Leeds United (A) Saturday October 1st 2011 Preview and the truth between what went down between me and Norman Hunter that day

Well wasn’t that an ironic set of fortunes on the pitch over the last two games? Three points from a game that Pompey deserved nothing from and no points from a game where Steve Cotterill could realistically for once have laid claim after the match to have warranted coming away with all three. The last minute winner on the right side of the coin by Eric Huseklepp only to then stick away the winner for Peterborough. Someone famously said ‘Football it’s a funny old game.’ They weren’t wrong there.

The last spirited performance prior to the loss against Posh came away to West Ham United and was immediately followed by one we don’t really want to mention away to Hull City. Let’s hope a pattern doesn’t begin immerging between games anytime soon unless it’s a winning pattern. Tomorrow’s game see’s Pompey visit Elland Road home of Leeds United who are the only side showing capable signs of stopping Pompey’s dominance in matters of on field disciplinary problems. Pompey have now gone 21 consecutive games where they’ve had at least one player booked and Leeds aren’t labelled a dirty side without just cause so expect to see a lot of fireworks on the pitch.

I have some fun memories of Pompey –Leeds games down the years and of watching Leeds play in general. A good friend of mine runs the local Leeds United supporters club and the boys have always welcomed me on board their coach come match day with plenty of good humour and banter on the way. I will never forget the three hour journey home being the only Pompey fan on board a coach with 51 Leeds fans having knocked them out of the FA Cup in the days of Terry Venables. I don’t think I stopped grinning from ear to ear even when a coat was placed upon my head and the punches reigned down. I hasten to add that they weren’t to my head luckily, more a case of good humoured banter after my request to stop smiling and stop looking so smug was turned down.

Fratton Park and the FA Cup again. Luke Nightingale had put Pompey into an early 1-0 lead and I thought I was set up for a cracking return journey home. The final 5-1 score line to Leeds told a different story this time however. As I trudged back to the minibus trying to prepare myself for the long journey home I wasn’t in the best of moods. Upon arrival I found the branch organiser stood at the front of the minibus talking to an old guy who was sat in my seat. The more time passed the more my mood worsened until I eventually snapped – I had waited patiently for my seat for at least five minutes. So I told the old guy in question to hurry up and get the fuck out of my seat. Can I just hasten to add that I’m not normally so disrespectful but it’s not every day you see your side lose so badly and have to travel back with the opposition fans? There was a stunned look from the Leeds fans on the minibus. What’s there problem I wondered? They’re a game bunch of lads. A short exchange of words started which ended in me telling the guy to go fuck himself. Finally he got off my seat and left and I sat down in even more of a huff. The guy opposite me asked me if I knew who that was, a question I found as stupid as an American on vacation asking me if I know the Queen – Why of course I’m having cucumber sandwiches with her this Tuesday. Long story short – Apparently you need a big set of balls to tell Leeds legend Norman ‘Bite Your Legs’ Hunter to go fuck himself. Well how was I supposed to know? I’m still here to tell the tale so he must have mellowed.

Over the years I’ve made various trips with the Leeds lads in an attempt to go to every ground in the country. Last count I’d made it up to 52 before the children came along and placed a temporary halt on the charge to reach the hallowed mark of 92. One bright spark decided it would be a good idea that I went with the Leeds lads to The Skip old home of our dear south coast rivals. The words it will be a laugh, we’ll all piss up the side of the stadium on behalf of Pompey and sing Pompey songs throughout and wind them up was all I needed to hear in the days before children mellowed me. So off we trekked down to The Skip midweek and indeed we did enter our bladders against the wall – I know it’s not big and it’s not clever but a dog marks its territory. Inside the ground we weren’t much better and true to their word the Leeds boys did indeed sing Play Up Pompey to the derision of the home fans in attendance that day. But it wasn’t just our numbers totalling about 50 in total that piped up. Two rows behind were the Pompey branch of the Leeds Crew who soon pitched in and they had a fair few numbers and before you knew it pretty much every Leeds fan away that day had joined in. This for some reason had upset the home fans – Can’t think why and soon the stewards were wading down trying to pick out the idiot that had started the chant. I found myself being given one of the lad’s coats and my head was pushed down as I made a sharp exit left. When I came back the lads had all shuffled up so I had a new less obvious place to sit. So as I say I’ve got a lot of time for the fans of Leeds United.

Sorry Mr Hunter by the way.

Leeds are somewhat of an enigma like the current Pompey side and both sides certainly have the ability to self destruct at the worst of moments and then pick themselves up again when all had seemed lost. Away to Brighton they looked like they were coasting to a win at half time when they lead 2-0. Now this was one of two times this season I’ve looked at games and placed bets akin to the madness of a 4-4 draw between Arsenal and Newcastle – sadly I didn’t have that one at half time. For some reason I took Brighton at half time to win the game 3-2. I’ve never looked so smug until Leeds decided to pop up late on and make the score 3-2. Midweek I predicted the Posh result would be 2-2 which I took at 12-1. If you’ve read the letter to Eric Huseklepp from the guy who lost his bet when he scored in the last minute against Blackpool you’ll know why I’m tempted to write to him and ask for my money back as well. Never been so close to winning two utterly random bets only to be left somewhat broken hearted and out of pocket both times. Betting is certainly a mugs game but how many fellow punters can lay claim to telling Norman Hunter to go fuck himself and lived to survive the tale? I think I should write it into my will the part I played in football history and have it inscribed upon my tomb stone. Here lies the man who told Norman Hunter to go fuck himself and survived the tale but death becomes us all. Can you tell I’m an atheist by the way?

So with these odd tingles that enter my brain and start to predict score lines that are getting ever closer I have one in my head that says 5-1. Sadly that score line is for the hosts and not for Pompey. But if fate does deliver the battering and delivers a score line that is close to my current prediction and you put your money on 5-2 or 6-1 and it comes in on some idiots whim behind a keyboard, do let me know – all donations to the retirement fund will greatly be accepted.

I could also be using reverse psychology in an attempt to see Pompey win 1-0. Whichever way please don’t ever punt any money on the predictions that I make. That would just be plain silly.

Whatever the result thank you for reading the rambled words of a mad man and please let me be so far wrong with my current prediction I haven’t stopped sulking about the mid week loss yet.

Play Up Pompey

Peterborough United - September 27th 2011 Match Preview

Arthur Guiness the famous Irish brewer and creator of the Dublin based Guiness brewery famously said “good things come to those who wait.” For a pint of Guiness to settle for example you’ll have to wait 119 seconds. For those who are handy with maths that’s a second less than two minutes and two minutes in the grand scale of things isn’t too long to have to wait. For example there are 1,440 minutes in every day so waiting for a pint of Guiness takes up just 0.0014% of your overall day. Imagine that again in the context of a week and it takes up just 0.0002% of your time. Now remember that the chances are if you’re reading this that you’re a Pompey fan and that after six months and five days we’ve finally seen Pompey win a game on a Saturday afternoon. No you didn’t imagine it, it really did happen. I know that the space in between wins on a Saturday included the summer break, but I’d have to argue with Arthur Guiness that whilst his quote makes sense in a lot of ways – over half a year is just utterly ridiculous.

Last weekend saw a 1-0 loss to Hull City away – a game in which the Pompey players failed to even muster a single shot on target. Pre-game yesterday at home to Blackpool much of the talk pre-game was of the threat posed by ex-Southampton striker Kevin Phillips and the dour performance the week previous. The wheels had been set in motion by some sections of fans that Steve Cotterill’s position as club manager had become untenable and that perhaps it was time for him to go. For 90 minutes yesterday the players failed to raise their game much above the level of the previous weeks defeat. The fans in the ground were getting more disillusioned before five seconds before the referee blew his final whistle into injury time, Eric Huseklepp remembered that the way to win games was to score goals. The celebrations by the players and the fans will have said a lot at what it meant to end such a miserable run of results on a Saturday match day. I know – I shouted so much and for so long in celebration that it took most of yesterday evening for my voice to recover and I gave myself a headache. As someone pointed out to me “That wasn’t very clever,” true I said but as a non Pompey fan you have no idea what a win means to every fan no matter how ugly it may have been. Nothing beats the buzz of Pompey winning. It’s what every fan wants for the team they support and love. But the morning after like every drug, there’s always the come down and for some a re-opening of your eyes to a situation.

Yesterdays win meant everything and the whole of Pompey smiled. Every Pompey fan around the world smiled. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off the shoulders of each and every fan. The reality remains though that all the win has done in reality is paper over the cracks of the problems and challenges that the club faces right now. For 180 minutes before injury time yesterday at Fratton Park the players had failed to deliver on the pitch and the performances in both games were dire. One last minute goal doesn’t change that fact even if we managed to pick up three points. Blackpool at times had managed to slice open our defence with consummate ease with gaps so big between the back four that you couldn’t have driven a bus through the space. At one point a hapless Mokoena was left waving for an offside decision he was never going to get like he was waving his mum off at the train station. No offence to Ian Holloway’s Blackpool, but had it been a side like Leeds United who’s strikers are firing on all cylinders even if their defence isn’t right now, they’d have probably torn us a new arsehole by half time. Who do we play next weekend? Oh crap. Let’s hope Andy O’Brien has another great game for the blues like he did last season scoring two own goals in a 3-3 draw.

For the fans who point out that our early season results have come against some of the better teams in the league I’ll state the obvious, that to get out of this league again – you’re going to have to take your team to the races and beat these sides week in and week out. I read a comment today online that someone thought sometime soon Pompey were going to batter someone after yesterdays win. Pompey don’t look like being able to batter a Mars bar at the moment let alone another Championship side. Steve Cotterill has a got an awful lot of work to do and fast with the set of players he has available at his disposal. The way the clubs on field disciplinary problems are escalating that pool of players will become less and less as the season goes on. Liam Lawrence returned to captain the side yesterday having served his one match ban for the sending off against West Ham away. He took the place of the suspended Luke Varney who started his first match of a three match ban. In nine games in all competitions that’s a total of 27 bookings and two sending’s off. Pompey haven’t managed a single game this season without having had at least one player booked. The only thing more shocking yesterday was the fact that Blackpool had six players booked double the amount Pompey did. At least we didn’t see the side collect another sending off.

Tuesday night see’s the visit of Darren Fergusons Peterborough United to Fratton Park who sit three places ahead of Pompey in the table, separated by just one point. Having battered Ipswich Town 7-1 at London Road the fortunes of Posh have started to slip somewhat having won just one game of the last five and losing four in the process against West Ham, Hull, Brighton and Peterborough. This on paper is a game you expect Pompey to win. However to win the game, the club needs to make big improvements on the last two performances. Just because we finally got a bit of luck late on yesterday doesn’t mean that we should start as clear favourites to win the game. Despite Ipswich Town having two players sent off in their 7-1 defeat, the first player wasn’t dismissed until Peterborough were leading 4-1. They remain a side who are very much capable of getting amongst the goals having scored 18 times in all competitions this season compared to just 8 goals in 9 games from our players. In their four pre-season games albeit to lesser opposition, they found the net a total of 16 goals. No one should underestimate their threat on goal going forward and if our defence play like they did at times yesterday we could be found out very quickly.

Yesterday saw the return of Ricardo Rocha to the starting line up coming on as a second half substitute for the injured Aaron Mokoena. Pompey started the game with Greg Halford at right back and Mokoena stepping inside as a centre half. Look up the definition of a good centre half in any text book around the world and I can pretty much guarantee you that the words Aaron Mokoena will not appear in any sentence together. The site of him waving like a loony yesterday was indication enough of that for all to see. For the fans who say he’s been our best and most consistent player this season gives you an indication of how the rest of the team must be doing so far. Our forward line has had the shooting prowess of a ballerina in plimsolls in front of goal. Would you want to kick a football wearing just those things? OK anyone with a secret fetish don’t answer that – forget I asked. Huseklepp’s goal was good but it owed more to the fact the goal keeper was caught flat footed and made no attempt to stop it going in just as much as it did technique and skill. I continue to liken him to being our new Matty Svensson which isn’t a bad thing, just expect to see as many balls sailing over the stands as you do hitting the back of the net and I think you’ll be fine. 

What still worries me is Steve Cotterill’s willingness to continually pick Liam Lawrence. There are far too many throw backs looking at the situation to Ex-England boss Sven Goran Ericsson’s picking of David Beckham. I know we don’t have a big squad of players right now, highlighted by the obvious fact that we have the smallest squad in the league. But unless Steve Cotterill starts to give Ryan Williams his chance even if it’s only for twenty minutes to try bringing something else to the game, by the time suspensions and injuries kick in giving him his opportunity, he won’t be ready. I’m sorry but there is only so much a youngster can learn watching a game from a bench and if the club and Steve Cotterill isn’t careful I fear we will end up losing another talented youngster who’ll be off as soon as his contract starts to come near its ending. These games at the start of the season although important, aren’t as important as the one’s at the back end of the season when the pressure really hot’s up on teams and players. There’s far less pressure when there’s 90 points still to play for example than there is when there’s just 12 to play for although I hope by that point in the season we’ll at least be securely safe in mid table.

Be brave Steve whilst you still can because despite the win the fact is the last two performances were woeful and under par. The fans although fickle can also be a forgiving bunch. As much as the result matters there’s also a need to entertain and provide value for money. A fan can accept a 1-0 loss where the players have played out of their skin much more than they will ever accept a 1-0 loss and didn’t turn up at all - Just ask any of the fans who made the journey up to Hull. Discipline needs to be sorted and fast before it costs us even more. Three points on Tuesday are a must against Peterborough, the players need to build on the confidence and buzz that a win gives them and the fans and before the kick off they need to reconnect with that and make sure they give everything to feel it again before the bigger fish in the pond come swimming around and lapping at their feet, because if they play like that against Leeds next weekend I can only see one result – battered cod and chips and we’ll be the ones providing the cod and Leeds will be doing the battering.

Why Pompey fans should join The Pompey Trust and help bring about change

October 21^st 1805 - Admiral Horatio Nelson onboard the flagship HMS Victory issues the cry that "England expects that every man will do his duty" as the battle of Trafalgar is amount to commence.

May 13^th 1940 – The new British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the House of Commons with his first speech "come then, let us go forward together with our united strength," as the country continues its fight in World War II.

Throughout history the call for help and the call to unite behind a cause has been re-iterated in many different languages, in many different cultures and countries all over the world. To ability to help and aid others will always be common place in society. Today, here and now in 2011 our ability to be able to help and the methods we can show our support have changed vastly. The modern medium of the internet has let people spread a message of support worldwide in seconds. As a tool it’s one of the most powerful inventions the world has ever seen. When you believe in something and your moral compass tells you that something is right or that you don’t agree with something -  then you all have the ability to help bring about change.

Change doesn’t occur overnight in a lot of cases. To bring about change takes time and patience but as a collective and with united strength together - history has taught us that we can bring about a change and that with more support that task becomes easier. The Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius famously said “The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling.” The notion that a drop of water in stone seems an absurd notion on paper but it can be achieved over the course of time. So if it’s possible to bring about a change in such a solid structure using just water, then you begin to believe that anything is possible when you have even more elements to use at your disposal.

December 23^rd 2009 saw the birth of The Pompey Supporter’s Trust. With the football club on its knee’s and fighting for its very life the formation of a Trust was a way to help the fans have a stronger voice and a role in trying to bring about change. Their aim is to bring about responsible, democratic representation at Portsmouth Football Club and in doing so help promote the highest standards of transparent governance, accountability and embed Portsmouth FC deeper into the community through greater communication and co-operation with the clubs fans. 

The objectives of the Pompey Supporters Trust are as follows;

·    To strengthen the bonds between the Club and the community by working in partnership with everyone connected to the Club, enhancing the benefit to the community it serves.

·    To build up and develop a positive, proactive relationship with its owners and management of the Club by encouraging dialogue between the Club and its supporters.

·    To encourage the Club to take proper account of the interests of its supporters and of the community it serves in its decisions.

·    To further the development of the game of football both nationally and internationally in the upholding of both its rules and the accountability of those involved.

·    To encourage supporter involvement including but not limited to, dialogue, fan representation and share ownership, ultimately to be the vehicle for democratic elections to the board.

·    To promote, develop and respect the rights of members of the community served by the Club and people dealing with the Trust, by providing information to members and conducting the affairs of the Trust in accessible and appropriate ways.

Fast forward to September 2011 and the Pompey Trust continue to strive to help bring about change and give you the fans the chance to make a difference in the issues that affect you the most. Log onto any of the dozens of Pompey pages scattered online and you will find a dissenting voice on every single one about a broad range of topics. It’s all very well to have a moan but fans need to ask themselves how this will bring about change? The answer is simply to give your support behind the Pompey Trust and collectively as a single voice bring the issues to the football club itself in an attempt to bring about a change – a change that ultimately benefits you as a fan.

To join the Pompey Trust is simple and easy. Log online to http://www.pompeytrust.com/ and click on become a member at a total cost of just 1.37 English pennies to you per day or Five of your English pounds per year if you want to look at it in a different light.

Becoming a member of the Trust will help bring about the changes that affect you as fans. It will give you the opportunity to also give something back to the community as a whole with the work and help that the Trust does alongside calling for change.

There’s financial  benefits to joining the Trust to; Members receive 10% off purchases in the club shop and the club also offers its members discounts on selected games throughout the season.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today and be part of something bigger.

The Pompey Trust – By the fans … For the Fans.

PLAY UP POMPEY

Preview - Blackpool FC Saturday 24th of September

I’m pretty sure that before last season if you asked the average person on the street to name something connected with Blackpool the answers would have been pretty much industry standard Family Fortunes type of affairs; The Pleasure Beach, The Illuminations, Blackpool Tower, Donkey rides… But last season for the football club of Blackpool it wasn’t an ordinary season and their performances on the pitch and fantastic sound bites of Manager and all around footballing legend Ian Holloway didn’t go unnoticed either. I think the fact that the Championship season was over and we did a live coverage of the Blackpool game on their last Premiership game of the season online was testament to how football fans feel when the little guys deserve to be recognised by the footballing family for their efforts during a season that I’m sure no Blackpool fan will ever forget. We took our Pompey fans hats off and followed that game like it was our own boys out on the field. We wanted them to win and prove that good football could win out on a low budget compared to the rest of the teams in the league. Call it guilt for our financial errors if you’d like to call it that, call it love of the game as a sporting occasion, call it whatever you like… Pre-season the love went sour - Enter Mr Kevin Phillips…

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway is a rare breed of football manager it’s fair to say. Over the years I can remember him being touted around for the Pompey job on and off but he’ll be one of those Managers you look back and wonder what Pompey could have done had he arrived. Pretty much in the same vain as looking at Stoke City and their achievements now and wondering what would have happened if Tony Pulis had have been given more of a chance when he was Pompey boss. I guess there’s no point in speculating too much about the unknown. I’m pretty sure though that had either manager been given the job, or given the chance to prove long term without hitting the panic button too early what could have been achieved - that the recent history of Pompey may have been very different. I’d quite happily knock off the FA Cup win in hindsight if it meant that we’d gotten to the promised land of the English Premier League on a different route and had survived without the history that unfolded the way it did. Both managers took their respective teams to that higher echelon of footballing pedigree. I guess we can only hope that if we ever get there again it’s down the way both those managers achieved it and it the case of Blackpool FC, they did it playing good football to watch from a fans point of view as well. It would not surprise me if Brighton do the same under Manager Gus Poyet – another name that had been touted around as a possible candidate to become Pompey boss in the last 18 months.

I diverse from the tangent I took and come back to KP – Not Mr Peiterson of ex-Hampshire CCC and England fame – the other one. The signing of one player who played down the road at our neighbours really did draw a line under every Pompey fans support of those who can follow the game and support the game as a general rule of thumb and take off their fans hats and appreciate what another side have produced on the pitch against the odds. Had Kevin Phillips never played for the scum down the road then he’d be the sort of striker I’d love to give the plaudits to. The fact remains that you just can’t do it as a Pompey fan -  drinking bleach after the event would be the only normal and sensible route of option to take – I think that expression says it all really.

Is there anything genuinely more worrying after watching the aforementioned players strike last weekend for another wonder goal to worry about as a Pompey fan going into our next fixture than an ex Scummer striker who will start with an aim to take the match ball home with him? How about Pompey’s performance away at Hull City last week or a disciplinary record that beggars belief under the stewardship of current manager Steve Cotterill?

The only thing that stood out for me after the defeat at the hands of Hull City was the fact that SC actually acknowledged for once that it wasn’t about refereeing decisions or missed chances from Pompey – the better side had won. I was about to slate SC online when I watched Holloway admit the same after his Blackpool’s team performance when bugger me SC did the correct thing for once and admit his side didn’t turn up to the races. After the previous weeks away loss to West Ham I really did think we’d go away to Hull and turn them over with some aplomb. What we ended up with as the stats will show is a 1-0 loss with no shots on target, another red card (under appeal) and a possession stat that shows Hull City had 61% possession of the ball during the game. I don’t think it’s any surprise that some fans are already calling for the manager’s head.

Let’s face it on the pitch in all competitions this season – one win isn’t a great record. Neither is the fact that in all games in every competition so far Pompey have failed to play one single game where they haven’t picked up a booking or a sending off. If it wasn’t for the fact that Dirty Leeds are keeping up their end of the bargain to their moniker with more sending’s off so far in the early days of this season, our clubs level off ill discipline would be streets ahead of any other club.

Kitson we understand is once more injured and will not be in the squad to face Blackpool over the weekend. Given his goal scoring record over this campaign and the last season - few fans will be crying over that fact. However the loss of Varney on Saturday especially against his old club will have a few of the Fratton Faithful more than a bit fearful of what might happen come full time if KP continues his current form and decides to cement his place in the history of ex-players from you know where who continue to be legends even after their playing ties have long been cut for their ex clubs. Had David Nugent not been taken off with an injury for Leicester and had bagged a hat trick for them against the Scum he would have been re-born at that moment as a Pompey legend. Let’s not let any fan lie about that fact – This is Pompey and rivalry at its best after all.

The defeat last weekend away to Hull City has to be one of the worst performances recorded under the reign of SC during his time as Pompey manager. Last season Pompey won 2-1 away on a day when the fans, players and club didn’t even know if it would be their last game ever. That day the players showed the pride and passion that the fans demand from whoever pulls on the Pompey shirt. A season later and Pompey fans are left once more frustrated from the final results on the pitch.

I look at the situation at Arsenal and  scratch my head when their fans call for the head of manager Arsene Wenger. They play some of the finest football on the pitch in Europe without a shadow of a doubt and despite a few basic errors on the pitch so far, who would really be able to replace the manager there with the managers and clubs view towards financial stability? People might laugh at Arsenal’s start so far this season but with so many youngsters coming through, if Platini gets his way with new reforms – who’s to say that as the Arsenal board will no doubt keep faith in their manager, that come the new regulation tightening that the Frenchman won’t have the last laugh? Looking at the situation at Pompey I don’t think SC will have the same benefit if things don’t improve result wise –Having said that I don’t think CSI will pay him off for the rest of his contract. I think rightly or wrongly SC will be here for a while to come at FP and trips far afield even if the results don’t go our way.

Statistically SC as Pompey manager has seen his side win just under 1 in every 3 games in charge under his leadership. That’s not a bad record to have given the financial constraints he’s had to work with. However the more damning record will show that since March when we completed the double over Leicester we have only won one more game. Since then we’ve had 50 yellow cards and five sending’s off. Don’t even get me started on the strike rates for our so called forward line.

The omens don’t look great going into Saturday’s match it’s fair to say. The stats don’t lie. Just 18 goals scored in the first half in 57 games under SC. Far be it for me to suggest he needs a decent Assistant Manager at the very least but time is ticking for the current Pompey boss…..