June 2009 - myPompey News

ok, ok, it may be a touch optimistic, but we really are less than 3 days away from meeting Munters, Johnson, Mendes and Diarra in the Champion's league or holding the Cup a aloft again at Wembley, or... sampling the delights of winning the league.

How so? Well 38 matches @ 90 minutes a time, adds up to not a lot. Meaning there's less than three days of football between us and our fate next season.

Not much is it? And  60 hours certainly seems tiny when compared to 30 odd weeks of hell as we wait for the games, nails bitten, tempers frayed and hope.... our weekly ally.

It does though, make you question the players' conditioning - how can they not last the season with energy to spare. Murray as arrogant as he may be, demonstrates one thing. If he can play 2 or 3 hours 3 times a week, then what of our players who find it hard to perform at anything like that pace?

Yep, I know they are different games but they are not that different.  Let's face it, both sets of sportsmen are over paid, over hyped and over-rated. Although admittedly, only one group plays at Fratton Towers.

Play up Pompey

Portsmouth Football Club, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust and Legends Publishing are producing a book titled "Pompey ‘Til I Die".

The Literacy Trust and the Publishers will be at PFC next week to give fans a final opportunity to make a contribution.

If you would like to contribute your Pompey memories, then either submit your story to the email address david@legendspublishing.net  or come along to Pompey Study Centre:

Monday 29^th June from 2 - 4pm or 6 - 8pm

Tuesday 30^th June from 9 - 12am

Please email clare@pompeystudycentre.org.uk to let us know you'll be coming. The Study Centre is opposite the main PFC offices and a map can be found at www.pompeystudycentre.org.uk

Bring along any photographs that you may have - (we can scan photographs here at the Centre during the sessions) - or any other memorabilia that may enhance your story.....

We look forward hearing from you, or seeing you next week!

Clare Martin

02392 776822

"Pompey 'Til I Die... I'm Pompey 'Til I Die, I Know I Am, I'm Sure I Am, I'm Pompey 'Til I Die."

Your chance to feature in an exciting new book about your experiences of supporting Portsmouth Football Club.

Way of life

Following Pompey becomes a way of life for many of us. At Fratton Park or travelling away we experience moments of elation and exhilaration which become landmarks in our lives. But there are also the low points of despair and disappointment when we feel that all our hopes and dreams have been dashed.

Memories of supporters

Portsmouth Football Club, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust and Legends Publishing, is publishing a new book which will be on sale this summer. ‘Portsmouth 'Til I Die' will reflect the memories and experiences of supporters both young and old.

Players and managers may come and go, but it is the fans who give the permanent character to a club like Portsmouth. And so as a celebration of the fans, this book will reveal the fun, the absurd, the emotional, the peculiar or unbelievable that is part and parcel of following Pompey.

Your stories

We want to meet our longest standing fan! Who travels the farthest to get to home matches?

Who has seen more matches than anyone else?

Who has the funniest Pompey tale?

Who are our record breakers?

Get in touch so these and many other stories get in to the new book. ‘Portsmouth 'Til I Die', real football stories from real football fans... Make sure your memories are included! Storytelling sessions will also be held at the club and in the local community as part of the memory-gathering process.

Details will be advertised on the Pompey websites.

Please get in touch

If you have a story or set of experiences about yourself, a family member, a neighbor or friend which you feel deserves to go into the book, please get in touch. Either e-mail your stories to david@legendspublishing.net or via www.tilidie.co.uk or post them to: 18 Darby Crescent, Sunbury-on-Thames, TW16 5LA. The deadline is June 30th 2009.

TAKE PART IN A PIECE OF POMPEY HISTORY

The Portsmouth ‘Til I Die project is based on an existing concept that has proven very successful at other clubs, designed to capture the personal stories and club related memories from a wide range of the club's die-hard supporters. Real Pompey stories told by real Pompey fans.

Funding for the project has been provided by the National Literacy Trust, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Football Foundation. As well as producing an entertaining read, the publication of this book will give a number of benefits to the club and to the community which they serve.600 free copies of Portsmouth 'Til I Die will be distributed to local schools, libraries and community groups, strengthening the Football Club's links with the local community, and encouraging new generations of Pompey fans.

Portsmouth 'Til I Die will help provide revenue to PFC to be used on more community based schemes.

It will present a picture of the changing history of being a supporter through the eyes of generations of fans and encourage a sense of belonging.

It will be a positive representation of supporters' tradition, values and identities.

‘PORTSMOUTH 'TIL I DIE', REAL FOOTBALL STORIES FROM REAL FANS...

MAKE SURE YOUR MEMORIES ARE IN THE NEW BOOK!

VISIT WWW.TILIDIE.CO.UK FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

We all know Rafa is prone to a bit of rotation, but I wonder what Johnson, 'preferred United but settled for Anfield', feels about Benitez' reasons for signing him:

"We were looking for a player of quality and also somebody who is British because of the new Champions League rules."

"Glen Johnson fits both categories."

And there was Johnson thinking he might be able to play regularly based on merit alone. Instead he can be pretty sure of starting a few Champs league games, but unlike England team mate Gerrard, can look forward to being rested more often than an out of work scouse soap star.

Still, I suppose you can't have everything, happy as a sandboy at Pompey or a rich, don't always play- boy at Anfield. 

No doubt though, money will take some of the pain away. £17m to us and a similar number to Glen over the length of his contract.

Good luck Glen and remember not to wash the red of Liverpool with the white of England.

I was sorry to see Mendes leave last year. His transfer to Rangers was, in my opinion, more damaging than the exit of either Diarra or Muntari.

Why? Because with hindsight had we not sold Diarra and Muntari to Real and Inter the Club might well be rolling bottom up in the channel by now, so their transfers like it or not were essential and the money you have to assume, well spent.

But Mendes. Was it really essential to sell him? How much did we get? A few million at best and much of this presumably would have been on the never never. Cash must have been a very rare commodity this time last year for us to have sold a player that almost single handedly persuaded lady luck to smile on us three long years ago.

At the time you will recall, Harry, apparently with help of his ex Spurs Wii partner Jamie, managed a bit of a coup by bringing Mendes, Pamerot and Davis from Spurs and in doing so gave us the backbone necessary to avoid the drop. Ok, we also added the puppy like exuberance of Benjani and the play making of D'allesando, but it was the Tottenham 3 that gave us the mettle necessary to forge an escape.

And now three years on they have all left us. Davis refusing to sign a new contract and Pamerot being released.

Davis is a free agent and there are plenty of teams that see his grit and determination as being an essential component in a very tough and physical league. No surprises really that he'll walk straight into a new job and probably start scoring too, hopefully though, not against us.

But Pamerot? Ok he can be exposed by fast wingers, but he's a good squad man and is rarely injured and has a great attitude. Why then let him go when the squad as it stands looks barely strong enough to see the season through?

Peter Storrie told my myPompey that we hope to sign several players by the end of July, but where I wonder will we find someone like Pamerot who can play across  the back four and doesn't complain when he sits on the bench week in week out?

Either way, I am sure Paul Hart has his reasons, just like he had his reasons for many unusual decisions during the run in.

Good luck guys, you did us well. In both cases I am sure, as has been demonstrated by Mendes, our loss will be another team's very welcome gain.

Check out Sean Davis, 1980's Superstar -  here.

Redknapp's arms wouldn't reach to 'muscles' Pamerot.

Remember  Crouch's comments in the media last week? You know, where he said something like this:

"There are 15 players out of contract at the end of the season, no one knows who the manager is, we don't even know who the owner is."

"So anyone who is at the club wants reassurances about what is going to happen in the summer. And I'll certainly be asking."

Which in turn brought an angry retort from Peter Storrie which was aired on Radio Solent. But does Crouch have a point?  Shouldn't the players expect to be kept in the loop? We put the following hard hitting question to Peter Storrie:

You implied in a recent interview that he [Crouch] may have been quoted out of context when he stated that the players needed answers about the Club's future and its plans for the players.

Have you been able to clarify what Crouch meant? Considering his loyalty to the Club, doesn't the fact that he said anything suggest that the players feel starved of information?

Peter Storrie:

"I have had a text from Peter saying he was quoted out of context."

"All the players are on holiday at the moment and we are in the middle of a DD [due diligence] period."

"How can we tell anybody anything until this is finished, it is a legal process that the club is going through which will continue for a couple of weeks yet."

Thanks Peter. But one question pops out at me. Why I wonder was Paul Hart not on Crouch's case? If any of the top managers were in Hart's position then you can be sure they would have dealt with this themselves, either before it got to press or most certainly after. I can't imagine Levy, Glazer  or Abramovich feeling the need to comment publicly on players' comments in the media.

Maybe Peter Storrie is right and perhaps he should be the one to counter such remarks.

But I can't help thinking: 'where was Hart when all this was going down...?'

Following inaccurate reports in the press that Sulaiman Al Fahim was not consulted prior to the agreed sale of Glen Johnson, Peter Storrie has set the record straight:

"The sale of Glen was agreed by both Dr Sulaiman and Sasha."

"No matter what we may do in the future it is Champion's League football for Glen right now and a contract way outside our means even with a new owner."

It's good to clear this up but does leave you questioning why Al Fahim's spokesperson Ivo Ilic Gabara is making contradictory statements, or at least has you questioning why he is being misquoted on a regular basis. This is what he reportedly had to say about the Johnson sale:

"Al-Fahim Asia Associates have made an offer for Portsmouth"
 
".. they've signed a memorandum of understanding and then gone into due diligence process with a view to completing in course of July."

"They are not the owners of [the] club at this moment in time so therefore it would be completely inappropriate for Al-Fahim Associates to comment on any player transfers [as] they do not own Portsmouth football club."

More from the Peter Storrie Q&A

As part of myPompey's Q&A session with P.F.C. today, Peter Storrie confirmed the status of Sean Davis:

"... Davis has been offered but has rejected and I think is joining Bolton"

Sorry to see Sean go. He may not be the most skilful of midfielders but he works hard and gave his all for the Club following his move from Spurs in January 2006.

Davis has been in and of the team over the past 18 months and was particularly upset with his treatment at the hands of Redknapp who didn't even put him on the bench for the Wembley Final.

More from the Peter Storrie Q&A

Davis: Suited but not booted.