Portsmouth FC...

Portsmouth Football Club... been a very successful team in the last fews, been in the Premiership now for a fair few years, and during their time in the Premiership, I have noticed one thing to stand out in particular; Whenever Harry Redknapp leaves, they struggle to stay up. Obviously, Tottenham grabbed HIM in November last season when they had 2 points from 8 games and ended up finishing 8th in May. However, when he leaves a place, he tends to leave them to struggle, making his achievements even more outstanding. He does this by taking the players he brought in to Portsmouth, and then manages to convince the Portsmouth board that they can sell a player worth £10 million to him for just £2 million, because otherwise someone bad like Arsenal will come in and offer £10 million and make him into the next Robert Pires. So, this will explain the squad I am about to tell you, which I have kindly been left at Portsmouth.
Here we go then...

Goalkeepers

David James - Star Player
Antti Niemi
Asmir Begovic - Hot Prospect
Jamie Ashdown

Quite well covered in this department, so I don't think I need to look for a goalkeeper any time soon, although I'm not too convinced by Jamie Ashdown, he seems a bit inept in keeping a clean sheet.
Star Player - David James is a brilliant Goalkeeper to have a club like Portsmouth now, he automatically adds that bit of faith into me that we have a chance to get a point from any game. Hot Prospect - Asmir Begovic is a big lad, at just under 2 metres tall, he is a very promising player, who I will get Antti Niemi to tutor, especially as Antti is also a Goalkeeping Coach at Portsmouth too.

Defenders

Tal Ben-Haim
Younes Kaboul - Star Player
Linvoy Primus - Club Legend
Anthony Vanden Borre - On Loan from Genoa
Hermann Hreidarsson
Mike Williamson
Marc Wilson - Hot Prospect
Steve Finnan
Nadir Belhadj

This area of the pitch concerns me quite a lot, with only one left back, who's really an attacking midfielder and two centre backs in Tal and Younes who are known for losing their concentration in big games, something I really can't afford to have, although I don't really have anybody to replace them.
Star Player - Younes Kaboul is a brilliant defender, of a similar mould to Ledley King, just without as many injuries, unfortunately, he is prone to being caught dozing, and he's not the bravest player, but he makes up for it in his calm approach and his ability on the ball is very impressive.
Hot Prospect - Marc Wilson is a bit of a new player to me, I've not seen much of him play, although looking over reports about him and his stats, he seems a very capable defender and at the age of 21, he's reaching the age where it's make or break for him regarding his Premiership career, because if he can't get in ahead of Tal Ben-Haim or Younes Kaboul, I don't see him getting in at another Premiership team.

Midfielders

Richard Hughes
Aaron Mokoena
Hassan Yebda - On Loan from Benfica
Hayden Mullins
Angelos Bassinas
Gauthier Mahoto - Hot Prospect
Papa Bouba Diop - Star Player
Jamie O'Hara - On Loan from Tottenham
Michael Brown
Kevin-Prince Boateng

The midfield is looking very central at the moment, with no real wingers, which is a major part of my game, so I'm slightly concerned about that. It's also a very defensive midfield, with 6 of the 10 players being Defensive Midfielders, and Papa Bouba Diop and Michael Brown very defence-minded midfielders too.

Star Player - Papa Bouba Diop, one of the most loved, and well remembered, names in the Premiership...just for his name and brutal physique, he is the closest thing to a human tank in the English game and I'm going to really miss him during the African Cup of Nations, but hopefully the next player I'll talk about will fill the gap rather nicely!
Hot Prospect - Gauthier Mahoto is a 17 year old defensive midfielder that has the mental attributes of someone double his age! He is looking like a real star of the future game, and he has the potential to become a mix of Lassana Diarra and Michael Essien, in the way that he has the ability to play his defensive role perfectly, but if he was asked to play in a different role, he has the attributes to play there comfortably!

Strikers

Tommy Smith
John Utaka
Aruna Dindane - On Loan from RC Lens
Omar Koroma
Frederic Piquionne - On Loan from Olympique Lyonnais
Danny Webber
Danijel Subotic
Nwankwo Kanu - Star Player

I'll admit it now, they are all the same style of striker, apart from Kanu, but nobody's like Kanu. The way I mean is that they are all quick and strong, but not very good at the most important job - putting the ball in the net. For this, I'm worried. Piquionne looked a good player on FM09, but he's the type of player I'd want to avoid at all cost; looks good, big price tag but can't score!
Star Player - Nwankwo Kanu is a very special player, the Dimitar Berbatov of the 90s, although not many Gooners will appreciate that comparison with the ex-Spurs man, Kanu still has the blessing of a beautiful first touch and near perfect balance, unfortunately the ex-Arsenal man has lost a fair bit of fitness and pace, which will limit me to using him as a sub or as a target man with two pacey strikers like Utaka and Webber alongside him.

Overview

Basically, the team has a strong core of James - Kaboul - Diop - Kanu which is very strong and athletic, unfortunately, the core is all there is. There are no fancy players to go around the foundations, there's no No.10 to it, which is quite concerning, but I have until the 1st September to sort it out, so I'm not too worried. I can see a top-half finish from this team if the right players are brought in and major players avoid long-term injuries.