Blues boss Paul Jewell says he’s not sure whether he’ll make a renewed move for his three January Portsmouth targets, Jason Pearce, Joel Ward and Stephen Henderson, but seems unlikely to do so in the short-term. Yesterday, Pompey’s financial situation forced them to loan Norwegian international winger Erik Huseklepp to Birmingham.

On deadline day Town agreed fees for midfielder or defender Ward and keeper Henderson, while Portsmouth rebuffed bids for centre-half Pearce, but the moves broke down due to the players' inflated wage demands.

However, with the fees being agreed so late in the day, and with Town facing West Ham that evening, the Blues felt they weren't given time to get the deals done.

Asked whether he might make a renewed move for any of the trio in the wake of Huseklepp's switch to Birmingham, Jewell said: “I don’t know. I didn’t get to speak to any of the players [in January]. It was a bit messy, as I said at the time. It’s a tragedy what’s going on there and I think it’s one we’ll just keep away from.

“That’s not to say that [that might not be the case in the] future. I think they’ve got good players Portsmouth but it’s not something that’s top of my agenda at the moment.”

The Blues boss was loathe to talk in too much detail about how Town found dealing with Pompey — or perhaps their parent company CSI’s administrator — during those negotiations: “I think I got a bit of stick from the Portsmouth fans for saying that [Pompey let the situation drag on until near to the window’s closure], so I don’t really want to upset them more than I already have.

“But I found it very strange and amazing how reticent they were to do deals when now they’re saying they’re absolutely skint.

“I don’t know who was making that decision. I spoke to the manager once and after that it was done at a higher level to me and we were getting mixed messages. We’ll let Portsmouth run themselves, we’ve enough to do at our club.”

Photo: Action Images

Wallingford_Boy added 10:15 - Feb 24 Well said PJ, lets just move on and leave Pompey to it.... don't like the idea of being a vulture circling a club in Pompey's state. Lets hope they sort out their mess and get back to some normality.
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bobbyramsey added 10:16 - Feb 24 Let them fester!!
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Frankley_Blue added 10:26 - Feb 24 Yep ... let them get on with it. If they get loaned elsewhere the que sera but we're finally going in the right direction. Long may it continue.
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eaii added 10:28 - Feb 24 Henderson looks unimpressive to be polite and the other two were not interested before so why should Ipswich pound notes be good enough for them now? Move on to better targets and Clegg please resist the 'on the cheap' bit and build on what we have!
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shaun_ald added 10:38 - Feb 24 Let's forget about Portsmouth players for now...and start looking at what rangers have too offer!
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rosseden added 10:39 - Feb 24 theyre obviously some of the lower earners at pompey so will be kept about to keep the numbers up anyway. i suspect if we'd have gone in for the higher earners theyd have been much keener to do the deals to get rid of the wages. the BBC article about antonov is worth a read......
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suffolkpoker added 10:47 - Feb 24 They have made there bed now let them sleep in it imo
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Karlosfandangal added 10:54 - Feb 24 Stevenson and Carson signing and if we sign Murphy really dont see the need for Ward, What I have seen of Henderson of late I dont think he is any better than Wright Pearce I would say is better than what we have, However, Smith could prove to be a gem if he carries on as he is, Delaney and Sonko are not the long term answers, so would think over the next year or so we will be looking for 3 Centre Backs so Pearce could be one for us. Portsmouth even with the 10 points were not that much better than us so most of their players are on par with ours Having said that I have only seen them on TV and with what is going on at Portsmouth could have a bearing on their form.

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Clemcc added 10:56 - Feb 24 I liked it when those targeted Portsmouth players said they love the club and didn't want to move, etc Also deminding higher wages just to kill the deal. If they "loved the club", they should have moved and tried to help it!! Look at Portsmouth now! I more thinking of the non-playing staff - redundancies/no wages, etc. Everyone has the right to stay of course, but if I had the chance to save/help, I would move.

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DanLyles added 11:04 - Feb 24 Would love Pearce and Ward at Town. Even better though, would be Hull's excellent young centre back pairing of Jack Hobbs (ex Liverpool) and James Chester (ex Manutd) who have made the Tigers incredibly solid at the back (conceded only 25 in 31) and are the main reason behind their league position (they have scored hardly any goals). Maybe a tad unrealistic but I believe Hull are short on £££

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saffronblue added 11:10 - Feb 24 I saw sky news reporting that all Portmsouth players had agreed to take a pay cut, wonder if they regret not coming now? Move on.
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naa added 11:23 - Feb 24 Must admit, it's not the first time a player has refused to leave because he 'loves the club'. Matt Holland and Hriedasson did the same for us. They turned down £4m moves and that essentially forced us into administration. I'm not sure whether they were aware of the situation however. The Portsmouth players did know though, so it beggars belief that they seriously thought that staying was of more use to the club than getting some money in. I hope they apologise to the 30 people just made redundant! Mind you, heard that someone there is on £30k a week. I thought they were being finanically sensible after their last bout of administration! Anyway, onto Town. I'd be happy to see Pearce come here, but not too worried about the others. We have a line of generally solid keepers likely to make a stupid mistake already, we don't need anymore.

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Marshalls_Mullet added 11:31 - Feb 24 Let Pompey come begging to us. I have no moral issue with poaching players from a club in trouble. Would only really want to see Jason Pearce of the three.
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buryblue77 added 11:32 - Feb 24 Leave them well alone Paul Portsmouth didn't want to sell when they were in desperate need of money (forget the vultures around a kill analagy, clubs like Charlton were only to happy to pick off our best players when we were in the poo!) and the ones who were allowed to talk wanted stupid wages, will their demands lower if we talk again in the summer? Probably not! Also we don't want such players who are ONLY interested in money upsetting the obvious team spirit that we have going presently.

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Wallingford_Boy added 11:34 - Feb 24 You bitter bunch! Well I for one admire their loyalty!
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naa added 11:42 - Feb 24 Wallingford: Loyalty to who? Surely loyalty in this case would be to do what is best for the club, which is to go and get them some money in through transfer fees. Crazy all round, them staying wasn't good for them or the club, who can't afford to pay the players and may not even be able to complete their fixtures this season...
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MickMillsTash added 12:09 - Feb 24 I think they are the sort of players we need- young, have ability and not played in the premier league yet. Probably not on massive wages. We desperately need a centre back and keeper despite the recent improvement. You would think we would have other targets in mind but the page was pretty blank during the january so think it worth trying again now Portsmouths situation has changed- surely no-one is going to buy them, the club looks doomed.

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singtown added 12:22 - Feb 24 PJ please leave these 3 mouse-keteers alone! They showed great loyalty and demanded the sky for a move, they won't be keen to play for us, heart is not there at all! If they change their stance now, my toes will laugh, please it's too ticklish!
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SouperJim added 13:42 - Feb 24 What a load of bloomin nonsense you lot spout. I hope we get all three and I think there's every chance.
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casanovacrow added 13:47 - Feb 24 6weeks and Portsmouth are as good as gone. Sign them up when that happens, they had the option to sell and it never happened they'll just have to live with knowing they missed the oppertunity to prolong their existence that little bit longer
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MazzaCOYB added 14:33 - Feb 24 No interest in them what-so-ever! They had their chance and they declined it, they nailed their colours to the mast of a sinking ship now they must take everything that comes with it. If they want to claim loyalty then fine, but also accept that from a proffessional point of view in terms of their careers as footballers- it was stupid. Going down there are taking three points from them soon after was very nice indeed!

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tractorboy1961 added 16:18 - Feb 24 Let them get relegated to league one. They had their chance
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