Latest Target Is Camara

Milan Mandaric has revealed that we are interesting in purchasing the services of Henri Camara. The news comes after Camara's proposed move to Wigan broke down. Camara is currently contracted to Wolves though he played his trade last season with our arch-rivals, Southampton on loan. If we do get him, Camara would be our eighth signing of the season and I believe he would do well with a Pompey shirt.

In other news, twenty-five year old Ricardo Fuller has left the club for Southampton after sealing a work permit for the £90,000 move. Southampton were in dire need of a new striker and Fuller was more than happy to re-unite with ex-Pompey boss Harry Redknapp.

Svetoslav Todorov has recovered from a serious injury which bought him only an hours worth of football in the last two years at Pompey. Todorov was an intergal part of the promotion winning side back in 2003, he was the first division's (now the Championship's) leading scorer after bagging twenty-six goals. Mandaric is looking to off-load him on loan so he can get used to some first team football again before preparing him for a return, Cardiff City have expressed keen interest for the deal to go ahead on a one month basis.

Portsmouth 1 Den Haag 0
Typically boring pre-season game. I was surprised that we managed to find ourselves opponents after Iran pulled out of the scheduled friendly. Den Haag agreed to fill in at the last minute and the slow paced match went ahead. Not really much to report. We never had to move into second gear, the game was played at more of a testimonial pace. Den Haag used strong arm tactics throughout the match though the referee failed to notice any wrong doings on behalf of the Dutch side. Karadas was worryingly stretchered off the pitch down to injury, reports so far have suggest that he could be out for six weeks putting pressure on the other strikers, especially Collins Mbesuma to perform come the start of the season. In the second half, it was Laurent Robert who broke the deadlock with a simply strike giving us an easy win which we didn't have to work all that hard for.

Arjan de Zeeuw To Leave?

Looks like Arjan de Zeeuw is set to make a return to Wigan. I'm a big Zeeuw fan but I do realize that age is taking its toll, our gaffer, Alan Perrin also realizes this and is trying to cut down on the overall age of the squad. After sealing the transfer of Andy O'Brien, it looks likely that if he stays, Zeeuw will no longer be one of our first choice centre-halves, Stefanovic will most probably side up with O'Brien for most of our games and this has triggered the move as Zeeuw is not prepared to be our first choice for the bench. Zeeuw has given us a great three years, one of which was the year in which we won promotion where he gave us a truly phenomonal season. Wigan have expressed their interest to re-sign the player as they attempt to bolster their backline, at the moment, a move looks the likely option.

Pompey 0 Inter 2

Damn, I had not expected us to win and normally, I would be quite happy with just a 2-0 loss against Inter, a top European club whom I regard quite highly. However, the referee seemed blinded throughout the game as Inter continue to use what the media has dubbed as "strong-arm tactics," I myself prefer to call it foul play. Lomana LuaLua and Ivica Mornar both had to leave the field after sustaining injuries. LuaLua has been cleared okay for the start of the season whilst Mornar remains doubtful. Inter took the lead in the 54th minute after David Pizzaro scored what shouldn't have been a penalty. Dejan Stankovic finished us off with a strike in the 76th minute.

News and Rumours in plenty

Tim Sherwood has announced his retirement, he sustained a broken leg whilst playing for Pompey in 2003 and never really recovered, last season, Sherwood who always had played for Tottenham and Blackburn Rovers, just the Sky Blues, he managed to make 11 first team appearances, the formed capped England International is expected to continue his work with Sky Tv.



Damien Francis, who scored seven goals in the Premiership for Norwich last season, moved to Wigan even though it looked like we would be the ones to sign him.

Allain Perrin is still reported to be after host shot ex-Fulham defender, Abseslam Quaddou, Quaddou is also being tracked by Belgium giants Anderlecht and Real Mallorca of Spain, Rennes however have put a £3.5M transfer value on his head even though the player has just 12 months left on his contract and has shown no interest in renewing it.

Thirty-six year old Shaka Hislop who we released last season, has signed a one-year contract with Premiership new boys, West Ham, Hislop who enjoyed a previous spell with The Hammers left them in 2002 to Join Pompey, he is however reportedly pleased to be returning to his roots.

05/06 Fixtures

SAT AUG 13 2005 POMPEY VS SPURS

SAT AUG 20 2005 WEST BROM VS POMPEY

TUES AUG 23 2005 POMPEY VS ASTON VILLA

SAT AUG 27 2005 MAN CITY VS POMPEY

SAT SEP 10 2005 EVERTON VS POMPEY

SAT SEP 17 2005 POMPEY VS BIRMINGHAM

SAT SEP 24 2005 BOLTON VS POMPEY

SAT OCT 01 2005 POMPEY VS NEWCASTLE

SAT OCT 15 2005 MIDDLESBROUGH VS POMPEY

SAT OCT 22 2005 POMPEY VS CHARLTON

SAT OCT 29 2005 SUNDERLAND VS POMPEY

SAT NOV 05 2005 POMPEY VS WIGAN

SAT NOV 19 2005 LIVERPOOL VS POMPEY

SAT NOV 26 2005 POMPEY VS CHELSEA

SAT DEC 03 2005 MAN UTD VS POMPEY

SAT DEC 10 2005 SPURS VS POMPEY

SAT DEC 17 2005 POMPEY VS WEST BROM

MON DEC 26 2005 POMPEY VS WEST HAM

WED DEC 28 2005 ARSENAL VS POMPEY

SAT DEC 31 2005 POMPEY VS FULHAM

MON JAN 02 2006 BLACKBURN VS POMPEY

SAT JAN 14 2006 POMPEY VS EVERTON

SAT JAN 21 2006 BIRMINGHAM VS POMPEY

TUES JAN 31 2006 POMPEY VS BOLTON

SAT FEB 04 2006 NEWCASTLE VS POMPEY

SAT FEB 11 2006 POMPEY VS MAN UTD

SAT FEB 25 2006 CHELSEA VS POMPEY

SAT MAR 04 2006 ASTON VILLA VS POMPEY

SAT MAR 11 2006 POMPEY VS MAN CITY

SAT MAR 18 2006 WEST HAM VS POMPEY

SAT MAR 25 2006 POMPEY VS ARSENAL

SAT APR 01 2006 FULHAM VS POMPEY

SAT APR 08 2006 POMPEY VS BLACKBURN

SAT APR 15 2006 POMPEY VS MIDDLESBROUGH

MON APR 17 2006 CHARLTON VS POMPEY

SAT APR 22 2006 POMPEY VS SUNDERLAND

SAT APR 29 2006 WIGAN VS POMPEY

SUN MAY 7 2006 POMPEY VS LIVERPOOL

Late Novemeber and early December look especially difficult, games against Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd each following consecutively.

Hurricane On His Way

We finally managed to win our work permit appeal for Zambian striker, Collins Mbesuma, otherwise known by his nicknane as "The Hurricane." The deal is expected to be announced at a price of around £500,000. Mbesuma, had a fantastic last season, he managed to pach 39 goals in all competitions. Although the twenty-one year old may need a bit of adjusting to the English way of life, I must say that I am delighted by this purchase, a lot of European clubs were trailing him and he is a great prospect for the future.