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Summer transfer window/financial musings

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Scouring forums (should be searching for placements, my excuse, I’ve been hungover), it seems the general consensus is you are either dreading or looking forward to the transfer window.

After some thought, I’ve decided to bracket myself in the latter lot, and I’ll explain why (well, no good me making a statement then not backing it up).

Yes, I do believe we’ll lose the likes of Johnno/Niko. We aren’t a big enough club, in terms of size, spending power, fanbase, etc, to keep hold of players of this calibre, especially Johnson. I’ve consigned myself to he fact that we’ll see him play his last ever game for PFC against Wigan. It’ll be a shame, but I’ll give him my applause, the man’s transformed since he’s been here, and has given us some fantastic moments to remember him by.

I’m trying to keep a level head in terms of whether or not we’ll actually get a buyer in the summer. If we do, then brilliant, the sky’s the limit. If we don’t, then it’ll be a frugal window, one which the club must take advantage of.

As the credit crunch is still in full swing, quite a few teams are also feeling it, and that’ll be shown by the amount of players available for frees in the summer due to non-extension of their contracts. This is where we must strike, and first.

If we do sell Johnno and Niko, then it has to be almost straight away, we can mourn their departures when the window closes. With the cash we make from them, we’ll probably see the majority of it stashed back into the club to further dent the debts we have. Not a problem in my eyes, I’d rather we used the money to keep the administrators at bay.

We can also take the opportunity to shift the dead wood – maybe even make a cool little sum on Utaka, if Bordeaux really are stupid enough to want to pay £7 million for him as reported. I’d bite their arm off for that.

So with a bit of the debt wiped out, further being helped by the reduction of the wage bill, we can go on from there and look at some free transfers in the key areas that need rebuilding.

Ideally, another striker is desperately needed. Kanu’s no spring chicken anymore and can’t take the full 90 minutes, week-in, week-out. Gekas will be out of here like a shot, and I have a feeling Nugent will once again be relegated to the bench, which, being the gentleman he is, he’ll accept and bide his time again.

We also need another couple of key midfielders. In fact, really, we only need one. I would hope Basinas will get a chance next season – clean slate and all that – and Diop could be given a chance to show his worth as well. Pennant I feel could be effective, if he stayed on, and everyone knows I love Belhadj. So, really, we’d only need someone to cover Basinas’s tiring legs. Although again, we could have Kaboul for that. But we may indeed pick up GON again, which would help quite a bit.

It’s the defence that I would shake up the most. Campbell’s getting on a bit and I think the rumours of him going to Villarreal will start heating up again in the next few weeks. Hermann is apparently moving to Rangers, and Distin is wanted by the Spuds. Couple all these with Johnno’s imminent departure, and we suddenly lose our entire first team back four. So that’ll be the area where we need to focus on the most.

I have no idea who’ll be available in the summer to buy, loan or sign on a free, so I have no names to put into a theoretical ‘hat’ to pick from.

But I am looking forward to this window; I think we could see a transformed, trimmed, leaner, and financially better-off version of Pompey emerge out of the other end of it.

Thoughts?

Written by powered_by_pies.

This article is also a thread in the forum – click here.

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