January Transfer Window 2017 Wishes

[PakefieldBlue]

I'm naturally biased towards strikers and believe that a clinical goalscorer is the key to success. If the rest of the team know that their strikers will take 50% of the chances they have it breeds confidence throughout the team. I don't really care about the formation as long as it is built around getting the best out of your strikers.

[pomp 'n circumstance]

Here's the thing about the goalie...only 1 team in the league has shipped less goals and Pompey have by far and away more clean sheets than anyone.....FACTS.
Up front only 2 teams have hit the back of ye olde onion bag more often......FACT
So I'm not convinced by all this chitty chat about keepers and forwards.
I should say the most obvious need is an on field captain with some tactical nous about how to hold the football in the last 10 minutes of a game...you know....run the sidelines / take the ball into the corner etc etc....a defensive midfielder with a brain that's physically as 'ard as bricks.
We need Mick Tait....btw...did you know Yosser is top 20 all time in pro appearances for an Englishman?.....another FACT for y'all

Well CK - I fear the so called FACTS equate to little more than a hill of beans! The Millwall fans that I spoke to before the season had even started signalled their delight at Mr Forde's exit from The Den and warned that the errors would become more pronounced when the chill winds of winter and the heavier grounds sapped the energy of the defence. Lest we forget - the handbags of Burgess and our skipper were a direct result of the antics of Mr Forde. Yes, the Club acted swiftly and all was deemed to be sweetness and light and they both made apologies, but anyone who thinks that all is harmony in the dressing room is suffering from delusions of rose coloured spectacles.

As for the time wasting solutions of taking the ball into the corner/ running the side lines etc we don't have that luxury of a team capable of playing that game and I suspect that if Jamal Lowe is the new solution to our goal scoring problems, it's all gone very quiet on that front - he is unlikely to be the new Jamie Varney, rather more likely to be Reg Varney of On The Buses. And, peeps quoting that we're in the right place (4th in the League and poised to pounce and just flexing the muscles for the final push is living in cloud cuckoo land) - it ain't gonna happen under the present management! If we are to leave Division 2, we need to via automatic promotion and not the lottery of the Play Off farrago!

[Pompey Penguin]

I am not a great fan of Forde, and a purely subjective +/- impression would be that he has let in more goals through errors than he has prevented by top class saves. However, a L2 goalkeeper is what he is, and he seems much the same standard as all the other goalkeepers we see around the league; I doubt he will be in anyone's L2 team of the year, but equally he won't be at the bottom of the list.

At least we (and the defenders) know who the goalkeeper is going to be every week. I would prefer this to last year when Jones, Murphy, Fulton, McCarey and Allsop (play-offs) (I think I've missed one!) all turned out at various points, which did no-one's confidence any good, and none of whom were any better than Forde.

[uspompeyfan]

While I appreciate the idea that we know Forde's frailties and use excuses for the team such as, "What do we expect in L2?" or "An L2 goalkeeper is what he is" (sorry PP it was the last posting so easiest to use as an example).

If we just accept that Forde is an L2 keeper and no different to anyone else, so why change, then do we really care if we get out of the division, or ready to accept a good try and fail season like last year. Likewise, if we just accept that we are an L2 team so why try and convince people we are anything else, then do we lack a desire to improve?

We have a support that would be suited to at least L1 players' costs and probably the lower reaches of the Championship.

[Pompey Penguin]

No problem USPF, I realise it is a bit of a cop out phase.

I too would have liked us to go for a top (for L2) goalkeeper over the summer as it is a very (if not the most) important position in the team. However, we do not know who was available and willing to join Pompey, even at high for L2 wages. The January window (which is the subject of this thread) is even worse as the best we could reasonably get is someone's third choice or a youngster on loan and learning by his mistakes at FP and not having a future at the club, in the way Allsop didn't impress anyone last year.

If pressed, I would take one or two talented young (preferably quick) attacking players on loan that we can throw at L2 mostly as subs and give them their heads hoping that they can cause mayhem in the last 20/30 minutes. In many ways, Bennett should be that type of player, but it doesn't seem to happen for him.

[BlueinPLtwenty]

The Bennett question is a "marmite" situation. At Plymouth this season he was admired by all the Argyle Fans around us and they were relieved when he was substituted. Every time he got the ball he looked dangerous and scored a terrific goal. In fact he looked a cut above this level in league 2.

[Earl Grey]

The Bennett question is a "marmite" situation. At Plymouth this season he was admired by all the Argyle Fans around us and they were relieved when he was substituted. Every time he got the ball he looked dangerous and scored a terrific goal. In fact he looked a cut above this level in league 2.

Bennett is a great player....one of those who would cut Pompey's defence to ribbons if he played for the other side.

As you say, BlueinPLtwenty, he's a cut above L2.

If we can hang onto him he'll be an even better player when (?) we go up to L1.