It's what you've all been waiting for, the sensational conclusion to the year's events
JulyPre-season is, traditionally, not a good time to be a Portsmouth fan. Who can forget such fantastic recent results as a 0-0 draw with Tiverton, or losing 2-1 to then non-league Yeovil Town? Even more fun than the bad results themselves have been the excuses previous managers have come up with to try and defend such shockers - Terry Fenwick, notably, once claimed his team were "too fit" after losing to Lymington.
No such trouble this time round though, as both the first team and reserves went through the entire summer without losing a single game, no mean feat considering the amount of matches that were played. Convincing victories over Wycombe, Torquay and Plymouth were notched up, whilst transfer talk dominated the minds of the public. Senegal midfielder Diop seemed destined to sign, even joining in training before the match against Wycombe, but opted for a switch to Fulham instead - Pompey would also miss out on Ben Thatcher and Marcus Bent. Diop's international team mate Amdy Faye seemed destined to follow him to Craven Cottage, before "changing his mind" - it later transpired he had failed a medical.
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August
Although there had been a few signings, there was still little to trigger the public's imagination to the scale that Merson and Sheringham had in previous seasons. Proof of this came with a home friendly against Panathinaikos, a match which attracted a mere four figure crowd. Still, the 0-0 draw obtained, coupled with an identical result away at Bristol City the week before - AND a victory over Rushden and Diamonds - completed an unbeaten pre-season run.
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Meanwhile, a transfer saga to match that of Mark Burchill finally came to it's conclusion, as Ricardo Fuller put pen to paper. After being set for a move during the summer, a medical had shown up a possible knee problem and the transfer was shelved. As it happened, an agreement was reached with his club, Preston North End, over appearance related gubbins, and the lanky striker was able to finally realise his dream of Premiership football. Another to set foot into the English game was young midfielder Valery Mezague, who joined on loan.
The month finished with a pulsating 4-3 victory over Fulham. Yet another new addition - this time club record signing Diomansy Kamara - was paraded around the pitch beforehand, and the threat of competition from the new striker seemed to inspire the current crop on. In the first half Pompey had romped to a 3-0 lead, including a stunning effort from Berkovic, only to be pegged back to 3-2. Yakubu seemingly secured the points by completing his hat trick to make it 4-2, but another goal from the vistors ensured a nervy finish. Defence was clearly not the strong point, although there was a hint of offside over a couple of the away team's goals.
September
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The "new manager curse" hit Pompey at Blackburn, as Mark Hughes took charge of the home side for the first time - sure enough, they won 1-0, although Pompey felt seriously aggrieved for not being awarded a penalty after Brad Friedel's blatant shove on Ricardo Fuller in the area. Instead, Fuller was booked for diving. Hmm.
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In the meantime, Harry went loan mad - Kevin Harper, John Curtis, Mark Burchill, Shaun Cooper, Gary O'Neil, Richard Duffy, Rowan Vine, Eddie Howe and Ivica Mornar were all shipped out to as far flung corners of the globe as France, Wales, and Kidderminster.
October
The month started with a creditable 2-2 draw away at Norwich. And then, thanks to good old internationals, that was it for sixteen days. It was a bit boring. Not much happened. Fans wondered around in a state of confusion, desperate for something to do on Saturday afternoons.
Tottenham visited Fratton Park for Monday Night Football, and were vanquished 1-0. It was the first game at home for twenty-one days, and a result well worth waiting for. A visit to Middlesbrough brought a decent return of a point, and Leeds United were seen off 2-1 in the League Cup. So let's just see that record from the last three games against Leeds - played three, won three, scored ten (teehee) and conceded three.
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Unsurprisingly, what followed were scenes of unbelievable delirium. All who will there will remember it until the day they die, and probably tell their grandchildren about it. The record of eight points from twelve was enough to give Harry his second manager of the month trophy whilst at Fratton Park, but he should have thought to himself what happened the last time he won the award - "Jimgate" and rumours of his sacking. And so it was to prove! Ooh, but I'm jumping the gun.
November
It all went downhill. Badly. Three league defeats followed, with success over Cardiff in the league cup sandwiched in the middle. But the defeats were not just any old unlucky affairs. The 3-0 loss at Villa was accepted as playing against a good side who were having a good day, but then we lost 2-1 to Southampton, despite being 1-0 up. It was their only win under Steve Wigley, and the fans were ever so slightly disappointed. Even so, it was dismissed as "one of those things"; after all, football is full of scripts where local derbies throw up the unexpected results against all the odds. Youngster Dexter Blackstock scoring his first ever Premier League goal just seemed to cement the idea that it was the fates conspiring.
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I'm not going to dig into every single aspect of what happened - we'd be here forever, for a start - but the sense of loss around the club was obvious. Harry's tears as he left the club seemed genuine, and there was a certain amount of supporter anger towards Milan and the new man, Velimir. Harry's departure seemed to drive a wedge between supporters; some backing the club and Milan, others claiming that the wrong man had left and that Milan had a lot of work to do to make it up to the fans with the departure of Portsmouth's second most successful manager in history - despite Harry's insistence at the press conference to announce his departure that it was all his own decision, he hadn't been forced into leaving, and it was certainly nothing to do with the appointment of Zajec.
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December
What's the best way to worry fans, directors, and chairman alike? Lose to a newly promoted club who are in deep in relegation worries, of course. West Brom came to town and, with five minutes of the match left, held a 2-1 lead. Pompey had had plenty of possession but never looked like doing any damage; indeed, it had taken Darren Purse to score our goal for us (although to be fair, he was only repaying the favour after Stefanovic had sliced into his own net early doors). And yet with the late introduction of Berkovic, a perfect cross from the Israeli allowed Arjan De Zeeuw to head home to secure an unlikely but useful point.
Then Berkovic played in a perfect through ball for LuaLua, he spanked home from close range, and the three points were staying at Fratton. The goal was timed in the 89th minute and it was one of my favourite games so far this season. Admittedly the first 85 minutes of the game were crap, but for the finale alone, it deserves a special mention.
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Under Redknapp, Pompey had travelled to St James' and Anfield and been beaten 3-0 soundly on both occasions. Under the continued caretaker charge of Velimir, despite falling a goal behind the end result in both cases was a 1-1 draw. It was left until the 91st minute at Anfield to secure the point, a truly unbelievable result. It was most satisfying to see all the Scousers gloating with five minutes to go, believing they had the match well and truly won, before LuaLua popped up with a header after Dudek's fumble.
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The year finished against Chelsea, with a similar affair to the Arsenal match. Pompey bossed the game, had a goal disallowed, won praise from the opposition players and management, but the bottom line was a defeat. Credit in defeat, hope for the future, 26 points on the board after 20 games - it took us until March to get that many last season - and for once, Pompey fans can spend their New Year looking UP the table, rather than down with concern. Who knows what 2005 will bring!
