The darkness before the dawn?

With roads closed off for the Great South Run, and the visit of Fulham this afternoon, the streets of Pompey were always going to be thronging today. And yet, even more bodies than expected will be milling around Fratton Park after the unbelievable events of the past 24 hours.

I started getting text messages around 2am. It's an obvious point to make, but it seems rather symbolic that news of Redknapp's departure was breaking as the clocks were going back. Because this is undoubtably the end of an era, and the overwhelming feeling is that the upward trajectory we've all enjoyed over the past few years is about to take a nosedive...

I fully apologise if this pessamistic outlook upsets people. Like everyone else I am reacting while the shock sets in and perhaps I will feel differently in the morning. I am going to state/address some of the key points as I see them, and if anyone wants to try and make me feel any better about any of this then please chip in with some comments!

1. It isn't the most important consideration right now, but for me it's the most immediate one: 'Appy 'Arry walks out on us again. It is hard to seperate the fact from fiction amongst the club statement, the forum posts, and the media speculation. But given Redknapp's declarations of loyalty since returning from the-team-that-shall-not-be-named I think Pompey fans are justified in feeling betrayed. Yes, he engineered the 'great escape'. Yes, he delivered the FA Cup. But in any walk of life you can blacken your reputation and undo your good work.

2. Redknapp's Five Live interview on why he left may have been intended to placate fans. I think it will have wound them up. "It's a big opportunity to manage a big club before I retire" - this implies Pompey is small time. I know that PFC isn't as high profile as Spurs, and that Spurs arguably have more of a history in the eyes of the wider footballing world. But this statement hardly spares the feelings of Pompey fans. Redknapp went on to say that "Pompey couldn't sell a player in the transfer window so we sell the manager" and suggesting that getting £5million in compensation was a good deal for PFC. This is a revealing statement, but it publically belittles the club. The most worrying part of the interview was his comment that he wouldn't rule out signing Pompey players in January. As much as Defoe has been awesome for us I think he has always wanted to return to White Hart Lane, and I would expect him to be the first out of the door. I'd also be worried about Johnson, Diarra, the Krank and Crouch.

3. We have been linked with Sam Allardyce. Need I say more? I know some people would be happy to see the big man at Fratton Park but I've never been a fan of his style. Pompey haven't always been awesome to watch of late, but we've had the potential to play creative football. I fear Allardyce would strangle the life out of our team and reduce us to the long ball game. On the other hand, I can't think of one realistic name that I would get seriously excited about right now.

4. The media coverage has just rubbed salt into the wounds. I have read, listened to and watched hours of news on the story and the focus has all been on what this means for Spurs. I guess this proves the point I made above about them being a bigger club in the eyes of the general football world. It would just be nice for people to spare a thought for us. From the coverage so far you can almost hear the journalists breathing a sigh of relief: "phew, at least Spurs might be safe now." Where as I think most real fans were wishing for them to be relegated this seasons as a lesson to other clubs on how NOT to run your affairs...

...but then maybe we are in no position to judge? Undoubtably the most important matter in all of this is where PFC is right now, and where we will go from here. I don't want to comment too much because I think the facts in this area are far from clear. But some big questions need to be answered by the club around the training facilities, the ground and the financial situation in general. No doubt Redknapp was aware of the problems behind the scenes, and this must have filtered through to the players - it would explain our lack of consistancy this season.

As I said earlier, please chip in if you can make me feel better...

Playing catch-up

Being laid up in bed with flu, it seems like the perfect time to catch up with goings on at Fratton Park.

My gut feeling about the Spurs game was correct - our team bounced back and proved a point, while the opposition players failed (again!) to stand up and be counted. The only negative for us was Diarra's sending off, which for me was inevitable because he looked like a man on a red card mission all afternoon. I've no idea what may have prompted this, but I think any genius is allowed the occasional off day.

The second leg UEFA Cup match against Vitoria Guimares did not go as I expected. I knew we would be in for a hard night, and predicted that at some point we would need to score to secure the victory. But I did not imagine that we just wouldn't turn up for the first 45 minutes, and that the scores would be level at half-time.

There was nothing positive about our first half display: no shape, no effort, and no one keeping the ball. But yet again Harry worked his half-time magic, and Pompey dominated the second period. It surprised me how much Guimares fell away after the break. At home, and with key players back in their side after the first leg, I knew they would come at Pompey. I didn't realise the attack wouldn't be sustained, and Pompey getting that crucial away goal looked inevitable.

'Looked' is the key word in that last sentence because, while it 'looked' inevitable, the goal proved elusive. As the game entered extra time I felt only one team could win ouitright, but my concern was that Guimares would hold on for penalties. Fortunately two goals from Crouch proved decisive, and ensured the aggregate scoreline accurately reflected the entire contest.

However, the game against Stoke was for me the highlight of the past few weeks. Obviously, getting three points is always a pleasure, but it was impossible to ignore the players workrate. After such a busy recent period I would have, for once, forgiven the team for lacking willing. The victory was very workmanlike, and not the best visual spectacle, but there was a commitment and belief on show that you just can't buy.

The international break could break our momentum, but at least Defoe remembered to pack his shooting boots. Let's hope the rest of the team can remain in the right frame of mind for the trip to Villa Park on Saturday.