Harry fails this time

Harry’s Tottenham couldn’t quite live up to the fantastic Pompey Cup winning side of last May, crashing out to Man U on penalties.
But we’ve moved on from hating Harry, and are not so bitter as to take pleasure in another’s misfortune. Infact it did cross my mind to offer some words of commiseration.
Despite the defeat, I’m sure he enjoyed the occasion of a Wembley final more this time now he’s with a ‘glamorous club’, as he puts it. Being at Wembley with all his new superficial high-profile friends, I'd imagine Harry really thought he was where it’s at. Earning the extra headlines his gutter press friends oblige him with means so much more to Harry. Though their football knowledge stretches no further than London and trophy winning clubs, Harry needs the endorsement of the Fleet-Street pigs.
So I won’t commiserate with Harry, as actually he’s probably just had the day of his life, revelling in the spotlight in loves so well. Shame about the defeat.

Pompeys win signals the end to our winter of discontent

When the clocks went back by an hour on October 26 signalling the end of British summertime, it also heralded the appearance of Tony Adams at the helm of Pompey.
It’s been a hard cold winter of discontent.
The first match since the end of Adams’ spell at Portsmouth coincided with the first signs of a change in climate and in the fortunes of Portsmouth Football Club, of an emergence from a hibernation that had become more like a coma.

The win was down to goals from the 2 Cup-winning fullbacks Johnson and Hreidarsson, and was Pompey's first in the league since the end of November. David James, making his record-breaking 536th Premiership appearance kept his first clean sheet in the league since the middle of November. Pompey played with a spring in their step and were thoroughly worth their win.

Whether this is the end of the harsh cold wind that has been blowing through Fratton Park remains to be seen, but the performance offered encouragement that the storm is over and its back to business as usual for the FA Cup holders.

Adams sacked - Pompeys gamble with inexperience ends in failure again

The mistake was giving the job of managing Portsmouth Football club to someone who couldnt guarantee to hit the ground running. The appointment seemed unnecessarily hasty and wasn’t the tonic needed after Harry Redknapp had shafted Pompeys season 2008/2009 by walking out on us for a mutton-dressed-as-lamb tart of a club.

With the club rocked to its very foundations, if ever there was a time for turning to a steadying hand of experience rather than a novice, it was then.

If ever there was a time for getting a respected top-flight manager to reassure our team of internationals that there are good reasons for staying at Pompey, it was then.

If ever there was a time to show that Pompey have learned that a quality, proven manager is the foundation on which success can be built, and that it wont repeat the old mistakes in appointing the likes of Perrin, Zejac, Rix, Claridge, Fenwick and Gregory, it was then.

If ever the Pompey public needed a boost after seeing the golden age of Camelot end suddenly with a dark age looming, after seeing all our Christmases come to an abrupt end with the departure of the man that seemed to have given us back our respect, it was then.

If ever there was a time to show that the club were bigger than Harry Redknapp and capable of progressing without him, it was then.

I'm sorry, but the appointment Tony Adams did not tick any of the boxes. Ive got nothing against the bloke and once he was given the job I wanted to see him make a success of it as much as anyone, but it was hard to visualise it ever happening. Waiting for a decent result was like the excruciating wait for Scott McGarvey’s first goal, and in the end he Munsoned it.
Now the pressure is really on Pompey to appoint the right man this time. We do like to make life difficult for ourselves sometimes.

Pompey dismal 10 days - review

The last 10 days for Pompey have been dire.
First Pompey surrendered to Swansea without so much as a whimper, ending our proud grip on the FA Cup. The manner of the defeat was hard to take – Swansea deserved the victory even if it was in large part due to thieving scummer Nathan Dyer. My anger inclined towards Mr Adams, but I remained tightipped as I didn’t want to be guilty of jumping on a kneejerk emotion bandwagon. Difficult as Adams had annoyed me in the week with his comments on the potential signing of Viera: “Milan, Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Milan” he said in a what-would you-do well-its-bleeding-obvious-init sort of way. Thought that was pretty insulting to Pompey, and thought to myself – you’re not Pompey at heart Tony. You just don’t get it, we don’t see ourselves second-class to anyone. Bet he wouldn’t speak like that if it was Arsenal not Portsmouth he was talking about.
Anyway, give him another chance I thought, maybe the Cup capitulation was a blip and the Viera comments were a smokescreen. It might all come together at last against Villa. But no, the run of dismal results continued and was then followed on Saturday by a very predictable defeat to Fulham. I know we have lost 2 of the best midfielders in the world, but nevertheless I had hoped for better from whoever we chose as Redknapps replacement. This is seriously starting to damage the clubs evolution. I really thought that this season we would be doing what Villa are instead doing : threatening the top 4 monopoly. Chrissakes our players are better than them. Instead I am beginning to suspect we have chosen an altogether different path of evolution – one where we have to adjust, rebuild, relearn and re-do everything rather than building upon the fantastic foundations of Pompeys last couple of massive seasons, rendering those years pretty pointless and meaningless.

Spurs 1 Pompey 1 - Postmatch reflection

An entertaining grudge match that Pompey so nearly won. Redknapp has tried to spin it that Tottenham were unlucky not to win, but he is choosing to forget Nugents one on one chance that could so easily have gone in. Bent’s miss wasn’t as bad as it is being portrayed – he had to beat the best keeper in the world so not surprisingly he opted to place it low near the post. That he missed by a foot or two had more to do with the immensity of David James than the abilities of Darren Bent. The moment was more memorable for the face of Redknapp – like a bulldog licking pee off a stinging nettle. He really really wanted to beat us. What drives a man to that level of desire? Fear of taking down another club to the Championship after shafting Pompey again, or does the desire come from putting one over the club he said he was with ‘till-I-die’? The draw leaves Pompey continuing to steady the ship after our wobble and Tottenham joint bottom of the Premiership, good karma on a club that do love to talk the talk. Oh yes they do love to talk the talk, how they were going to steal all Pompey’s best players and build a new Tottenham based on the successful Cup winning Pompey team. Well at great expense they’ve plundered old Bagpuss and the questionable talents Defoe and with a bank balance that must be starting to creak, they are looking like walking the walk all the way to the Championship. You have to laugh.

Was Defoe any good for Pompey? The stats.

So Defoe has done a Redknapp and walked out on Pompey and the media are working themselves into a lather again over what they perceive to be Pompeys misfortune.
The stats say otherwise:
Pompey bought Defoe for £8 million and sold him back for somewhere between £15.75 million and £19 million. Who are the mugs, Pompey or Spurs? Spurs, no contest.
Is he worth the fee or his considerable wages? Pompeys stats supplied by Pompeyrama show that in the 34 matches Defoe appeared in a Pompey shirt:
Won 11 Drew 7 Lost 16.
Compare that to the stats in the preceding 34 matches Pompey played before Defoe arrived, in all competitions:
Won 16 Drew 9 Lost 9.
Obviously there are other factors to take into account, but overall results got worse once Defoe arrived. Sure he scored a great rate of goals, but the stats show that results were better before he arrived when the goals were shared throughout the side.
Far from his departure being seriously bad news for Pompey, Id say its great to get rid of someone who didn’t improve results, did not have his heart in Pompey and was not likely to have been the best influence in the dressingroom or on the pitch for team morale. Im glad to see him go to Spurs, its a match made in comedy heaven. I don’t wish to sound sour, but in reply to those who inexplicably find this to be an excuse to laugh at Pompey, I will laugh much harder when Defoe languishes back in the Spurs reserves, loses his England place and disrupts what little team spirit there is at Tottenham.