Pre-Season

Results
Portsmouth 1 - 2 Portsmouth Reserves
Bad game in all honesty. Conceded two cheap penalties; Both from Corners.
Ashley Harris had a solid game picking up the only Goal for us, decent effort from just inside the box.
Dumbaya made some decent runs down the right Flank to get in some dangerous crosses and make some cutting passes, to which unfortunately no one could make them count.
Formation used: 5-3-2

Licoln 1 - 4 Portsmouth
Absolutely solid game. After going 1-0 early on, we showed dedication, commitment and a willingness to fight back.
Lee Williamson scored first for us before going off injured shortly after. Followed by two goals by Luke Rogers and finally the fourth added by Akos Buzsacky.
The entire team put in a very well rounded effort, not allowing Lincoln any time on the ball and showing great class and quality in our ability to move the ball around the park quickly.
Formation used: 5-3-2


Financial Position
I am extremely happy to announce that Portsmouth have strengthened their financial position. We are now once again in a position where we can negotiate and even refuse offers which come in for our players!
This in turn gives me somewhat more confidence in keeping my best players and getting those all important points when the time comes.


Signings

Mikkel Andersen!

An absolutely fantastic goalkeeper on loan from Reading. Andersen is extremely under-rated and I am delighted he accepted our season long offer.
He will now be out #1 keeper and I am hoping that he will be able to produce a lot of clean sheets in aid of our relegation fight and maybe... Just maybe our uphill battle for a playoff spot.
I have a lot of faith in this keeper.



Erik Lichaj!

Lichaj is a very dedicated and hard working defender. This player comes from the same mold as the likes of Branislav Ivanovic. He is strong, quick, has great natural fitness and can make a tackle. Everything you want from a defender.
He's extremely versatile as well, he is able to play as a Full Back on the Right and Left hand side, he can play as a Centre Half and he can even play as a Right Wing Back. Like I said... From the same Mold as Ivanovic.




Departures

Lee Bradbury

Unfortunately for Lee his time at the club is now over after he accepted a Mutual Contract Termination.
The reason for his Termination are as follows:
- His wages were far too expensive. £1,000 a week is not acceptable for an under 18's coach.
- His stats are far from acceptable. Unfortunately he is a sub-par coach.
- No longer needed due to their already being 3 other under 18's coaches.


Jon Harley















Jon Harley is our second departure. I do not feel that his £3,000 a week contract is worth his ability on the pitch.
I personally didn't feel he could add anything to the club in terms of helping us achieve our goals of avoiding relegation; in fact I feel he would have hindered that and probably aided in our chances of becoming a relegation team.


Formations & Tactics

I will be employing two main Formations within my time at Portsmouth.


    The first will be a 4-2-3-1.

    The second will be a 5-3-2.

So it Begins...

With Portsmouth in deep turmoil on and off the pitch, no players to call their own; I thought it might be a fantastic challenge and an extremely interesting club to choose.

I absolutely love a challenge and currently I cannot think of a bigger one than trying to save Pompey and bring them back to the Premier League. They have no money, no players of any significant quality and very little sign of improving.

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This will be a Network game with my best friend; who will be managing Arsenal.
Dave (the mate of mine whom I will be partaking on this save with) is a Swansea Supporter, so their will be no bias from him in his management of Arsenal.

Me.. I am a Chelsea fan with a huge love for Portsmouth as my Brother supports them.
Long story short: I spent my entire childhood in Malawi (Africa) and had never followed any premiership football at all, let alone even know the teams who played in it.
When I returned to England at the age of 12; my Dad (a Chelsea fan) took me to Stamford Bridge to watch his beloved Blues in action against West Ham, from that moment I was hooked and have since followed Chelsea through thick and thin.
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Joining the Club
When joining Portsmouth obviously there was a lot to analyse throughout the entire club.

Firstly the players... With only 3 players on contracts longer than Three-Months; Straight off the bat I know I have a lot of work ahead of me.
Surprisingly, however; They do appear to have a few promising youngsters, which is a good sign for the future, if nothing else.

At first glance the weakest section of Portsmouth is currently their Goalkeeping situation.
Simon Eastwood is not a very strong Goalkeeper, even for a League 1 side. The likeliness of him staying at the club for a prolonged period of time is highly unlikely.
I will be looking into the possibilities of Loaning a Goalkeeper on a Season Long loan from a Premiership side in due course.


Transfer Embargo
Obviously Portsmouth are currently sitting in a Transfer Embargo (Unable to make any Signing or Loans).
The club is currently in Takeover Talks which I am hoping will bring not only Financial Stability to the club but also maybe a little bit of extra funds available for the Transfer & Wage Budgets.


Season Expectations
Obviously, currently I think anything other than Avoid Relegation is an unrealistic currently, with how I am currently unable to Sign or even Loan any players.
If I at least gain Portsmouth Financial Security and Avoid Relegation I will see that as a victory for my first season and then aim at hitting the playoffs in my second season.
My largest personal expectation for this season is getting Portsmouth the Financial Security they so drastically need.
This will be mainly achieved through lowering the players wages through contract renewals, which will be inevitable, considering that their are only 3 players which have contracts currently longer than 3 months!


Well this sums up my summary of the club. Next on the Agenda... Pre-Season!

See you soon!