The First Point Is The Sharpest
By Mark Murphy
Portsmouth went into the international break winless, goalless and pointless, having narrowly and unfortunately lost the “battle of the Emirates” to Manchester City on Sunday.
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With Sulaiman Al-Fahim becoming Pompey owner just in time for the clash, the pundits were ready to contrast the fortunes of moneybags Manchester and potless Portsmouth.
However, despite Emanuel Adebayor’s first-half opener and an erroneously disallowed goal by Micah Richards, the game didn’t follow the script. Indeed, Portsmouth would have grabbed a well-earned point if David Nugent had hit his 88th minute drive either side of City keeper Shay Given.
These are worrying times, however. After Tuesday’s transfer deadline, only four of Pompey’s FA Cup winners remain at the club.
Given the turnover of playing staff in the modern game, that statistic in isolation is unremarkable. More pertinent to Pompey’s chances of survival – which may have to be the height of Portsmouth’s ambition this season – is the relative quality of signings and departures.
The summer transfer window saw 13 arrivals and 18 departures. And Pompey’s flurry of transfer activity since the takeover was confirmed suggests some admirable pre-planning by Peter Storrie and his team.
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Fans will have been buoyed by the news that striker Kanu has agreed a new one-year deal, extending the month-by-month contract under which he started the season. Also, midfielder Papa Bouba Diop has extended his contract until 2011.
But departures such as Peter Crouch, Niko Krancjar and Sylvan Distin won’t necessarily be fully replaced by Tommy Smith, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Michael Williamson.
Of the deals done by the “new” regime, the best-looking is ex-Bolton defender Tel Ban Haim from Manchester City. The worst is possibly Boateng.
Spurs former director of football Damien Comolli made some headline-grabbing player recruitment mistakes at the Lane (see Martin Jol for details), none worse than the ineffectual former Hertha Berlin midfielder. Former Spurs midfield colleague Jamie O’Hara will provide a bit more aggression to that midfield area.
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Pompey fans will argue that Tommy Smith from Watford must be an improvement on Burnley-bound (on-loan) David Nugent. And the biggest plus could be England goalkeeper David James staying, although his motivation might not be tip-top, to judge by his ready involvement in Spurs manager Harry Redknapp’s last-minute wheeler-dealing.
Scope for further additions in January is limited by the low-budget nature of Al-Fahim’s eventual takeover deal.
However, closer analysis of Portsmouth’s first four games offers more hope for fans already compartmentalised as “nerve-shredded” by a number of different media sources.
Aside from their near-inevitable defeat at Arsenal, Pompey have lost each game by the solitary goal. Against Fulham and Birmingham, that goal had the luck of the serial mirror-smasher about it from Pompey’s standpoint. Their all-round display against Manchester City was very encouraging. And manager Paul Hart’s subsequent transfer dealings have strengthened the squad that was available to him on Sunday.
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So, at the risk of being nominated for countless “pun of the year” awards, Hart has instilled some heart in the squad. And where there’s heart there’s hope.
Tags:
Portsmouth,
Sulaiman Al-Fahim,
David Nugent,
Pompey,
Papa Bouba Diop,
David James,
Paul Hart
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