Town’s chances of signing Portsmouth pair Jason Pearce (pictured) and Joel Ward appear to have increased after Pompey were issued with a winding up petition by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. The Hampshire club, whose proposed takeover collapsed at the end of last week, owe £1.6 million in unpaid PAYE.

Andrew Andronikou, administrator for Pompey’s parent company Convers Sports Initiatives, admits that he is becoming increasingly concerned at the lack of a new owner, Sicilian-American businessman Joseph Cala having pulled out of his approach on Friday.

Andronikou told The Observer: "The club effectively ran out of cash at the end of December. The situation is extremely serious, we're under extreme pressure to find a buyer. Time is against us. The issuing of the petition effectively means the club loses its ability to use its bank accounts.

“But we've made other provisions. We're not fazed or worried by it. The club's debts are not significant, we haven't got millions and millions of liabilities.

"We pretty much have two months' PAYE outstanding. We have about £800,000 a month and we never paid December and the club certainly is not in a position to pay this month, so it's a total of £1.6m. We're waiting to see what the Revenue will do. They will probably advertise the petition next week. I think there is a hearing date at the end of February.

"We need to focus on finding a buyer to complete a transaction to raise cash. In terms of working capital and cash it's only going to come from two sources - a buyer or player sales. We're working on both."

He says manager Michael Appleton won’t have a choice in who might be sold: "No, but Michael has been extremely helpful and understanding of the circumstances, in general terms we are looking to lower the average wage bill."

Town made an offer believed to be £1 million for the duo last weekend and look set to make a second bid for the Pompey pair as well as Crewe midfielder Nick Powell in the days to come.

Photo: Action Images

el_nino added 19:09 - Jan 22 We need them.
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TractorBoy666 added 19:11 - Jan 22 Great! Get them in quick Jewell!!!
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fourth added 19:11 - Jan 22 Having worked in company administation in the past (Cork Gulley) ...the administrators are only interested in the quickest way of earning money for themselves. Get in fast. Scare them. Give them a VERY limited timescale and they will roll over.
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casanovacrow added 19:14 - Jan 22 someone else will be in for them, someone who ain't looking at relegation
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Bergholtblue added 19:17 - Jan 22 Offer 1.6 million in one lumop and they will bite your hand off. Does this mean that they will be docked points?
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sussexblue added 19:17 - Jan 22 We need some experienced defenders and a miracle.
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fourth added 19:19 - Jan 22 Of course we could buy Portsmouth under a different flag of convenience. Say a Gibraltar company. With discrete ownership. At least we could guarantee 6 points a season. Hey, outside of the betting syndicates that are emasculating our defence, who else can guarantee THAT,
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PauloJulio added 19:19 - Jan 22 If they cant pay PAYE then they surely cant pay wages either as that must be a few hundred grand a month! I think an offer of £1.6 million + add-ons should do it. WE should put our bid straight to the administrator not to the club like Newcastle did when they snatched Darren Ambrose cheaply whilst ITFC were in administration for £1 million. Remember pompey would be deducted 10 points if they go into administration and that would put them bottom!

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mutters added 19:23 - Jan 22 Offer them a fair price for the two. Just because they are in financial crisis doesn't mean we should profit from their misfortune. We lost some of our best players when we went into administration and that hurt a lot. Lets not be one of those clubs that pray on the weak, we are Ipswich Town, not scumbag united
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geography26 added 19:26 - Jan 22 Offer £1.6 million then! Let's them pay off their debt and is a realistic offer!
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rosseden added 19:26 - Jan 22 back in with 1.6m offer for both, maybe up it to 2m and add greg halford, he's solid enough too.....
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northstand78 added 19:26 - Jan 22 we'll cock it up..
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bedsitfc added 19:26 - Jan 22 our owner will try to get them on the cheap and they will end up signing somewhere else.
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BYRNE_16 added 19:28 - Jan 22 pompy have had more take overs than appears on the a12
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Lanky added 19:28 - Jan 22 £1.6 million... we can save Pompey and get the two players in to save us! waaaheeeeyyyy
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MarkITFC added 19:29 - Jan 22 Lets pay 1.6 mill . what are we waiting for ?
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DurhamTownFan added 19:30 - Jan 22 Mutters, appreciate the sympathy and remeber well how much it hurt selling our best players for peanuts. But look what Charlton did with several of our old boys. We are not in a position to be picky about who we buy from: our drop in form needs resolving, or we'll be in a worse position than Pompey!
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RegencyBlue added 19:31 - Jan 22 Fine as far as it goes but other clubs will be in for them and why would any player want to come here at the moment!!
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jas0999 added 19:34 - Jan 22 ... but it doesn't mean the players have to agree to a move? 21st, 12 defeats from 16. Terrible goals conceeded record. A CEO who is hopeless and an owner who is clearly deluded. Oh, and a truely terrible manager - abysmal. Why would they want to join us - particularly if there is a chance of joining any other club in the football league? Even the Crewe manager thinks we are not good enough. The priority at ITFC should be finding a new manager. I really hope PJ will be sent packing tomorrow - otherwise I fear a backlash against ME and rightly so. At the start of the season I predicted crowds of 12K if PJ remained in charge. There were less than 16K ITFC fans at the last match - next season if PJ is here we will do well to get 10K. WAKE UP EVANS. Forget players, sort the manager out and NOW. PJ OUT.

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StowTractorBoy added 19:39 - Jan 22 If I am not mistaken if Pompey go into administration for the second time within 3 years they will lose their Golden Share with the Football League hence the Club could be folded. I do not believe therefore they will allow themselves to go into administration. Of course it could happen but for the Pompey fans sake I hope it doesn't. This is now sadly for Pompey a predicament that could work in our favour and we must be one of only a few Championship Clubs who can afford an immediate £1.6M outlay. We have to look after ourslves so ME/SC/PJ get in their quickly and get Halford as well for a toal of £2m.

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BluePG added 19:42 - Jan 22 Then how the heck did they sign Norris?
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alfromcol added 19:42 - Jan 22 jas0999 Don't keep telling everyone how bad we are, they might not have noticed. Probably be 19000 at the West Ham match
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marcusevans added 19:43 - Jan 22 Offer 1.5 million. That way we get both players and pompey are a bit short of cash still, go into administration and push us a little further to safety. Well it's a cruel world out there! Every man for himself and all that.
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markw added 19:46 - Jan 22 buy the goalkeeper whoever he is aswell
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sussexblue added 19:48 - Jan 22 Portsmouth going into administaration and getting docked 10 points might be the miracle we are looking for to keep us up.
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