To read or not to read that is the question

One of the very first pieces of advice given by Managers to young professionals on the books of any professional football club, not only in this country but all over the world is to not read what has been written about themselves in the papers. It’s seems quite a straight forward piece of advice to offer any youngster because there are always going to be those critics out there, many of whom have never kicked a ball at any decent standard, let alone professionally, who will use one bad performance from a player to boost their own reputation in journalistic circles without any care or thought as to what they’ve written which could be potentially doing damage inside the mind of a young player. Self confidence is a tricky thing to manage in any walk of life; Whilst players of whatever age may seem arrogant in their nature as many do, this isn’t to say that their self confidence strikes the same balance especially in younger players, so the notion of avoiding what’s written on a daily basis seems a good one in principle as a player develops and even in the latter stages of their career if their form has dipped for example.

So if this seems good practice for players of a club, then why shouldn’t the same principle work for fans? Surely many people would be far better off keeping the sports pages shut and staying away from news rather than digesting every source available in the public domain. When I was growing up we didn’t have the internet so we largely didn’t have this problem that we seem to have been dealt with now where fans can log online and access numerous websites on which to search for latest updates. It’s like a sideline drug and addiction when trying to find out what’s happening on a day to day basis. Being a Pompey fan in the current climate if you have been saddled with such an affliction as I’m sure many fans have, then it’s a tough ask to turn away from looking for any piece of gossip and clinging onto it believing what’s true and working out what’s not.

During the course of a week my inbox is flooded with many questions. Some I can answer and some I can’t. I don’t proclaim to be the oracle; I never have done and never will do. Something’s I can say with 99% certainty of their accuracy, sometimes things change over the course of a week but by in large what gets discussed only gets discussed if it’s worthy of merit. Yet are we all guilty of occasionally buying into a rumour mill that seems so absurd that just occasionally it might sound true. Looking for an example? Where better to start than last week when I was asked the question of whether Harry Redknapp and Peter Storrie were the third party that Express FM had alluded to during the commentary many times during the coverage of the 2-0 win against AFC Wimbeldon. Now I’m going to be honest and say that I hadn’t heard this rumour mentioned at all in any circles and where it came from God only knows. The long running joke in our camp for years has been surely this is the time for the South African consortium to finally take charge having been linked with them since the early 1990s every time the club has been up for sale. As the years have proven this so called consortium story has been as reliable as handing over your bank details to an unknown Nigerian man who is trying to get his millions of pounds out of his country but just needs your help by borrowing your bank account details in a begging email he’s sent to you. The likelihood of two of Portsmouth’s most hated men trying to take over the club would have been akin to Hitler agreeing to present the trophies on a Jewish schools sports day event in 1939. It’s just not going to happen so why people bother to speculate I will never know.

But what people do start to speculate about is things that have been printed in sources that they know and trust, for example the local newspaper The News. It’s a given that for any Pompey fan who has lived down south for whatever time will have picked up a copy of the local paper and flicked through the sports pages and even if they haven’t read an article they’ll have at least looked at the pictures. Last week as we all know was a big week for Pompey in terms of getting over the line for the August 10^th deadline that had been laid down by the administrator Trevor Birch to avoid going into liquidation. The week started with two players left on the clubs books namely Liam Lawrence and Tal Ben Haim. Now I will forgive many fans for being a bit worried that we weren’t going to be able to get rid of the two players or achieve settlement deals before the deadline date but in reality the deals to take them off the books had allegedly already been done a week in advance of that date or even long before then possibly. TBH was due to be concluded before Friday and in the case of Lawrence I was lead to believe that he would be signing a contract at a reduced rate to fit into the new wage bracket before being allowed to be released to Cardiff City the following Tuesday. It’s worth noting that at this stage I was lead to believe that TBH was going to West Ham in case anyone wishes to remind me of my claims at such juncture. I am well aware of them and won’t hide behind them.

So if you had no prior knowledge of any deals said to go on last week this is how the week began in The News;

Monday 6^th August 2012

Lawrence could cut deal to star in Pompey rebirth

Liam Lawrence revealed he could remain at Pompey and insisted: I don’t want to be blamed for liquidation.
Lawrence is in discussions over re-negotiating his Blues contract in order to help the club stay alive.
There remains Championship interest in the 30-year-old and he could still be on his way from Fratton Park this week.
But the midfielder is speaking to administrator Trevor Birch about extending the remaining two years of his contract, thought to be worth around £20,000-a-week, over a longer period at a vastly reduced rate.
That would then bring his deal into line with the budgets stipulated by Portpin for them to take over, before the August 10 deadline given for liquidation.
Lawrence stated he had no qualms about remaining at Pompey in League One.
He said: ‘It’s a weird situation, so you have to get on with it. I keep telling myself there’s people in a lot worse situations than I’m in.
‘I’m a professional footballer at the end of the day, so I will see what happens this week.
‘The fans are amazing and it’s such a shame what has happened has happened.
‘I tried to help them by going out on loan and getting myself off the wage bill.
‘I’ve been trying to sort something to leave and a compromise deal.
‘It’s working away. I’m thankful the supporters are still with me because I’ve given everything I can for this club and will continue to do so.
‘We’ve spoken about signing a longer contract on a lot less money and trying to spread it out so it helps the club.
‘We’ll see. This week is another week and if there were people watching on Saturday, I did okay, so you never know. But if there’s a deal to be done with Portsmouth we’re looking at it.
‘I’d have no qualms about staying at Pompey in League One. I’d put on the shirt and armband and give it my best.
‘I don’t want to be in the situation where they say I was one of the lads who liquidated the club. That’s not me.
‘I’m not stupid. I’d probably get murdered if the club was liquidated and I was one of the lads left.
‘I wouldn’t do that to the supporters and it hasn’t even crossed my mind.
‘I’m owed a lot of money now and am being paid a lot less than is in my contract to help the club.
‘We’ve all done our bit and are talking with the manager and Trevor. It has to get sorted. There’s hope still.’
Lawrence spent the end of last season on loan at Cardiff as Pompey battled to lower their wage bill after going into administration.
The Bluebirds appeared keen to land the Republic of Ireland man permanently – but a move to Wales now looks out of the question.
He explained a lot could unfold in the next few days.
‘It’s a big week. There’s been phone calls, every agent under the sun trying to get something done,’ said Lawrence.
‘That’s always the case when agents sniff moves. I’ve had a lot of false phone calls.
‘Cardiff just went quiet – they’ve got a lot of targets and money to spend.
‘Good luck to them because they are a fantastic set of lads with a great manager. I wish them every bit of luck.
‘Something could happen this week, whether it be with Portsmouth or someone else.’

That article has been lifted in its entirety from The News website and is still there in exactly the same form as I have just copied and pasted it. In the opening paragraph we see that he ‘could’ remain at Portsmouth followed by the fact he was ‘re-negotiating’ his contract. I mention this article and these words because I saw the tweets of many Pompey fans who took this to mean that there was a good chance that Lawrence was about to stay with the club. Now I had been told in good faith that he wouldn’t be there come Tuesday week and I’d also been reliably informed that he’d already sold his house and had begun relocating his family. So for me reading that article as I did I read it how you’ll all probably read it now in hindsight. ‘Could’ didn’t mean he will and as we shall see later on in the week ‘re-negotiating’ a contract doesn’t mean he is doing so in a bid to stay with the club. Yes, I also believed at this juncture that he was still about to sign for Cardiff.

Fast forward to the end of the week;

Friday 10^th August 2012

Lawrence’s parting message to Chainrai

Liam Lawrence delivered a parting shot to Balram Chainrai and blasted: Give Michael Appleton the tools to do his job.
The Blues skipper became the final senior player to leave Fratton Park, paving the way for Chainrai’s Portpin to regain control of the club.
Tal Ben Haim departed yesterday after agreeing to a compromise deal over the final year of his contract – which stood at £36,000-a-week.
Lawrence has also reached an agreement to move on, as today’s August 10 deadline imposed by administrator Trevor Birch to remove the club’s high earners was reached.
The 30-year-old indicated this week he was prepared to stay at Pompey, with talks going on over stretching the remaining two years of his contract over an extended period.
In the end, his current wages – thought to be in the region of £20,000-a-week – proved too big a hurdle to overcome.
News of the exits has proved a much-needed fillip for the club, with it being the step needed to avoid liquidation.
There is still plenty of uncertainty, however, with Appleton still not knowing what moves he can make in the transfer market.
The 36-year-old was hoping for a wage budget in the region of £4m from Chainrai to be able to create a squad capable of making an impact in League One next season.
Indications were made that would be the situation, but it now appears it may not be the case.
Pompey Supporters’ Trust are fighting to provide another ownership option and are in talks with Portpin to assume control.
However, Lawrence believes Chainrai has the opportunity to give Appleton the support needed.
He revealed there are a host of players who are waiting to join Pompey if Appleton is finally given the green light to make a permanent signing.
But the 30-year-old said there is some uncertainty among the multitude of triallists at the club who are waiting to ink contracts.
Lawrence’s departure brings his two-year association with Pompey to a close.
There remain Championship sides keen on his services, with Cardiff again linked – as well as interest in Greece from PAOK Salonika.
Lawrence spoke of his hope there could be brighter days ahead for the long-suffering Fratton faithful – and for Appleton.
He said: ‘You would have thought he (Chainrai) would think: “we could get Tal and Liam sorted and we could have a right go next season”.
‘The gaffer wants to sign players and the lads are getting frustrated because they have other things lined up.
‘I know for a fact there are players who still want to sign for Pompey, which is good.
‘There’s been people who have been on to me saying they still want to play for Pompey.
‘So if Chainrai took it and got on with it, I think things could be sweet next year.
‘Look, we’ve got rid of people now and me and Tal are sorted.
‘So let’s take the club, let the gaffer sign the players he needs and get on with it.
‘The fans have suffered. They are frightening people with their support.
‘We need to give those fans a sigh of relief.’

So we’ve fast forwarded to Friday and as expected Lawrence was off and a deal had been concluded to become the last of the big earners to leave the club before the August 10^th deadline. Following the signing of Craig Bellamy to Cardiff City however a new club was now being touted as a possible destination in PAOK Salonika. Jump forward another 24 hours;

Saturday 11^th August 2012

Lawrence new deal ‘withdrawn’ as he makes Pompey exit

Pompey administrator Trevor Birch this morning confirmed the departure of Lawrence and released a club statement.
It read: ‘We have negotiated a compromise agreement with Liam Lawrence, who will leave the club when the paperwork is finalised later today.
‘I’d like to thank Liam for his support and all of the other players for putting the club’s interest ahead of their own.
‘They have all had to make very difficult decisions and been placed in an impossible position which wasn’t of their making.
‘This means that we have now successfully completed agreements with all of the first team squad and met the major condition of the offer from Portpin, which formed the basis for the CVA proposal.
‘We will now aim to finalise our discussions with Portpin with a view to completing the sale of the club as soon as possible.
‘The intention is to push this through early next week in order to ensure that player recruitment can begin as quickly as possible for the start of the new season.
‘The offer from the Pompey Supporters’ Trust remains a fall-back position and we are pleased to note that the Council has agreed to provide a loan facility to support the Trust bid.’
Liam Lawrence has revealed a new contract offer to keep him at Pompey was withdrawn as he made his exit from Fratton Park.
The popular club captain signed a compromise agreement over his contract yesterday, leaving boss Michael Appleton without a single senior player in his squad just days away from the start of the season.
But after indicating he would be prepared to accept a new long-term deal to stay on massively-reduced wages, the midfielder was then informed by administrator Trevor Birch the deal was no longer on offer from Portpin, who are attempting to take control of the club once again.
Lawrence, who was believed to be on around £19,000 a week, said: ‘Michael (Appleton) came to me about 10 days ago and asked if I would be willing to take a longer contract on a lot less money to stay.
‘I decided I was willing to do that up until three days ago when Trevor Birch told me the offer had been pulled and there was no offer any more.
‘It was a significant cut – about 60-to-70-per-cent less than I am on at the moment and we spoke about a four-or-five-year deal.
‘I was going to do it but the owners in waiting then said they can’t afford to do that in League One.
‘They offered me something the other night after the AFC Wimbledon game, which was totally unacceptable and I told them that. So we’ve been speaking for the past few days and now we have agreed something for me to leave.
‘It’s just such a shame how everything has worked out.’
Lawrence, who signed for Pompey from Stoke City in August 2010, believes his compromise agreement on his contract – which he reached to help save Pompey – has denied him a huge sum of money in a bid to help the club.
But he is still not certain the club will survive, despite becoming the final senior player to depart.
He said: ‘I’m effectively more than £1m out of pocket over the course of the next two years.
‘I’ve bent over backwards from January when it all went belly up and I’ve done everything I can.
‘If I’d stayed and we’d have eventually got out of the league, it would have been fine. But it’s not there now so it’s not worth talking about. It’s gone.
‘I love it down here and I’ve had a great relationship with the fans and the manager.
‘But I still think it’s 50-50 whether the club will survive from what I’ve heard.
‘I’ve been told that even though the settlement has been agreed, the club still might not be taken over so nobody would be entitled to any kind of payment.
‘So we’ll see. Time will tell.’
Appleton said: ‘If there was an opportunity for Liam to have been in budget, then I would have been happy to do that. But you have to be led by what the budget is and whether they (the owners) could cope with that.
‘The answer to that was obviously “no”.
‘The next thing that had to be done was to come to a compromise agreement.
‘Liam has done that and it’s testament to him that he has done that.
‘He now has to find a club elsewhere and I wish him all the best.’
Birch declined to comment when contacted by The News.

So in the space of six days all the pieces of the jigsaw were finally being snapped into place and all that awaited was to get to after the weekend too have the player’s new destination confirmed and sure enough as light is day;

Lawrence seals Salonika switch

Liam Lawrence has completed a move to Greek side PAOK Salonika.
The former Blues skipper has signed a two-year deal after agreeing a compromise agreement on his outstanding contract last week that meant he became a free agent.
The 30-year-old Republic of Ireland international will get the chance to play in the Europa League this season after joining the Greek side.

So for all the talk that came from Lawrence’s mouth you have to ask if he had any real intentions of staying then why had he already sold his house on the south coast. I’m not suggesting that The News at any stage deviated from the truth. On Monday they said he could stay and that he was re-negotiating his contract. Nothing wrong with that at all; yet only on Saturday after the August 10^th liquidation deadline having passed was it reported that the offer had been withdrawn on Wednesday night after the AFC Wimbeldon game. Now on Friday The News were using direct quotes from the player in their article. Whether the journalist in question had been told the full story about what had happened post game on Wednesday you will have to ask them but it was only on the sixth day that all the information had come to the public eye. Now in the old days when news was used to wrap fish and chip paper most would have forgotten what had been said on the Monday before the week ahead. Many will probably have forgotten it anyway, but in the modern age the information is still there for anyone with internet capabilities to look back and start to see the bigger picture as a whole but only if they choose to. Many it seems will still run on blind faith and be lead to a different conclusion especially when times get desperate.