Alright, so we know that barring all the miracles in the world Dejan won't be lifting the Premiership trophy but who can blame us for milking our current status? (So long as we don't get too carried away!) How many of you thought that we would be unbeaten and top of the league after matchday 5 having won four games out of five (and even the drawn game could have been won if it wasn't for an incompetant refereeing display) and having not conceded a goal yet! I certainly didn't that's for sure and I bet the final total of Pompey fans who did believe that is a single digit number with a big circle in the middle. Not that you'll see me or anyone else in a royal blue shirt complaining about such a wonderful start of course!
Credit for such an amazing start has to go intially to Harry Redknapp for getting the best out of the squad we have and the tactics he has used in our games which have been almost faultless so far. He has made some terrific signings, perhaps the most important being those at the back with David James, Sol Campbell and Glen Johnson all coming in and performing very well to date. However perhaps the biggest signing of them all is that of Tony Adams. Having one of the best defenders in the last decade coaching and influencing the new improved rearguard has resulted in one of the meanest back five's that Pompey have ever had and to me, Adams must take a great deal of credit for that and it can be no co-incidence that his arrival at the club has made our defence unbeatable so far.
Not only has Adams got the defence working as a unit but individually his coaching has made Linvoy Primus a better player than he already was and at 33, Primus is once again proving his doubters wrong by having the best spell of his career to date as well as striking an instant partnership with Sol Campbell. Adams' influence has also seemed to have made Dejan Stefanovic more able to prove some Pompey supporters wrong having been solid in his left back role so far.
Of course, the season is only five games old and it will be interesting to see how far this backline can go without conceding a goal and perhaps more importantly, how they react once they do finally let the ball in the back of the net.
Another thing that has struck me about this new Pompey side is how that despite the quality of our midfield players none of them are yet to score and in fact, all nine of our goals have been scored by strikers who on paper don't look to be out and out goal getters. Benjani is seen more of a strike partner who can get behind defenders and create chances for others but he has two goals to his name. Kanu is seen as a player whose job is to hold the ball up and bring other players into an attack whilst grabbing the odd goal for himself yet he is currently our top scorer with four goals and arguably he should have more. Toddy has grabbed two goals for us but is currently on loan and the now fit again Lua Lua scored yesterday when he came on.
We still have Andy Cole to come back too and I don't think anyone is going to miss Ivica Mornar after he was finally released from his contract having only netted a single goal for us and that was on his debut! My assessment of our current crop of strikers is that we have a bit of everything. Pace and support in Benjani, trickery and solo quality in Lua Lua, heading and hold-up play in Kanu and poachers instinct and intelligent runs in Andy Cole. With such variety of strikers Harry can adapt his gameplan to suit the opposition and it must be a great luxury to have, providing they avoid injury.
With the service our strikers are now getting from the midfield it's obvious why they are scoring more goals. The way things are going I'd back our four current strikers to score at least 10 goals each which will total 40 goals, 3 more than what the whole team managed the whole of last season! Not only that but the midfield will chip in eventually and we pose plenty of aerial threat in Stefanovic, Sol and Linvoy so this season we should score plenty more as well as concede much less goals than the 62 we let in last season.
It's looking good for Pompey right now, even if the media don't give us the hype or credit we deserve but then that's the way I like it. The less we are noticed by the gutter rags and hounders, the easier it is for Harry and the team to get their jobs done on and off the pitch, though this inquisition into Harry taking illegal bungs might tarnish such a great start (no Harry hasn't being doing drugs, it's all about people paying illegal backhanders to agents if you have been living underwater this past month!).
Harry has constantly denied he has anything to do with being offered money for players by agents by saying he is "a million percent innocent" and whilst he has a reputation for being a liar I think he's innocent until proven otherwise regarding this situation despite his reputation of being a "dodgee geezah". Whatever has happened, Panorama promises to reveal the "shocking truth" on Tuesday night although I, along with many other Pompey fans will be more interested in our League Cup tie against Mansfield Town.
I end this article by saying a big thank you to Sacha, Milan, Harry and all the other backroom and playing staff of Portsmouth Football Club for putting a smile on our faces and further establishing Pompey as a Premiership force as well as the top team on the South Coast.
Long may this great start continue!