Pompey pair on collision course

Harry Redknapp: wants to improve his squad
14 April 2012

Manager Harry Redknapp and chairman Milan Mandaric are on course for another clash unless Portsmouth add a "quality signing" to their squad for the big kick-off - with striker Dwight Yorke and midfielder Michael Carrick top of the wish-list.

The Pompey pair, equally admired by the Fratton Park fans for bringing Premiership football to their corner of the South Coast, fell out at the end of last season, ostensibly over the futures of assistant manager Jim Smith and coach Kevin Bond at the club.
But at the root of their uneasy relationship has always been the budget to buy new players and keep Portsmouth in the top-flight.
Only Lomana Lua Lua, a £1.8million striker who spent five months on loan at Pompey last season, and free transfer duo David Unsworth and Andy Griffin have been added to the squad so far this summer.
Meanwhile Redknapp's midfield has been torn apart by Alexei Smertin's move back to Chelsea and Amdy Faye's knee injury which will keep him out three months.
Redknapp said: "This squad is nothing like the strength of last season and unless we can add to it a relegation struggle is on the cards."
Mandaric has sent a message to Pompey fans, saying "Don't panic. Harry will have two more new faces at his disposal by next week
"But I won't be rushed into buying the wrong players. People have to trust me. I am going to sit down with Harry and discuss several targets. There is nothing concrete about who we are going to go for but I'm positive there will be a couple of newcomers next week."
Redknapp, though, was furious when Senegal midfielder Papa Bouba Diop slipped through Pompey's grasp and joined Fulham last week after a week on trial at Fratton Park where he was on the verge of agreeing terms for a move from French club Lens.
The former West Ham boss clearly blamed Mandaric when he said: "I can only pick out the players I want and this would have been the snip of the close-season, but it is not my place to agree terms with players. That is for other people to do."
Now Redknapp, who steered Pompey clear of relegation trouble to finish 13th in their maiden Premiership season, wants to splash out on out-of-favour Blackburn Rovers striker Yorke and West Ham midfielder Carrick - even though both could cost a combined £4million.
Yorke, though, could be available for around £400,000 despite apparently patching up his differences with Rovers boss Graeme Souness whom he accused of launching a dangerous tackle on him in training.
Souness has already warned Yorke, the former boyfriend of glamour model Jordan, over his "playboy lifestyle".
Although the pair have now agreed to put their differences to one side, the former Aston Villa and Manchester United goal-ace has not committed himself to staying with Blackburn.
His high wages would be an obvious problem but Portsmouth have opened talks with Yorke's agent to see if an agreeable financial package can be agreed.
Mandaric said: "Dwight wouldn't come cheap but nor would anyone we are looking at. We are talking about adding quality to the squad and quality costs money."
West Ham want £3million for England international Carrick who was given his senior debut at Upton Park, aged 17, by Redknapp five years ago. They have already turned down a Crystal Palace bid of around half that figure.
But Redknapp's hope is that they will still compromise over the sale of a player who can walk out on a free transfer when his Hammers' contract expires at the end of this season.
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