The entertaining extra details provided on striker’s transfer to Portsmouth after Blackpool deal collapsed

Simon Bassey, a former Pompey coach, has shared an interesting and unique perspective on his part in bringing Colby Bishop to Fratton Park.

The 48-year-old, a vital component of Danny Cowley’s backroom staff, also helped fans grasp what drives their highest scorer of the previous two seasons—”grub!”

“His (Bishop’s) medical there wasn’t straightforward; he’d had some injury issues which slowed Blackpool’s deal,” the former Pompey manager stated. We got in the way of their plans to have him see a specialist after they had sent him for some scans and something shown up.

We always utilise my best friend, who is a doctor, for that purpose; we think highly of him and he’s a genius. We had no serious concerns. We were happy to find a really strong athlete when we performed Colby’s physical.

We didn’t want him abducted en route, so I had Simon Bassey drive to pick him up from London. He was chaperoned into Portsmouth! He arrived quite late in the evening.

Now that Bassey, the previous manager of Barnet, has provided more information, the Blues have benefited greatly from the move, as Bishop has scored 45 goals in 100 games and led Pompey to the League One title this year. Nevertheless, we have to acknowledge that it’s a condensed version with a few more noteworthy facts added for good measure, such as Bishop’s excitement about Nottingham Forest, his boyhood club, signing Jesse Lingard from Manchester United on a free transfer!

In response to a tweet from our very own Neil Allen regarding the news on X, which was formerly Twitter, Bassey shared this insightful information: Wimbledon, Heathrow, Harley Street (he seemed more excited that the Forest were signing Lingard), Brentwood (Dr Ross), Mexican standoff at the petrol station, Portsmouth village hotel and Wimbledon. He can put the food away, boy. One day, Glove Box and I went on a road trip.

He wasn’t done there, either. “Got nearly as many goals as he had sandwiches and all consumed in under three bites,” Bassey continued.

It’s evident that the former Blues coach was required to perform double duty as a personal driver and Deliveroo driver during his tenure at Fratton Park under the Cowleys, in addition to making sure the players were in peak condition for games.

There are undoubtedly more jobs completed and kindness sprints attempted to support Pompey that will come to light later. However, in the interim, we would like to thank Simon for his indispensable contribution in getting Bishop to PO4.

The Blues are still benefiting from this intervention! Additionally, it’s obvious that Pompey received a better deal than Forest did with Lingard!