Neville Dalton is a journalist and a
No-one in their right mind expects Pompey to stay up now - even if a new owner does materialise.
The damage has been done: nearly all the stars have gone - and with them the continuity that can help a struggling team through bad times.
A team so palpably struggling to hold its own last term has now been further denuded, with the in-tray short on both quality and quantity.
The club is in chaos - its stars as unsure of the future as the rest of us.
Sound familiar?
That's because it's what I wrote almost a year ago to the day. You can read the full article here.
Some things, it seems, do not change.
Yet despite the obvious similarities, the situations appear to me to be poles apart.
A year ago our financial plight and inability to deal in what was left of the transfer market meant relegation was inevitable - but in the longer term, with a new buyer and consequent decent cash injection, it need only be a temporary blip.
We had one final season in the Premier League to enjoy - and enjoy it, I did, despite the inevitable outcome.
We even had a second FA Cup final in three seasons to celebrate as an unexpected bonus.
But here we are again, just a week from the beginning of our first season back among the small fry and we have a shambles that makes last season look like a well-organised outing to Littlehampton.
A year on and the full extent of our grisly financial predicament is finally known (at least, we hope it cannot get much worse) - and it's frightening.
We can't pay our debts so we've had to resort to administration, which means that not only will we not have to pay our debts in full, but if the worse comes to the worst, we might never have to pay anyone. Ever again.
Administration was to have been the cathartic process that enabled us to get on an even keel; agree what we pay our creditors; sell a few assets to fund it; then get on with our new life as a mediocre second-tier side.
Shambles
Never again the prospect of begging, stealing or borrowing a squad, with the added handicap of entering the market months after all our rivals.
But here we are a week away from our opening fixture at what now seems mighty Coventry City, and we still have no owner; we still have massive debts; we have fewer (and lesser) players than we had this time last year - oh, and we're not allowed to sign anyone.
Except we have to sign a few because we haven't got enough to ensure we start the season as a competitive club.
And we can't even offload our so-called best players because a) nobody wants them; b) clubs are treading firmly on our necks until we agree to give them away, or c) our major asset's agent reckons he wants to squeeze a bumper bonus out of this poor, shambles of a club.
And if we don't successfully defend in court the arrangement that should enable us to come out of administration, we'll start the season on minus points, with relegation an absolute certainty - or go out of business.
Or both.
There barely seems to be even a snippet of good news on the horizon.
We seem to have a decent manager - Pompey wanted to appoint Steve Cotterill a few years back as he began to make his name in the lower divisions.
OK, he hasn't gone on to greatness yet, but if he keeps Pompey in this division, I reckon he'll deserve to succeed Jose Mourinho at the Bernabeu.
His task is eminently greater than that which Paul Hart faced this time last year, and yet look at what he has inherited before we even kick a ball in anger.
Quite apart from all the above, the appeal by HMRC against the agreement which would rescue Pompey from administration has created additional uncertainty.
How could the futures of the likes of David James, who appeared genuinely to be interested in staying, be secured when there was so much doubt?
When's Mokoena coming back from the World Cup?
Who the hell got us into such a legal tangle over Kanu's contract renewal?
Was Nugent going because we needed to cash in or staying because we needed a fit striker?
Goalkeeper Problem
What about Rocha? Was he coming back? Vanden Borre? There had been talk...
None of those issues could be resolved in time for Cotterill to enact any of his plans for Pompey.
Then there's The Goalkeeper Problem: James' new contract offer withdrawn; Ashdown let go and then invited back; rookie Jon Stewart breaks his leg in a collision with his own team-mate.
Then Ashdown is injured in similar manner.
And don't get him started on the pre-season tour of the USA that Cotterill says has left the team in a worse state of preparedness than before they went.
It seemed a good idea at the time - or at least, our administrator, Andrew Andronikou, seemed to think so.
And speaking of the administrator - administrator, that is. Not manager, chairman or owner...
We read he's been over in Greece negotiating not only to try to sell some of our players but bring over some of theirs that we are neither in a position to sign nor certain are wanted by the manager - yes, that's manager. The man who picks the team, chooses the players he wants to sign and takes the flak if it all goes wrong.
Oh, and we've even dispensed with our reserve team (and given the inevitable consequences when that happens, I can't for one moment believe that was Cotterill's decision).
No wonder he cuts a frustrated figure, sounding off to anyone who will listen about the never-ending obstacles getting in the way of his every step - before we've even kicked off the season.
Not that Cotterill is totally blameless. If he didn't know what sort of state the club was in before he signed the contract, he only had to have a word with Mr Hart. Or Avram Grant.
They would have told him that however desperate it seems from the outside, it's a bloody sight worse when you get to the inside.
And if he continues to play just one up front, he'd better remember that the two behind the frontman need to be close enough to him to have an effect - something only Grant of our last four managers seemed to grasp.
But Cotterill hasn't had a chance to prove himself yet, so let's focus on the real reasons Pompey are heading for either League One or oblivion.
Now, what were they again?