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Writer: pompeyrug 
Date:Monday March 3 2008
Time: 1:59PM
UK time is: 05:15:48
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The bemoaning of losing the Yak
Harry Redknapp has been bemoaning the fact in The News that we lost Yakubu, and that he was unable to get him back: 'I bought him here. Then when I left they decided to sell him, which was a very clever move.
'When I came back I was left with some other strikers who probably couldn't have cleaned his boots.
'Yakubu was fantastic for me when I had him. He got 19 goals the first year we went up. It's not like he's suddenly improved.
'He's a goalscorer, he's strong, he's a handful, very powerful and quick. He's a great lad as well.
'I could have brought him back if I had paid £12m. I really thought he would have ended up at about £8m and that was what I was waiting for.
'People kept saying he wants to leave and Middlesbrough want to sell him and I thought he would be about £8m. I hung on, really, hoping that would be the case but it wasn't.
'He's good value anyway because he'll get goals. He's a great signing for Everton'.
At the end of the day Redknapp left the club, what happened after was not good or clever but was pretty much inevitable anyway…
My own thinking is that even if Redknapp had not left us when he had we would have still lost Yakubu - and probably around the same time that we had anyway. He made it perfectly clear at the time he left he wanted to go, so it was not as if we could keep him even if we had wanted to at the time - this is not say we wanted him to go of course…
We all know what Yakubu can do, so lets not big him up anymore, he scored 2 goals yesterday but in many ways he did not win the game for Everton - yep, clearly he scored the goals that did - David Moyes making the tactical change that he did, when he did in bringing on Andrew Johnson and exploiting the shortcomings that have been exposed at the back in recent times won Everton the game, in many ways we helped make him look an even better player than he is.
In short Yakubu is a fantastic striker, we lost him - we would have anyway, we might have wanted him back - but did not get him back, so lets focus on who we do have. It is also time to stop detracting from the real truth of why we lost the Everton game, but at the same time it is time to draw a line under it and hopefully make some changes to kick on again, and we know where this begins next weekend…
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Your Comments
I do not believe Yakubu is a good team player Talented yes. But now he has a very strong manager who will not put up with any nonsense and this will benifet his abilities.
007
Hello everybody. Have you seen Phil Neville inteview about Yakubu on Sky Sports News???? He said a really nice sentence : "We make Yakubu a better player and He makes us a better team" it is as simple as that, he found the right team for him, with right team mates behind him.
FloG
the yak taught campbell yesterday.Harry needs to drop campbell put Hermann Hreidarsson in the centre or wait for linvoy to come back with aubey at left back.
stfc ballboy
We have always known that Yak has been capable of this! The only thing I have been surprised about is the pundits surprise!
Sachas_Brother
It's not the first time Yak or Cahill have scored against us & we have been well beaten by Everton before. The head knew it was always going to be difficult, the heart hoped something else.
storagematt
The Yak is a fantastic striker and we should never have let him go, like many african players he can be hit and miss, we should know more than most. Still believe that the loss of Gary O, and Benjani will be our downfall. Come on arry teams now know how to play us so something has to change.
bluedr
Hi there, Germaine Defoe here, er . . . . is Harry trying to tell me something? When I came here Hal said I was the best striker in the world, now I seem to have dropped down the pecking order to 2nd. Bugger! Harry, I've got this clause in my contract . . . . apparantly I can't speak to him at the moment, he's on the phone to Man City or something.
Et_tu_Pompeii
I realised trough the way Benjani was dismissed by Harry that Portsmouth was on the wrong track and I said it straight away in this forum. You can not build a strong team if you manipulate your players like goods, one goes for another one who comes, its not arithmetic. I felt very sorry about Benjani, he must have felt like ***** rushing to the airport because he was sold like a piece of meat, falling asleep in the airport (probably hoping he would miss the deadline". A player will never give 100% if he doest feel the manager´s trust. How often have we heart harry saying "he was very good for us" after hailing that same player? Nobody in the team feels rooted or part of a cemented ensemble.
I like portsmouth a lot but I dont really care what happens to a team which gives me a feeling that any player can be removed, swapped, pushed around like a toy, its not what I appreciate about football and a team like portsmouth these days doesnt represent a healthy environment . I hope it makes sense..in a way!
bongosamy
nice one Et-tu, that's exactly how I see it too
ChrisW
i hear what you are saying bongosamy, i dont like it either but it is the way football is going, it is a business and people want to make money - but they also want to be with the very best dont they, so this means people coming and going - being treated like cattle is not something i like but what can we do, i will always be a pompey fan no matter what...
pompeyrug
basically i think 'arry is putting so much praise onto the yak to detract from our own shortcomings from that game - i dont think it is any secret that 'arry always wanted yak back, but he has always wanted defoe - but im not sure he ever really believed he would get him.
pompeyrug
Pomperug, thanks for you answer, yes cattle thats the word. I am a football fan and I dont have a preference, I like any team that plays great football or that has players that I like, so yes I can have an objective judgement. I know portsmouth will always be in your heart no matter what and nobody want to take this away from you but the fans like you have a word to say and what is going on now at portsmouth is not right.
A team has to be build and has to climb steps one by one, you can have 11 yak in a team it wont make a difference. Portsmouth dont have chelsea money to buy 11 superstars so the philosophy has to differ. Yes you can buy some amazing players and pompey has a lots of them but if the spirit in the team is not right it will never work, I have enough knowledge about football to be sure of that. So if you keep treating your players like whaz happened to Benjani or making Nugent feel bad before even he had the chance to play few games in a rowm, then something is wrong and the fans like yourself have to make the officials aware of that.
bongosamy
interesting points Bongosamy.
ChrisW
i love when harry said what a clever idea they sold yakubu and left me some striker who are not fit enough to clean his booths.
kaybee
Speaking as the Yak's offical biographer - 'Read he played for us too' if you question my take on this - Harry would not have got another season out of Yakubu - The only difference we would have seen is a more committed Yak during the second half of his second full season. Pompey always were a stepping stone to bigger things, as were Boro the moment they didn't qualify for Europe again. Had Harry siad Yakubu would have been handled better. Zajec really cooked up when he went public about Yaks performance and (although somewhat justified) Perrin's comments and Milan andarics involvment made matter worse and in some respects the finals nails in the coffin. Yak believes he is a player for. not the big stage but the biggest stage and he will stop at nothing to get there - He's only 25 (alledgely) so he has time on his hands... Evertons form will provide Yakubu with a window into europe next stop will be away from the prem to a team (I believe/predict) such as Inter or maybe even an emerging Juve (but definately Italy and not Spain) but this won't be for a least another year so i reckon start of season 2009/10 will see his next move.
Chix
yep, they were interesting points bongosamy. re: nugent - i have backed him and backed him - chances are he will still be a top footballer - but the fella seems like abit of a muppet, his antics off the field are the ones that are probably preventing him from playing for us, and these antics are the ones that will probably mean he will not play for us again - i think he went to one particular well one too many times...
pompeyrug
I still think Arry shouldn't moan, it was his fault the Yak left because it was when he went up the road. He came back and most of the good players had gone and we were left with the likes of the Greek goalie!
tracyc
agree in many ways tracy, it was typical 'arry in as much as 'i'll show you milan' and he did... either way we would have lost yak with or without 'arry in charge im convinced of that, and probably around the same time anyway.
pompeyrug
He has gone GET OVER IT !!!
Owenspompey
Owenspompey - there's nothing wrong with expressing frustration over past decisions which may or may not have been shown by history to be mistakes. Are you advocating that fans who pay good money week in week out sit blindly behind their leader without any right to comment whatsoever? Football is not only about tomorrow. We support Pompey because of the past and look with optimism towards the future - both go hand in hand, including lamenting on past decisions that have been proven to be misguided at best.
ChrisW
Rubbish Chris, we constantly get contributers on about players who have left the club, and how they should be made to stay or be loyal to the clu.
We never know what is going on at Fratton Park, if players want to go let them go, and if they are forced out that is the clubs fault, and you cant blame a player like Matty Taylor or Gary O'Neill who are not going to play for wanting to leave.
Why would the Yak choose to stay when big money is offered, lets get real mate, Pompey are one of, if not, the smallest club in the Premiership, we have the worst ground, Fulham excluded andthe worst facilities.
What we do have is a loyal band of supporters, but even their patience is wearing thin, hence the tickets being returned for Saturday and the smaller following at Goodison.
I hope that our day will come, but players move on, so we need to accept that and look forard to the future.
Owenspompey
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