Bye bye Buxton?

Last updated : 07 October 2004 By Keith Allman
Watch the ball!
Former player of the year (admittedly by default, since Peter Crouch left) Lewis Buxton could be set to link up with a Portsmouth manager of old, Tony Pulis.

Pulis wants the talented young full back at high-flying Stoke City, and having just been granted a £2m transfer kitty by his chairman, is well placed to do so. Buxton has been restricted to the reserves and loan spells at Bournemouth whilst Harry has been in charge; in total making nearly fifty appearances for the Cherries.

He's played thirty times for us, and it seems odd that he would leave. Normally with young players Harry wants, he tends to keep them on the books and loan them out - look at his record with the likes of Lampard, Ferdinand and Defoe, for example. All three were loaned out to lower league teams, before establishing themselves in the West Ham first team under Redknapp. With Lewis staying at the club whilst the likes of Hunt, Parker and Molyneaux fell by the wayside, it seemed like he was part of the long term plan.

On a personal note I'd be gutted if Buxton left, because I think he's terrific. When he was a mere 18-year-old without any first team experience, he was calm, composed, solid in the tackle and pacey. With the recent loss of De Zeeuw and Stefanovic, coupled with the long term absence of Foxe, I would've hoped it would be his chance to push for the first team, rather than be pushed elsewhere.