Analysing Portsmouth’s Greek Tragedy

In cooperation with Goal.com:

The Greek tragedy that has developed at Portsmouth has been dressed up as an issue of club and country but it is the former who have brought a rather embarrassing situation upon themselves.

It was only a few months ago that former Pompey boss Tony Adams made a transfer move that defied his stereotypical character as a hard-man English centre-back by recruiting two players who hardly embraced the rigours of an English Premier League relegation scrap.

Gekas, with his throwback mullet from the 80’s and odd shuffling movement and Basinas, with his inherently Greek tendency towards an on-pitch character that suggests complete indifference to the result of a match, haven’t exactly attended the same football school that produced the uncompromising and brutish player that was Adams in his Arsenal days.

Yet – and credit must go to the beleaguered Adams here – two signings that can only be described as a cultured gamble were made, perhaps with the view of avoiding the typically unsophisticated, body-before-ball tactics that are associated with the more desperate plight of the Barclay Premier League’s end-of-season stragglers.

At the time, the move for the Greece internationals seemed to be a show of support from Portsmouth Director Peter Storrie for Adams; it would defy logic to allow a manager to sign players with such a high reputation without bestowing upon him the time to work with them.

Basinas immediately was handed a start and produced a cultured display as Portsmouth suffered an unfortunate home defeat at the hands of Liverpool, Gekas being prepared but ultimately unused as a substitute.

That same week, Adams was sacked.

In the ensuing isolation of the two Greeks – particularly Gekas, who has been asked to prove himself in the reserves – Portsmouth have exposed themselves as a club without direction.

The decision to support a manager’s transfer movements before sacking him barely a few days after giving him the chance to utilise those acquisitions is as farcical as it is disrespectful.

Despite Gekas’ claims that his reputation should warrant him game-time, it is the fact that he was brought into a club with what appeared to be the suggestion of first-team football before falling victim to a culture of haste and impatience that is plaguing the modern game generally.

It is a particularly difficult situation from which to draw judgement; there are those who will point to the fact that Portsmouth only collected 10 points in 16 games under Adams and that enough patience had been shown by the Pompey executives.

Perhaps Gekas’ decision to link up with a manager whose future seemed uncertain was a piece of poor judgement by the player on a personal level.

Of course, it is not known what words were exchanged between player and club before the striker’s move from the Bundesliga was completed – perhaps the Greece international was indeed promised first-team football at Fratton Park.

It is at this point where the issue becomes one of the individual against the collective.

Within the context of a club fighting for Premier League survival, Gekas’ public demands for first-team football and respect based on his reputation are ill-timed and unprofessional; they will hardly endear him to Portsmouth fans and will only serve to disrupt a club whose priority is rightly survival.

The comments of Greece team manager Takis Fyssas and the reaction to them by Storrie only serve to highlight the tension at Portsmouth, with Gekas also set for a meeting with club management following his public statement of disapproval at his treatment.

In the search for first-team football – which should be Gekas’ priority with two crucial World Cup Qualifiers against Israel approaching at the end of this month – his behaviour will likely do nothing to improve his current malaise and it now seems likely that he will not be turning his loan move into a permanent one at the end of the season.

Of course, there must be an element of empathy for a player whose undoubted talents and goal-scoring abilities are going to waste for the second time this season.

Similarly, the reluctance of manager Paul Hart to utilise the striker must simply be classed as the 55 year-old’s personal preference; Greek fans must understand that football is a diverse game with wide-ranging views and opinions and Hart at least had the decency to acknowledge Gekas’ plight after having been signed by a manager who almost immediately left the club.

It is an unfortunate situation that has transpired at Portsmouth, where the club would certainly have benefited from two players whose pedigree at the highest level of football suggests they would have been able to make tangible contributions as the club looked to avoid relegation.

Similarly, the Greek national team would have had two of their impost important players rejuvenated during one of the most crucial periods of its recent history – the relationship would have been mutual and benefited both parties.

Instead, club, country and individuals have suffered the perils of an increasingly short-sighted and ruthless modern football administration – ebmobied by Storrie’s decision to sack Adams in the wake of two key signings – which is a far more concerning issue that transcends individual personality flaws and from which those outside of Greece and Portsmouth should learn.