A Little Help From Our Friend (almost)

Finally we get back to domestic football after the short lived FA Cup campaign after a 4-0 loss to Chelsea, after reading updates most of the day when I could (working you see..) it sounded like a harsh defeat. But positives came out of the game as well, such as holding a top 4 team to 0-0 for 45 minutes.

Going into the fixture against title chasing West Ham we are unbeaten at home since we lost to Peterborough 3-2 in September 2011, impressive to say the least. I wasn't sure how we would fair in this game, with injuries stretching our squad, Varney, Rocha out still the team saw Adam Webster make another return to the bench over experienced players like Kanu.

West Ham themselves have a few injuries and their form hasn't been good of late, they've never been able to capitalise on Southampton of late, whenever they've lost, West Ham have lost, vice versa with wins. So to keep the pressure on the rivals down the road they had to win, their away form is the best in the league. This was going to be a clash of form from the offset.
Now for a confession, I have no idea who Kevin Friend is (only referee's I remember are Slaughter and Deadman), maybe if I was told he was that infamous referee from the Sunderland and Reading game last season then I might of guessed where this game was going in terms of decisions....

Friend sends off Yebda against Sunderland back in 2010

The switch of ends was interesting, it was the first time this has happened at home since we played Peter....oh dear....this does not bode well. Now within 15 minutes Friend already made a few dubious decisions, such as Futacs being held, being pulled the ground etc. The decisions were soft and were never for us it seemed. Halford came close early on after Lawrence dinked a lovely ball into the penalty box and Halford headed over.

We found it difficult to get the ball of West Ham at times, they kept possession well and pushed forward slowly but with confidence, it was a boring first half in this respect. West Ham lacked clinical finish, they would push forward but never get a shot on goal, always broken down before this. Portsmouth when we ever saw the ball were too stifled and slow, again losing the midfield battle which we always do!

Then came the penalty, hard to see from the Fratton End, didn't know what it was for, but seems to have been a little bit soft, especially when Futacs had been dragged the ground twice by West Ham players prior to this, with a help of an arm around his neck! Noble scored and Henderson was unlucky not to have saved it, just getting a hand to it.

I can't really be bothered to talk about the rest of the game, as otherwise I'll just get angry about the referee! I found him to be totally incompetent at referee-ing this game, he just was not consistent. Papa Bouba Diop would go down (because he's a donkey on ice) and it's a foul, but being hacked to the floor isn't? A utter joke, the stats make us look dirty, but West Ham were no angels, Kevin Nolan should've been given another yellow for dissent for constantly trying to influence the referee, always chatting in his ear. No wonder he can't hit the target, he had 4 good chances and waste ALL of them.

The red card against Norris was baffling, he didn't take too much time thinking about it, I bet he even grinned at the possibility to show a Pompey player a red card, again. It totally ruined the game for both sides, neither played anything decent. Pompey kept trying to push for an equaliser but was thwarted by our numerical disadvantage and West Ham couldn't get a ball into a decent position to score, if they want to get promoted they need to score more goals, as we could've won/drawn the game had it not been for Norris going.

I was also left fuming by the decision of Friend to signal for a corner and then blow for full time while setting up to take the corner, which left our players very annoyed, Lawrence making his feelings clear to Kevin Friend after the game. Henderson even wanted to run up and have a go! But no, just wanted to pile on the misery more for us. I hope we don't see him again!


Another issue I'd like to raise is the poor performance level of Erik Huseklepp recently, maybe it's down to stamina or fatigue, but he hasn't been performing very well of late, giving away possession, poor passing, he just seems off the boil. But no one gives him stick, unlike a certain Dave Kitson who gets just about every curse word under the sun shouted at him, his work rate is phenomenal, he's always chasing balls, trying to get involved in play, granted sometimes it isn't fantastic, but at least he is trying! Him and Futacs are a good little partnership, maybe if we got another striker who isn't just a 6ft + tower with no pace we could utilise that system in a 4-3-3, but until then it'll be them two.

So that broke out fine home record and the start of a very very difficult few weeks. By the end of February we shall know if we are in a relegation battle or aiming to push into the play-off's. Games against Cardiff, Hull and Ipswich will be tough games, but hopefully we can at least get something out of these games, even if it's a draw.

Play Up Pompey, hope we can get in someone in on loan soon after the departure of the legend that is Herman Hreiðarsson, one of the last remaining squad members from the 2008 FA Cup winning side. He has been such a character in his time at the club, may I wish him the best of luck at Coventry, and we hope to see him again in the future!
I'll leave the blog today with a picture of his antics from the FA Cup celebrations!

Another one bites the dust

After the busy 3rd round of the FA Cup the sacking of Neil Warnock came out of the blue (in terms of the media response), after drawing with League One MK Dons the Hoops hadn't won a game in 8 games, the writing was definatley on the wall for Warnock. He may of stormed QPR to the nPower Championship title last season but coming back to the Premier League has been an unwelcome one, with player tantrums, erratic signings and injuries he has had it tough.
During his tenure in the Premier League there has been a change of ownership take place, injury crisis in the striker department, racism investigations, controversial red cards, player tantrums etc. The list could go on, not that I feel sorry for Warnock you see, I think personally he's a victim of his own success, his own nemesis somewhat.

He brought in quality players during his time in the Championship such as the outstanding Paddy Kenny, the often ill-tempered but talented Adel Taraabt and controversial signing Alejandro Faurlin (who nearly cost them their title). These signings were key to their climb up the table in an almost Pompey style turnaround in 2002 where we went from a relegation fodder side to a title winning side in a quick turnaround, always constantly reducing and improving the squad.That's as far as I will comment on Warnock in the Championship, as this blog is focusing on his tenure in the Premier League and where I feel he may of faltered.


The beginning of the season in the Premier League was certainly filled with news stories of new owners, price tickets being absurd for such a small ground (Loftus Road holding only 18,000) it was hardly a positive start. The results didn't follow suit either, after being thrashed at home 4-0 by Bolton and then 2-0 by Wigan away a few weeks later made their 1-0 win against Everton somewhat insignificant. QPR had also been dumped out of the League Cup in the second round by League One side Rochdale in a 2-0 defeat at home.
Now it's not as if they didn't invest in the pre-season, they added Jay Bothroyd (free), injury prone Kieron Dyer (free), Danny Gabbidon (free), DJ Campbell (undisclosed; £1.2 approx), which helped bolster their squad with some Premier League experience, these had a mediocre impact on the squad. Dyer was injured in the first game, unfortunate for him to be injured once more, Bothroyd and Campbell couldn't hit the ground running and often were rotated awkwardly to little effect on games.

Improvements had to be made in the squad, and with the new owner Tony Fernandes securing his ownership not long before the transfer deadline it made for some interesting stories.
The main story was Joey Barton, a favourite at St James' Park to the fans, but not the board, after refusing to sign a new contract he ditched his boyhood club and moved to QPR on a free, Barton was optimistic about the move and felt it was a 'relief' to move.
More faces joined after this before the transfer window closed;

• Defender Luke Young from Aston Villa
• Armand Traore from Arsenal
• Shaun Wright-Phillips from Manchester City
• Anton Ferdinand from Sunderland

From Telegraph Online

All of these signings were listed as 'undisclosed' so who knows how much money these guys were bought for, but knowing Wright-Phillips and Traore from the past I'm sure it's on large wages, wonder how a 18,000 crowd will fund this. A few ego's in the squad as well, Wright-Phillips and Traore again have had a few tantrums fits at their past clubs by being left out or not being allowed to move (remember Wright-Phillips at Chelsea?) clubs. It was up to Warnock to gel these players into a team that could avoid relegation and push forward as the owner saw, often making fanciful statements such as building a 40-50,000 stadium etc. I may be hypocritical as a Pompey fan, these things were all promised to us many, many times, but over a long period, not in 3-4 months!


After the international break it was time to put the new signings to the test and after a promising but dull game against Newcastle at home their form turned Jekyll & Hyde, with some good performances in the mix as well, highlights were the plucky 3-2 loss to Manchester City where QPR kept knocking on the high-spending club goal mouth and nearly came away with a valuable point. There was the win against Chelsea which saw 2 red cards early on and John Terry giving the FA another reason why he isn't a suitable captain (but they are blind as dead people). By the end of year they had 4 wins, 5 draws and 10 losses, now when you analyse this with the amount of investment the new owner put into the club to try improve their form it's understandable why they have been faltering.

It's hard to put on what is the exact problem behind their poor form this season, as they have the talent to push forward and achieve more wins, one player I think may have a negative effect is Adel Taraabt, I've never liked his attitude, he has too many tantrums for a footballer! He would be a top player at a top club one day if he curbed his attitude, he has the quality and natural talent to succeed.
But overall the team hasn't gelled very well I don't think, if you compare QPR to the other promoted teams they are not as slick or fluent as total-football Swansea or rugged Norwich, they simply cannot survive if they continue to invest in highly paid transfers, they already have a striker overload without one main goalscorer (unless you count Helgusson), it all looks worrying, and I'm sure Hoops fans are already dreading the coming months, as it could be another trip to Barnsley away on a Tuesday evening if results keep going this way!


I hope this made some sense, as it felt like I rambled towards the end....but that's how I feel about QPR, I'm not the biggest fan of the club, nor Warnock. Rumours so far all point to Mark Hughes taking over within 48 hours.

Marko that! Portsmouth vs Watford

Heady days at the moment to be a Portsmouth fan, on the upside is that after yesterdays result we are unbeaten at home since the 3-2 loss to Peterborough, another is the rise of Marko Futacs into the first team. The 6ft 5' Hungarian striker has burst onto the scene after a few cameo appearances throughout the season (first time I've seen him play properly since FC Rostov and Saints game), after finishing emphatically against Leicester he was given his second start against Watford, but more of that later. I met him a few weeks back at work with his girlfriend (who was stunning) and was really friendly, no one recognised him.

I was apprehensive about this game, I think it's the fact when in the bookies prior to the game I read that Watford were on a 8 game unbeaten streak and then remembering how awful we played at the reverse fixture (worst game of football I've seen). I know from that game they have some very quick and skillful players such as Sordell and then big physical players like Iwelumo up front (he was a constant menace in the reverse fixture).
For us we had two suspensions (Halford and Ward) and injuries to count too (Rocha and Varney), it was a worry, especially with the possibility of Mokoena in defence against fast, quick players. After reading the line-up with Huseklepp, Kitson and Futacs heading our attack it sounded promising, but the first half would give a indication on how this would work.
The tribute to Len Phillips was well observed by all corners of the ground (something Watford fans aren't used to), including the away fans. The first half was entertaining for us, good passing play and pressing forward at any opportunity, Futacs and Kitson worked well together acting as holding forwards allowing everyone to get forward, it was still stifled and static at times allowing us to be punished in the midfield. Still have a lack of belief in our final third, I don't know why no one can just have a shot if they can? Do they fear ridicule? I mean it'll either go over, be saved, or go in, even go out for a corner! Kitson had a good shot at goal with a quick touch, swivel and volley but straight at Scott Loach, perhaps Norris and Kitson should have made their shots count better, as they had more time on the ball and wasted their shots at times, especially Kitson. By half time the BBC statistics said that Watford hadn't had a single shot on-target OR off-target, mind-boggling! Usually it's the other way around! Not that Watford had any chances during the first half, they had numerous but we eventually broke down the attacks and stifled it, often giving them little room to get the header or shot away, Sordell was the main danger man, quick on his feet!
A few bits of sloppy play here and there by Mokoena, kept being caught out time and again, luckily for us he wasn't punished by this, another was how slow we are to break out of the box, by the time it's kicked out Watford have got back into position! No urgency to get forward or playing it quickly.

Second half was perhaps the best team performance of the season by us I think, completely dominated the game and made Watford pay for being poor in the first half. After a lacklustre beginning in which the Fratton End went a bit silent for a while we pressed forward, constantly knocking on Watford's penalty box, after a cleared corner Lawrence and Norris combined for a quick corner and Norris crossed it deep to be met by Futacs who headed top corner to put us in the lead, well deserved for the lad as he worked hard during the game, him and Kitson were being a nuisance to the Watford defence (who may I add are quite short for defenders? With two 6ft 4/5 strikers in the box they were not going to win anything!) throughout the game. Straight from the restart we pressed again. Carl Dickinson fouled Liam Lawrence shortly after the goal which led to much banter between him and the fans, chants of "You're fucking useless, we've seen you before" etc. which led to him revealing his 'golden boys' later to the Fratton End, much to the guffawing Fratton End!

Futacs celebrating after scoring against Watford (from Daily Mail)

Then came what we thought was the 2nd goal, but wasn't, I thought Lawrence wasn't offside, Appleton doesn't believe he was either. After a quick break Mattock worked his way into a shooting opportunity and let rip a curling shot which Scott Loach was equal to but had to only palm it away Lawrence pounced on the looping ball to head into a exposed goal, cue jubilant celebrations but quickly quelled with the sight of the linesman's flag, it caught everyone by surprise, even Sky Sports News reported the goal before rescinding it.
A mention quickly to mention the Watford fans who cheekily chanted at us "Shall we sing a song for you" which was met by a few laughs since I seem to remember Vicarage Road is one of the quietest stadiums I've been at since Loftus Road! 1,700 out sang all of home fans I seem to remember! The banter stretched to a quick and silly "Da da da da fucking Eustace" when he came on a sub.
More pressing play from Pompey which kept us fans on our toes as we were hoping for the second killer goal in the last 15 minutes of the game after Lawrence's header was ruled out earlier, and our moment looked to come in the form of Scott Loach being sent off after handling outside the box while challenging the oncoming Futacs, it was hard to call from where I was sitting, I thought he impeded a goalscoring opportunity, but the reports say different and seem more correct. On came the young Jonathan Bond and boy was he tested after, we piled on the pressure once more, constantly looking for the killer goal, it didn't take long though. A cross by Erik into the box was mis-kicked by Mullins who then controlled once more and fired low into the net, game over, it was the killer goal we needed to make sure we got 3 precious points, the relief was felt all around the ground and probably the manager too. Nearly grabbed as Futacs beared down on goal, rounded the defender and let rip a thunderous shot that cannoned off the upright and over, what a hit it was! We all thought it was going in! The man of the match was a bit dubious (Henderson....), I personally would've either given it to Lawrence or Futacs, they played brilliantly and were instrumental to the victory, always moving into space and creating chances, especially Lawrence, finally getting back to his old self which is good!

Overall it was the best team performance of the season, we piled on the pressure and were right on top of the game throughout, after worrying about the game prior to kick-off I'm mightily relieved to come away with a 2-0 victory going into what is a tough fixture list ahead. Improved performances from Lawrence who has steadily improved and getting back to his best after a poor start to the season. I also think this is the first of many good performances from Marko Futacs, he has great skill and composure for someone his age and looks to be a real bargain if he continues to perform well. Has a cracking shot on him, as well as his heading ability, makes you wonder how the team will shape up after Varney is back from full fitness, maybe a 4-3-3 formation might appear? Who knows, but for now it's all about Marko Futacs and his explosive start to the starting line-up, long may it continue!

Up next is tricky games ahead, FA Cup away tie against Chelsea, title chasing West Ham and 'rivals' Cardiff in the next 3 weeks! Let's hope for some loan signings in the window, but that's for another blog! Play Up Pompey!

What a load of rubbish!

Sam Vokes went to Burnley on loan! Bastard! Open my mouth way too soon sometimes...should be a scout?

Saturday I went to the dreadful game that was Watford at Vicarage Road (which we have a bloody awful record there now). It was even worse than the Barnet game earlier in the season, the away faithful were treated to an abysmal display made worse by the fact Watford were playing only slightly better than us.

What I will say about Watford is that they showed what we lack, space, they broke in space with play being switched and using their large physical players to hold up the ball for their pacey wingers (again destroyed by pace...).
Chris Iwelumo was a constant menace throughout the game, Pearce had almost no chance going up against him at time, he even took out two players trying to kick the ball. Good crosses and nice passing helped Watford achieve their win, but like I've said earlier, it wasn't amazing football, just simple.

Portsmouth were undone in their lack of movement, very static play, the midfield kept getting choked unable to break out of their own half, often with people dropping out of positions to try help them out leaving us vulnerable. Kitson constantly made this movement which was alright, he does often win balls through this method, but that game he was like Buck Rodgers, floating into space but nothing to get out of it. It left a very hair-raising predicament that when Watford won the ball they instantly passed it out wide and broke down our defence who were still tracking back into their positions, Ben-Haim was constantly doing this the whole game, coming out of position too often with nothing to show for it.
The long-ball tactic was employed in the game as well, to no avail, it just didn't work, I don't know who thought it would be a good idea, as we don't have anyone with the pace to run behind the flick on (well if Kitson ever jumped for a ball!). Pearce and Huseklepp were the stand out players from the game, always focused and trying to salvage anything from the game! Huseklepp's free-kick right at the death gave us a glimmer of a consolation goal but Loach was equal to the free-kick (Huseklepp on set-pieces from now on please?), Peace again was a rock in that defence, constantly talking to the other defenders making sure they had their man covered.

I applaued Appleton as he got his post-match comments spot on and was refreshing to hear the honesty, I think he's getting a good idea of who is the dead-wood at the club (i.e. Ben-Haim, Kitson, Norris) and realising that players are being made to play awkward football, I mean even under Guy & Gray we still played this badly, just on those occasions we managed to capatalise on goalscoring opportunities. Nottingham Forest were on top of us first half until Huseklepp scored, Barnsley pegged us back for 30 minutes with their blistering pace and attacking threat (well Vaz Te being crap), and even Doncaster they had us on the back foot, so the pattern is across the previous games, not just this one.
The 'experts' at The News and Facebook already saying Appleton is a rubbish choice and should be given 1 month to prove himself.....rubbish! He's had 5-6 days to train with the players, hardly anytime to get to know them or even ask them to gel to his way of training. Hopefully he'll add a few more players to our beleaguered squad to give it more depth and fight for places in it, personally I think we need to go for a more 'defensive' formation for the next game against leicester, go for a 4-2-3-1 formation.
With this we will have a strong back line with two defensive midfielders sitting in front stopping the midfield from progressing and also helping slow down the play. Mullins and Mokoena/Norris/Ward could fit in these roles. Then have a combined attacking midfield of Huseklepp, Razak and Lawrence (if fit) with Varney as your lone striker and it will have a formidable attack as well as defence. As much as 4-4-2 is a great formation it does not reflect the positional strengths we have in the squad.
Here is a quick diagram of how it would look;

 

 

 

 

A 4-2-3-1 formation I feel would work better

This is only what I think....which is never always right. Only when 'scouting' players, ha!
Hopefully by Thursday Appleton will of raided the loan market for a few players to have until January, then the real test will begin for him.

Play Up Pompey! Dreading the Leicester game, return of Nugent.....hat-trick....I bet...

For the love of Vokes!

Michael Appleton was appointed on the 28th day of Portsmouth's search for a new manager and I feel very happy with the choice. I feel it will be one great piece of astute business by CSI, some fans feel he may not have managerial experience, but tell that to Brendan Rogers or Nigel Adkins who have done very well after being given their break by respective clubs (Watford and Scunthorpe). Still dreading a certain match if we don't perform better before then!

Onto potential loan signings with the new manager, especially since Bjorn Helge Riise has gone back to Fulham after a uneventful month on loan. I feel we could still do well in this market, maybe an out and out striker as opposed to a winger/striker, my personal favourite is Sam Vokes. He plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers and dosen't feature too much in Mick McCarthy's plans, in fact he scored a brace against Norway at the weekend against Norway;

Sam Vokes celebrating a brace for Wales against Norway

I'm sure a few games in the Championship will give him a good platform to prove to McCarthy that he can play at a high level and be good for us to fire in the goals alongside our other attacking players!

Perhaps also we might see a loan signing or two from Appleton's former club? A few good links there could prove valuable (maybe Chris Wood?) in the January transfer window.

In the mean time my tickets for Watford on the 19th. Seated in the 4th bloody row! Going to have to watch out for balls the whole game!

Thoughts on Michael Appleton

Today is 27 days since Steve Cotterill left Portsmouth and headed north to Nottingham Forest and after the many rumours and speculation on The News website and other media outlets the main candidate has emerged. A surprise perhaps, an assistant manager at The Hawthornes, one Michael Appleton who has been at the Midlands club for over 10 years, retiring through injury at the age of only 27 and quickly establishing himself as a grounded coach he quickly worked his way through the backroom staff up to his current position of Assistant Manager.

After doing a quick search on forums and news comment sections the Baggie fans seem in high praise of Appleton and his eagerness to manage, they say "he is not experienced to lead West Brom if Hodgson leaves, but Portsmouth would present a golden opportunity....good luck to him". There are many more posts that talk up his man management and eagerness to get into management, especially after his career was cut so short.
On the flip side the 'experts' at The News comment section are not as keen on Appleton, delusional at times in asking for managers such as Steve Coppell, Dave Jones or Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Let's break the reasons why they have been ruled out by myself and other journalists;

- Steve Coppell- Perhaps the fact he has left several clubs in the past citing 'lack of motivation', not the long-term option that the owners are looking for is it?

- Dave Jones- Already ruled himself out right at the beginning of the managerial search, he would prove to be an expensive appointment as he would refuse to work with a current set-up and wanting his own staff to come in. Plus a few chants of "Davey Jones sex offender" would put him off coming back to Fratton Park, however unfounded those chants are!

- Ole Gunnar Solskjær- Now he has garnered a lot of interest from a few clubs just by winning the Norwegian League title with Molde in his first season in charge, which is good for him, but come on, it's the Norwegian league! Probably the equivalent of League One over here (sorry to anyone from Norway reading this, but the football is quite slow paced and tedious). Rumour has it a famous Premier League manager has contacted Ole to persuade him not to return to England in great haste.

The only other manager I can see that fits the bill is Sean O'Driscoll, but he isn't a 100% fit for me, yes he did well with Doncaster on a very small budget, but he dosen't seem the best manager to take us forward.
I still see Appleton as the best person suited to this job, yes he may not have actual hands on experience of being a manager in the day to day sense, but all managers have to start somewhere! Look how well some young managers are doing i.e. Eddie Howe at Burnley, Villas-Boas at Porto/Chelsea, Josep Guardiola etc. They have had a good break and proved their worth as managers despite doubts at first. Plus with 7 years of experience as a coach at a Championship and Premier League level he will have knowledge of the leagues and what is needed of the players to perform on the pitch, especially when he's seen 2 promotions and 2 relegations since being at the club.
So in all I'm all in favour of Michael Appleton, I hope the club quickly put this enigma of negotiations and appoint him as soon as possible to get onto the training ground to implement his own changes.

Next blog might be about the Team GB squad possibilities...

Portsmouth vs Nottingham Forest; The Return of Cotterill

Last Saturday saw the return of Steve Cotterill to Fratton Park after leaving 3 weeks earlier to take over at Nottingham Forest. Since then the stats aren't bad for either team. With Forest winning 3 games in 4 since Cotterill took over, a impressive stat for the ex-Pompey boss, where as Portsmouth have won 3 in 5 games. Pompey were keen to get over that horrendous Derby game and the tense Crystal Palace game on Tuesday.

I personally was dreading this match, as despite Forest winning with little panache they were still Nottingham Forest. Big club with big players that can create good chances, thankfully Ishmael Miller was out injured, so one big striker to not worry about!

The lineup news was fantastic with a strong side that looked to go out and attack, a home debut to Abdul Razak whom sounded a handful for Derby in his short sub cameo. Huseklepp back in for injured Lawrence and Norris being captain.

The minute silence for Armed Forces Day was impeccably observed with not a word spoken, except the rumbles of traffic and the odd mobile phone. The referee marked the end of the silence and the Pompey Chimes rang out, game on!

Now the first half was quite tense in my eyes, always are as we never switch on! Excluding the first 15 minutes of the Doncaster game, we seemed to not be bothered! Constantly being pressed and attacked by the Forest players, who at least should've had scored a few of the chances they had, McGugan shouldn't of squared the ball, as the following player scuffed his touch and allowed Henderson to run out and smother the ball. Ben-Haim kept losing possession and leaving his position exposed, the short passing was awful, too narrow and never looking to go forward! After corners there was no rush to get forward, except for Razak. Speaking of the young midfielder he hasn't got used to the Championship, his passing was alright, but you could see his quality, with a few good turns and crosses he looks to be a good loan signing.
Then came our goal, a good flowing move which Forest blocked fell to Mullins whom teed up a volley which crashed off the crossbar which I thought went in off it and so did most the ground whom went to celebrate, hoofed out by Forest which Huseklepp picked up, turned and ran on the edge of the box and unleashed a curling strike which fired into the top corner, superb!  It was a great goal by the Norwegian and you could see he enjoyed it just as much as we did! The goal looked like the ones we saw on YouTube when researching his name when signed.

Half time signalled an interesting fact, it was the first time we went into the second half in the lead this season! Half time also had the amusing 50/50 draw where a Mr Coppell was the winner, those around us had a laugh thinking it was the ex-Bristol City manager.

Second half started slow, passing game which kept pinging around the midfield, poor passing and play by both sides made it stifling to push forward. Forest kept taking corners exactly the same, but at times were threatening as if it hit anyone it might of gone in! Razak made a beautiful pass, dummied the defenders passing to Varney whom squared it to Norris, shooting which was saved by Camp looping the ball into the air which Varney quickly pounced to head narrowly over! Good build up play by Razak and Varney.
Forest had a good chance with a poor clearance falling to Findley who turned and struck a sure goal but Henderson saved it with a superb outstreched hand! Great save by the 24 year old, keeping Ashdown on the bench once more! Kitson was pressing and chasing down balls constantly this half making an utter nuiscance of himself, he was playing to prove a point to Cotterill, and prove it he did! Corner in the 75th minute which was whipped in by Huseklepp and Kitson rose up to head the ball home, game on, the banter began after this! The various chants were hilarious and set a great atmosphere for the rest of the game (which even Cotterill enjoyed), here are some of the best;

• "4-4-2, 4-4-2, 4-4-2!"
• "Stevie Cotterill, your taxi's outside!"
• "Should've stuck with McClaren! Stuck with McClaren"
• The constant whey's when decisions were given for us
• "2-0 to the 4-4-2"

One chant I always find a little disrespectful is the "There's only one Jamie Ashdown" chant, it is quite annoying since Henderson is proving to be a better keeper at the moment. As Benjani is only sung to when he's on the pitch, same as Kanu.
Later in the game we were still pressing forward looking for another goal, some scrappy play led to the 3rd goal of the afternoon which was crossed in by Norris after picking up a failed cross and crossed it low which Erik struck round the defender and beyond Lee Camp, another nice finish by the Norwegian! Not long after was another chance! Halford with a downward header which only just hit the bar and went over, inches more lower and it might of crashed in off the crossbar! That's the 4th time I've seen Halford hit the woodwork this season!
Full time and a good victory in the bag, it's been a good progression from the boring stand-off football Cotterill played into a good working team under Guy & Gray, with all this talk about new managers they have done very well to keep focused throughout, hats off to them!

Perhaps another blog about the main candidate? Maybe so, but after a nice Battlefield 3 session first!

So another 3 points, up to 16th! Play Up Pompey!