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Is it time for the 'littlest hobo' to move again?

According to today's Guardian Spurs fancy their chances of luring Lassana Diarra back to London this summer.

Spurs tried to sign him before we did, but Arsenal would not sell him to them so we got him in the end.

When he arrived he as near as admitted it would only be a 'stop gap'. It was hard to swallow but it soon became apparent that you could see why, and we accepted this would be beneficial to both parties. I know he did not really show the patience that he should, and he is a classy player but you can see signs of why he was not retained by Chelski or Arsenal - he still has areas to work on, so why not do this here?

Spurs are a big club, and should without any doubt be higher in the league than they are, but the simple fact is that over the course of a season the table does not lie and Spurs are no further forward in their quest for 'world domination' now than they have ever been - well in fact they are well back - despite all the talk over the years, so moving to them will just be a sideways step - granted they will invest heavily, very, very heavily this summer but have they not been doing this for years and where has it got them...

For any of our players to leave for anyone others than 'the big 4' in this country is almost inexcusable for me these days, as we can offer as much, in many instance more, than most others nowadays.

If he leaves this summer I will be disappointed, but if it was for a United, Madrid, Milan, Barcelona or someone of that stature I would accept this more, but with all due respect to Spurs should he leave us to go to them he would go down in my estimations royally, and would probably become every inch that 'mercenary' Arsenal fans warned us he was...

He could move on again this summer but surely he needs a little stability in his career now, so would it really hurt him that much to stay for another season at least? See the light Diarra and lose your 'littlest hobo' tag for a while and settle down on the South Coast, even if it is just for another season...

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Writer: pompeyrug

Date:Wednesday May 7 2008

Time: 9:26AM

Your Comments

Without causing too much of a fuss here, Spurs are a bigger club than us. However, on the pitch, not that bigger & this season, probably not. However if Diarra is to be taken seriously, he can't keep jumping from club to club every few months. Id he went ti the giants of Spain or Italy, you can understand, but Spurs, whats the point. As he is a customer of mine (storage, of course), I'll let you know if he plans to take his furniture elsewhere!

storagematt

make sure you do - hopefully he will extend his storage stay with you...
without doubt spurs are a bigger club than us, but in terms of results and what they do on the pitch and the success it brings them in recent times they are certainly not bigger than us, so as you say if he wants to be concidered a 'serious player' he would stay here rather than make a crab like movement to spurs.

pompeyrug

Diarra?? thx but no thx.....an overatted ex gooner player.

klinsi

As a spurs fan, who lived but a few mile from fratton park for the best part of 8 years, I find this one interesting. In terms of results, not much difference now the season is drawing to a close. We have a cup, you will (hopefully) have a cup. So both will be UEFA for next season. So the only reason for the move is that he feels that Spurs have a greater chance of going further. What Diarra has failed to realise is that Harry is a canny fella, and I expect Pompey to be a bit of a suprize package aginst some of the European teams (assuming you win on 17th). He will pick up a mercenary tag, but even mercenary's have their uses. You could apply the same to Carrick when he left us (albeit at a heft profit) or even Berbatov's anticipated departure. It's all down to a) money and b0 who is seen as a cup/title contender and finally c) the annoying pests that are known as 'agents' looking for their 'share of the pie'. Having said all that, I would still say that Spurs are bigger club just by the virtue of longevity of EPL, club size, and performances over recent seasons not just this one (which by comparison has been dire due to the early shenanigans). Good luck on 17th, it's there for you to win.

Tricky the spur

I think you're mixing up the meaning of bigger club and better performances, undoubtedly Pompey have played better than Spurs this season. But to suggest it would be a sideways switch for Diarra is at the very least debatable. Good luck in the cup final though eh.

jmd

until spurs - or anyone else - can offer diarra something we cant - and hopefully we will also have uefa cup football next season, fingers firmly crossed - any move to any club outside the top 4 will always be a sideways movement mate...

pompeyrug

Diarra to move, perhaps 65% likely. To Spurs, unlikely.

stillthewhizz

Hey Matt; you've got to recognise him first :)

UKTony

My eye sight is verging on Mr Magoo!!!

storagematt

Are they bigger than us anymore? I dont thnik they are to be honest. May take another season of us finishing above them to accept it, and i know there is depth of squad, facilities etc to take into account, but if a player was coming in from abroad now, would we lose out to Spurs on each account??? i dont think we would.

Midge

Rug you are right stability is the word. If he moves again this summer a number of 'big' clubs will not want to touch him. He is better off getting a good season at Pompey under his belt before he even thinks about moving again.

eastneydave

who give's a **** if Spurs are a bigger club - the only issue that concerns me is whether the guy is worth keeping and apart from a great performance against Chelsea, I haved rated him at all. He show boats and ignores the rest of mid-field and steadfastly refuses to defend. On his day he is top drawer, trouble is we haven't seen too many of them.

ChrisW

Rug, they can offer something we cannot, LONDON. Also his contract has an easy exit clause. I agree with ChrisW, he is part of our non performing midfield.

007

but how far are we from london? not that far at all... london isnt all its cracked out to be is it, some, even jonathan woodgate find it 'too expensive'...

pompeyrug

What is the 'easy get out clause' oo7?

storagematt

Rug, his social culture with Arsenal & Chelsea was London. To be continued with Spurs. The deal was done when we signed him. He wanted Spurs, but Wenger would not sell direct. Hence his early talk of moving on.

007

arsene and harry seem to get on well together. if arsen doesnt want him going to spurs, i doubt harry will let him. Spurs, whatever spurs fans may say, is definatly a sideways move. they have a bigger stadium, and more heritige (well, possibly) - but what does that really mean? both clubs are planning new stadiums, we will hopefullbe getting new training facilities, hampshire is a great place to live - the clubs are almost identical, but with one big differenc: we are top half of the table, they are not.

pompeycarpet

Matt, it states if Lassie didn't put much effort in for the final 6 or so games of the season, he could leave for the same price we paid for him.

ChrisW

Matt, Diarra added a clause to his Pompey contract to ease his move to another club. David Hyter quotes in the Guardian.

007

Big club, small club "what a load of old twonk" Spurs our not top 4 Pompey are not top 4, Diarra will be a top player I have no doubts, but will only improve if he settles,, a diamond in the rough. If he knows whats good for him he will stay one more year at least, & let Harry get the best from him.

pompeyyong

Chris, you really think so?? I always think Lassie is like Makelele, breaking up play and covering infront of the centre halves. As for ignoring the midfield, we must be watching different Lassana Diarra's!! I think he's the player that links it all up, little or long passes he does the lot! ""cliche time"" but football is a game of opinions!

pompey4me

i think he will stay unless a genuine big club comes in for him, he will probably stay, his reputation needs the stability and since joining the blues he has got his place back with les bleus, which was his motivation for leaving the arse in the first place

russellm

maybe you are right Simon, you know how it is, we all see different matches

ChrisW

Too true Chris, hope I see a different game to all the rubbish we've seen lately eh!! hope they run out and give their all Sunday.

pompey4me

We will lose Muntari or Diarra this summer so it is a toss of the coin which would be the bigger loss.

frattonaussie

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