Hysteria has accelerated around transfers in the world of football and Pompey is no different.
From Jim White’s yellow tie, the boom of social media and the obsession around what is politely known as recruitment, many column inches, podcasts and YouTube videos cover the subject in magnifying detail
Of course, we have Fabrizio Romano, dedicated to running a forensic campaign as to who might end up where, with football fans aghast with every “Here We Go” that’s fired out there.
Those posts would never concern a Pompey incoming or outgoing, I don’t recall Ryan Schofield’s arrival being exposed to 23.2 million followers. Then out of nowhere, Pompey signed Abdoulaye Kamara from Borussia Dortmund for an undisclosed fee.
Of course, we all went straight to google, scoured Wikipedia, tried to find a picture and a YouTube clip, then decided he was a world beater.
With next-to-no information about him, we all sat back and thought “wow what a signing”, “fair play to the Eisners”, “Rich Hughes – genius” etc.
It was soon forgotten that the hysteria at the time was the hope that Abu Kamara would return on a permanent deal. Then came Abdoulaye, and all those cherished memories of Abu during the League One title winning season were soon forgotten. We had a new star.
Such has been the ineffectiveness of his campaign so far, I can’t actually recall when and where he has featured for us.
Fans have seen the odd cameo off the bench, but he’s largely an unused sub and sometimes not named among the substitutes at all.
So, when he was named in the team sheet to feature in the FA Cup tie against Wycombe, I thought it’ll be good to see him and how he’ll fare.
I made a conscious effort to ignore the rest of the horror show that was unfolding: focusing my eyes on the young Abdoulaye.
Though with every minute which ticked by and misplaced pass, it became more and more fascinating how this young man had risen through the ranks at PSG, before setting off to Dortmund.
For the Blues so far, he’s faltered and has been an after-thought during our championship struggles. Quite simply, he has looked totally lost. Not one redeeming quality or ounce of promise for the social media furore to latch on too – though it is early days.
This isn’t a damning indictment of a 20-year-old who clearly has SOME pedigree, because I’m sure in time, it’ll be him called off the bench instead of Owen Moxon.
I suppose it’s a lesson for the fanbase, wait until you’ve seen the player play, before deciding that a single transfer is the determining factor to our club going up or down, or whether you’re Eisners in or not.
I could rattle through at least 30 transfers in the last five years alone that have received hysterical reactions online. After all, why would we bring in someone like Alex Robertson when Ben Thompson is available?!
With Rob Atkinson’s arrival casting many doubts and sighs before he played well against Sunderland and marked himself as first team quality against Middlesbrough – instantly changing everyone’s mind – I think it’s time we all calmed down. With less than two weeks left of the January transfer window, let’s take a breath before shouting “Here We Go”.
Featured photo: Martyn White Sports Images
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