Arsenal, Pompey and Player Moves

Arseblog has a good summary of yesterday's game at Ashburton Grove against Pompey. What caught my eye was this :

I’ve said before that fans will never jeer a team, even if they’ve lost, if they know they’re giving it 100% all of the time. What does frustrate fans is when it’s obvious not everyone is doing that and to exacerbate that you look at the way we played when we did step it up and you know it was a game we should have won. If we had gone at Portsmouth with the same drive and pace that we did from the 56th minute onwards we’d have murdered them.

I can't disagree with that. Fans, even ones of a club as successful as Arsenal, know things won't always go their team's way. But they do expect their team to give it their all. Had it not been for some suspect marking on set pieces and some better decisions at the other end, Arsenal would've walked out with all 3 points. Especially against a Pompey team that is, to be quick frank, at best a mid-table team. If anything I expect Pompey to come out of the busy season in the lower half of the table. But if teams keep letting them be in the game, they could continue to punch above their weight. This time of year doesn't get busy for teams in England just because of the number of games they play but also because the winter transfer window is about to open. Teams are busy scouting players and figuring out how they need to shake up their squad to better and what they can afford. These are a few potential moves some blogs are reporting. QPR Report : Israeli striker Omer Golan set to join Loftus Road. Newcastle United is looking to sign QPR teenager Ray Jones. Caughtoffside : Portsmouth FC will pay £12m for Manuel Fernandes...... if he plays 3 games in a row for Pompey. The shame is there are people running clubs that think such deals are good. Soccer By Ives : New York Red Bull are in talks with Paulo Wanchope. As Ives reminds us, the MLS was very close to signing him years ago. What I'd like to know if he'll be making league max or NYRB is ready to use their designated player (DP) slot on him and pay more. Yanks Abroad : Hammarby is looking to bring in goalkeeper Tally Hall. They've also talked with Charlie Davies who recently was at Ajax. College To Pros : Charlie Davies is set to sign with Sweeden's Hammarby. Toronto FC MLS : Sunderland's Robbie Elliot may be making a move across the pond to the MLS with Los Angeles and Toronto both interested in him. Football365 : Sevilla are interested in signing Jens Lehman from Arsenal. Juventus is still in the hunt for West Ham's underperforming Javier Mascherano. Villa is hunting for a new striker with Tottenham's Robbie Keane and PNE's David Nugent being linked with the midlands club. Manchester United Blog : It's not a transfer but it has the same affect with Chinese Teenager Dong Fangzhou set to obtain a British work permit. ManU signed the kid a few years ago for £3.5m and have loaned him out to their Belgian sister club Royal Antwerp to gain experience and wait for him to meet the conditions needed for a work permit.