Neville's Thoughts

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

Pre-meditated retaliation

So, only one relegation place to worry about, then.

Blackburn and Manchester City are surely doomed now that Fifa has introduced this novel concept of punishing the attacked as well as the attacker on the strange premise of provocation.

Can't imagine the likes of arch-wind-up merchants Robbie Savage and Paul Dickov getting too many games this season under this new regime.

As I suggested in my previous column when it was just a media storm that surrounded Marco Materazzi's agent provocateur role in the dismissal of Zinedine Zidane in the World Cup final, the possibilities of picking and choosing the most opportune moments for retaliation are endless.

Didier Drogba's on an unstoppable scoring run (don't laugh). Head-butt him. OK, it'll cost me two or three games, but free-scoring Didier will be out for a similar number of matches for provoking me (well, that hand-ball was enough to drive anyone to violence).

Chelsea's goal output will grind to a trickle and by the time he comes back, his touch will have deserted him and we at Arsechester United can make up some of those points.

Newcastle might pip us for a European place, thanks to the brilliant form of Scott Parker. A nice right hook should see him out for a month or two. First he's got to get over the injury and then there's the inevitable two- or three-match ban he'll get for taunting me about my inability to get anywhere near him during the game.

We need to stay above Wigan to avoid relegation. I know – I'll spit at that nice man De Zeeuw… OK, it doesn't work every time.

But I can't see Savage and Dickov escaping bans each month under this new perverse outlook. After all, provocation and wind-ups are what they do for a living.

They'll surely be Premiership pros' number one targets now that it constitutes a punishable offence.

Or are you telling me it was only a one-off because that nasty Italian caused that nice Frenchman to be sent off in Fifa's biggest game for four years?

I abhor any form of cheating, and I think professional sportsman should be testing their abilities to perform their sport against their rivals rather than seeing how much of an advantage they can gain through more underhand means.

But provocation is not an offence, like it's not a crime.

Violence is.

OK, sometimes the degree of provocation may be a mitigation, which can be reflected in the punishment.

But it's not an excuse.

When a professional fleetingly ponders the consequences of his actions as he prepares to launch himself at an opponent, it should be to consider the impact on him and his club.

Not what it will do for his opponent's title, European or relegation prospects.

Priske-y business

As we bid farewell to one of our best performers of last season, I can't help thinking we're going to regret letting him go.

I confess to being amazed at enlisting so few members to my Priske Must Stay campaign that I launched last month, although the message board suggests there is still a distinct divide among fans regarding his importance to the club.

I sincerely hope that Glen Johnson proves to be an excellent replacement – but let's hope he doesn't get injured…

And we find another equally talented and effective right-back to take his place when he returns to fight for his shirt at Chelsea the following season…

And we sign a quality right winger who is at least as effective as Priske was in the dual role (two for the price of one) last term…

And they don't all cost too much.

The more I think about it, the more of a travesty it seems in a squad not exactly blessed with strength in depth in every position.

When do we press the panic button?

I like to think I'm a patient man, and having followed Pompey for so long, you tend to lower your expectations and hope for the best anyway.

But I must admit I grow more worried with every day that passes without any more quality additions to our squad.

As I wrote previously, although the transfer window is open for another month or so, we're missing the chance for new signings to gel before the season starts rather than get to grips with new tactics, formations and team-mates on the hoof.

As one of this message board's contributors eloquently put it: “We might not have hit the ground running last season, but plenty did.”

And without strengthening our squad, we're surely damaging our chances of being one of those teams.

The consequences of a good start can be felt way beyond the season's first league table.

Good performances – especially with accompanying goals and points – breed confidence, which could help see us through the trickier second quarter of the season, when injuries, suspensions and deteriorating pitches could be taking their toll.

Points in the bag in August and September may buy us time and provide the launch-pad for another positive run in the second half of the season.

Without them – and with a squad that is arguably weaker than the one that limped (albeit magnificently) over the line last season – I can't see anything other than another fight against relegation.

However, I'm not sure it's fair to blame the club. I'm not close enough to the day-to-day activities at Fratton to know why we're missing out on all these players we've expressed an interest in.

We do seem to have this habit of talking up our interest in players, only to be gazumped or strung along as said player's agent looks for a better deal elsewhere.

But if the club is imposing wage restrictions or transfer limits (or we're refusing to take a gamble on a dodgy medical) – and they're the reasons we're losing out – then so be it.

I don't know whether Sacha has a bottomless bank account – he certainly suggested he wasn't in the Abramovich league when he joined us.

But I'd hate for the club to implode just because we got a bit too greedy.

Part of the problem now we're perceived to have moved into a higher spending league is that we're expecting world-class players who have and still should be playing in Europe to choose us - who have just scraped through another relegation battle – ahead of more established, highly-placed clubs.

For all that, though, I really do wish we had one or two new quality names on board.

And my patience is running out!