Appy keen to bring Joe back to Blues
24/11/2011 (SPORT) POMPEY TRAINING Portsmouth FC players training at Wellington Sports Ground in Eastleigh on Thursday 24th November 2011. Pictured is: New signing Joe Mattock during training. Picture: Sarah Standing (114165-4511)
Michael Appleton has revealed Joe Mattock issued a personal apology to him after signing for Championship rivals Brighton instead of Pompey.
But the Blues boss has not ruled out bringing him back to the club next season.
The West Brom youngster impressed during his seven games on loan at Fratton Park earlier this term, and Appleton was keen to see him return to bolster his threadbare resources.
Mattock – who was recalled by the Baggies last month as they struggled to cope with a glut of injuries – was also keen to return to Pompey.
However, the Blues’ failure to pay staff wages for January saw West Brom manager Roy Hodgson block Mattock’s proposed switch back, with the 21-year-old going to the Seagulls instead.
While the young left-back apologised for the situation, Appleton understands why Hodgson decided to send him elsewhere.
Appleton said: ‘I spoke to Joe a couple of times and he was gutted. He texted me again on Wednesday apologising and I told him he had nothing to apologise for.
‘I wish him all the best and hope he does well for Brighton.
‘You never know, we could be seeing each other a lot sooner than he probably thought we might do.
‘He is in a position where he will go there until the end of the season – then, hopefully, we will be able to revisit it.’
Mattock’s Hawthorns team-mate George Thorne also remains on the Pompey radar during the emergency loan window but their financial situation remains a concern to Hodgson, with the club’s bank account currently frozen as a result of the winding-up petition issued by HMRC.
Appleton said: ‘It helps that if you go to a club and ask for one of their players that you can actually pay for him.
‘The goalposts have moved yet again regarding the Football League, with what we could or couldn’t do.
‘Due to the winding-up petition, their stance changed and obviously meant George and Joe couldn’t come back.
‘If Ryan Williams leaving now means we can bring George back, I’m not too sure at the minute.
‘Every time I ask a question and get one answer, the goalposts change slightly.
‘I need to ask Roy what the situaton is and see whether Keith Andrews coming into their club means George can be let out.’
Meanwhile, the charity match scheduled for tomorrow at Westleigh Park in memory of Ken Woodford has been postponed because of a frozen pitch.
The game for the well-known newspaper seller will now be rescheduled.
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Comments
There are 16 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
Bob Fraser
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 06:23 PMPLEASE tell all the devoted POMPEY fans up here in North Wales. What the devel is going on at Fratton Park ? somebody must have something to tell us.APART FROM LIES.....
riw20
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 05:06 PM@4 Your idea is a fairly standard approach to raising money for a community owned club. The problem is I suspect you really need closer to £50m than £5m and getting 50,000 to buy £1000 of shares is going to be very tough in 16 days from a standing start. By all accounts, the club needs more than £10m just to finish the season and something like £20m-£30m on order to satisfy Chainrai, Gaydamack and the previous creditors agreement, add another £10m to get through next season and hopefully get to a position to balance the books going forward (clearing out the high wage earners being the priority). It looks like Chainrai will happily watch the club fold and the sell the ground for housing to get his cash back. Although the council would have to agree to the ground no longer being used for the football club, if there is no club to play there, I doubt they would stand in the way for long. Both Chainrai and Gaydamack seem to be playing this hard nosed. Unfortunately, the long and short of it at the moment is that a mid ranking championship side with a ground in desperate need of investment just isn't worth what it will cost to save to anyone who is at all concerned about not losing a shed load of cash. BTW - Don't be too hard on DL. This situation is largely out of his hands - he's the chief executive not the owner, so all he can do is try to run the club as best he can with the funds available. His budget for the year relied on CSI putting cash in, which for reasons he had nothing to do with didn't materialise. Much as we'd all like to have a running commentary on the latest situation, his priority has to be keeping the club alive rather than producing a stream of press releases.
JulieRobinsonWasWratten
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 04:49 PM@4 I'm in for a share. It's different from paying to get in. I think there could be enough people wanting to buy shares. Please find someone to set this up.
alfonso
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 04:43 PMThe post @4 is a fine idea but at a time when (even if the game had gone on) we couldn't have got 16,000 fans through the gate, how on earth can we attract 50,000 people to take a punt at a oner a time?
Yorkshireblue
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 04:22 PM@4 - yes, I could buy in to something like this if it were to be a real possibility - worth floating with the Trust people?
andi4asg
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 02:47 PMThink Mattock is out of contract in the summer, so could be a Free for us as long as Poyet doesn't turn his head
wessexblue
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 02:26 PM'4' Support your idea, but currently unempoyed and could not afford one share at this time, shame this didn't happen 4 years ago when I could have bought half a dozen.
eastneyboy
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 02:15 PM@ 4 - sorry....
eastneyboy
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 02:14 PMYes @1 - I'd be up for purchasing 10 or 20 shares...no good at organising this however. Sure others on here would be though. Surely, the Trust has been set up for just this scenario...?
CarlBOntCanada
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 02:03 PM#4 I agree with you fully and I too would be willing to buy in. The only problem I see is time, would we have enough of it ? I know little of British Law and what would be required to set up such a venture?
bluelagoon
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 01:53 PM5 - julian - Sometimes people are kind of paralyzed and struck dumb by the situation they find themselves in, not their fault, really.
julian123
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 01:34 PMI am trying to give DL the benefit of the doubt but our patience is being pushed to the limit !!! For Gods sake say something , why the silence ?
Petworth Blue
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 01:03 PMSaving Portsmouth. It should be apparent now, that no white knight on a horse is going to buy the club and that there is no billionaire thinking should he buy Portsmouth Football Club! The only way we are going to save Portsmouth is for the fans to try and raise money, and I donâ™t mean all giving £10 to a fund for the owners to waste. Long time fans will know that we have been asked before to save the club and there is never any thanks when the club is back on its feet. Why is it not possible to form a company with say 500,000 shares at a value of £100 each and sell these to the fans and businesses that want to support Portsmouth. I would think that nearly every fan, both home and abroad, would buy at least one share and many would buy more. As an example, if 50,000 fans bought one each, that would raise £5 million pounds. This would enable all fans to support the club in a positive way and whilst many would only be able to buy 1 share, others like Brian Howe, would be able to buy many more. Indeed, I would be happy to buy 10 or 20 shares, plus 1 each for the grandchildren. It should be possible therefore, with the right publicity, to generate enough sales to enable us to get into negotiations to purchase the club. I believe an idea like this would capture the imagination of some of the national media and possible fans of football in this country would also consider buying 1 share each. I would think that AA now realises that he is not going to get back all of CSIâ™s investment and would be prepared to accept a lower figure to buy the club. Also, I am sure it would be possible to make Chainrai a lower offer for the ground, with perhaps the balance being made up in shares in the company, with a similar deal being offered to Gayadmak. Regarding the way forward, it would probably be wise to assume that we will be a good championship side for the near future, to get rid of the high wage earners as soon as possible, run the club on a profitable basis, develop the academy to bring through future players. If we were lucky enough to get promotion, retain the championship side, with a few less expensive additions, have a good time and if we were relegated take the money and spend this on improving the ground to increase capacity so that next time we got promoted, we may be able to stay in the premiership a bit longer. Within our huge following we must have a good quality firm of accountants and lawyers who would perhaps set the company up in the first instance on a no fee basis, but on the understanding that if we were successful in buying the club, that they would get the future work. If we were unsuccessful, then the money could be returned, less administration costs, which should be minimal, about 10%. It might also be a gesture of goodwill to give shares to the people who had small claims against the club and who were promised payment, but who I understand still havenâ™t been paid. There is a lot to discuss, but I feel having watched what has been happening to our fine club, that we should now either put up or shut up and accept our fate. I for one would be happy to write a cheque for 13 shares today and more as soon as I am able. If more pledges came in from other fans then perhaps the HMRC might give us time to get organised or the Football League might help by giving some of the parachute payment in advance until we can negotiate to buy the club. Please get as many people as possible to read this and respond and perhaps the News might pick up the story and run with it.
bluelagoon
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:31 PMIt is like patients with a few days to live making plans for next summer's vacation. It cheers them up. It will make Appy, well, 'appy, to think about next year. Still, doctors are sometimes wrong.
GeordiePompeyFan
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:24 PMAppreciate optimism from possibly our best Manager since Redknapp, showing the potential to be even better than him, understand and really respect that he is getting on with his job ignoring all speculation and conjecture and planning for the future of this club... I just pray that there is a future for his plans to see fruition! If we have to resort to Plan B. There would be no better Manager to have a the helm, would take some convincing though! But if his blood is truely running Blue through his veins...? PUP
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