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!

Fulham obviously had a good season last time out and will probably set up much the same way this term. They have one of the better keepers in Mark Schwarzer, Hangeland is in particular demand at the moment, and Danny Murphy will undoubtedly be pulling the strings again in central midfield. But Fulham are strongest up front, and have real pace with Kamara, Zamora, and Johnson up front. The strength of the rest of the team is debatable, but Roy Hodgson has them very well drilled. All in all, just about a tougher than average test for the opening test of the campaign.

But how will Pompey play? I think this will be dictated by our strength up front. At the moment, Piquionne is the only game in town, and that based on one performance in a friendly. Kanu has just signed a ONE MONTH contract, suggesting that the club hope other players will come in soon, and I believe David Nugent has been earmarked for sale.

David James looks likely to be fit, and the back four could be Hreidarsson, Distin, Kaboul, and Wilson, or possibly new signing Vanden Borre. I hope to see central midfield made up of fit-again Papa Bouba Diop and Angelos Basinas, together with Paul Hart’s man Aaron Mokoena. Basinas can pass a ball and allow us to also have Kranjcar wide on the left. Utaka remains the only viable option on the right, but unfortunately he seems destined never to perform there. You could always try him up front, Paul? I don’t believe he will.

So, I think we still have a team that can compete with Fulham at Fratton Park today. Perhaps the summer goings on and current frustration will work in our favour today and make for an intimidating atmosphere, despite the fact that many fans are still being affected by the recession and Fratton Park is unlikely to be full.

Peter Storrie’s enthusiasm to distance himself from Sulaiman Al Fahim’s proposed takeover at the Radio Solent forum on Thursday night, and his hint that a rival takeover bid may be imminent  has added further spice to the occasion, with many fans now doubtful that Sulaiman Al Fahim will attend as he had promised. You can listen to the forum here, but the main focus now should be on getting three points today against Fulham. Play up Pompey!

Without going over old ground, the squad we boasted a year to two years ago wasn’t sustainable, as we now know. But, providing we get through these tough times in anything like reasonable shape, let’s be grateful for the players that were here, even if their legacy was near financial meltdown. I say that because thier ultimate legacy was a major trophy, the FA Cup. It will be that indelibly marked in the record books in years to come, not the problems we are facing now.

I’m not saying we’re going to come out of this situation scott free. The takeover is yet to be completed after all (just to remind those who didn’t know!). But, despite the tiresome, never ending nature of it, I genuinely believe the signs are looking more positive in the last few days. SURELY, Al Fahim would not leave it until after the season had begun to pull out?! I believe if he were going to do that, it would have happened by now. At risk of starting a riot amongst Pompey fans, he gave a very positive interview on ArabianBusiness.com this week. You can read it here. I know, more words and still no action, but you must admit he does give a good interview, and the timing of it so close to the opening of the new season suggests the moment for the collapse of the deal has passed.

Paul Hart has also explicitly stated today that any further player sales will be his choice. A very bold assertion, and one that he would not make in public like that unless he was very confident. This brings me on to the state of the squad, very pertinent now we are staring the new season on the face.

The win against Rangers has given me real optimism that our squad is not as poor as the ‘pundits’ would have us believe. I know it was only a pre season friendly, but Rangers did beat Manchester City a few days earlier. I think the most important thing about that game was the confidence boost it should have given the players, given how well they gelled as a team.  I would still like another striker (perhaps not Mark Viduka), but Frederic Piquionne at least showed that he is has pace, presence and can finish. He just has to produce that now over a season!

Same with Paul Hart, really. I didn’t enjoy the end of last season! I hope he’s got some more attacking football up his sleeve. The Rangers game would suggest so, but he has a lot to prove. It may be easier in a way without the shock of last season’s unfolding events weighing him down. But has he got the players to do it?

Let’s assume we only add to the squad from now on. We still have an England goalkeeper. Fulham, who finished seventh last season, have a good one too in Mark Schwarzer. We still have Distin and also Kaboul and Finnan for example. Fulham have Hangeland but not much else to impress at the back. Our midfield almost looks better than theirs! We still have Kranjcar and now Diop is returning to fitness. Basinas can pass a ball if he can ever secure a starting place. Fulham have Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu. Up fron Fulham do look stronger with Kamara (!), Johnson, and Zamora (?). Kanu will be a bit part player at best, and Nugent isn’t good enough. John Utaka has a real opportunity this season to fulfil the potential I believe he has. Anyway, Fulham finished seventh last season. My point is, our squad must compare favourably with the Burnleys and Hulls of this world. Granted, new signings such as Vanden Borre have to be at least a relative success, but with good management and team spirit can inspire a modest set of players to great heights as Roy Hodgson and Fulham showed last season. Paul Hart and the players (and one or two new ones) need to step up to the mark.

First, the timescale. Of course, most people believe Sacha Gaydamak has now set a deadline for Sulaiman Al Fahim to complete the deal, which will expire some time at the weekend. If true, we will obviously have a resolution one way or the other before then, but typically nothing is clear with the Al Fahim camp denying the existence of this time limit. The reason I believe that something must happen this week is because of the twin pressures of Gaydamak’s debt to Standard Bank and the ever tightening transfer window. 

Even if no such deadline has been formally set by Gaydamak, in essence it exists. Despite an encouraging win over Glasgow Rangers at the weekend, the squad is at tipping point, both in terms of quality and depth. If he cannot be sure of completion, Gaydamak will have to begin selling more players next week in order to keep the club out of administration. This would be the worst case scenario for him as it would see him losing even more than most people believe he already stands to lose from the deal, quite apart from the fact that he would have no choice but to act to avoid a ten point deduction. Equally, Al Fahim cannot possibly want this to happen as the squad would then be so damaged as to be unable to compete, even over half a season. Al Fahim is believed to be planning to attend the match against Fulham at Fratton Park on Saturday. Should be very interesting!

I referred to the team itself earlier. That win against Rangers has given us all hope, especially as our star close- season signing, Frederic Piquionne, showed that he can score goals (good goals too). More than that, the whole team played well with Kranjcar putting in an impressive shift and Marc Wilson looking good. I just hope we don’t get too carried away. It did show that we have a team that can still compete, but it was still just a pre season friendly, and the squsd needs more depth for the long season ahead. This needs addressing NOW and I hope Al Fahim realises this.

Titbits? Well, the latest seems to have come from Peter Storrie, who seems cast in an ever more heroic light at the moment, given the circumstances. In an aricle in The News today, he said, ‘just wait and see’, twice! I would find that a strange comment for someone who just a couple of days ago emailed a fan to say that he knew nothing about the progress of the takeover or how long it would take, and was at pains to point out that it was between the two protagonists. In the same interview he attacked the national press for printing rubbish. Very bold for someone who had seemed so downcast a couple of days ago. Come on Peter, spill the beans!

Even if Storrie does know that the takeover will go through, the question still remains as to what kind of takeover it will be. We are not so sure now of a bright new future with riches to spend on a new stadium, training ground, and players. But surely a prospective new owner would not go through all this trouble, only to struggle to even add to an already depleted squad? If the takeover happened tomorrow and we were only able to buy a couple more modest players before the end of the month, I would expect this squad to get through to January competitively while more permananet foundations for the club were laid. This has to be his intention, doesn’t it? Something approaching his original vision for the future? Only time will tell. This Week.

Steve Bruce to be new Pompey boss. Mancini to sign Crouch. Or something.

Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim has agreed a deal to buy the club from Sacha Gaydamak, and a period of due diligence now begins. Assuming that the commercial due diligence process has already taken place (how else would this have reached a stage where the deal has been publicly announced?), this must constitute the tying up of legalities and the satisfaction of Premier League requirements. It would appear, then,that before long, Portsmouth will become the second Premier League club to be owned by wealthy Middle East interests.

So what do we know about him? Well, those who watched Piers Morgan’s programmes a few months ago on the world’s wealthiest destinations, may remember him hosting Piers on his private jet in Dubai. He lost the whole of his immediate family in a car crashin 1998, and is now something of a philanthropist, with involvement in worldwide projects to eradicate malnutrition. He studied in the United States and has a number of other interests including chess and a TV show called the Hydra Executives in which his catchphrase is “Impress Me!”. Alan Sugar eat your heart out!

Football wise, he can also be recalled as the initial broker of the deal which saw Abu Dhabi United Group take control of Manchester City, although he no longer has any involvement with them. His development company, Hydra Properties, is currently building a football academy in the UAE in partnership with Inter Milan. Rumours of his other possible targets include Chelsea, West Ham, and Newcastle, although he has settled on Portsmouth with the intention of ‘turning a smallish Premier League club into something big over a number of years’. That remit would, if achieved, would consitute the perfect outcome to the recent uncertainty surrounding the future of the club.

What is the level of his investment and ambition? We don’t know yet. But we should soon. After all, the Premier League’s ‘fit person’ test should be a breeze to a man like him. Let’s allow our imagination to run away with us for a moment…

Off the pitch, I would suggest a Middle Eastern property developer would be very keen to fulfill the development potential offered by the club and the city. Whilst a lot of the barriers to the Horsea Island project are of the planning variety, they are also intrinsically linked to financial implications. Increased investment in the project begins to allow the potential development to become more favourable, with a reduction in the planned retail floorspace for example. The effect of a real propsect of delivery on even Portsmouth City Council surely can’t be underestimated, especially with a World Cup bid in the offing. In this scenario, Dr Al Fahim still stands to recoup some investment if he so wishes from the Fratton Park site. I would be happy to move to Horsea to bring the club into the 21st century as long as the stadium was built with the atmosphere in mind (and the prices!). Someone get on the phone to Herzog and De Meuron again! The academy project must also be seen through, so that the club is run in the right way. Local talent deserves its chance, and although there may well be increased competition from foreign youngsters, we live in a globalised world now. Football is proving to be no different, and there is the opportunity to provide better opportunity to local talent than has ever existed before.

On the pitch, I see Sven arriving and Paul Hart returning to his previous position, if willing, to carry out that important work. With reasonable investment, a top ten finish in his first season would be guaranteed, with the chance to get back into Europe. Then we would see how serious Dr Al Fahim is. Which players would we go for? Which would come? It’s an interesting prospect, but in the short term there’s not much to tinker with. The majority of out-of-contract players are on their way out of the club anyway. No change there then. Those prized assets that were looking likely to leave should be kept (I’m thinking more of Johnson and Crouch here than Kranjcar). Finally, let’s get in players in those areas that can help us challenge for Europe again. Everyone knows what’s needed. A defender to replace Sol Campbell, a whole new midfield, and a pacy striker to start with.

How far can this go? Some of the more wild quotes, in today’s Sun for example, have the man in a competition with Manchester City to see who can spend the most money! If he has this kind of money, there is theoretically no limit, Champions League, you name it, although a bigger, modern, full stadium with a fantastic atmosphere would help to reinforce future credibility. Deep down, I wish that Burnley could challenge for the title next season with nothing more than good coaching and management, and a few canny buys. I’m thinking Brian Clough and Nottingham Forest here. But, it seems the world is on the irreversible path to globalisiation, and football is no exception. ANYTHING that breaks the current uncompetitive monotony of life at the top of the Premier League is fine by me, and I would  LOVE IT, LOVE IT to be us!