Yep super end to the week....signed a big imposing Keeper and Jed signs up - really impressed with the quietly conducted business being done by AA and the board....we are a draw to any player in Lge 1 or 2....playing in front of nearly 16K fans each home game is not to be down played.PUP
Bit of a shocker - Simon Ferry has left the club and joined Dundee, his hometown club. Apparently his family found it hard to settle down south.
Sullivan going is no shock given how out of favour he was under all three managers last season but Ferry was a bit of a surprise, though it seems to have been his decision more than the clubs. I'm not exactly heart-broken to see him go, he was a good player but he had too many injury problems really.
Quite right MAJR - Ferry is an excellent midfielder, but so, so injury prone. Wish him well at Dundee. Presume it didn't cost us any money to rip up his contract ? Bye, Bye John Sullivan. Good luck in the future. Big mistake signing him, Guy, you should have ignored Steve Allen when he told you he was a good goalkeeper. Complete misrepresentation ! Why didn't Alan Knight take a look at him first ?
The News is reporting that we're in negotiations to sign Nigel Atangana from Havant and Waterlooville. http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-in-midfielder-talks-1-6109182
In addition to the news that we're looking to send Nick Awford and Jack Maloney out on loan: http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-want-loan-homes-for-duo-1-6110874 here's an article in the News today about Havant and Waterlooville boss, Lee Bradbury, talking about Atangana: http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/bradbury-pompey-target-is-league-one-quality-1-6110755 Lee Bradbury has told Pompey they will possess a player of League One calibre if they can complete a deal for Nigel Atangana. The Hawks’ highly-regarded midfielder is currently in talks with Andy Awford over a switch to Fratton Park. It represents a prized opportunity for the Frenchman to progress from Conference South into the Football League. It’s a jump boss Bradbury – who has managed Bournemouth in League One – believes Atangana can comfortably complete. In the meantime, Pompey must negotiate the signing of a player under contract for another 12 months – with the Hawks wanting a transfer fee. That in itself is a complex issue as the Blues are presently focusing on paying off legacy debts rather than spending money on signings. Regardless, Bradbury will not stand in the way of the 25-year-old who has attracted interest from several other League Two clubs in the past week. He said: ‘I have given Nigel permission to speak to Pompey to see if they can agree a deal. ‘There has always been an understanding that if a bigger club came in we would not stand in his way and he deserves his chance. ‘Inevitably, there was going to be interest in him this summer and over the last couple of weeks there have been three League Two clubs who have picked up the phone to me, including Pompey. ‘I am comfortable in saying Nigel can play week in, week out in League Two, if not League One. ‘I have managed players not as good as him in League One, so that is another level he can play at. ‘He is energetic, ball-winning, very fit, gets around the pitch, drives forward, likes a tackle and can ghost past players. ‘He has scored some great goals, particularly from distance, and does tick a lot of boxes in terms of what you want from a central midfielder. ‘Nigel’s stature and the leggy way he runs is very (Patrick) Vieira-ish. A lot of people have said he also reminds them of Yaya Toure. ‘What he definitely is, though, is a great lad, with a fantastic attitude and we will have talks with Pompey after personal terms have been agreed.’ Bearing in mind the close relationship between the neighbouring clubs, the Hawks favour a move to Pompey for Atangana. In addition, he is settled in the area, currently sharing a house in Cosham with a Westleigh Park team-mate. And Bradbury has admitted he expects to lose Atangana during this close season. ‘With a club like ours we are always going to have people coming after our players,’ he said. ‘Part of my job is to develop players before they move on. The likes of Ollie Palmer, Chris Arthur and Sahr Kabba have all gone on to other clubs.’
Wonder if Lee Bradbury would be happy with season long loans for Jack Maloney and Nick Awford in exchange for Nigel Atangana joining Pompey ? Surely, we can't be seen to be paying a transfer fee for a player until we have finished paying off the club's legacy debts ?
We can pay transfer fees, with FL consent - and we're 7 months ahead of schedule with the legacy debts so I can't imagine the FL being too opposed for 1 player - wouldn't mind betting though that there will be a very imaginative approach to paying the Hawks, they benefit quite well from holding friendly matches as well as taking our youngsters on loan.
If the FL won't sanction us paying a transfer fee, there's two possible (positive) outcomes I can see: Either we pay a deferred transfer fee, which will be paid once our legacy debts are cleared We don't pay a transfer fee, but we put in a pretty hefty sell-on clause
I've heard that there are various 'offsets' involved. I'm not sure what that means, whether it is loans of our players or some other material assistance that does not involve handing over money. Let's wait and see.
Looks like we might be signing striker Craig Westcarr. http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-chase-westcarr-1-6119280 The 29 year old was released by Walsall after scoring 17 goals in 48 appearances, 14 goals in the league which made hims League One's join 8th top scorer. Port Vale were after him but they seem resigned to losing him to us. I suppose it goes to show the stature of the club that even though we struggled in the lower-half of League Two last year we're still able to attract successful players from League One to come here even when there's interest from clubs in League One itself.
Crawley Town are considering a bid for Sonny Bradley according to Skysports, reported in the Crawley News: http://www.crawleynews.co.uk/Crawle...nder-Bradley/story-21242905-detail/story.html I looks like his agent wants to move him on, and, though I feel it would be dissapointing to lose him, we did sign him with half and eye on having a sellable asset in the future so we might end up being better to cash in on him since he's only got one year left on his contract and with how vocal his agents been about interest from higher leagues I doubt we'd convince him to sign on longer. According to Transfermarkt.com, Bradley's market value is rated at only £44,000, but I would expect at least another £100,000 more on top of that before we consider any offer for him to be serious.
If this: http://www.portsmouth-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/bradley_to_sign_for_crawley_834724/index.shtml is to be believed then Crawley are going to complete the signing of Bradley tomorrow. Rather quicker than I would have expected if that's true.
Wow ! If deal goes through, really hope we receive a decent fee for him - £150,000 would be a nice amount...... As the article says, hope Awfs aims higher than Bondz N'Gala as a replacement for him.
Just read that QPR have released 20 year old centre half Sam Magri. He was a good young prospect for us. He must have had something about him for both Liverpool and QPR to have looked at him. Presumably, Awfs would know all about him.
The wheels have come off Magri's wagon somewhat from the time he captained the England under-16's and played 22 times for the under-17's. I dont know what's happened with him really.
Surprisingly Pompey told Bradley he was surplus to requirements and could leave if he could find a club interested in taking him. http://www.chichester.co.uk/sport/pompey-latest/defender-to-depart-pompey-1-6124214
