Step forward the real diamond king

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/25/diamond-arkady-gaydamak-lev-leviev

Salient sentence being:

However, Gaydamak states in his claim that he really owned 24.5% of the company and that his involvement was kept secret after "it was agreed that the public positioning of [Leviev] as owner and controller of the relevant assets was for convenience only. [Leviev] was a trustee vis-a-vis [Gaydamak's] share of the relevant assets".


A curious arrangement.

Harry fails this time

Harry’s Tottenham couldn’t quite live up to the fantastic Pompey Cup winning side of last May, crashing out to Man U on penalties.
But we’ve moved on from hating Harry, and are not so bitter as to take pleasure in another’s misfortune. Infact it did cross my mind to offer some words of commiseration.
Despite the defeat, I’m sure he enjoyed the occasion of a Wembley final more this time now he’s with a ‘glamorous club’, as he puts it. Being at Wembley with all his new superficial high-profile friends, I'd imagine Harry really thought he was where it’s at. Earning the extra headlines his gutter press friends oblige him with means so much more to Harry. Though their football knowledge stretches no further than London and trophy winning clubs, Harry needs the endorsement of the Fleet-Street pigs.
So I won’t commiserate with Harry, as actually he’s probably just had the day of his life, revelling in the spotlight in loves so well. Shame about the defeat.

Pompeys win signals the end to our winter of discontent

When the clocks went back by an hour on October 26 signalling the end of British summertime, it also heralded the appearance of Tony Adams at the helm of Pompey.
It’s been a hard cold winter of discontent.
The first match since the end of Adams’ spell at Portsmouth coincided with the first signs of a change in climate and in the fortunes of Portsmouth Football Club, of an emergence from a hibernation that had become more like a coma.

The win was down to goals from the 2 Cup-winning fullbacks Johnson and Hreidarsson, and was Pompey's first in the league since the end of November. David James, making his record-breaking 536th Premiership appearance kept his first clean sheet in the league since the middle of November. Pompey played with a spring in their step and were thoroughly worth their win.

Whether this is the end of the harsh cold wind that has been blowing through Fratton Park remains to be seen, but the performance offered encouragement that the storm is over and its back to business as usual for the FA Cup holders.

Adams sacked - Pompeys gamble with inexperience ends in failure again

The mistake was giving the job of managing Portsmouth Football club to someone who couldnt guarantee to hit the ground running. The appointment seemed unnecessarily hasty and wasn’t the tonic needed after Harry Redknapp had shafted Pompeys season 2008/2009 by walking out on us for a mutton-dressed-as-lamb tart of a club.

With the club rocked to its very foundations, if ever there was a time for turning to a steadying hand of experience rather than a novice, it was then.

If ever there was a time for getting a respected top-flight manager to reassure our team of internationals that there are good reasons for staying at Pompey, it was then.

If ever there was a time to show that Pompey have learned that a quality, proven manager is the foundation on which success can be built, and that it wont repeat the old mistakes in appointing the likes of Perrin, Zejac, Rix, Claridge, Fenwick and Gregory, it was then.

If ever the Pompey public needed a boost after seeing the golden age of Camelot end suddenly with a dark age looming, after seeing all our Christmases come to an abrupt end with the departure of the man that seemed to have given us back our respect, it was then.

If ever there was a time to show that the club were bigger than Harry Redknapp and capable of progressing without him, it was then.

I'm sorry, but the appointment Tony Adams did not tick any of the boxes. Ive got nothing against the bloke and once he was given the job I wanted to see him make a success of it as much as anyone, but it was hard to visualise it ever happening. Waiting for a decent result was like the excruciating wait for Scott McGarvey’s first goal, and in the end he Munsoned it.
Now the pressure is really on Pompey to appoint the right man this time. We do like to make life difficult for ourselves sometimes.

Pompey dismal 10 days - review

The last 10 days for Pompey have been dire.
First Pompey surrendered to Swansea without so much as a whimper, ending our proud grip on the FA Cup. The manner of the defeat was hard to take – Swansea deserved the victory even if it was in large part due to thieving scummer Nathan Dyer. My anger inclined towards Mr Adams, but I remained tightipped as I didn’t want to be guilty of jumping on a kneejerk emotion bandwagon. Difficult as Adams had annoyed me in the week with his comments on the potential signing of Viera: “Milan, Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Milan” he said in a what-would you-do well-its-bleeding-obvious-init sort of way. Thought that was pretty insulting to Pompey, and thought to myself – you’re not Pompey at heart Tony. You just don’t get it, we don’t see ourselves second-class to anyone. Bet he wouldn’t speak like that if it was Arsenal not Portsmouth he was talking about.
Anyway, give him another chance I thought, maybe the Cup capitulation was a blip and the Viera comments were a smokescreen. It might all come together at last against Villa. But no, the run of dismal results continued and was then followed on Saturday by a very predictable defeat to Fulham. I know we have lost 2 of the best midfielders in the world, but nevertheless I had hoped for better from whoever we chose as Redknapps replacement. This is seriously starting to damage the clubs evolution. I really thought that this season we would be doing what Villa are instead doing : threatening the top 4 monopoly. Chrissakes our players are better than them. Instead I am beginning to suspect we have chosen an altogether different path of evolution – one where we have to adjust, rebuild, relearn and re-do everything rather than building upon the fantastic foundations of Pompeys last couple of massive seasons, rendering those years pretty pointless and meaningless.

Spurs 1 Pompey 1 - Postmatch reflection

An entertaining grudge match that Pompey so nearly won. Redknapp has tried to spin it that Tottenham were unlucky not to win, but he is choosing to forget Nugents one on one chance that could so easily have gone in. Bent’s miss wasn’t as bad as it is being portrayed – he had to beat the best keeper in the world so not surprisingly he opted to place it low near the post. That he missed by a foot or two had more to do with the immensity of David James than the abilities of Darren Bent. The moment was more memorable for the face of Redknapp – like a bulldog licking pee off a stinging nettle. He really really wanted to beat us. What drives a man to that level of desire? Fear of taking down another club to the Championship after shafting Pompey again, or does the desire come from putting one over the club he said he was with ‘till-I-die’? The draw leaves Pompey continuing to steady the ship after our wobble and Tottenham joint bottom of the Premiership, good karma on a club that do love to talk the talk. Oh yes they do love to talk the talk, how they were going to steal all Pompey’s best players and build a new Tottenham based on the successful Cup winning Pompey team. Well at great expense they’ve plundered old Bagpuss and the questionable talents Defoe and with a bank balance that must be starting to creak, they are looking like walking the walk all the way to the Championship. You have to laugh.

Was Defoe any good for Pompey? The stats.

So Defoe has done a Redknapp and walked out on Pompey and the media are working themselves into a lather again over what they perceive to be Pompeys misfortune.
The stats say otherwise:
Pompey bought Defoe for £8 million and sold him back for somewhere between £15.75 million and £19 million. Who are the mugs, Pompey or Spurs? Spurs, no contest.
Is he worth the fee or his considerable wages? Pompeys stats supplied by Pompeyrama show that in the 34 matches Defoe appeared in a Pompey shirt:
Won 11 Drew 7 Lost 16.
Compare that to the stats in the preceding 34 matches Pompey played before Defoe arrived, in all competitions:
Won 16 Drew 9 Lost 9.
Obviously there are other factors to take into account, but overall results got worse once Defoe arrived. Sure he scored a great rate of goals, but the stats show that results were better before he arrived when the goals were shared throughout the side.
Far from his departure being seriously bad news for Pompey, Id say its great to get rid of someone who didn’t improve results, did not have his heart in Pompey and was not likely to have been the best influence in the dressingroom or on the pitch for team morale. Im glad to see him go to Spurs, its a match made in comedy heaven. I don’t wish to sound sour, but in reply to those who inexplicably find this to be an excuse to laugh at Pompey, I will laugh much harder when Defoe languishes back in the Spurs reserves, loses his England place and disrupts what little team spirit there is at Tottenham.

What a very good year for Pompey

Ive lost count of the number of times Ive been asked if Im worried about the Pompey fire-sale. When I say its a myth and point out the facts that we’ve only sold one player, for a fantastic profit, and he was always going to leave anyway, it always seems to bring surprise. When I point out the few other potential sales are underperforming players potentially being sold for great profit, it brings even greater surprise/disappointment. Its not as though Jermain Defoe is anything to shed tears about. Maybe if he had achieved half of Alan Bileys impact, or that of Hateley, Whittingham, Walshie,Toddy or the Yak to name but a few. No, Jermain has a long way to go to be remembered with anything like the same affection, and if we can turn a profit, then rather than negative news, surely this is another demonstration of the astute way in which Portsmouth Club has been run in 2008. The year we won back the FA Cup. The year in which in many England matches we had more players representing than any other club. The year we received £14 million for 1 midfielder then £20 million for the other. The year we qualified for Europe for the first time ever. The year we beat Man Utd at Old Trafford to prevent them winning the treble. The year the media tried to put a negative spin on everything we did cos they didn’t like the fact that we looked capable of toppling the big 4 monopoly. Maybe the Pompey rocket of progress may be shifting to a lower gear, but I see no reason why 2009 cant be as beautiful for Pompey fans as that very good year of 2008. What a very good year.
Heres to a Happy New Year for Pompey fans everywhere.

Pompey 0 Newcastle 3 - the inquest.

Pompey have been threatening to capitulate to this sort of defeat for a while. The only surprise was that it was to Newcastle, though in truth it could have been to any Championship-standard side. Maybe earlier in the season it would have been a shock to know that we would to lose 3 0 at home, but not now.
Since Captain Pugface deserted us it seems we’ve been all at sea. Is it because our able seamen are now led by the Cabin boy, or is this doing Tony Adams a major disservice and actually the problem lies with a few rebellious insubordinates?
Or maybe it is just a continuation of how things would have been under the deserter, after the early season 4-0 defeats to Chelsea and the 6 0 Man City drubbing.
Certainly something needs to change. Having installed Adams as the Captain of this ship, there is little choice but to give him a fair crack of the whip. That being the case, it has to be the players that change, a galling prospect given the promise we all felt in these players after last season and the potential they had of further great things, maybe even a champions league place. Now there seems to be little prospect that the side will stay together to fulfil its full potential. But if they dont want to stay and play then flog 'em, I say. Flog 'em.

Ex Pompey great Muntari firing them in for Inter

Its great to see Muntari continue to be a massive success after his move to Inter Milan, scoring another goal last weekend. Absolute top player. Together with Diarra and Kranjcar last season, I honestly felt Pompey had a midfield that matched if not bettered anyone else in the country, a claim which at the time sounded extremely biased, though I think time will prove otherwise (and not forgetting the massive achievement of Pompey's FA Cup win to justify that claim). If we had had Defoe and Crouch upfront all last season to augment that fantastic midfield (and defence), who knows where we might have finished. Certainly finishing 8th was a major underachievement.

Maybe Muntari leaving was the catalyst for Harry to leave; certainly Id have been disappointed to have to sell him, though Ive always wondered whether Muntari leaving was more down to his desire to be in Italy rather than Pompey cashing him in, as we didnt exactly get top dollar for him. Playing for Mourinho and sitting pretty at the top of Serie A, Muntari wont have too many regrets just yet.

Spare a thought for Ben

This article about Ben Sahar pulled at the heartstrings a bit. Poor guy, in Portsmouth he has no friends nor can he get a kosher meal. Cast aside your worries about the credit crunch, the value of all your assets plunging by the day, the prospect of unemployment and all the other current bleak news, and spare a thought for Ben, who cant cook himself a kosher meal and cant make friends. It cant be easy when youre special but noone else can see it. Im only thankful he gets paid lots of money.

Pompey 1 Wigan 2

Napoleon once said "I do not want a good General, I want a lucky one", and that’s exactly how I felt after Pompey endured all the bad luck in the world not to come away with 3 points against Wigan on Saturday. It really began to seem as though Pompey were fated to suffer agonizing near misses, terrible refereeing decisions, and general bad luck against the run of play. Its tempting to wonder if those near misses would have gone in if Lucky Harry was charge, as the 11 players on the pitch didn’t seem to be doing much differently than they would have previously, other than getting the rub of the green.
This feeling was amplified after yet another inexplicable Spurs result that owed everything to great fortune, leaving me in this week of Halloween, close to believing in the supernatural idea that the heavenly light that has been guiding Pompey throughout our recent successful period has followed Harry to Tottenham.

Dirty Harry reinvents his childhood

18/10/2008 – Harry ‘…I went with my Dad to watch Arsenal every week’

26/10/2008 – Harry ‘….it was Spurs I used to go and watch,they were the team I supported’

Hmm - feel this could easily become a daily feature, picking through Harry bullsh*it, not that Im absorbed with the cheeky colourful every-ones-favourite-uncle two-faced lying ****.

Happy days for Pompey after dispatching Guimaraes

Totally enjoyed Pompeys late late show last night away at Guimaraes, Peter Crouch’s double sending us through to the group stages of the UEFA cup. Fantastic result after enduring a storming Guimaraes first half performance that left Pompey dazed on the ropes, close to being knocked out.
Fantastic support, looked like a great fun out there, cant wait to be part of it in the group stages.
There were a few players whose performances were below the high standards they usually set, but they all came good in the end to give us a vintage night to remember, and earn their frolics in the sea the next morning.
Came in a week we gave sour Spurs a lesson in football, and after the up-themselves cockneys had the cheek to ask Pompey to explain how it dealt with the matter [of abuse], a case of trying to deflect responsibility straight out of the teflon-Tony Blair book of blame management.
Finally back to the Guimaraes game - I did laugh at the strange decision by the ref to blow for a goal kick after a Pompey cross was headed back across the box by Peter Crouch who was clearly a yard or 2 in front of the line, still in play - nearly as bad as last weeks phantom goal.

Bad day at the Office for Pompey

OK so we got beat badly, well thrashed infact. Im not as concerned as I would be if I was a fan of alot of the other Premiership clubs - Tottenham, Newcastle to name but 2 who’s expectations for this season aren’t yet being met, and whose concerns are maybe a bit more longterm.
A positive for me is the reaction to Man City’s win. For Mark Hughes it was the perfect day, his best performance as a manager, and he cant keep his cheesy smile off his face. Man City player Ireland now thinks they’re invincible , they all seem to see it as a benchmark; beating us has set the standard. Well it is a benchmark for Pompey too in a way. A benchmark in how we are perceived. The last time we were well thrashed was 21/1/2006 at Birmingham, and rather than being hailed worldbeaters as Man City are right now, the Brummies got few plaudits as to thrash us wasn’t seen as particularly special or unusual. Man City’s coming in their pants over wopping us is actually a great compliment, though unintentional on their part and not very enjoyable on ours.

Terry to face Pompey after red card ban lifted

John Terrys 3 match ban imposed after his red card on Saturday has been cleared by the FA after Chelsea were today successful in their appeal that it was a wrongful dismissal.
Terry's foul was a cross between a rugby tackle and a clothesliner and he made no attempt to win the ball, just cynically taking the attacker down - its cheating, its not football.
For me giving a red card rather than a yellow was far from a clearcut error of judgement by the referee Mark Halsey, so I feel its pretty shabby that the FA have chosen to overrule him. It not only undermines this referee, but all refs, who must now fear that all their decisions are fair game to debate and appeal, and who can no longer count on any level of support from their employers.
The 3 matches Terry can now play are vrs Merch Utd, Portsmouth and Stoke.
Was this irregular decision made so that the weekends Premier League showcase match V ManUre is played with as many 'stars' involved as possible? Is this sport or entertainment?

Pompey 2 Middlesborough 1

Relief all round that Pompey managed to get the 3 points. Despite dominating Boro, against the run of play Pompey fell a goal behind and Ive witnessed many a weekend ruined by that once-familiar storyline. However this seasons squad has been built with maximum flexibility at the forefront of the thinking, as Neville Dalton on Fratton Faithful observes. And this paid dividends when a bit of halftime tactical jiggery pokery by Harry provided the platform for Pompey to twice breach Middlesboroughs resilient defence for a well deserved victory (despite what Southgate might spin it to seem).
Pompeyrama’s view is here, Boromania’s is here, and a possibly impartial Setanta view with full match-stats is here.

Pompey V Boro Preview

Submitted by Pompeyboy @ Pompeyrama
Middlesbrough return to Fratton on Saturday, where hopefully they will find a very different Pompey side they managed to beat 1-0 last time. We also lost 2-0 at their place, thanks mainly to Pompey being in Wembley mode at the tail end of last season.
The Blues haven't scored against Boro since the fantastic 4-0 away win from August 2006, this time they will face the threat of the new strike force and probably the new 3-5-2. They will however be travelling south high in confidence, having made a good start this year; beating Spurs and Stoke with a reverse at Liverpool to bag 6 points.
Nadir Belhadj is expected to make his debut after starring for Algeria in his country's 3-2 win over Senegal last weekend. David James, Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Lassana Diarra, Hermann Hreidarsson, Younes Kaboul and Ben Sahar have also all been away on international duty this week.
I'm predicting the first Fratton win of the season, score: 2-0. Pompeyboy @ Pompeyrama

Personally, whilst not wanting to go overboard after our last win, Middlesborough are a bit ordinary, and we do owe them, so Ill go for 3-0. For a decent Boro perspective preview try Boromania. HSBGuzzler

Heavens Light Our Guide is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two years have passed since this site last submitted any new articles, and taking a glance at those 2006 postings shows how much Pompey have progressed in that time, not that we need reminding.
The motivation for writing for this site in this period of Pompey success has been strangely less for me than when we were up against it. Maybe thats true of actually supporting the club aswell, certainly for a generation or 3 of us who stuck with Pompey out of sympathy, a bloodyminded enjoyment of being the underdog and a hatred of glory-hunters, and who find this sudden success a bit alien. Of those, many are still not sure if it feels comfortable to be supporting one of the best teams in the country, a team that brings home silverware, and regularly beats the clubs with fans that have in the past laughed at us, lorded it over us, and condescended to us on the rare occasions they actually remembered we existed.
But actually it is lovely, especially to be shoving it up the arses of the plastic fans of those clubs who attract all the glory hunters, and seeing them bamboozled in the face of a proper football club with proper football history and tradition playing proper good football in front of proper football fans with proper passion. Long may it continue. Now that Im starting to get my head around the idea of us being good, hopefully this site will see some more articles at last, motivated now by the joy of being a Pompey fan rather than the anger. Play up Pompey.

Spurs 2 Pompey 1 - Jols smugly philosophical

Its easy to be philosophical when an injustice has just gone your way and won you the game.
Martin Jols reaction to the incorrect penalty decision that cost Pompey the game was; ‘You win some you lose some’.
Cheers for your support and your sympathy Jol, we’ll remind you of those smug words next time you have a bleat, and hopefully shove them right back frrom where they came.
For the second season in succession a refereeing mistake has lost us the match at White Hart Lane. Highly irritating, especially when Spurs looked so ordinary and undeserving of their win, except in the eyes of their blinkered fans. Personally if I was them I would be embarassed rather than smug, but maybe thats why we dont like Spurs and their ilk.