I bet like
me you were glued to the news in January, hoping for salvation in the form of a
few signings to bolster the then recently depleted squad.
Adams has
already made clear since leaving that his pocket money was docked unexpectedly a
few days before Christmas, leaving him little choice but to scour the small ads
in search of a few bargains. If not bargains then loan players prepared to give
their all in the forthcoming battle.
He also
made big the fact that we needed players to come in and play their part immediately. On that basis one or two names were rejected,
either following fitness tests or because they hadn't played for their own
clubs for some months leading up to the Window.
Let's not
go over too much old ground here (no new stadium then???) other than to remind
ourselves that at the time we were all perplexed at why we should be chasing
the likes of Saviola for weeks only then to be told he wouldn't be signing
because he hadn't played for a couple of months.
Following
the Saviola rejection, which incidentally followed statements from the Club
that Peter Storrie was trying to cut a deal for him, Adams made it clear that
only players capable of going straight into the first team would be joining in
the Window.
So in came
Mullins, Basinas, Gekas, Pele and Pennant. I was going to research the order in
which they arrived, but why bother? The whole window thing in retrospect turned
out to be a complete farce.
Pele,
supposedly a bright young thing didn't get within an Algarve runway of the first
team and Gekas as we know played 90 seconds and didn't even kick the ball. Good
enough to score in the meantime in an International against Israel, but only
worthy of making up the numbers on training ground kick-abouts when it came to Pompey.
Of those
that did grace the Fratton turf, Basinas' situation seems the most bizarre. He
may be getting on a bit but he showed what he could do under Adams. But Hart dropped
him quicker than quick, preferring Hughes and Mullins even though their
selection was at the root of the problems we faced in midfield.
Of the
January 5, at least Mullins and Pennant got to play a few games. Mullins an
almost ever present despite surely the worst pass completion ratio in the team
and Pennant rarely showing the form that had Adams raving about him when he
arrived.
Looking
back at the situation you do wonder how much of whole January palaver was no
more than planned smoke and mirrors. Keep the existing squad on their toes,
tell the fans what they want to hear and the rest will take care of itself.
Only it
didn't. Or perhaps it did. I don't know to be honest. Great, we avoided the
drop but at what price in terms of four months of relegation hell? Had we
perhaps realised that the squad we had on January 1 was in fact not too bad at
all, maybe we could have directed our efforts at what we really needed. A fast
partner for Crouch and someone creative in midfield instead of all this 5
player nonsense of which none you might argue, actually delivered what was
expected of them. Some through no fault of their own it would be reasonable to
conclude.
Based on
recent performances though, we had enough in the squad without bringing anybody
in. Would we really have done any worse with Wilson replacing Mullins and
Johnson or Kaboul replacing Pennant? And that's without playing Utaka where he
has begged to played ever since he arrived. In the middle with a ball to run on
to ...
Meanwhile,
the five are no more. Pennant, Pele and Gekas have gone. Leaving us with
a 'two' in the form of Mullins and Basinas, the latter of which Peter Storrie recently confirmed has a
future at Fratton Park. I don't know what to make of that other than to say....
doing what?
If we have
learned one thing from our profligate time with Redknapp and latterly Hart's
selection u-turn, it's that we do have strength in depth. We, that is the Club,
the Fans and most importantly the Manager, need to realise that just because a
player hasn't featured for a while, doesn't mean he's past it.
Of all
people, you'd expect Hart to understand the rejuvenating effects of a little
TLC and there are many on the payroll that might benefit from his attention.
Please let's not have a clear out until we fully understand what each has to
offer. It will be a crying shame to let half the squad go at knock down prices
only to see them surface elsewhere, working their magic for a manager who gave
them a chance.