Fratton swoops - the runners and riders

Pompey insist no more stars will leave Fratton Park.

If that's true - and my optimistic side has chosen to believe it - then fans can now focus their attention on new arrivals.

Midfield is clearly a priority, with the heart of the FA Cup winning team - Mendes, Muntari and Diarra - having been ripped out.

Sean Davis, Richard Hughes and Papa Bouba Diop are honest enough, but additions are needed.

The January transfer window rumour mill is up and running.

So here's my take on the names that have been linked with Pompey so far.

Gary O'Neil
Has the club in his heart and wants to come. Would bring a degree of stability to the right-hand side as well having the ability to play in the middle, his preferred position.
Industrious and a good passer, a deal would be a no-lose situation.
Some say his return would be a step backwards for the club, but the majority of fans would welcome him back with open arms.
Middlesbrough don't want to sell him but if they can get Jimmy Bullard in, they may be willing to let O'Neil have his way.

Joey Barton
Good player, poor man. While he hasn't recaptured anything like the form that earned him an England cap, at his best he is a highly dynamic box-to-box player.
The major trouble has come off the pitch - a prison sentence for common assault and affray, assaulting a team-mate, stubbing out a cigar in a team-mate's eye, assaulting a 15-year-old Everton fan to give you a flavour.
Tony Adams clearly empathises with the midfielder's plight and he's had a spell at the Pompey boss' Sporting Chance clinic.
The question is: do Pompey want a person like this representing their club? My verdict: A resounding no.

Edu
High-quality midfielder who enjoyed a prosperous spell at Arsenal. Good touch and good passer and at 30 is the finished product.
Would definitely add experience and, having played 100 times for the Gunners, knows what the Premiership is all about.
As an old team-mate, Adams should know his game inside out.
Edu's had injuries at Valencia, though, and the biggest concern would be whether he still presents a vibrant midfield option or whether he is simply a star on the wane?

Edin Dzeko
Bosnian striker (above) tore Pompey to pieces in their recent Uefa Cup group match against Wolfsburg (he scored in a 3-2 win).
The News' correspondents in Germany report a strong striker who is clever with it and possess a good touch. Physically, at 6ft 3in, he could cope with the Premier League easily and has been a true star in the Bundesliga.
Pompey would have to stump up around £5m, although Wolfsburg would be highly reluctant to sell. At just 22, he is clearly a rising star in the game. Would be a terrific signing.

Manuel Fernandes
A familiar face for Pompey fans after his loan spell in 2006. Was highly rated upon his arrival from Benfica and showed glimpses of true class. Had two loan spells at Everton, although his second was disappointing. He was half-owned by an agency - similar to Carlos Tevez - although I believe Valencia have now paid them off, they are out of the equation. Nevertheless, the Spanish side would want a healthy return unless a loan deal can be arranged. A bit hit and miss so any deal would be a gamble.

Marvin Elliott
Bristol City have strenuously denied having any contact from Pompey about the midfielder who has impressed for the Robins, albeit in the Championship. Wolves are also sniffing around and, if he went for him, Adams would be gambling the former Millwall man can make the step up to the top flight.
His performance in the FA Cup third-round tie at Fratton Park suggest he could - and all eyes will be on him in the replay on Tuesday night. At the right price, could be worth a punt.

Benjani
A true cult hero at Fratton Park. During his time at Pompey, Fratton Park stuck with him despite a barren start. They appreciated his whole-hearted effort and took him to their hearts.
Their patience was rewarded and Benji started to add goals to his industry. Genuine bloke who was never looking for a move away, he would be a popular buy.
The very least you get is a player only to happy to put in a shift (Jermain Defoe take note).
Surely there's no future for him at Man City, who are looking to add Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz to their ranks. Crucially, Benji can play the lone striker role, which Adams is increasingly fond of.

Javier Saviola
The only one on the list that could be laughed off. Currently at Real Madrid, the ex-Barcelona man would represent an audacious coup. But then I remember when I laughed off Sol Campbell coming to the Park...

Deadline? What deadline?

By Pompey’s standards last night’s transfer deadline day was a non-event.
No last-minute deals to get Harry Redknapp’s adrenaline pumping.

No Benjani-style hold-ups or paperwork dramas.

Instead, fans had to be content with the arrival of Algerian Nadir Belhadj on a season-long loan.

It wasn’t the Wright-Phillips arrival everyone had hoped for a few weeks ago but there is a reason to be relatively cheerful - no-one left.

Well, no-one except Jean-Francois Christophe and, let’s be honest, he doesn’t really count.

As usual there were a lot of rumours knocking about.

The People reckoned Lassana Diarra was all set to join Spurs, but the sports desk reckoned they’d got the wrong end of the stick.

Harry Redknapp insisted he wanted only to get rid of fringe players and Diarra is certainly not that.

More importantly, we knew Diarra’s agent’s dislike of Spurs director of football Damien Comoli would count against the move.

The other rumour was Pompey were involved in last-gasp talks with fresh-out-of jail Joey Barton.

You can read Harry’s empahatic respone to that in tomorrow’s News.

The heartening thing for fans is none of Fratton Park’s top stars have followed Sulley Muntari or Pedro Mendes out the door to balance the books.

With a trip to Portugal in the UEFA Cup on the horizon, that would have been a disaster.

So while Pompey’s ‘credit crunch’ has dampened expectation, there is still reason to be confident of another decent season.

- So it looks like the way forward this season is 3-5-2.
And why not after Pompey’s wing wonders destroyed Everton at the weekend.
Playing Chelsea and Manchester United first thing made Pompey look a worse side then we are.
They are the two top teams in Europe, don’t forget.
Crouch and Defoe got service and got involved at Goodison Park.
The result - Pompey turned on the style.
- Finally, yours truly is cycling 160 miles this weekend.
Not just for fun, mind you. I’m doing the Pedal for Primus challenge - with 40 other riders - cycling between all four of Linvoy’s professional clubs.
It’s in aid of Faith and Football and their work to get the game into the poorer areas of our community.
We set off Friday and return on Sunday to be greeted by a Community Fun Day at Fratton Park.
The Fun Day is free to enter, starts at 3pm and features face painting, a bouncy castle, penalty shoot-out as well as food and drink.
Get down there and join in the fun.