We shouldn't have been surprised at them being competent. Mousinho has done an excellent job there. I think we need to stop with this Martinball hangover stuff too. Been like 3 managers since he left.
Okay here's my five pennies worth - Roerslev was by far and away the worst player on the pitch first half - got skinned several times and I lost count how many times he gave the ball away, really thought he'd be subbed at the interval ( wasn't alone in that sentiment ) Downs looks a shadow of the player he was and it's hard to say anything of note about him apart from "meh" Posters have mentioned this already but I think we wilted under the pressure of the fixture, Pompey looked right up for it first half while we just looked like a bunch of lads that had only just met previously in the car park ten minutes before kick off. Backing off, scared nervous and fearful of the occasion. I haven't made my mind up about Still but I'm not sure what his tactics or advice to the players is? Hoof it long? Cross cross cross to our vertically challenged forwards? Don't start me on AA, just why? Like why is he still at our club? Somethings happened to the lad and its not good, same can be said of Stewart! The fact that we didn't go in for a proven CF is going to come back and haunt us. Our forward line doesn't strike fear into anybody and is simply not good enough for a top 6 place. Yes we need a little patience, especially as we have a whole heap of new signings that need time to bed in, but lordy me that first half was abject! Overall Saints I'm giving you a 4 out of 10 for that performance and you were lucky that the Smelly Pomponians weren't out of sight in the first half! Just Saying.........
Yeah, that's a fair point. I just think our players might be a bit thick in a footballing sense - I don't think for a minute Still's instructions were "hoof it long. Always" - we allowed them to dominate that first half which gave them confidence. From Still's comments after the game, he didn't think they were his instructions too.
Still said after the game that he was annoyed his players didn’t make logical decisions. “we have literally wasted 45 minutes of what we were doing by taking things too literally and too stereotypically.” I presume he means that when asked to be direct they have taken that to mean hump it. When told not to give away any silly chances, they have taken that to mean hump it.
Ian, seriously?? For me this post is the definition of irony. To talk about over reaction and then say we are 12 months behind them? That is the over reaction surely. They were better than us first half and we were better then them second half, or least that was what happened in the game I watched!! Both sides lacked the finish but to just say we are second best is just wrong FFS!
It's great how a decent roast (beef) settles the mind and I'm not even a fan of them (don't tell the wife). Portsmouth really had nothing to lose today: Win and they cement themselves as club "legends"... Draw and they held their own against one of last seasons PL teams (albeit one of the worst ever) Lose and they lost to a team with a higher budget / higher squad depth / higher on paper quality. Add into that the fact they they are actually a fairly cohesive team with a solid manager and a bit of quality in the squad and chances are they weren't going to lose. We on the other hand seemed to spend the first 45 minutes crippled with fear of not losing and reverted to natural state and for some of the squad that seems to be plod around in circles at the back (by all means keep hold of the ball but be clear what you are intending to do with it) and by the second half it was too late to revert a lot of that for the crowd I'm in kingsland so my view will differ to those elsewhere in the ground but I thought the crowd were pretty loud all game. I could hear the away corner but never louder than the home fans - who got more pissed off the longer it went on understandably. Scienza seemed to be a magnet for a foul when he came on and that's not a bad thing to have in the side. Did have 1 small chortle when the pyrotechnics in front of me didn't burn correctly and limply spurted it's fluids all over itself (but then deep down I'm just a man-child) but felt bad for the guy who had to go in and (i think) turn it off in case if went off late otherwise agree with most of the comments on here.
Appreciated. We are not a bad team now. Ultimately this fixture is bragging rights, but there are about 100 points still to play for. Not convinced on your manager though I must say.
Think you’ve summed it up nicely here mate. I was as frustrated as everyone else earlier, but after some downtime this afternoon (& equal measures of gravy drenched meat too!) I think it sits with me similarly to how you’ve put it. Glad to have this fixture out the way now as we all knew how difficult the timing of the biggest home game of the season was going to be when the fixture list came out, so to come out relatively unscathed (albeit with a fairly poor performance) is a huge relief! I saw small signs midway through the second half (just before Azaz, Fellows & Archer came off) that made me feel a decent level of excitement for this squad moving forward and I think once we find a bit of familiarity, cohesion and confidence in the team then we’ll be able to drown the sardines in their salty little tin next time around
Apparently the police were coming for him as he had been identified for the lighter thing so he decided to make it even worse and run on the pitch. Or the answer might be booze + coke.
