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.