pompey near closure, some players refuse to help

[Holders]

I'm no lover of Pompey, its aggressive fans and nauseous chimes but they're still a real club with a traditional ground and a load of history, filling a niche on the south coast, so I'd be sorry to see them fold.

I truly wonder if I'd feel the same if it were QPR or "Them". Quite possibly, I'm sorry to say.

It takes me back to the 70s when some Fulham fans slagged off the club for building the Riverside stand for £100,000 instead of investing in players as Pompey did. For many years after that they did rather better than us - and now we're redeveloping it. I'm still not sure of the right answer on that one.

Modern football's much more complicated and a hell of a business. We might not be splashing the cash this year but we're acquiring shrewdly and if that means we can reduce our debt - and the risk of the same fate - then well and good. Survival is everything now we're in the PL, so many clubs that fall out of it don't make it back.

[The Rock]

Well they can collect their wages and if the club ceases to exist, they can go join someone else on a free, right? Going from Europa league to broke in 4 years? It's the clubs fault, not the players. Players can't be held accountable when they can get paid elsewhere.

I am sure the staff being made redundant on £200 a week will agree with you watching players pocketing £35 k a week

I am sure they aren't, but in the biz of football these days it's a harsh reality. Not saying I agree either, just the state of affairs.

[LRCN]

Well they can collect their wages and if the club ceases to exist, they can go join someone else on a free, right? Going from Europa league to broke in 4 years? It's the clubs fault, not the players. Players can't be held accountable when they can get paid elsewhere.

I am sure the staff being made redundant on £200 a week will agree with you watching players pocketing £35 k a week

surely they are all staff of a club which is failing to fulfill contracts and the amount that they are earning is really arbitrary. you can discuss the players wages all you like but really that's not the issue at hand at all.

[TonyGilroy]

Well they can collect their wages and if the club ceases to exist, they can go join someone else on a free, right? Going from Europa league to broke in 4 years? It's the clubs fault, not the players. Players can't be held accountable when they can get paid elsewhere.

I am sure the staff being made redundant on £200 a week will agree with you watching players pocketing £35 k a week

surely they are all staff of a club which is failing to fulfill contracts and the amount that they are earning is really arbitrary. you can discuss the players wages all you like but really that's not the issue at hand at all.

In this case it is because there's a buyer lined up but they are insisting that the expensive players contracts are cancelled first. They won't take them on.