Tal Ben Haim was the pick of the bunch for me, and represents a good replacement for Sylvain Distin. I must admit to not knowing a lot about Kevin Prince Boateng, but I’ve always liked O’Hara, and (I say this through gritted teeth) Michael Brown made a good debut aginst Man City at the weekend. In terms of outgoings, I honestly can’t argue with any of them. If players do not want to be at the club, there is no point in keeping them. The way Kranjcar has played recently, he won’t be missed anyway. I also happen to think he is over-rated in any case. Distin has no international career to pursue, but I suppose at his age, you have to take any attractive opportunitie that come your way. The bottom line is, with what has been happening at the club recently, no player could be blamed for wanting to pursue a career elsewhere.

The exception to all this, of course, is David James. No doubt he would also have gone if a bid had come in, but he is the one player who could probably recover form that. He is also the one we most needed to stay. His presence will be essential if we are to be competitive from now on. He will need to get his head back together, but he will have no choice. His World Cup place depends on it, but a goalkeeper can maintain his form in a struggling side in a way an outfield player can’t.

It’s up front where I am most worried. I feel rather than spending £2m on a Championship central defender, Paul Hart should have been busting a gut to acquire another striker instead. We have Hreidarsson and Wilson who can play at the back as well as Kaboul and Ban Haim. Up front we have Piquionne, Smith, and Dindane. I’m not convinced by Smith but am much happier to have him than the incompetent Nugent, who signed off with another howler aginst City. We have obviously not seen Dindane yet, but I just have a horrible feeling he is going to be injury prone. This is not based on fact of any sort, and I hope I am wrong. Just a hunch. We also have the indefatigable Kanu, who has just signed a new one year deal. We may just be needing him more than last season, although he looked good against City. But he must be in his forties now! I just have this nagging feeling that it is scoring goals which is going to be our achilles heel, even after the transfer window. Didn’t we try and get Benjani?

Anyway, at least the Pompey faithful are now hopeful that we can now get our season off the ground against Bolton in ten days’ time. That’s more than we could imagine a week ago, but it’s still going to be an uphill battle. If we can make a decent fist of it, though, it should be a more emjoyable season than the last one!

More concrete information is now coming to light regarding the futures of some of the Pompey players. Sean Davis looks almost certain to sign for Bolton Wanderers on July 1st, and Peter Storrie has said that Sol Campbell is likely to be offered a pay-as-you-play deal for next season. I would like to shy away from the tiresome speculation and comment on these two players.

Sean Davis looks like he’s off to Bolton, despite being the only out-of-contract Pompey player to have been offered a new deal. In truth, it has been on the cards for months. Whether this is a loss or progress obviously depends entirely on the buyout and the club’s ambition for next season. Assuming all is to turn out as promised, he will not be a long term loss. That is not to say I don’t rate him as a player. He is tenacious and can pass, but there is something missing at the very top level. Yes, he is a cut above Hughes and Mullins, but this is not a particularly flattering comparison for him.

We must also not forget the important role he played in saving the club from relegation in his first season (along with his ex-Tottenham compatriots, Pedro Mendes and Noe Pamarot) when he was eventually head and shoulders above anything else we had in midfield at the time. To be honest, this was probably the case even when he first arrived, massively unfit (remember Jhon Viafara, anyone?).

Between then and now have been some committed and classy performances, but not quite enough consistency at the very top level for me. The offer of a new deal was the right decision, but I’m not sure he ever quite got over his lack of first team opportunities in the second half of the FA Cup winning season (after playing really well in the opening months), or indeed his omission from the Cup Final squad itself. Thank you Sean, we wish you well.

Sol Campbell is reportedly to be offered a pay-as-you-play deal for the coming season. I’m not sure he will go for it, but it sounds about right to me. He was a coup when he joined the club three years ago, and he has been a solid servant. Whilst he can still produce the inspired performances within the grasp of players of his class, we have all noticed his gradual decline and struggle with pace. His performances don’t now warrant the huge wages it took to entice him here. He may have success with a club like Basle in Switzerland as a bigger fish in a smaller pond. However, the opportunity is there for him, if he can accept his reduced standing (age catches up with us all, Sol),  to stay in familiar surroundings and play a part in a bright new future.

Paul Hart said after Sunday’s game that the managerial situation should be resolved this week. This may suggest he is confident, or has even already secured the position. If so, I suggest he takes a relaxing holiday prior to pre season training, as if his strange public admission that his CV is lacking any real record of achievement is anything to go by, he has felt the strain of this season as much as the fans. 

Regarding ownership issues, there is already an intriguing titbit in the signing of Aaron Mokoena, Blackburn’s less-than-first-choice central defender. This might purely be the result of Hart’s confirmed appointment leading to the identification of his first free transfer target, as he knows there is no buyer waiting in the wings. On the other hand, Mokoena is the captain of next year’s World Cup hosts, South Africa, and with a prospective buyer from that same country reportedly interested, his signing may be linked to other issues. Either way, his extremely rapid acquisition points to the fact that the club’s situation has been, or is about to be, confirmed.

The truth is that we just don’t know for sure, and despite his continued criticism by some sections of the Pompey faithful, Chief Executive Peter Storrie is in no position to give us a blow by blow account of developments. There was similar uncertainty at the club ten years ago as we entered administration. This can’t be discounted as a possibility now, but surely we are in a better position this time around? Let’s go back those ten years just for a moment…

Pompey had been struggling for much of the previous ten years, the high points being those two fabulous seasons under Jim Smith in the early 90s and a fluke run under Terry Fenwick in 1997 which almost got us to the play offs and saw a decent cup run ended at Fratton Park by Chelsea. 

But here we were in administration, a situation which by today’s rules, would have meant a 10 point deduction and relegation to what is now League 1. We had only stayed up on goal difference, but there was no last day survival drama. Despite the fact that our hero, the late Alan Ball, had returned to rescue us the previous year, 1998-99 was a  rather forgettable season. We only stayed up on goal difference but had lost our last two fixtures, and in fact were nine goals better off than Bury who occupied the last relegation spot. There was only one away win to cheer all season, a 2-0 success at Port Vale in September. The only real highlights that spring to mind are a 5-2 home win over Swindon, and a giantkilling 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup 3rd Round. However, during the close season, there was possibly the most significant event in the club’s modern history when Milan Manadaric bought it for £5m.

We all know the rest, but we also know it was far from plain sailing. The point is that it’s all relative. If Pompey could be turned around then with modest levels of investment, they can be turned around now. All that’s required is that the club doesn’t fall to its knees. As long as they are competing with their peers financially, it’s the management that makes all the difference. We didn’t begin to taste success until Harry Redknapp came along, and then it was instant. You can’t tell me that we can’t compete with Fulham, Hull, Burnley, Blackburn, Bolton, or Wigan. Of course we can.

The problem in all this is that we have so over extended ourselves that the club is not now an attractive proposition, but I think Sacha Gaydamak now realises, if he didn’t before, that he is going to have to take a substantial hit on leaving Portsmouth.  He won’t be the first or last in this recession, and I regret that our football is so uncompetitive that the price for a club like ours winning the FA Cup is so high, but I would like to say thanks for the memories, Mr Gaydamak. Now let’s get back to reality.

I would be especially interested to receive comments and memories regarding those events ten years ago when Milan Mandaric came along to save our club.