SUCH SWEET IRONY..

What an extraordinary image. It shows Mr. John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood - Pompey`s self-acclaimed uber fan - holding up cards questioning the fitness and propriety of the club`s former owners who, by some miracle of divine providence, were accepted by the Premier League as `fit ands proper.` Shades of that paragon of virtue Thaksin Shinawatra being given the all clear to own Manchester City. The sweet irony of Mr. Westwood of all people posing such a question is all too obvious, I fear.

During the last few days, the latest version of Portsmouth`s debt has seen it grow to almost £120million, almost double the previous guestimate. Buried in the detailed list of creditors that make up this remarkable debt is the revelation that Portsmouth FC actually owe Southampton FC £35,000. There is much speculation as to the reason for this but it could be the damages incurred by Southampton when Portsmouth came visiting a few seasons ago, on which occasion Mr. Westwood and his chums saw fit to rip up seats, urinate on others and generally cause damage to our nice family-friendly stadium.

Of course, I may be wrong and I may be being unfair to Mr. Westwood and his cronies but the ironies just keep coming. Portsmouth are in deep mire, with a crumbling shambles of a `stadium` (nottarF kraP) and already relegated to any league that will have them. Whatever the reason for the £35,000 debt, it does seem ironic that a so-called Premier League club can owe anything at all to another club in the third tier of English football. But then if they also owe the St. John Ambulance and the local florist money, maybe I shouldn`t be surprised.