'Arry and Sol . . . . sitting in a crap club . . . .

One of the top stories today is the good folks at Portsmouth running Sol Campbell through a medical in order to sign him for a one year deal, with the option of an additional year.

The 31 year old England defender, whose contract was paid up by Arsenal last month, had expressed an interest to play abroad after his well-publicized meltdown at halftime against West Ham in last year's Premiership race (I have not forgotten, however that Big Sol was responsible for the lone goal for Arsenal in last year's CL final vs. Barca, among many other memorable moments in his tenure at Highbury).

Since then, various rumors had him linked to Fenerbahce, Olympique Marseilles, and an attempt at acting in Hollywood. Campbell played down the talk of him "breaking into Hollywood" (as a Tupac Shakur body double, presumably; why not - he's probably sold more records posthumously than he did when he was alive) to pursue his lifelong dream of playing football abroad. Fair enough, said Wenger, and the club promptly paid out the remainder of his contract and the former Spurs and Gunner defender was released, only to . . . . sign with Pompey?

Campbell claimed he was leaving Arsenal "for a fresh challenge" adding "I have nothing left to prove in England but it would be special if I could now go to the continent and make a major statement in a foreign league too."

To which, the beaky Frenchman replied, "I have no regrets, but it is a big surprise to me because he cancelled his contract to go abroad. Have you sold Portsmouth to a foreign country? No."

Perhaps the notion of playing in Turkey wasn't European enough for him, nor the fight for a middle-position in Ligue 1 (without Champions League play as well) challenging enough . . . hence the move to . . . . Portsmouth. And he has his work cut out for him, since Pompey's opponents managed over 1 and a half goals for every one they managed to score last year.

Well done, Sol . . . . there's a challenge for you . . .

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1839099,00.html