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

In yet another close season of transfer speculation, ranging from the realistic to the downright ridiculous, it's good to see an excellent thread on the message board, taking a look back at the best Pompey players of the past decade.

It's the sort of activity I've often resorted to, making lists of the greatest current players; best of all time, and all sorts in between.

The trouble is, the comparisons of generations are futile: how would the likes of Jimmy Dickinson and Peter Harris have performed in the supremely athletic Premier League of today? Does that make them worse players than those who wear the shirts nowadays?

And with Pompey's turnover of personnel, even comparisons of a couple of years are pretty tricky, given that in turn we have watched teams struggling to stay in Division One, soaring away with the First Division title; establishing a foothold in the top flight; fighting doggedly against relegation, before emerging as one of the best of the "second tier" of clubs in the Premier League.

Take that back a whole decade and you face another conundrum. When we were bad - I mean really bad, compared with the standards we now expect - just how good were the few whose performances really did stand out in a pretty poor team?

Steve Claridge would never realistically get in a Pompey team of the decade, but in their way, weren't some of his battling performances in the early 1990s - when his displays were oases of excellence in a desert bereft of skill - all the more creditable?

1997-8 was the season when we escaped relegation by one point, thanks to that last-day win at Bradford (though in no small way, also thanks to a dogged win at home to Stockport in the February, when our small core of support almost visibly lifted the team into a winning mentality).

The likes of John Durnin and Alan Knight are writ large in the memories of Pompey fans of a certain age because of seasons like the one 10 years ago, when staying out of the third tier was an achievement.

But let's face it, to stand out in the Pompey team that held their own in the Premier League five years ago, you had to be a bit better than that.

And to do so in Pompey's team of FA Cup winners and European qualifiers must surely rank you even higher.

But in putting together my own Best Pompey XI of the past decade, I've tried to take into account the quality of those playing around them as well as that of the opposition.

And given that such an exercise can only ever be subjective, I'm sure every one of you would come up with a different team.

Especially as I've put in one or two surprises along the way.

Here goes:

David James - Simply the best goalkeeper I've ever seen play for Pompey. His consistency has been incredible, way above anything any of us have been used to seeing. Not only does he make sensational saves frequently, but he inspires the defence around him. And his distribution is as good as many outfield players, undoubtedly a key attacking weapon.

Glen Johnson - Still some way to go, I suspect, but already Johnno has proved himself a quality defender and an excellent attacker. Still given to the occasional lapse and unnecessary foul (what was he doing in the Cup final?), but the best full-back I've seen play for Pompey - even better than Warren Neill (and that is praise indeed).

Sol Campbell - The odd bad day last season suggests this may be the beginning of the end for the former England captain, but in his two seasons at Pompey he has brought unprecedented success and a winning mentality to Fratton. His partnerships with Linvoy Primus and Sylvain Distin have been the latest of several formidable central-defensive partnerships over the past decade, suggesting that that is where Pompey's greatest strength has lain in that time.

Gianluca Festa - The first of my surprise selections. When the Italian stopper played his one and only season for Pompey, helping them run away with the First Division title, he became - albeit briefly - the best defender I had seen play for Pompey. He was getting on, and his pedigree was good but nothing exceptional. Yet he was magnificent in the air, tackled like only the Italians can, and had a left foot that Sylvain Distin would have been proud of - if only the Frenchman's wasn't already even better!

Sylvain Distin - The other half of the latest doughty defensive duo to light up Fratton Park, and easily takes over the "best defender" mantle from Uncle Festa. His excellent timing, tackling and heading skills are complemented by two other outstanding assets - phenomenal pace and measured distribution.

Pedro Mendes - It's been a privilege to watch Pedro play for Pompey. Like so many other quality players, you never realise just how good they are until they play for your team. His passing is of the highest quality; he makes time and space in a way so few others can manage, but best of all he reads the game incredibly astutely, meaning he is nearly always in the right place at the right time to make a decisive tackle or delicate interception before putting Pompey into the ascendancy with attack-minded distribution. Oh, and he scores the occasional cracking goal, too.

Robert Prosinecki - So difficult to assess the Croatian's overall quality in the pantheon of Pompey teams for several reasons - the team he played in was nothing special (though it did have some quality players); the opposition was nowhere near that which the current Pompey squad encounters week after week; and the team around him had to do all the dirty work for him. But Robert Prosinecki's skill was second to none - spellbinding, magical, inspirational and magnificent entertainment. Watching some of his Pompey highlights on You Tube recently reminded me just how lucky I was to see him play for my club.

Nigel Quashie - Surprise number two, and yes, I know, Pompey fans are split right down the middle over him. The fans who watch the likes of Diarra, Muntari, Kranjcar and Mendes vie for a place in Pompey's current midfield like to caricature Quashie for his wayward shooting. And admittedly, he hardly scored for the club, although he probably rattled the woodwork more than anyone has before or since. But while Diarra has played but a handful of games for Pompey, undoubtedly bringing a new level of skill to the club, Quashie proved himself over many more games, and in far poorer teams. His role in the Prosinecki Season was generally overlooked but can never be overstated. His running and tackling were the reasons Prosi was allowed to perform his party tricks. Quashie went on to establish himself as a fine Premier League player, the highlight in my opinion being a faultless performance against Manchester United, before committing a sin just as heinous as Harry's by joining Southampton. Only he never made up for it.

Paul Merson - Just what we needed to gain promotion. Merson had the right experience and the right level of hunger to lead Pompey to a success that in its way probably exceeds our FA Cup win. He was the catalyst that turned Redknapp's team of strangers into a free-flowing, high-scoring football team that was just too good for anyone else in the First Division.

He may have been past his best, but he was ideal at that level - a winner who spurred on others. His ability to turn defence into attack with one sweep of his boot is still missed to this day - you don't have to run quickly to play fast football.

Benjani Mwaruwari - Final surprise - though not to the most discerning of you who can see past his goal record to gauge just what Benjani brought to Pompey. Playing against some of the world's greatest defenders, he rarely came off the field without having given his opponents a torrid time, regardless of whether he hit the net. His pace, strength and astute running were all elements that helped Pompey stave off relegation and then establish themselves as a top-half Premier League team. And every forward who played with him benefited as a result. The pity is that for much of his time at Pompey he never had a partner.

Svetoslav Todorov - Although Pompey's defence has probably been its greatest strength over most of the decade, we've been treated to some top-quality forwards, too. Sheringham, Yakubu, Defoe and Crouch don't make Dalton's final XI, despite bringing something special to the club during their stays at Fratton. Toddy was one of those rare players who would guarantee goals, scoring simply or spectacularly, passing into the net instead of blasting over. He always seemed to have that split-second more in front of goal. Yet it's as much for his Benjani-type exploits as his goals that I pick him. He wasn't the biggest chap around, yet he held up the ball brilliantly, bringing others into the game, and won more than his share of headers. The prospect of a Toddy-Sheringham strike partnership in Pompey's debut Premiership season excited me greatly. His eve-of-season injury destroyed that prospect, and ultimately his career.

So, no De Zeeuw, no Stefanovic, no Linvoy. No Gary O'Neil, no Niko Kranjcar and no Andres D'Alessandro.

I didn't consider Lassana Diarra or Jermain Defoe because they haven't yet played many games for Pompey.

But I could have chosen alternative quality performers in almost every position.

That really does show how far Pompey have come in recent years, and how lucky we fans have been to see such talent on show, playing for our team.