League One anyone?

All is not well down at Fratton Park at the moment, administration, deducted points, administrator informing fans that the cash will run out in 6 weeks. It's all becoming all too real again, the threat of our club and it's future hangs in the balance, 30 staff were made redundant this week including Chief Executive David Lampitt. Another casualty of the administration is Erik Huseklepp who was our best player (and top goalscorer) has been loaned to Birmingham with a view to a permenant transfer in the summer.

Huseklepp celebrates after scoring against Blackpool
(Photo from The News)

It's such a shame he's left, his commitment was easy to see, if you saw the Barnsley highlights he rushed back to try stop the impending Barnsley second goal. His touch and technique was a welcome addition to a stifled and somewhat ageing squad.

Gloomy sky picture gets a run-out again

But it leaves us fans with a pessimistic outlook, relegation seems all too real now, it's like rewinding the clocks 15 years! Back in the Division One days when every season was almost a scrap to stay in the league, this time I fear we may not be able to get out. We have 15 games until the end of the season and in that we still face Southampton, Birmingham, Leeds and Reading still to come. Most importantly we have a important final game against Nottingham Forest which could decide our fate.

But would relegation be that bad? Yes we'd lose a lot of income in terms of TV money, but it could mean a fresh start, there a few players whom their contract runs out in the summer i.e. Mokoena and Mullins who earn a hefty wage. We may also be able to shift the high-earners who wouldn't want to drop a division or drop wages, and maybe even shift Ben-Haim off for good!
Long as kept players such as Pearce, Ward, Henderson and Futacs who have all come through recently and shown their pride and commitment to the team, and don't particularly earn massive wages. If we kept hold of them into League One I would see us with good foundations to build upon a new squad, especially if Appleton was at the helm! It would see a properly organised approach to building a team, as opposed to Cotterill's 'quality not quantity' approach which has backfired on us spectacularly!

Futacs has been a welcome addition to the striking line up, favoured over Dave Kitson

It could also open up opportunity for investment, with League One not being as difficult as the Championship it would give us enough time to invest in areas of the club that need strengthening, i.e. the youth system, the infrastructure of the club without affecting the squad itself.

Obviously this is a somewhat fanciful dream of mine, because we'd need owners first, which I'm sure there is someone waiting in the wings out there, just I'm sure they were dealt with rather poorly by Andronikou and might of been put off by his demands. Hopefully when the club is sold the new owner will allow the Supporters Trust to buy a stake in the club (or even donate 10% for example) to allow the fans to have a say in the running of the club for a change.

But for now let's concentrate on the Championship before I get ahead of myself! Leeds coming up next, don't see much coming out of this game with our threadbare squad, could be a draw, but it's going to be scrappy!

Play up Pompey!