Pompey Gossip

http://www.pompeygossip.co.uk/

I have recently joined this website as one of my Facebook groups. I am thoroughly enjoying being a member and especially at this auspicious time when we are so nearly in the hands of a new owner, Dr Sulaiman al Fahim. The new owner has promised to build up the infrastructure of the club rather than go for short term splashing of cash on star players. I hope this means we get the new training grounds and facilities completed this autumn as they have been long in the planning and perhaps might even be upgraded. As this is where the team spend most of their working lives, the training facilities are incredibly important for their morale, keeping them injury free and encouraging new players to join us.

I also believe the training grounds are the home of the Academy and this must also get more substantial support from the new owner. I hope that Paul Hart will be asked to resume his post as director of the Academy to continue to develop the Pompey youngsters. I hope the new owner's wealth will be used to compete with other clubs to bring in the brightest young footballers and to find the best local talent. I hope the promised links with South America will show first in the Academy and that we develop a steady stream of South American youngsters especially Argentinians coming to us. I would also hope that the Academy concentrates on midfield play and players. Like everyone else, I was mightily impressed by the Barcelona midfield trio and the fact that the ball seemed tied to their boot laces. It also was stated that the Barcelona academy and training concentrated all the time on this approach to passing and football skills. That is what I would like to see become of the Pompey Academy.

In the medium term I believe the new owner is intent on continuing the development of Fratton Park as suggested by the previous owner and administration. This might be able to go ahead this coming season as the new owner does not need the backing of a supermarket to make the project happen (the supermarket was also that made planning permission more unlikely). But while Fratton Park is being developed next season I hope the new owner does not take his eye off the design and planning of a new stadium. I still think Horsea Island would make a spectacular location with Portchester Castle across the harbour and the chalk of Portsdown Hill behind. The development of an infrastructure of roads, bridges and transport links would be necessary first hence the redevelopment of Fratton Park in the medium term and the new stadium to be ready in the longer term. However it would be good if the new stadium could be part of the 2018 English bid to host the World Cup. It would be good if the new owner could dispense with the need to build shops as these would compete with other areas of the city. I would love to see an entertainment arena built alongside the new stadium to compete with the likes of the O2 dome to make Pompey an outstanding venue for other popular art forms.

I would like to see the gradual development of a club and a team ethos that intends to play football as it should be played with players who love the club and area and who love to play with the ball. I don't want the sudden influx of mercenary star players who are here to see how much they can earn from the new owner and the club before they move on to earn more money elsewhere. I don't want a quick fix to get us into the top 4 and to grab armfuls of silverware next season or the season after. I would like us to build a team and a club slowly gathering momentum - perhaps a top 10 finish next year with another crack at the Carling or FA Cup. I would like to see those links with South America plainly reflected in the team make up and style of playing - I am more of an Argentinian fan than the silky skills of Brazil as I think the former adapt better to European football than the latter. In succeeding years we will take our place among the clubs playing for European competition and then perhaps join the top 4 or 5 clubs as a right.

These are wonderful pipe dreams inspired by the arrival of the new owner. However there are also early indications that things have to happen in the short term. There is the matter of a new manager rather than the retention of the current one (see Paul Hart and the Academy above). There is the small matter of keeping our star players that we already have and producing a squad of sufficient depth and quality to take us into that top 10 next season.

For the die hard fan, this is the part of the season where we love speculating and I being no exception to that rule and with the help of the website posted at the top of this posting I intend devoting some postings to who these players could be as if I had an influence with the club. I am also still working on my political thesis by reading "Bring Home the Revolution:The Case for a British Republic" by Jonathan Friedland.

Other aspects of my interests such as film extra work, plays and productions, and storytelling I will cover in my sister blog "Bench Hamlet 2008". Thanks for indulging me!