Linvoy Agrees New Deal

Last updated : 30 July 2007 By Jim Bonner
Pompey stalwart Linvoy Primus has agreed an improved contract with the club that will keep him at the club beyond next season if he plays a certain number of games this campaign.

The exact number of games he has to play to trigger this new clause in his contract is unknown, but the Pompey defender is confident he will play the amount of games needed to extend his stay at Fratton Park.

Primus told the official website: "I'm confident of playing the amount of games required to get another year - you have to be."

This is certainly good news for the club who won't want one of our most reliable and faithful servants to leave for nothing at the end of the season. Even at 33, I'm confident that he will get plenty of playing time as its almost inevitable that Campbell, Distin or Lauren will be injured at some point during the season.

After all, Linvoy was a man who was deemed not good enough for Division One when Harry Redknapp first took charge. By the end of our Championship winning season he had established himself as a first team regular.

Harry then signed Dejan Stefanovic and Boris Zivkovic as Primus looked to be out of the picture again but after a torrid mid-season he regained his place and formed a strong central defensive partnership with Arjan De Zeeuw for the rest of that season and for much of the following campaign, despite being linked with Norwich.

Once Alain Perrin made his mark on the team it looked like he would be third choice behind the new central defence of Andy O'Brien and Stefanovic (an unthinkable thought now) but forced his way back into the side when Harry came back. Last season he saved the Pompey manager a lot of money after his partnership with Sol Campbell made him think twice about replacing him with a new signing.

Now Linvoy faces yet another challenge in trying to displace either Campbell or Distin who look like being the first choice central defence this season but Primus has made a career out of proving people wrong and once he returns from injury I'm sure he will give 110% to try and force his way back into the side and prove everyone wrong once again.