I think most Reds fans hoped/expected (delete as appropriate) Harry Kewell’s Turkish adventure to be a big expensive failure, but he’s done pretty well and started this season with a bang scoring in this Europa Cup Qualifier. Milan Baros also put away a very Baros type goal. Proof that there is life after Anfield, just not a very enjoyable one!

Harry Redknapp is chuffed to bits and has every right to be. Not only has he steered his Portsmouth team to the FA Cup final against Cardiff, he’s also done this without having a decent striker throughout his club’s run in the competition. The Daily Telegraph report his delight after winning 1-0 against West Brom.

“The owner was here. He’s delighted,” Redknapp said. “He sent me a text from the League Cup final, which said: ‘My dream is to go to Wembley for a Cup final, can you take your team to Wembley?’ And I thought, ‘oh no, someone else wants a ticket’, so I read it again and it was Sacha [Gaydamak].”

“I signed a new contract at the start of the year,” he said. “The owner has backed me. New stadium, new training ground. The club is in great shape. When I get in that car tonight, I will go ‘ get in there!’ Two glasses of red and I’ll be singing. Then drive home.”

Pompey’s cup adventure began at Ipswich in January when David Nugent scored a rare goal for his club. Goals from the midfield duo of Diarra and Kranjcar were enough to see off Plymouth, while a fortunate own goal landed the win at Preston. Sully Muntari’s penalty then knocked Manchester United out of the competition, before Kanu’s scrambled effort saw the Baggies on Saturday. While Jermain Defoe is banging them in for Portsmouth in the Premier League, it’s quite an achievement that this team can win the FA Cup with the likes of Kanu, Baros and Nugent up front – hardly a trio to strike fear into any defence!

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Milan Baros is currently on loan at Portsmouth from French giants Olympique Lyon for until the end of the season and although the Czech international striker has been in good form since his loan move to Fratton Park in the summer, he says that he doesn’t know what he will do after the Euro 2008 finals in the summer.

Baros, formerly at Liverpool and Aston Villa, says:

It is still too early to know what will happen.

In January I wanted to leave Lyon because of Euro 2008 and I did not see me getting a chance in the starting line up due to the form of Karim Benzema.

What will happen at the end of the season? We will see.

Hopefully though, everything will be resolved after the European Championships.

A move back to Lyon would only extend his run on the substitute’s bench whereas at Pompey, he would miss out on the European glamour.

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Not everyone is convinced by Czech international striker Milan Baros but Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is. He signed the player from Lyon in January and is confident that Baros will find the back of the opposition net sooner rather than later.

Redknapp has this to say about the player:

To be fair, he’s had to play a lot of games since he joined us.

In the build-up to Bolton [last week] he’d played for the Czech Republic in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland.

That’s a lot of games for someone who had not even been playing regularly in France [for Lyon]. He’d been on the bench a lot of times. It’s not his fault, he’s fine. He’s a quality player, he just needs some games.

He looked tired against Bolton but it’s not a problem, the fitness levels will come and he’ll start scoring goals for us soon.

This is Baros’ second stint in the Premiership after spending a total of 5 years with Aston Villa and Liverpool. Baros is not a world class striker but is certainly a very good player who can score a decent number of goals when allowed to play regularly.

This season Portsmouth are not fighting for survival. Instead they are in top half of the table and are actually fighting for a UEFA Cup spot. Manager Harry Redknapp has been this January importing the players that he needs for the reinforcement of his squad and it appears that he is done with the signing part.

EatSleepSport quotes Redknapp hinting that he will make no more signings this month. The Pompey manger says:

I can’t keep asking the chairman for money. He’s been good with it already and I’ve brought in Lassana Diarra, Lucien Aubey and now Baros. I’m happy enough with that. I’ll be happier still when the four African Nations Cup boys are back. Baros is a terrific loan. I think a few other clubs would like him and I know there were one or two late calls he had trying to stop him coming here. But we’ve got him and I’m delighted. If we like him and he likes us at the end of the season then hopefully we can do a more permanent deal.

Portsmouth have signed Lassana Diarra from Arsenal on a permanent deal and Milan Baros from Lyon on loan for until he end of the season. The duo has added to an already impressive Pompey line-up and Harry will be doing all he can to secure UEFA Cup football for the south coast club next season.

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Portsmouth have been hit with the African Nations’ Cup this month as four of their players have departed on international duty. Manager Harry Redknapp has been turning mainland Europe inside out for a striker and it appears that he has just found one.

Goal.com quotes Redknapp as saying that Lyon’s Milan Baros is on his way to Fratton Park and that the former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker will be available for Wednesday’s clash against Manchester United. Harry Redknapp says:

With the four boys at the African Nations Cup we are now down to one striker in Benjani Mwaruwari and we need Baros. He will be available for Wednesday.

Baros was decent but not world class in his five seasons in the English Premiership and it will be interested to see how he performs for Pompey in his second spell in top-flight English football. The move from Lyon to Portsmouth will be a loan deal with the player to remain at Fratton Park for the rest of the season with a option to join the Premiership club at the end of the season on a permanent basis.

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