Portsmouth Target Robert Earnshaw? Really?

No, this isn't a humor article, as much as I would like to admit that it was.

Sport.co.uk reported yesterday that Robert Earnshaw, striker for Championship side Nottingham Forest, is a target for Premier League side Portsmouth.

Er, excuse me?

I hadn't commented on this speculation earlier on, as I wrote it off as simply gutter-rag speculation, but I've started to see more and more discussion on this issue on the internet.

And it really worries me.

I remember seeing Earnshaw play for West Brom back in the 2004/2005 Premiership season, and I thought he was a sub-standard striker who had been fortunate to hit a bit of form that year.

Earnshaw scored a number of important goals in the second half of that season to help West Brom complete their escape from relegation on the last day of the season, despite being bottom of the league at Christmas.

The website claims that Portsmouth boss Tony Adams wants to bring in Earnshaw as a direct replacement for Jermain Defoe.

Yes, you read that right. According to them, Adams believes Earnshaw is a replacement for Defoe.

I couldn't make this up if I tried.

Needless to say, the fact that this rumor is picking up steam is really worrying me.

While Earnshaw had his strong end to the season that year with West Brom, he has since failed to prove himself in the Premier League again, managing to find the back of the net only once during Derby County's ill-fated campaign last year.

In my mind, Earnshaw is a good Championship striker, but he is absolutely not what Portsmouth need for the rest of the season, and the £3 million price tag being touted is absolutely laughable.

It would be absolutely criminal if we signed a poor striker for the same amount of money we got for the magnificent Pedro Mendes at the start of the season.

Many of the signings we have been linked with this window have been positive, but if this is true, I worry for the direction of our club over the next few months. Hopefully this ends up being no more than simple speculation, as Earnshaw just doesn't have what it takes.