We've lost quite a few players from last campaign, some of which I am glad to see the back of whilst others I am sorry to see go. The likes of Gregory Vignal, Sander Westerveld, John Viafara, Emanuel Olisadebe, Collins Mbesuma, Andrea Guatelli, Salif Diao and Azar Karadas are all unlikely to be missed having made very minimal impact last season and all of which are widely regarded as not good enough for the Premiership.
We have also let Aliou Cisse, Vincent Pericard, Wayne Routledge and Ognjen Koroman go. I thought Cisse was a pretty good squad player for us and although I don't think he will be missed, it might have been better to keep him for time being considering how thin we are in terms of midfielders. Routledge is obviously going to stay at Spurs to try and fight for his place and although a decent player I don't think Harry liked him that much for some reason which could also be said for Koroman who never got a chance and whether we'll be made to rue not signing him permanently is anyone's guess although he did show promise in the World Cup when he came on for Serbia. The release of Vincent Pericard is a strange one though. I always thought he would make a decent Premiership player after a great season for us in Division One. I feel sorry for the bloke considering the amount of nasty injuries he has had and that's probably the main reason why Harry has shipped him off to Stoke.
Two players who had a massive impact on our season and have now left are Brian Priske and Andres D'Alessandro. Priske has been replaced with Glen Johnson who shows early signs that he could do very well for us however after Johnson we only have Griffin as our natural right back and that worries me after a terrible last season. It was also a shame that D'Alessandro chose Spain over Pompey and we're still trying to find a replacement for him although it hasn't been easy.
Onto the players we have signed and it's fair to say that every signing has a question mark over their heads going into the new campaign.
David James has signed from Manchester City and I think he's a decent 'keeper and will do well for us. What worries me about him is his occasional mistakes that always end up costing him whilst other goalkeepers can get away with them. Not only that but I don't think Dean Kiely is going to want to sit on the bench all season and who can blame him after how good he was for us? Could have an effect on team spirit perhaps? I think it was imperative we got another goalkeeper because of the injuries and whilst James is a good signing I don't know what it will mean for Kiely and Ashdown. Of course, if James does screw up then we have quality backup.
Glen Johnson has probably been our best player in pre-season and hopefully he can suprise people by getting back to his early promising form when he was with Harry at West Ham. If he does, we'll soon forget about the Priske debacle but I feel if he makes too many mistakes then he's going to be get booed by the fans and we're going to hear Priske chants around Fratton Park which can't be good for the man's confidence. This is almost a lose-lose situation because if he performs badly then we're going to concede goals and if he does brilliantly he's only on loan anyway so Chelsea will have him back.
Sol Campbell is a real big coup for a club of our size and is by far the biggest signing we have made this summer to date. He should improve our defence a lot but there's still a niggling doubt in some fan's minds as to if he has gotten over his bad spell at Arsenal completely. If he has, then we have quite possibly made the signing of the season but if the mistakes start to creep in and Sol starts lacking confidence we will be shipping as many goals as we did last season which will obviously be very worrying given our lack of current firepower. I am quietly confident that Campbell is going to be brilliant for us as long as he stays focused.
I think David Thompson and Kanu are ultimately squad signings. Both are capable of doing a job at this level although I don't expect them to grace the first team too often and will no doubt play in the cups against lower league opposition should the occasion arise. We're very lightweight in midfield in terms of squad and Thompson could be handy down the wings as we do not have any natural wingers at the club yet. I've already said what I've had to say about Kanu so I'll just say as long as he is in a Pompey shirt we should back him 100% regardless of what we think of him.
Onto the current crop of players at the club and it's great to see that many of the players who were pivotal in our "Great Escape" have signed new deals. Matty Taylor signed for four years and on the pitch he is still getting better defensively and his delivery is improving gradually too. He's one of our players who plays for the shirt and although he is still prone to the odd mistake I am delighted he isn't going to be poached by Fulham or Tottenham. Pedro Mendes has also signed a new four year deal with Pompey which has also delighted many Pompey fans. After a slow start Mendes began to show his class in the centre midfield. He can win a ball, pass it well and we all know how well he can strike from distance!
Gary O'Neil has commited himself for another five years. Gary was our outstanding player last season. Full of energy and very consistant he is bound to play a key role again for us this season, even if he is playing in his unfavoured position. Lomana Lua Lua has also signed a new three year deal but has plenty of critics after last season because of his injuries, one of which was self-inflicted. He could also be extremely frustrating, constantly refusing to pass and getting caught offside a lot. However his pace and trickery scares defences and he is capable of producing something out of nothing. If he keeps himself fit and finds the net more often he will be a key player for us.
So where do I think we'll finish? Well it could be anywhere from 7th - 17th! There is a huge amount of unpredictablity around Pompey this season. We have a solid base to work with considering O'Neil, Taylor, Davis and Mendes should all perform this season whilst Benjani could also have a great season after a settling in period. If the new signings do well and we add some quality where needed (i.e: a quality left winger, solid centre back and a 15 goal a season striker) then there is no reason we can't push for a top 10 finish however I am fully aware it could all go wrong and we end up near the wrong end of the table.
If we can also turn Fratton Park into the fortress it once was and make ourselves very hard to beat at home then that will provide a solid platform to build on for the away games. We managed to win five times away from home last season and it would be great to improve on that and there's no reason why we can't if we add the required quality to the squad and continue to support our team in numbers away from home.
We all have different expectations for this coming season and I would be happy with a season that didn't feature a relegation battle at all. Three consecutive years we have faced up to the very real possibility of relegation and it causes so much stress on the players and the fans we could really do without another this time! I think we are capable of finishing in our best ever Premiership position (12th or above) but currently the squad isn't good enough to break into the top 10 or at least on paper anyway but you can never under-estimate the possibilities open to a Harry Redknapp side and if the squad are motivated enough then who knows what we can achieve? A decent cup run would also be nice this season, no embarassing defeats to lower league opposition this season please Harry!
Final Prediction: 12th - The current squad probably isn't good enough to finish this high but I am backing Harry to get his men eventually. This club has massive potential under Sacha but for now I would be happy with a season of consolidation where we can really go for it in seasons to come.
Play Up Pompey!