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He's bad, but not that bad!

To say that the majority would probably not be against seeing the guy go 'could' be an understatement, and most would 'probably' say that the guy has 'not been very good' for Pompey on the whole for the past couple of years, but to say that we could allow John Utaka to leave for just £1m is ridiculous, right?

Besiktas, and other Turkish clubs, along with French outfit St Etienne are 'said' to be keen on the Nigerian.

Well £1m, for a guy that cost us £7m 2-year ago, is the amount being 'quoted' in The Mirror today, and as they put it 'as debt-ridden Pompey are looking to cut their wage bill'.

Hmmm...

To be honest I would not be against Utaka leaving at all really but at £1m, this must be rubbish, I think I would rather see us keep him than take a £6m loss in 2-years - as the title says 'he might be bad, but not that bad!'

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Writer: pompeyrug

Date:Thursday June 25 2009

Time: 3:46PM

Your Comments

if we were selling him for 1million, (almost) every club in the premiership would be after him. He is still very talented, very quick, and does have an eye for goal. If he sorted his attitude out, he could take the premiership by storm.

pompeycarpet

Ha..ha...####ing HA!!! Laugh or what. Who are these jokers. If he's going to go there's no way that we'd take that kind of hit. I'm hoping he stays and proves to us and everybody else just how good he can be. One more chance, but it'll be worth it if he delivers.

cornypomp

Cut our losses on this one sadly. But £1million is a bit cheap.

eastneydave

I still stand by the fact that Utaka will come good. Maybe a foreign manager will bring out the best in him. I hope so.

sneakay

Im not a huge fan..I'd flog him for £3mil..but no less! as carpet said, he has got talent, we've seen it in spurts!

CharlieChimes

It is the Mirror; when are they ever accurate

UKTony

Most decent Championship players command more than £1M nowadays. This really is a bargain basement price. Is he on a high salary?

Sindbad

I'm with sneakay, Utakas confidence took a real hit, he certainly wasn't prepared for the speed he went from hero to zero. unfortunately Pompey fans can turn very quickly on a player and it's very difficult to win them back over. Utaka seemed to be on his way back at the end of the season and i think given the right manager he will show us that he's worthy of wearing the shirt and show his undoubted skills on a week to week basis.

Steve C

for 1 mil he's worth a punt over at fulham...

woodysweats

Give him another chance. He's got great speed (when he chooses to use it), is relatively young and shows teasing flashes of greatness. Maybe with right manager ??? Anyway, 1 million pounds is a joke.

Toronto4Pompey

how many chances are we gonna give the guy tho? we cannot, and will not, let him go for £1m tho!

pompeyrug

utaka is gonna take pompey and the primiership by storm this year. everyone is gonna laugh at me. not sure how many people see him play for rennes but he was amazing.

coxy30

hopefully you will be right coxy, but what we also have to think about is 'that was rennes this is pompey' and 'how many of us have seen him play for us for the past 2-years'...

pompeyrug

I disagree with the title. HE IS NOT BAD. He just wasn't performing for various reasons. I still fancy the guy to prove us wrong next season, if he stays. Few weeks ago, he said that he wants to do so and that is why I am guessing so.

Pompey Malta

1 f***ing million pounds get real do they just pull a figure out of their arses? [Edited by rug]

TeddyLyon

I at times would have given the guy away for nothing with some of the misses and non runs he has done when he has had the shirt on, but in fairness most of the time he has had a run out, it has been down the wing. He is a striker and when he plays there as he did in the last two games then I think he showed some real promise. For the right money I would let him go on the assumption we would see someone better coming in (Owen for example).

blarmy

coxy - I agree. I didn't see him play for rennes, but I did see the first month he was at pompey, when he tore everyone apart.

pompeycarpet

the title was more to highlight how wrong the price being quoted was, £1m is nowhere near enough - altho, and for whatever reason, i lost track of the amount of times that utaka has been 'bad' over the past 2-years, its not just when on the ball but off the ball too... ok, he migth be a striker but he has, on many occassions, played as a winger in france and for nigeria so its not totally unusual for him.
as for proving us wrong, again i will say i hope he does but again i honestly have lost track of how many times he has come out with that speech too tbh...

pompeyrug

He will come good played as a Sttriker

Midge

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