Time to bring O'Neil home

It's a bold - and reassuring - statement.

Pompey executive chairman Peter Storrie has told The News Jermain Defoe will be the last big-name Pompey player to leave in the January transfer window.

Glen Johnson, Peter Crouch, Sylvain Distin, David James - going nowhere.

Raising the spirits of wounded Pompey fans, he also said new signings are on their way, two by the end of the next week.

It's nailed on that one of those will be Gary O'Neil, and it's a prospect that has split opinion.

On one hand, supporters believe it's a backward step. The other side reckon a dedicated, hard-working player like O'Neil is worth 10 Defoes.

Let's be frank. O'Neil's not in the same class as Lassana Diarra or Sulley Muntari.

But he would improve the current midfield, adding a touch of creativity to the industry and muscle of Papa Bouba Diop, Sean Davis and Richard Hughes.

The biggest thing you'd get with O'Neil, though, is heart at a time when Pompey risk having it ripped out.

Having come through the ranks he cares for the club, wants to return and wouldn't spend his spare time on the phone to his agent.

O'Neil's as genuine as they come and Pompey runs through his veins.

At a time of unsettling overhaul and a manager finding his way at the top level, the return of O'Neil is a no-brainer.

It's a no-lose situation - and Fratton Park would welcome him back with open arms.

Farewell Lassana - it was great while it lasted

It was a deal which suited both parties.

Lassana Diarra got the first-team football he craved and Pompey - a club looking to escape years of mediocrity - got the services of a genuine world-class talent.

Both knew it was only a temporary arrangement, but everyone was happy with it.

Harry Redknapp knew he has a player to take his team to unprecedented heights and fans licked their lips at the prospect of seeing a special player at Fratton Park.

It's why, with his departure to Real Madrid imminent, there'll be no recriminations, no bitter parting shots.

Admittedly, there were grumblings of discontent when Diarra openly admitted Pompey were a stepping stone to greater things.

But a degree of perspective prevailed and in the end the player was even praised for his honesty.

The absence of badge-kissing antics and declarations of undying love were understood.

The message was clear. Here was a player on his way to the very top.

Diarra was grateful for a stage to display his talents: Pompey were happy to provide the platform.

The club can look back with justifiable pride at the way they boosted the midfielder's ascent.

In truth, though, the benefits were two-way.
With Diarra at the hub of Redknapp's team, Pompey won the FA Cup and qualified for Europe, their best season for half-a-century.

And then there's the small matter of an expected profit of around £16m in just a year - a remarkable turnaround.

It's enough cash, one hopes, to ease the club's financial worries and assist Tony Adams in the transfer market. We'll see how that materialises.

It will be sad to bid farewell to one of the finest footballers to grace Fratton Park.

But I doubt whether sentiment is at the top of Diarra's priorities.
In his defence, he has always given Pompey his all and leaves us with once-in-a-lifetime memories.

With Real Madrid sniffing, we'll forgive him his suspiciously slow recovery from an ankle injury.

The Frenchman is ruthlessly ambitious and he's got his dream.

Pompey have been used - and haven't we loved it.

Make the city proud, Pompey

If there is to be a pinnacle of Pompey's current era, tonight is surely the night.

Don't get me wrong, the trips to Wembley were gloriously spine-tingling.

But earning the right to play AC Milan in a competitive fixture? That's off the scale.

Kaka (one of the best players in the world) will line up at Fratton Park with Ronaldinho (one of the best players in the world) ready to come off the bench.

The Rossoneri are taking this seriously. That's the mark of Pompey's progress in recent years.

These are uncertain times at Pompey following Harry Redknapp's departure but, for all the scale of tonight's occasion, we mustn't cower in the face of the Italians.

Pompey are a quality team in their own right.
The worry is, of course, that the spine of this side is missing.

Jermain Defoe, Lassana Diarra and Sol Campbell are definitely out, seemingly undermining Tony Adams' faith that his charges can still pull off a Uefa Cup shock.

The creative Niko Kranjcar is also missing, although the absence of John Utaka won't break too many Pompey hearts.

Personally, I just hope Pompey do the city proud.

Historic is an overused word, but this really is a game people will remember for generations.

After the struggles of the 90s, to see the boys in blue give it absolutely everything against Milan will be enough for me.

If Adams' team do that they give themselves a chance of getting a result. That's all anyone can ask.

To those people who seized the chance to watch the likes of Seedorf, Kaka, Pato, Shevchenko, Pirlo, Ronaldinho et al train at Fratton Park last night, I applaud you.

This is not something which you can expect to come round that often.

Obviously, the hope is Pompey will build on their recent success and Euro nights like this will be more common in the future.

The reality is this may not happen.

So join me in savouring watching Pompey v AC Milan under the Fratton Park floodlights in a crunch Uefa Cup game.

Play up Pompey.

Is Davis on his way out of Pompey?

So the question is: How much do Pompey want to keep Sean Davis?

The midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season, but according to the player the club has yet to make any moves to tie him up on a new deal.

In interviews Pompey boss Harry Redknapp regularly appears reluctant to talk up the midfielder, prompting speculation of a personality clash.

There is also no doubt that pre-season Pompey were keen to get rid of him in order to balance the books.

Celtic came in, but Davis didn't fancy a move to Scotland.

In the end, Pedro Mendes was sacrificed to appease the bank manager.

Davis has responded this season by playing well, providing a quality foil for the more wide-ranging skills of Lassana Diarra.

It's clear he wants to stay - but the silence from the Pompey hierarchy is deafening.

Davis told The News:

'I don't want to go anywhere else but at the moment I have no idea where my
future will be.

'The ball's in their court, it's always been in their court.'

The former Fulham man appears underrated by the Pompey management, although fans are quickly on to the messageboards to laud his contribution.

Is he easily replaceable or should he be tied down?

I think his on-field displays deserve a new contract, but you get the feeling Pompey - for whatever reason - would be happy to see the midfielder leave Fratton Park.

Bigger fish to fry

Pompey 10-man injury crisis is nice for headlines.

But Harry Redknapp won’t be losing much sleep over it.

Put it this way, there won’t be many 10-men injury lists for a Premier League game or an FA Cup game.

With the UEFA Cup now part of the club’s fixture list, the Carling Cup has slipped further down the pecking order.

You want proof - even David Nugent was lined up to play tonight (Wednesday) before he found his (familiar) way to the treatment table.

Some of these players’ knocks can be translated as rested.

Jermain Defoe will be fine for Sunday, while Lassana Diarra has a knock below the knee, not ligament damage as Harry mischieviously suggested.

These are two examples of Harry ‘rotating’ his sqaud.

The Carling Cup is basically second string versus second string (or youth team if you are Arsenal).

It’s now a chance for recuperating stars or youthful promise.

For many - eg Sol Campbell - it means a rest day.

For Pompey, this should be seen as a sign of our success.

It should be thrilling for fans to realise that, at the present time, we have bigger fish to fry.

Pompey crumble to City slickers

Ouch! That one hurt.

Humiliating and embarrassing. Losing is one thing but capitulating to a 6-0 defeat is another.

Robinho, Stephen Ireland and Elano tore Pompey apart.

But the manner of the drubbing at Man City came out of nowhere.

After the euphoria of the UEFA Cup win on Thursday, Pompey just weren't up for it.

The News columnist Alan McLoughlin was shellshocked in today's (Monday) paper.

The former Pompey stalwart was almost lost for words, which for anyone who knows Macca is quite something.

I spoke to him as he was enduring the miserable drive down the M6.

It will have been a similar story for a host of Pompey fans.

Harry Redknapp's tactics were wrong but, crucially, the players' attitude was also wrong.

A bit of complacency, a bit of tiredness, a lack of desire in the face of a vibrant City - they are all guilty, all apart from Lassana Diarra who was the best of a bad bunch by all accounts.

What I would pay to be a fly on the wall when the team sit down to watch the video nasty.

One reason the match was such a shock was because that sort of thing doesn't happen to Pompey these days.

We are the FA Cup winners, a team with internationals, a team on the up.

For that reason, in the cold light of day, most fans will put it down as a freak result.

They will, though, demand a response. Firstly, against Chelsea in the Carling Cup on Wednesday.

More importantly, Pompey must show how much this performance hurt them.

The best way is to take their anger on beleagured Spurs next weekend in front of their own fans.

That's the least we all expect.

Pompey's Euro Tour up and running

Pompey looked liked they’d been playing European football for years.

But then most of their players have.

Ironically, in the team’s Euro debut they had too much experience and know-how for their opponents Guimaraes.

Not that it was straight forward.

Overall, it could have been better - Jermain Defoe missed a penalty and Armand Traore was denied by a stunning save.

But crucially it could have been worse - James produced a lucky save and they also missed from 12 yards.

Basically, we’ll take 2-0. Let’s not be greedy.

The occasion was terrific and the fans lapped up their moment in history.

The supporters were determined to make their mark on Europe and they did just that.

Our back page today (Friday) sees Harry Redknapp dedicating the win to the crowd.

Traore also talks up the atmosphere as they best he’s ever played in.

Pompey - staff, fans, players, the city - were in this together.

On the pitch two players caught my eye.

Nadir Belhadj was excellent. His partnership down the left with Traore is quick and dynamic.
They both look hungry.

Belhadj looks like he’s loving it at Fratton and the crowd have responded immediately - they love him.

His cross for Defoe’s goal was as perfect as they come.

Diarra is from another level. He knows it, Harry knows and the fans know it.

Refreshingly, the supporters also acknowldege the Frenchmen will leave at some point but are intent on enjoying him while he’s here.

It’s a rare dose of realism amid the hyperbole of professional football.

Instead of feeling bitter betrayal when he does depart for Real Madrid or the like, the majority will feel a sense of pride that the classy Frenchmen pulled on a Pompey shirt.

My hope is he gives us the rest of the season at least. That will be a fair return and there’s no doubt regular football at Fratton is making him a better player.

In the first-half, especially, Diarra was too much for Guimaraes who, nevertheless, looked an accomplished side.

When they stepped it up in the second half, it posed Pompey problems.

That was a taste of things to come in Portugal.

Two-nil alone will not be enough, but I do think Pompey have more than enough to get on the scoresheet and wrap up the tie.

AC Milan then awaits. Now that really would be mind-blowing.

Pompey's Euro vision

The last few years have seen Pompey stride forward impressively.

The Great Escape, best league finish for half a century and, of course, FA Cup winners.

Thursday night will see another chapter in the club’s history written when they play in the UEFA Cup.

My view is simple: don’t underestimate anything.

Don’t underestimate the occasion - this is Pompey embracing the European stage for the first time.

Don’t underestimate the opponents - Vitoria SC will be good. They finished above Benfica in their league and will be technically excellent.
Beware Pompey.

To win and proceed to the group stages will be a decent achievement.
It should not just be expected.

Our back page today (Tuesday) has David James warning his team-mates not to blow their chance.

James is right to compare the match to a cup final - I just hope the team have prepared as such.

It would be a waste to fall at the first hurdle.

From the fans point of view, the occasion must be savoured. After all, this is history in the making.

- Watching Spurs last night put Pompey’s current squad in flattering context.

Harry Redknapp’s policy of getting in English talent reflects well on Juande Ramos’ array of world ‘stars’.

The spine of a team is always key.

Therefore, Spurs fans must have shuddered at the performances of keeper Heurelho Gomes, playmaker Luka Modrić and new big-money striker Roman Pavlyuchenko in the 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa.

In that order they were erratic, lightweight and off the pace.

Thank goodness for David James, Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe.

Harry we salute you.

'Mad man' Belhadj

Jermain Defoe and the breathtaking Lassana Diarra rightly took the plaudits for the win over Boro.

But there is a new darling of Fratton Park.

Nadir Belhadj more than caught the eye of the fans. Incredibly, after just 45 minutes of action, he's been taken to their hearts already.

What John Utaka would give for just a slice of that!

In today's (Monday) News, three people summed up the impact of Belhadj vividly.

Our chief sports writer Neil Allen, in his match report, described how, after his enthusiastic, lung-bursting introduction, team-mate Sean Davis had to calm the debutant down.

Then our columnist Alan McLoughlin expressed his amazement - and delight - at the player's standing ovation on the final whistle.
It took, he said, some players seven years to receive such acclaim!

My favourite quote, though, came from a fan.
Paul Renouf, our 'Gaffer for a Day', summed it up perfectly.

He said: 'Belhadj came on and ran around like a mad man.
'He did one trick which was pretty good and was always looking to go at people.
'He was everything John Utaka should be but isn't.'

Let's hope the boy Belhadj doesn't slip into Utaka-style mediocrity after such a bright, eye-catching start.

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.

Vidic is nails

Depending on who you listen to, Pompey were either hopeless against Manchester United or back on track after the hammering at Stamford Bridge.

The truth is somewhere in between.

Harry Redknapp’s team battled hard during the 1-0 defeat and clearly showed the heart which was so embarrassingly absent at Chelsea.

Kaboul looked better, Campbell less shaky and Thomas a good free signing.

Pompey struggled up front and in midfield, but then it’s no coincidence that was where United excelled.

The usually wonderful Diarra was outshone by Scholes, who oozed class. How England need the ginger one!

Crouch and Defoe made zero impact - but then centre-backs Vidic and Ferdinand looked impregnable.

Rio is a Rolls Royce of a defender and although Vidic will not ‘murder yer’ as the United fans sang with tongue firmly in cheek, the Serbian is a menacing presence.

In layman’s terms - he’s hard as nails.

Note when the United man clashed heads with the hulking figure of big Sol it was Vidic who was up first and sprinting towards the changing rooms to get stitched up to return to the fray.

As he left the field, Campbell was on one knee, rubbing his head!

So Pompey were outclassed against the European champions - there’s no shame in that.

The way United moved and kept the ball was breathtaking.

At least we showed some mettle and that is a step in the right direction as Pompey emerge from the hardest start possible.

The coming games against Everton and Middlesbrough will prove a better yard stick.