It looks like Peter Crouch is heading to Portsmouth after Liverpool accepted an increased bid from Pompey. He will be reunited with Harry Redknapp, who coached Crouch in his previous spell at Portsmouth as well as Southampton. His 6'7" frame belies one of the best touches in the Premiership, and his footwork and passing belong to a man half his size. He is listed at only 156 pounds, and questions have been asked about whether he has the pace and strength to play with the best. He has been through seven different teams, and now Rafa has deemed him surplus to requirements. Crouch does not fit into the Liverpool system of quick ground passes and lightning counter attacks. He started only nine games in the Premiership last year, but has been effective in Europe scoring 11 goals in the Champions League.Redknapp has always believed in Crouch and seems to be able to get the best out of him. When he purchased the striker to help Southampton stave off relegation, they didn't, he scored twelve goals in eighteen starts. Redknapp has been handed more money and control since the departure of Mandaric and has used it well. They finished in the top half of the table for the first time in the 06-07 Premiership season. They did even better in 07-08, winning the FA Cup and qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club's history. Redknapp has brought in a combination of youth and veterans that looks to propel the team forward. Lassana Diara was a steal from Arsenal and the holding midfielder has excelled in a starting role alongside Kranjcar and Muntari. The back line of Johnson, Campbell, Distin and Hreidarsson is one of the toughest in the Prem and David James has been playing himself into the national team again. Crouch would do well to replace the aging Kanu as Jermaine Defoe's striker partner, and Pompey will look to do well in their first UEFA Cup.
Democracy was in action this weekend in Spain. Oriol Giralt collected 5,882 member signatures to request a referendum on Barcelona's president Joan Laporta. They needed at least 10% of members to vote and two-thirds to vote against Laporta. Roughly twenty five percent of members voted, but Giralt came up just short with 60.6% voting against Laporta. Laporta had started his career with the "Elefant Blau" trying to unseat Josep Lluis Nunez in 1998, though he was unsuccesful. He won the job in 2003 when he promised to bring David Beckham to Barcelona, though Beckham ended up at Real Madrid. Laporta has said he will not resign, but look for Barcelona to make some big moves shortly. They have already begun building up the team from the back, but this is Spain and they want players who can score. With Laporta knowing that the majority of members are against him look for Barca to spend some big money on some big names shortly.
