Distin and Crouch/Traore 'injury blow'

Distin and Crouch welcome Hart appointment

Plenty of Pompey players have been pretty outspoken this season and Sylvain Distin has been among the best of them! But his most recent thoughts have been positive and encouraging to hear.

He has told Radio Solent that the appointment of Paul Hart and his assistant Brian Kidd is a 'positive decision' and to have brought in someone else, would not 'have been any good for us as a team.'

I also heard him speaking on pfcTV the other day and he was very positive in his thoughts, refusing to accept the Chelski defeat as an 'accepted' defeat before it was played, as he viewed that and every other game as winnable, the way it should be.

Whereas Peter Crouch has again spoken of his sorrow that things did not work out for Tony Adams for whatever reason - I think the big man is the only one to publicly do this! - but told sky sports news how he also welcomed their appointments and that he is looking for Pompey to 'get enough results to see them stay at the club' possibly beyond the end of the season...

Under this pair he believes that moving away from relegation trouble is something that we can and will do, but it is down to us to 'make sure we get out of this position.'

He knows the quality is more than there and is happy to carry on playing a selfless role for the club even if it means the goals stop coming, even though he does want to score the goals to keep us up - but still hopes this can catch the eye of Fabio Capello to keep him in the England reckoning.

Plenty of players called for Hart and Kidd to be appointed, this was always the 'logical' option, when Pompey and logic do not always go hand in hand, so plenty of them 'should' be happy and to be fair they are playing as though they are and the difference is certainly visible.

Senior figures have got the men that they wanted to see them through this season, it is now down to them to make sure that this season is seen through with positive results - should this be the case, as I am sure it will be, a decision on their management status with the club will be much tougher for whoever is in charge to make, but is that really a bad thing...

==========

Traore out for 7 weeks...

Although he is still our player and we are paying his wages the fact that Djimi Traore has been ruled out for up to 7 weeks does not really impact on us - or does it...

I think I read somewhere, not that it makes it true, that Birmingham are paying 'minimal' money for the defender but 'if' he played so many games - or they went up - we might have got something from them?

Whatever the case he is out of contract in the summer so he will be leaving - regardless as to what happens we have to keep paying him, even though it is not here I just wish he was actually earning this, albeit at Birmingham!

PLAY UP POMPEY!

For the very latest Premier League odds

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