POMPEY (NOT) FOR EUROPE

Well, it went to the last game of the season for Pompey to try and get into Europe, but in the end we were denied our first ever foray into the Continent by some inept refereeing - anyone heard of Graham Poll perchance? He of the 3 bookings for one player in last year's World Cup finals. He ruled out a perfectly good goal, on his last game before retirement, meaning we can concentrate on the league next season already! I'm not going to mention all the games in which we played like total clowns prior to that; I'd much rather blame it on a dodgy ref!

Anyway, we still managed to post our best season in over 50 years, beating Man Utd (3rd time in 4 seasons) and Liverpool at home, but once again failed to take anything off Chelsea - maybe next season. We now have a pre-season tour to Hong Kong to look forward to in July, our first overseas tour that didn't involve the Isle of Wight. (Any of you that haven't heard of the Isle of Wight, don't worry, you haven't missed much!). In fact, my wife was asking me what I wanted to do for my 40th birthday in August, and I suggested that she buy me a return ticket to Hong Kong so that i could watch the games. After a moments hesitation to take it in, she thought it would be a good idea to come with me! I politely informed her that that wouldn't be part of the deal - bang goes my return ticket!

I am actually hoping to pay a visit to the land of the Turks in August (as I've mentioned previously, my parents now live in Koycegiz), so hopefully Eski Kanka Jimmy can show me the proper sights, not all that boring touristy stuff. Don't know if the wife and kids will like the bar though!

Now looking forward to all the pre-season hype surrounding transfers. Some big names are being mentioned as potential signings for us. Fingers-crossed for a big season next time round.

All the best,

Pompey Kanka