Pompey decided to follow Manchester United’s lead and test Tottenham’s resolve with a failed 12m pound bid for Jermaine Defoe. The fee would have shattered the clubs transfer record, set last season on some bloke who turned out to be awful. The silver lining for Portsmouth supporters is that the rejected bid means that Sacha Gaydamak’s looks set to embark on another multi million pound splurge.
But how will it all turn out for Pompski?
Chelsea and Real Madrid are opposite ends of the buy-all-trophies experiment, where will Pompey fall? The Galacticos proved that money can’t buy you silverware, and arguably Newcastle and Tottenham proved that it can’t buy you a decent league position either. A good manager is essential to ensure that the money is well spent and to quickly turn a new squad into a cohesive unit. Given that Redknapp famously signed the incredibly named and incredibly crap Marco Boogers just from watching him on a video, Portsmouth supporters may feel a little uneasy.
So does last year’s end of season magic mean that Harry Redknapp is the right man to take advantage of a top six spending budget? Or is drama and hilarity inevitable wherever ‘Arry goes?