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March 2006 - Posts

LuaLua recieves FA warning over comments

The FA today has given LuaLua a warning over comments he made after our 3-1 defeat against Spurs. After a few contraversial decisions by ref Uriah Rennie LuaLua was quoted as saying

"It does not help when the referee is playing for the other team."

"It shouldn't have been a penalty and if it wasn't for that decision I think we'd have got something from the game."

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Posted Mar 23 2006, 06:37 PM by JenniP with 1 comment(s)
Bald Eagle swoops for Pompey Pair on loan

On the last day of the Football League loan window, new Oxford United boss and former Pompey hero Jim Smith has swooped for Pompey youngsters goalkeeper Andrea Guatelli (21) and left sided midfielder Liam Horsted (20).

Guatelli was signed by Harry Redknapp in 2004 as a potential replacement for Shaka Hislop but the stead stream of goalkeepers in and out of Fratton Park have limited Guatelli's first team starts although he is still seen as a star of the future.

Liam Horsted signed professional terms with Portsmouth in March 2005 after impressing in the reserve and under 18 squads.

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Posted Mar 23 2006, 06:36 PM by JenniP with no comments
Will Birmingham's FA Cup humiliation help Pompey's chances of staying up?

Will Birmingham be able to pick themselves up after their 0-7 hammering by Liverpool tonight? The only positive they can perhaps take from this is that it wasnt in the league, 7 goals would of almost brought their goal difference down to our level.

Things dont look good for Birmingham, not picking more than a point in their game with West Brom a few weeks ago, loosing to Spurs at home and tonight Liverpool at home and with their next game away at Old Trafford where even an on form Birmingham wouldnt stand much chance let alone a team who's confidence seems to be at rock bottom after tonight.

With our fate still in our own hands we dont need Birmingham to fall apart but I'm we would welcome it. Currently we are the form team, as long as we can keep that up we are safe.

The only downside is Liverpool look on fire, and we play them on the last day of the season, if we need points to stay up then we could be in trouble.

Of course as we have seen ourselves you can being hammered can be a positive thing, after all when Birmingham hammered us we managed to turn it around, perhaps Birmingham will too.

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Posted Mar 21 2006, 10:20 PM by JenniP with no comments
Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear

Another weekend another Pompey win, another weekend where we gain ground on the teams above us.

With West Brom loosing to Manchester United and Birmingham loosing to Spurs, the 8 point gap a few weeks ago has shrunk to a 3 point gap then its down to goal difference. Given our current form I certainly wouldnt bet against us doing it.

Yes we have a tough game next week, but we have confidence and Arsenal arent exactly the best playing away at the moment and with the fans at Fratton Park pushing the volume upto 11 I think we have a good chance of getting a point at least.

So another weekend we celebrating, perhaps next week we can celebrate going above Birmingham, and the weekend after going above West Brom. Especially since we had two strikers and two midfielders scoring today, if only it was Benjani.

We can do this and its looking more like we will do this. So to Birmingham and West Brom I say "Object in the mirror may be closer than they appear", the Pompey express is gaining ground.

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Posted Mar 18 2006, 07:56 PM by JenniP with no comments
So another step nearer survival ?

Well pending the Brum result a big fat obvious yes. Eight points seemed like an unsurmountable gap, and to be honest the way we were playing it looked likely that eight may become nine or even worse. But now its three... but even more encouraging is that West Brom seem to be in freefall and though seemingly safe Fulham look wobbly and the Brummies are still beset by injuries and are yet to start the run that many pundits have been predicting for weeks would take them to safety.

The huge question though is can we take advantage ? I think we can I think we have hit form at the right time we have a team who are starting to beleive in themselves and more importantly each other. Goals are starting to flow and if Mendez, Davies, O'Neil, Taylor, Lua Lua and Toddy can all score at least one more goal each this season (Yes just one more goal each) then I think we will be safe. Especially if a couple of the defenders can grab a goal and Benjani can do what he came here to do and grab a few goal (just two would do).

So its simple now eight games, a three point deficit and every chance in the world to pull off the great escape...

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Posted Mar 18 2006, 05:07 PM by Nikki with no comments
Weakened team like hell it was

Pompey win away at West Ham, thats a statement that most fans were not expecting to hear before last Saturdays win against Manchester City, after West Ham's FA Cup game we were expecting a weakened team, and yes to a certain extent it wasn't as strong as it could of been but the team that West Ham played today would been a match for the kind of team we were fielding even 3 weeks ago, yes they are the same group of players but with one difference, todays team has belief.

West Brom and Birmingham fans can complain all they like but this result wasnt due to a weakened team it was due to a team hitting form at the right time, and with the Pompey run in looking the easiest of the relegation battlers our form has come at the right time.

Yes we are still 19th, but we are now level on points with Birmingham and only 3 points behind West Brom.

Could the great escape be on? Well I dont hear a fat lady yet.

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Posted Mar 18 2006, 05:01 PM by JenniP with 6 comment(s)
Both teams "rejects" score

Two players released by former clubs for not being able to cut it in the Premiership have scored against the clubs that let them go.

Firstly former Pompey captain Teddy Sheringham in the 69th minute helped West Ham back into the game making the score 1-3, seven minutes later former West Ham striker Svetolav Todorov put the game result out of reach of West Ham making the score 1-4.

The game ended 2-4 so another valuable 3 points for Pompey.

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Posted Mar 18 2006, 04:54 PM by JenniP with 1 comment(s)
Looks like Sean Davis came good

Earlier today Portsmouth local paper had a story where Harry Redknapp was asking doubters to give Sean Davis time as he will come good.

He said: 'Sean Davis is a good player, obviously the problem he was having at Spurs was he was being left out of the side.
'He's gone from that into our first team and expected to find his match fitness.
'Not so long ago, Sean Davis was being tipped for an England place. My son Jamie played with him at Tottenham and said what a tremendous player he is.
'Chris Coleman wanted him back at Fulham and why would he do that if he wasn't any good?
'Hopefully he's getting closer to match fitness each week. He certainly turned in a good performance against Man City.'

Well hopefully after his goal in todays game against West Ham will silence some of some of his doubters. Davis has always been saying that his performances are not as good as he knew he was capable of, and it was just match fitness holding him back. We've seen Mendes coming good last week showing why Harry bought him and now Davis is doing the same.

Are we seeing the team geling enough to keep us up? Given todays performance so far today it looks like they may be.

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Posted Mar 18 2006, 04:34 PM by JenniP with 1 comment(s)
Pompey rivals want West Ham to put out a strong side

Pompey's relegation rivals are asking Alan Pardew not to give Portsmouth an unfair advantage in tomorrows game against West Ham. Before the Hammers FA Cup victory on Wednesday this game looked on paper like a West Ham win or a lucky Pompey draw but with the replay on Monday night giving West Ham 3 games in 5 days leaves them with a choice play a full strength side against Pompey or save the best squad for their best chance of getting a European place.

Birmingham chairman Gold said: "Of course I will be aggrieved, I desperately need West Ham to carry on beating clubs that are in the relegation zone, after all they put out a very strong side against us and overran us 3-0.

"It is a bonus for Portsmouth because they could be the benefactors of the situation but it would be extremely naive of us to think there is much any of us can do about it.

"I would think that if we were in their position we would probably do the same. I think we have got to try to come to terms with reality rather than calling foul play. Of course I would be privately disappointed because if they were fighting relegation the Cup would be of no consequence to them and they would put out a strong side for the league and a weak one for the Cup."

West Brom's assistant boss Pearson added: "The West Ham situation is something we have got no control over. We have to look after our own performances.

"But I hope they put out as strong a side as they possibly can. Alan Pardew is a professional man and I am sure he will do the right thing."
Pompey manager Harry Redknapp shrugged off the controversy by claiming: "It has happened before - sometimes you get the breaks."

He added: "When West Brom stayed up last year, they drew at Manchester United late on when United were maybe not at full strength.

"And West Brom beat Portsmouth on the last day of the season, who I am sure were not too unhappy about losing there (helping send south coast rivals Southampton down). It is swings and roundabouts. There is nothing you can do."

Pardew said: "Having to play a Cup replay, a Premiership game and a sixth-round tie in the space of five days is, I feel, too demanding. We have a massive turnaround for the game against Portsmouth, let alone Monday when we will have one day to prepare.

"Both sides will have no preparation, both sides will be on automatic and both Stuart Pearce and I will be standing on the sidelines just hoping it goes for us."

All the signs are that Pompey will face a weakened side, but how weakened? West Ham seem to have strikers to spare including former Pompey hero Teddy Sheringham, we will still have to be on our toes, while this is our best chance of away points for several games we cant afford to take this lightly, West Ham are still in a position to get a UFEA Cup place via the Premiership so arent want to give away point, and having visited the Boleyn Ground a few times when I had access to a corperate West Ham season ticket I know its a tough place to go, the fans are almost as passionate about their football as Pompey fans are.

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Posted Mar 17 2006, 08:09 AM by JenniP with no comments
Duffy signs new deal, but will he play?

Welsh internation Richard Duffy has signed a deal with Pompey, although current boss Micky Adams thinks he is unlikely to make the first team.

'Duffy will be going back to Portsmouth at the end of the season because he has signed a new contract with them,' he told the Coventry Evening Telegraph.

'He got a new and exclusive deal about a month ago, so that suggests to me he will be going back to Pompey where I am sure it will be nice playing in their reserves!'

Duffy signed for Pompey from Swansea in January 2004 as an 18-year-old, but since he made his debut in May of that year he has found his first-team opportunities limited.

When Duffy first signed I did wonder why we signed him, yes he was one for the future and seemingly had a great future ahead of him but was quickly shipped off on loan, the same happened this season loaned out to Coventry, got a call up to the full Welsh national team did really well in the Wales Vs England.

Now's he signed a new contract and will be back at Fratton Park next season will he get to play? I think in part it will depend in which league we are in, Right Back is a position we seem to have much more cover than we need in Griffin, Priske, Primus and Pamarot, I have no doubt come the end of the season regardless of our league position there will be a clear out even so the right back area is likely to be pretty sorted, where he could have a future is in our troublesome right midfield position, which has been a problem since we released Steve Stone.

If we stay in the Premiership, I think Duffy will be limited to a bit part, although if he stays he could still become a first team regular in a season or two, if we get relegated the youth and experience may give him a larger part to play.

Have your say on this below.

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Posted Mar 16 2006, 01:01 PM by JenniP with no comments
Could the Hammers FA Cup run help Pompey stay up?

Firstly congratulations to West Ham in beating Bolton tonight, a FA Cup quarter final match against Manchester City awaits.

So how does this affect Portsmouth? Well tonight’s game went into extra time that may of made the West Ham players a little more tired for their clash with Pompey on Saturday. Tonight’s win will also mean they will have to play another game on Monday night.

All of this adds up to a West Ham side that may be tired or weakened, with the Hammers possibly having one eye on silverware this season, and with Pompey desperately needing points this could be a good chance to get them on the road.

'Having to play this replay, a Premiership game and a sixth-round tie in the space of five days is, I feel, too demanding,' said the Alan Pardew manager.

'This game went to extra-time. Four players suffered from cramp after the game and I had guys struggling in the changing room.

'We have a massive turnaround for Saturday's game against Portsmouth, let alone Monday when we will have one day to prepare.

'Both sides will have no preparation, both sides will be on automatic and both Stuart Pearce and I will be standing on the sidelines just hoping it goes for us.'

'I didn't have the most illustrious of careers as a player but I did get to an FA Cup final. I remember the build-up to the quarter-final was such an exciting time and that has been robbed from the players,' said Pardew

'I feel aggrieved for the players. We will have had just one day to prepare, not allowing any players who have injuries sufficient time to recover.

'The schedule does not allow a manager to prepare properly and professionally and doesn't do the competition justice.'

With Pompey still staring relegation in the face we will take any piece of luck we can get.

No matter what happens on Saturday good luck to the Hammers on Monday.

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Posted Mar 15 2006, 11:23 PM by JenniP with 4 comment(s)
Harry asks fans to give Benjani time

Yesterday we asked if it was time to drop Benjani, today the press seems to be littered with stories saying that we should give him time.

"He is a very quiet boy and he's had a very poor upbringing. He has come over here and he's finding it tough," Redknapp said.

"One of the lads said that he sits in his room all afternoon and he is not adapting to life here and he is finding it difficult. He is terrific in training."

He goes on to say

"Jason Roberts, who is now fantastic at Wigan, came here for a couple of months and found it very difficult," Redknapp told The Times.

"Henri Camara went to Celtic and he had a nightmare. I remember a Scottish radio station ringing me up and asking if it was his brother playing for Southampton because he was the worst player ever to play for Celtic.

"You look at him now at Wigan and he is a fantastic player. The game is all about confidence."

"He is miles better than he is showing, but he has to win the fans over.

"I spoke to Phil Thompson last week who was at Liverpool and he asked me how Benjani had done and I said he has not really done it yet and Phil said he was absolutely fantastic when he played against us for Auxerre.

"Graeme Souness rang me during the week and asked me how Benjani had done - he said [Jean-Alain] Boumsong said he is an absolutely fantastic talent and he is. He just needs a break. If he gets a goal he will be up and running."

So its pretty clear that Benjani is rated but comparing him to a players that spent time here and didn't succeed and took a drop to the Championship to get them fired up or one that didnt stop Southampton from going down last season doesnt exactly fill me with confidence. I have no doubt that Benjani is a talent but could a possible price tag of £24 million if he doesnt start scoring and we do get relegated how will he repay our faith, he's already pretty much said that he would look to leave if Pompey we relegated.

I really want Benjani to come good, and with Harry looking to keep playing him it looks like he will get the chance to get that goal that will hopefully give him his confidence to score more.

Although after reading Richard Hughes comments in his column in The News tonight it does give me a bit of confidence, it looks like he is scoring in training and if he can be like Mendes and replicate his training form in match then he could end up being the saviour we hoped he would be when he joined.

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Posted Mar 14 2006, 09:00 PM by JenniP with no comments
Saturday was good, but what next…

Wasn’t Saturday a good day ? But and this is the cold fact we are still six points from safety with 9 games left, yes survival is possible and thanks to our run in, in my humble opinion likely, but most pundits, experts and people north of Portsdown Hill are still saying we will be playing championship football next year.

Whatever our position next May we need to ensure that next season is better than this one, and if the club are to achieve this then now is the time to plant the seeds of recovery. So what does it need to do?

Well we need to stop worrying about what league we are in next year, if we want to be a premiership club then we need to act like one and premiership clubs are stable. Any plan for stability should be the same whether we are in the premiership or not.

Firstly the club needs to sort out the contracts of any players who will be out of contract in the summer, for two years we have procrastinated during the spring only to see other clubs come in and gazumping us, if we keep letting them do this then we will keep losing key players and will constantly taking 1 step forward and 2 back.

Secondly the club needs to sort out the infrastructure. The stadium plan has become a joke, lets see some real progress on that, if not lets have the real reason not empty promises, Milan if its going to take a few more years, then say that, don’t keep promising us ‘progress’ when their manifestly hasn’t been. Also the training facilities need to be sorted, again it’s a huge investment but it will help attract, retain and improve players.

Thirdly we need to use our youth, two players who can feel justifiably narked that they are not in our set up are Keene and Duffy, both could be major figures in the future, but not if we let them go for a cut price now. Duffy is an international player who has never let the club down and since he plays in a position which we are short of cover in at the moment, it is madness he is not in the team right now. Keene too should have been given the chance, even if just on the edges. Certainly if with 4 or 5 games to go relegation has become a certainty the club should recall both players so they can be blooded in the premiership sooner rather than later.

Finally we need to sort out the management, Harry should be given a longer term contract, yes I know what he did, but he is still the most suitable man for the job. If we stay up he will keep us up and build us up again, if we go down he has proved he can get us back. For me he has to stay, he has to be given the chance to redeem himself and then in two years he should become our director of football working alongside the man he has spent two years grooming for the job… Jamie Redknapp

Give us your views below

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Posted Mar 13 2006, 06:02 PM by Nikki with 2 comment(s)
Is it time to drop Mwaruwari?

While the events of this weekend will cheer up Pompey fans, we are still in trouble yes West Brom have got a run of hard to win games ahead of them which may see us close the gap with them unless we get goals Pompey cant get the points needed to keep us up.

Current we cant buy a goal from our strikers, most people would think that 4.1million will buy a better ratio than six starts 0 goals, while LuaLua isnt really any better at least he is assisting.

We need someone who can pull their weight, perhaps Mwaruwari is the person but we dont have the time to wait for him to come good and perhaps a spell in the reserves is what he needs to give him some confidence and help him find the back of the net.

Trouble is who do we get to play up front?

Collins Mbesuma, keeps on scoring for the reserves but his fitness still seems to keep him away from even warming the bench.

Azar Karadas, short term seems not to be an option up front as he's busy filling in as a full back, with that flexiblity and the fact he's actually scored this season should earn him at least a place on the bench.

Ivica Mornar, so far blighted by injuries this season but has looked good when fit.

Emmannual Olisadebe, when he joined the club it was said that he would be a great player if he stayed fit, which is something he's not managed so far.

None of these players have really featured in the first team apart from Karadas and thats been mostly in defense, still he has more goals than Mwaruwari.

Toddy would look most likely and we tend to look more dangerious with him on the field.

Could we even go more radical than changing Mwaruwari, we could possibly even drop LuaLua to the bench and try a completely new pairing, after all most of the players above have been playing together in the reserves, could that be a better move than bringing in players who dont normally play together?

One thing in my mind is certain though, without goals we go down, so far our midfield is doing their best to provide them, and if Mendes keeps scoring wonder goals like he did this week we may well yet avoid the fizzy pop league for another season.

Please leave a comment below with who you want our strike pair to be, or even should we go 4-5-1.

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Posted Mar 13 2006, 01:05 AM by JenniP with 5 comment(s)
Today's a good day to be a Pompey Fan.

Finally after 3 months of of disapointment since Harry took over again Pompey have finally won in 2006 with Birmingham and West Brom drawing earlier, we are 2 points closer to safety.

Pompey's performances have been improving the last few weeks, and we knew that sooner or later we were going to start dragging ourselves out of trouble, while the team were starting to perform lady luck just didnt want to know, today seemed like one of those days, with Pompey going ahead with a Mendes goal, I thought things were going our way. Then the curse of the Pompey fan came back our shocking free kick defending, with Dunne equalising.

While I still belived I was thinking our luck had run out again I was just hoping at this point for a draw, then the last few minutes came and we started throwing the kitchen sink at the Manchester City defense, with hopes fading in the last few seconds of the game a LuaLua free kick which Mendes put in.

I still cant belive it, the Pompey squad have done us proud, and lady luck is starting to get her Pompey shirt out of the cupboard.

This game could be the turning point of our season, with West Ham away looking like a game we can at least get a draw from it looks like Pompey are finally fighting.

While I'm on top of the world, there are some negatives from today:-

Another game without one of our strikers scoring, do we need to try a new strike pairing? Should Toddy be first choice?

Another game another soft goal from a free kick, while I think we can get ourselves out of trouble why make it difficult for ourselves by letting in these, if we can sort this out we stand a better chance of staying up.

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Posted Mar 11 2006, 05:20 PM by JenniP with 1 comment(s)