Portsmouth vs Tottenham Preview

Last updated : 12 August 2005 By Keith Allman

Here we go again. The big kick off. The long awaited. The triumphant return of. The glorious re-introduction. The start of something big. A new dawn.

Call it whatever cliché you like (and I will), but the bottom line is that it's that time again - the start of a brand new season. I would churn out some lines about, "Oh, it's been so hard to have life without football", but if we're honest it's hardly been a complete grind this summer. Confederations Cup, UEFA, Intertoto, the odd pre-season game - alright it's no match for the buzz of Saturday at 3pm, Sky Sports permitting, and no match to being able to turn on the television at any point between August and May and find real football (not the sodding Masters) SOMEWHERE! Even so, it's hardly as if there's been nothing.

I digress.

Spurs are coming to town and they've been tipped by many to be contenders for the UEFA Cup this season, finally proving themselves as a "big club" somewhere other than the minds of their fans. And, to be fair, their team actually looks a lot stronger than previous years, although more just because they've bought so many players and been linked to every striker on the planet. But it's easy to mock, not to mention fun, but to their credit there is some decent talent; most clubs would be happy with one out of Defoe, Keane or Kanouté; Davids, Carrick, Mendez and Reid are hardly rubbish midfielders and having England's number one in goal is always a bonus. Luckily for us the visitors will be missing Davids and also captain Ledley King so it won't be a full strength side. But that's not to say it will be easy.

The interesting thing - well, I say interesting, it's vaguely noticeable - about Portsmouth and Tottenham clashes since our promotion is that the home side have always won. What's more, they've failed to score at Fratton Park in both of our wins, so if you're the type who delves into the past to look for some sort of "sign" then that's your booster right there.

That was the past, and the question is whether or not the new look Pompey side can produce the goods on the opening day - it's now been five years since we kicked off the season with a defeat. The pundits will obviously go for an away win or a draw at best, and I can see where they're coming from with that point of view as the visitors are the supposed bigger name with the big name players. But how often have we seen the bigger teams and supposed stars of the modern game fail at Fratton?

Personally I'm really excited about this game and the season as a whole just because no-one can genuinely say what we're going to do. Is Robert going to be great talent or a great sulk? Is Westerveld going to be handling shots or handling criticism? Will Karadas live up to his billing or be a foreign flop? If we can get off to a winning start on Saturday then the confidence boost could take us to a nice little run in the first month - and a good start has been crucial to us in both previous Premiership years.

Can we do it? As always, of course. Will we? I'm going for a draw because that way I'm not expecting too much; a 2-2 would be a nice entertaining start. I'm worried we could get done 2-0 and suddenly all the doom and gloom merchants will be writing off all the new players and Alain straight away (as will the media) and from there it could just be a downward spiral.

Still! Happy thoughts. Banish those last ones to the dark corner and get in with the pre-season optimism. With the Tottenham absentees we have a greater chance and we've got the element of surprise with some of our players; let's get right into them and start the season on a flyer. Even if I do think we'll draw.