Ex Pompey great Muntari firing them in for Inter

Its great to see Muntari continue to be a massive success after his move to Inter Milan, scoring another goal last weekend. Absolute top player. Together with Diarra and Kranjcar last season, I honestly felt Pompey had a midfield that matched if not bettered anyone else in the country, a claim which at the time sounded extremely biased, though I think time will prove otherwise (and not forgetting the massive achievement of Pompey's FA Cup win to justify that claim). If we had had Defoe and Crouch upfront all last season to augment that fantastic midfield (and defence), who knows where we might have finished. Certainly finishing 8th was a major underachievement.

Maybe Muntari leaving was the catalyst for Harry to leave; certainly Id have been disappointed to have to sell him, though Ive always wondered whether Muntari leaving was more down to his desire to be in Italy rather than Pompey cashing him in, as we didnt exactly get top dollar for him. Playing for Mourinho and sitting pretty at the top of Serie A, Muntari wont have too many regrets just yet.

Spare a thought for Ben

This article about Ben Sahar pulled at the heartstrings a bit. Poor guy, in Portsmouth he has no friends nor can he get a kosher meal. Cast aside your worries about the credit crunch, the value of all your assets plunging by the day, the prospect of unemployment and all the other current bleak news, and spare a thought for Ben, who cant cook himself a kosher meal and cant make friends. It cant be easy when youre special but noone else can see it. Im only thankful he gets paid lots of money.

Pompey 1 Wigan 2

Napoleon once said "I do not want a good General, I want a lucky one", and that’s exactly how I felt after Pompey endured all the bad luck in the world not to come away with 3 points against Wigan on Saturday. It really began to seem as though Pompey were fated to suffer agonizing near misses, terrible refereeing decisions, and general bad luck against the run of play. Its tempting to wonder if those near misses would have gone in if Lucky Harry was charge, as the 11 players on the pitch didn’t seem to be doing much differently than they would have previously, other than getting the rub of the green.
This feeling was amplified after yet another inexplicable Spurs result that owed everything to great fortune, leaving me in this week of Halloween, close to believing in the supernatural idea that the heavenly light that has been guiding Pompey throughout our recent successful period has followed Harry to Tottenham.

Dirty Harry reinvents his childhood

18/10/2008 – Harry ‘…I went with my Dad to watch Arsenal every week’

26/10/2008 – Harry ‘….it was Spurs I used to go and watch,they were the team I supported’

Hmm - feel this could easily become a daily feature, picking through Harry bullsh*it, not that Im absorbed with the cheeky colourful every-ones-favourite-uncle two-faced lying ****.

Happy days for Pompey after dispatching Guimaraes

Totally enjoyed Pompeys late late show last night away at Guimaraes, Peter Crouch’s double sending us through to the group stages of the UEFA cup. Fantastic result after enduring a storming Guimaraes first half performance that left Pompey dazed on the ropes, close to being knocked out.
Fantastic support, looked like a great fun out there, cant wait to be part of it in the group stages.
There were a few players whose performances were below the high standards they usually set, but they all came good in the end to give us a vintage night to remember, and earn their frolics in the sea the next morning.
Came in a week we gave sour Spurs a lesson in football, and after the up-themselves cockneys had the cheek to ask Pompey to explain how it dealt with the matter [of abuse], a case of trying to deflect responsibility straight out of the teflon-Tony Blair book of blame management.
Finally back to the Guimaraes game - I did laugh at the strange decision by the ref to blow for a goal kick after a Pompey cross was headed back across the box by Peter Crouch who was clearly a yard or 2 in front of the line, still in play - nearly as bad as last weeks phantom goal.

Bad day at the Office for Pompey

OK so we got beat badly, well thrashed infact. Im not as concerned as I would be if I was a fan of alot of the other Premiership clubs - Tottenham, Newcastle to name but 2 who’s expectations for this season aren’t yet being met, and whose concerns are maybe a bit more longterm.
A positive for me is the reaction to Man City’s win. For Mark Hughes it was the perfect day, his best performance as a manager, and he cant keep his cheesy smile off his face. Man City player Ireland now thinks they’re invincible , they all seem to see it as a benchmark; beating us has set the standard. Well it is a benchmark for Pompey too in a way. A benchmark in how we are perceived. The last time we were well thrashed was 21/1/2006 at Birmingham, and rather than being hailed worldbeaters as Man City are right now, the Brummies got few plaudits as to thrash us wasn’t seen as particularly special or unusual. Man City’s coming in their pants over wopping us is actually a great compliment, though unintentional on their part and not very enjoyable on ours.

Terry to face Pompey after red card ban lifted

John Terrys 3 match ban imposed after his red card on Saturday has been cleared by the FA after Chelsea were today successful in their appeal that it was a wrongful dismissal.
Terry's foul was a cross between a rugby tackle and a clothesliner and he made no attempt to win the ball, just cynically taking the attacker down - its cheating, its not football.
For me giving a red card rather than a yellow was far from a clearcut error of judgement by the referee Mark Halsey, so I feel its pretty shabby that the FA have chosen to overrule him. It not only undermines this referee, but all refs, who must now fear that all their decisions are fair game to debate and appeal, and who can no longer count on any level of support from their employers.
The 3 matches Terry can now play are vrs Merch Utd, Portsmouth and Stoke.
Was this irregular decision made so that the weekends Premier League showcase match V ManUre is played with as many 'stars' involved as possible? Is this sport or entertainment?