With little activity at Pompey jim4pompey takes a look at what happened with our relegation rivals in the nopower championship – read on for more.
No point in dwelling on Pompey’s window as it is pretty self explanatory: LL confirmed, Greg Halford taken again, with Tommy Smith confirmed to QPR. Ritchie De Laet (Man U) and Jonathan Hogg (Villa) the only new faces in with John Utaka (Montpellier) and Matt Ritchie (Swindon) leaving us.
So in summary two new in, two old out and a couple of existing ones sorted (at least till the end of the season).
BUT what about our rivals?
Unless something dramatic happens and make no mistake our squad is weaker than when we went into the window, we’re in a relegation fight! So what business did our nearest rivals do?
Well:
PRESTON (nett position +2): improved squad, new manager (Phil Brown) = better chance than before the window.
IN Ian Ashbee (Hull) Eddie Johnson (Fulham) Nathan Ellington (Watford)
OUT Eddie Nolan (Scunthorpe)
SCUNTHORPE (nett position +7) – good chance at least a couple will come off, considerably deeper squad – much better chance of pulling out of relegation.
IN Joe Garner (Forest) Michael Nelson (Norwich) Lee Miller (Middlesbrough) Andy Hughes (Leeds) Mark Duffy (Morecambe) Abdisdam Ibrahim (Man City) Paul Reid (Colchester) Ben Gordon (Chelsea) Eddie Nolan (Preston)
OUT Martyn Woolford (Bristol C) Jonathon Horte (Scum)
PALACE (nett position +5) some very interesting signings and a considerably deeper squad while keeping good players = significantly better chance (most likely of getting out of relegation zone).
IN Dean Moxey (Derby) James Vaughan (Everton) Jermaine Easter (MK Dons) Alex Marrow (Blackburn) Steffan Iverson (Rosenberg)
OUT –
SHEFFIELD UNITED (nett position +4) deeper squad, though no stand outs except DP from Chelsea – good chance of steering clear of relegation but expect them to be down there in the mix.
IN Neill Collins (Leeds) Danny Philliskirk (Chelsea) Seamus Coneely (Galway) David McCallister (St. Patricks Ath)
OUT –
MIDDLESBROUGH (nett position -1) – lost two KEY prem standard players, with two possibles that could do something. Weaker squad may find themselves in trouble come April/ May.
IN Maximilian Haas (Bayern Munich) Merouane Zemmama (Hibs)
OUT Lee Miller (Scunthorpe) Gary O’Neill (West Ham) David Wheater (Bolton)
IPSWICH (nett position +2) depends which Jimmy Bullard turns up, coupled with hanging onto existing players – good chance of survival, especially if Jimmy fires!
IN Jimmy Bullard (Hull) Andy Drury (Luton)
OUT –
BRISTOL CITY (nett position neutral) – Keogh could be a real boost to them, while Woolford has been one of the few stand out Scunny players. Probably secured safety for the season – no fireworks though!
IN Andy Keogh (Wolves) Martyn Woolford (Scunthorpe)
OUT Danny Haynes (Barnsley) John Akinde (Dag & Red)
DONCASTER (nett position +5) one of the (top candidate) ones above us I would be looking to leapfrog to give us a margin of safety in the fight to come – however, looks like an interesting mix, certainly offering them a deeper squad come suspensions and injuries. May just be enough to keep their noses ahead and in Champs for next season.
IN Joseph Mills (Scum) Ryan Mason (Spurs) Paul Keegan (Bohemians) Matthew Killgallen (Sunderland) Ryan Burge (Jerez Industrial)
OUT –
My own thoughts Pompey were nett position 0 with arguably a weaker squad. The only team around us worse off is probably Middlesbrough and they spent at least a little of the cash they got from the sales of Gary O and Wheater.
If I were a betting man I ‘d say: – Preston to go down – barring a big turn around by Brown (though they have bought well) – Palace to pull themselves out of it – Middlesbrough, Scunthorpe, Sheff Utd and Pompey fighting it out to steer clear of the other two spots.
Could also see Ipswich dragged into it as well but if the almost England International Bullard turns up then he could be the touch of class to turn those tight games into wins.
Written by jim4pompey.
The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.
