Neville Dalton is a journalist with the BBC News website and a Portsmouth fan of 40 years. His expressed views are his and not necessarily those of the BBC.

Our best ever Premiership season; our highest finish for more than half a century.

Fewest goals conceded in a season since we joined the Premiership; half a dozen games before we even let in a goal.

Yes, 2006-7 was a season to remember and to be proud of - and something we couldn't possibly have envisaged when Harry Redknapp returned to Fratton Park about 18 months ago.

If we'd been offered ninth place at the start of the season - before or even after we'd signed David James, Sol Campbell, Glen Johnson and Kanu, nearly all of us would have taken it with glee.

Yet if we'd been offered that on Boxing Day, after beating West Ham away to stand proudly in fifth place, a point behind Arsenal and a point ahead of Liverpool… would we all have been happy with ninth then?

A lot of hands going up. But there are some waverers out there. And quite a few shakes of the head.

Yes, of course, a top-half finish cannot be dismissed - it's what we've dreamed about for so long, probably the height of most of our expectations.

But as I've mentioned before, expectation is a funny old thing.

Outstanding

You tend to adjust your hopes and standards, depending on your circumstances at the time - not looking back on how things were when we were at Square One.

And the truth is that on December 26, 2006 Pompey had an outstanding chance of a top-six finish, and with it a Uefa Cup place.

I tend to side with many who believe a European campaign may have tested our resources to their limit and may just have backfired on us.

But I was also anxious to see my beloved club in Europe for the first time. After all, it might now never happen in my lifetime.

And I believe that after the incredible start we had to the season, plus the extra places available because of the top two's trophy dominance, we may never have had a better chance of qualifying.

Despite my reservations about a European campaign, the fact is that the key achievement is qualifying. Once you're in it, there's potential for a bigger transfer budget on the back of increased gates and more television money.

More significantly, there's the prospect of luring a better - OK, even better - standard of footballer to Fratton Park.

And is there anyone better than Harry to persuade those top-quality players, those up-and-coming foreign talents; those home-grown youngsters looking for a step up or regular football with the prospect of a European adventure to boot, to join the Fratton revolution?

Let's be honest, while Harry is liable to surprise us all with another Sol Campbell, do we really represent a step forward to the likes of Jermain Defoe, Craig Bellamy or Robbie Fowler when they're either already guaranteed a run in Europe or are likely to be wooed by clubs who have qualified?

Opportunity missed

I'm not under any illusions. Of course we were likely to have a poor run after such an excellent first half of the season.

And we didn't fall away altogether, still managing outstanding wins over Manchester United and Liverpool and a creditable draw against a talented Arsenal side.

But I just wonder whether deep down even Harry, Tony Adams and Sacha Gaydamak feel that a real opportunity was missed.

I know the players do - they've said so, both before and after the nail-biting climax against Arsenal.

They wanted it and seemed to be trying their hardest to achieve it (if we forget Watford, Everton and Blackburn away).

But maybe we just weren't good enough.

Or maybe - and I return to a regular theme - we didn't quite deserve it.

It's not have-a-go-at-Harry time. He's done a fantastic job, which I don't believe another manager could have achieved.

By and large, we've done it the right way, with some attractive and enterprising football.

But could we have done even better if we hadn't been so reluctant to trust our attacking instincts away from home for so much of the season?

Frustrating

I readily concede we achieved excellent results at Anfield, The Emirates and Upton Park.

But Harry's reluctance to play more than one attacker, or to try to hold on to a point when three were there for the taking was by far the most frustrating aspect of the season for me.

A win rather than a draw at Fulham; a goal at Reading or Aston Villa, would have been enough for Pompey to qualify and genuinely have an outstanding chance of establishing ourselves at another level.

With Harry's knack for attracting the right sort of player to Fratton - and assuming there is a decent budget for him to create a top-six squad as opposed to a top-six team, that may still happen.

But it's certainly going to be harder. The likes of West Ham and Aston Villa are likely to invest heavily, and who's to say so many places will be available for European qualification next season?

It seems many fans - not least those gloating over Southampton's play-offs heartbreak (let's hope what goes around doesn't always come around, eh?) - are totally consoled that we've done so well this season that next term can only be better.

Oh yeah? Might be worth checking how West Ham, Wigan and Charlton fans are feeling at the moment after their top-half finishes last season.

Or ask Manchester City supporters what a Europe near-miss has led to at Eastlands.

Or Everton fans virtually every other season.

Nothing is guaranteed. Footballers aren't machines. They're liable to injury, loss of form or just an inability to shrug off the disappointment of going so close the previous year.

Our consolation - apart from the enjoyment of not having to spend the first half of a calendar year fretting about relegation - is that there appears to be a greater degree of stability at Fratton Park than there has been for years.

Harry is still there; Tony Adams may stay, and Sacha may really have money to spend.

But don't be under any illusions. It's going to be tough.

Tough to keep our best players; tough to attract new ones of the right quality, and tough to replicate the sort of performances and results that gave us such a valuable - and in the end, vital - platform last season.

Let's hope the likes of Harry and Sacha are tough enough to get going when it matters.