PORTSMOUTH HIT TROUBLE

Massive wage bills gives owner huge problems

HARRY REDKNAPP - careful

11/10/2008

PORTSMOUTH owner Sacha Gaydamak has huge problems coping with the credit crunch.

The club's wage bill accounts for 90 per cent of their turnover and they have debts of £31m.

PROBLEM: Pompey's £60million wage bill swallows up a staggering 90 per cent of their turnover.

And they still have to pay £20m in deferred transfer fees by August next year plus have a new stadium to build.

The club is expected to lose £25m this season and have debts of around £60m - with £40m owed to the banks and another £20m due in loans.

SOLUTION: Owner Sacha Gaydamak could be forced to sell Pompey's most marketable assets - Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Lassana Diarra.

He could also decide to off-load high earners such as Sylvain Distin and Sol Campbell - but all this would rip apart the team carefully put together by boss Harry Redknapp.

His other option is to hope a mega-rich buyer will take up his £40m worth of shares, which are available for a down payment of £20m.

Your comments

This article has 8 comments

Give over you mugs ...... its all sour grapes. Pompey have at least 65 million in players plus the stadium is on hold like most other teams at the mo (Liverpool ,Everton etc) They turned dow 15 Million at the end of August for Diarra does that sound like a club in financial turmoil.

So just jog on you losers above and spread your dirt somewhere else

By Mark.. Posted October 12 2008 at 11:29 PM.

yet who holds the fa cup, who is playing AC milan in european competition next month? if it all falls down in a season or two then so be it, been there before, at least the highs are here right now eh?

By Jon.. Posted October 12 2008 at 9:50 PM.

No wonder he's got a twitch.

By Mark.. Posted October 12 2008 at 4:26 PM.

Fratton park is a joke for a Premireship team the scum up the road have a better stadium and they are in the championship

By mike.. Posted October 12 2008 at 2:57 PM.

How tragic...
a millionaire owner 'has trouble coping with the credit crunch'

yes i'm sure he's struggling to eat and heat his home, i'm sure his struggle is just as bad as the rest of the pauper's struggles...

By james griffin.. Posted October 12 2008 at 10:33 AM.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The skates hav to be realistic and realise that yu can not pay the wages f op premier league players wen you cannot even fill a 20000 ground. You will get everything you deserve.

By the way you could always host your AC milan game in a proper stadium with a nice 32,500 capacity, as sadly this would be the closest PFC will ever come to playing a home game in a new stadium.

By Paul Shears.. Posted October 12 2008 at 10:56 AM.

A very similar situation came about after Bagpuss's term at the helm of West Ham. Massive wage bill, plenty of players signed on big deals who made little or no impact on the team. Bournemouth had already experienced this.
Is the debt coming in to roost, H?

By Rich T.. Posted October 12 2008 at 11:03 AM.

dejavu!!!!! this was only a matter of time, the hounddog manage's this wherever he goes with bringing in players on massive contracts and the club and fans have to pay the price, bournemouth fans still don't know after more than 15 yrs after he left if our club are still in debt or what the situation is, a whopping 60m wage bill has harry redknapp written all over it, this is the guy who got his team into the uefa cup then moans about all the travelling involved and tired players. shame

By dan.. Posted October 12 2008 at 10:10 AM.

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