Portsmouth News 24/7Writer: pompeyrug 
Date:Tuesday January 8 2008
Time: 12:47PM
UK time is: 22:08:42
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
The month to shape our season
In order to maintain, and in fact build on our start to the season - particularly if we want to press home our European claims - Sacha Gaydamak must dig deep once again...
Those are the thoughts of Sol Campbell and David James, and both have both spoken to The News: 'we need to get some players in or we are going to struggle. It is as simple as that.
'The guys who are going to the African Cup of Nations will leave a big hole in the squad - these are key players.
'It all rests on what the owner is about, but we never see him. We brought in a few in the summer but that needs to continue.
'I do not know if everybody matches my ambition, we never talk about it. But why drift in the league when you can go for Europe,' is what Campbell had to say.
He is understood - with this being the information that has been passed to me - to be unsure on Gaydamak's long term future or commitment with Pompey? His reluctance to spend a little bit more to push us forward, even though he spent heavily in the summer could maybe back this up...
While James said: 'we will want players whether they are loans or permanent signings.
'As well as we have done, we need to improve.
'Every other club will be enhancing their squads this month. So if we don't do the same we will become worse by virtue of the fact we are not improving.
'I'm sure we will lose some players, so we will want new ones to come in'.
It is my belief that we do not have any money - or will not be given it - as I firmly believe that if we had, although we would not just being 'splashing the cash' for the sake of it we would have made moves for targets by now and would not be restricted to loan, free transfer signings or need to sell in order to buy - despite the fact that the books understandably have to be balanced. I also do not feel we would have to take players on trial in order for them to prove themselves if we were going to spend.
However even with this said I still feel sure that Harry Redknapp can do some wheeler dealing to bring players in that will be needed, whether they will quite be of the quality we have been led to believe they will be is another matter...
PLAY UP POMPEY!
To join the Vital Pompey debate - in the forum or with comments on articles - simply take a few seconds to register an account.
Seconds Out! Vital Boxing is here!
Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco
Your Comments
There is nothing wrong in wanting better but getting the balance right is what is difficult. How much many has been wasted on what seemed like a good player at one club but not at another. We have to trust Harry & those with the money strings. If we don't replace & drop to mid table it ain't the end of the world. Yes a UEFA finish would be fantastic but it ain't the Holy Grail.
storagematt
I think there's nothing wrong in a bit of ambition as well. I think it was the Bristol City manager I saw on TV at the weekend, expressing his ambition in their club's drive for promotion and believe they can get it, and I really feel we are missing that sentiment at Pompey right now. We should be applying that kind of drive to a UEFA cup place - we want it, we can get it. Yes we could still miss out, but at least it won't be for want of trying or self-belief.
tracyc
agreed europe isnt the be all and end of things but we will find it increasingly hard to keep hold of players if we do miss out... i know its not as easy as this, but as i have said before, if sacha can stump up say another £10m that could buy us the quality striker we are missing - and have been missing - and a right sided midfielder, and this investment i feel would be more than worth it as the return on this could be more than trebled in no time...
pompeyrug
hmm..Ive been hopeful before of the Anelka's and Defoe's arriving to no avail, but Ive also seen simular sized clubs get themselves into alot of financial bother..I agree Europe would be nice but it aint all its cracked up to be look at the effect it had on Ipswich M'boro bolton to name a few clubs who found the extra commitment hard to handle. We need both infrastructure, ground and training facilities worhty of the prem, andplayers to sustain that status. It is a hard place to be. Harry has done ok by us for years-except his choice of Forwards and i trust he will continue. i also feel Sascha will cough up .5 to 10 Mil to complete this years tranactions
plymouth graham
juande ramos said defoe can leave, could this be our time?
jbaker
take it step by step, build up the team at every oportunity - but dont push the chairman (too hard) for cash! he has been one of the best, most reasonable chairmen in the game so far, lets not force him out! Whilst europe isnt all its made out to be, if we miss out n t again, people may question harry redknapp as a manager, and possibly the ambitions of the club (im not saying theyre right - very wron in fact) - but we will loose part of our credibility as probably the team with the most mbition, climbing the table fastest...etc - europe really is a must, however we get there, although winning the fa cup would be the best route! (in my opinion)
pompeycarpet
lets hope that chelsea and arsenal get into the final of league cup, so 6th place in league will give uefa cup, and 7th depends on fa cup.
jbaker
we need good well known players, and the only way were going to do that is to pay money.
PompeyGleamer
or henrik larson could join us...
pompeycarpet
Patience.. is what we need ... We have to build and build well, set the foundations for the future and I believe that is what Harry is doing and his past record shows he can do it well.. Lampard, Cole. Carrick, Reo-Coker to name a few - Like it or not Europe isn't the be all and end all this season (or next come to that) but of course it will be great if it comes... Two clubs to look at: Leeds .. to far to soon.. Overspent and believed they had arrived when in fact they hadn't ... another is Derby ... they would like to stay up this year but if they don't it's not a problem as their long term plan didn't see them getting into the premiership until 2009/10 so they can go down and then come back up and still be on track.. Rome wasn't built in a day .. and neither will Pompey's Premiership Stability... we've only had one and a half 'good' seasons and they would be considered 'just above average' for the likes of Blackburn, Newcastle, Everton and Spurs... We were a long time away from the the top flight.. let's not blow it by splashing cash on players that don't want to be here (Defoe/Crouch) and invest now for 'Now' (Nugent , Cranie, Johnson) and for the future (The Millwall and R&D lads whose names I've forgottten!)
Chix
I think Larsson would be a great acquisition, as a short term measure. Players like Defoe and Crouch are the next step again, WHEN we qualify for Europe, it will take European football to be guaranteed to tempt players of a certain calibre, until then its nippers, seasoned pros, or players with a point to make
paultsmouth
I waiting for this month to pan out, I had a little chat with dave about it, and the stats for dec/jan aren't good over 20 years, I may do an article about it near the end of the month and make comparisons
paultsmouth
good idea mate - i look forward to seeing that... patience is the key isnt it, i know it is frustrating waiting for something to happen - chances are we'll be waiting until the last day, but 'arry will come good... i just hope he's given some cash to do this... i agree that larsson would be a fine signing if we can tempt him here.
pompeyrug
im not sure larsson would pluck for pompey over man u. but u never know!
jbaker
Have Your Say
Recent Articles
On this day in history...25th May (Saturday May 25 2013)
On this day in history...24th May (Friday May 24 2013)
David Connolly joins the crusade (Thursday May 23 2013)
Not short of an option or two! (Thursday May 23 2013)
On this day in history...23rd May (Thursday May 23 2013)
On this day in history...22nd May (Wednesday May 22 2013)
Reaping the benefits of 1st team football (Tuesday May 21 2013)
On this day in history...21st May (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Scunny winger becomes latest Pompey signing (Monday May 20 2013)
Winger signing imminent? (Monday May 20 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | pompeyrug | 71 |
| 2. | eastneydave | 53 |
| 3. | storagematt | 37 |
| 4. | mslorna48 | 31 |
| 5. | Jimsmithswig | 25 |
| 6. | Pompeytim | 20 |
| 7. | blueballoo2000 | 17 |
| 8. | nagoyablue | 15 |
| 9. | PompeyJake | 13 |
| 10. | PFCblue | 10 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results | ||||
| Shrewsbury | 3 | - | 2 | Portsmouth |
| Portsmouth | 3 | - | 0 | Sheff Utd |
| Brentford | 3 | - | 2 | Portsmouth |
| Portsmouth | 0 | - | 0 | Stevenage |
| Portsmouth | 1 | - | 0 | Tranmere |
| Preston | 1 | - | 1 | Portsmouth |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 18. Stevenage | 46 | 15 | 9 | 22 | -17 | 54 |
| 19. Oldham | 46 | 14 | 9 | 23 | -13 | 51 |
| 20. Colchester | 46 | 14 | 9 | 23 | -21 | 51 |
| 21. Scunthorpe | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | -24 | 48 |
| 22. Bury | 46 | 9 | 14 | 23 | -28 | 41 |
| 23. Hartlepool | 46 | 9 | 14 | 23 | -28 | 41 |
| 24. Portsmouth | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | -18 | 32 |
Breaking League News
| Familiar Faces In U's Return?
» Colchester : 25/05/2013 11:56:00
|
| Dunne Expects Late Transfers
» Colchester : 25/05/2013 08:49:00
|
| On this day in history...25th May
» Portsmouth : 25/05/2013 08:00:00
|
| Max rescues England
» Crewe : 24/05/2013 22:53:00
|
| Colin Cooper Appointed Hartlepool Boss
» Hartlepool : 24/05/2013 22:51:00
|
| Watt Was That, Kinsella?
» Colchester : 24/05/2013 22:42:00
|
| Ibehre Thanks U's Support
» Colchester : 24/05/2013 22:31:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|
1 © - All content copyright Vital Network Ltd, not to be reproduced without explicit permission Copyright Issues
Cookie Policy
At Vital Football, we along with most other modern websites use small files called 'cookies' to create the most secure, effective and functional website possible for our users. Without these files our business model, based on advertising, breaks down and we would be unable to continue to provide the services that you are here to utilise. By continuing to use this website after seeing this message, you consent to our use of cookies on this device unless you have disabled them. For full details please read our Cookie Policy which can be found here. However, if you would like to disable cookies on this device, please view our Cookie Policy which contains an opt-out tool for disabling advertising cookies. Please also visit our information pages on 'How to manage cookies' if you would also like to block all other types of cookies. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies.