Perspective is an interesting thing. I've had an ear infection for a few days, which along with Pool's ongoing injury crisis plus the general ennui of CovidUk life has left me a little flat.
Enter a book on Dynamo Kiev and the experiences of their players leading up to and during WW2. I've just read a bit about their goalkeeper being shot in the knee whilst carrying out a daring raid on a German trench. Previously I winced through descriptions of their star forward having his fingers broken one by one by the Stalinist secret police for no apparent reason at all. Currently, at the point I've put the book down (2pm, matchday), it's late 1941 and two of our heroes have escaped being sent to a death camp by hiding in a big pile of laundry.
This might have absolutely fuck all to do with the game today, but it reminds me that having a few players with muscle injuries and not being able to go to TK Maxx isn't all that bad really on the grand scale of things. Whether we go on a play off run or not.
The team sheet is in and it looks as if Jimmy Husband is taking his topknot to central defence. Hmmm.
I'm all for giving decisions time to work but I'm really not sure about this. I know Thorniley missed a poor header on Tuesday but we kept a clean sheet and he's done ok in general and he *is a central defender* and *Jimmy isn't.* We'll see I guess. I assume it's an attempt to inject some (relative) pace into the back line that might otherwise be caught out.
On the flip side, I'm heartened to see Ward on the right, a player I think we can get more out of and with our central midfield options being such as they are I can't see how we could really add any creativity anywhere other than the right flank.
The key will be getting service to Simms in some way that isn't banging it at him as if he's big Gaz. He isn't and won't ever be. Hopefully having some skill and technical ability on both flanks will aide that with both Ward and Sullay able to drift inside and pick a pass, which is how you need to feed a player like Simms. The return of fragile Luke should also help us in that respect though if he's taking the free kicks and corners off Sullay, he better take them well as the Sull has just got into a bit of a groove again finally.
To the barricades Pool! The motherland is calling!
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As we approach kick off, the screen at Fratton Park shows a surprising claim that Ronaldinho considers it the greatest atmosphere in world football. Not today sadly, though not hearing that fucking bell is always a bonus.
There are early shouts for a penalty as Maxwell charges out to claim a loose ball and Pompey player gets in the way. Critch patrols the touchline, looking like Paul Daniels in a big coat, deep in thought about a difficult magic trick. I check that Jimmy's man bun is present and correct. It is. Garbutt's hair is of course, immaculate. Vosene Luke links brilliantly with Sullay who slips Simms through. He pulls back and Yates is denied by an excellent bit of desperate defensive work, a sliding challenge that hits at exactly the point Yates is about to smash it home.
Pool are competing early on. Ward and Kaikai both get crosses in, Yates and his typical harrying creates a bit of uncertainty. Pompey are competing too though and Ballard is lucky to get away with some holding at a set piece as it's evident he has a fist full of blue shirt as he battles with his man.
Sullay is looking busy. First, bursting the length of the pitch in a counter from the corner, then cutting inside and winning a free kick 25 yards out which Pantene Luke stuns at the near post, seeing it turned round by the keeper. From the corner, Pool play really nice triangles but ultimately the aesthetic quality of the play is undermined by the fact they singularly fail to get a cross in and the move ends after about 8 touches with Garbutt falling over.
Pool perform a similar feat at the other end, working the ball out to Garbutt from Maxwell via Ballard and then all all the way back. It takes a very neat turn from Maxwell to take the ball away from the oncoming Marquiss.
The quality has dropped a bit. Pool win a corner from a long Husband ball that is poorly cleared. It's under the bar but headed away. Pompey have a free kick that Maxwell comes miles out and misses but it goes for a goal kick.
The referee who has terrific eyebrows is blowing the whistle a lot and the game feels a bit scrappy. Pool show a little though as Grant Ward shows what an actual winger can do, accelerating into a small space and crossing nicely for Simms to head over the top.
Then, somehow it stays even, Pompey get a set piece to the far post, there's one shot which is beaten away but it drops to a Pompey man who belts it, Husband falls like a felled tree and chests it off the line quite brilliantly.
Simms gets mystifyingly booked for the crime of getting shoulder charged. He has the look of a 70s disco icon, John Marquiss for them looks as if he should be fronting a skiffle band. Whilst we're on it, Dougall looks a bit like he should front a rubbish emo band. I can't decide if Jerry Yates is in a laddish indie group that don't do very well or a really bad grime MC. Their no 19 could be a female soul singer (with a beard, it's 2021, what IS gender?) whilst one of their centre halves could be Shane McGowan's stunt double and their no7 is a session musician for Pearl Jam. That I'm speculating on the musical aesthetics of various players is because about 10 minutes has happened without anything other than a nice raking crossfield ball by Sullay being worth mentioning.
There are early shouts for a penalty as Maxwell charges out to claim a loose ball and Pompey player gets in the way. Critch patrols the touchline, looking like Paul Daniels in a big coat, deep in thought about a difficult magic trick. I check that Jimmy's man bun is present and correct. It is. Garbutt's hair is of course, immaculate. Vosene Luke links brilliantly with Sullay who slips Simms through. He pulls back and Yates is denied by an excellent bit of desperate defensive work, a sliding challenge that hits at exactly the point Yates is about to smash it home.
Pool are competing early on. Ward and Kaikai both get crosses in, Yates and his typical harrying creates a bit of uncertainty. Pompey are competing too though and Ballard is lucky to get away with some holding at a set piece as it's evident he has a fist full of blue shirt as he battles with his man.
Sullay is looking busy. First, bursting the length of the pitch in a counter from the corner, then cutting inside and winning a free kick 25 yards out which Pantene Luke stuns at the near post, seeing it turned round by the keeper. From the corner, Pool play really nice triangles but ultimately the aesthetic quality of the play is undermined by the fact they singularly fail to get a cross in and the move ends after about 8 touches with Garbutt falling over.
Pool perform a similar feat at the other end, working the ball out to Garbutt from Maxwell via Ballard and then all all the way back. It takes a very neat turn from Maxwell to take the ball away from the oncoming Marquiss.
The quality has dropped a bit. Pool win a corner from a long Husband ball that is poorly cleared. It's under the bar but headed away. Pompey have a free kick that Maxwell comes miles out and misses but it goes for a goal kick.
The referee who has terrific eyebrows is blowing the whistle a lot and the game feels a bit scrappy. Pool show a little though as Grant Ward shows what an actual winger can do, accelerating into a small space and crossing nicely for Simms to head over the top.
Then, somehow it stays even, Pompey get a set piece to the far post, there's one shot which is beaten away but it drops to a Pompey man who belts it, Husband falls like a felled tree and chests it off the line quite brilliantly.
Simms gets mystifyingly booked for the crime of getting shoulder charged. He has the look of a 70s disco icon, John Marquiss for them looks as if he should be fronting a skiffle band. Whilst we're on it, Dougall looks a bit like he should front a rubbish emo band. I can't decide if Jerry Yates is in a laddish indie group that don't do very well or a really bad grime MC. Their no 19 could be a female soul singer (with a beard, it's 2021, what IS gender?) whilst one of their centre halves could be Shane McGowan's stunt double and their no7 is a session musician for Pearl Jam. That I'm speculating on the musical aesthetics of various players is because about 10 minutes has happened without anything other than a nice raking crossfield ball by Sullay being worth mentioning.
As the half finishes there's a vague sense of Pompey pressure that doesn't really manifest itself as anything more than a corner and a loopy cross to the far post. It's not so much that Pompey are putting the pressure on, but that we've stopped.
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Like Ipswich we started quite brightly but we've struggled to make anything much happen in the latter part of the half. It's not sticking up top. I'm not having a go at Simms but so many times he's on the wrong side for a target man, looking to run off someone else as opposed to winning the ball for himself.
It's been a fractious game and the ref hasn't really let it flow. I'm not sure what we do at half time given as there's no obvious way to get more presence up front. What I do notice about us, is we almost never shift tactics first and we're struggling to get a grip on the midfield or win the ball up front so, heresy it maybe, I'd be tempted to strengthen the midfield at the cost of a striker and see if we can make the extra man count there with Virtue combative nature the obvious figure to play in front of Dougall and Stewart.
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Like Ipswich we started quite brightly but we've struggled to make anything much happen in the latter part of the half. It's not sticking up top. I'm not having a go at Simms but so many times he's on the wrong side for a target man, looking to run off someone else as opposed to winning the ball for himself.
It's been a fractious game and the ref hasn't really let it flow. I'm not sure what we do at half time given as there's no obvious way to get more presence up front. What I do notice about us, is we almost never shift tactics first and we're struggling to get a grip on the midfield or win the ball up front so, heresy it maybe, I'd be tempted to strengthen the midfield at the cost of a striker and see if we can make the extra man count there with Virtue combative nature the obvious figure to play in front of Dougall and Stewart.
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So, Simms IS off but it's headless promisingly pacy Demi on instead. This could be fun. Sullay is going into the middle and we have a left foot/right foot left/right wing combo. Praise the lord. Kaikai responds to the challenge with a ropy pass and then running into Kevin Stewart and falling over. Demi has his first run a minute later, almost exchanging passes with Yates but just being cut off as he tries to burst into the box.
Pompey have a couple of moves forward, once cutting in from the right, swapping passes in the box neatly but not finding a shot, the other a cross just too high to be met with power. Pool in response offer a through ball from Sullay that doesn't quite feed Yates and a nice move that builds from excellent defensive work from Gabriel, goes through some quality passing but founders on a poor ball from Yates.
Sullay spreads it beautifully for Ward but he can''t beat his man. A moment later Sullay threads another delicious pass but Ward takes a heavy touch and the chance goes rolling behind.
Critch continues to ponder things, helpfully tamping down a loose bit of turf as he does. What a nice man.
Pool build up nicely and then Ward puts one of the worst crosses I've ever seen in, the idea was a swirling ball into the mixer, the reality was a shank deep into the fading seats behind the goal. Play continues in this fashion, both teams lacking quality. When the right ball is played, no one reads it and when they do, the ball is poor... We even end up with two balls on the pitch at one point.
Like the first half, the longer the second goes, the more Pompey assert themselves. A pull back has to be cut out at the near post, Maxwell has to claim a cross. It's not a lot but it's a bit of intent.
Critch has an idea. He's deep in conversation revealing the plan to Embleton as Garbutt launches a free kick forward. The free kick breaks down, Pompey break and another dangerous ball whistles in and is nodded away for a corner.
The now informed Embleton comes on for Sullay. Presumably the top secret instructions were 'Go and do what Sullay is doing, but better' Dougall picks out Mitchell with a lovely pass, Demi runs forward with aggression and then makes to slip Yates through on the edge of the box. Poor old Jerry is easily manoeuvred off the ball though.
Then some genuinely great work from Mitchell, picking the ball up on the edge of the box and charging forward, all through the middle, riding a challenge, stumbling but staying on his feet then getting his head up and laying it to Embleton. The loan man, takes it in, pushes it out of his feet and shoots, the keeper sprawls, saves and it falls to Garbutt who absolutely cracks one like an angry russian sniper (with lovely hair) but it grazes a defender and goes wide.
Pool are looking better all of a sudden.
Embleton stuns the ball deep, a nice touch, then he spots Yates ahead of him and hits a quick ball forward, Jerry rolls his man, goes to ground but gets up and runs at the defence, charging hard down the right, he's got three to beat... He looks like he's going inside, then outside, he works a yard with a little shimmy then clips it with beautiful precision, past the keepers hand, the ball kissing the netting just a few centimetres behind the far post. It's a beautiful finish.
Pompey manage a few shots from the edge of the area in response. Virtue comes on for Grant Ward. Embleton is well involved again in nice build up play that results in a terrific Garbutt cross that the keeper has to desperately dive and punch away.
3 minutes of added time elapse. There's a scary moment when Pompey lift one to the far post, win the knock on and no one seems able to clear until the excellent Gabriel takes the ball and runs as hard as he can with it away from danger.
Pompey have a couple of moves forward, once cutting in from the right, swapping passes in the box neatly but not finding a shot, the other a cross just too high to be met with power. Pool in response offer a through ball from Sullay that doesn't quite feed Yates and a nice move that builds from excellent defensive work from Gabriel, goes through some quality passing but founders on a poor ball from Yates.
Sullay spreads it beautifully for Ward but he can''t beat his man. A moment later Sullay threads another delicious pass but Ward takes a heavy touch and the chance goes rolling behind.
Critch continues to ponder things, helpfully tamping down a loose bit of turf as he does. What a nice man.
Pool build up nicely and then Ward puts one of the worst crosses I've ever seen in, the idea was a swirling ball into the mixer, the reality was a shank deep into the fading seats behind the goal. Play continues in this fashion, both teams lacking quality. When the right ball is played, no one reads it and when they do, the ball is poor... We even end up with two balls on the pitch at one point.
Like the first half, the longer the second goes, the more Pompey assert themselves. A pull back has to be cut out at the near post, Maxwell has to claim a cross. It's not a lot but it's a bit of intent.
Critch has an idea. He's deep in conversation revealing the plan to Embleton as Garbutt launches a free kick forward. The free kick breaks down, Pompey break and another dangerous ball whistles in and is nodded away for a corner.
The now informed Embleton comes on for Sullay. Presumably the top secret instructions were 'Go and do what Sullay is doing, but better' Dougall picks out Mitchell with a lovely pass, Demi runs forward with aggression and then makes to slip Yates through on the edge of the box. Poor old Jerry is easily manoeuvred off the ball though.
Then some genuinely great work from Mitchell, picking the ball up on the edge of the box and charging forward, all through the middle, riding a challenge, stumbling but staying on his feet then getting his head up and laying it to Embleton. The loan man, takes it in, pushes it out of his feet and shoots, the keeper sprawls, saves and it falls to Garbutt who absolutely cracks one like an angry russian sniper (with lovely hair) but it grazes a defender and goes wide.
Pool are looking better all of a sudden.
Embleton stuns the ball deep, a nice touch, then he spots Yates ahead of him and hits a quick ball forward, Jerry rolls his man, goes to ground but gets up and runs at the defence, charging hard down the right, he's got three to beat... He looks like he's going inside, then outside, he works a yard with a little shimmy then clips it with beautiful precision, past the keepers hand, the ball kissing the netting just a few centimetres behind the far post. It's a beautiful finish.
Pompey manage a few shots from the edge of the area in response. Virtue comes on for Grant Ward. Embleton is well involved again in nice build up play that results in a terrific Garbutt cross that the keeper has to desperately dive and punch away.
3 minutes of added time elapse. There's a scary moment when Pompey lift one to the far post, win the knock on and no one seems able to clear until the excellent Gabriel takes the ball and runs as hard as he can with it away from danger.
The whistle goes. Critch has a quietly satisfied trudge about him as opposed to a world weary one. He's too reserved to be jaunty and overly demonstrative in victory, but you can tell he's going to go and kick the dressing room door and swear in delight when he gets out of public view. Mike Garrity is really excited at his side, like a kid talking to his dad about something in a computer game that his dad isn't very interested in... There's a nice hug between Maxwell and Critch and then a big bald fella comes out with a sinister black bag and with great ceremony, puts the match ball in it. Imagine that being your job? I envy him.
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It's a brilliant three points. We didn't look especially good for long periods of the game, but neither did Pompey. Embleton linked thinks up really well when he came on and his freshness offered us a bit more going forward. He's got a nice touch and is quick thinking and has attack in his mind. Yates did a classic job, frustratingly impotent for long periods but then deadly when it mattered. Mitchell also did well, offering drive and intent. Critch's subs have been criticised (including by me) but he did well today, making sensible changes that influenced the game and significantly, moving first before the opposition do, something we've not seen very much if at all.
The defence did a really good job. Husband manfully battling out of position and doing a good job (not even getting booked!) Ballard recovering from what I thought was a slow start to really settle back in nicely. Garbutt was similar, you could tell both hadn't played for a while. It's almost not worth saying that Gabriel was excellent as he just about always is.
Not a great game, who gives a fuck though?! It's odd how Rochdale felt a bit of a let down cos we played really well for the first bit of the game then rubbish for the rest, but this feels much, much better cos we ended the game well despite not being brilliant earlier on. Both 1-0 wins, both 3 points, but whilst I've not been impressed with Portsmouth either time I've seen them this year, winning there is no small achievement.
My ear still hurts, but my soul is lifted (to the nosebleed heights of 13th.) We're mid table with games in hand, not caught between Stalin and Hitler in a mad period of terror and no food, so all is good in the world.
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It's a brilliant three points. We didn't look especially good for long periods of the game, but neither did Pompey. Embleton linked thinks up really well when he came on and his freshness offered us a bit more going forward. He's got a nice touch and is quick thinking and has attack in his mind. Yates did a classic job, frustratingly impotent for long periods but then deadly when it mattered. Mitchell also did well, offering drive and intent. Critch's subs have been criticised (including by me) but he did well today, making sensible changes that influenced the game and significantly, moving first before the opposition do, something we've not seen very much if at all.
The defence did a really good job. Husband manfully battling out of position and doing a good job (not even getting booked!) Ballard recovering from what I thought was a slow start to really settle back in nicely. Garbutt was similar, you could tell both hadn't played for a while. It's almost not worth saying that Gabriel was excellent as he just about always is.
Not a great game, who gives a fuck though?! It's odd how Rochdale felt a bit of a let down cos we played really well for the first bit of the game then rubbish for the rest, but this feels much, much better cos we ended the game well despite not being brilliant earlier on. Both 1-0 wins, both 3 points, but whilst I've not been impressed with Portsmouth either time I've seen them this year, winning there is no small achievement.
My ear still hurts, but my soul is lifted (to the nosebleed heights of 13th.) We're mid table with games in hand, not caught between Stalin and Hitler in a mad period of terror and no food, so all is good in the world.
utmp
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