00:00Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Pompey Talk. My name is Mark McMahon and joining me today at 10 past 5, Pepe, 10 past 5, we should all be winding down, but yes, joining me today at 10 past 5 is Pompey correspondent Pepe Lesey.
00:18Pepe, we're joining each other's company today, simply because Pompey have announced their third signing off the transfer window, Mark Koznelski. What's your general thoughts on it?
00:28That's a mouthful to say, isn't it? It's 10 past 5, we should have been clocked out 10 minutes ago, so I need some overtime.
00:38But no, it's good to get Pompey's third signing through the doors. It's needed. It's been highly anticipated. It's been going on this, I wouldn't quite call it a saga, but it's been going on for a little while.
00:53There's been quite a few developments over the past week with the MTK Budapest sporting director. I can't remember his name off the top of my head.
01:01Ask me.
01:02But no, he's come out and said that there's been agreements over the course of the last week and then there was, of course, reports on Tuesday that he'd be flying over to complete his medical and it's Friday now and the deal's been done.
01:17Not really know much about him. I don't think anybody really does unless you really look into him properly, which we haven't quite got round to yet.
01:28But it's a promising sign in 23 years of age. He's already played 11 times for Hungary at senior level.
01:35So he's got a wealth of experience given his age. And yeah, it's a big sign in for Pompey.
01:41Speak for yourself and say you haven't done any research on him. I have, believe it or not. Not much, as you say.
01:47Information gathering with a company has been tough going. Believe you me, I've put out a few calls to journalists and nobody's actually responded to him.
01:56Some have picked that up on Twitter also. But no, I have done a wee bit of research and from what I gather, he's a guy that loves to move the ball in possession.
02:05He's not somebody who's just going to pass the ball. He actually drives it forward himself.
02:10He's very good passing. You're talking about an 86% pass rate in the Hungarian top flight last season.
02:16When you compare that to the likes of Marlon Pack, he actually outdoes Marlon Pack when it comes to passing.
02:23Although long passing, we all know how good Marlon Pack is at the long pass. He falls short on that there.
02:28He doesn't miss that many games either, from what I gather. He seems to be a midfielder who gets stuck in, has got plenty to offer in midfield,
02:36but definitely doesn't miss games either through suspension or injury, which we all know Pompey fans will love that about him.
02:43The more player availability for John Messina on a Saturday, the better. We all know the problems they've had in that department recently.
02:51He also loves his shot on goal. We've seen some spectacular efforts from him on YouTube.
02:55Some, he's got a lovely, some of them even with a left foot and all that there.
03:00So he seems to be a guy that can definitely defend, help Pompey's defensive duties, and also chip in going forward too.
03:08And also might as well just draw on to what John Messina said in his welcoming statement after Pompey announced his signing at four o'clock.
03:18He describes him as energetic, somebody who can do a wee bit of everything, can handle himself, is very attack-minded.
03:26He's a powerful runner, as again, someone that I've mentioned before, and he's more than confident that he can adapt to the championship.
03:32So from what I can gather, without knowing too much, the information that I'm gathering, this could be a good signing for Pompey.
03:40Are you a bit of relief? Is there a bit of relief from you that Pompey have finally got another midfielder through the door?
03:45We all know they needed another midfielder.
03:48I mean, for work, yeah, absolutely. We've got some stories out of it, finally.
03:52But no, as a fan and work aside, it is a bit of a relief.
03:58Obviously, that's now the fourth midfielder in Messina's ranks now, joining John Swift and arriving through the doors this summer.
04:09I like what I'm hearing from you there. It sounds like he ticks a lot of the boxes.
04:14And it's also another factor of sort of the Pompey's transfer strategy working.
04:21We're seeing it sort of pay off. We sort of, Adrian Segesic, earlier in the window,
04:27Messina said that we might not have been able to get a top scorer and a top flight elsewhere across the world,
04:35but the A-League was somewhere they wanted to target.
04:37Another area they wanted to target was in that sort of European market, like Hungary, like Sweden, areas like that.
04:45And they've got a midfielder who I just touched on there.
04:48He's got international experience, played 29 times last season for NTK Budapest.
04:54And they've paid, well, we don't know the fee that they've paid, but it's an undisclosed fee.
04:58The sort of figure that's been going around is roughly about a million pounds.
05:04We don't quite know that for sure.
05:06But Pompey are willing to spend money on players that they've targeted, they've looked at, obviously.
05:11And it's in a market that they're willing to explore, that European market that they're open to exploring.
05:16And they tried it last year with Abdoulaye Kamara.
05:19But this year, I think they've learned from their mistakes from last year.
05:23John Messina admitted that as well.
05:25So hopefully, we're now signing players that can really impact the first team and play a significant amount.
05:32Because you're looking at four midfielders now.
05:34You've got Marlon Pack and Andre Dezel there on top of John Swift and Mark Znefsky.
05:39Are they looking at someone else?
05:41There's been a couple of other names floating around over the last week.
05:44But you're probably looking at maybe one more in the middle.
05:49Obviously, now it's not as prominent.
05:54Now they've got two through the door.
05:57But yeah, it is a big relief to answer your question that there is another midfielder through the door.
06:02And obviously, that's now three signings this summer ahead of the Oxford game that comes up in two weeks.
06:07Because there was obviously a few questions, right?
06:10When you're going into the new season, you've got Marlon Pack, Andre Dezel and John Swift.
06:14This is your midfield three.
06:16There's not really much depth there.
06:18So it's good that they've got another midfielder through the door.
06:20Nice and early.
06:21They've got two weeks to work with him as well.
06:24Yeah, there's two weeks to go, as you have said.
06:28Do you expect Pompey to...
06:29Would you like to see Pompey strengthen between now and the season over against Oxford?
06:33Yeah, I think there's a lot of Pompey fans that want more.
06:44But there's also, you need to look at it as like a tactical sort of area and what Pompey actually need and where the weaknesses are at the moment.
06:53And on the right, you've got Matt Ritchie, who's not with the squad at the moment.
06:57He didn't travel to Slovakia.
07:00He's been looking for a new club.
07:03And he was obviously starting last season on the right wing.
07:05So he's currently not involved.
07:07You've got Harvey Blair.
07:08I think he's still out injured.
07:10There's been not really much, much said about him.
07:14So you'd think he's still behind.
07:16Then you've got Paddy Lane there as well.
07:19So add Adrian Segesic to that.
07:21You've got a 21-year-old Australian sensation that's never played in the championship.
07:25And you could be going into the first league game of the season with him as your starting right midfielder.
07:32That's probably another key area for me that Pompey need to strengthen is on the right.
07:37Because you've got Adrian Segesic, who's never played in the championship before.
07:41And you need him to score goals and provide assists and can't really rely on him.
07:45Paddy Lane, there were question marks over him.
07:47You'd hope that he had a second season in the championship that he might be able to grow.
07:52Use that time that he has had out injured to be able to grow and step up to the mark in the championship.
07:59But currently, that right wing area is somewhere that is a cause for concern at the moment,
08:05going into the final fortnight before the start of the season.
08:10Elsewhere, you've got Callum Lang, who could sit in the number 10 role.
08:14Maybe you'd want to strengthen there.
08:15But you've also got John Swift, who can fit in there.
08:19Maybe a backup striker behind Bishop and Waddingham.
08:22But again, you're not going to want to recruit a third-choice striker.
08:25So you're going to want someone who's going to battle Waddingham and Bishop for the starting role.
08:31And then maybe even another centre-back.
08:35I know Pompey wanted Rob Atkinson earlier in the summer when they already had four fit centre-backs.
08:40Will they want to go back in and find another centre-back?
08:44But I'd probably say another right wing is the main area Pompey want to recruit this summer.
08:49That was going to be my next question, and you answered it before it even got there.
08:54On that note then, Pepe, as I said, it was 10 past 5.
08:57It's now 20 past.
08:58Let's crack on.
09:00We've addressed the issue of Mark Kozneski signing.
09:03It's another one through the door.
09:05Pompey are next in action against Reading on Saturday.
09:08You're going to that alongside Newland.
09:10We'll be there.
09:11We'll be praying to you with all the latest coverage,
09:13and we'll be getting more reaction from John Messina,
09:15and hopefully speak to Mark Kozneski from the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
