Swindon

[Sam_Brown]

Completely forgot about the game tonight. Mate text me to say "WTF is going on with Portsmouth" and I thought maybe we'd replaced Spurs in the Super League due to us actually winning trophies recently. Then I checked the fixtures and saw we were playing and the score line... honeymoon period is definitely over for the Cowleys.

[jam tomorrow]

Absolutely diabolical how can this team represent our fantastic City and Club there is something drastically wrong. It beggars belief how the wheels have fallen off we need to get rid of Catlin recruitment team, players and management. Get a quality sports director that understands British football and start all over

[New Forester]

Look at who we have beaten this season. And then the ones who have beaten us. The joy of football is its unpredictability. It’s why I’m not a betting man.

[Pompey Penguin]

I give up on this team. Four matches against poor teams: one point, two goals scored. Not a single decent performance. These players can just be thankful that there were no fans present.

As Jam said, there is clearly something very wrong at the moment and it needs sorting before the summer. Whether it is with the Cowleys (I don't think they are to blame) or someone else, decisions need to be made and a big clearout in all areas, even if it means us eating some contracts. Time for a reset at the club.

[New Forester]

I don't disagree with some of the remarks here. But spare a thought for the management team and players. They want to win as much as we do. Imagine how they are feeling today. Let's wish them all well and hope they can turn in some decent performances very soon.

The sun is shining in the New Forest.

[jam tomorrow]

Suggest we drop Daniels he’s having a mare maybe try Rasmus there or even Bolton. Naylor is also below par which doesn’t help the defence

[streetrifle]

Over and above the team performance as a whole, I really can't remember watching (on Ifollow) so many individual poor performances. There were Pompey players all over the pitch making mistakes, poor passing, lack of control, poor finishing etc. It was painful to watch. We never looked like scoring until Curtis came up with one at last at the death.
The main culprits I thought were Daniels who was quite appalling, Raggett who was a bag of nerves throughout, Naylor who looked completely shot away and flustered,Nicoliaisen who looked out of his depth, Marquis who had a couple of real chances but never looked like converting them,not to mention Williams and Harness who continually ran down blind allies or night. I shall be haunted by this match for some days to come.

[Berkshire Blue]

Having had a chance to calm down since yesterday, I can't help wondering if the change of style might be having something to do with the problem. I am all for the change, but it seems to me that the players may be getting too much into the mechanics of the style, and not just going out and having fun playing, and letting the changes on the training ground gradually fall into place. Sort of playing by numbers and being frightened to get it wrong.

It is a bit like a golfer after coaching who can very easily get obsessed with the mechanics of the swing, often with disastrous results. I have certainly been there myself in the past.

Maybe the last thing that DC should say to the players before a game (if he doesn't already) is to just go out and enjoy themselves and play with freedom.

Despite what some say I believe that there are plenty of decent players in our squad, but something is stopping them from performing.

[streetrifle]

Berkshire Blue, you may be right in what you say. But the fact is that it comes down to consistency. Its no good being a good player if yuu don't go out and perform to your full ability regularly. Football is littered with players who don't make the grade because they are so inconsistent. And when you get half a team of them as we have currently then it spells trouble.

[Claygate]

Having had a chance to calm down since yesterday, I can't help wondering if the change of style might be having something to do with the problem. I am all for the change, but it seems to me that the players may be getting too much into the mechanics of the style, and not just going out and having fun playing, and letting the changes on the training ground gradually fall into place. Sort of playing by numbers and being frightened to get it wrong.

It is a bit like a golfer after coaching who can very easily get obsessed with the mechanics of the swing, often with disastrous results. I have certainly been there myself in the past.

Maybe the last thing that DC should say to the players before a game (if he doesn't already) is to just go out and enjoy themselves and play with freedom.

Despite what some say I believe that there are plenty of decent players in our squad, but something is stopping them from performing.

The more I think about it, the more I believe the change in style is the root cause of our current predicament. Trying to change the way we play with a quarter of the season left is really starting to back fire on us. What we should have done or do is improve the counter attack approach adopted by Jackett, but man manage the players. This is what the squad are used to and understand. I don’t believe the Cowley’s are the solution to this short term fix. If the club really wanted to secure a playoff spot, then a real man manager was who we should have been appointed with 12 games to go. I’ve no doubt the Cowley’s maybe a better long term solution, but not the hear and now.

[Locky_McLockface]

the squad itself is not strong.

If the squad is so poor, it makes you wonder how we were top of the division at Christmas.

I'll say it again; the players we have are excellent at this level (with one or two exceptions, I'm looking at you, Rasmus and Charlie). They are not playing with confidence or as a team.

Where that confidence has disappeared to, I cannot say. But these are not poor players.

[Weybridge]

We've got the yips for sure - and that post-match interview with DC last night was excruciating to watch. I got the impression he has no idea what to do - or rather, has no idea how to get their confidence back in the time left. The players either aren't listening, or the pressure in their heads is just overwhelming DC's (or anyone for that matter) ability to motivate. I'm sure its no coincidence that by opponents simply pressing us, it knocks us off our game in a heartbeat.

In other times, you'd take the team off for a jolly in the West Country for a week, but that's impossible now.

I think this is the real test for the Cowleys. Honeymoon well and truly over, and irrespective of whether the playoffs are reached or not, its whether they can get the team playing with skill and confidence once more in the few games left.

[Selsey Bill]

Late on parade, but that was our worst performance of the season for me. The last time I actually went to Swindon away, we got thumped 5-0 but I can honestly say we played better that New Year's Day. I'm with Locky, though, in that these are not all poor players. They have played good football at times and beaten all the teams now sitting above us, and comfortably on occasions. We were sitting at the top of the league at Christmas FFS. Something is not right internally, and I do wonder if all this talk about contract negotiations has got inside some of their heads. Naylor, a strong candidate for player of the season a few weeks ago, has been very poor for the last few weeks. Last night he looked physically but, more importantly, mentally shot. Perhaps he has already got himself another club lined up, or is he just running on empty?? Who knows, but even his leadership skills have deserted him. Close seems to have reverted back to type, Curtis frustrates the tits off me, and don't get me started on our defense. Raggett is a liability, Jack has inexcusably let us down, again, Nicolaisen is bang average, and as for Daniels, if the Cowleys ever start him for us again, I will have lost faith in them. I don't think I have felt so down about Pompey for quite a while. All I can do now is look forward to next season when we need to wipe the slate clean and rebuild from the bottom up.

[Rick Pumpkin]

Do you not think that for the players the change in management approach might be too much for some of them? With Jackett it always seemed that there was a soak up the pressure and hit the opposition with a counter attack approach, which is a pretty easy tactic to follow. However, just by listening to Danny Cowley pre- and post-match (and boy, does he love the sound of his own voice) I wouldn't be surprised if he overwhelms the players with his tactics and details for a game.

Personally, I don't think that 80% of the current squad deserve to be with the club next season, but at the same time I'm starting to wonder whether the current management duo are the right people to take us forward. I don't dislike them and they seem incredibly personable, but coaches who over complicate games tend not to last too long anywhere.

[Pompey1984+1]

It feels harsh but if we had to choose stick or twist with the Cowley's for next season what would / should we do?