The Pompey Chimes Forum

Nothing else to say

Can we please ban all players that do midweek interviews which say 'we must follow up on that great showing at x'

We fall flat on our arses every single time.

Yep. Massive bag of ******.

Not helped by our players fighting amongst themselves

Totally deflated - AGAIN !
There is obviously a problem , something basically wrong somewhere . How long do we just carry on as if everything is fine ?

Very disappointed, we started off well but gradually succumbed to a malaise. Roberts was anonymous, Bennett had a day when nothing came off. Even Stevens after a bright start starting going downhill. Baker frustrates, I'm not sure he's playing in the right position either. Rose did some good things quickly followed by bad things.
Surprise for all to see Burgess & Doyle missing 2nd half-if its true that fisticuffs occurred then I suggest they man up & get over it. Because in these cases if it was nasty then one of them will be off unless they can move on.
Smith did well we thought, got very little from the ref after being constantly manhandled.
Just another mystifying performance after such a high. Been watching Pompey for nearly 48yrs now & its a theme thats happened again & again in those years. Which means I should be used to it by now, but I'm not & again feel very flat tonight.
Finally can I just say the support today was IMo excellent, there is no way anyone can remotely blame that lame performance on the fans. It was also support that the performance hardly merited.

Thanks PG. I was unable to be at the match today, and it seems that I may have been fortunate!

Nice to see, in the team's hour of need after conceding the second goal, a significant proportion of the 'fans' leaving the ground rather than pitching in with some vocal support.

Earl Grey wrote:Nice to see, in the team's hour of need after conceding the second goal, a significant proportion of the 'fans' leaving the ground rather than pitching in with some vocal support.

I dont get the need to have a pop @ fellow supporters tbh. The support today was by & large excellent all things considered. The team performance hardly deserved the support given. And dont forget thats 4 defeats @ home in 5 games (league & cup).
I stayed until FT but could fully understand people leaving, it was hard to watch that 2nd half in particular.

pompeygunner wrote:

Earl Grey wrote:Nice to see, in the team's hour of need after conceding the second goal, a significant proportion of the 'fans' leaving the ground rather than pitching in with some vocal support.

I dont get the need to have a pop @ fellow supporters tbh. The support today was by & large excellent all things considered. The team performance hardly deserved the support given. And dont forget thats 4 defeats @ home in 5 games (league & cup).
I stayed until FT but could fully understand people leaving, it was hard to watch that 2nd half in particular.

I'd never have a pop at people while in the ground like happened the other week when 2 factions were having a go at each other........but I had a pop at both sections for their behaviour using a suitable platform (this forum) after the game. You can't let that type of attitude go when it's so utterly counter productive to the end of helping the team.

In the same way I cannot let it pass that some fans think it's at all helpful to the players to storm out of the ground. The players were all busting a gut but it just wasnt happening. Seeing a big exodus won't make the team suddenly gel and whack in goal or two.

I stand by my original post.

Earl Grey wrote:

pompeygunner wrote:

Earl Grey wrote:Nice to see, in the team's hour of need after conceding the second goal, a significant proportion of the 'fans' leaving the ground rather than pitching in with some vocal support.

I dont get the need to have a pop @ fellow supporters tbh. The support today was by & large excellent all things considered. The team performance hardly deserved the support given. And dont forget thats 4 defeats @ home in 5 games (league & cup).
I stayed until FT but could fully understand people leaving, it was hard to watch that 2nd half in particular.

I'd never have a pop at people while in the ground like happened the other week when 2 factions were having a go at each other........but I had a pop at both sections for their behaviour using a suitable platform (this forum) after the game. You can't let that type of attitude go when it's so utterly counter productive to the end of helping the team.

In the same way I cannot let it pass that some fans think it's at all helpful to the players to storm out of the ground. The players were all busting a gut but it just wasnt happening. Seeing a big exodus won't make the team suddenly gel and whack in goal or two.

I stand by my original post.

As I standby mine. Thing is EG, do you think Linganzi, Baker, Rose & Stevens were "busting a gut" yesterday?. I dont.
Yesterday was crap & nothing to do with fans @ all.

pompeygunner wrote:Very disappointed, we started off well but gradually succumbed to a malaise. Roberts was anonymous, Bennett had a day when nothing came off. Even Stevens after a bright start starting going downhill. Baker frustrates, I'm not sure he's playing in the right position either. Rose did some good things quickly followed by bad things.
Surprise for all to see Burgess & Doyle missing 2nd half-if its true that fisticuffs occurred then I suggest they man up & get over it. Because in these cases if it was nasty then one of them will be off unless they can move on.
Smith did well we thought, got very little from the ref after being constantly manhandled.
Just another mystifying performance after such a high. Been watching Pompey for nearly 48yrs now & its a theme thats happened again & again in those years. Which means I should be used to it by now, but I'm not & again feel very flat tonight.
Finally can I just say the support today was IMo excellent, there is no way anyone can remotely blame that lame performance on the fans. It was also support that the performance hardly merited.

If the story of handbags in the dressing room at HT is true, then we should all ask ourselves a question:

Is this team good enough to win automatic promotion - presently, probably not. Does the Manager have the support of the dressing room? Almost certainly not...

Can PC turn things round? The jury is out - but don't hold your breath.....

Just prior to the Mansfield game I had a very interesting conversation with a guy who is close to Caitlin. He inferred that the Club was starting to have grave doubts of Cooks leadership and that the fundamental basis for building a good team had been compromised by back room in fighting and the start of a loss of the dressing room. A decision would be made based upon that Mansfield result. Sitting in the wings was the reserve team coach ready to take temporary charge and then a bid ready for Hasselbaink as new manager, giving him a few games to assess the team before the January window.
The game as we all know was a resounding 4-0 victory - or was it?
The team was set up still with square pegs in round holes, the style of play was Cook formation 1 (probably his only formation).
Upon the red card of the first Mansfield player the formation was left as is - which, apart from Bennett, were mostly playing low key football, in fact they started to struggle against a well formatted 10 men. Against ten men fans want to see players up their game, not sit back and lets see what happens.
On 74 minutes the second Mansfield player was sent off. Now we should be going for the jugular.
On 77 minutes (20 minutes after the first red card), with no sight of scoring another goal Cook made the change (again too late for most fans) but he strangely sacrificed his talisman, Roberts - for Hunt, who is not the most dynamic player and one who will not up the tempo by his presence (although he did score the second, so was this a gifted substitution or luck?)
On 79 minutes Cook took off Bennett, who was still looking as though he could create chances and brought on Naismith. It was quite obvious from Naismith's play that he had been told to hold the ball and slow play down - many potential chances for quick forward passes were ignored for the "safer" sideways/back pass. Naismith also ran across the midfield talking to each, which followed with these too starting to elect the "safe" route. This riled the fans even further.
Cook was seen shouting at his midfield to slow the game down, to build up from the back, again to keep it "safe". By now the fans were getting right peed off. This should really be a goalfest!
Laboriously we managed to score the second on 84 minutes. Still we were not in control and should Mansfield have scored, then we would have looked very shaky even with a two man advantage.
On 86 minutes Cook took off Conor, a player who should be in his element against 9 men and to his credit still looked up for the challenge, only to be replaced with Smith. Curious substitution which did not need to be made, surely a speedy player like Conor, running at tired fullbacks trying to cover gaps would result in more chances than the gangley Smith? With the fans favourite now off the booing started - not directed at the players who were only doing what was required but at Cook.
Most will say that booing does not help - but in this instant I believe it did. The fans wanted more goals, the players wanted more goals and just as a flick of a lightswitch can change your perception, some players noticably switched their style and pressed ahead, ditching the "safe" style and finally becoming more aggressive. All too the annoyance of Naismith, Doyle and an apoplectic Cook. The boos ceased, replaced with chants of PUP PPU and two goals resulted.
So was the 4-0 win a credit to Cook? No I dont think so. I feel it has only masked the still underlying problems, perhaps it has given a stay of execution. The Stevenage game showed the same cracks but in even more intensity.
We are not the only ones to notice. I fear Cooks days are numbered.

Hasslebank? Jesus what's the point?

Took another managers side up then nothing.

Changing the manager now means league two for at least another 18 months while a new team, a new style of play are developed.

Probably promised to bring one his mates from Chelsea with him or something.

The games over Christmas are always Key for the team and Manager . At the moment who knows what Pompey team turns up to any match let alone an intense 3-4 games in a short period.

We shall have to see but it will be a hard decision for the Catlin & Co if things dont go well . Andy and Guy were straightforward decisions, sacking Cook wont be easy , unless there is already someone on the A3 ?

or M27