Looking ahead to the Championship

[Blue Walter]

I think re-loaning Alex Robertson will be key to our success next season.

must be in their mind to loan himout again, he isnt going to be in their first team on a regular basis, at least he should get good game time with us. and if they do loan him out, you would think the affinity he has with the cub,and the success he had before the injury would mean we would be high on their list of clubs to send hom to. Of course money talks and another club willing to give more will jump the queue
I would love to see Kamara back too, I think in the second half of the season he has really come to life and would be great to see him continue to grow as a player with us trouble is when a player has impressed like that, hard to get the parent club to part ways, hopefully Norwich will see the benfit of him being here at least on loan for another season, if we could buy even better

I think the problem with loaning Kamara again next season is that Norwich will be in the same league. I don't think they will get promotion so will operate at the same level as us. If they think that Kamara has benefited being with us in League 1 and is now ready for a step up in quality wouldn't they prefer it to be with them now? I would think any loan agreement with Norwich for Kamars would involve a quick return clause if he was to come back here. They may be willing to sell though but I don't think they would as he may be worth much more money with Championship experience further down the line. I also wonder about Robertson staying at City because they are looking at world class quality for their own team. As well as Robertson has played with us can he be described as Premiership class yet? With the sort of money City operate with a cheeky bid might get him. Or, of course, they could consider their fingers burnt by unloading Palmer to Chelsea.

[NSRailings]

Did Ipswich splash the cash to get where they are at the moment? I'd be happy with us staying up next season and am certainly not expecting a promotion push - would be incredible though.

What Ipswich have done is amazing. However I think we should try and avoid comparing ourselves to Ipswich as setting ourselves unrealistic expectations. Ipswich spent an absolute bucket load on assembling their Championship level squad in the 2 years before they actually got promoted, it was simply a managerial change that made the difference for them. Pompey's squad has cost far less.

I'm definitely not comparing us to them. Our owners have a plan to keep us as self sustainable as possible - which is the way to go I think. Keeping us up next season is the target.

We need that bridge.

[BlueinPLtwenty]

Plymouth have spent big pre-season and struggled. Sheffield Wednesday are probably going to be relegated. Hopefully Rich Hughes & Mous etc. have a plan that will consolidate our position next season. History suggests they will!

[NSRailings]

Plymouth have spent big pre-season and struggled. Sheffield Wednesday are probably going to be relegated. Hopefully Rich Hughes & Mous etc. have a plan that will consolidate our position next season. History suggests they will!

They've been planning for months according to interviews. I think in Michael Eisner's latest interview he said that Hughes is always planning ahead.

[Pompey1984+1]

Plymouth have spent big pre-season and struggled. Sheffield Wednesday are probably going to be relegated. Hopefully Rich Hughes & Mous etc. have a plan that will consolidate our position next season. History suggests they will!

They've been planning for months according to interviews. I think in Michael Eisner's latest interview he said that Hughes is always planning ahead.

I bet we even have a list of players for the premiership survival for next summer...

[Jack_Tinn]

Given the job that Richard Hughes and Mousinho have done in such a short period of time to get Pompey promoted: as Champions of L1 I am confident that they will be attacking the transfer window in the summer with a clear plan about what will be required to consolidate Pompey (at least) in the Championship.

Many of the signings that Richard Hughes and Mousinho have made are with an eye on building a foundation of a Championship team: Lane, Lang, Poole, McIntyre, Yengi and Saydee.

[pompeymike23]

Re Rag, I may be alone in thinking this but I see him as being a bit like Primus, unspectacular but reliable and effective. Hope he stays even as a squad player

[Pompey1984+1]

Re Rag, I may be alone in thinking this but I see him as being a bit like Primus, unspectacular but reliable and effective. Hope he stays even as a squad player

Like Primus you always think he's not going to make the grade this season and invariable he did.

I guess much depends on Pooles fitness, but I don't see, Poole, McIntyre, Shaughnessy, Ragget as a bad set of centre halves two good players are going to have to sit out most weeks.

[Pompey55]

What I'm not looking forward to in the championship is the consequences for match day supporters to the number of games we can expect to be moved from a Saturday 1500 kick off as I'm really certain that Sky will not take into consideration the travelling distances for supporters when they allocate the Friday ,Monday and Saturday 1230 live broadcast games this could have a significant affect on supporters of teams like ourselves and Plymouth in the South plus Sunderland and Middlesbrough in the North

[Rjk66]

I will be happy with coming 21st in the league as long as we avoid relegation. I don’t expect a great deal to be spent in the summer transfer market, maybe one or two speculation purchases, or old hands to possibly steady a rocky ship. The Eisners no doubt have a purse limit in mind, while still continuing to improve the ground which they are doing a great job of. The winter market may have to produce players we need to keep us up, but we must not return to league one at all costs.

[Leon T.]

On the Radio Solent piece from Wednesday morning (the Paddy Lane one), Andy Cullen was asked what success would be next season. He said 'consolidating and being competitive'. That doesn’t sound like the expectation is to be in a relegation battle.

I do wonder how much our success will hinge on Mousinho's development. There has been a lot of talk this season about our ability to come from behind. It's often been characterised positively as 'this team never knows when to give up' etc. I really hope the root cause of us going behind so often is identified and addressed. Is it something inherent in the players? Or is it to do with how the team is coached? Or how we set-up for games? Whatever the reason, I just don't see us getting away with it next season.

[Milton End]

On the Radio Solent piece from Wednesday morning (the Paddy Lane one), Andy Cullen was asked what success would be next season. He said 'consolidating and being competitive'. That doesn’t sound like the expectation is to be in a relegation battle.

I do wonder how much our success will hinge on Mousinho's development. There has been a lot of talk this season about our ability to come from behind. It's often been characterised positively as 'this team never knows when to give up' etc. I really hope the root cause of us going behind so often is identified and addressed. Is it something inherent in the players? Or is it to do with how the team is coached? Or how we set-up for games? Whatever the reason, I just don't see us getting away with it next season.

Yes, I share your concern that we have needed to come from behind too many times during this season.

Although we have generally had an excellent defensive record, my guess is that this is where the problem has arisen - either through simple, occasional defensive errors or because our forwards have not done their additional defensive tracking-back duties.

IMO, there may also be another reason: some rival teams have had one or two skilled players who have simply outpaced our defence when counter-attacking.

[Blue Walter]

I think more mistakes will be punished next season due to the higher quality of our opponents. I agree we were caught out quite a few times by pacey counter attacks, especially at Fratton Park. I also wonder whether a sort of complacency had crept in as well. I read Jimmy Dickinson's autobiography where he was talking about the First Division Championship seasons. He was saying that they were never that concerned if they went a goal down because they knew they (Pompey) were just as likely to score more themselves. I wonder whether some of this sort of mindset had crept in. I do think that defence is one area that I think is ready for the Championship and will cope. The concern I do have is that we are short on pace all through the team, as it stands.

[NSRailings]

Being outpaced has definitely caused us problems this season and there's alot more of it in the Championship. We also need more players who are able to recieve the ball with their back to the goal/opponent and turn fast. I think that's one reason why we kept passing backwards in recent games - not enough of the current squad are to do it. Can't wait for the transfer window to open and see who RH and JM have in mind.

[NSRailings]

Straight into the 3rd round of the FA Cup and no more Bristol Street Pizza Paint Pot Trophy.