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Adams 'justifies' Defoe omission...

Tony Adams had to unsurprisingly 'field questions' about the omission of Jermain Defoe from the starting line-up against Arsenal yesterday - but did it really take a genius to work out it was the right thing to do?

Anyway, he answered by insisting it was tactical and nothing else, although the striker was not happy at not being included, which Adams was pleased about - these are his post match thoughts on him and more...

Adams on Defoe's omission
'Jermain was annoyed and angry - he's had the hump with me ever since and I wouldn't want it any other way to be honest.

'He could easily turn round to me and say 'Look, you got it wrong boss because you lost.' But it's not easy being a manager and you have to make difficult decisions.

'He's a fantastic player, scores great goals but at the moment we are struggling with balance. Away at Liverpool and away at Arsenal I chose to keep him on the bench. Those are my reasons and speculate all you want but I have had no offers for Jermain Defoe, not one.'

As far as I am concerned Adams made exactly the right call tactically in leaving him out, and no justification at all was needed.

Had we gone into this game against Arsenal, as with the game at Liverpool back along, with a 4-4-2 formation we would have been ripped apart! As it was we were very, very unfortunate not to come away with a point, and for my thinking we would have got soundly beaten had we included both the England strikers from the start - 4-5-1 was exactly the formation we needed and starting Peter Crouch as the lone man was spot on.

Did 'the big game' motivate us today, or was there something more? I would hope that it was not just 'the big game' factor... I guess we will soon find out!

Chances are Defoe was going anyway - well that is what all the 'speculation' is claiming anyway, but if his reaction to this 'tactical move' is to kick off and sulk then he is not one of those that he should want to keep anyway, as he is not a 'want to play for Portsmouth' type player we need in that case, although to be honest I suspect this is the case anyway...

Talk of £15m plus offers are doing the rounds today - that hand will be bitten off without a doubt!

Adams on not wanting to sell players
'I am determined to hold on to all of them but I want people who want to play for Portsmouth. We're in a scrap with 14 other clubs and if they don't want to play for Portsmouth then they're no good to me.

'It's not reading the riot act, it's fact. If your head has been turned, if you're not trying everything to win games for the club then I don't want you around.

'No-one's come to see me, no-one wants away. I'm really encouraged, not with the results, but with the way they are performing.'

All I can say is what has been said a thousand times before I, like him and most of you, only want players that want to play for us to be playing for us - if they do not lets get rid!

We will find out soon enough who these players are, and will also find out soon enough just how 'honest' Sacha Gaydamak and Peter Storrie have been with us about the financial situation and our stance about 'not wanting' or 'needing' to let the best players leave.

All in all, the main thing is that the best thing for Portsmouth Football Club happens - and I know Adams is taking a lot of flack, and his ability is doubted and maybe time will prove this right, but I still feel - ok, maybe this is 'hope' - that he can build a side, reshaping what we have in place, that will hold its own and do a job.

First and foremost I think that he needs to weed out the 'do' from 'do not' want to play for Portsmouth Football Club players and then bring in those that do, getting us firmly back to players playing for 'Portsmouth Football Club' and not the old 'Harry Redknapp Football Club', which we had very much become... If this means 'chasing glory' and 'the glory days' are gone, so be it, these days have been fantastic, but I will be happy with a middle of the range side that has players that want to play for the shirt, the club and us again - far too many, both here and with football in general, do not fit this bill anymore...

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Writer: pompeyrug

Date:Monday December 29 2008

Time: 8:24AM

Your Comments

clearly stan collymore is another of these tossers who thinks he knows it all as his thoughts are 'Naming Jermain Defoe as a Portsmouth sub at Arsenal is a sure sign he may be leaving in the January exodus from Fratton Park' - playing or not playing will make no difference to what happens with defoe, but im fully behind adams on his handling of defoe here, he 'should' have come on as soon as the ball hit the back of our net though...

pompeyrug

Right decision to leave him on the bench, but anybody who thinks he doesn't want to leave is (Imo) crazy. His body language on Boxing day said it all and Adams admission that they had a 'bust-up' is another indication as far as I am concern. Defoe doesn't want to be here anymore and for me the sooner he goes the better - Great player and goal scorer but is not up for a scrap .. £16m to Villa I say take it and at least then Tony can play the formation he thinks best for team ..without worrying about 'upsetting his stars'. Pompey must be a TEAM if we are to survive .. Defoe is no team player. Nugent showed yesterday that he IS

Chix

Rug, this guy has always been a bit tempremental and I think it is very likely he will go in Jan. If we can get £15M for him then I would take that. Well done to Tony for seeing this and acting accordingly.

bluedr

the fella will score goals but totally agree lets get shot and bring in someone that does want to be here, well not even bring them in, use nugent - i can see crouchy and nugent working, failing that play crouchy up top alone with krancjar in a free role just behind?
£15m, bag it, put £10m into paying off debts - not in your pocket sacha - and give tony the rest, that would bring in o'neil and a loan or two...

pompeyrug

I think people are blaming Defoe for Adams short comings, tactically Adams is at best questionable and the teams problems have been in defence. Once again I query if chix just types tripe to start a conversation, surely the biggest issue on boxing day was the complete abbrogation of responsibility by my (former hero) Sol. Despite hos too often protesting interviews where he is rapidly establishing himself as a bit of a wacko Adams personally does not like Defoe that's not in dispute and is football. But as a former anti Defoeist I find my self in the odd position of defending him, and as Rug will tell you the smart info doing the roundswas that Defoe did not want away; unlike the slow imobile complaining Sol. People seem to have missed the point that our defence Sols department have cost us 14 points by thier stupifiying decisions on the last 10 minutes of a game, In HRs 2nd season we were in this position so but now Adams people management skills are being called into question again just like at wycomb and at psv; but the same was true of Martin ONeil at Villa so Adams should be given until End of Jan to turn things around.By the way in France it is being said we are after a goalie due to a growing doubt in jamo who it is said has cost us 6 of those 14 points. Keep it up chix you always encourage me to contribute instead if wishing i could write like Rug

russellm

i do not think that defoe wants to be here anymore, but to be fair - like russell says - i think we have the club to blame for this one!
defoe had not expressed a desire to leave, far from it infact, the club have made it quite clear - as they always have, yet denied with other players - that 'offers would be welcomed' for him... this most certainly questions the 'loyalty' the club are showing players, and again answers financial concern questions - why can the club just not be honest with us, instead of just taking us for mugs and taking advantage of our love of the club. looking at it from that point of view, knowing the club are trying to sell you even if you might not want to leave, can you blame defoe for not putting in a shift?

pompeyrug

maybe this is why so many players are actually looking like 'they do not want to play for us', because they know we are touting them to anyone and everyone?

pompeyrug

i tell you what tho guys, my head hurts these days - and it is not the drink! i do not know what to believe anymore or what is really going on with this club, but i do know it is driving me mad...
is a little honesty and transparancy, not taking the ***** out of us too much to ask?

pompeyrug

We'll soon know the destiny of our club by who goes & who comes in. We won't come anywhere near to replacing Diarra & if Johnson & Defoe go, who replaces them? We are short now & at this level we will get found out. ATM I fear the worst.

storagematt

So who is going and who is coming? Only two days and the clamour will begin. Nice to hear from russellm as well.

eastneydave

He cant justify what he did, it was poor selection again, and he proves what a complete plonker he is, we were in with no chance the moment he handed in the team sheet, bad bad decisions again Tony, the axe is beginning to fall

Owenspompey

Tony doesn't have to justify the decision, he's the manager and its up to him. Defoe has been looking like he doesn't want to know lately, its good that he was unhappy being dropped, but up to him to sort it out and make Tony pick him. If not, then move on. Nuge is always a hard worker, I just wish he could stop falling over so much!

tracyc

Defoe is a class act, no wonder he is disullusioned with what is going on. No midfielder capable of delivering quality, just lump it in the air and hope Crouch wins it, come on, we can do better than that.

Owenspompey

really hope that we play our heerenveen style team against bristol city - no sol, no jamo, no defoe.

jbaker

im very torn on defoe - he looks totally as tho he does not want to be here, but i do not know how much of this is down to that actually being the case and the fact that we are actually touting him around...
this is what defoe does, he hits a purple patch and when he gets that barron spell he looks like he is sulking - i thought it was because he wanted out, im not entirely sure that this is actually the case, or at least wasnt...
as for his being left out against arsenal, completely the right thing to do - if he had been doing the work that crouchy has recently it would have been him left out and not defoe!

pompeyrug

we need to get wilson more advanced, play him on the right side of midfield and crouchy and defoe - if he is still here come the cup game - will get plenty of service, they will love it!

pompeyrug

he did this at totenham too - and insisted he didnt want out. I don't think he wants out, I just think he is having a bad spell, and is sulking becuase of it. that's all really. Leaving him on the bench was always going to happen - Crouch is the "in form" player, defoe is not. As you said rug, if defoe had ben in form, we probably would have played in a similar formation to when we lost to herenveen...but as it was, crouch has a history of playing well against arsenal, and he veryt nearly scored against them again. Defoe (when he came on) I don;t think touched the ball.

pompeycarpet

Buy leaving Defoe on the bench i think this will prove a point on what HE actually wants .it will either make him want his place back even more & start turning in good porformances again or he will sulk throw his toys out the pram & want away , But im 100% behind TA leaving him on the bench cos he wasnt at all interseted on Boxing Day. If aston Villa have offered 16m then as far as im concearned Goodbye Jermain thanks for your 8 Goals

sea-juicer

As for the cup match. Play all our top players at least then they'd be cup tied if they were to move on.

storagematt

Managers have to pick a team that will do a job for incividual games, i might understand Defoe getting upset if he was constantly on the bench as he was at Spurs but this is probably the first premiership game he's been asked to sit on the bench since he got here, he's in the wrong but i'd like him to stay and find the form he's shown us before.

Steve C

Defoe was upset at Spurs because he was sat on the bench, so you cant blame him when it happens at Pompey. As soon as the team was announced we all knew what Adams was after, and we were not good enough to get the point.

Owenspompey

but when defoe was at spurs and on the bench he was there game after game, like nugent is here, but after one game he's already moaning.

jbaker

has he actually moaned once though?

pompeycarpet

you make a valid point carpet, everyones talking about him wanting away and him getting upset with Adams, but Adams is the one who said they'd had a falling out. Defoe has made no comment about leaving or about being on the bench that i'm aware of. If he's had words with Adams over it then at least he approached it the right way and not via the media.

Steve C

on the plus side you could say that he wants to play for Pompey if he's getting upset over not playing, the more i think about it the more i think perhaps we're being unfair to him. Must say i've always hated the transfer window but this is going to be the worst one ever for Pompey fans, rumour after rumour, fear after fear.

Steve C

Well if we were honest and told everyone the REAL situation we would probably feel a lot less troubled about the coming month. But as usual we will be lied to, and then Storrie will make some pathetic statement to justify whatever goes on

Owenspompey

amen to that Owens, spot on - 'if' the worst does happen then storrie is going to have alot of angry people to answer to, 15,000 or so season ticket holders - inlcuding myself - to start with!
i will be interested to see what he expects us to pay next season if he - and to be fair sacha - continue to rip the side apart. i know i will find it very, very hard to justify paying what they will ask knowing that the 'star' names are gone - of course i do not go for this, i never have and never will, but paying £600 for players that will get nowhere near the wages those currently do to justify this price would be unacceptable.

pompeyrug

i just dont trust peter storrie, nothings ever simple with him. we have been told that the belhadj deal is wrapped up, but i bet theres complcations there. bet the diarra deal is in instalments. we were told selling benji was a good deal, but has he even played enough games for the first installment to be paid?

jbaker

just like to take back the belhadj comments in my last post.

jbaker

Glad to see someone else has the ability to put their foot in it as well, welcome to the club Bakes...lol

pentonpompey

Spurs fan here: I don't think Defoe has anything against Pompey. i just think that he loves tottenham and never wanted to leave in the first place. he loves tottenham. he isn't mardy and will stick things out. he did with us he was n the bench for nearly two years. if he leaves he will not go villa, man city, he will come back to spurs, that's the only move he wants.

ng9-yid

I think the article in the paper today saying Defoe wants to go back was written by a Spurs-supporting journo. PFC aren't touting the players for sale, the press are. Now I've read these comments about how Defoe is, I'm starting to think maybe he doesn't want-away at all. I agree you can't trust Storrie, but so far I have no reason to distrust Tony's word, and will continue to trust him until proved otherwise. He says we have had no offers, that's good enough for me.

tracyc

Levy is an astute Businessman and will not buy a player he sold for 9million less than a year ago back to the club for 16million or whatever,there are more strikers out there than Defoe,and Spurs should be looking for someone to compement what they already have instead of someone who wasn't much good with Bent first time out.If he leaves Pompey i'd say he'd go to Villa.

CoxintheBox

*compliment what they already have

CoxintheBox

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