Peter Storrie Talks To The News

POMPEY'S chief executive says the club's takeover bid now rests firmly in the hands of Sulaiman Al Fahim and current owner Sacha Gaydamak.
In an exclusive interview with The News, Peter Storrie said he had no idea when the deal would happen.
But he called on fans to remain positive and to support the club through these difficult times.
Storrie said: 'I don't know when the deal will be complete. It's still in negotiations between the two parties. My understanding is it's moving closer and closer to an agreement but it's outside my control.
'My job is to still run this club on a day-to-day basis and make sure I keep this club alive in time for someone to take it over, and that has been my number one priority.
'My role was purely bringing someone to the table. Then it goes between Sacha's trust and Al Fahim.'
Dubai property tycoon Al Fahim has completed due diligence – the evaluation of the club – and has passed the Premier League's fit and proper person test.
But more than two months since beginning the takeover process it is believed the deal has stalled while Gaydamak and Al Fahim thrash out negotiations about the club's £27m debts.
Storrie said he met Al Fahim in Portsmouth on Tuesday and will be meeting with him today to find out how close the club is to securing a new owner.
However, he conceded the process had taken far longer than originally anticipated. 'Due diligence is over. That's all done. It's just how long this final point takes,' he said.
'I just cannot tell you whether that's going to be a day, a week or a month. I genuinely don't know.
'It's a longer process than I thought it was going to be, than everybody thought it was going to be, and there are obviously mechanisms and reasons behind that purely between the parties.
'I can understand the supporters and am fully behind their frustrations at the moment. Every one of them will turn round and say the most important thing is we survive.
'What I say to fans now is, as much as we possibly can we will keep them updated but they have to understand there's not much to say and some things are confidential. While understanding their complete frustration we need their support as well. We need them to get behind us.'
Storrie also praised Gaydamak in the wake of criticism he has received from some fans. 'Sacha has been fantastic for this club. He has invested such a lot of money, time and effort and finance. Most of the debts, apart from bank loans, are Sacha's and money he has put into the club,' he said.
'Through no fault of his own the credit crunch hit him badly, as it did a lot of business people nine months ago. He was then unfortunately in a position where he couldn't put any finance into the club and felt it was right to put the club up for sale.'
With no financial backing since Gaydamak's decision to sell nine months ago, Storrie said star players such as Lassana Diarra, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch had to be sold to make sure 'we are in a position to keep on going'.
The club haven't replaced staff who have left and have trimmed their running costs, such as company cars. But he denied Pompey were on the verge of going under.
He said: 'A lot of people have mentioned us being close to administration but we have never done that. We tried to keep away from that as far as we can.'
Storrie said the club's main revenue had been coming from the 20,000 fans packing into Fratton Park. And he said the latest Sky TV cash would go on repaying the club's debts.
'I've never gone through a period like this,' he added.
'At times it has been very, very difficult. At times it's been hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
'There's a lot fans can do for us, coming to games, filling the stadium every week. We understand their frustrations but we also need their support



Peter Storrie said keeping the club going over the past nine months had been the toughest time of his life.
And he lashed out at some critics who have accused him of lying to supporters.

Storrie insisted that he always told the truth but said that sometimes he had to keep silent to honour confidentiality agreements.

He said: 'I've got frustrated perADVERTISEMENTsonally about the position. It's been the toughest nine months of my life and I felt I've taken a lot of this on board myself and I've taken the criticism. People can call me what they like – I don't mind, as long as they can prove I am what they accuse me of.

'The things that irritate more than anything is these websites that keep saying I have lied to them.

'I have never done that, I have absolutely never done that at all.

'There's a big difference between lying and trying to get finance for something like stadiums.'

Storrie said that he chose to talk to The News so that he could share fans' frustration at the slow progress of the takeover deal.

'The reason I felt I needed to say something is that everybody is as frustrated as everybody else. We all want this deal to happen. We all want something to go on so that we can take the club forward.

'I've always been open with supporters, I've always attended meetings, I have always answered questions. I just made a decision that I felt it was right to give them the factual answers.'




Pompey fans have welcomed Peter Storrie's insight into life behind the scenes at Fratton Park.
But concerns still remain over the club's future.
Nigel Tressider, the chairman of the official Portsmouth Supporters' Club, said: 'I think fans will be pleased that Storrie has come out and talked about something, because the problem for fans atA the moment is that we don't know what's going on.

'Storrie saying he doesn't know when the new man will come in is a bit worrying though, because if he doesn't know then who does?'

Season ticket-holder John Kimbell, 34, of Godalming, said: 'I think Storrie is right to come out and talk to fans but perhaps he should have done this three or four weeks ago when they appointed Al Fahim as chairman.

'I think a lot of fans thought then that was it and it was a done deal when clearly it wasn't.

'We should have been told it could take a long time. That's what has frustrated fans.

'We feel a bit taken for granted with the lack of communication that's been coming out of the club.'

Chris Gibbs, 50, of Westfield Street, Southsea, said: 'He had to come out and say something really, didn't he? I've just come back from watching the lads out in Portugal and there were a lot of fans out there who wanted answers.

'If he doesn't know when the deal will be done then he's right to come out and say that if that's all he can say at this stage. I just hope this is all sorted soon.'