Two Down ...

So now it's two down, with Hreidarsson off to fight it out with Traore or Bramble in the Portsmouth back four after Hasselbaink's departure. One goes with our best wishes and understanding for wanting to have another year or two in the top flight (and presumably a decent signing-on fee), probably with the board happy enough to cut the wage bill on a player who most felt was coming towards the end of his useful life; the other leaves with a Jane Fonda workout video and the bootprints of most supporters on his ample backside.

Herman has been a fine player for us, the occasional elbow notwithstanding, but I'm struggling to think of a great 'Herman moment'. Any ideas? And while Portsmouth fans will no doubt be happy to pick up a useful squad player for nothing they must be aware of the Jonah tag given HH's now very impressive record of playing in teams that get relegated (well, anyone who has played for Palace in recent years has at least one relegation blot on their copybook).

My main concern in losing Hreidarsson is that it might leave us even more dependent on central defenders who might be off for the Africa Cup. Fortune might come back into the equation just because he's available and as in the Championship he is probably good enough (I tend to think he's adequate in any event as long as he has a very good partner capable of marshalling the defence: oh Rufus, how we miss you).

Can we place any credence in the rumours that Darren Bent might either stay or be loaned to Arsenal for a season? I have absolutely no inside knowledge and can only assume that if someone bids the full (apparent) £15m asking price he will go. As throughout his time with us his behaviour earns nothing but respect and provides a model for any young player (surprising that his agent doesn't seem to be stoking press speculation). Maybe he's able to do this because he is that good he doesn't have to sell himself.

It would of course be a massive boost to morale if he were to stay. But what about the repercussions of a season loan? There are already grumblings on Ipswich sites that this is just a ploy to avoid having to pay them their chunk of a transfer fee. Would we be content to cheese off another club in this fashion? It may be just coincidence but we do seem to have rubbed a few up the wrong way of late, including Sheffield Wednesday. I'm like everyone else in valuing our club's reputation for decent behaviour - to a point. For years we would bemoan our 'little Charlton' reputation and the feeling that we lost out in fees for players we sold because of it. There has to be a balance and an awareness that there is sometimes a price to pay for the benefits of actually being nice.

Finally, I'm that dumb that I didn't even realise why the BBC/Teamtalk etc still list us as a Premiership club. In the past few days I've been hoping that they will make the change to put me out of my misery; let's just get it over with. Of course the switch comes after the play-off finals. So take your last look for a while at our top flight listings and prepare for Sunday morning football TV.