EPPP - If it ain't broke don't break it!

 

 

Back in July 2012, the Premier League launched EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) a structured plan to supposedly raise standards in youth development. The six fundamental principles that were highlighted as key to the success of the EPPP were:

 

- Increase the number and quality of home grown players gaining professional contracts in the clubs and playing first team football at the highest level

 

- Create more time for players to play and be coached

 

- Improve coaching provision

 

- Implement a system of effective measurement and quality assurance

 

- Positively influence strategic investment into the Academy System demonstrating value for money

 

- Seek to implement significant gains in every aspect of player development

 

The previous system for determining compensation for players was reviewed with the Football League, along with the restrictions on player recruitment. This now gives clubs with higher graded academies free reign on other clubs' young talent and compensation schemes with much reduced, fixed fees replaced tribunals; meaning that those clubs losing players were likely to be much worse off.

 

In order to force through the proposals the Premier league forcibly coerced the football league clubs down a route many didn't want to pursue, under the threat of withdrawal of some of their TV money. Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parrish described it as:

 

"A brazen attempt by the Premier League's wealthy elite to cherry pick the best youngsters from the Football League clubs."

 

Yet Premier League clubs are now starting to see EPPP as having a potentially detrimental impact on their clubs as well. Jeremy Peace chairman of West Bromwich Albion said recently;

 

“The way it is for us in the short term isn’t working. And I’m not convinced it’ll work medium term. The way it’s structured these lads are going to go to the big clubs - that’s the seduction. Why are we spending £2.5 million (on infrastructure improvements and a similar amount each year in running costs) to be another club’s academy?" 

 

"We’ve invested in the infrastructure and we’ll see what happens over the next year. But from what we’re seeing so far it’s very disappointing".

 

“We’ve brought in a whole load of staff, all these facilities and then a club can come along with £200k and say ‘here you go, thank you very much".

 

Free movement amongst Category 1 clubs with a derisory compensation scheme, progressively getting worse the lower down the grading scale. Where is the benefit, for anyone outside the powerful ten or so teams, free of the threat of relegation, the powerhouses of the Premier League?

 

Some clubs have given up on their academies all together - Wycombe and Yeovil Town being two of the higher profile examples. Others have weighed up a decision with a significant number of pros and cons. A decision regarding which category to apply for was not a simple task.

 

Part of the process was to re-categorise Academies from one to four; one being the highest standard. Now, one year on, clubs have found out the results of the independent audit programme which saw Double Pass, a Belgian company, assess all academies against 10 Key Performance Indicators that assessed how each club scored against the criteria for their chosen grade. Pleasingly United's Academy has officially been categorised by the Professional Game Board (PGB) as a Category Two Academy under the new youth development system. A positive news story on the face of it.

 

Despite the success of the Blades' academy down the years the club admitted that it "had some work to do" to improve and meet the necessary criteria of a Category Two Academy. This involved investing heavily in coaching staff across all age groups.

 

The benefits of this investment are clear; guaranteeing a prestigious fixtures programme against the best teams in the area, added financial protection against losing players to predatory clubs and a seal of approval from an independent organisation that says the club delivers a high quality programme. That could be the key to attracting the right players in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

 

But this is where the EPPP plan actually contradicts what it is trying to achieve. Our academy has not been ranked outside the top 20 in the last 12 years; a stand out achievement for a club that has only had one season in the Premier League in that time.  Academy manager Nick Cox also pointed out:

 

"The auditors gave us special praise for our player productivity over the years. The Premier League's scoring system sees us ranked as the eighth best producer of talent in the last three years."

 

Consistently in the Top 20 academies, eighth best producer of talent, it is hardly broke, so why fix it? Or in this case, break it. With the success that United has had, investing heavily in youth development, producing two full England internationals and numerous age group internationals in that time, it seems a ridiculous scenario that they have chosen not to apply for Category 1 status. Whilst I don't disagree with the need to improve, surely that should be as much about raising standards of the many academies not the few.

 

Cox said that:

 

"Category One does not fit with the strategy of the club. Chasing Category One status would have been to massage our own ego rather than a common sense decision……Many of the benefits of a higher category do not fit with what we are trying to achieve, for example it would have allowed us to scout nationally from the age of 12 when what we really want is for our Academy to be developers of the best local players as a priority."

 

It is easy to read between the lines and see a financial cost as one of the major factors. A £2.3m annual budget is a considerable amount for a club outside of the Premier League without a benefactor, TV money/parachute payments and on annual turnover of less than £10m.

 

Category 1 status is about throwing money and resources at a perceived problem and we are all aware of examples where that has not worked well in football. Category 1 is not about player development or playing first team football at the highest level, it is certainly not about value for money. It is about creating a barrier to entry, for those clubs outside of the elite. Regardless of the initiative, investment and credibility previously demonstrated in player development, no cash and you are not in.

 

Club representatives have spoken of the need to recruit, develop and nurture the best young talent in the region, with the ultimate aim of continuing to graduate our youngsters into our first-team squad at Bramall Lane in the years ahead. In reality we all know that will subsequently mean player sales, to allow further investment in young talent. That is, unless a Premier league return can be achieved.

 

Our reputation for player development will hold the club in good stead and the salutary tale of Jordan Slew, whose career has stalled after leaving United after making just 11 first team appearances, may encourage a longer term commitment from academy graduates. Staying at Bramall Lane has had clear longer term benefits for Matt Lowton.

 

When, not if, player such as George Long and Harry Maguire move on they will have tremendous playing experience under their belts, that may not have been gained with premature moves to a higher level. Behind them their fellow graduates, such as Elliott Whitehouse and Callum McFadzean, will be forging similar careers and the next generation will be establishing themselves - see (England U17 goalkeeper) George Willis and (Italy Under 18 striker - from Chesterfield) Diego De Girolamo amongst others.

 

Another key factor could be the capture of the aforementioned Cox, who oversaw the graduation to first team football of 52 players in 12 years at Watford. He clearly has a keen eye. His arrival at Bramall Lane was greeted with congratulatory tweets from Watford fans I know, saying what a great capture he will be. Let's hope so.

 

United might survive the EPPP era better than most. Credit for that must go to Kevin McCabe who invested heavily in tremendous facilities at Shirecliffe at a time when few other clubs were following suit. This has given United a significant base to launch the careers of several promising starlets over the last few years. Encouraging the next batch to see Bramall Lane as a place to develop and grow as a player will be the key. Promotion to the Championship will also help.

 

But let's not pretend EPPP that this is helping arrest the slide of age group national teams in international competition so clearly demonstrated this summer. Let's not pretend that this is to benefit the national team - since when do the Premier League clubs care about that? This is about clubs stockpiling players that will no doubt end up back at their original clubs on loan, or on the scrapheap at 19 and 20; when chances are so few and far between and their development is stunted through a lack of first team football.

 

In some ways that may work in United's favour and also that of other Championship and League One clubs. If that happens, the best will still move to Premier League clubs and hopefully move on to international recognition. The wiser members of the remaining group will maybe resist the lure of sitting in the stands and develop their careers in surroundings and with coaches who have developed so many talented players to date.

Bye Bye Blackman?

 

 

So Nick Blackman is potentially on his way to Palace. Am I really that bothered? To be honest I am relatively sanguine about it. You get used to these events that after so long you feel anaesthetised and numb to the nagging annoyance and anger you know you perhaps should feel.

 

United have sold much better players than him in the past and will no doubt do so again in the future. There are very few clubs in any division that will retain their best players, not least a League One club that made a loss of £13m last year. A club stymied in its transfer activities by a move to being a break-even business and achieving a wage cap percentage they would have been nowhere near in the last two years of failure.

 

Tabloid reports we paid £350,000 for him; the key is what we make on top of that and realistically it isn't going to be the significant amounts that many Blades fans openly crave. For a League One striker with 11 league goals, 6 from the penalty spot we aren't going to get much more than double that. The truth is, we will never know, hidden behind the increasingly used mask of undisclosed fee…..with potential add-ons. Profit would give Danny Wilson room to manoeuvre in the transfer market, with both monies coming into the club and an increase in turnover which will consequently increase the wage budget and total value of the available salary funds within the cap.

 

The importance of strengthening other key areas, assuming funds are released, is surely clear to see. We have a lack of options in central midfield and a dearth of creativity in wide areas. That lack of wide supply is due to a combination of poor delivery and Danny Wilson's insistence on persisting with inverted wingers, forever cutting inside to little effect. Blackman is as guilt of that as anyone. Look how frequently the Blades have struggled to break down opposition defences and how often an attack out wide ends with a narrow chipped cross on to a towering League One centre half’s temple.

 

Blackman is a bit of a show pony footballer. Erratic and lacking little confidence he must cause team-mates as much frustration as he does the fans at times, but as supporters we sometimes see past his failings because he scores goals. He is capable of much more than we get to see, if only he had a bit more application and thought we might see the substance as well as the style.

 

Yes he chases lost causes and often recovers the ball, but when there are easier positions to chase down, he is strolling around the pitch seemingly oblivious to the opportunity. At times he struts about the pitch with seemingly half-hearted indifference. That may not be the case, but his body language suggests a man who is interested in the work that gets noticed and not the off the ball graft required, particularly when played out wide.

 

In possession, you sense something exciting might happen, but equally as likely is a wild shot from distance blazed over the bar. His clear strengths are his pace, particularly when running at defenders, and his ability to hold up the ball, but how often does he do the hard work and then fail to part with the ball when a teammate takes up a good position? It is interesting that his stats show a player who has scored a goal once every two games and half of his shots per game are on target.

 

The biggest issue for me with his potential departure is that without Blackman we become an even more one dimensional team, lacking pace in every part of the pitch. Whilst teams hit us swiftly on the break, leaving us looking listless, we have no one likely to do that to the opposition. A huge amount of importance is placed on who and how we replace and strengthen the squad.

 

Yes, losing one of our supposedly better players at this stage of the season hurts. Some may say it shows a lack of ambition. You can only really say that when you see how the money is spent. Nick Blackman is our top scorer, but he has only scored 4 in the last 10 games; 2 of which were penalties. He is not the player around which the team's style of play revolves, nor is he the player we are ultimately reliant on for results. 

 

 

Every backbone and heart you break

Will still come back for more

 

As ever, at moments like this, fans take to the message boards, to social media and to their mobiles, hammering their keys like a demented woodpecker. They are blaming the board, Kevin McCabe, Danny Wilson; but few are actually wondering if the player himself is driving the move.  A pay rise and a move to a club pushing for promotion to the Premier League, what's not to like about that from Blackman's perspective? They are also ranting about a move that is still to be confirmed, but why should that stop those who set up the Kevin McCabe OUT Facebook group?

 

There are those who will claim that it is the final straw; that is them finished with the club, that they are not renewing season tickets next season; one even showed his cut up season ticket on twitter last night. Some will go to extremes; saying that Meadowhall with the missus is preferable. I think they annoy me less than those who say they will go to some away games, but not the home ones. As if part-time support and putting money in rival club's coffers helps the situation of the club they profess to love.

 

These are the "Drama Queens", as I prefer to think of them. Some may follow through with their claims, many will not. I am damned sure that selling Nick Blackman isn't an excuse to end years of support. I can see a cumulative impact of player sales causing frustration, but to walk away…really?

 

It is quite interesting that when you look up the many definitions of support in a dictionary they could each be applied to being a football supporter;

 

-          to bear or hold up, serve as a foundation for.

-          to sustain or withstand (weight, pressure, strain, etc.) without giving way; serve as a prop for.

-          to undergo or endure, especially with patience or submission; tolerate.

-          to sustain (a person, the mind, spirits, courage, etc.) under trial or affliction.

 

As Blades supporters we are all too familiar with the third and fourth definitions. Maybe some should remember that and put a little perspective in their rants. I am by no means happy with where our club finds itself, or with some of the decisions have been made, but really what would be left and what state would be in Kevin McCabe walked away? Think about that and maybe wait and see the state of the squad versus Coventry City on Friday before hammering your keyboards or opening your mouth.

Faith in the Universal Liar

"Hope is the only universal liar who doesn't lose his reputation for veracity"

- Robert G Ingersoll

Bank Holiday Monday, just gone ten to five. Still slightly in shock at events at the Madjeski, where you have come from two down to beat a top 6 side who comprehensively out-played you at home a couple of months earlier. Sat in your armchair, cursing Leeds' failure to consolidate their play off push at Selhurst Park, your mind wanders ahead.

That feint shred of hope that the unexpected might happen. As Sky Sports News put up the words "Sheffield United Relegated" alongside "Reading 2 - Sheffield United 3" you raise from your armchair, finger raised, "Ah no! Not yet! We are not mathematically down. Don't even think about putting that effing 'R' next to us in the league table!", glancing round to check that the children aren't listening….they're not.

You didn't expect it to come to this. Mid-table again, maybe slightly below at worst. It's a pretty average division, anyone can be up there for promotion, so-called bigger teams can be dragged into what they call the relegation dogfight, but not us. We will have a bit more about us than that, we wont make the same mistakes with loans and signings that we did last year…..will we?


Then the season starts, upheaval, followed by upheaval, with loans, followed by more loans. Christmas arrives with things looking dire, but renewed hope as a boyhood fan takes over and we all remember what happened last time we had one of those. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, still counting, 7, 8, 9, 10, surely soon, 11, 12, 13, 14 games go by before a win arrives. Bruised and bloodied, we can get off the canvas, we can still pull through on points.

Back to work and everyone wants to talk about your club. When asked, you agree that your team is down. "We've been dead and buried for weeks. When we lost to Palace, Scunthorpe and Derby in the same week, that's where we blew it. We were two up at Scunthorpe for God's sake". You blush slightly, because you are lying, just a little bit, because your head is controlling your mouth, but your heart cannot be repressed. Whilst speaking you play out scenarios in your mind.

If we can put 3 or 4 past Barnsley and Donny and Palace go down 2 or 3 against Leicester and at Hull? Hull could still chase an outside chance of the play offs. If Swansea have nothing to play for in the last game of the season and rest a few players…and we beat them at full strength at home. Forest might still be trying to seal a play off place going to Selhurst on the final day, they wont roll over and they have the fire power.


Regretfully remembering the match at home to Boro, just two weeks ago, chance after chance missed, before conceding late on. Three points dropped, realistically one, one point that might have meant not having to rely on 8 or 9 goal swings and other's failures. You had written them off then, season finished, and the defeats Cardiff and PNE that followed properly sealed it. You had accepted your fate. Embarrassed by the weakness of their submission, awaiting the revengeful glee of your mates who support the other lot. The same supporters and friends who you had remorselessly ripped into twelve months ago. Then, two games two victories and renewed hope flickered.

What of the clubs you have chased down the final straight, like the back-runner chasing down the leading pack and leaving his final sprint 10 metres too late, wishing the race was 1510m instead of 1500. If only you could play another couple of games……. You read messages congratulating them on their survival, of remaining in situ for another season. Those Palace and Doncaster supporters play it down, "Still to make sure", "Still need a point", but you know deep down they believe they are safe. You know deep down, your club is far from safe, but still you look for the positive.

You remember Oldham, 8 points from safety with one week of the 1992-93 Premier league season left…..they survived. Bradford City beat Liverpool on the final day in 2000 to survive. West Brom moved up three places when all above them lost on the final day in 2005.

Then those memories are swamped by others. Of sitting high up in the gods at Stamford Bridge on the 7th May 1994 as Mark Stein scored in the last minute and your team were relegated following a bizarre series of events at Goodison Park which were relayed by fellow fans, radios clutched tightly against their ears. Of last minute play off final defeat against Palace in 1997. Of last day Premier League heartache in 2007. You then realise that when the unexpected happens, it tends to happen in a bad way for your team.

Tuesday comes and your youthful reserves beat Port Vale's second string 6-0, you're reminded of a great 6-0 league victory over Spurs. You think maybe the first team can do that on Saturday. Tuck away goals like Brian Deane, Jocky Bryson and Paul Rogers did that night, and then it hits home that, although it seems like yesterday, it was 18 long years ago.

The fact that over the course of this season your team has averaged less than a goal a game and are the second lowest scorers in the division starts to sink in……Ah but we have scored 6 in our last two games! Yes but we have also conceded 4 and then you remember we have got Neil Collins and you are temporarily subdued once more.

You sit there and consider League One might not be a bad thing playing wise. You think of the FA Youth Cup Final, upcoming against Manchester United. Those promising young players, might be better blooded at a lower level, build a new side, a future of talented kids, pepped up with experienced older heads. Less expectation on them as a result, none of the braggadocio displayed by certain other clubs following their fall from the Championship.

But you wonder whether other fans would really accept that? Can we financially adapt, when an immediate return may not be achieved? They will just sell all our promising youngsters, just like they always do? How long could we wait to return?

It feels like a lonely world, trapped in a psychological game balancing reason and probability, with blind optimism, faith and a massive degree of hope. A to-ing and fro-ing of positivity and negativity that frazzles the brain. Yet you know it is a game being played out not just by supporters of your team, but by supporters of all teams of all levels, across the globe. Some hoping for safety from relegation, some hoping for promotion others just hoping for financial survival and a continuation of being able to support their club. A true global game, played out by individuals who have little or no influence on the outcome.

Saturday will either bring renewed hope or despair. Even a win might not be enough to prevent despair. Like most playing the game; I don't mind the despair, I can deal with the despair, it's the hope that is killing me right now.

Getting bums on seats – and keeping them there

Reading the tweets of a fellow Blade this week I thought "that's a good subject for a blog post", but before I had chance to construct my thoughts I was contacted by the tweeter in question asking if I would host his musings on the subject on A United View. So it's my pleasure to welcome my first solo guest poster on A United View, David Jones (a Doncaster-based Blade and not the Sky Sports presenter) and his thoughts on how you solve a problem like fan apathy.

Here's a little thought experiment for you. Imagine, if you will, that you're Doncaster Rovers chairman John Ryan.

Now, once you've finished straightening your cufflinks and practicing your disarming grin in one of your many full-length mirrors, turn your thoughts to the club's most pressing problem: attendances. Rovers are the Football League's rags-to-riches story, having shot from the Conference to become established in the second tier and, on their day, playing reputedly the most attractive football outside the top flight. Yet for all this they can't fill their shiny new 12,000 capacity Keepmoat Stadium, even for local derbies.

Keepmoat seats kept empty by absent Doncastrians

 

For their first season in the Championship, 2008-09, Rovers sold more than 8,000 season tickets. But despite becoming established at that level the town is yet to take the club to its heart. This year's Keepmoat attendances so far have averaged under 10,000 and the club is curiously quiet on how season ticket sales are going, with rumours suggesting that by early April the number was limping towards the 3,000 mark. So you, as chairman, decide to throw £100,000 of your own money at attracting more fans to the club.

A quick bit of maths suggests that the money could be spent reducing the price of each one of those 3,000 season tickets by more than £30. Or here's another thought. Let's assume Rovers' lowest early bird price, £340, represents the smallest amount that the club can afford to charge for a limited number of seats within the stadium while still covering costs. In that case you could, with that £100,000, enter everyone applying for a season ticket into a lottery, with fully 300 winners – announced on the eve of the new season - getting their seat paid for in full by the club.

300 cashback winners, out of, let's say, perhaps 6,000 season tickets sold – that's a one in 20 chance of getting your money back. With odds like that, chances are that many supporters wavering over whether or not to commit to a ticket for next season would fancy their chances and take the plunge. After all, you've got to be in it to win it.

Or you could just do what John Ryan does best, and blow the £100,000 on a grand gesture that will grab headlines in the short term but do nothing to address the underlying issues that threaten to sabotage the club's renaissance.

No prizes for guessing which option the real 'Mr Doncaster Rovers' took – he made the unprecedented decision to give away free tickets to all home supporters for Good Friday's relegation 6-pointer against Crystal Palace.

On the face of it, this is a laudable move: the stadium is likely to reach capacity for the first time this season, many casual supporters will see the team play for the first time and, in characteristic Ryan fashion, there's the added bonus of guaranteed publicity for the club.

But the question is how many of those taking advantage of the freebie seats will come back – especially with the club on its most wretched run of form in recent memory, its trademark 'Arsenal of the lower leagues' style a distant memory as a crippling injury crisis exposes the limitations of trying to build a robust squad on Rovers' shoestring budget. Friday's match may bring a carnival atmosphere to the stands, but it's not likely to be a great advert for the entertainment value of Championship football.

Anyone can fill a stadium by letting people in for free, doubly so in a town where people will “have owt for nowt”, but the key to long-term success is to build up those attendances week in, week out.

But while Rovers supporters rightly idolise John Ryan for the transformation in their club's fortunes that he has overseen, an increasingly vocal section of the hard core support is becoming frustrated with his methods.

'Good Free-Day' is just the latest in a string of money-off promotions aimed squarely at casual supporters, and long-standing season ticket holders - who have already seen their annual subscriptions soar since the club left Belle Vue to become tenants of Doncaster Council - are beginning to feel taken for granted. Speaking on local radio this week, Ryan hoped that season ticket holders would see the positive in what he and the board were trying to do. Yet anecdotal evidence suggests fans who have followed the club since its non-league nadir are not renewing their seats for next term, and that's a warning sign the club cannot afford to ignore.

This isn't something that you'll have heard said very often this season, but in this regard at least Doncaster would do well to follow the example of South Yorkshire neighbours Sheffield United.

For all the faults of the SUFC board, the club's track record on season ticket incentives has been a good one – fans who renewed after relegation from the Premier League were promised a free season ticket the following year had the club been promoted (an offer that admittedly seems less generous with hindsight); and for the last two seasons a child's season ticket cost £10 when bought with an adult's, though that offer has now fallen victim to the club's perilous financial position.

They, too, have gone for a bold gimmick to boost attendances for 2011/12 – but it couldn't be more different from Rovers' approach. All season ticket holders who renewed their seats by mid-April have been guaranteed a price freeze, not just this time out but also for 2012/13. It's an offer that rewards loyalty, and softens the blow of relegation to League One with the promise that, even should the Blades immediately bounce back, those who've stuck with the club through its 'annus horribilis' will still be paying as little as £300 for their seat the following season.

And it's an approach that seems to have paid off, with more than 10,000 renewals sold by the deadline – well off the high watermark seen in happier times, but just about enough to keep the club afloat and certainly enough to ensure that that Bramall Lane will be one of the best attended grounds in that division.

Even now that the deadline for cheap renewals has passed, those hardy souls buying a Blades season ticket for the first time can pick up an adult seat on the Kop for £369 – fully £50 cheaper than the lowest-price seat currently available at the Keepmoat (where the cheapest seats became a staggering £80 more expensive at the end of March).

It's easy to forget in an age that demands instant results, but the fans who go to games year in, year out, are the lifeblood – and a major revenue stream - of any club. And any chairman ignores this at their peril.

You can follow David on twitter here @jonesthescribe

Charting the week in football I

Inspired by the work of  http://footballvenndiagrams.tumblr.com/ , this post on http://www.theseventywo.com/ and my daily use of Excel at work this is where you will find my take on the stories of the week in football represented in charts and graphs. All suggestions welcome......

Thursday 24th March to Wednesday 30th March 2011



Pompey's chimes hit a bum note

This morning the BBC reported Portsmouth's disgust at the failure of Genoa to pay over an instalment due to them following the £5m transfer of Kevin Prince Boateng last month. Although he was signed by Genoa, he hasn't actually played for them as he was subsequently loaned to AC Milan. The financial details of the Milan deal are not known, but what is apparent is that Genoa have yet to pay any monies to Portsmouth for the player who isn't actually playing for them.

According to Portsmouth's Administrator, Andrew Andronikou, the first instalment of the fee was due two weeks ago and when chased the overdue payment they were told 'sorry, we mistook your bank details'. "A week later, it doesn't look like the cheque has even hit the post." He went on to say that Pompey have had enough of Genoa's excuses.

Had enough of their excuses? I wonder what excuses Portsmouth were using to suppliers, players and other clubs, as their financial difficulties so publicly unravelled over the last 12 months? Now I am not condoning Genoa's behaviour. In any business you have a right to expect to be paid for your services in line with any written contractual agreement, however there will always be those who stretch their relationship with their creditors to their absolute limit. There can be no greater example of this than Portsmouth. Pot…kettle…black.

This is Portsmouth who, when the full extent of their debt was revealed to be double initial estimates, were found to owe other clubs £17.1m in transfer fees. A small portion of the £135m debt, but as much as they also owed HMRC, who will be collecting just a fifth of that in instalments over the next 5 years.

You could well say well, that was under the old management and that under Mr Andronikou's administration he has every right to chase monies rightfully owed to the football club, which will go some way to easing their ongoing difficulties. However, there are courses of action that should be taken to recover this money. Bleating to the press about it isn't one of them. Aside from Lens' claims regarding monies due for Dindane and Belhadj I don't recall many of the other clubs owed money by Portsmouth going public with their claims and in doing so now they are doing a dis-service to the club and their fans.

Football is an industry that seems to attract figures who are fond of the media attention, free with their quotes yet often end up with egg on their faces. I am reminded of former Sheffield Wednesday chairman Lee Strafford who, prior to their all-or nothing relegation decider against Crystal Palace, saw fit to criticise Palace for their financial mismanagement and the fact they had taken the easy option of administration. Yet it has since emerged that Wednesday are an insolvent trading business themselves, most probably at the time of the Palace match. Day to day operations have been funded from tax deductions that should have been paid over to HMRC and only a last minute bail-out by their (very) Co-Operative bankers staved off potential administration. He has since claimed that he was misled by fellow directors of the true state of the club's finances. This may be the case, but it does little for his credentials as a business leader if he couldn’t see what was actually happening.

In the circumstances Portsmouth might do well to keep their counsel and do things privately, via the English and Italian FAs and potentially UEFA. If that does not lead to the required outcome then they can bleat, because at that stage the system is broken, not their individual agreement. Until then………………..*silence*