Obviously Lewis Buxton wasn't getting any chances outside of the reserves, but I'd always hoped there would still be a future at Fratton Park for him. At the age of just 17, he made 30 league appearances for Pompey in 01/02 and even finished runner up in the Player of the Season award. He seemed calm, assured, and with positional knowledge beyond his years.
When Harry came in he did his typical trick with the young lads and sent out Lewis. After a brief spell at Exeter he went along the coast to Bournemouth for two years, winning their Player of the Season once. And yet, he never even managed to get on the bench even in our most severe injury problems.
I was really hoping he might finally get a run out under new management - perhaps against Gillingham in the FA Cup - but instead he's gone to Stoke. Permanently. For free. For free, a player who was once the alleged target of a £2.5m bid from Rangers! Bah humbug.
Obviously we've got plenty of quality at the back with De Zeeuw, Stefanovic, Primus, Griffin and Unsworth, and no doubt Zajec will be chasing his own targets so wants to clear the decks before he starts bringing people in, but even so I really hoped Buxton would one day get his chance at the highest level.
Meanwhile, Anthony Pulis has also made the same move to Stoke to join up with his dad. As soon as he arrives he's getting shipped straight out on loan to Torquay for match experience, although I'm not quite so bothered by his departure as he's never looked more than average for the reserves.