Bunch of big news items courtesy of Pomski today. Couple of them relate in one way or another to a couple of gentlemen that are given a rough time by the popular press. First off, straight from the great man himself is the news that Pompey are in for Nicky Anelka. And second, the news that despite his assurances to Harry Redknapp, Milan Mandaric has sold the remainder of his share of the club to Alexandre Gaydamak. Where does this leave Honest Harry? And finally, Portugese midfielder Manuel Fernandes is on his way for the bargain price of £10m. We’re all for clubs helping out with the inevitable boredom between the World Cup and the start of the season, but this must have Pompey fans in a tizzy.
We know you’ve got short attention spans, so here are our thoughts, short and quick:
- Each time Harry’s been accused of being disloyal, he’s actually been responding to being shafted by his club management. Both Mandaric and Lowe brought in unqualified men to oversee Harry, and given the success he’s had in the past, he didn’t have to take it in either case.
- Anelka’s been less of a trouble than he’s made out to be. Since the Arsenal switch years ago, he’s been tagged as a troublemaker, and there are clear signs that he’s grown up (at least to the level of more mature players like Ashley Cole, Joey Barton and co.). And he’s still a phenomenal striker — had he been on the squad in Germany, there’s a good chance in our minds that we would have been referring to “World Cup Winner Nicholas Anelka”.
- Alright. We know that £10m is a lot of dosh for someone most of us have never heard of. But look at it this way — who isn’t 2.5x the player Benjani is?