Storrie backing under-fire owner

Hundreds of Pompey fans besieged the directors' entrance in Frogmore Road, chanting "we want our club back" and "where's all our money gone." Signs questioning whether Al-Faraj was 'fit and proper' to run the club were also held aloft. The crowd turned on Storrie, who was met by a furious crescendo of boos as he briefly came outside to meet the angry supporters. Storrie has previously enjoyed the backing of the Fratton Park faithful, despite the club failing to pay its players on time on three occasions this season. They are also under a transfer embargo and failed in a High Court bid to overturn a winding-up order from HM Revenue and Customs this week. While the Pompey fans are clearly losing patience with the club's owners and management, Storrie paid tribute to Al-Faraj and his associates for their efforts to get the club back on a sound financial footing. Writing in the Pompey official matchday programme, he said: "I know I have written this before, but Ali Al-Faraj and his associates are doing all they can to bring in new finance to stabilise the situation, and to deal with the court action also being taken against us by HMRC. "They have already invested substantial funds to pay creditors and keep the club running, but the problem goes back to (former owner) Sacha's (Gaydamak) decision to stop investing, and the withdrawal of facilities by our two banks, Standard Bank of South Africa and Barclays. "As we know, the financial world has changed and banks are simply not as keen in exposing themselves to the world of football. "When you have a facility of more than £40 million taken away from you, then it is going to be difficult for any business to operate as it has before. "Everyone is working hard to put back in place that kind of financial backing to stabilise the club and move it forward." Pompey were forced into a summer fire sale to keep the club afloat, with the likes of Peter Crouch, Glen Johnson, Sylvain Distin and Niko Kranjcar moving on. Goalkeeper David James may well join Stoke on loan until the end of the season, which would take a big weight off the club's overstretched wage bill. Storrie admits this cash has been needed to pay off outstanding transfer fees and reduce Pompey's losses. He said: "It is wrong to suggest that we have made a great deal of money from transfers. "All the money received on transfers over the last 18 months has been used to repay the banks, new and existing transfer and loan fees, and towards reducing the losses of the business. "So although I do have great sympathy for the fans, please believe me that everyone wants to make this work and we are doing all we can to ensure it does."