Little on signing/Storrie on Little's signing

Glen Little has not had much luck against Pompey as a player at Fratton so when given the chance to join us he jumped at it, but clearly hopes this luck now changes for the better!



His signing on Friday was a surprise to us, but also a surprise to him and although he admits it was sad to leave Reading the chance of signing a contract with Pompey was a no brainer and too good to refuse - as he told the Pompey Site: 'the chance to be in the Premier League again is really appealing.

'It's disappointing to get relegated and you're thinking that you might not get the chance again - especially as I missed most of last season through injury.

'I was just about to sign for Reading but then Harry rung me up, he said he's always liked me and has tried to sign me over a number of years, so I decided to come down here.

'When Harry gives you a ring, you can't turn it down - and it's a chance to play for a top Premier League club.

'I've known Harry over the years and he's a great manager and a great character.

'It's always sad to leave a club where it has gone so well - at Reading we had such success and I had lots of friends there, but how can you turn this down?

Yep, without a doubt his signing was a surprise but I think this could well turn out to be a pleasant surprise guys.

He might not be the 'star name' that many had been expecting, but as a free - and wages fairly low, I would suspect - we do not have a lot to lose, but I do think we will gain a fair bit in return.

==========

Whereas Peter Storrie sees Glen Little as an ideal addition to our squad as he adds experience and can be used in a number of position.

He said that Harry Redknapp wanted him, so if he was good enough for the man in charge he was good enough for him, also telling the Pompey Site: 'we need to enhance the squad with the UEFA Cup games coming up. Glen was about to re-sign for Reading, but we felt he would be a very good player to add to the squad.

'Glen can play in two or three positions, he's big and strong and is a great crosser of the ball. Harry considered him a very, very good free transfer.

'We've initially signed him on a year-long contract. If he does well there's a trigger for a further year, but at the moment we're looking at a one-year deal.

He has had a lot of injury problems over the past year - only making a couple of sub appearances for Reading at the end of last season, and these have been acknowledged by Storrie but he is now back to full fitness and passed all the rigorous test he was put through: 'obviously he's had one or two injury problems in the past. But he finished the season fit and well and our medical team have checked him over, so hopefully we'll get a good season out of him.

'If he's fit and playing he's a very good and strong player. We tried to buy him when he was at Burnley.'

Just because our summer spending has begun with a free this is not a sign of things to come. It just so happened that this deal was right for the club, but had to be done quickly as he was on the verge of signing a new deal with Reading. However Storrie insists that the real 'big boys' will be coming soon: 'in this particular situation with Glen it all happened very quickly. Harry rang me on Thursday morning and it's all happened in 24 hours.

'We expect things will only really start to happen in the first couple of weeks of July in terms of our key targets.'

As I have said above, as did Storrie, I think he will be a good signing. I reckon he will surprise a few people who doubt his ability, which might be the case from some as he is not really a name that is known to them particularly well?

Do not be too quick to judge and write him off... That said hopefully not too many of us will, as at the end of the day once you pull on that blue shirt you are one of us regardless.

Granted I would not expect him to be a regular, but we have plenty of games to play this season so we will need to use a lot of players. He will be very much in the Richard Hughes mould I reckon - in as much as he will not be banging on the managers door if he is not playing every week, he will not moan about not playing but when called upon he will do a job and do this job well.

As always guys thoughts on all the above please...

PLAY UP POMPEY!

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.