Catch Up
Well I take a few days off, to enjoy the bank holiday and all sorts has happened in the sporting world, not to mention Portsmouth riding high in the Premiership - I’ll come onto that but firstly I’ll recap on the past few days.
Congratualtions must go to Zara Phillips for winning Gold in the World Equestrian Games. It’s good to see our Royal Family make the headlines for the right reasons for a change and bodes well for the Olympics. Long may it continue.
Congratulations as well to our rowing teams who competed so well in The World Rowing Championships at Eton, which attracted 40 000 spectators demonstrating the popularity of the sport, following the retirement of the “big names”. It’s good to see that Steve Williams has picked up the mantle for the men, while Katherine Grainger is leading the way for the women, with GB topping the medal table, securing 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze. We also competed well in the disability event, picking up 2 golds and a bronze from 4 events.
Now then - Pompey. What’s happening down there? As a supporter, I was dismayed not to say disappointed to see the signings made over the summer, with Sol Campell, David “Calamity” James, and Kanu being snapped up for the princely sum of £1Million. This, when there are reports that Harry has anything from £25-45M to spend. However, having sat in amazement last night to watch the blue army thrash Middlesborough 4-0, I concede I might have been a little hasty in my comments pre-season. Campbell looked really sharp and has hopefully put his off pitch troubles behind him, Kanu was a handful and is now the leagues joint top scorer having only scored one less than he did all of last year, and even Calamity made a couple of good saves (although you just know it’s only a matter of time before he comes charging out and screws up). So now they are second, and although only 3 games in, its encouraging that they have yet to concede and actually have a positive goal difference! The concern is that there is not enough depth in the squad, but if they continue to play with as much energy and enthusiasm as they did last night then the signs are good. Let’s just hope that Harry manages to secure a couple of players before the deadline expires on Thursday.
Fraser