Portsmouth Gone: What Chelsea & Liverpool Fans Should Be Praying For

There is a million phrases and cliche that could be used to describe Portsmouth's financial trouble. "Walking the tightrope," "Skating on thin ice" and so on but none of them compare to a cold, hard, blunt fact.

The Premier League executives have began preparations in case Portsmouth are liquidated and in turn removed from the league.

There are three scenarios that could play out for Portsmouth. The first and most simplistic scenario is for investment to occur and for the team to irradiate the massive debts. 

The second and more likely scenario is for the club to go into administration. Administration would mean that Portsmouth would be appointed an administrator. They would be allowed to continue trading and selling with the intention of making money as soon as they can to repay outstanding debts.

If they went into administration they would encounter a penalty from the Premier League of a nine point deduction.

The third scenario and the mostly costly would be for a wind-up order to be granted. This would in-turn liquidate Portsmouth and they would cease to exist as a club or company.

The sole purpose of liquidation is that all trading is stopped and that all assets are sold to try clear as much of the debt as possible.

Portsmouth are believed to owe more that £11.5 million in unpaid taxes. Portsmouth face a VAT bill of £7.4 million and an unpaid PAYE bill of £4.7 million.

Portsmouth announced that they have received two "serious" bids for the club which may solve their problems outright. They are progressing in the FA cup which is also giving them some sort of funding.

A major possibility that Portsmouth, their fans, and the Premier League have to deal with is the fact that Portsmouth come March may be liquidated if that happens the Premier Leagues ruling is for Portsmouth to be deluged from the League.

This would mean that every game that Portsmouth played this season would technically have never occurred. The league would become a 19-team league with 36 games ending the league instead of the regular 38. The relegation zone would shrink to a two team relegation rather than a three team.

If liquidation is the outcome for Portsmouth come March, the Premier League table current Premier League table would shape up like so:

	PLD	GD	PTS
Chelsea	25	38	55
Man United	24	33	51
Arsenal	24	25	46
Liverpool	25	18	44
Tottenham	25	18	40
Manchester City	23	12	39
Aston Villa	24	11	39
Birmingham	24	-3	34
Everton	24	-2	32
Fulham	24	0	28
Stoke	24	-5	28
Blackburn	25	-19	28
Wigan	24	-19	25
Sunderland	23	-10	24
Wolves	24	-20	24
Burnley	24	-23	23
Hull City	25	-26	23
West Ham	23	-10	20
Bolton	24	-18	20

Liverpool would be nestled in the last Champions League spot with a four-point lead over their nearest competitors. They would also be within two points of Arsenal in third.

Chelsea's lead over Manchester United at the top of the league would be stretched to four points. They would also have a better goal difference than United also.

Bolton and West Ham would make up the relegation zone and Hull City and Burnley would be three points clear, hovering just over it.

A shocking 10 points would separate the bottom of the table to Fulham in 10th place.

Eliminating the games that Portsmouth took place in would fix the points and games differential but the league would not be able to fix all the loose ends.

What about teams who lost players through suspension and injuries during them games. How does the league account for that.

The Premier League will also have to answer how Portsmouth where allowed be taken over by a financially unstable body.

The last thing the Premier League want is for Portsmouth to be gone and have the integrity of the Premier League questioned.

However, some fans many see that as a blessing giving the bearing it may have on their team.