O Brien Off To Pompey??

[magic moments]

breaking news..... Andy o brien is off to pompey according to reports!!

[dynamo kerry]

sounds like tosh to me. link? where are these reports?

[eirebhoy]

Portsmouth In For Andy O'Brien?

09 Jun 2005 by Aphrodite

Teletext are reporting the following:

Portsmouth are on the verge of signing Newcastle defender Andy O'Brien. The south coast-side are set for a major overhaul this summer as new boss Alain Perrin rebuilds his squad ahead of the coming season, and O'Brien will be his first summer capture.

The 25 year old who made over 100 appearances for the Magpies, will be in Portsmouth on Friday to seal the deal.

More to follow...

http://www.newcastle-online.com/#obpompey

[Captain Tinrib]

well put it this way that doesnt suprise me, he is not the type of player u would see in a real madrid jersey is he? :o

[Slash/ED]

well put it this way that doesnt suprise me, he is not the type of player u would see in a real madrid jersey is he? :o

A defender? No, no chance.

[brine3]

andy o'brien is too good for them

he should see if he can get a move out of england. his cerebral style of defending is not appreciated there. i reckon he could make a name for himself in the serie a - he even looks like baresi

[zinedineontour]

think its a great move for him tbh .. first team football near on guaranteed and move away from the bigot ... delighted for the fella think its a very smart move ..

[macdermesser]

would not be surprised if he turns out to be a great signing. If they can get Laurent Robert too, and a decent striker they might surprise a lot of people next season with Perrin in charge.

At least he will be getting a regular game in the premiership which can only be good for the Irish team... and he's away from Souness and with a proper coach who might improve him.

[drummerboy]

Think Portsmouth will be relegated next season. Top scorer Yakuba gone and their most creative player, Berger also gone. O'Brien should bide his time and get a better move.

[Stuttgart88]

I think he could do better too.

But at least it'd be one less club without an Irishman in their first XI.

Fulham, Villa, 'boro, Bolton, WBA...

[tetsujin1979]

I think he could do better too.

But at least it'd be one less club without an Irishman in their first XI.

Fulham, Villa, 'boro, Bolton, WBA...

Fulham have Timlin knocking them in for the reserves, highly rated by the reserve team coach
Villa still have Foley-Sheridan in their ranks, and were looking to take on Robbie
Boro, err.....
Bolton have O'Brien as their reserve team captain and he came on in their last game of the season,
WBA, well I think Robson is a muppet anyway, so it's probably for the best there's no Irish players there!!

No mention of Arsenal there Stuttgart, eh, eh??

[eirebhoy]

Pompey green light for O'Brien talks (http://www.breakingnews.ie/story.asp?j=11152404&p=yyy5z458&n=11152518&x=)

Portsmouth have been given permission to speak to Newcastle defender Andy O’Brien as Graeme Souness clears the decks for his summer signings.

The 25-year-old Republic of Ireland international is understood to be due on the South Coast today to discuss the move, which would bring an end to his stay on Tyneside after more than four years.

“We can confirm we have given Andy O’Brien permission to talk to Portsmouth,” said a Magpies spokesman.

O'Brien, a £1m (€1.45m) signing from Bradford in March 2001, has made 172 appearances for Newcastle, 11 of them as a substitute, and scored five goals.

His contribution has included big Champions League games against Dynamo Kiev, Feyenoord, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen.

However, the Harrogate-born central defender has had to cope with the criticism thrown at a rearguard which has been blamed repeatedly for the club’s lack of tangible success.

Loanee Sylvain Distin and former Leeds defender Jonathan Woodgate have come and gone, while Titus Bramble and Jean-Alain Boumsong have joined at great expense.

Although O’Brien has at times had to take a back seat, he nevertheless signed a year’s contract extension in January as Souness tied up his immediate future.

However, a series of below-par performances towards the end of last season saw sections of the crowd target O’Brien, whose confidence suffered as a result.

The fact Newcastle have given Pompey permission to talk to their player so soon after Aaron Hughes’ departure for Aston Villa suggests that they have defensive signings in the pipeline, although Souness admitted earlier this week that he does not believe Belgian international Daniel van Buyten will be among them.

Should O’Brien agree a switch to Fratton Park, he will link up with former team-mates Andy Griffin and Lomana LuaLua, with Alain Perrin also having expressed an interest in French winger Laurent Robert.

[Stuttgart88]

No mention of Arsenal there Stuttgart, eh, eh??
Ah yeah, forgot about them :) I suppose I was listing the teams that i have absolutely NO interest in watching on SKY because of no Irish connection. I'll usually watch Arsenal matches anyway.

[OwlsFan]

I think he could do better too.

But at least it'd be one less club without an Irishman in their first XI.

Fulham, Villa, 'boro, Bolton, WBA...

I also have great hopes for Joey O'Brien at Bolton. Only 18 and looked a smashing player when he was on loan at Hillsboro. Midfielder as well where we badly need people coming through.