It would not be Pompey if there was not some ‘doubt’ about a deal would it?
Well, today has seen some doubt raised about Liam Lawrence’s deadline day move to Pompey…
According to The Stoke Sentinel this deal went through AFTER the deadline: ‘it is believed that Portsmouth lodged the paperwork for his transfer 15 minutes too late for it to be registered by the FA and Premier League.
‘Discussions are still taking place between Portsmouth and football’s top brass to find a loophole.’
I would say, and not playing the whole ‘the world is against us’ card – as can often be played, ‘if’ there is any doubt about this deal then ‘little’ slack will be given even though it seems clubs like Arsenal and Spurs, ‘the bigger clubs’, can sign players WELL after the deadline – several days in the case of Arsenal with Arshavin – and get away with ‘technicalities’…
Although technicalities and incompetence are different things, and ‘if’ it was Portsmouth Football Club incompetence, as has often been the case in the past, then what can you do.
The local Stoke paper went on to say that we had a ‘plan B’ in place, although that will prove tricky to get round too: ‘Portsmouth’s plan B is thought to be an attempt to sign Lawrence on loan ahead of a permanent move when the transfer window re-opens in January.
‘But there is a limit of two loan players from the same parent club and Pompey already have Stoke duo Ibrahima Sonko and Carl Dickinson on their books.’
As The Sentinel also said it would be ‘an embarrassment to those dealing with the transfer at the Portsmouth end’, that said I guess we are almost getting used to this are we not? And that – like an apparent acceptance of defeat in the players’ mind – is becoming the norm and anything other is ‘unusual!’
All we can do now is keep our fingers crossed and hope that ‘reports’ that are surfacing are not that accurate, although the fact that we have not ‘officially’, as such, had Lawrence confirmed is itself a bit of a worry…
PLAY UP POMPEY!
