Pompey woes set to deepen

THIS week has just got to be a better one for Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp.

Or has it? True, it will take a lot to make it worse than the last seven days, when Redknapp was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting after having his home raided at dawn by police.

Then on Saturday after his release on bail — without charges — he and 20,000 fans had to suffer this goalless bore against Everton — the third in a row at Fratton Park since Pompey demolished Reading 7-4 in October.

On top of that, he now faces the loss of €10.5million midfielder Sulley Muntari for next Saturday’s tough trip to Aston Villa after the Ghana star was bizarrely booked by referee Peter Walton for taking a free-kick too quickly. It was Muntari’s fifth yellow card of the season, sparking an automatic one-match ban.

Following other daunting fixtures against Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal before the end of the month, 2008 promises further major challenges when key men Muntari (Ghana), Papa Bouba Diop (Senegal), Kanu and John Utaka (both Nigeria) jet off to the African Nations Cup in January for up to four weeks.

“People tell me we’ve got a strong squad but we haven’t,” Redknapp said. “When the African Nations Cup comes round, I lose five players (if Djimi Traore is also called up by Mali) and I’ll have exactly 14 outfield players left who can play at Premier League level.

“We need another three or four in January, loans or something to fill up the squad because if we get an injury we are in trouble.”

Victory over Everton would certainly have provided a little more breathing space for Pompey to protect their proud place in the top six over the next few testing weeks.

But after a grim afternoon that produced few magic moments and even fewer memories, Redknapp and Everton boss David Moyes tried their best to remain upbeat.

After all, they have the considerable solace of having achieved, respectively, 10-match and eight-match unbeaten runs. On this occasion they just cancelled each other out.

Redknapp said: “The 7-4 against Reading was a freak game. Everton scored seven last week, but they couldn’t score against us. We looked strong defensively.

“You look at them. Yakubu was €18m, Andy Johnson €12m. They are quality players up front but this time they defended well.

“I’m not saying I haven’t spent a lot as well this season but I got Kanu from ... where? Nowhere really. I sold Gary O’Neil even though I liked him when he was here and brought big Papa Diop to balance things up.

“I knew I’d lose players to the African Cup when I signed them but it was worth a gamble if it puts us where we are now, with 27 points at this stage of the season.”

Points, of course, win prizes but both Redknapp and Moyes insist they will be happy to finish in the Premier League’s top 10. On Saturday’s form, that does not say much for the teams currently below them.

But Moyes said: “It is a tight top 10 and I think it has got a lot to do with money. A lot of the clubs have got big investors but we haven’t.

“We have built big, by our standards, with Yakubu, but in the main we are one of the clubs who don’t do that — although we always try to compete. You can go and throw your money at it but we have done it differently.”

It is great credit, no doubt, to Redknapp and Moyes that they have sculpted teams capable of giving the top four a run for their money but both have devised a design of checking the opposition with dedicated athleticism, solid defending and careful planning.

Sadly, as Saturday’s clash showed, it is not always an edifying spectacle.

PORTSMOUTH (4-3-3): James 6, Johnson 7, Campbell 7, Distin 7, Pamarot 6, Utaka 5 (Kanu 57, 6), Diop 6, Pedro Mendes 6, Muntari 7, Kranjcar 7, Benjani 5.

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Harewood, Davies.

EVERTON (4-5-1): Howard 7, Neville 6, Yobo 7, Lescott 8, Nuno Valente 6, Arteta 6, Osman 5, Carsley 6, Cahill 6, Pienaar 4 (Johnson 53, 5), Yakubu 5 (Anichebe 67, 5).

Subs Not Used: Wessels, Hibbert, Jagielka.

REFEREE: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) 5: Overly keen on asserting his authority on what was already a stop-start game.

MATCH RATING: ** A useful point for Everton, but Pompey must cure their homesickness if Europe if to be anything other than a pipe dream.