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An open letter to Portsmouth Football Club

Dear Sacha and Storrie

Whilst I, and most other Pompey fans can understand that we have to do all we can to keep costs to a minimum the idea of appointing Paul Hart as our next permanent manager, whilst of course being a cost cutting measure - as he will know the score and will not be going into the job expecting riches to transform the player staff - it is also an appointment that could have major negative consequences down the line...

I think that it is pretty clear that unless we are taken over this summer that further departures are likely during the summer and January 2010 transfer windows - and basically the club have implied such with the own thoughts on the belief that we can 'break even' by the time we have Fratton 'redeveloped'. This has been implied as further departures would follow the trend of cost cutting measures, how else, from a 'company' that is losing money each season, can we reduce debts other than cutting the wage bill, which of course means departures. Most of us accept this is going to happen, and would of course rather this than us keeping on spending what we do not have, which had it not been for banks calling an end to their lending maybe we would have under Jamie's Dad - that would have of course left us in an even more dire situation than we are in, which to be fair is a situation we have been rectifying, but this needs the said player departures.

In a day and age where 'money is king', if nothing else we need to be producing talent that can not only sustain our premier league existence but can then also act as a means of generating cash... We do not want Pompey to be a 'selling club', but lets face it we, like the vast majority of other clubs in the country, well European, even World football, we are always going to struggle to hold onto top, top players when the 'bigger boys' come calling so if this talent being sold is our own produce, which bar the costs of running the development programs costs nothing, we could be making a mint to at least keep this 'conveyor belt' running all being well...

Our best chance of this happening is by having Paul Hart oversee this project; youth development is his area of expertise, so why deprive him, and the club, of this excellent track record? It is all very well giving him the job, but when it inevitably goes belly up, and I feel I would not be alone in thinking we would have another 'Tony Adams situation' on our hands, we would lose that as how could he return to his previous job?

With all due respect to Hart, who of course performed the job that was asked of him in keeping us up, if he really was a manager would a guy of his age not have held more managerial jobs - certainly for longer than he has?

From a selfish point of view too I guess, the thought of going through a season where we look for '38pts' would be hard going and the value for money factor would be lacking - I, and many others, accepted a win, well more to the point avoiding defeat had to come at all costs however it comes but the thought of shelling out hundreds, well thousands in ticket and travelling costs next season without any real 'excitement' leaves me concerned...

It is very easy to play 'chairman' from the supporters position, and sometimes the supporter does not know as well as he might think he does but can so many of us be wrong in thinking that appointing Hart as manager next season is a bad thing?

Nothing against the guy, we all like him but we like and value what we believe he can do for the club in another area more and fear the thought of losing him before the 09/10 season is out - as I, and again others, seriously feel this could prove the case.

Of course, as always, whatever is decided we will back it but the thought of making a decision that could set Pompey back years after making such giant strides - with the youth development - to keep up with the modern game worries me.

Yours faithfully, a loyal, dedicated and committed - or should that be 'should be committed' - true blue.

Rug

P.S. If the deals we are working on to sell the club go through so many of these problems will go away - and this will be down to hard work from you Peter, but especially the sacrifices that Sacha will make to ensure that we can change ownership hands and plenty of positives can, and will, come from your time as owner of Pompey.

I, like others, am not expecting a 'multi-trillionaire' to come in and back us to the top, but someone that can consolidate our position - helping us keep our 'top players' and then taking it from there - and of course finish off the redevelopment of Fratton and the training ground, both things we desperately need to become a 'profit making' business, would be fantastic!

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Writer: pompeyrug

Date:Tuesday May 26 2009

Time: 12:30PM

Your Comments

I fully support this letter, good job Rug.

Fratton del Sol

if someone, anyone, connected to portsmouth football actually read this it 'might' - altho i doubt it - actually make them think, and realise how out of touch with the fans this club has become if they seriosuly think that appointing hart is what we want...as they do, which we do not on the whole!
i would forward this on, but it would be a complete waste of time...
of course, like i say, i will back him but its the wrong call to make - deja vu for the club and surely deja vu for hart like his time at forest, best players sold but not replaced... why would he do this to himself - please politely decline the job if offered...

pompeyrug

Way off the mark. Who do you suggest we appoint with no money? Or should we wait 5 weeks to see if we might get a buyer and miss out on all of our transfer targets and players out of contract? Hart has done a fantastic job with the academy and this needs to continue if he is made manager, but who is best placed to start actually putting the youngsters in the first team squad if he is made manager and continuing this development? I don't think this 'open letter' is at all representative of Pompey supporters as a whole, more of you and your cronies and anyone that is questioning their commitment to the club because someone who kept us in the league is made manager needs to take a look at themselves as a fan. We all want to see attractive football, of course we do, but we are Pompey and we have to accept our fair share of 'battling performances' in order to survive each season. What sort of help is this article to anyone?

PompeyPirate

Rug - great letter and I would wholeheartedly back this up. You should have mentioned Bilic in there somewhere though lol. Seriously though, Hart is a poor manager in my opinion, and is much better at harnessing young talent, a job that he has done very very well at over the years.

PFCGino

I'm not sure that they do think that the fans want Hart. I also doubt that 'what the fans want' is close to the top of their list of must haves for the next manager. I'm pinning my hopes on Hart deciding he doesn't want/need the hassle, losing at Wigan might just help, if we had won he may have overlooked the negatives. At least it seems we'll know this week concerning Hart, we don't want this dragging on.

NorfolknBlue

Who do we get as manager then? Seeing as we have no money?

PompeyPirate

A very good question PompeyPirate !!

NorfolknBlue

Good stuff Rug. When you look at what Sbragia did at Sunderland, we hope Hart will resign with honour. Times will be very tough for us & we need a big guy running the team. We will be without real quality if many go as expected. The new owner can't come quick enough.

storagematt

if you can go around fratton park - or a ground that pompey have visited this season for that matter - and round up at least 25% of these people that honestly think hart would make a good appointment i would be amazed PompeyPirate...
that said, as i have said, 'when' we appoint hart i will back him, i want him to be successful, but he wont be and then we lose something that is more important to us, someone that can bring through youth on a regular basis - lose hart and we lose the greatest chance we have had in years at bringing through a large number of players, and that is our best bet for the future, producing our own.

pompeyrug

also, you say: 'I don't think this 'open letter' is at all representative of Pompey supporters as a whole, more of you and your cronies and anyone that is questioning their commitment to the club because someone who kept us in the league is made manager needs to take a look at themselves as a fan.'
as above i think you will find that this letter is much, much more 'representative' of pompey supporters as a whole than you believe it is, and, lets not cover up the issue, hart did come in and made us harder to beat, but had the other teams below us not been so ***** we would have gone down anyway, we did not save us this season luckily other teams saved us lets be honest...
welcome to the site tho mate, glad to have another voice and opinion, thats what this site is all about and my views are not always those of everyone, i do not say they are nor do i expect them to be - if people do not agree i would want them to say so, as you have.

pompeyrug

rug - 41 points is (almost) always enough to stay in the premiership. In that sense, we wern't reliant on others. Pompey Pirate I have yet to meet someone that actually would like Hart to be manager. In that sense, it is fairly representative of pompey fans. Hart was brought in to develop our youth team and acadamy - a source of income in itself (just look at the amount southampton have made through sales of there youth players!) - and it saves money on the transfer market. as for "miss out on transfer targets" - Firstly, peter storrie has said he wants/expects to have a buyer by july. If this is the case, they can appoint there own man, and everyone will be happy. If we don't have a buyer by then, we won't have any money to spend on transfer targets anyway, so it's no big loss there. As for free transfers, we have shown we will go after them, but with an uncertain future, would anyone want to sign up to play for pompey?

pompeycarpet

essentially then, Either we do get bought, in which case we have money to find a good, experianced manager, or we don;t get bought, appoint hull (or someone else cheap) manager in july, don't sign anyone anyway, as we have no money, and so don't lose anything by waiting. We have nothing to gain by confirming Hart as our manager now. Nothing.

pompeycarpet

So who do we appoint? For what we can afford who is actually a better bet than Hart (who has a 3-4 month head start on anyone coming in and a good knowledge of who is good enough to promote from the youth team). I'm not saying Hart is the best manager in the Prem, but I've yet to hear anyone suggest a reasonable alternative for the money we have available. Sure if we get bought out we should look to get a top boss in but can we afford to wait 5 weeks on the off chance this might happen? The other major thing is why do we want the upheval of yet another manager in charge when the current squad appear to like and respect Hart? Why, when we're looking to keep as many of our top players as possible, would we want to rock the boat again and risk upsetting the likes of James, Distin et al giving them an excuse to up sticks and leave?

PompeyPirate

they are all very good points, and i know where you are coming from - the problem is 'most' of those making noises about keeping hart as manager as the same ones that will 'probably' leave this summer anyway, so do we really need to do what is best for them? whoever comes in, even is players did not leave, once the players 'became unhappy again' they would throw their toys out of the pram as always wouldnt they and use the 'player power' to get their own way...
strachan, coppell, bilic are just 3 names that i think 'could' do a job for us, without wanting large sums of money to spend.

pompeyrug

Starchan and Bilic particularly would both be great managers but out of our price range currently (and would want a decent transfer kitty) Coppell would elicit exactly the same reaction as Hart is currently getting from some quarters as soon as things start to go badly, as he's boring and uncharasmatic and has ultimately failed everywhere he's been. He got promotion at Reading but also relegation at Reading, Palace and failure at City. Not worth gambling on in my opinion when we know that Hart will be good enough for mid/lower mid table next season. He'll also start to give some of the better youngsters a chance next season and there will be some dour games but there will also be some entertaining games under him as we've already seen, but wasn't that the case under Judas? I could understand the 'anti Hart' stuff Hart if we'd done a Hull and lost our last 7 games and hung on by virtue of others misgivings but we were well out of it by the end and job done. I know I'd rather have had hart in charge and be looking forward to Arsenal and Utd again next season than gamble like the Geordies and be looking forward to Scunthorpe

PompeyPirate

i think my biggest concerns are the ones that 'if' things are going wrong next season the fans will turn on hart even more, the pressure on him will grow, the players will turn and then the pressure on sacha/storrie or AN other owner and then he will be sacked...
my biggest concerns are those for our long-term future, which i really do think are best served by bringing through players and hart is among the best in the country, if not europe at doing this - lose him as manager and we lose this ability too, and for that simple reason alone i think that is my biggest concern about giving him the job.

pompeyrug

i cannot stress enough, even more so in the currently economincal climate, the importance of bringing players through is - and hart is the man for this, just look at his track record... 'maybe' he will start doing this next season, then again with him being the man in charge im not convinced he would 'risk it?'

pompeyrug

Rug, excellent letter despite what others might think.

bluedr

I agree youth is integral, but I think Hart stating that he's reawoken his desire to become a manager might see him off even if we don't give him the job, so I think I'd rather having him blooding young players in the team and appointing someone to come in and effectively replace him than back to square one and having to start from scratch, as it's not just Hart but Ian Woan, Mark Kelly and others who are responsible for the youth team who could all follow him out the door. I just don't see any reason publicly protest against the appointment of a manger that has just saved us from relegation and who the players like unless we know we can go out and get a much better one, what good is it doing anyone?

PompeyPirate

im a fan tho mate, surely i have the right to do that - that is the whole point of forums like this? we then discuss if i, or others, are right or wrong...
in all honesty the club are not going to take a blind bit of notice of me, or others are they, but i know for a fact that they do follow the progress of this, and other pompey sites, so at least they get an idea - no matter how small - of what we are thinking...
again tho i must say, i still think more of us surviving was down to what others did, not what we ourselves did - we could, and should, have been safe by mid-late april wihout a doubt, not waiting until mid may.

pompeyrug

PompeyPirate: "but can we afford to wait 5 weeks on the off chance this might happen? ." Yes! of course we can afford to wait 5 weeks. in fact, it costs us nothing to wait and see what happens. Some players are out of contract at our club (davis being the only one whos future is in doubt in the short term), and some players are available on frees now. However, we have prooved that with no official statement about future managers, players will still sign for us. ok Mokoena is not Diara, but he is about the level we will be looking at. And then, when the 5 weeks are up, and the transfer window opens, and we have a clearer idea of whether we may be baught or sold, then we shall be in a better postion to be making judgements like this. But for now, it is MUCH better, not to appoint him, hope we find a buyer and new manager, and hope he can return to the youth development. A lot to hope for, but there's no point makeing any rushed decisions now.

pompeycarpet

i tell you what guys im enjoying the debate on this matter, and there are some really good views being shared and points being made - i love it!

pompeyrug

I'm with Pompey Pirate on this one. When Hart and Kidd took over we were only out of the relegation zone on goal difference so to finish 7 points clear of it was a good effort. I also think the 'boring football' issue is a red herring. How many exciting attacking performances were there when we won the FA Cup last year? None, and who cares because we won the cup!

Pompey Half Pint

enjoyed reading the debate so far, although I must admit, I totally agree with everything written in the letter and believe the key point Rug is making that is being overlooked is the impact on our long term future should no buyer be found. Hart and his team are the men to continue the excellent progress they were already making with somebody else who has a track record for bringing through talent being appointed as manager... On the subject of Pirates criticism of who else is there that we can afford or would want the job, I point you towards the current betting odds for the next managers at both sunderland and celtic... I admit that some of the names would not come to us due to our current financial position and theirs and I also admit that I may not like the look of a few of them but still they would in my opinion be better for the club than what we've currently got... Here's just a few on the list - Strachan, Curbishley, Ranieri, Hoddle, O'Leary, Martinez, Gullit. Throw in the likes of Coppell, Eriksson, Irvine (PNE), Johnson (Bristol City), Di Matteo (MK Dons), Ferguson (Peterborough), Houllier, Kilinsmann and Avram Grant and you have a list of mainly umemployed or low compensation required managers who either have a track record good enough for our club or are up and coming managers who in my opinion would have a greater chance of success... Just as an aside paddypower are offering odds of 200/1 on Pope Benedict XVI becoming the next permenant manager of Celtic, whilst John Barnes has longer odds at 250/1....

GoOnDave

PLEAS NOT HART , he is useless he plays mullins instead of basinas and plays a boring formation and moans we dont score enough bring in : Ranieri, Hoddle , Martinez, Gullit , Eriksson, Di Matteo (MK Dons), Houllier, Kilinsmann and Avram Grant these are good managers and have a good play

stfc ballboy

I can't believe that if the job of a Premier League club like Pompey was advertised, that some really good managers wouldn't apply because money is tight. It's a privelege to manage a club like Pompey so I don't subscribe to the fact that we couldn't find someone decent. (see stfc as above) I don't believe that Hart would in normal circumstances apply for a Premier league managers job, so why consider him for us.He's done a good job with the youngsters let him continue. Lets get someone who knows how to manage at this level.

Mike1954

(1) "I've been asked where this ranks (Keeping Pompey up) amongst my achievements as a manager" he said "If you look at my cv thre aren't that many achievements anyway". (2) "Do I crave being a Manager? I haven't craved anything for a long time. When you've been a Manager, do you really crave? I don't think you do". n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e n e g a t i v e

Gandor1

With you on this Rug, I just can't feel any optimism right now, it seems we are in limbo with nowhere to turn

paultsmouth

Some great 'fors' and 'againsts' but I wonder what side the majority fall ?.. I think if somebody were to tally them up then Rug would be right in 'claiming' (assuming this site is representative of Pompey fans - Which I believe it is) that the majority of fans are against Harts appointment... For me (as much as I don't want Hart) I say wait. Irrespective of his credentials it would be pointless to appoint Hart (or anybody come to that) if a new owner is in the offing, also with an international break followed by a 'summer' holiday for most clubs.. we have absolutely nothing to gain (but a lot to lose) by knee-jerking and making a rash decision now (this/next week). I think Priate is correct in stating that if anybody is best placed to blood youngsters then it is Hart, but we don't know that we have to do that (big time) yet. I think GoOnDave's list of 'availables' throws up more than a fair few suitable candidates who would jump at the chance of managing a premiership team whether they had an open cheque book or not .. and lets face it we are not the only club who are gonna have to reshuffle come the summer - The whole country is affected by the economic downturn don't forget !.. Anyway.. IMO Hart should return to the Academy and do what he does best .. at least he will be thanked for that ... A great open and honest debate people and irrespective of view you can see that (in paticular) Rug and Priate both have the same passion.. If not the same view.. Keep it up fellas.. It's what Vital Pompey is all about !

Chix

i'm not convinced this site is that representitive of pompey fans in general... but I agree pretty much with everything else you say.

pompeycarpet

Blimey I miss looking at the site for a day and this happens!!

tracyc

Rug, I love the passion in your article. I don't like your commitment as a fan being questioned, because there is no question, and your sentiments come from that. I do have some sympathies with the essence of what Pompey Pirate is saying in that, whilst the thought of Hart in charge doesn't fill me with excitement, I still think we could do much worse as well. For me, Carps has it spot on - it all depends on whether we get a buyer or not. If we don't we may have to batten down the hatches and try to weather the storm, and make the best of what we have. And that could mean Hart and Kidd in charge next season.

tracyc

ive loved this debate, like ive said before... ive had so much frustration and what have you built up inside of me the past few weeks and months and its good to let this all out - i know a fair few of the articles recently, and i will be honest 'maybe' others that might follow - might seems negative or attacking the club, but it is that passion and love of the club that does it, this site is about saying what you want to say, and now seems as good a time as any to do this...
we all want what is best for the club, but also want what is sometimes best for us - i maintain my stance that hart would almost certainly be better for us in the long-term staying with the youth side of things, but maybe with a clean slate he could prove me wrong? i guess some of this comes from my own person opinions, arguably a selfish one granted, that i want to be entertained for the money that i shell out and ive shelled out thousands this season going up and down the country and across europe, so next season, when i am sure i will do the same - bar the european part - i want to be entertained for the money spent too. obviously i do not want us to lose every week, as this gets soul distroying in the end, the TA reign testifies this, but if we did lose every week and were giving it everything and looking to play the game i would accept it far more... yep there comes a time when you do have to play for a point, and do whatever you can to do this but i hate the thought of us doing this week-in-week-out next season...
like i say, alot of factors behind my thinking here, and other things written recently, but all in all i do tend to think that i am speaking, at least elements, of what others also think - if not im glad for people to disagree and for us to talk it out - as has been mentioned the passion shown by all of us today alone proves how much this club means to us!

pompeyrug

something else the club have to remember, is that for every ticket they sell, you could take a family of 4 out to the cinema. And that's not including travel costs! If the team doesn't play good football, am I really going to feel like I want to go to another game? or would I rather go to the cinema then pub with friends and save myself $$$?

pompeycarpet

I'm genuinely torn on this, whilst I feel that we owe our survival to the awefulness of others, Hart has shown he can change things when he wants to. I just don't understand continuing with Mullins when Basinas is there and as for Gekas, well what was the point there? On the whole, however, I think I have to agree Hart isn't the man for the job but who is? Steve Coppell would be good, he achieved miracles at Reading with a much inferior squad than ours. His 'failure' at Man City was due to personal problems he had at the time and he didn't want to move north. The problem is there are as many different opinions as fans so it's good to discuss these things and try to come to a common purpose and if not, agree to disagree. As Rug said, debates such as this serve to show how much Pompey means to us.

Lemmi

RIJKARD RIJKARD RIJKARD lol

harrissman

Listen to the fans on the terraces? OK but i suspect only those vocal ones stand out, i bet more people would give Hart the chance than you hear say so on the terraces, as they dont want to be called thick, stupid and worse by the vocal few. I agree with the Pirate, and i think Hart will do a magnificent job. He came in AFTEr the wondow shut, with 2 other managers players, and lots of players taking a wage and never likely to play. How good is a carpenter with Blunt Chissles, how good is an electrician with old cable and a pair of scissors. The players are ALL shouting for him to take over, and they work with him daily. Are you really going to tell me the fans know better from the stands, than the players on the training ground? Sorry but this time round i disagree and feel the same as PompeyPirate.

Midge

that may well prove the case, and i hope it does - i really do, like i keep saying 'if', well more 'when' he gets the job i will back him fully the main problem that i do have with the 'players calling for him to get the job' argument is the fact that the ones most strongly doing this are, in the main, the same ones that are most likely to leave anyway...
even if they all stayed, these same players 'called for' then 'backed' adams but once they had had enough of him the same player power overturned him and got him sacked - they would do the same to hart if results werent going well...

pompeyrug

I reject the idea of this letter. I think it is way off the mark and your losing focus of the point that points are what is important, not entertaining. You know what is entertaining? Playing Premiership instead of Championship. If Hart can do this, and I belive he can I will support him wholeheartedly. Nobody supported TA now nobody supports PH. I for one actualy enjoyed this season!!!

DJ_Bing

im not one of those that gives it all that 'i go to games so i have more right to comment' bull*****, as that is just that, bull*****, but can i just ask a question - im not looking to be funny or 'single out' people - but do those that are completely backing the idea of hart taking charge actually shell out the money to travel up and down the country to watch us? i know that i do so i know that i do want to be entertained for the thousands this costs me...and you know what i was more entertained during TA's reign than anything else for a long time - i backed and supported TA...
yet again tho, people are missing the main point of this letter - pompey's best chances for future development are with hart being in charge of the youth side, appoint him as manager and we lose his abilities there, if sacked later in the season we lose him completely, im looking at what i personally think is best for the long-term of pompey, and not jut the short-term...

pompeyrug

when it comes to being entertained, diferent things please different people. Personally, I'm with rug though - If I go to a football game, I expect both teams to go out and try to win it. otherwhys it's boring. quite often, I don't neceserily care if it's championship football I'm watching, if the players are all trying there best for the team.

pompeycarpet

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