I'm going to start this as an experiment and hope it doesn't descend into petty bickering between Pompey and Southampton fans in the future. I thought I'd start this because I just read on the Newcastle Board that they've been linked with Lassana Diarra. In response to the news Wooperts_Duck left a positive comment about Diarra and I left a negative one. So I got to wondering about opinions we have about the club, its history and the players and managers and whatever, that go against the general consesus of the overall fanbase, where general opinion is favorable towards or against something or someone but a handfull of voices dissent and disagree. So this is a place to list and/or discuss those dissenting opinions. To kick off I'll use the issue of Lassana Diarra. Most of our fanbase seemed to think that he was great - superb was the term Wooperts used - but I just didnt rate him. I didn't and still dont see what was so special about him. He never "wowed" me. He just did his job and that was it. He did his job well, he was effective and efficent at it, there was nothing really to fault in anything he did but there was nothing that made him stand out either. I cant remember any game that I watched or listened to that I came away from thinking that he had been the best player on the pitch. Perhaps it's a bit of associative negativity because we signed him practically the exact same time we sold Matt Taylor and at the time I couldn't understand the logic of signing yet another central midfielder when we had six already - they were Kranjcar, Diop, Muntari, Mendes, Davis, Hughes - and I was bitterly dissapointed to be losing Taylor since he had done so well for us in both the old First Division before it became the Championship and the Premier League itself. Objectively speaking I understand that this is partly the reason I never warmed to Jermaine Defoe either - that we signed him at the same time we sold Benjani and at the time Benjani was in great form and had endeared himself to Pompey fans as a whole with his attitude and work-rate, something Defoe never did regardless of much more natural a striker he may have been. But point being I understand I'm in a minorty but I just never understood what it was that most people saw in Diarra.
In the Premiership years I think most of our players were there simply for the enormous amounts of cash they could command, eg. Sol Campbell etc. I preferred players who would pull the shirt on for the club and wear it with pride never mind the outcome, my favourite and most honest players were Mick Tait, Alan Biley, Steve Aizlewood and Mark Hately (the latter two I knew personally). Alan Knight was also a legend and fantastic player for Pompey and wore the club on his sleeve.
Anyone who says they didn't enjoy the Premiership is, at best, being disingenuous. They were mostly exciting and heady times, however much they were responsible for our decline and fall and current torpor. However, if you were to ask me who my favourite players were I would come up with a list from the Bally and Bald Eagle eras and Harry's promotion teams. I suppose, in the end, dreaming and realising the dream was actually more exciting than actually living it. It's a bit like that first kiss!
"When he played for Pompey a few years back, he was superb, spraying accurate passes all around the pitch. He has a very low centre of gravity which helps his movement. Still only 29 years of age. If he is fit, surely worth a punt ? " were the comments I posted on the Geordies thread in response to them discussing trying to 'pip' Celtic to his signing on a free transfer. I stand by every word of my post. He was in a totally different class to the likes of Sean Davis & Hayden Mullins, who in particular was frustrating for his wayward passing. If Real Madrid paid us around £19 million for his signature, then surely (like 'Arry) they must have seen something special in him as well.
As I said I know I'm in the minority but I just didn't rate him. I thought Muntari, Krancjar and Mendes were all better than him.
And that's the thing. As far as I could tell Mendes could do everything Diarra could do just as well as him but he could also up his game to become a match-winner. Diarra just sort seemed to helped the team along, he never really took control of a game the way Mendes could. So, again, I didn't understand why we signed him as he didn't seem to add anything to the squad that we didn't already have. Also, I doubt that "Mendes was ****ing brilliant" is an unpopular opinion amungst Pompey fans
Ww Nail on the head for me SB3........you did have a good side in the premier league. Sadly most were there for the money and not necessarily the pride of the club. Players like Alan Knight and Mick Tait for you, Micky Channon and Le Tiss for us came up through the ranks though and were at their respective clubs a long time as you say we're honest players. They played for the pride of the club as well as themselves. Sadly though with the money players in the top leagues command....today....it is the money that guides players......We have only to look at our recent history of players leaving as an example of that. (Ricky Lambert being an exception to that) he was a genuine person and still is. Gareth Bale is another exceptional player we had to sell him because we needed the money, he went but didn't want to go! Pride in the club is beginning to be a bit of play acting on the part of the players in the main these days with a few rarities....sadly!
Too right Beddy loyalty is almost non existent these days. But they are playing the game as professionals, if someone offered me lots more money to go to another company I would go without a second thought.
And your comapny probably wouldn't bat an eyelid Meowth. In the commercial world neither side really expects or respects loyalty these days.
