newtonfox
Active Member
from the rivals site caraching post IMO 
Just to add some perspective and a reminder that Pompey, with MM and Harry were heading our way. I know we're in the shit and with MM the only way is up (hopefully) but please don't bank on promotion or a sustained stay in the Premier League, football just ain't that simple.
LINK
When Harry Redknapp arrived at FA Cup fourth round weekend last season he was in no mood to appreciate the magic. Portsmouth had just been thumped 5-0 at Birmingham City, sat 19th in the Premiership and seemed certain for relegation. As Redknapp scrabbled for signings, Liverpool's visit offered no more than an unwanted distraction and certain defeat. "The Cup this time last year, we would have thrown it in," says the manager.
How times have changed. Portsmouth head to Manchester United today not just excited but undaunted. Sixth in the league with a revamped squad, they are no longer hurtling towards obscurity but on the rise. Last weekend's defeat by Charlton was a jolt but it featured Lauren's debut after joining from Arsenal and a year ago only a fantasist imagined him, David James and Sol Campbell at Fratton Park. Ambitions have shifted so dramatically that Champions League, not Championship, is now uttered in connection with the club."Our aim is very simple," says the chief executive, Peter Storrie. "If we continue as a club to always be in the top 10 of the Premiership then we are going to finish in Europe, we might nick into one of the Champions League places in one of those years, we will probably win some cups. That is where we want to be. We want to be in that top 10 and gradually continue it up to be a permanent top-six side."
Top six of the Championship appeared the best hope for this season when Portsmouth capitulated at Birmingham. It came in the midst of a run that brought one point from 24. "It was a low time," says Storrie. "We were bringing players in but knew it would take a while for people to settle down. Exactly that game was when I really thought we might go down."
Such fears have long gone. Redknapp is targeting the Uefa Cup, confirmation he feels Portsmouth's position, while unexpected, is not false. "It's been an amazing turnaround in a year," the manager says. "The quality of the players compared with this time last year is amazing - a completely different level. Suddenly you are looking at people like Sol Campbell and all the good players we have brought in. But you have to keep moving forward."
Redknapp wants to continue strengthening. If his appointment as Alain Perrin's successor 14 months ago provided a basis for revival, his work in the transfer marked has supplied lift-off. Nine players came last January, including Pedro Mendes and Sean Davis from Tottenham, Dean Kiely from Charlton and Andres D'Alessandro on loan from Wolfsburg. "It was a desperate month for us where we had to try to find some players," Redknapp says.
In early January Alexandre Gaydamak, now Portsmouth's sole owner, had become co-owner with Milan Mandaric. Some £7.5m was spent to buy players, with more poured into wages, including for loan signings. Storrie sees Gaydamak's entrance as critical. "If Alexandre hadn't done that this club would have been relegated," he says. "That's a certainty. If we hadn't had the funds to bring those players in, the club would have gone down."
The turning point did not come until March 11. A spectacular late Mendes goal defeated Manchester City at Fratton Park and suddenly supporters and players were lifted, with five wins and two draws from the next eight games securing safety. James was in goal for City and recalls the Portsmouth reaction to Mendes' strike.
"The fans were just mental," he says. "I drove home listening to TalkSport and Pompey fans were saying: 'We're going to stay up.' I just thought: I'll watch. I was tuning into TalkSport each week then listening to these happy Portsmouth fans."
James' arrival last summer demonstrated the fresh era at the club. He admits "Sol was the thing that steered me here," so the capture of Campbell in early August was arguably the next defining moment. "Sol came in, David James came in," Redknapp says, "and it sends a message to other players: if it's good enough for them it's good enough for us, it's a good place to play. I think that's been a key."
Redknapp's acquisitions also included Andy Cole, Kanu - whom he has rejuvenated - and Glen Johnson on loan from Chelsea. Portsmouth have a far from young team (six of the players who started last weekend were 30 or over and only Johnson was under 25) and their youth system needs improvement, but no one has come to unwind. Cole is frustrated at 35 not to be playing more and a conversation James had with Lauren convinced him Redknapp had obtained another player with a winning mentality.
"He said how much Jens Lehmann hates losing, even in training," James says. "You could tell by the way he said it he had so much admiration for him. I thought: 'That what I want to hear. I don't want anyone who comes here, and thinks: Ok, easy-oasy.' We all want to do well. With the arrival of a supposed billionaire owner the assumption was there was going to be £10m, £20m, £30m spent left, right and centre, which there hasn't been. That in itself is a testament to the team because players have come for the right reasons, not just massive wages and transfer fees."
The only fees paid this month have been £500,000 for Lauren, whose arrival brought the number of players at the club with Champions League final experience to six, and £1m to Charlton for Djimi Traoré. Last summer about £5m went on fees and it is suggested there is little money at Portsmouth. "Nonsense," says Storrie. "We have brought in top quality players who you pay big wages for. Therefore you have to look at what's happening to the wage bill and transfers as one allowance."
The wage bill has more than doubled in a year and Storrie says Redknapp chose Campbell, a free, over defenders who commanded hefty fees. "A prime example is Traoré," he says. "We discussed with Harry a left-back in France who was going to be €5m (£3.3m) or €6m, but Harry changed his mind when Traoré became available. Alexandre supports whatever Harry wants to do. His aim is to push the club on and off the field."
Training facilities remain basic but a building has been put up with dressing- and physio rooms, a gym and offices for the management team. A 55-acre site has been purchased for a training complex and a new stadium is on the agenda, with a review ongoing on whether to redevelop the existing site or look elsewhere.
Add fresh sponsors attracted by the revival and there is optimism unthinkable a year ago when that fourth-round tie was lost. Even a similar result at Old Trafford today would not puncture that.
