Whatever doesn't kill you surely Spurs you on to greater things?

You may have noted the quite deliberate lack of a Carling Cup match report. It's the old cliche - my mum taught me if you can't say anything nice etc. Seriously, though, it is hard to write anything positive about PFC over the past week, and I don't want to add to the thousands of words already wasted on celebrating how impressively imperious Chelsea were.

I am heading down to 'Love Albert Road Day' today so will not be able to follow events at Fratton Park. But I feel good about the game. Spurs may have had some midweek success, but I think most Pompey fans - myself included - are breathing a sigh of relief that we don't have to worry about the league cup anymore. And we have plenty of ex-White Hart Lane players in our ranks who will be out to prove a point.

One thing I do want to put on record prior to the game is that I couldn't disagree more with some of the criticism that David James has come in for from our own supporters. Without doubt he has been at fault for a number of recent goals, but over the past few seasons he has kept us in countless matches. Those people calling for him to be dropped have very short memories.

Manchester City 6 - 0 Portsmouth (Sunday 21st September 2008; City of Manchester Stadium; Att.: 40,121)

On Saturday afternoon I went for a little walk under the new terrace covering at West Leigh Park. Unfortunately, I saw Havant & Waterlooville lose 1-4, and witnessed a full on punch-up between the two teams (I'll let you decide whether seeing the latter was "unfortunate" or an added sideshow bonus!). The H&W line-up had left their collective shooting boots at home, but you couldn't fault their effort. The player's workrate was impressive, their tackling committed but fair, and even as the goals piled up against them they still created chances.

Fast forward to 5pm, Sunday afternoon, in Manchester. The inquest begins...

Fans seem to be divided over this result. Some say this is a blip, that we shouldn't get on the team's back, and that moaning marks you out as a 'Johnny Come Lately'. Others are calling for players to be released and for the team to reimburse their travel expenses.

In my view one swallow rarely makes a summer, and neither does one snowflake indicate winter has arrived. So I am not overly concerned by the freak 6-0 scoreline. What concerns me is the manner of the defeat - the fact that some of our players literally gave up and came to a standstill in the last 20-30 minutes. I can handle defeat, but I can't handle it when players don't put in 100%.

The six goals Man City scorded also means that we now have the worst goal difference in the Premier League. Yes, it's early days, but this needs to be nipped in the bud - we don't want to be missing out on Europe through goal difference again.

"I have concerns about whether our squad can cope with the rigours of a European campaign on top of the domestic competitions." These words, from my last blog post, were written shortly before kick off at the City of Manchester Stadium. The loss only reinforces my view. Personally, the Premier League comes first every time, with the UEFA cup second for me this year. The domestic cups aren't as important this season and should be used as a chance to see how good the fringe players really are.

A final point... on the one hand I feel we haven't had it so good, and it seems a bit churlish to complain if something goes wrong. On the other hand, while the current squad is the best we've ever had, it's also the best ever paid. Supporting Pompey isn't getting any cheaper for anyone, so I think it's only fair that we judge the players accordingly. It isn't being disloyal to question someone who isn't giving 100% - I care about my club, not transitory playing staff.

Portsmouth 2 - 0 Vitoria Guimaraes (Thursday 18th September 2008; Fratton Park; Att.: 19,612)

A good friend of mine is a passionate Newcastle United supporter. Like many of the Toon Army he despairs at the current predicament his club are in, but gets equally frustrated at the way the 'Southern' media portray his team. He has a good point. Read between the lines of most daily papers and you'll see the hacks barely containing their spiteful sniggers.

As a Pompey fan, I am starting to get sick of the very same journalists and commentators patronising my club. Friday's Guardian took a swipe at the front page of The News on Thursday. The picture of Harry as an astronaut and the headline "One Small Step" was "overblown giddy anticipation" according to the broadsheet. Well, excuse us for getting excited about our first ever European game. I somehow feel it is slightly more justified than the Ronaldo/Barry melodramas whipped up during the summer by these same publications. But then clubs like Portsmouth aren't supposed to win FA Cups or get into Europe, are they?

I can only apologise to the wider world that our current team is daring to upset the establishment. And on the strength of the performance against Vitoria Guimaraes we are going to keep doing exactly that for some time to come. I didn't dare to think that our team could turn in the kind of performance they did in their debut UEFA Cup appearance. But we were good for the 2-0 victory, and genuinely showed some European class.

I'm by no means getting carried away here - we are only at half-time in the tie, and I have concerns about whether our squad can cope with the rigours of a European campaign on top of the domestic competitions. But forget being realistic for the moment - lets just enjoy the victory!

Aside from the win, there were plenty of other positives to take out of the game. Belhadj and A.Traore look like they could form a frightningly good partnership down the left-hand side. They both have so much pace and are happy running at players. The knock on effect is it challenges Kranjcar, when he is fit, to prove his worth. I am still not sure with Niko whether he is lazy or has been carrying an injury. He has bags of potential but doesn't look interested at times. Alternatively, with options on the left, Harry could choose to play the Krank in the 'free' role he has with Croatia. I don't reckon we get the best out of him out wide.

But I digress... Pompey didn't have a bad player on the pitch, but Diarra again deserves a special mention. We can only hope that progress in the UEFA Cup will convince Diarra to hang around until at least the end of the season. He is our Ronaldo, our Gerrard, our Lampard, our Fabregas... I could go on, but you get the point. He wouldn't be out of place alongside any of those players, but maybe having had his fingers burned at 2 of the 'big 4' clubs Diarra will be happy staying at a club like Pompey. Yet again he controlled the game with his running, movement, passing and vision. It was fitting that he scored Pompey's first ever European goal, the icing on the cake being his run and intelligent one-two with Defoe before burying the ball in he net.

Like I said before, we are only at half-time in the tie, and Guimaraes are likely to be a different proposition at home. But having kept a clean sheet in this first leg we have given ourselves every chance of keeping the European dream alive.

Portsmouth 2 - 1 Middlesborough (Saturday 13th September 2008; Fratton Park; Att.: 19,425)

It's strange to think that until recently the media was declaring the death of 'variety' shows. The success of 'Britain's Got Talent' proves that the UK isn't ready to give up on them just yet. And down at Fratton Park on Saturday there were a few good men keeping the tradition alive.

For the opening 45 minutes we endured the comedy act, but unfortunately Pompey were beaten to the punchline. Boro had started the season well with two wins from three games. Their last away victory was at Fratton Park back in December, and they murdered us that day. So they must have chuckled with confidence as they took the lead on 24 minutes, because neither side had shown enough quality to deserve an advantage.

The second half served up sounds as sweet as from any musician; namely the Fratton Park crowd roaring home two goals from Defoe to see Pompey take the lead and clinch victory.

And in the middle of it all was the magician, Harry Redknapp.

OK - so I'm going to drop this 'variety' theme now. It's a tenuous link at best! But 'magic' is certainly an apt description for what Harry conjoured up at half-time. Everyone was expecting another run out for the 3-5-2 formation that surprised Everton before the international break. Gareth Southgate certainly was, and set his team up in anticipation. Until the break his tactics were sound.

But the old hand was to teach the young gun a valuable, if costly, lesson. And in the process Redknapp has proved the doubters wrong: this Pompey team is flexible. If the system isn't working then Harry is willing to change it, and the players are ready to respond.

With his second half brace Defoe naturally grabbed all the headlines, but a number of other players deserve a mention. Sean Davis was full of running and showed yet again why he still has a part to play in this team. Armand Traore keeps on showing his Emirates inherited class. Debutant Belhadj gave us a glimpse of how exciting he could be in the wing back role. And Peter Crouch is cotinuing to develop an understanding with Defoe, his assist for the equaliser demonstrating the value of having two top quality forwards in the team.

But having said all this, one man stood head and shoulders above every man on the pitch - if not every player in the Premier League: Lassana Diarra. Even with the players they have on their books, Arsenal and Chelsea must be gutted at letting this guy go. How we bagged him for a mere £5 million I will never know, and I don't kid myself that he will be with us for long. But while he is here all Pompey fans should just enjoy watching him play for our team.

On the back of this victory the town is buzzing leading into the club's first ever UEFA cup match tomorrow, against Vitoria Guimaraes. Here's hoping that the winning streak can continue...