Exeter

[Betelgeuse]

We have a major problem in that the players we hoped would provide goals just aren't producing. 3 goals between Morrell, Pack, Robertson, **y**, Devlin and Saydee. Tbh I'd get shot of **y** and Saydee asap, Robertson is fading fast and The manager makes substitutions fat too late. This is last 5 seasons Pompey, we need early season Pompey back. And WTF has happened to Bishop, absolute garbage recently, no pace, no goals in open play, missing easy chances. Get rid and bring in some pace and ability.

[No Shot Sherlock]

We have a major problem in that the players we hoped would provide goals just aren't producing. 3 goals between Morrell, Pack, Robertson, **y**, Devlin and Saydee. Tbh I'd get shot of **y** and Saydee asap, Robertson is fading fast and The manager makes substitutions fat too late. This is last 5 seasons Pompey, we need early season Pompey back. And WTF has happened to Bishop, absolute garbage recently, no pace, no goals in open play, missing easy chances. Get rid and bring in some pace and ability.

Strikes me it's your fault as it all went wrong immediately after your "4-0, we can sweep these sides away now" comment before the Fleetwood game

[BlueinPLtwenty]

Back from the Match: Disappointing particularly the distribution by Norris. I think Eltorro is right the Opposition have worked out how to stop Pompey. To be fair Exeter played for a point, they had virtually all their Players in two lines accross the pitch. When Pompey made their substitutions the impetus changed, but I would have liked Yengi to have come on earlier. I will give a detailed report later today

[Tooks]

At the match. Clearly we are off the boil.
We are so uncreative. We have 65% possession but always at the back.
We look shot of ideas.
Norris distribution is shocking
Rafferty no longer flying down the wing
Sparks is off it
Whyte is pony
Bishop off it with limited service
Robertson has disappeared

We need to seriously change tactics and possibly formation.
Need a strong transfer window
Feels like de ja vu at this point season after season.

I'm lacking as much confidence as our players.

[Pompey1984+1]

I think one of the problems is a number of the positions important to the way we play have lost their cover so Rafferty and Sparkes have had to play an awful lot of football. Robertson is the same. Bishop before his injury too, even the likes of lane and Kamara.

Pack was probably the player most on it yesterday and he had that spell out. I wonder if the squad would benefit from a few days away, light training in the sun. Just to get their mojo back.

[BlueinPLtwenty]

We have the best defensive record in the League, so Norris is doing something right. As well as having the most clean sheets! His distribution has been excellent but last night it was appalling. I thought Bishop was OK last night but he gets no protection from the Referees. There was one occasion I recall when the Centre Half gave him a big shove when the ball was nowhere near them, surely thats a booking! Whyte was a waste of time, Lane was not the same Player (he seemed to be drifting in away from the touchline not giving Sparkes or Shaughnessy the option down the outside) and Robertson really needs a rest, we were much better when Morrell came on. Sparkes was man marked until he came off, the two right wing corners in the second half were both hit to the near post when a far post delivery looked a better bet. All in all it was a very disappointing night standing up for two hours in a "sardine tin"

[PakefieldBlue]

I've watched a few games on iFollow, been to a couple of away games, and listened to the rest on iFollow commentary - so I appreciate that I'm not the best placed fan to comment. However it does seem to me that the team has lost a bit of spark/confidence which all teams do at some point in the season. In reality we were never a team that was miles better than the rest, so we've over-achieved in the first half of the season in all truth.
Whilst Raggett has performed admirably, we do miss Poole's ability to play out from the back. Tino's injury has robbed us of a potential creative player and as someone said earlier, others have been over-played to cover the gaps. Don't forget that this is Robertson and Kamara's first full seasons of league football.
I still believe!! Promotion will be tighter than we'd have liked a few weeks ago, 3 or 4 teams will be battling for autos and we'll be in the mix I'm sure.

[Blue Walter]

I don't think there is any doubt now that we are going through a bit of a dip. I don't believe in this theory that it's a Pompey thing to fall away after Christmas so it bound to happen, just as I don't believe in 'bogey' teams.

I did say earlier that the test of a good manager is how he responds to adversity after a good run. I think that Danny Cowley panicked when things went sour and came up with all sorts of weird team selections in trying to reverse it. I hope we are not seeing Mousinho doing the same thing now. I don't know why Whyte was given a start over an in form Kamara, for instance, and why Lane was dropped from the starting line up against Rovers to make way for Whyte. Whyte has not delivered a performance, for whatever reason, to warrant a starting place so far for Pompey. Why was one of our most influential players dropped to make way for Devlin, who has already shown he is not ready for first team football at this level, when Morrell is a class act at League One level? I firmly believe that you should always use your best players that you have at your disposal for the team structure. I know people will cite tiredness as a reason but I think that players should only be replaced for tiredness during the game if the signs are there. I think the failure to sign a decent experienced striker is now coming back to bite us too.

I think that teams have worked us out and found the best way to combat us. I think the best way out for us is to play our best players but change the way we play so as not to be quite so predictable. Our possession statistics are totally misleading by what is shown in the 'shots on target' bracket. Last night Exeter had more shots on target and more attempts than us from far less possession, which is the same in most of our games. The possession stat for us is mainly showing the time spent passing it around our central defence & goalkeeper. I think by playing Yengi up front with Bishop will allow a quicker route for forward passing.

Finally, I don't believe good players become bad overnight and we have good players for this level for our first eleven. I don't think the squad is that great in depth. I think that this blip can be turned round because we have good players and cream always rises to the top, as long it is not hindered in any way.

[GreenBlue]

Good post BW and I agree with virtually all you say. My one slight difference in opinion is that playing our best 11 players may not always produce the best team. We see it in international football on many occasions when lesser players give superstars a run for their money. I believe that one reason for our initial success has been down to the team playing as a team. We only ever see what goes on during the 90 mins of match days, but as we all know, team spirit is developed on the training ground. I trust in Mous's decisions and there is no doubt reason behind his decisions. PUP

[Blue Walter]

Good post BW and I agree with virtually all you say. My one slight difference in opinion is that playing our best 11 players may not always produce the best team. We see it in international football on many occasions when lesser players give superstars a run for their money. I believe that one reason for our initial success has been down to the team playing as a team. We only ever see what goes on during the 90 mins of match days, but as we all know, team spirit is developed on the training ground. I trust in Mous's decisions and there is no doubt reason behind his decisions. PUP

Thank you. This is why I said "play your best players within the team structure". However, generally speaking I think the best players should be played with the team structure built round them. For instance I believe we are wasting Bishop's talent by using him as a lone striker and being more of a target man. If he had someone with him to pick up on his clever lay offs and took the strain off having to take opposition defence on on his own he would score more goals and provide chances for his partner. As well as this balls from defence could be played forward quicker having more chance of a Pompey player getting on the end of forward passes.

[GreenBlue]

Yes, totally agree re. Bishop doing better with another striker playing off each other. My only concern is that we would need to weaken our midfield to do so and on a number of occasions this season our midfield has been slightly overrun. I am sure that playing two up top will have been tried and tested in training and Mous obviously has considered all options but I do agree that other teams are getting wise to our 'style' of play so the ability to change formations from the start or during play would be a good way to mix things up.

Like you BW, I don't believe we have any bad players in our squad so I'd guess that some are underperforming during matches. Sometimes there are hidden reasons why players excel in training and underperform during matches and I am sure that Mous and his team will be looking in to this.

We are still handily placed and we can afford a few minor dips in form but it would be great to get a few decent results again to boost our players confidence.