Speculation hots up

The media must be running out of new names to add to pot as Pompeys next manager. Current favourites are Warnock maybe together with Curle of Chester, McLeish of Rangers and Redknapp who yesterday won the fans vote. Holloway of QPR along with Martin Allen, Terry Butcher and Mick Harford are mentioned on a QPR site, whilst the most imaginative must surely be Alan Ball with Paul Merson. Ian Dowie doesnt look to be coming, and Bobby Robson or David Pleat would just be ridiculous, but nothing surprises me in football anymore.

Least liked Premiership teams

There are always teams that people love to hate more than others. This Wigan fan has a fun view of the Premiership teams he doesnt much like, and has excellent taste when it come to what he thinks of Pompey! Must do my list one of these days (though the team we love to hate isnt in the Premiership any more ha ha).

Laurent Robert your time is up

More mad comments from Laurent Robert. Has that man got a brain? He foolishly pins his colours to Alain Perrin, despite his departure, and puts the blame for this on his 'teammates'. Not the sort of thing to be saying if you want to show any sort of commitment to Portsmouth Football Club. This is in addition to his comments to the press after he wasnt picked for last Saturdays game, where he insinuated that Mandaric was to blame.

** Update - just seen some good news - a juicy rumour that Big Sam is lining a swoop for Robert. Youre welcome, Bolton.

Harry rumours

Theres always plenty of rumours doing the rounds in Pompey, but Im not sure if I ever remember hearing so many as were flying around in the pubs before yesterdays match. The 'Harry is suspended from scum for talking to Pompey' rumour got just about everyone. but his comments seem to have dampened that story, and put Warnock back in pole position.
Glad the 'one Harry Redknapp' chant never happened yesterday, though plenty believed it would. The previously unthinkable seemed to be becoming ever more realistic yesterday. Its a crazy world.

Pompey 0 Chelsea 2

Well that match was a bit of a wind up. I dont know why we got upset, as we all knew deep down that anything other than a defeat was unlikely, but it was wind up nonetheless, and this Chelsea-biaised Guardian match report will brings all that anger back (dont read it unless youre masochistic). I was less wound up by a Chelsea fans version of events, though his idea that we frightened Chelsea only once does stretch the truth a bit.
The Independent gets a pat on the back for telling it like it is, and actually pointing out one or two positives for Pompey. Still doesnt make pleasant reading though, so lets move on.

Keane on his way???????

Judging from this photo he's all packed up and on his way South, and should reach Portsmouth by next week.

PFC vrs Chelsea - match preview

Another eventful week at Fratton ends with the visit of League Champions Chelsea. This time last week the fixture was looked upon with dread, but there is a feeling that the players will relish playing without the tactical restrictions placed upon them by Perrin, and they will be out to make a point. If Stefanovic’s ‘every player will give 200% for this game’ warcry is typical of the mood within the camp, then expect to see a performance full of spirit and passion.
Outsiders view it differently. They see a Pompey side that was already struggling, further disadvantaged by having to cope without a manager. Amid all the turmoil the side now has to face the most fearsome and expensive side in British football.
Pompeys team selection is hard to predict. Stefanovic seems to have recovered from his ‘injury’, and it may be the case that caretaker manager Joe Jordan will bring other names into the starting 11 that have yet to figure this season.
Chelsea aren’t a side that have to worry about injury problems, or even fatigue from their midweek European clash, as Mourinho has an embarrassment of star players to choose from.

BBC match stats

Reactions to Perrins departure

Happy Harry Rednapp couldnt resist commenting on events at Fratton today. Overall he seems to approve of Milans decision and he couldn’t stop himself saying ‘We did a lot of work to get into the premiership’. ‘We’ indeed.
Dejan Stefanovic was careful with his words, but didnt exactly sound surprised or disappointed, and issued an inspiring war cry on the eve of our match against the Premiership Champions.
Elsewhere Ballie was concerned at the turmoil this constant chopping and changing causes, whilst favourite to take on the job, Neil Warnock, remained tightlipped and refused to dismiss the rumours.

Au revoir Perrin

Yes, its official. Pompey have sacked Perrin.
Mandaric says its 'not been an easy conclusion to reach', and that 'Alain Perrin is a talented coach and a good, honest man who has worked extremely hard since his arrival in the summer'. I dont think anyone would argue with that. However, Milan had little alternative but to relieve Alain Perrin of his duties as things have been looking increasingly pessimistic.
The Official site says he has 'stepped down', with Joe Jordan to take over for Saturdays game, and the Daily Mail has a lovely original Reggie Perrin Leonard Rossiter picture, something even this site would think too cheesy.

God bless yer Gav!

Nothing but attention grabbing bullsh** rumours without foundation in the press about Pompey at the moment, so lets have some different news. Born on the 24th November 1967, ex-Pompey hardman Gavin Maguire is 38 today. He had more bundles more skill than most for a defender, and combined with his relish for the, shall we say, more physical aspects of the game and his total lack of respect for authority, it was never quiet whilst hardman Maguire was around. He provoked various reactions in the Fratton crowd, but to many he was and still is a bit of a cult hero. Happy birthday Gavin!

Lua Luas not happy with tactics

Lua Lua has admitted that he's not enjoying his football this season, and its not as good as it was under Harry Redknapp. From the terraces its been looking like thats how all the players feel, so Im glad he's confirmed those suspicions. He doesnt like the current tactics either and again neither do most of the Fratton crowd. We have gone from being one of the most entertaining attacking sides in the Premiership, to the most conservative and defensive.
Will our players to clambering over eachother to escape this mess as soon as they can?
Will Perrin change his style to suit the players?
Do we need to sack Perrin to keep the players happy?
Is this representive or what the other players think?

Milan says stop sniffing around ONeill

..Or words to that effect. Why he needs to create this fuss only he knows. It might appear to an outsider that he is talking O'Neill up and putting him in the shop window.

Mandaric asks the players their views on Perrin

Would love to have been a fly on the wall. The media are reporting that the senior players gave Perrin their backing in private discussions with Milan, but of course the truth we will never know.

Shall I, shant I.....

...sack Perrin. Milan Mandarics predicament is finely observed by the Times. Maybe he has learnt lessons from the past, as Mandaric seems to be giving Perrin every chance and says he wont sack him unless a better man can be found. It is encouraging that Milan is now considering who that better man will be. This is a lazy journo's dream situation and is causing much speculation with new names being added daily. As well as the well publicised Warnock rumour, there are the George Burley whispers, though today the Mirror speculates that Ian Dowie has become a front runner, whilst Sky imaginatively adds the name Alex McLeish to the pot and then there is the unknown German Gernot Rohr (please not another foreigner).

In the cold light of day....

....Are things at Pompey really that bad? OK, we certainly do not a have a team capable of achieving the sort of things we were hoping for at the beginning of the season. We were looking for progress, not another relegation battle. But relegation battle is what we will have to settle for, and lets face it, it could be worse. There is an argument that says changing manager mid-season can turn a drama into a crisis, as this interesting article from Squarefootball explains in the paragraph titled 'The Redknapp Effect'. It also gives an excellent summary of the relegation prospects of the teams at the bottom, including the surprise stat that we currently have a better away record than Arsenal and Liverpool. Maybe things arent so bad.....

Liverpool 3 Pompey 0

Well there has been a range of reactions to our latest defeat. Alain Perrin unsurprisingly choosing to focus on the lack of luck we had, Pompey sites are growing increasingly nervous about the poor results we are getting with Perrin, and Liverpool sites, calling it an easy victory. So heres a less biaised SkySports take on it.
The bottom line is 0 points out of a possible 3 for Pompey again.

Milan Keane to show Roy interest

Milan likes discretion in the transfer market when it suits. So why has he felt the need to tell the world that he has asked Peter Storey to pick up the phone and find out if Roy Keane, who today quit at Man U, wants to come here. Storeys question will probably be answered by Keane in 2 words.

Latest Team news - AOB is fit for Anfield trip

Thats a surprise, AOB being fit. Shame the same article then tells us that Toddy wont be. Two steps forward one step back.

Preview - Liverpool V PFC, Sat 19th Nov 3pm

Its ‘Welcome to Anfield’ for our Pompey boys this weekend. Lining up against the European Cup holders will be a side weakened by injury, low on confidence and battling against infighting. Will the boys pass to poor Laurent this week? So we will either get pummelled or produce one of our vintage against all the odds performances, usually marked with a glorious Taylor display. Come on Matty my son!
Crouch is yet to get off the mark for Liverpool and might also be worth a few bob to score. There are one or 2 positives for Pompey – Liverpools have a number of players, including Gerrard, that might be fatigued after the internationals of the last week, and they might also have one eye on this midweeks crucial Champions League clash against Real Betis.

Further Stats courtesy of the BBC

Stefanovic will miss Liverpool clash

Perrin says Dejan is definitely out of Saturdays clash at Anfield, joining his central defensive partner AndyOBrien on the injury list. Oh shit. At least the weather is good.

Warnock out of contention?

Phew! Sheffield Utd have insisted that they have Warnock tied into his contract with them till 2007, in response to rumours that Pompey are sniffing round him. That’s a relief.

Alain with more lame excuses

This seems to have been the week of the candid interview. In an interview with France Football magazine Alain Perrin interestingly takes full responsibility for the Laurent Robert and Brian Priske signings. Does that mean the other 10 close season signings weren’t his choices? Cant help feeling that Perrin is not strong enough to manipulate Milan to serve our common aims, following Rix, Claridge and Zajec in that mistake. The one manager that did seem to wrestle power from Milan, HR, was highly successful until Milan wrestled it back.
Also notable was his very unambitious 'we are playing to avoid relegation' quote, and his excuse for Laurent Robert being ineffective; 'Portsmouth is a difficult club to play for, because we are in the relegation battle'. So who is responsible for that???

Socceroos book their ticket to Germany

Well done the Aussie Socceroos for qualifying to the 2006 World Cup after todays victory over Uruguay after a penalty shootout, the vital goal coming from ex-Pompey striker John Aloisi.
After years of having to hear the Aussies bleat about their sporting prowess, wouldnt it be joyful for England to get the hatrick over Australia, and whip their asses in the World Cup in Germany, following on from the drubbings we gave them in the rugby and the cricket. Bring it on!

Club wont rule out.... (add your name here)

I detest lazy journalism and sensationalist headlines suggesting a story without basic facts to support the insinuation. Its an insult to our intelligence – quality papers do not do this consistently so why does the Portsmouth News think it can get away with it.
This is a paper that has the privilege of the attention of just about all the Portsmouth people, and today they treat us to a headline like this; Club wont rule out Robson. They haven’t let the fact that the club are not commenting on speculation on the future on their current manager, let alone descending to any gossip of a future manager get in the way of their story. And so a zero response becomes Club wont rule out Robson, suggesting some sort of connection between Bobby Robson and us, when infact we could equally be not ruling out Saddam Hussein as our next manager.