Crouch To Pompey (Final)

[Shaggy]

Harry Redknapp - yet another top manager who thinks Crouch is top class. Ho hum, they must all be wrong.

Good luck Crouchie - a class act on and off the pitch.

[JonesLegend02]

Very clever player and always struck me as a nice fella. Best of luck big man.

[Assassin]

Good player and a decent guy, good luck Crouchie

[El Jefecito]

He's big,
He's red (blue)

[anfieldanfield]

Love the man, gutted to see him go.

On paper at least, Crouch should form a dangerous partnership with Defoe next season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbsUjH7OlXY

[BFG]

Be sad to see the big guy go but I think it's one of those situations where a move is in the best interests of all parties. Hope he does well for Pompey.

[Tee]

It is sad that he has left but understandable. I am sure he will do very well for Pompey.

Takes a serious attacking threat out of our squad now. Something for Rafa to chew on.

[Kenneth]

He should be staying and playing. Love the big guy.

[Joe King]

[Imy]

Crouch seals £11m Portsmouth move

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/portsmouth/7471969.stm

Pompey manager Harry Redknapp (left) and new signing Peter Crouch
Crouch (right) scored 40 goals in 135 appearances for former club Liverpool

Peter Crouch has completed his move to Portsmouth from Liverpool in a deal that could be worth up to £11m.

The 27-year-old returns to Pompey six years after leaving and will work with boss Harry Redknapp for the third time in his career.

Crouch said: "It's fantastic to be back. I believe Harry gets the best out of me and think the best years of my career can be here."

The England striker has signed a four-year contract at Fratton Park.

Crouch added: "This club is going places and they can match my ambitions.

"The chance of regular first team football was part of the appeal. I know I'll have to work hard to prove myself in training, but I believe my best years are in front of me.

"I had a fantastic three years at Liverpool and I would not change it for the world. I am privileged to have played for such a top club.

"Towards the end I did not get as many games as I would have liked but I will only take good memories away.

"In no way am I stepping down, I feel I am joining a club that is going places with a new stadium, a new training ground and some very good players."

Redknapp added: "Bringing a player like Peter here shows how far we have come and how far we can go. I'm delighted he's back.

"I never expected to see him back here. He went off to Liverpool and did a fantastic job in my opinion and I'm looking forward to seeing him and Jermain Defoe up front - a big one and a little one - and we've got other good forwards here."

The forward was also praised for his contribution to the Merseyside club by Reds manager Rafael Benitez.

"He is a good professional and we would have wanted him to stay," he said.

"We offered him a new contract but sometimes you have to understand the player. He wanted to play a lot more."

The Spaniard added: "With Fernando Torres now first choice, playing more was always going to be difficult.

[Pablo]

Best of luck Crouchy, if Jermaine Defoe ever decides to pass you the ball you'll score a hatful for Pompey.

[friedk]

Best of luck Crouchie, excellent signing and a great attitude.

Thought this was an excellent take on the sale

Every manager has a signature signing. An unheralded player that comes out of left-field, a capture that attracts one suspicious glance for every seal of approval.

Some managers have more than one. Arsene Wenger had Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, Sir Alex Ferguson had Peter Schmeichel and Roy Keane. “The Big Breakfast” had Denise van Outen.

Rafa Benitez’s, in his short four-year reign, has arguably been Peter Crouch.

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Granted, not for one moment can Crouch be compared to the legends mentioned above (you’d much rather wake up to Van Outen than big Pete) but he nevertheless represents Benitez’s biggest gamble – and it paid off.

The Liverpool manager has made bigger and better signings…Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Ryan Babel et al.

But never was he so questioned as when he decided to splash out £7 million on the most unfashionable man in football (football-wise, by the looks of his girlfriend Crouchie certainly has a way with the ladies).

It was a gamble that undoubtedly paid off for Benitez at a time when Liverpool needed a playing style. They needed a hold-up man, a focal point of attack. Crouch gave them that – and returned a £4 million profit at the end of it.

His arrival instantly landed the FA Cup - the nod down for Gerrard’s first equaliser in the final typical of the excellent relationship the duo shared.

The next season saw him finish as the club’s top scorer, netting 18 of the 42 goals he amassed at Anfield – scoring at a one-in-three ratio that would have been significantly better if he had not spent the majority of his final season on the bench.

Herein lies the point though.

Benitez, unlike his predecessor Gerard Houllier, leaves sentiment at the door. He knows a ‘very good’ player is no longer enough. Liverpool need ‘excellent’ or better to reclaim the title. Crouch’s departure sends out a huge statement.

This is a player who is deemed a massive signing for Portsmouth – a team who won the FA Cup and finished eighth last season. This is a player who has 14 international goals in 28 games for England.

It’s a big call to let somebody of that calibre go. But Liverpool fans should rejoice in Benitez’s show of ambition, and draw confidence from his intolerance of the merely satisfactory.

Houllier once took Liverpool to the point of a genuine title challenge half a decade ago, but then failed to realise when faithful servants – such as his own signature signing Emile Heskey - had to be moved on.

Benitez does not lack a cutting edge. Momo Sissoko lasted only two seasons, Josemi and Fernando Morientes one-and-a-half, Antonio Nunez and Jan Kromkamp just one.

There are those detractors that would argue he has a blind spot when it comes to Dirk Kuyt, but seven goals in 10 Champions League games is statistical fact to back up the fact that the Dutchman has a role to play within the squad.

Now Crouch, the signature signing, has gone after only three seasons – creating room for the signing that could prove to be Benitez’s legacy.

Robbie Keane has all the hallmarks of such a player, a man no top club in England has ever gambled on before.

Whether Keane dons Liverpool Red and writes his name into Anfield folklore remains to be seen. But for now, Liverpool fans should delight in the fact they have a manager who no longer considers ‘very good’ to be good enough.

[friedk]

so we've let our second best striker go. wonder who we'll buy cos if torres ain't playing we're not scoring much

Just to speculate, say we have 10m to spend, if we sell Voronin, the best we can hope for is to sign another Crouch. But if we sell Crouch the best we can hope for is a 20m+ striker.

[Bender]

Peter Crouch has set his sights on a return to Champions League action after completing the formalities of his move to Portsmouth.

The England striker has signed a four- year contract to move from Liverpool for a fee of £11m.

He said: "This is an ambitious club. I've signed for four years, and hopefully beyond that, and I certainly believe we can get into that top four." sure peter sure

[rage]

Just to speculate, say we have 10m to spend, if we sell Voronin, the best we can hope for is to sign another Crouch. But if we sell Crouch the best we can hope for is a 20m+ striker.

if we sell voronin we'll save money on shampoo for starters. waste of space pony tail excuse of a footballer.....where's your fan club gone?