Arry said he was pleased with their lads and told them at halftime to work as Dickov was doing. Also said that we are one of the best sides in the league and outside the top four we can hold our own against anyone. Pleasing. Now we got two cup games and the derby with Notlob all at home.

We still havent gotten to the next level yet, otherwise we would have killed off the game earlier and not suffered for the last few minutes.

Based on our first half performance and the two sitter we missed in the 2nd, I dont think a draw would have been fair. Pompey only really played for about 30 minutes. They were barely in our half in the first half. They will struggle to stay up cause they lack quality, their passing was especially poor.

Are you having a laugh? Pompey should have won?!?!

Great first half. Shouldve scored more in the first half. They were poor. Second half we were a little less solid and sat back a little too much and they piled on pressure and couldve and shouldve equalized as they had 2 great chances. Didnt let the fans enjoy the last 30 minutes with the way we played cause it was a case of chewing on nails a bit. Bellamy laid two chances on the plate for Savage and Emerton, who had to slot it home and had his shot blocked. PS. Bring back Gray. Everytime Matteo touched it you felt a calamity could happen.

Actually Im sure Bellers will be aware that Sparky wants to ease him back in, hamstrings can be a nasty thing. I can see him getting 90 minutes against QPR to get him ready for the United game. This may work to our advantage or could backfire. He could come on with the game stretched and with lots of space and tired legs. Disappointed for Gray. Lets hope Dom does OK. Having Tugay on the bench is another joker card.

Pompey just announced a new joint ownership. Another Russian whose dad owns Beitar Jerusalem in Israel. Another Russian Jew, a la Roman and Khodorkovsky, so more dark secrets of the oligarchs me thinks. How much money will he pump into the club in January....

I get the feeling that Bellamy may be brought off the bench again. Anyone shares that thought?

How many games and goals has Matt had for us since the accident in these 3 and half years?

I think theyll end the season mid-to-lower table.

I met him after the 1-2 Leeds defeat at home two seasons ago, and he was a gentleman off the pitch and took a picture with me and my brother and he was REALLY down after the defeat and you can tell he is genuinely a fan of the club, not just an employee.

Lovin it. Go figure why so many of us hate Brum and Bruce.

The old rovers would let us down in such a game and undo the great work of two away wins in a week. lets see if we have buried that old ghost for good on monday. have a feeling it will be tight and difficult and we could go down early...

CC is a legend.

I wish we could give him a good send-off or something...

He is a true professional, he really didnt nag like most people would in his situation, and bode his time and now if anyone says he was getting a hefty salary, Id shoot that down, cause even the biggest names in football nag after 1 game on the bench. Most of the best players do it for the joy they have on the pitch, they love the game, money is the added bonus...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/t...ers/4573250.stm BBC reporting it now... I find it sad...A bit of nostalgia. Im sure most of us would have wanted him to come back in a fairy tale way and return to the first team. But it wasnt to be.

If the thing about his best training sessions are true, then its surprising, cause he never looked the player he used to be whenever he played for us, even this season, granted he only had a few minutes here and there. He just seemed a tad slow to make decisions, etc... Good luck to him, one of my all-time favorites at the club and the last piece of the former era circa 98-02/03 that we had left, Dunny, Duffer and now Jansen. Hope we see him again in good light...You were great Matt.

4 games coming up all at home: Pompey PL QPR FA CUP Man Utd League Cup Bolton PL Lets hope the crowds flock in for the games... Can someone confirm that this is our best points total at the half-way point of the season for how long?

Late kick-off. Pompey look better under 'Arry but still if we play at our level, we will beat them comfortably... I expect Bellamy to start, but I wouldnt be surprised if he sticks to the same XI and keeps Tugay and Bellers on the bench.

Cant see Hughes going to Newcastle. United yes definitely. But with the Glazers, I cant see them choosing Hughes as their next manager. I see a bigger name.

Best New Year's present. Brilliant performance. We ran them ragged and we started like a house on fire and didnt let them have a sniff for about 15 minutes. Overall was really impressed with the defence, which looked a good closed unit. Gray particularly looked good going forward and has cemented his place. In midfield Savage really worked hard and Bentley had one of his better games for us. MGP faded in and out but with the goal he scored, we can cut him some slack. His record of winning every match during which he has scored continues. Up front, great work from both lads, and Bellamy has a touch of class about him. But he has yet to score a meaningful goal for us if Im not mistaken, other than the goal against Chelsea, all of his goals have come when the result was already in hand. Great work. Now another win against a rejuvanated Pompey on Monday and it wouldve been a perfect end to the Xmas period.

Too bad they got Japan and Brazil and Croatia all against them.

Well at least it wasnt like the Newcastle game which was called off at 7:15 after they confirmed at 6:15-6:30 that the game was still on.

Camara and Roberts will be a handful.