The 4 Trialists and more!

Today marked the first day Portsmouth players get back into pre-season training for the upcoming campaign in nPower League One. With only 10 players expected to return training by Appleton it would be interesting to see if any trialists were to be at the Eastleigh training base as well as the under contract players.

This morning The News reporters Jordan Cross and Neil Allen were hot onto the players whom turned up for training, those who didn't and the trialists that were at the ground. Eight under contract senior players were at pre-season training, those missing were Kanu and Aaron Mokoena, the latter heavily linked with a move back to South Africa.

Slowly over the course of the day The News sports journalists identified the four mystery trialists at the training ground. These were Jon Harley (formerly of Chelsea, Watford and Notts County), Mustapha Dumbuya (formerly of Doncaster Rovers), Laurie Walker (plays for Kettering Town) and Simon Eastwood (formerly of FC Halifax Town). All are free agents having been recently released, except for Walker (probably a small compensation fee for being under 23). Both Walker and Eastwood are young goalkeepers, Dumbuya and Harley are both defenders, filling gaping positions left after recent transfers of Joel Ward and Jason Pearce.

Who are these trialists? Let's have a quick run over;

Jon Harley
Age: 32
Position: Left Back/ Left Midfielder
Current Club: Free Agent
Previous Clubs: Chelsea (Loaned to Wimbledon), Fulham (Loaned to Sheffield United and West Ham United), Sheffield United (Loaned to Burnley), Burnley, Watford, Notts County (Loaned to Rotherham United)
Honors: FA Cup Winners Medal (2000- Chelsea)

 

 

Jon Harley playing for Notts County

 What Harley brings more then the other trialists is experience, he has played in every football league in England, from Chelsea and Fulham in the Premier League to Notts County in League Two. This knowledge would be good especially if Appleton chooses to develop young players alongside seasoned professionals such as Harley.

Just for a laugh, let's look at their Football Manager stat profile as well (even if it's not an accurate measurement of their abilities!)

Last FM12 Update

Mustapha Dumbuya
Age: 24
Position: Right Back / Winger
Current Club: Free Agent
Previous Clubs: Wingate & Finchley, Maidenhead United, Potters Bar Town, Doncaster Rovers (Loaned to Crystal Palace)
International Career: Sierra Leone (no caps, but has been called up)

Dumbuya playing for Doncaster Rovers

A great prospect if the club can pull it off, the Doncaster Rovers fans rated him well, and will provide a good solid base in the defence. Young and hungry after being released by Doncaster I'm sure he's eager to get his career back on track. He came through non-league clubs until he was snapped by Doncaster in 2009.

FM Profile;

 

 

Look at the pace! Hope that's true!

Laurie Walker
Age: 22
Position: Goalkeeper
Current Club: Kettering Town
Previous Clubs: MK Dons, Cambridge United, Morecambe

Laurie Walker playing for Kettering Town

This could be a wild card of the trialists, not much is known from what I can see, but he seems to have good hunger to succeed. Perhaps this could be like Stephen Henderson last year, a unknown upon arrival but showed his talent and ability far beyond what fans initially thought. The only drawback is that he is under contract with Kettering Town, so a compensation fee would probably have to be agreed because he's under 23.

Football Manager Stats;

He's rated highly, but that is in the Blue Square Premier, showing FM isn't entirely accurate...I mean Benjani looks amazing in that game...

Simon Eastwood
Age: 23
Position: Goalkeeper
Current Club: Bradford Park Avenue
Previous Clubs: Huddersfield Town (Loaned to Woking and Bradford), Bradford City, FC Halifax Town
International Career: U18 (1 cap), U19 (1 cap)

Playing for Oxford United in 2010

 After a promising start to his career at Huddersfield Town with international appearances with England U18 & U19 Eastwood has found a new club almost each season. Recently he has played with FC Halifax Town in the Blue Square North Division, making 11 appearances. From reading forums concerning his ability I've gathered he's not the best at dealing with long crosses coming into the box. But is good at shot stopping and getting a good distance with his kick (even getting assists!).
There are mixed opinion on whether he can make it at full-time football after appearing for Halifax Town, but let's make this clear, it could've been a mixture of poor defence in front of the young keeper or that he needs more coherent training to make him better at dealing with crosses.Perhaps like Walker Appleton could see some interest in him and would risk taking a gamble with a young goalkeeper!
Also he's recently signed for Bradford Park Avenue, but whether that is on a full-time or part-time based contract is unclear, and whether the club would have to pay a small compensation fee (as he is 23)

Football Manager Screen

(Ignore the age, on a different season of FM12) Strangely his best 'trait' is dealing with crosses and his worse is the strength of his kick. Irony eh?

Hope you've enjoyed this blog, kept is nice and sweet as most my blogs try to be. Hopefully we shall see some developments soon!
Another amusing outcome of today's first day training is the strange manhunt for Kanu's whereabouts after Appleton announced he has no idea where Kanu is, he's officially AWOL. So on Twitter man Pompey fans are amusingly using the hashtag #whereskanu.

#whereskanu ???