It's been over a month since the last match report, has been a very long time! Now the transfer window has closed and the loan window has opened and we've not signed anyone, but with Steve Cotterill I trust as I know he'll keep his cards close to him to thwart interest from other clubs.
Going into this game I wasn't sure what the outcome would be, I would settle for a draw, a win would be fantastic. Blackpool are a far stronger team, they possess a large portion of their Premier League side from last season, with real threats coming from ex-scummer Kevin Phillips, Paul Ince and Gary Taylor-Fletcher. Ian Holloway I'm sure wants to get these 3 points as it is a long journey back north after the game!
After a miserable defeat at Hull where we didn't have one shot on target I was hoping to see more conviction and promise that seemed to have been shown at the West Ham game. I've previously been frustrated with our lack of attacking play, poor passing and persistent playing down the left have stifled our start to the season.
Not a great start to the game when the sound system seems to have completely died and was screeching at an ear splitting level. This was fixed just before the game started. Also noticed the big screen has moved from the corner of the Milton End and is now mounted on the front of the Milton End, looks much better now. Can see the owners are looking to improve and change the ground for the better. The usual lay off and shoot warm up was a delight to watch, Halford looked the most sharp in this particular field, as per usual, always up for drilling a shot on goal, Henderson again doing well to stop shots.
The first half was alright it had more flow to it then previous games, we pressed forward early on but Blackpool were on top though, they constantly kept pushing forward and were playing some great through balls which fortunately for us were poorly finished. They were a constant threat coming forward, we held tight with some great tackles from Jason Pearce and Greg Halford, which ended in one incident with Paul Ince being booked for diving. Joel Ward came closest for us with a quick header that flashes inches wide of Gilks goal. Still by half time we had not had one shot on target, not a great sign to be honest.
The referee was being a bit happy with the cards showing, I swear I've seen his name before, I must try find out when he last refereed against us, I think it was that fateful Crystal Palace thrashing last year.
At half time the new season ticket prize draw was first conducted, it's a nice little touch for us season ticket holders, a gesture for paying out for one after it the ticket prices had risen over the last year. The last prize is a car! Imagine winning that!
The second half started much better for both teams, it became end to end, with attack after attack, but we seem to defend with more resolute clearing then Blackpool. But we didn't take full advantage of this and soon came the deafening silence when the singing and drums stopped, it was eerie, it's the first time I've ever heard this at Fratton Park, to be fair the game was utterly dull at the time. The ball was pinging around the middle of the pitch and wasn't going anywhere. It was embaressing though, the famous fortress Fratton had fell silent and was out of ideas. The people who 'hate' the drums had won their 'peaceful battle'. But after Kanu and Rocha came on the pitch the noise levels rose once more! The last 5 minutes the ball was constantly moving around the Blackpool penalty box and the chance of a goal was agonisingly close. Joel Ward once again was fortunate as a low shot stretched Matt Gilks to make a smart save. Liam Lawrence came close as well by working well down the right hand channel and running in on goal to only be thrwarted by Gilks once more. Then came our moment of magic, the ball came in and Blackpool defender flicked it on away from the player, Huseklepp who had been outstanding that day took one touch and then volleyed the ball back on himself and the ball sweetly curled into the top corner with Gilks watching helplessly. Cue huge celebrations from Fratton Park, everyone around where I sat including myself went crazy, it was a fantastic hit and a sweet first goal for the Norwegian!
It was great to see the players all run over to the touchline and congratulate Erik and Cotterill together, it shows how together the team is and how much the are behind the manager which is great to see, that goal was pretty much the end of the game, but what a finish! The shouts of 'Erik the Viking' rang out for a good 5 minutes as the players took their lap of honor. Erik looked shocked as we did about the goal going in! He had worked hard, the highlight of his game (apart from the goal, obviously) was his 90 yard dash from the Milton/South stand corner all the way to the Fratton End/North Stand corner without being tackled or passing only to be fouled, a great run!
Now in truth the game was poor, our passing was not up to scratch, often losing possession far to easily and our slow tempo often worked in Blackpool's favour and nearly punished us in the first half because of this. With the introduction of Kanu the tempo and attitude changed, with more focus on attacking and trying to get the critical goal, which was great to see but a little late in the game to be chasing this? Surely we should be attacking from the outset, I mean, we are at home which is where we can use our surrondings to our advantage? (Small touchline, raised pitch etc.)
There were some good performances with Huseklepp and Halford being the stand out performers, always focused and looking to break forward whenever possible, good mentions to Lawrence and Mullins who were doing some good work in the midfield. I was sad not to see Futacs not come on the pitch as would like to get a better look at how he will fit into our team, rather than see him only warm up.
Since writing this article we have signed Bjorn Helge Riise from Fulham on loan, this is a great signing for the team, a guy with good experience of Premier League and Championship level, he's probably match fit and can go straight into the team I'm imagining.
Now against Peterborough tomorrow, hoping for another 3 points with a good performance to boot, Peterborough are a good attacking team, you can only see their tally of 80+ goals last season to tell that, they have lost their talisman Mackail-Smith in the transfer window but they still pose a threat. Their mauling of Ipswich a few weeks ago is a good example of this.
Let's hope a good home debut of Marko and Riise will provide a good attacking edge to our game and kick start a good winning streak that will hopefully boost our league position and get close to our neighbors, as they've had it quite easy so far in their fixtures.
Thought of chants we could sing about Erik if we get bored of the slightly dull 'Erik the Viking', which is daft in some cases...
But I liked the idea of one to the tune of Eric the Half-a-Bee by Monty Python, just a bit of the chorus though...it would go;
La-dee-dee, 1-2-3,
Erik Hus-e-klepp!
Here he comes, to score again!
Erik Hus-e-klepp!
Here is a highlights video if you wish to see that Huseklepp goal once more, looks just as good on TV!
No comments:
Post a Comment