Portsmouth never got what QPR and Plymouth Argyle did with Akos Buszaky: View | OneFootball

The Hungarian failed to recreate his previous performances after moving to Fratton Park in 2012

When Akos Buzsaky arrived in the Championship with Plymouth Argyle, the Hungarian’s quality was clear for all to see the second he took to the Home Park pitch.

Having joined the Pilgrims from Porto, the attacking midfielder waltzed his way through games, and sprinkled quality everywhere that he went with the ball seemingly glued to the end of his toes.

It was a similar story at Queens Park Rangers, where the playmaker got the chance to feature in the Premier League, having played his part in helping the R’s return to the top flight.

But try to tell a Portsmouth fan of the impact he could have with the ball at his feet, and they will likely laugh you out of town, with the Magical Magyar failing to recreate the highs of his past during his time at Fratton Park.

Akos Buzsaky shines for Plymouth Argyle and Queens Park Rangers

Buzsaky had the Home Park crowd purring after his arrival in the January of 2005, with his every touch likely to produce something sublime, as well as his penchant for trying his luck from range.

With the Greens not long having established themselves as a second tier outfit, the arrival of the cosmopolitan creator was met by plenty of excitement, and after his first four months in green, that feeling had grown exponentially.

He may have only netted one goal in his first half-season as a Pilgrim, but even that strike against Watford saw him pirouette through the Hornets defence, before finding the back of the net.

As he continued to find his feet in the English game, his influence on proceedings at Home Park grew, as he pulled the strings alongside the likes of David Norris and Paul Wotton in midfield, while supplying Mickey Evans and Nick Chadwick up top.

A super match-winning brace of free-kicks against Norwich City at Carrow Road will forever be Buzsaky’s crowing moment as a Pilgrim, with his technique on dead ball situations leaving goalkeepers scrambling more often than not.

Queens Park Rangers move sees Akos Buzsaky reach the Premier League

With his performances continuing to catch the eye, it only seemed like a matter of time before Buzsaky was poached by a side with deeper pockets than Argyle, and so it proved in October 2007, when QPR took the Hungarian to Loftus Road on an initial loan deal, ahead of a permanent move.

After netting on just his second match for the club in a 2-1 defeat to Coventry City, the Hungarian thrived in his new surroundings, with braces against Scunthorpe United and Colchester United immediately endearing himself to his new fanbase before the calendar year had ended.

And once it did, Buzsaky was a Rangers player, and continued to showcase his abilities with eleven goals during his first year in blue and white, more than he had achieved during his three-year stint as an Argyle player.

But just as he looked to be in full flow, a succession of knee injury saw the star ruled out from November onwards in the next campaign; something that would effect the remainder of his career, and leave Pompey fans ruing in the years to come.

When he did get time on the pitch, he continued to be a menace for opposing defenders, with ten goals in the 09/10 campaign giving the R’s fans a taste of what they had been missing, before playing his part in the title-winning team the season after.

A season in the Premier League followed, where he would get the chance to prove himself against the finest sides in the country, and even helped himself to goals against Wigan Athletic and Swansea City, as he showed no signs of slowing down.

But just a matter of months later, the Hungarian was in League One and barely getting a game, with Portsmouth a side on their knees as financial issues struck.

Akos Buzsaky’s failed Portsmouth move

Having played 50 minutes in a 1-0 win over Stoke City in May 2012 as Rangers avoided relegation from the top flight, Buzsaky would find himself dropping two divisions for his next match five months on, as he made the move to Fratton Park after failing to agree a new deal at Loftus Road.

There would have been plenty of humdrum surrounding the new arrival on the south coast, with Pompey looking to arrest a slide that had seen them fall from the top flight to the third tier in just three seasons.

With the club barely having two pennies to rub together, there would have been plenty of hopes pinned on the Hungarian, who had shown what he could do at the two levels above during his glittering career.

But what Portsmouth got was a shadow of the man who had lit up the Championship in a previous life, with the player who had carved open defences at will no longer able to recreate such moments.

As it was, the playmaker’s time at the club lasted a little over a month, as he headed to Barnsley for a similarly disappointing spell in the Championship, before calling a day on his career in England for good by the next calendar year.

So much talent, but so little to show for it, Portsmouth will have regretted bringing the Hungarian to the club, as they continued to spiral into the fourth tier by the end of the season.