Frattons revolving exit door set to spin

The Times has a list of the players most likely to be part of the January clearout. Although it is alot of players, it is achievable as many of them are on loan.
I wouldnt shed any tears if they ALL went back in January.
It would be better to have a settled squad, rather than this revolving door thats spinning out of control. However the summer batch of signings have not been successful, and are definitely not up to the quality of the players they replaced, so Im happy to cut our losses.
And it will involve losses - the time and expense of identifying and attracting those players wouldnt have been negligable. The transfer policy of bargain basement foreign players without Prem experience has failed miserably, has wasted time, effort and money, and I do hope Milan will now change tactic.

A nice Christmas Present?????

Noticed this Play Up Pompey number plate on Ebay, available for auction for 8 days. If I didnt already have a PFC number plate I might be tempted, but if someone wants to buy me another car with it on for Christmas....

Its just like old times

The return of Harry has had a great effect on performances, but has also bought about another effect which follows him: the press speculating about our every move - possible new signings, a new coach (Jamie or Bond this week), and just about anything else they can think up, usually making 2 plus 2 equal 5.
So instead of that rubbish read this fantastic Fratton Faithful look ahead to the Christmas fixtures of our relegation rivals.

Pompey 1 WBA 0

The result was everything and so we have to be delighted that we achieved the win that was so desperately needed. Anything less would have had catastrophic consequences on our hopes for avoiding relegation, and the Independent focuses on these positives.
If we are to stay in the Premier league some feel that perhaps we need to look a bit classier against this sort of opposition, a point made by The Observer. But relegation 6 pointers are all about desire, not pretty football, and its encouraging that we out-battled the opposition; this WBA fan agrees.

The massive result aside, it was so pleasing to see Todorov hit the back of the net. Toddy was on such a crest of a wave in our promotion season scoring a hatrick in the final game. Since then he's endured 2 and a half seasons of injury and rehab, so the match winning goal, the first since his recent reintroduction to the side, was a special moment and richly deserved.

Match Preview - Pompey vrs West Brom

In the last match before Christmas Pompey are home to fellow strugglers West Brom, who by not fault of their own will find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. If the Baggies had visited us earlier in the season they would have stood every chance of leaving with the 3 points, but on Saturday they will be nothing but sacrificial lambs to the slaughter. The importance of a Pompey win is such that any other result is uncontemplatable. A revived Harry Redknapp-lead Portsmouth fighting and battling for every ball, backed by a fervent Fratton Park crowd, will expect to steamroller this unspectacular West Brom side.
West Brom have plenty of party spoilers in their midst including ex-Pompey striker Kamara, who is hitting form and will be out to prove a point (why oh why did we let him go). Infact such is the competition for a place in the side, particularly upfront, whoever starts for WBA will be desperate to do well to keep his place, a philosophy Harry Redknapp employed to Pompeys great advantage during his last stay.

BBC Stats

Welcome to the Hall of Shame - Uriah Rennie

Congratulations on your induction into the Heaven's Light Our Guide Hall of Shame Uriah Rennie. Awarded for total incompetence during the Spurs match culminating in an incorrect penalty decision that lost us the match.
Kevin Keegan reminisces getting wound up over his lack of common sense and OLeary recalled a performance Rennie should be embarrassed of. Walsall laugh as they remember his inconsistency. Liverpools Alonso fondly recalls the ‘strange’ time they first met and West Ham recall a 'headline winning' performance.
Ruud Gullit reminds us of Uriahs wincing mistakes that make him such a favourite in Newcastle. This Wolves fan was banned for running on the pitch to remonstrate with Rennie, and manager Dave Jones remembers an unacceptable level of performance from him.
This Palace fan recalls more bad decisions in favour of Tottenham by Uriah, though a Spurs fans remembers the time they sang ‘Rennie is a c**t’ in recognition of his great talent.Thanks for the memories Rennie.

Pompey
Portsmouth FC
Uriah Rennie

Cheats

Thickjawed Neanderthal man lookalike Martin Jol chose not to see what everyone else saw in this weeks match against Spurs: a display of total incompetence by referee Uriah Rennie. Gary O Neil's claims that Jol paid a visit to Uriah Rennies dressing room at half time has met with a predictable reaction from the Dutch caveman. LuaLua has also made comments that ‘the ref was playing for the other team’.Pompey TeamTalks report includes a statement of denial from the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd.

Spurs and the Ref 3 Pompey 1

It always sounds like sour grapes to moan at the ref, but I cant stop myself. What a tosser Uriah Rennie is. It was never a penalty in a million years. Harry thought the decision was a scandal, and in its the match report, The Guardian agreed.
Martin Jol had the front and cheek to actually claim it was a 'fair result', though this is balanced by The Sun, not normally a rag associated with the truth.
Apart from the injustice of the result there were many positives to be drawn from Pompeys committed performance and what a goal by LuaLua.

Match Preview - Spurs V Pompey

Pompey face 4th placed Tottenham in a tough match against a side who haven’t lost at home since their defeat to Chelsea in August. It was little over 18 months ago that Pompey finished the season higher in the league than Spurs with a side that offered as much if not more in quality than the Londoners. How quickly fortunes can change. The appointment of a proven manager suggests that maybe our fortunes have reached rock bottom and are now turning in a more positive direction but it’s a big ask for Harry Redknapp to turn things around into instant success at White Hart Lane tonight, though Stefanovic thinks there will be a big difference.
Further stats courtesy of the BBC

Out of date T-shirts

Now Harrys returned there will no doubt be plenty of T-shirts for sale in this vain. Could finance one of these superb specimens by selling the now out of date 'Traitor' T-shirts to a scummer. Or maybe its best to keep it at the back of the wardrobe just in case.


Meanwhile, plenty of fun to be had on the BBC Pompey forums. Pompey Jungalist presents a brilliant scenerio how the discussions between Milan and Harry might have sounded.

Dirty Harry makes our day

Our tainted old hero Harry Redknapp is installed as manager. Milan is happy. Redknapp is happy. Most (but not all) of the fans are happy. The players are happy (Griffin interview). Rupert is gutted. Whether this appointment is an inspired move or a recipe for disaster remains to be seen, but if Harry can reproduce what he has done in the past then he will become a real Pompey legend.
Harry has got great plans for Pompey to start playing attacking football, which will be a relief after the punchless rubbish we've had to endure so far this season.
Reuters gives a great summary of Harrys playing and managing career to date.

And the new manager is.................

.....to be unveiled at a press conference at 5.
It will of course be Harry Redknapp. Welcome back Harry. More soon.

This joke isnt funny anymore

Both the Guardian and the Mirror claim that we have improved our compensation offer, and if all goes to plan Harry Redknapp will be installed as manager today. When has anything ever gone to plan?

Pompey and scum fail to agree shocker

The negotiations have stalled between Pompey and scum regarding compensation payments should Pompey appoint Harry Redknapp as manager. Scum are asking for 220K, Pompey are offering much less, and seem prepared to walk away from the deal rather than pay Rupert the money. Seems crazy over such a relatively small amount of money. But looking at it another way 220K can pay the wages of another player like Gary O Neil from January to the end of the season, so maybe its worth fighting for after all. We don’t want to give Woopert the satisfaction of getting one over us, especially as he seems to think his duckshoot was more important. Squarefootball sums it up.

A soap opera cliffhanger?

Alot of people have likened the events at Fratton Park this week to a soap opera or a pantomime, suggesting that PFC are being less than classy in their affairs, though at least The Times tries to be a bit humerous about it.
OK the situation is 'extraordinary', as Rupert Lowe said, but a soap opera or pantamime? When are anyones affairs straightforward and beyond mocking criticism? Lifes not perfect, but that never stops the press taking an opportunity to have a snigger at Pompeys expense.

So back to the real world. Todays cliffhanger is...... will this mornings meeting resolve the row between Scum and Pompey over the Harry compensation payments, and will Harry become the new manager.
Tune in for the next episode where all will be revealed.

**Update - apparently this mornings meeting isnt happening as Rupert is orf shooting ducks.

Leaving Pompey was a 'monumental mistake' - Harry

The man who is favourite to take the Pompey manager vacancy, Harry Redknapp has come out and said what we all suspected about life in scum; "The last year has been the worst of my life and that is no exaggeration".
He quit his scum post yesterday after the advances from Pompey made him realise just what he really thought of his current employers. He went on to explain his regret over his PFC departure, and how his heart was never in the scum job.
Scum fans must be seething, but they are trying to dress this up as a victory, insisting they wanted him out the club. Good! Everyones happy then. Except Rupert. Try not to snigger to much at his club statement yesterday.

Man Utd 3 Pompey 0

The result was a surprise to no one - infact I predicted it and the goalscorers - wish Id put some money on it. Manchester saw it like this, Pompey saw it like that, and The Observer saw it through these spectacles. Strangely I feel that there were more positives than negatives. I think the performance underlined who are the weak-minded Pompey players that LuaLua spoke about, and Im sure that they will be on there way out the club soon.
Other points I noticed - no handshake from Matt Taylor to Laurent Robert in the substitution.
And what a great tackle from Andy Griffin (the one that bought him a yellow card). Yes it was hard, yes he hurt the player, but yes he won the ball. Why were the commentatators and the Man U fans complaining? Is it only a fair challenge when Roy Keane does it?

Match Preview - Man U vrs Pompey

As another quiet week at Portsmouth FC comes to an end we take our stars for a trip to Old Trafford, where we will be expected to lie over and die so that some talentless journalists can reel off some cliches in their Sunday rags like ‘That Utd win was for George’, ‘George would have been proud’ or something equally unimaginative, and ignorant of the fact that he had a little soft spot for us too.
Sadly that is likely to be the case – Rooney is currently on fire, whereas Pompey are … , well less said the better but maybe a week away from Alain Perrins negative tactics will see us revitalised

RIP George.

Follow link for BBC Team news and Stats

Milan asks for privacy

Milan has requested that he be allowed some privacy to focus on paying his respects to his great friend George Best in these days leading up to Saturdays funeral, but the rumour mill shows no sign of halting.
Its looking increasingly likely that Harry Redknapp will make a sensational return to Fratton Park. His scum sidekick Dave Bassett certainly thinks so. To make it look like we're not pinning our hopes on just one man, the official site adds the names of Lawrie Sanchez and Brian Kerr to the shortlist, but I dont think either of them will set our pulses racing. Alan Ball thinks it would be crazy for Harry to return, but come on gingernut, you were apparently touting for the job and that has to be crazier still?
What has surprises me is that although Redknapp is the fans favourite for the job, there is also a sizable minority of Pompey fans who are adamant that he is the last person they want to see as manager, refusing to forgive him for his 'Judas' past. This one really seems to be splitting opinions in Pompey at the moment.
For me, yes he was a Judas for going to scum, and I did rage and the mere mention of his name,
but Ive never seen such a satisfying punishment as when Pompey humiliated Harry, his scum side and the entire city of scum who havent dared murmur since, in April thrashing them 4 1 and sending them on their way out of the Premiership.
The hate for him died then, it was released from festering inside; justice had been done. We are even stevens. That is why I dont hate him, and that is why I would be willing to accept Milans judgement if he feels he is the best man for the job. After all, we had some fantastic times with Harry, infinitely more so than any other manager of the last 50 years.

New Manager - latest

Well there isnt much in the way of fresh news today on the manager situation, just repeats of the same conflicting rumours. What is new is the belief in Sheffield that Warnock will snub Pompey and remain with the Blades, but then this is the sort of story a Sheffield spin doctor might concoct in order to keep an degree of unison before their important Sheffield derby match on Saturday.

***Update - Actually that Sheffield belief does seem to be one of the few factual stories regarding the Portmouth manager vacancy, as these quotes confirm. All eyes turn to Harry Redknapp, who appears to want to talk to Portsmouth.

Speculation hots up

The media must be running out of new names to add to pot as Pompeys next manager. Current favourites are Warnock maybe together with Curle of Chester, McLeish of Rangers and Redknapp who yesterday won the fans vote. Holloway of QPR along with Martin Allen, Terry Butcher and Mick Harford are mentioned on a QPR site, whilst the most imaginative must surely be Alan Ball with Paul Merson. Ian Dowie doesnt look to be coming, and Bobby Robson or David Pleat would just be ridiculous, but nothing surprises me in football anymore.

Least liked Premiership teams

There are always teams that people love to hate more than others. This Wigan fan has a fun view of the Premiership teams he doesnt much like, and has excellent taste when it come to what he thinks of Pompey! Must do my list one of these days (though the team we love to hate isnt in the Premiership any more ha ha).

Laurent Robert your time is up

More mad comments from Laurent Robert. Has that man got a brain? He foolishly pins his colours to Alain Perrin, despite his departure, and puts the blame for this on his 'teammates'. Not the sort of thing to be saying if you want to show any sort of commitment to Portsmouth Football Club. This is in addition to his comments to the press after he wasnt picked for last Saturdays game, where he insinuated that Mandaric was to blame.

** Update - just seen some good news - a juicy rumour that Big Sam is lining a swoop for Robert. Youre welcome, Bolton.

Harry rumours

Theres always plenty of rumours doing the rounds in Pompey, but Im not sure if I ever remember hearing so many as were flying around in the pubs before yesterdays match. The 'Harry is suspended from scum for talking to Pompey' rumour got just about everyone. but his comments seem to have dampened that story, and put Warnock back in pole position.
Glad the 'one Harry Redknapp' chant never happened yesterday, though plenty believed it would. The previously unthinkable seemed to be becoming ever more realistic yesterday. Its a crazy world.

Pompey 0 Chelsea 2

Well that match was a bit of a wind up. I dont know why we got upset, as we all knew deep down that anything other than a defeat was unlikely, but it was wind up nonetheless, and this Chelsea-biaised Guardian match report will brings all that anger back (dont read it unless youre masochistic). I was less wound up by a Chelsea fans version of events, though his idea that we frightened Chelsea only once does stretch the truth a bit.
The Independent gets a pat on the back for telling it like it is, and actually pointing out one or two positives for Pompey. Still doesnt make pleasant reading though, so lets move on.

Keane on his way???????

Judging from this photo he's all packed up and on his way South, and should reach Portsmouth by next week.

PFC vrs Chelsea - match preview

Another eventful week at Fratton ends with the visit of League Champions Chelsea. This time last week the fixture was looked upon with dread, but there is a feeling that the players will relish playing without the tactical restrictions placed upon them by Perrin, and they will be out to make a point. If Stefanovic’s ‘every player will give 200% for this game’ warcry is typical of the mood within the camp, then expect to see a performance full of spirit and passion.
Outsiders view it differently. They see a Pompey side that was already struggling, further disadvantaged by having to cope without a manager. Amid all the turmoil the side now has to face the most fearsome and expensive side in British football.
Pompeys team selection is hard to predict. Stefanovic seems to have recovered from his ‘injury’, and it may be the case that caretaker manager Joe Jordan will bring other names into the starting 11 that have yet to figure this season.
Chelsea aren’t a side that have to worry about injury problems, or even fatigue from their midweek European clash, as Mourinho has an embarrassment of star players to choose from.

BBC match stats

Reactions to Perrins departure

Happy Harry Rednapp couldnt resist commenting on events at Fratton today. Overall he seems to approve of Milans decision and he couldn’t stop himself saying ‘We did a lot of work to get into the premiership’. ‘We’ indeed.
Dejan Stefanovic was careful with his words, but didnt exactly sound surprised or disappointed, and issued an inspiring war cry on the eve of our match against the Premiership Champions.
Elsewhere Ballie was concerned at the turmoil this constant chopping and changing causes, whilst favourite to take on the job, Neil Warnock, remained tightlipped and refused to dismiss the rumours.

Au revoir Perrin

Yes, its official. Pompey have sacked Perrin.
Mandaric says its 'not been an easy conclusion to reach', and that 'Alain Perrin is a talented coach and a good, honest man who has worked extremely hard since his arrival in the summer'. I dont think anyone would argue with that. However, Milan had little alternative but to relieve Alain Perrin of his duties as things have been looking increasingly pessimistic.
The Official site says he has 'stepped down', with Joe Jordan to take over for Saturdays game, and the Daily Mail has a lovely original Reggie Perrin Leonard Rossiter picture, something even this site would think too cheesy.

God bless yer Gav!

Nothing but attention grabbing bullsh** rumours without foundation in the press about Pompey at the moment, so lets have some different news. Born on the 24th November 1967, ex-Pompey hardman Gavin Maguire is 38 today. He had more bundles more skill than most for a defender, and combined with his relish for the, shall we say, more physical aspects of the game and his total lack of respect for authority, it was never quiet whilst hardman Maguire was around. He provoked various reactions in the Fratton crowd, but to many he was and still is a bit of a cult hero. Happy birthday Gavin!

Lua Luas not happy with tactics

Lua Lua has admitted that he's not enjoying his football this season, and its not as good as it was under Harry Redknapp. From the terraces its been looking like thats how all the players feel, so Im glad he's confirmed those suspicions. He doesnt like the current tactics either and again neither do most of the Fratton crowd. We have gone from being one of the most entertaining attacking sides in the Premiership, to the most conservative and defensive.
Will our players to clambering over eachother to escape this mess as soon as they can?
Will Perrin change his style to suit the players?
Do we need to sack Perrin to keep the players happy?
Is this representive or what the other players think?

Milan says stop sniffing around ONeill

..Or words to that effect. Why he needs to create this fuss only he knows. It might appear to an outsider that he is talking O'Neill up and putting him in the shop window.

Mandaric asks the players their views on Perrin

Would love to have been a fly on the wall. The media are reporting that the senior players gave Perrin their backing in private discussions with Milan, but of course the truth we will never know.

Shall I, shant I.....

...sack Perrin. Milan Mandarics predicament is finely observed by the Times. Maybe he has learnt lessons from the past, as Mandaric seems to be giving Perrin every chance and says he wont sack him unless a better man can be found. It is encouraging that Milan is now considering who that better man will be. This is a lazy journo's dream situation and is causing much speculation with new names being added daily. As well as the well publicised Warnock rumour, there are the George Burley whispers, though today the Mirror speculates that Ian Dowie has become a front runner, whilst Sky imaginatively adds the name Alex McLeish to the pot and then there is the unknown German Gernot Rohr (please not another foreigner).

In the cold light of day....

....Are things at Pompey really that bad? OK, we certainly do not a have a team capable of achieving the sort of things we were hoping for at the beginning of the season. We were looking for progress, not another relegation battle. But relegation battle is what we will have to settle for, and lets face it, it could be worse. There is an argument that says changing manager mid-season can turn a drama into a crisis, as this interesting article from Squarefootball explains in the paragraph titled 'The Redknapp Effect'. It also gives an excellent summary of the relegation prospects of the teams at the bottom, including the surprise stat that we currently have a better away record than Arsenal and Liverpool. Maybe things arent so bad.....

Liverpool 3 Pompey 0

Well there has been a range of reactions to our latest defeat. Alain Perrin unsurprisingly choosing to focus on the lack of luck we had, Pompey sites are growing increasingly nervous about the poor results we are getting with Perrin, and Liverpool sites, calling it an easy victory. So heres a less biaised SkySports take on it.
The bottom line is 0 points out of a possible 3 for Pompey again.

Milan Keane to show Roy interest

Milan likes discretion in the transfer market when it suits. So why has he felt the need to tell the world that he has asked Peter Storey to pick up the phone and find out if Roy Keane, who today quit at Man U, wants to come here. Storeys question will probably be answered by Keane in 2 words.

Latest Team news - AOB is fit for Anfield trip

Thats a surprise, AOB being fit. Shame the same article then tells us that Toddy wont be. Two steps forward one step back.

Preview - Liverpool V PFC, Sat 19th Nov 3pm

Its ‘Welcome to Anfield’ for our Pompey boys this weekend. Lining up against the European Cup holders will be a side weakened by injury, low on confidence and battling against infighting. Will the boys pass to poor Laurent this week? So we will either get pummelled or produce one of our vintage against all the odds performances, usually marked with a glorious Taylor display. Come on Matty my son!
Crouch is yet to get off the mark for Liverpool and might also be worth a few bob to score. There are one or 2 positives for Pompey – Liverpools have a number of players, including Gerrard, that might be fatigued after the internationals of the last week, and they might also have one eye on this midweeks crucial Champions League clash against Real Betis.

Further Stats courtesy of the BBC

Stefanovic will miss Liverpool clash

Perrin says Dejan is definitely out of Saturdays clash at Anfield, joining his central defensive partner AndyOBrien on the injury list. Oh shit. At least the weather is good.

Warnock out of contention?

Phew! Sheffield Utd have insisted that they have Warnock tied into his contract with them till 2007, in response to rumours that Pompey are sniffing round him. That’s a relief.

Alain with more lame excuses

This seems to have been the week of the candid interview. In an interview with France Football magazine Alain Perrin interestingly takes full responsibility for the Laurent Robert and Brian Priske signings. Does that mean the other 10 close season signings weren’t his choices? Cant help feeling that Perrin is not strong enough to manipulate Milan to serve our common aims, following Rix, Claridge and Zajec in that mistake. The one manager that did seem to wrestle power from Milan, HR, was highly successful until Milan wrestled it back.
Also notable was his very unambitious 'we are playing to avoid relegation' quote, and his excuse for Laurent Robert being ineffective; 'Portsmouth is a difficult club to play for, because we are in the relegation battle'. So who is responsible for that???

Socceroos book their ticket to Germany

Well done the Aussie Socceroos for qualifying to the 2006 World Cup after todays victory over Uruguay after a penalty shootout, the vital goal coming from ex-Pompey striker John Aloisi.
After years of having to hear the Aussies bleat about their sporting prowess, wouldnt it be joyful for England to get the hatrick over Australia, and whip their asses in the World Cup in Germany, following on from the drubbings we gave them in the rugby and the cricket. Bring it on!

Club wont rule out.... (add your name here)

I detest lazy journalism and sensationalist headlines suggesting a story without basic facts to support the insinuation. Its an insult to our intelligence – quality papers do not do this consistently so why does the Portsmouth News think it can get away with it.
This is a paper that has the privilege of the attention of just about all the Portsmouth people, and today they treat us to a headline like this; Club wont rule out Robson. They haven’t let the fact that the club are not commenting on speculation on the future on their current manager, let alone descending to any gossip of a future manager get in the way of their story. And so a zero response becomes Club wont rule out Robson, suggesting some sort of connection between Bobby Robson and us, when infact we could equally be not ruling out Saddam Hussein as our next manager.