A 2-0 win with an early goal from Mornar and a second half header from Richard Hughes meant a successful pre-season game which also included a Jamie Ashdown penalty save very late on. I'm beginning to think that Mornar might be a useful squad member during what is going to be another long season, mind you I said that last season and then he got injured on the opening day and never played again all season (minus a sub appearance against Arsenal). "Berlin" also took part again this time under an even stranger alias (Naomi Naibi B!?) and Zairi also took part. What I want to know is why is Harry playing these trialists when he has said that he isn't even thinking about signing them? Kiely returned to the starting line up after his injury wasn't as bad as first feared though Sean Davis was pulled out as a precaution as he had a minor groin injury.
Now onto the more pressing matters of yesterday. Let's start with Lomana Lua Lua rejecting a new contract. He claims in the tabloids that the offer Pompey have put on the table is not fair and he could find himself moving if the situation isn't sorted soon as he feels he is being forced out of the club. Pompey have since said that the story has been blown way out of proportion , which wouldn't suprise me knowing the tabloids. If we can't sort him out with a new deal then I'd hope we get a rather large fee for him, though I have already made my thoughts clear on Lua Lua in a previous article about why I'd prefer him to stay. I would let him go if his wage demands were ridiculous however, as he can't be expected to earn the same amount as the likes of Anelka or Campbell if they were to sign. We have a player here who is loved by a lot of the fans and a player who wants to play for Portsmouth Football Club so hopefully the situation is sorted soon, if there was ever a real "situation" to begin with.
If he was sold then Benjani could fill his void as he is a similar type of player and although he is far less selfish than Lua Lua, his goalscoring record isn't as good as that of the DR Congo man. I think we will get the best out of Benjani this season though, now he has settled in to his English surroundings and if he does have a really good season and scores often enough then perhaps we might not miss Lua Lua as we first thought. On the other hand I wouldn't want us to sell him to another Premiership club as we'd be weakening our own squad whilst strengthening that of the opposition, especially if Benjani fails to deliver.
The other big news to come out of yesterday was that the Manuel Fernandes deal is temporarily off because he failed a medical, and who didn't see that one coming? Fair enough, you can't risk £10 million on someone who's injured but you'd have to question why he didn't get his problem sorted over the summer, especially if that was what he blamed his poor form on for the end of last season. The whole transfer saga is getting tedious and for all of our trying we still can't sign decent players for one reason or another. We now have exactly four weeks before Blackburn arrive at Fratton Park so there's still time for Harry to find decent quality players and I'm still trusting Harry to find them. Who knows? Maybe in a months time we'll have Anelka, Fernandes, Gareth Barry, Defoe, Campbell and Curtis Davies all on our books! As Pompey fans all we can do is be patient, which is something we're not always good at admittedly.
Our next pre-season game is on Wednesday at Roots Hall when we play Championship side Southend United. I know I don't speak for everyone when I say I hope Lua Lua has signed a new deal by then, but I'm sure everyone will agree with me when I say I hope we have at least one new quality player in the side by then.