Same old same old

Prior to Saturday's match against Hull, I didn't hear phrases such as "must win game" or "an easy three points" being used by Pompey fans or commentators. So why are we hearing this kind of talk now?

Given the results and performances the Tigers have pulled off this season I'd have settled for a point prior to the game. I'd have hoped for more, and knew we could beat them, but they are above us in the league for a reason. This was never going to be "an easy three points", especially with Defoe and Diarra sidelined.

It is, however, a very frustrating result. Yet again we have been unable to finish off a team and close a game out. The late Hull equaliser may well have come from a wrongly awarded corner, but lack of concentration and a special talent for squandering chances is - in the words of Sylvain Distin - "ruining our season."

I'm not sure what else I can add to the debate at this point. On the pitch the problem is so obvious, there really isn't much more discussion to be had!

I am not going to jump on the Adams substitute bashing bandwagon. People have questioned why Kanu was introduced for Utaka when we were 2-1 up, with about 15 minutes to go. I can understand the arguement that at that point in the match you could put on a more defensive player to help protect the lead. But at home, with Hull always a threat, I can also see the logic in keeping two up front and going for a third goal.

However, to condemn Adams on the basis of this one decsion - as some have - is ludicrous. In the same game don't forget, five minutes after introducing Traore and Nugent, Johnson smashed his way to the top of goal-of-the-season list. An astute move on Tony's part, then?

With the future of players, the stadium plans and ownership of the club still all in doubt I will be happy just to end this season in the Premier League! We have a fantatsic first eleven at Pompey, but we have no strength in depth. Unless we get a larger ground we will not be able to justify the salaries of additional, top drawer players. The ground really is key to the long term future of this club, and every effort must be made to keep the Horsea plan on track.

The (bad) luck of the Irish

In my last post I made the point that, on the pitch, I didn't feel Pompey had been unlucky of late. The three games since Redkanpp left should have yielded seven points, and the failure to come away with this was down to the players rather than Tony Adams or misfortune.

Having said that, if any club was due some luck then it was us. As I also noted on my previous post, you couldn't fault the player's recent effort. You could criticise their lack of concentration, and you can't legislate for Diop's moments of madness. But the effort has been outstanding. Add in all the off-pitch drama, and no one could say the team, the coaches or the fans have had an easy month.

The decision to award Pompey a penalty on Saturday was the right one, and so you couldn't call it 'lucky'. It was a clear foul, and replays have shown that contact was made in the penalty area. However, late into injury time, away from home, you don't expect those decisions to go for you. And in that respect we can consider ourselves to have enjoyed a bit of the good fortune that we surely deserve. The icing on the cake was that it was Diouf who committed the foul - a player who has a somewhat rocky relationship with Pompey!

It's often said that in football you make your own luck - and you could say this was true of us against Sunderland. The penalty came late on, and was the result of the team putting in the effort right to the death. It was by no means a perfect performance, but a battling display away from home, coming from behind to win the game, certainly gives us hope for the future.

I think we know a bit more about Adams as a manager following the game. On this showing, he seems to have inherited Redknapp's ability to inspire a second half performance when the team fails to show up for the first 45 minutes. I am not going to shower him with praise at this point, in the same way as I'm not going to lambast him when he runs into teething problems. He needs time, and as I've said before on this blog, I don't think he can be truly judged until January at the earliest when we see which players are still behind him and the club.

It is very encouraging to hear the likes of James, Crouch, Kranjcar and Defoe making the right noises about wanting to stay at the club and having respect for Adams. The true test of their words will be in January and next summer. Distin's interview in The News today is likely to reflect the feelings of other players. They were brought to the club on the promise of big plans for the future; they were to be part of a Pompey revolution, and the first players to walk out in the new stadium.

While I would hope the players don't follow Harry (surely they'll remember that he sold them a dream and then...) I'm just not confident that some of them will be satisfied with Pompey in the long term. Although, as I have also noted before, the decision may well be taken out of their's and Tony's hands depending on the financial situation the club is in come the transfer window.

The crunch

Before I talk about Pompey's game today, I must draw your attention to an arguably more important fixture this weekend: namely Havant & Waterlooville's FA Cup game against Brentford. The Hawks will no doubt be hoping to improve on this season's up-and-down league form, and re-create the magical cup run they went on last season.

The fact that ITV are showing the match live is yet another amazing twist in the H&W story, but I urge all local football fans to forget the coverage and to attend the game. ITV's involvement should be seen as a chance for the club to raise it's national profile. It would be a tragedy if the camera's will only be able to show a threadbare attendance.

For regular updates on Havant & Waterlooville, please click here.

I hope to see you at West Leigh Park on Sunday

Onto Pompey's trip to the Stadium of Light, which is looking like a crucial test for both the team and Tony Adams' managerial credentials.

Some people have said that Pompey have suffered bad luck since Tony took over. I disagree. We should have gained seven points from the three games since Redknapp left. Fulham were allowed to equalise late on because players weren't concentrating. At Anfield, one man's moment of madness ruined the dogged display by his teamates. And while the goalposts LITERALLY seemed to be moving against Wigan, it wasn't misfortune that meant we couldn't finish one of the chances we created. Maybe I am being harsh, but hitting the woodwork isn't 'unlucky.' It's a failure to aim 6 inches left/right/down.

The point I'm making is that all of these results were in the hands of the players on the pitch.

A minority of fans have laid the blame at Adams door. Again, I disagree. He had no time to prepare for the Fulham game. He did the right thing against Liverpool (at that point unbeaten and top of the table) in playing a 4-5-1 system, and no manager can lesgislate for an error like Diop's that night. For the Wigan game he picked the right team, played the right formation, and made the right changes... only for errors of judgement, an inability to finish chances, and another failure to concentrate for the full 90 minutes (plus stoppages of course!) to undo us.

As I've noted on a previous post, I am unsure how much influence Adams can really have on the players until after January, when we will see which of them wants to stay at the club. But the performances so far have been encouraging - you certainly can't fault the players for effort at the moment, which buys a lot of goodwill from me (despite what my grumpy attitude might suggest!) The key thing now is to turn that endevour into results, and Sunderland away is a game that we should be looking to win.

My glass is half empty

It has been very tempting this week to post in response to every development at Fratton Park, reacting to every twist and turn in the soap opera that is Portsmouth Football Club. The kind of activity we've seen recently should be a bloggers dream. However, my emotions - I am sure the emotions of every Pompey fan - have been all over the place in the past seven days and my opinions have changed almost hourly. With that in mind, I took the view to wait and to assess the situation after the dust had settled.

Before I go any further, I will make it clear that I am not going to comment further on Redknapp. The only reason I make this point is that some people may think it's strange not to mention him. From all the people I've spoken to, all the comments I've read, all the interviews I've heard it is clear fans are divided on 'Appy 'Arry. Most, myself included, seem torn between wanting to thank him for all he did for us and despairing at the manner in which he left the club.

The concern now has to be what happens to the club and how we move forward. For me, the appointment of Tony Adams was the right decision. We need stability and continuity and Adams gives us that. All I pray is that he is given an abundant supply of the most precious manegerial commodity: time.

I am sure that some players have already made up their mind whether they will be leaving in the next transfer window. If this is the case then their motivation for playing is going to be based around putting themselves in the shop window rather than wanting to win for the fans. I believe some players may want to leave because they think they are bigger than Pompey, and they will be cursing the previous manager for having brought them here only to dessert them. These players may be so demotivated that they decide just to collect their money until the New Year, because they feel someone will buy them whatever form they are in.

Maybe I am doing our squad a great disservice, but at times like these I can't help but be cynical. I guess the point I am trying to make is that the form of the players is a complicated issue right now. I am not sure that we can judge Tony until after January at the earliest because I don't know how much influence he can realistically have on how the players are feeling. Indeed, I think whichever manager came in would have this problem - plus the added hurdle to overcome of not knowing the team

This is why Adams is the right choice in the short term, and I am confident he will be in the longer term. He has a wealth of footballing experience, great respect throughout the game and is a leader of men. I just hope that results in the next few months don't affect his future as manager. This may sound really pessamistic, but I think Adams only target this season should be to keep us in the Premier League. We can then judge him properly next season, when the players that don't want to be here have gone and he has a team that wants to play for him in place.

I know that I am being negative here, but I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe I am being harsh in judging our players in the way that I am. But did you see Crouch interviewed on Match of the Day last Sunday? He looked and sounded ready to pack his bags when asked about the HR situation. And while Distin's honesty and openess is refreshing, it is hardly encouraging that he's been quite explicit about how he really only came to the club because of the manager. I don't think our players are bad people, let me make that clear. But until I hear some encouraging words from them I'm going to assume the worst.

I might be being completely unfair to the team, because maybe they wont have a say in whether they're sold. The financial state of the club is still far from clear, and Sasha's long term commitment is in doubt. Even if the club did issue statements about not having to sell players I doubt I would believe it until the transfer window had passed.

If the club does cash in come January then I hope the money raised is earmarked for the new ground rather than splashing out on star names. We need to be thinking long term here, and until we get a new ground with more bodies through the turnstiles each week we will not progress. If the wretched Council block the Horsea proposal then the club needs to face up to the reality of redeveloping Fratton Park. And part of me thinks that wouldn't be such a bad idea. My understanding is that redeveloping Fratton Park would limit us to 30,000 seats - would that really be too little? Are we really going to fill a bigger stadium than this, bearing in mind that we don't sell out every game as it is.

Like I say, I believe Adams is the right person for the job but please give him time. With everyone scoring points this season there are plenty of clubs that could be in the relegation mix. It breaks my heart to admit it, but I forsee turmoil in January and Tony will be doing well just to keep us living the Premier League dream.