Tuesday, 28 October 2008

Tony Adams has been apppointed Pompey manager


Picture: thecannon.files.wordpress.com

It is true!! The new Pompey boss is Tony Adams, and I for one am absolutely delighted with the appointment.
Adams has been appointed following the departure of Harry Redknapp to Spurs in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Tony Adams, as well as an excellent player for Arsenal, has been a coach at Pompey for a couple of years and I believe he can do a brilliant job with the south-coast side.

Adams has experience with handling our current set of players, as well as playing the game not so long ago.
I think the position Pompey are in at the moment is a positive one, being sandwiched between Man Utd and Man City in the league table, and being in the group stages of the Champions League.

Adams had a small stint at Wycombe Wanderers but now he's hit the big time by taking hold of the reigns of Portsmouth, now we just need a buyer for the club if we're in such a bad financial situation as Redknapp claims.

Good luck to you Tony, my support is with you, as with many other Pompey fans.

Sunday, 26 October 2008

Harry leaves Pompey for Spurs



I really can't believe it - Harry Redknapp has left Pompey to join Tottenham.

Pompey were contacted about the job as the team were travelling back from Portugal after a hard 3-0 defeat to Braga in the UEFA cup.

Spurs had sacked Ramos and Poyet as well as a few others in the backroom staff, and it was obvious that the struggling club wanted the best manager in the business, and with Redknapp's amazing job during Pompey's 'great escape' he was the best man for the job.

Pompey reluctantly let HR talk with Spurs, as Harry made it clear that Spurs were one of the big clubs that he couldn't turn down.

Portsmouth will at least recieve a £5,000,000 compensation package for the highly rated manager.

I, like other Pompey fans, are absolutely gutted to see him go, and as alot of our squad signed to play under Harry Redknapp and not for Portsmouth, then I can see HR poaching a few of our players and losing them to other clubs, including the likes of James, Johnson, Diarra, Kranjcar, Defoe, but I think Crouch genuinely wants to be with us despite linking up with Harry.

Another thing that confuses me about the move, is that Redknapp was slating Spurs fans the other week following their abuse thrown towards Sol Campbell, and now he is managing the side? Where's the logic in that?

So who is favourite to take over the reigns at Pompey, and who, as the fans, think will do the best job? I think it is between Adams, Grant, Allardyce, Ramos and Dowie

Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Harry sends foreigners to English lessons



Harry Redknapp is planning to send his non-English players from his 28-man squad to English speaking lessons to learn 'football talk'.

The course being run by Polyglot Solutions, a language school based in Southsea, will be using props including a Subbuteo table to educate Pompey's foreign players so that they are fully equipped on the pitch.

It is understood that it takes 11 hours to teach players to learn from knowing little to no English, to being able to operate and function properly on the pitch.

Some of the phrases being drilled into the players include,'pick your man up!' 'don't let him turn you!' and 'take him on, beat your man!'

With Pompey already having eight 'first-team' British players in the squad, it shouldn't be too hard for the players to pick it up, and in a week that has revealed Sol Campbell to take occasional days off training to eat eggs and have a massage, the Pompey fans will be hoping Harry's weird and wonderful tactics will pay off in Thursday's game against Braga.

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

Diarra - a big doubt for Braga



Lassana Diarra is a worrying doubt ahead of Thursday's opening group E Uefa cup match against Braga, after picking up a knee injury three weeks ago.

Diarra, was due to return to training today, the last training session before the team fly out to Portugal tomorrow.

The French international has been a big part of Pompey's midfield this season, and Redknapp isn't willing to risk him ahead of sunday's clash against Fulham at home, a game in which Sean Davis will sit out due to last weekend's sending off.

Diarra has'nt lost in 29 cup games since coming to England, and those fans travelling to Braga on Thursday are hoping that it wouldn't have ended there.

Redknapp told the News, 'Lassana has an inflammation of the knee and has been told to rest, which he has done. Hopefully he will have trained today.

'The worry is, though, he has lost 10 days of fitness, so you've got to ask yourself whether he's ready to be thrown back in there against Braga.

'I wouldn't take that chance if there was any doubt. We've got a busy time coming up and I can't afford him breaking down.

'I definitely want him for Sunday. We've got Fulham at home and the league is important to us still, without doubt.

'We've got games Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday. You've got to be careful – you don't want injuries during that time. I've got to look at it game by game.

'I've got to decide whether I risk Lassana or not. I'm not going to gamble on him, though. I just can't do that.'

Monday, 20 October 2008

Villa v Pompey Highlights

Here are the highlights from the weekend's encounter with Aston Villa, courtesy of Portsmouthfc.co.uk


Pompey Rumours 20/10/08

Tribal Football ----
Lens midfielder Razak Boukari is interesting Portsmouth.

The News of the World says Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp will be able to get the France Under-21 star for £2million in January.

The Togo-born player is also a target for Strasbourg and Nice but would prefer to play in England.

Boukari, 21, has helped Lens to the top of Ligue 2.

SkySports.com ----
Serbian ace Milos Krasic has confirmed he wants to quit CSKA Moscow for the Premier League and that he knows a number of English clubs are interested in him.

Manchester United emerged as suitors over the weekend after watching him in action last week, whilst Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth are also keeping tabs on the situation.

Tribal Football ----
Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is confident of the signing of Lester Peltier in January.

Pompey are set to offer the Trinidad & Tobago midfielder a four-year deal.

Tribal Football ----

Arsenal fullback Armand Traore has again declared he could sign permanently with Portsmouth.

"I really like it here," he said. "Everyone has been very kind and it is a good club. I have come to a stage when I need to play regularly. Arsene Wenger agreed and he said he would let me go if I play every week.

"The future is something I need to discuss with the two clubs. I will need to speak with Arsene Wenger about it. I want to play every week. If I go back to Arsenal I will need to talk to Arsene Wenger.

"The manager here told me if all goes well I can play every week here. That is exactly what I needed to hear. I came to Portsmouth to play and that has helped me to relax and be myself.

"At Arsenal there are a lot of international players – in every position. Gael Clichy is the left-back and he is doing really well for them at the moment."