Pompey News

June 2006 - Posts

• Building from the back

  With recent signing of Chelsea right back Glen Johnson on loan, Dejan Stefanovic signing a 2 year extension to his contract and former Arsenal defender Tony Adams joining as assistant manager it looks like Pompey are building their new squad from the back. To continue this theme stories are circulating today that Sol Campbell is set to join Portsmouth.  So far these stories have nothing concrete to them I certainly wouldn’t be disappointed if he joins.  These stories are also saying that Portsmouth could be smashing their previous top wage by offering Campbell around £50k a week. This whole trend makes sense as our defense wasn’t as good as it could have been last season but with a former top defender as coach, a young starlet and a current England defender we should have a tougher defense this season, the only negatives so far is the reported departure of Priske and the continuing rumours over Matty Taylor. With a stronger defense and the rest of the squad looking almost the same as last season we should hopefully stop dropping valuable points late in games from sloppy defending of set pieces, while keeping our attacking game intact. If quality like Campbell is coming to Fratton Park, what else does Harry have in store? RSS Subscribe |  Del.icio.us | Digg It |  Reddit |  Technorati Posted Jun 30 2006, 10:18 AM by JenniP with 8 comment(s)

• Viafara returns to Fratton Park

  John Viafara is set to return to Fratton Park after Real Sociedad turned down the option to buy the Colombia international after a six month loan deal in which he failed to make much of an impact. "Colombian player John Viafara will not continue at Real Sociedad, with the club having turned down the offer to buy his sporting rights," said the club on their official website. Viafara was bought by former Pompey manager Alain Perrin but has fallen out of favour with current boss Harry Redknapp and looks unlikely to play much of a part for the club in the upcoming season, especially with the midfield strengthening that was done during the January window. RSS Subscribe |  Del.icio.us | Digg It |  Reddit |  Technorati Posted Jun 13 2006, 01:27 PM by JenniP with no comments

• Redknapp Denies 12 million Defoe bid

  Redknapp is an admirer of Defoe but has denied making a £12 million offer for the player, as well as denying a deal for Anelka. "No, it's not true we've offered £12 million for Jermain Defoe," Redknapp told Sky Sports News. "I don't know who picked it up or who has been talking to the papers but we haven't offered £12 million for him. "I like Jermain Defoe, I like Steven Gerrard, I like Frank Lampard but I'm not going to get them - I like Thierry Henry as well. "I love Jermain as a player and he was great for me when I had him at West Ham as a kid, but no that's not true. "Anelka's a good player but he's one of many and again we have not made an offer for him. "We came away from a meeting with a few names on paper that we're looking at and we'll decide in the next few days as we start to make a few moves." It promises to be a busy summer down at Fratton Park as Redknapp benefits from new co-owner Alexandre Gaydamak's millions. Redknapp expects a number of new faces to come in but he is adamant that the club's new wealth will not be thrown away. "He's (Gaydamak) a terrific young guy," added Redknapp. "He's ambitious, he loves his football and he wants to take Portsmouth on to a new level, and he means business. "I think he's going to be fantastic for Portsmouth. He's going to move this club forward with Milan Mandaric there as well and I think he's superb for this club. "We've had a talk about players but we're not going to throw money around. "We're going to shop around and see if we can find some players to improve the team and make sure we're not in the same position again next year." So it looks like Defoe wont be joining Pompey although Harry hasnt denied making a bid just a £12million one. For me £12million+ is too much to spend on one player when Pompey need more quality or depth in several other key positions, when we have that strength and depth in the squad thats when we can afford to spend that kind of money, but with goals difficult to come by during most of last season we do need to invest in a proven goal scorer. RSS Subscribe |  Del.icio.us | Digg It |  Reddit |  Technorati Posted Jun 12 2006, 12:46 PM by JenniP with no comments

• Adams on Assistant Manager short list

  Portsmouth have confirmed that they are talking to Tony Adams about the vacant assistant managers post. Redknapp said: "I met with Tony on Friday, we will wait to see how things develop. He has got a lot to offer." After starting a sports science degree at Brunel University, Adams became the manager of Wycombe Wanderers in 2003. He resigned from Wycombe in November 2004, citing personal reasons. On 7 July 2005, Adams accepted a trainee coaching role with Dutch side Feyenoord with special responsibility for its Jonge team, which is a reserve/junior side. Adams later had a short spell seconded to Utrecht as a first team trainee coach, between 15 January and 2 February 2006. Also in the running is Harry's son Jamie although he seems to prefer continuing his pundit career at Sky Sports, also rumoured is a return to Fratton Part of Paul Merson although this seems to be more of the "he's available and we need a new assistant manager lets link the two" type rumour. Portsmouth are looking for a new assistant after Kevin Bond left to become the new assistant to Glenn Roeder at Newcastle United. RSS Subscribe |  Del.icio.us | Digg It |  Reddit |  Technorati Posted Jun 11 2006, 03:21 PM by JenniP with no comments

• Pompeys Defoe bid rejected

  As reported earlier the 12 million bid for Jermain Defoe has been rejected by Spurs.  Currently its not known if we will return with an improved bid. Spurs have also rejected a £10 million bid from Manchester United for midfielder Michael Carrick who almost joined Pompey the season before last but he pulled out when Arsenal were rumoured to be interested in the player.   RSS Subscribe |  Del.icio.us | Digg It |  Reddit |  Technorati Posted Jun 10 2006, 09:13 PM by JenniP with no comments

• Pompey launch £12million bid for Defoe

  Portsmouth’s local newspaper “The News” is reporting that Portsmouth have made a £12 Million bid for Spurs and England striker Jermain Defoe. Rumours of a bid for Defoe have been circling for weeks for an estimated fee of £9 million, most Pompey fans thinking that were pinching themselves at the prospect of that, but £12 million is almost 3 times the current club record fee paid for Benjani during the January transfer window. While £12 million may be enough for Spurs to let Defoe go, but would he want to join Portsmouth?  On the negative side we just finished above the relegation zone last season, have the worst quality ground and training facilities that wouldn’t be out of place in the lower end of the Championship, however we have the best fans in the Premiership, the best atmosphere of the Premiership, Milan and  Sacha seemingly willing to put their hands deep in to their pockets with a rumoured £30 million war chest for this season. Then we have Harry Redknapp, well known to Defoe signing him from Charlton for £1.65million at 17, he gave him his first start for West Ham in Redknapp’s final game in charge of West Ham.   Defoe also may see his failure to make the England squad as a sign he has to move to get more first team football to get back into the England squad and with a new England manager he may need more games to regain his place. RSS Subscribe |  Del.icio.us | Digg It |  Reddit |  Technorati Posted Jun 10 2006, 06:02 PM by JenniP with 6 comment(s)

• Could new FIFA rules make Gaydamak millions more important?

  FIFA wants to reduce the size of the elite country leagues to no more than 18 clubs, FIFA president Sepp Blatter wants to reduce the number of games clubs play leaving more slots for national level games and generally reduce fixture congestion. Blatter explained: "We now have the green light for 18 teams. "Instead of playing 38 matches in the league, the clubs would only play 34. I can't imagine they would not be pleased." He is hoping these changes would be introduced for the 2007-2008 season, while the Premier League will oppose any attempts to reduce the size of the league from its current 20 if FIFA get their way next season could make Gaydamak's cash injection all the more important. If passed 2 extra clubs would have to be relegated, last season we finished 17th depending on how FIFA reduced the size of the Premier League this could be a relegation place as early as next season, as could 16th.  With so many teams looking like relegation fodder last season any team that can raise their game next season should avoid the larger dropzone, with the quality that Pompey played with the end of last season we may of gotten our quality and hopeful top 10 place at the right time. RSS Subscribe |  Del.icio.us | Digg It |  Reddit |  Technorati Posted Jun 09 2006, 12:41 PM by JenniP with 7 comment(s)