Portsmouth's creativity

Portsmouth midfielder Niko Kranjcar is out for up to three months after undergoing ankle surgery.

The Croatian ruptured ligaments in his ankle while playing for his country in a friendly against Slovenia last week.

He missed Pompey's 1-0 defeat by Manchester United on Monday night and now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Pompey have confirmed that Kranjcar underwent an operation on Wednesday morning to repair the damage.

The FA Cup winners have also admitted that the former Hajduk Split ace will be absent for between eight and 12 weeks.

Kranjcar's injury could prompt Harry Redknapp to move into the transfer market after the Portsmouth boss revealed earlier in the week that he is considering loan deals.

Redknapp started with new signing Armand Traore on the left of midfield against United before fellow new boy Jerome Thomas came on as a substitute in the second half.

Going down.

Joking! They have Crouchino, the tall Berbatov, to keep them going.

Kanu > Crouch.

If Kanu returns, watch them climb the table.

Nah..I think they're fucked whoever is up front to be honest. Granted ive only seen them play the best 2 teams in England but they were fucking awful.

they need a winger, f@ck knows why they are playing diop ahead of Utaka on the right

Diop would be better used with Diarra in the centre to give them a base with crouch for them to aim at

Yep no Muntari and no Kranjcar with 2 decent but not great strikers ahead of them.

Long, hard season for 'arry.

Parks lives wrote:Kanu > Crouch.

Utter bollocks. Kanu's league goals over the last 4 seasons: 4,10,5,2 - a goal every 5+ games.

Crouch's record: 5,9,8,12 - a goal every 3.1 games.

Add to that Crouch is 27 and Kanu is (cough) 32.

Defoe is their only hope. At least he will put the ball in the back of the net for any team...$h!t or not $h!t.

Valon Deano Behrami wrote:Defoe is their only hope. At least he will put the ball in the back of the net for any team...$h!t or not $h!t.

Except his strike rate is worse than Crouch's. But don't let facts sway your opinion.

Yeah they've looked very poor so far this season, but it's a tough ask to start the season with 2 games against Man. Utd. and 1 against Chelsea. Will make it difficult for them because it sets a negative tone and doesn't allow any confidence to build up. And this injury just makes it worse.

Roger Hunt wrote:

Valon Deano Behrami wrote:Defoe is their only hope. At least he will put the ball in the back of the net for any team...$h!t or not $h!t.

Except his strike rate is worse than Crouch's. But don't let facts sway your opinion.

Yes...9 goals in 12 games for Portsmouth is pretty $h!t...

His strike rate isn't worse than Crouch's FFS. Most of his Tottenham appearances were sub ones anyway...and even then, his strike rate is good. Don't just go by Wiki...which doesn't include cup/European games...

If you think Crouch is a better striker than Defoe...especially for goalscoring, then you are mistaken. Just because Defoe hasn't played for Liverpool...doesn't mean he should be slated.

So what? He had a good patch at the end of last season. Don't assume that he'll be able to sustain it. If he was capable of scoring like that for a season he'd have consistently got 30 goals and be playing for a top 4 side.

He is a good mid-table striker, but no better than Crouch. I think that they should (at least on paper) make a good partnership.

I'm not slating Defoe. But I might be overreacting to Crouch being compared to Kanu

Roger Hunt wrote:So what? He had a good patch at the end of last season. Don't assume that he'll be able to sustain it. If he was capable of scoring like that for a season he'd have consistently got 30 goals and be playing for a top 4 side.

He is a good mid-table striker, but no better than Crouch. I think that they should (at least on paper) make a good partnership.

I'm not slating Defoe. But I might be overreacting to Crouch being compared to Kanu

But...Defoe...Hasn't...been...played...consistently. He wasn't even number 1 striker at our club. At Tottenham he wasn't preferred to Keane or Berbatov. Th seasons where he has been first choice (his last season at West Ham (half a season) Bournemouth, One season at Tottenham and half a season at Portsmouth...his goal record is second to none. Defoe has been a bit part player for certain clubs...