Pompey's Future: Holiday Fixtures Crucial for Direction of Club

While the packed holiday fixture list at the end of December and beginning of January is always an important time of the season for every Premier League club, it takes on a new level for Portsmouth Football Club this year.

I think that this season, the very future of Portsmouth will be decided by these fixtures.

With the club now officially "up for sale" by owner Alexandre Gaydamak, the team stumbling in the Premier League and, most importantly, the prospect of a transfer window opening with the vultures circling over-head, concerns have been raised.

Former manager Harry Redknapp has never been one to work long with a squad that he considers to "not be his," and has been linked almost immediately following his arrival at Tottenham with a number of his former charges.

Jermain Defoe, Lassana Diarra, Sylvain Distin, and Glen Johnson tend to be the most common names mentioned.

But it's not just Tottenham in the hunt for these players, with almost all of the above being linked with transfers away to Premier League rivals as well as major continental clubs.

For these reasons more than anything else, it is crucial that manager Tony Adams gets the holiday season right.

It can certainly be said that during Redknapp's time in charge of Pompey, the team became a force to be reckoned with. With Portsmouth playing entertaining football and taking points off the vast majority of sides we were "expected" to beat.

Under Adams, we've now dropped crucial points against Fulham, Wigan, Hull, and West Brom. While I've been holding off on pushing the panic button just yet, I'm starting to believe there is a good chance we aren't going to finish in the top half of the table this season.

Am I complaining? I certainly remember our struggles very clearly, but the very future of Portsmouth is dependent on whether Adams steadies the ship, and if the club holds on to our most important players.

If not, we could very much end up going the way of Charlton Athletic.

Portsmouth's holiday fixtures will follow the "consolation" game against Heerenveen, and include games away to Bolton Wanderers, home to West Ham, away to Arsenal, and the start of our FA Cup defense against Bristol City.

The games against Bolton and West Ham will be absolutely crucial, as will be putting in a confident performance at the Emirates. I will have low expectations from that game other than ensuring that we give a strong and focused performance, demonstrating our intentions.

A strong win against Bristol City will go a long way in ensuring that people don't write us off as simply being "the club that Harry Redknapp built".

With strong performances and points picked up, I am hopeful that we will be able to convince the vast majority of our stars to remain with the club.

One thing I am certain about, however is that his will be the most important holiday season and January transfer window in the club's Premier League history.

Will we remain like Aston Villa and push onward like Manchester City, or will we slip like Charlton, Birmingham, and—dare I say it—Southampton have in the past?