Now, I’m an optimist by nature but I’m sure those who have read this blog over the past few days had noticed that like most other Pompey fans, I had become demoralised. Even with the Al Fahim takeover still clearly not complete and its potency unknown, things now look brighter. I couldn’t bring myself to mention Dindane yesterday, fearing that despite ‘the photo’, the deal had fallen through due to the failure of Peter Storrie’s takeover bid. In fact, it looks like the sale of Sylvain Distin has allowed it to finally happen. If that is the case, the right decision has been made, especially when you consider the player wasn’t happy. Somehow I think the success of Storrie’s consortium would have seen him stay.

There are still issues to contend with, not least the Distin-shaped hole in the middle of defence. The jury also remains out on Hart in my opinion, but with a couple more signings, this doubt must now soon be resolved. He should soon have enough at his disposal to play the way he wants. Not enough to stay clear of the relegation battle, but enough to show his true colours, if he hasn’t already. I truly hope he hasn’t already. If not, he must have an extremely low opinion  his current attacking options.

So, all this optimism is likely to disappear on Sunday when we play Manchester City! But I say that tongue in cheek, because in reality it won’t. Even a heavy defeat will probably be the result of  a few new signings failing to gel, or simply a huge gulf in class. I believe we may see a spirited performance. My only footballing worry is that Paul Hart will be shown to lack the motivational and tactical skills needed for Premier League management, but yesterday I would have been delighted had that been my major concern. The Al Fahim issue clearly isn’t over yet, but today no Portsmouth fan has the energy to care about that. We should congratulate Peter Storrie for his hard work and commitment in the face of adversity recently, and then ask him to consider lowering the prices in order to try and create the atmosphere we will need at Fratton Park this season. A Chief Exec’s work is never done, Peter! But he has managed to convince us that we have a fighting chance today, and that is all we ask at the moment! Play Up Pompey!

There is nothing else we can do, I’m afraid. Typically, we still don’t know what the future is supposed to hold and the completion of the takeover just leaves more questions and a sense of frustration instead of the relief we have all longed for. I am just confused, frustrated and, most depressingly of all, sceptical about the deal and the future. The drawn out summer, and the nature of the eventual deal have given us Pompey fans no reason to be anything else. I think we have all just had enough and, sadly, Al Fahim starts his reign with an uphill battle on his his hands to even convince the fans of his best intentions. Money aside, we can’t even rely on continuity in the boardroom to see us through this difficult time. I would love to believe that all concerned can now pull together for the good of Portsmouth Football Club, but I just don’t think life works that way!

Al Fahim now has just days to make an impact, or the morale-sapping effect of further inactivity will mean the January transfer window may be useless to us. The positive and immediate impact required seems improbable for a man who appears to have been forced into a deal, any deal, to save face. I hope I am wrong, but I am so very tired of it all.

That brings me on to the issue of player transfers. There is a picture circulating on the internet tonight showing Aruna Dindane signing his Portsmouth contract. Now unless it’s an elaborate hoax (there are Portsmouth club badges displayed on the wall behind him and the man next to him is definitely the club secretary, Paul Weld!), that should also mean that at least some kind of takeover is due to be announced imminently (you can make your own mind up about the picture here!). The guy is rumoured to be costing around £4m. If that is true, there is no other explanation for Pompey’s ability to sign him up. The question is, what kind of takeover is this going to be?

There must surely now be an announcement tomorrow regarding this, and I think everybody will now be amazed if it is Al Fahim that turns up in front of the cameras rather than Peter Storrie. But the danger is that it will be too little too late and there is at least one player at the club who obviously believes this. Sylvain Distin is not in the squad tonight and it appears that he now wants out of Portsmouth. To be honest, I really can’t blame him after the summer the club has had, but at the same time it seems slightly odd with Pompey apparently finally on the brink of a way forward.

Perhaps he knows nothing about it? Perhaps the picture is a hoax? Perhaps it has all been a dream. Nothing would surprise me with Portsmouth at the moment. Watch this space……if you can take any more…….

Since I last wrote, there have been two more matches, both of which confirmed our worst suspicions. Namely that this team is going down. It still has a few good players, but not enough. Piquionne looks decent, but is being asked to make everything happen up front on his own, with no help from midfield. Our central midfield is just not good enough. Our most creative player looks like he would rather be somewhere else and is only effective in a good team. But most of all, the morale of the whole club is at rock bottom as a result of Sulaiman Al Fahim’s botched takeover.

We looked reasonably solid at the back against Birmingham, but of course the inevitable happened at the death, as it always does when your team carries no real goal threat. Against Arsenal, the team put out was bizarrely the most attacking we have seen all season and looked as much. But at the back we were woeful at times, notwithstanding the primary problem of the non-existent closing down in midfield. If the rescue plan doesn’t roll into action very, very soon, this can only end one way. We wait…

Fulham obviously had a good season last time out and will probably set up much the same way this term. They have one of the better keepers in Mark Schwarzer, Hangeland is in particular demand at the moment, and Danny Murphy will undoubtedly be pulling the strings again in central midfield. But Fulham are strongest up front, and have real pace with Kamara, Zamora, and Johnson up front. The strength of the rest of the team is debatable, but Roy Hodgson has them very well drilled. All in all, just about a tougher than average test for the opening test of the campaign.

But how will Pompey play? I think this will be dictated by our strength up front. At the moment, Piquionne is the only game in town, and that based on one performance in a friendly. Kanu has just signed a ONE MONTH contract, suggesting that the club hope other players will come in soon, and I believe David Nugent has been earmarked for sale.

David James looks likely to be fit, and the back four could be Hreidarsson, Distin, Kaboul, and Wilson, or possibly new signing Vanden Borre. I hope to see central midfield made up of fit-again Papa Bouba Diop and Angelos Basinas, together with Paul Hart’s man Aaron Mokoena. Basinas can pass a ball and allow us to also have Kranjcar wide on the left. Utaka remains the only viable option on the right, but unfortunately he seems destined never to perform there. You could always try him up front, Paul? I don’t believe he will.

So, I think we still have a team that can compete with Fulham at Fratton Park today. Perhaps the summer goings on and current frustration will work in our favour today and make for an intimidating atmosphere, despite the fact that many fans are still being affected by the recession and Fratton Park is unlikely to be full.

Peter Storrie’s enthusiasm to distance himself from Sulaiman Al Fahim’s proposed takeover at the Radio Solent forum on Thursday night, and his hint that a rival takeover bid may be imminent  has added further spice to the occasion, with many fans now doubtful that Sulaiman Al Fahim will attend as he had promised. You can listen to the forum here, but the main focus now should be on getting three points today against Fulham. Play up Pompey!

Without going over old ground, the squad we boasted a year to two years ago wasn’t sustainable, as we now know. But, providing we get through these tough times in anything like reasonable shape, let’s be grateful for the players that were here, even if their legacy was near financial meltdown. I say that because thier ultimate legacy was a major trophy, the FA Cup. It will be that indelibly marked in the record books in years to come, not the problems we are facing now.

I’m not saying we’re going to come out of this situation scott free. The takeover is yet to be completed after all (just to remind those who didn’t know!). But, despite the tiresome, never ending nature of it, I genuinely believe the signs are looking more positive in the last few days. SURELY, Al Fahim would not leave it until after the season had begun to pull out?! I believe if he were going to do that, it would have happened by now. At risk of starting a riot amongst Pompey fans, he gave a very positive interview on ArabianBusiness.com this week. You can read it here. I know, more words and still no action, but you must admit he does give a good interview, and the timing of it so close to the opening of the new season suggests the moment for the collapse of the deal has passed.

Paul Hart has also explicitly stated today that any further player sales will be his choice. A very bold assertion, and one that he would not make in public like that unless he was very confident. This brings me on to the state of the squad, very pertinent now we are staring the new season on the face.

The win against Rangers has given me real optimism that our squad is not as poor as the ‘pundits’ would have us believe. I know it was only a pre season friendly, but Rangers did beat Manchester City a few days earlier. I think the most important thing about that game was the confidence boost it should have given the players, given how well they gelled as a team.  I would still like another striker (perhaps not Mark Viduka), but Frederic Piquionne at least showed that he is has pace, presence and can finish. He just has to produce that now over a season!

Same with Paul Hart, really. I didn’t enjoy the end of last season! I hope he’s got some more attacking football up his sleeve. The Rangers game would suggest so, but he has a lot to prove. It may be easier in a way without the shock of last season’s unfolding events weighing him down. But has he got the players to do it?

Let’s assume we only add to the squad from now on. We still have an England goalkeeper. Fulham, who finished seventh last season, have a good one too in Mark Schwarzer. We still have Distin and also Kaboul and Finnan for example. Fulham have Hangeland but not much else to impress at the back. Our midfield almost looks better than theirs! We still have Kranjcar and now Diop is returning to fitness. Basinas can pass a ball if he can ever secure a starting place. Fulham have Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu. Up fron Fulham do look stronger with Kamara (!), Johnson, and Zamora (?). Kanu will be a bit part player at best, and Nugent isn’t good enough. John Utaka has a real opportunity this season to fulfil the potential I believe he has. Anyway, Fulham finished seventh last season. My point is, our squad must compare favourably with the Burnleys and Hulls of this world. Granted, new signings such as Vanden Borre have to be at least a relative success, but with good management and team spirit can inspire a modest set of players to great heights as Roy Hodgson and Fulham showed last season. Paul Hart and the players (and one or two new ones) need to step up to the mark.

This week it really is apt because we haven’t got a clue what is going to happen between now and then! The takeover may have completed, it may have fallen through (remember, I reckon on or the other is going to happen this week!), or it may have completed accompanied by a sense of depression that Al Fahim blatantly doesn’t have any money! In any case, we need to expect the worst. The events of the last two months, if not the last fifty years (largely) have taught us that.

The thing is, despite the fact that Paul Hart’s managerial mettle has yet to be proven, he is the only one we can believe in at the club at the moment, if only on the level that he is doing his best under difficult circumstances. But more importantly, whether Paul Hart says it or not, it is blatantly obvious that that is what we need to do on Saturday. Get behind the team with the kind of backs to the wall mentality that hasn’t been needed since the great escape.

And be honest, that’s when Pompey matches are at their best isn’t it? Huddersfield and Bradford away, going to Middlesbrough on a freezing midweek night in ‘92 and winning 4-2, Manchester City and Wigan a couple of years back? They were some of the best games, with the best atmospheres, I’ve ever been to, INCLUDING winning the FA Cup at Wembley.

So, with everyone fed up to the back teeth of talking about this takeover, today’s message is simple. Get defiantly behind the lads on Saturday and sweep them to a victory which could be precious come the end of the season. As for the takeover, I think Peter Storrie has the right idea. Wait and see, just wait and see.

First, the timescale. Of course, most people believe Sacha Gaydamak has now set a deadline for Sulaiman Al Fahim to complete the deal, which will expire some time at the weekend. If true, we will obviously have a resolution one way or the other before then, but typically nothing is clear with the Al Fahim camp denying the existence of this time limit. The reason I believe that something must happen this week is because of the twin pressures of Gaydamak’s debt to Standard Bank and the ever tightening transfer window. 

Even if no such deadline has been formally set by Gaydamak, in essence it exists. Despite an encouraging win over Glasgow Rangers at the weekend, the squad is at tipping point, both in terms of quality and depth. If he cannot be sure of completion, Gaydamak will have to begin selling more players next week in order to keep the club out of administration. This would be the worst case scenario for him as it would see him losing even more than most people believe he already stands to lose from the deal, quite apart from the fact that he would have no choice but to act to avoid a ten point deduction. Equally, Al Fahim cannot possibly want this to happen as the squad would then be so damaged as to be unable to compete, even over half a season. Al Fahim is believed to be planning to attend the match against Fulham at Fratton Park on Saturday. Should be very interesting!

I referred to the team itself earlier. That win against Rangers has given us all hope, especially as our star close- season signing, Frederic Piquionne, showed that he can score goals (good goals too). More than that, the whole team played well with Kranjcar putting in an impressive shift and Marc Wilson looking good. I just hope we don’t get too carried away. It did show that we have a team that can still compete, but it was still just a pre season friendly, and the squsd needs more depth for the long season ahead. This needs addressing NOW and I hope Al Fahim realises this.

Titbits? Well, the latest seems to have come from Peter Storrie, who seems cast in an ever more heroic light at the moment, given the circumstances. In an aricle in The News today, he said, ‘just wait and see’, twice! I would find that a strange comment for someone who just a couple of days ago emailed a fan to say that he knew nothing about the progress of the takeover or how long it would take, and was at pains to point out that it was between the two protagonists. In the same interview he attacked the national press for printing rubbish. Very bold for someone who had seemed so downcast a couple of days ago. Come on Peter, spill the beans!

Even if Storrie does know that the takeover will go through, the question still remains as to what kind of takeover it will be. We are not so sure now of a bright new future with riches to spend on a new stadium, training ground, and players. But surely a prospective new owner would not go through all this trouble, only to struggle to even add to an already depleted squad? If the takeover happened tomorrow and we were only able to buy a couple more modest players before the end of the month, I would expect this squad to get through to January competitively while more permananet foundations for the club were laid. This has to be his intention, doesn’t it? Something approaching his original vision for the future? Only time will tell. This Week.

It may be that the agonising, continuous, and extremely damaging delays in this takeover process are being caused not by Sacha Gaydamak or Sulaiman Al Fahim, but by Standard Bank of South Africa. Rumour has it that they are required to authorise the transfer of ownership due to their rather large £30m plus loan to the club. It is not clear whether this is a requirement of the loan agreement, or even of the FA, as has been suggested in some quarters. But the approval request is said to have been with the bank for the last two weeks, with no hint of a reply. Funny that. Read more about it here.  

Yes, we have been unlucky regarding the timing of the progress of the takeover, against the onset of the new season and the closing of the transfer window. But unfortunately it was the business plan of the last two years that has ultimatley got us into this position. Portsmouth Football Club is no different to those Northern Rock borrowers who took out 125% mortgages. They had no way of paying back the money. I was under the impression when Sacha Gaydamak first took over, that he was filthy rich and the money was all his (or belonged perhaps to someone close to him). But he was nothing more than a man with a plan. Unfortunately there was no plan B.

Now, I’m not going to say that I wish it had never happened. It brought us the FA Cup. Unfortunately, that was the only way Pompey were going to do it, and I’m glad it happened. But how sad it is that a club has to be brought to its knees like that, to pay the exorbitant transfer fees and wages that the warped football market commands. I will say it again. I am NEVER going to subscribe to Sky Sports.

Some fans on the internet message boards have said that they are looking forward to getting behind the team next season with a ‘backs to the wall’ mentality. There is something attractive about that, but it just won’t be enough in the Premier League. We saw that four years ago. We just have to pray that we manage to start the season with just enough quality in the squad to stay in touch until January. And for that to happen, things have to move pretty quickly over the next few days. I wouldn’t hold your breath. I just HOPE now that we get manage to get out of jail and see Sulaiman Al Fahim’s rather attractive vision for the future of the club realised.