Former Portsmouth and Tottenham defender Ricardo Rocha is on trial at Playford Road this week. The 33-year-old left Pompey at the end of last season.

Blues manager Paul Jewell told the club site that the six-times-capped Portuguese international joined up with the club yesterday: “Ricardo is here for the week and we will take it from there.”

Santo Tirso-born Rocha played youth football with ARC Areias and started his senior career with Famalicão before moving on to Braga and Benfica. During five years with the Lisbon side he won the Portuguese League, Cup and Supercup and appeared in the Champions League.

In January 2007 he joined Tottenham for £3.3 million but having made only 16 first team starts and two sub appearances he moved on to Belgian side Standard Liege in the summer of 2009.

A year later he was off to Pompey, where he played until being released in May, making 71 starts and five appearances from the bench.

Last week one-time Bolton and West Brom centre-half Abdoulaye Meite was on trial with the Blues but Town are yet to take their interest any further.

The 33-year-old told the French press that he wasn't confident of winning a deal despite impressing Jewell, citing Town's current lowly position in the table and suggesting that the manager might not be persuade the Blues' money men to offer terms: "I am rather pessimistic, because he is not in a strong position at the moment because of the bad position of the team."

Photo: Action Images

Taricco_Fan added 14:10 - Sep 25 Keep on scraping that barrel, Jewell.
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irishtim added 14:10 - Sep 25 Not sure about this. If he can help Tommy & Luke then maybe not so bad. All depends on his fitness levels etc. Has played at a high level. Steve Kean look doomed.Crazy really when you compare where we are and still our manager has evans support. Baffling.
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algarvefan added 14:11 - Sep 25 Souperjim I agree 100% Jewell is full of bulls**t and excuses, think he knows it is just a matter of time before he gets the bullet. If it was done now we can still rescue our season. I'm saddened to see Town in the position they are in now, but think with the right manager we have the players (after a couple of additions to give cover) to do well.
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casanovacrow added 14:14 - Sep 25 Surco72 - see your point but name me an old timer CB that Jewell has brought in that has actually been a good signing
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jamesmostevens added 14:18 - Sep 25 Sign him until Xmas. Our next manager can then look at recruits with an actual future with the club in the January window. Let's be clear, Rocha is better than nothing - but so were Delaney and Sonko. Signing a defender seems crucial to our survival and so we have to get players like this in for the short term after discarding players like this before having a clear replacement lined up. A similar loan striker might be worthwhile too, just no more central midfielders, please!!! Jewell out - obviously.

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Taricco_Fan added 14:20 - Sep 25 We should have made defence the number one priority for strengthening when MacAuley left, and that was nearly 18 months ago. The current situation we find ourselves in is a disgrace. Jewell has his hands tied to an extent, because beyond the transfer window the choice of players to bring on in loan is very limited. But it is all Jewell's own doing! The defence should have been sorted long ago.

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ITFC_Frosty78 added 14:20 - Sep 25 cant be awful good back up for injuries so we cant complain really who were we expecting to get? st legder? weve got too be more realistic with the situation and league position were in.
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gibbo added 14:21 - Sep 25 What happened to the guy we had last week, what a waste of time. Im giving up with the team I have loved for over 30 years.
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bigfish added 14:23 - Sep 25 wow another short term loan. another unsettled team and defense equals loads of goals against us. We can not score goals at present so what do this amounts to is and it breaks my heart town are going down and fast. Please itfc sort and quick
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tearle1974 added 14:29 - Sep 25 Right another player on trial. Who's next i wonder. However look at the link below of Mathew Bates who is a free agent and got player of the month last year and had a month of clean sheets too. Only problem is that he is injury prone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Bates
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Wysey16 added 14:31 - Sep 25 Better than nothing. Cover for injuries. If the league position doesn't improve, we wont sign better and probably risk loosing what we already have
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Lukeybluey added 14:32 - Sep 25 Not a bad shout. And he's a free agent. Stick him on a 1 year deal. COYB's
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Lukeybluey added 14:32 - Sep 25 Oh, and resign Sonko.
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Blue041273 added 14:34 - Sep 25 How can anyone think that this might actually work? He's even written off the deal himself. This just gets worse and worse.
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essexitfc added 14:36 - Sep 25 Hardly gets the pulse racing does it, its all too late..
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warbeat78 added 14:37 - Sep 25 Tearle74 Not bad idea but 5foot 10 need a bit more presence but only 25 shold be pacey not sure about this
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AbujaBlue added 14:39 - Sep 25 @Blue041273 If you read the article it was our previous trialist Meite who wrote the deal off, not Rocha.
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itfc1981 added 14:40 - Sep 25 Why did we let Sonko go if we want to replace him with equal levels of dross?
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yorksblue added 14:42 - Sep 25 Gets sent off every other game.
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Lombokblue added 14:46 - Sep 25 This is a shambolic way to run a club but just going by his wikipedia page it looks like he has a bit of heart .If we can't afford Abdoulaye Meite coming from a french div2 club then maybe we need to focus on the under 17s/over 35s market
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Abullardnightout added 14:48 - Sep 25 Rocha could be good, at least its some backup which we obviously lack at the moment. Better than nothing, but he will probably last about 1 game and get injured
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Surco72 added 14:49 - Sep 25 cant think of many casanova ... but if you try enough everyone gets lucky sometimes !!
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alfromcol added 14:50 - Sep 25 On 28 March 2006, Rocha had a widely lauded performance in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals first leg against eventual champions FC Barcelona, marking Ronaldinho out of the game Long time ago, but he may remember how he did it???
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WorcesterBlue added 14:52 - Sep 25 Hey guys remember when we had those two international Centre Backs Sonko and Delaney? Beginning to wish they were still here. And as for Meite - if you want to play football take what the club offers you or are you expecting us to break our wage structure due to your massive career achievements? These guys make me laugh.
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tractorblue added 14:52 - Sep 25 Oh my god,this is just soul destroying,surely ME has to put this whole mess to bed,we are finished under this manager,please ME,press conference tomorrow,put him out of his misery and give us all a little hope, defence not sorted by the end of september,what a shambles.
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