Portsmouth 2011/2012 Season Preview

Last updated : 04 August 2011 By Jim Bonner

With the new season upon us, Pompey fans seem to be far more optimistic now than what they were twelve months ago when a small squad dogged with problems off-the-pitch were tipped for struggle and by some, relegation.

Fast forward a year and the small squad problem still remains. Officially, only fourteen players are on the books of Portsmouth FC although it seems like youngsters Ryan Williams and Lewis Stockdale will be fast-tracked into the first team squad.

The big change, of course, is the arrival of Conver Sports Initiatives to Portsmouth and how their ownership will hopefully see a better run club. We already know they have given Steve Cotterill a fair wad of money to spend with the £750,000 purchase of Luke Varney and the £2.5 million bid for Martin Paterson rejected.

Of those who have arrived, I am most looking forward to seeing Jason Pearce play once he has served his three match suspension. The only question is going to be where he's going to play in the back four.

As Neville suggested in his column yesterday, I believe Pearce will be brought in to play alongside Rocha at centre back, with Halford playing at right back.

That's a very risky move given how much the defence improved last season when Rocha and Halford played together at the heart of Pompey's defence. The other option would be to keep the Rocha-Halford partnership going and play Pearce at left back, but it may well be that Tal Ben-Haim plays there in the long term.

Ah yes, Ben-Haim, the man who tried to sue Pompey and hasn't played for the club in well over a year. He is certainly not the most popular Pompey player right now but should he give everything and perform well in the first few games of the season then all may well be forgiven.

I think David Norris is a shrewd addition to the squad. He should score goals from midfield, something that was desperately lacking last season, and he will also bring some leadership to the team, given that he was the Ipswich captain last season.

I'm not so sure on how Luke Varney will perform over the course of the season. He has probably been our best performer in pre-season but I don't think he will score more than ten goals this campaign, especially if he has to play on the left wing given Pompey's lack of left-sided midfielders in the squad.

The signing of Stephen Henderson is an interesting one. Although I expect Jamie Ashdown to begin the season as Pompey's number one goalkeeper, Henderson may well be able to oust him over time if he impresses in training and the cup games.

Out of the players who have departed over the summer, I think we will miss David Nugent the most. He may have missed some dead easy chances but was the only player in our squad capable of scoring goals from nothing and he had a nuisance value too.

Looking at the current squad, I would say that Pompey will finish mid-table at best. The defence looks solid whilst the centre of midfield has a nice balance to it but the squad is severely lacking wide men and I do wonder how Liam Lawrence will perform given his recent injury problems.

Also, if we have to rely on Kitson and Kanu to score goals for us then we can forget any sort of promotion push. Steve Cotterill says he needs another forward but I believe we need two, along with two left sided players (a defender and winger) and a couple of versatile midfielders if a serious promotion push is to be considered.

However, considering the uncertainty of last season I would settle for a mediocre mid-table finish as the club continues to rebuild. I hope that Cotterill will want his team to play better quality football on the deck rather than the turgid, route one rubbish that was seen by Pompey fans last year.

And finally, I'd "love it" if we can do the double over Southampton this season. They're "coming for us" and will want revenge for their last two derby thrashings and so the fixtures should be even more exciting now the teams are back on level ground.

I'm looking forward to Middlesbrough on Saturday but how long will it be before all optimism is quashed? Who else will arrive at Fratton Park before the transfer window ends? And can we continue our reign as the top team on the South Coast?

Play Up Pompey!