In The Absence Of A Pompey Review

[mike at picture]

What a load of fickle fans you lot are. After the City game we're world beaters. Now? Championship level according to some.

Lock this thread now.

I was at work Sunday so not really qualified to comment specifically.

A good side hasn't become bad over night but two unacceptable performances on the spin has understandably upset folk.

Football is cyclical and this very good side will be on the up again soon.

Just allow folk a good cathartic rant - it's good for what ails yer!

[Paul]

btw anybody ever kept hens?

Yes. Do you need some advice?

[Texan Rover]

Why must it be the case that every time a player has a disappointing performance, it's because he's not trying?

[AggyBlue]

We've just appointed a new fitness coach, he's only been at the club a few weeks.

I wonder if this has anything to do with our recent lacklustre and 'leggy' performances.

[JAL]

We've just appointed a new fitness coach, he's only been at the club a few weeks.

I wonder if this has anything to do with our recent lacklustre and 'leggy' performances.

Dont think so, Pompey were a bigger stronger more tactically adept team. Come on give the opposition credit.

The 'leggy' performance was probably a combination of mental exhaustion and physical tiredness thorough their mid week exersions not the fitness coach, rest is what many of our team need.

Harry Redknapps man marking of Bentley and an extra man in midfield worked a treat and Mark Hughes has to hold his hands up and say Harry put one over on him it will be interesting to see if Steve Bruce employs similar tactics he'd be a fool not to.

[thenodrog]

Yes. Do you need some advice?

No thanks Paul, but if you have kept any number I assume that you'll be familiar with 'feather picking'.

[brfcs5359]

I don't agree. Everything coming out in the press from both is positive. If they were then we would know, particularly in the case of Benni. If you look at his career he has never been one to not say what he feels, in the past couple of weeks all he has done is praise the club.

They are in a bad run, it happens to even the best of them. It isn't helped by the fact that they aren't alone in being out of form, which makes it difficult to include them in the side and allow themselves to play their way back into form.

I think we should avoid going from one extreme to the other. Last week the majority of us thought we were a great side, this week it seems the majority think we are crap, those two things don't add up. For me we have all season had several players out of form and we will have to make do until January (at least) without the central midfielder that we need; however, for me today we lost this battle because two managers went head-to-head and one came out on top. Hughes didn't have an answer to a formation that totally took away all of our attacking threat. I don't actually think we deserved to lose the game, it had a draw written all over it but we allowed them to score.

Every team has bad weeks and every team has results that they shouldn't have. Liverpool won't be happy with their draw this week and last, United have lost to Portsmouth this season, Chelsea weren't happy with their draw against us last weekend. It happens. What we need to do is show a bit more resolve than we did today when bouncing back from a defeat.

Good post Eddie. I agree.

Pompeys 5 in the middle made them better than us but to me they looked a poor side playing a side with no confidence on the day. If we had turned up with energy and ideas we would have coasted this game. We looked tired. Hughes needs to freshen the team up v. Brum and rest others. Carling Cup is not as important as the Prem. or UEFA unless we get through a few rounds.

We are a good team and they don't handout trophies in September. Mind you it helps to be still be in them by October!

[blue phil]

What a load of fickle fans you lot are. After the City game we're world beaters. Now? Championship level according to some.

Lock this thread now.

That's the thing with football , McGarry . Sometimes teams play like warriors and deserve credit ...and the next game they can play rubbish and get well deserved stick .

But maybe you'd prefer a stale toeing-of-the-party line match report . Or maybe we could end all criticism or discussion by locking the thread ..

[blue phil]

1) why was bentley forever playing out of position, he was playing centre midfield most of the time and kept popping up on MGP's side of the pitch. He seems to have gone off the boil since his england debut,

...or maybe he's feeling tired merely at the thought of representing his country again after McClaren recalled him to the fold .

Perhaps the England boss will be regretting recalling him - not on the grounds that Bentley still needs to be punished for his snubbing of the national team ...but simply because his form thus far this season doesn't deserve such recognition .

Bentley had as bad a game on Sunday as did the much maligned Pedersen . I can't recall either of them beating a man and getting to the bye line and neither could come up with anything approaching imaginative enough to unlock the Pompey defence . But for some reason it's MGP who takes the flak .

I'll be glad when Reid is back in action . Both Dunn and Savage must be worrried about their places (and I still prefer Tugay to either of them ). A pity that MGP and Bentley don't have that concern at the moment of someone breathing down their necks .

As for the forwards ...well they need the service like all forwards . Santa Cruz though offers much more than BMc . Take away the latter's goals and there's not much there at all. The word on the street with regard to McCarthy is not very good at all - one clear instance of laziness won't be tolerated by the crowd ; they could turn at any moment .

That all sounds dodgy enough but good teams don't turn bad overnight . We could just as well go on another good run as continue this bad spell .

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I didn't go to the game on Sunday but I listened to it on the radio, I was concerned before the game with the after effects of Thursdays " performance ". I don't agree with Fife Rover that the Larissa game was our worst performance for 60 yrs but it must have been close, games like that can have season changing effects, confidence can be completely blown away in one game. I've been concerned with our midfield for a few games, if you play with two out and out wingers at least one HAS to perform, if they don't you get over run, neither of our two are contributing much at present. As for Dunn and Savage - there is no balance, Dunn is not allowed to play his natural game because he has to cover for Savage at times and Savage hasn't been the same since he came back ( in both our last two home games the opposition gave him an early " boneshaker" and that was that ), in the Larissa game he went 20 minutes without touching the ball ! In midfield!

For tomorrows game I'd like to see-

Freidel

Zurab, Ooijer, Samba, Warnock.

Emerton , Bentley , Mokoena , Dunn.

Roberts, Derbyshire.

The centre backs need to play together as much as possible, and I'd like to see the Axe playing in front of the defence and Bentley playing behind the front two. Lets not forget our good run at the end of last season came when we didn't have to design a system to give Savage a game.

[waggy]

just met a pompey fan on the trian going home from bumley.he stayed up for a few days,he reckoned we are suffering from the good press syndrome,like pompey last year

[Hughesy]

Didnt really have to think about that one! Bents crossed inch perfect for Cruz header that hit the bar after about 3 minutes!! Bentley has also done okay in previous games, unlike Pedersen this season!

Bentley had as bad a game on Sunday as did the much maligned Pedersen . I can't recall either of them beating a man and getting to the bye line and neither could come up with anything approaching imaginative enough to unlock the Pompey defence . But for some reason it's MGP who takes the flak .

[thenodrog]

Bentley had as bad a game on Sunday as did the much maligned Pedersen . I can't recall either of them beating a man and getting to the bye line and neither could come up with anything approaching imaginative enough to unlock the Pompey defence .

From my observations Pompey 'doubled up' on Bentley most of the game.