Starting line up

[Here comes AFC]

Carson; Alfei, Bondz, Chorley, Shorey; Wallace, Dave, Whatmough, McCabe; Taylor, Jervis.

7 of the 10 outfield players are Barker signings. Another was a 17 year old playing out of position at the manager's behest. Then there's Wallace and Bondz in positions we have a fair few players to cover.

Does the 'squad is unbalanced' argument really hold seeing as this is a team Barker built?

[Pompey1985]

The problem is the lack of options in wide areas. Lose Holmes and Barcham or they are not performing and you struggle you have a couple of players who can fill the berth but not play the position. Fodgen and Wallace aren't really wide midfielders, they can't cross.

I like tha back four its after that we struggle.

[Here comes AFC]

The problem is the lack of options in wide areas. Lose Holmes and Barcham or they are not performing and you struggle you have a couple of players who can fill the berth but not play the position. Fodgen and Wallace aren't really wide midfielders, they can't cross.

I like tha back four its after that we struggle.

And what has Barker done to address that problem?

I'm sorry; this is Barker's team and the blame lies with him.

[Pompey1985]

The problem is the lack of options in wide areas. Lose Holmes and Barcham or they are not performing and you struggle you have a couple of players who can fill the berth but not play the position. Fodgen and Wallace aren't really wide midfielders, they can't cross.

I like tha back four its after that we struggle.

And what has Barker done to address that problem?

I'm sorry; this is Barker's team and the blame lies with him.

I'm not disputing its his problem, he has tried to address it by signing Fodgen a utility player and playing others out on the wings. It hasn't worked. If nobody was available in the window then we were stuck. Weather anyone was I don't know.

[Here comes AFC]

It hasn't worked. If nobody was available in the window then we were stuck. Weather anyone was I don't know.

If no ones available you play a different style. Of yesterday's squad 9 were Barker signings - 9 of the 14 outfield players were Barker signings. So if the squad is wrong there is one man to blame. We are ****** and it is Barker's fault - no one elses

[ddavis]

It hasn't worked. If nobody was available in the window then we were stuck. Weather anyone was I don't know.

If no ones available you play a different style. Of yesterday's squad 9 were Barker signings - 9 of the 14 outfield players were Barker signings. So if the squad is wrong there is one man to blame. We are ****** and it is Barker's fault - no one elses

And with his 9 players we lost 1-0 (with 10 men for half) to the form team in our league.

Context is key here. We had them rattled, they resorted to feigning injury to slow us down.

That was not a 'bad' defeat. And certainly not a game many expected us to get anything from.

[Here comes AFC]

It hasn't worked. If nobody was available in the window then we were stuck. Weather anyone was I don't know.

If no ones available you play a different style. Of yesterday's squad 9 were Barker signings - 9 of the 14 outfield players were Barker signings. So if the squad is wrong there is one man to blame. We are ****** and it is Barker's fault - no one elses

And with his 9 players we lost 1-0 (with 10 men for half) to the form team in our league.

Context is key here. We had them rattled, they resorted to feigning injury to slow us down.

That was not a 'bad' defeat. And certainly not a game many expected us to get anything from.

That's great if you take each game as an isolated event. But in 5 games so far in March we've scored 1 goal.

Worthington was right with his post match comment that ""To be fair we've done it in good style, we've limited Portsmouth. I'm not sure they had a clear effort on goal." For those at the game the 7 shots on goal stats mean nothing; there wasn't a shot that my great gran couldn't have kept out.

We simply pose the opposition no threat; the best we can hope for is nil nil

[Pompey Gary]

That was not a 'bad' defeat. And certainly not a game many expected us to get anything from.

That's a very defeatist attitude. This league is a million miles away from the Premiership. There you have a massive gulf between the haves and the havenots and against certain opponents you can pretty much write-off the match as a lost cause (e.g. Pompey not managing a single win in 7 seasons against Chelsea and Arsenal) but sorry, not in League 2 which is almost egalitarian in comparison and where the 11 v 11 cliche still holds very true.

Has the club fallen so far that against footballing behemoths such as York and Fleetwood a loss is met with a simple shrug and a "well we had no chance anyway"? lol Tragic.

[ddavis]

That was not a 'bad' defeat. And certainly not a game many expected us to get anything from.

That's a very defeatist attitude. This league is a million miles away from the Premiership. There you have a massive gulf between the haves and the havenots and against certain opponents you can pretty much write-off the match as a lost cause (e.g. Pompey not managing a single win in 7 seasons against Chelsea and Arsenal) but sorry, not in League 2 which is almost egalitarian in comparison and where the 11 v 11 cliche still holds very true.

Have the club fallen so far that against footballing behemoths such as York and Fleetwood a loss is met with a simple "well we had no chance anyway"? lol Tragic.

Yes. Yes the club has.

Few people accept it though.

[Pompey Gary]

That was not a 'bad' defeat. And certainly not a game many expected us to get anything from.

That's a very defeatist attitude. This league is a million miles away from the Premiership. There you have a massive gulf between the haves and the havenots and against certain opponents you can pretty much write-off the match as a lost cause (e.g. Pompey not managing a single win in 7 seasons against Chelsea and Arsenal) but sorry, not in League 2 which is almost egalitarian in comparison and where the 11 v 11 cliche still holds very true.

Have the club fallen so far that against footballing behemoths such as York and Fleetwood a loss is met with a simple "well we had no chance anyway"? lol Tragic.

Yes. Yes the club has.

Few people accept it though.

No it hasn't. Even bottom of the table Torquay can go and get results against the top teams - they beat Rochdale just last week. They're all crap at this level!

[Here comes AFC]

Yes. Yes the club has.

Few people accept it though.

Unfortunately that is the problem.
Everyone was 'we didn't expect anything at Fleetwood' last week and were happy to write that result off.

When you look at Fleetwood's record though they have played 11 games in February and March. They've won just 3 of those and in that period Exeter, Wimbledon, Mansfield, Bury and Wycombe have taken points off them.

This league is wide open on the whole. Apart from a couple of teams there are no clear outstanding teams.

[Pompey1985]

There is a difference between not being surprised at a defeat and accepting a defeat.

Am I surprised we lost the last two? No. Would I need surprised if we get something on Tuesday? Yes, can we get something Tuesday? Of course we can.