While a victory over Coventry and a plum draw in the third round of the FA Cup did much to lift some of the gloom eneveloping Fratton Park in recent days, it is fair to say the club is far from out of the woods.

CEO David Lampitt met with fans' representatives on Saturday. While there are no cast-iron guarantees, he was as reassuring as one could expect in the circumstances. On points deductions, funding going forward and the debt position, David whistled a happy-ish tune. It wasn't even dark in the room and he seemed in good spirits regardless.

 Revelations Antonov, through CSI, 'loaned' PFC £10.5m are hardly shocking. It's the way football clubs are run. When ownership transferred to CSI in June, it was merely a name change not a sea change in terms of modern football business practice.

 Lampitt is between a rock and a hard place. His previous role at the FA means he is constantly under pressure to be 'transparent'. On the other hand he has had to manage the demands of Balram Chairai and Vladimir Antonov respectively, paymasters for whom the concept of openness is somewhat removed from our liberal democratic model.

Of course, some of David's hard-place is of his own making. Notably, in the summer he was publicly glowing in his references for Antonov, currently facing extradition to Lithuania on serious charges of fraud and money laundering. Of course, the erstwhile Russian owner of PFC may end up exonorated, but that cuts little ice in the short-term.

So should fans be clamouring for Lampitt to go the way of his occasionally truth economic predecessor Peter Storrie, who finally fell on his sword as the chaos of administration swirled around the club in February 2010?

 The answer is 'no'.

 Lampitt remains a fundamentally decent individual, who is doing the job for the right reasons. As events unfold we may get a better insight into his competence in his high-profile role, and he has some gaffes on his charge sheet, but in the mean time he is the best hope fans have got.

 As the ownership of PFC is up for grabs yet again, this time fans must be at the heart of the decision to find a successor owner. As the holders of the moral capital of the club, the days of our views not even being thought important, let alone ignored, must come to an end.

 Lampitt understands this. Whether he can deliver is another matter, but we have to give him the chance.

 Within the ranks of Pompey fans there are some highly competent professional people. People prepared to see PFC as being much more than simply a pleasurable Saturday afternoon pastime.

 Could they do a better job than some of the characters who have almost run the club into the ground over the past couple of years or so? Well. They couldn't have done much worse.

 To make things better fans will need to hold onto the belief that can things truly can get better. At crucial points, to achieve this some fan representatives will have to be prepared to make leaps of faith.

 However sceptical we might be of others' motives - and boy do we have reason to be sceptical in some cases - if we are to attain the ethical corporate governance of PFC, with fans taking a tangible stake in the future of the club at some point some fans somewhere will have to make what mountaineers call a 'committing move'. If and when they do, they will deserve our wholehearted backing.

 The biggest threat to Pompey's future is not Chainrai, Gaydamak, Antonov or David Lampitt. It is our own cynicism.

Photo: Action Images

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