What on Earth is Going on Pompey?
Posted on | July 27, 2009 | 1 Comment
Trying to predict transfers in or out of Portsmouth at the moment is like trying to predict the weather. However, one thing I do know is that we will probably never know the real answer to that question.
Paul Hart has been quoted in The News today as saying that as well as potential new arrivals, more players may yet leave the club in the coming weeks. He is then very quick to add that this will be decided by him, for footballing reasons. Forgive me if I don’t quite believe that. For some reason, events over the last few weeks have made me sceptical!
Let’s assume for one moment that this is indeed his true intention. Rumour has it already that two of the players Hart wouldn’t be too upset to see the back of are John Utaka and Nadir Belhadj. Now, I know they are not what you would call top notch Premier League players, but I’m damn sure they are not players we can afford to lose in our position! Either the club is still in a precarious position, despite the takeover, or Paul Hart truly believes he can afford to sell them. I really hope it’s the latter, although that leaves Hart’s footballing vision as the only solution to that particular issue. I don’t believe that vision has been proven yet!
I think the real pointer to the true state of the club will be what happens with Sylvain Distin. Even if the club does want to keep him, he may decide that, given recent goings-on, his future lies elsewhere. If he then successfully forces a move, the effect on the pitch is just as bad as if Portsmouth couldn’t afford to keep him. Given what we know about potential transfer targets, the squad could then already be just too weak to compete.
A lot will become clear in the next two weeks but things do not look good at the moment, and just when the future should be looking distinctly brighter, it appears things could get even worse.
I saw a great article in The Times’ online fanzine section today, by Gareth Beavis. You can read it here. I do agree with a lot of what it says but I was depressed to find that it wasn’t enough to lift me out of my gloom. You see, the point I can’t agree with is that, because ten years ago we were on the brink of extinction, we should just be grateful that we are in the Premier League at all. That’s not enough to placate my frustration at the current situation, I’m afraid.
At the same time, I do get frustrated with comments from fans who clearly have no idea where we have come from. I guess my attitude is that although I realise we have been overachieving recently, I don’t see any reason why we can’t reproduce that kind of consistency over time with the right long term strategy. The potential in the club is there. If Dr Al Fahim is to be true to his word, we just have to ride out this storm first. The trouble is , the swell seems to be getting bigger by the day.
Tags: Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim > John Utaka > Nadir Belhadj > Paul Hart > Pompey > Portsmouth > Portsmouth takeover > Sylvain Distin
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August 10th, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
Well, the one thing I know about it is that nobody knows what’s going on except Al Fahim! I hope he is taking things to the wire to screw everything he can from the present owner, but he could equally be scrabbling around looking for the last few quid to tie up the deal, which of course would not bode well for the future! I think we’ll find out this week because whether or not Al Fahim wants to string it out even longer, Gaydamak will have to protect his position which means ensuring more player sales soon. It will have been enjoyable high drama if Al Fahim comes through, a depressing car crash played out in public if not!