility of signing Magri but Ty laughed off the interest.

[Northernpilgrim]

How come your keeper's average score is lower than the defenders? Is he just not getting the chance to do anything, or is he responsible for a number of the goals that have gone in? Great averages for the back 4, so just wondered why the keeper's is so much lower?

[Nottingham Forest]

Why has Stuart Gray won the Manager's award. Am I missing something? Apart from that, you're going well. Just to think, if you hadn't of had that 10 point deduction. You'd be near the top with the young squad you have.

[deltablue]

Very solid back 4.

[Ty]

How come your keeper's average score is lower than the defenders? Is he just not getting the chance to do anything, or is he responsible for a number of the goals that have gone in? Great averages for the back 4, so just wondered why the keeper's is so much lower?

Yeah I wondered this as well, I am presuming he isn't getting much to do. The defence are just playing amazingly!

Why has Stuart Gray won the Manager's award. Am I missing something? Apart from that, you're going well. Just to think, if you hadn't of had that 10 point deduction. You'd be near the top with the young squad you have.

I asked my mate this earlier, he said it normally happens when you holiday games as the assistant manager is in control of all your games. Seen as I haven't holidayed any games, I haven't an actual clue. He put it down to a bug, but the only thing my assistant manager does is team talks... but surely he can't claim Manager of the Month for team talks?

Yeah I know, the -10 points is going to haunt this season.

Very solid back 4.

I am very, very pleased at how well they are doing Really don't want to sell Halford until the end of the season. All the back four with averages over 7.10 is great!

[Ty]

Portsmouth have defied the odds this season and found themselves in the top 10 pushing for promotion, it is unfortunate that money issues could prevent them from staying there with a further -10 points could be on the cards regardless of Clark's efforts.

-----

January

In January we only played 3 fixtures due to the FA Cup starting. In honesty, the three fixtures were poor from us judging by our previous form.

Bristol was another snatch and grab, neither team could hit the target and we struck lucky through Varney, which was ultimately enough to win the game. Benjani's two goals weren't enough to beat a strong Leicester side and the 0-0 draw with West Ham we could of won through numerous chances, but in the end (same as Bristol game) neither team could hit the target. Poor month.

February

Except a loss to Burnley (and the terrific Jay Rodriguez), this month was a lot better full of lots of great wins. 4 more clean sheets in this month as well keeps our great defensive record up.

As previously said, the Burnley game we couldn't stop Rodriguez. He was on fire that game and was clinical in front of goal which was enough to see off our Hdiouad goal. 4-0 and 5-0 back to back wins against Hull and Barnsley was brilliant, 9 goals in two games with none conceded. Huseklepp's hatrick against Barnsley was a help towards his Player of the Month award for February. The two remaining fixtures were bore draws, we just couldn't conjure anything to break the two teams, mainly midfield battles.

March

More fixtures than ever in March, which meant a lot of rotation so the strongest squad wasn't out many times this month. A couple of losses but a few wins keeps this a fairly positive month and keeps us near the top, outstanding

A last minute winner from Norris (which came third in Goal of the Month) meant we beat Ipswich away which was a brilliant result. Joel Ward inspired the win with a leading performance from the young player. Two goals from Huseklepp wasn't enough to get even a point at Reading, where we got taught a lesson in football, our highest defeat of the season pays back the 7-4 beating we have Reading a few seasons ago.

How we managed to get a point from Crystal Palace is beyond me, we didn't turn up and really should of lost. If it wasn't for Clyne's second half own goal, we would of walked away from that game with 0 points and deservedly as well. Doing the double of Middleboro' this season was good as well, a team I thought we would really struggle against, but Benjani netted two strikers finishes in the second game to see us take all 3 points.

The last game of the month ended on a low, where we got spanked well and truly by Holloway's Blackpool side. I find it hard to recall a shot we had in that game, complete dominance from the boys in orange.

[Ty]

Portsmouth in the spotlight here, with their consistent results all season and stern defence, they have managed to rise up the table and into promotion places. Pompey boss Ty knows his squad isn't big enough or strong enough to perform in the Premiership, but it isn't something he would turn down. Reports lately have suggested Portsmouth will be deducted a further -10 points if the club enters administration again which could be possible. Ending the promotion dream altogether.

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The Table

Our defensive record shows why we are so high up, still having only conceded 30 goals in 40 games. Amazing for any team, especially the weakened squad of Portsmouth. Still a lot of hard fixtures to go yet, and more money issues to worry about means that finishing as high as possible is needed due to the fear of -10 points. Again.

[Ty]

A strong run by Pompey but were ultimately knocked out by a Premiership opposition. Having spoke to Clark, he said he told the lads to have fun and enjoy the run. There was no pressure and that they should be proud to get to the 5th round.

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FA Cup Fixtures

Third Round

We couldn't do anything at home to Watford in the third round, it was a classic Pompey 0-0 bore draw we seem to be fond of. The away game at Watford was a lot more entertaining, especially to the neutrals. The score was 3-3 after normal time, neither team could be separated like the first tie, but Magri popped up with a cool finish in the 99th minute to grab us the win and put us through.

Magri had been in the news that week previously due to Sunderland placing a bid for the young star and the chairmen accepted the bid. The mere £800k bid made the chairman's mouth water and couldn't wait to offload the youngster. After talking to Sheepshank and explaining that Magri could be worth a lot more to the club in a couple years time, we agreed a deal that I could offer Magri a new contract worthy of his first team place and let Magri decide if he wanted to join Sunderland or stay on the South Coast. Magri was thrilled to sign a new contract and snubbed Sunderland. Double result for Portsmouth, the player signs a new contract and then scores the winner in the FA Cup.

Fourth Round

Birmingham threw everything they had into this game and we just absorbed it all and hit on the counter each time. It was made easier when Huseklepp put us 1-0 up in the 22nd minute, meaning we no longer had to push men up the field and took a lot less risks. A great result which meant we played Stoke away, not a massive Premiership opposition like we had hoped, but still a great experience.

Fifth Round

We wasn't expected to come this far, but it was a great effort. Both goals for Stoke coming from previous Pompey players Crouch and Pennant.

Crouch's 'over the top' celebration was seen as disrespectful from Pompey fans, after everything the club had done for him.

[Ty]

Portsmouth Financial Problems

After everything Pompey boss Ty Clark had done for the club at the start of the season, getting rid of the big earners and sorting out the finances, it looks as if all his had work has gone down the drain due to the club not being able to sort of loan repayments. The club looms on the verge of administration for the second time in one season.

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Portsmouth are going to have to find all the funds they can in the next few weeks to be able to avoid administration for the second time in a season. They have struggled to sort of the repayments of loans which the club can handle and it has ultimately led them to the brink of admin again.

This is too no fault of Ty, who has done everything in his power to save the money club from cutting staff and players to work with the bare minimum. It comes after the club announced their repayment plans, which is set to lose the club £1.5m every month. A figure which isn't even close to what Portsmouth can afford.

Clark could sell the players worth the most, but it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference as the payments come thick and fast. Pompey wouldn't have enough players to sell to cover 6 months worth of payments. Portsmouth are in desperate need of a takeover or major restructure of the repayments, and fast.

In an interview with the BBC, Ty says;

The lads have been fantastic all season, they didn't deserve this. They deserve to be near the top, not to be punished for the clubs problems with handling their finances. All we can do is keep playing our best, regardless of money problems. I will be meeting with the board soon to see what I can do, if anything, to help. The squad we have is brilliant, a mixture of youth and experience, to tear this team apart now is unfair and would disrupt the harmony.

[Kyle Seddon]

Unlucky mate. I'm sure you'll be able to sort it out however.

[markyosullivan]

Crazy amount of debt

[john1]

Unlucky with the debts Not bad position in the play off

[iHeadHunta x]

Promotion only thing that can save the club :/

[dashi112]

Promotion only thing that can save the club :/

that and selling youth guys who you no longer need

[rodesire]

very harsh with the debt but once you finish the season the 200k/month debt will be repayed and that would be sustainable combined the PL football revenue

[deltablue]

That's serious debt.

[Rikulec]

Promotion would certainly help, but it would be extremely difficult to stay up.

[Ty]

Well, I am not sure what is going to happen with the debt. As I saved the game and did the updates in this thread as soon as the debt message came up, will start playing again now hoping for the best Don't want it to ruin my season.

[Ty]

Promotion only thing that can save the club :/

Promotion would certainly help, but it would be extremely difficult to stay up.

I can't say I want promotion weirdly.

My squad is tiny, it is a few experienced players packed out with youth players. Having played Liverpool and Stoke this season, they both battered us and we were nowhere near them.

[Dexter_Morgan]

That debt is really tough Ty, the sad thing is no matter how bad it is now at least there is money coming in to the club via TV money and gate receipts ect; the real killer will be in pre season when you are earning next to nothing (not what you wanted to hear right now I know )