Albert's Pompey News

The Big Match Revisited

2008-05-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

Pompey 1 Chelsea 1. Monday's Match Reports

2008-02-04T03:35:00.000-08:00

The Times (who gave Diarra a 9/10)
The Guardian (which is mostly about Redknapp's relationship with Avram Grant)
The Telegraph (which is about the same stuff as the Guardian)
The Independent (which is also about Grant)
The Mirror. (Also about Grant and also gave Diarra 9/10)
The Sun (Similar article as the rest - but has the best pictures)

Pompey 1 Chelsea 1. Match Reports.

2008-02-03T01:59:00.000-08:00

The Sunday Times.
The Observer./Guardian
Telegraph.
Independent.
Mail.
Sun./NOTW.

Harry and Defoe's comments after the Chelsea draw

2008-02-02T13:32:00.000-08:00

..'twas a good result and from what I've read/heard it seemed like a good game

That was a long break from blogging

2008-02-02T11:21:00.000-08:00

...I guess there may have been one or two people that found this blog useful, and I guess I quite like doing it - but I've been busy for most of the last couple of months - hence no updates.

But maybe that isn't the whole story - if you want to do something then you can always finds the time and the way. I noticed that I stopped the regular updates about the time Harry was arrested, which was something that I thought stank whichever way you look at it.

And here are some other things that I have found irritating over the last couple of months:

The falling through of the proposed training facilities at Titchfield.
The selling of Matt T (there are not many who did so much to keep us in the Premiership)
The rumours of Gaydamak selling the club.
The stupidity of the timing of the ACN.
The woeful performances against poor teams. (Drew against the top 4 - lost against Sunderland; Middlesborough used to do that and I hated them for it)
The ridiculous goings on with Harry and Newcastle.
This nonsense with Benjani and Man. City

Of course not all these things can be blamed on Pompey - and maybe some of the decisions were for the best - but it did all too combine to grind my noodle and probably contributed to my stopping this blog for a while.

VILLA 1 POMPEY 3

2007-12-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

Monday's Match Reports Villa 1 Pompey 3

2007-12-10T02:27:00.000-08:00

Some good reading here - especially from the broadsheets.
The Times
The Guardian.
The Telegraph.
(Also from the Telegraph - an article about Glen Johnson and the possibility of his playing for England.)
The Independent.
The Sun. (Not really a match report- more an interview with Distin about foreign players in the Premiership.)
(This is not a match report - it's also from the Sun and it's about Harry's anger over his arrest and what he may do about it.)
The Mail
The Mirror.

Match Reports. AV 1 - Pompey 3

2007-12-09T02:30:00.000-08:00

Times
Observer.
Telegraph.
Independent.
Mail.
The Sun.

Harry After Pompey Thrashed ( Yes - Thrashed) Villa 3-1

2007-12-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

Monday"s Match Reports- Pompey Everton

2007-12-03T05:57:00.000-08:00

The Times (in which Phil Neville gives support to Harry)
The Guardian (..and this article is almost identical to the Times')
The Telegraph (lousy piece of journalism by someone who thinks journalists are much more important than they are -reading this made me grumpy)
The Mirror (more about Sol talking about the future of the club)
The Independent. (Made Mendes MotM - an opinion that I have not seen or heard anywhere else - and the Independent always loads really slowly)

Could not find a match report in the Mail- but there was this article about Sol's take on the club's future.

This is from a Nigerian newspaper - apparently there was a meeting after the Pompey- Everton game between some of the players and the Nigerian FA about Nigeria's plans for the ANC.

This is a couple of days old - and it does not say anything really new -but it's about Pompey and it's from the FT and I've never linked to them before.

Like this- an "On This Day" blog about football - and according to the blog today is the day that Harry returned to Pompey from up the road.

Pompey Everton. Match Reports

2007-12-02T05:22:00.000-08:00

The Times.
The Observer.
The Telegraph.
Independent.
The Sun.
The Mail.

Peter Crouch on Prosinecki

2007-11-30T05:40:00.000-08:00

The following piece from the Independent was part of the preview of the England - Croatia game - I've posted this part of the article here because the rest of the piece was a bit depressing and because links to the Independent always open really slowly.

Croatia's 40-a-day man helped set England striker on fire

Peter Crouch will lead England's attack tomorrow and in the Croatia dugout will be a former European Cup-winner who knows the Liverpool striker well. Now Slaven Bilic's assistant, Robert Prosinecki once played for Real Madrid and Barcelona but, at the end of his career, a spell with Portsmouth, then owned by his friend Milan Mandaric, coincided with the rise of the young Crouch – just 20 years old at the time.

For the brief time that Crouch and Prosinecki were at Pompey they were one of the deadliest – and most unusual – partnerships the Championship had seen. Despite a love of cigarettes and questionable fitness, Prosinecki – the only man to score for two separate teams at two World Cup finals (Yugoslavia and Croatia) – had an unerring habit of picking out Crouch with crosses.

Crouch scored 19 goals in eight months at Fratton Park, most of them from the crosses of Prosinecki.

Yesterday Crouch described Prosinecki as "like David Beckham with the quality of his delivery".

Crouch, who left Portsmouth in a £5m move to Aston Villa in February 2002, recalled in his autobiography Walking Tall that Prosinecki was an "amazing player" especially for someone who "smoked about 40 cigarettes a day. He caned them," Crouch wrote. "They were Marlboro Reds, too, not for the faint-hearted. He was a top, top player but very different from what we were used to. We were English lads playing for Portsmouth and suddenly we had this massively famous player among us. He didn't do much running – he couldn't run really – but he was a fantastic player."

Sam Wallace. Independent.

Matty Taylor is thinking about his future...

2007-11-30T04:07:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit lacksidasical with my blogging this week so I'll post a bunch of stuff that I've missed this week - but if I've time I'll do another post with tomorrow's match previews.

Here is Matt T's blog and he hints that he wants to leave - also what he says about Harry puts both of them in a good light in my view.

This article is probably very very libellous but sort of worth reading - it's about how everyone in the whole world is corrupt.

This is David James' Blog from the Observer - the story has been repeated everywhere over the week

Handy Pompey blog this with some really nice photos

An oldish story about Benjy rejecting Juve - I've only posted it because of the headline (Premierships Top Scorer Rejects Juventus). Glad he's staying and guess what - he's only gone and got himself a new contract on the back of the story. Who'dathunkit.

Here's an opinion piece from Scottish Fitba (which was written before the arrest)

Article about Songo'o 's loan at Palace not working out. (Also mentions Shaun Derry - I thought he was older than 29- don't know why)

This blog has the story that Harry is interested in Crouch - which is hardly a new story but I liked the fact that this blogger also had a blog dedicated to the Miss Universe competition.

A blog- very nicely illustrated - by an ex-pat who is very excited about coming back to Pompey where he will be going to see the Everton game. (...great timing because it is set up to be one hell of a match - yeah I know - it'll be 0-0). I've included it in my postings
- a) because I liked the blog and
-b) it had a picture of the Tricorn.

I'm not sure what this is for- but I quite liked it - it's a match report from a Pompey Newcastle match in 1952 - but I think it was written last week. Most odd . (Eurosport somtimes shows old matches with a modern commentary tagged on - which was weird- hearing the commentator and pundit discussing whether Cruyff or Beckenbauer would come out on top in the 74 World Cup Final - when you know that they already know the answer.)

This is the vaguest of vague rumours about a Ghanaian player.

And this is connecting us to Leroy Lita

Here's some sort of marketing thing that Pompey are launching. (I don't know - sometimes I find myself thinking that they are only really interested in the fan's money).

This blogger who has nothing to do with Portsmouth says exactly what I think about the arrest.

Up Pompey did not win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. It was won by Duncan Hamilton's "Provided You Don't Kiss Me" which is about Brian Clough and which I'm reading at the moment and just in case anyone reading this cares what I think about stuff I'll review it on my Mild and Bitter Blog when I've finished it. From what I've read so far it's really excellent.

This a games blog responding to the notion that computer games are the cause of the decline of English football. It's a nice piece and takes Harry's comments on the subject seriously.

This is Cacapa - the Newcastle defender who had a nightmare against Pompey a couple of weeks ago. He says it was not his fault- it's just that his legs were not working properly (hamstring problem)

This blog, from a student in Myanmar, has come up with a list of recommendations to other clubs and managers made by Sir Alex Ferguson and how they have panned out - (the Pompey connection comes in the recommendation of Yakubu to Harry by Sir Alex). Despite the occasional odd turn of phrase (though of course his English is way better than my Burmese) I thought this piece was worth reading.

Harry's Press Conference

2007-11-29T05:50:00.000-08:00

..he's right - even if he was guilty he's hardly Tony Soprano so the dawn raids were totally unnecessary.

Has Harry Redknapp Been Arrested

2007-11-28T10:00:00.001-08:00

This is being reported on a site called This is London- which I think is owned by the Standard.

Innocent until proven guilty I say...

Premier League manager Harry Redknapp arrested in football bungs probe

28.11.07

Police investigating corruption in football today arrested Harry Redknapp, Milan Mandaric and three other men in their biggest operation so far.

The Portsmouth manager and Leicester chairman were held in pre-dawn raids this morning which involved more than 60 officers from the City of London Police.

Scroll down for more

Tottenham's Pascal Chimbonda has already been arrested

Rangers midfielder Amdy Faye, agent Willie McKay and Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie were also held as officers searched eight addresses across the UK.

The move is believed to be a significant development in the inquiry wgich will now focus on the transfer of Faye from Auxerre to Portsmouth for £1.5million in 2005 and his subsequent move to Newcastle for £2m the following year.

When Faye made the switch to Portsmouth, Mandaric was still the chairman at Fratton Park and Redknapp was again the club's manager when the midfielder went to St James' Park.

The arrests come after the arrest in September of Tottenham defender Pascal Chimbonda. The 28-year-old French international moved to Spurs in a £4.5m transfer from Wigan in August of last year and was the first player to be held in the City of London police inquiry.

Today police refused to give details of the identity of those held, beyond giving their ages as 69, 60, 55, 48 and 30.

A police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that they have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.

"The arrests are part of the City of London police's investigation into football corruption." The City police's economic crime department launched the investigation, code-named Operation Apprentice, into alleged corruption in the sport more than a year ago.

Two people have been held so far. As well as Chimbonda, who was arrested on suspicion of fraud, a 61-year old man has been held on suspicion of money laundering.

Both men are on police bail pending further inquiries. The investigation centres on alleged tax fraud and money laundering — which is believed to include claims of individuals taking back-handers in relation to transfers. Since the inquiry was launched, detectives have raided Newcastle, Portsmouth and Glasgow Rangers.

Chimbonda's transfer was negotiated by McKay, who represents a number of top foreign players.

A former bookie, McKay, has denied that he is being investigated by police and has said: "I think you will probably find when it all comes out, it will be nothing."

Went To Ipswich Last Night

2007-11-28T02:38:00.000-08:00

and the opposition's support was pretty poor I thought.

When Pompey were last there -that section was pretty full even though it was an early round of the FA Cup, people were a little unsure about HR's return and there were no trains running from London to Ipswich.

Harry podcast Interview From Times

2007-11-27T00:43:00.000-08:00

Click on the photo to hear the Times Podcast - the Harry interview is about 15 minutes in.
(If the link does not work then you can find the interview on this page).

Harry and England

2007-11-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

.. been a lot of stuff on the subject of England and Harry since last Wednesday. Unfortunately I lost my Internet connection (thanks to B bloody T) for a couple a days so I have not really posted anything about the subject.

Anyway these people are all making a case for Harry (some are a few days old.)

The Sun ,(or at least their Chief Sports Writer), is in Harry's corner.
As is Sol C., again in the Sun.
And so does Joe Lovejoy in the Times.
In fact they argue Harry's case twice. This one from the Sunday Times.
And Paul Jewell also argues Harry's case.
And so does Avram Grant.
And so does Harry.
And so does Krancjar.
And there are websites like this one (which argues that he would be a good choice but then calls him twitching lazy eyed Harry - which I thought was quite rude).

But Tony A. does not, out of respect for Pompey. Football's a funny thing - I used to think Adams was a chump - but now I think he is a staunch, 4-square footballing colossus. And a gent to boot.

If anyone has been on Mars here are some links from last week which sort of trace how Harry started to be taken seriously as a contender.

This is from Vitalfootball and it's from last week - before England lost to Croatia - and I'm just posting it because Harry proved to be right about Carson being in goal. (unfortunately)
Then after the defeat this story appears everywhere with Harry not ruling himself out of the frame.
But then Peter Storrie said Pompey would reject any approach anyway.
And Harry himself raises the point that sometimes things off the pitch undermine the decent work done by previous England Managers. I guess he's worried about aspects of his reputation but in my opinion if the reason why the FA don't choose him is because of a perceived dodgy reputation then they should all be thrashed in the market square for being spineless no-marks.

I think Harry really wants it and I get the impression that he is campaigning for it, asking players and managers and journos who think he's the right man to make sure they argue his case. In my view he's the best man for the job - and with him as manager I might start to give a toss about England again. But I really really really don't want him to leave Pompey - he's irreplaceable and I cannot see how anyone can think otherwise.

B'Ham Match

2007-11-26T07:45:00.000-08:00

and here are Harry's comments on SSN

Birmingham Pompey Match Reports (Monday's Papers)

2007-11-26T03:35:00.000-08:00

None of these are really match reports - they are mostly talking about Harry and The England job:

The Times. (As much an article about Harry for England than a match report, oh and it opens with a naff 'arrys a cockney gag)
The Guardian. (Also an article about Harry's take on England and not really much of a match report)
The Telegraph. (Again not really a match report- just speculation)
The Independent. (This is mainly speculation about Birmingham)
The Sun. (Harry and England again - also it says that Nico has a shot like a scud missile and I thought scud missiles -a generic term - were notoriously not accurate)
The Mirror. (says little about the match but does call Harry an East End geezer)
The Mail. (Same as the rest really)

Birmingham Pompey Match Reports

2007-11-25T02:51:00.000-08:00

The Times.
Observer.
The Telegraph.
The Independent.
The Sun.
The Mail.

Some of these match reports are ok - but some of them are brief descriptions of what happened tagged on to opinion pieces about the futures of Eric Black, Birmingham, Harry Redknapp and England. Don't mind gossip and rumour, but that stuff is really aimed at footy fans. (But then again if I was a proper fan I would have been at the match and would not have to rely on someone else's description of the game).

The Mirror Run Another Story About Harry, (and David Gold's very immodest website)

2007-11-20T00:46:00.001-08:00

which has appeared nowhere else and which appears to be totally daft. Harry and Newcastle I can just about understand - but Birmingham?

clipped from www.mirror.co.uk

Redknapp snubs City

Excusive by Alan Nixon 20/11/2007

Harry Redknapp

Birmingham have failed in bids to bring in Harry Redknapp and Paul Jewell as their new boss - as they scramble around for Steve Bruce's successor.

The battered Blues short-listed Portsmouth chief Redknapp and out-of-work but in-demand Jewell as replacements for Wigan-bound Bruce.

However, Redknapp is content with the fabulous rebuilding job he is doing at Pompey, while Jewell is waiting for the right offer to return to management.

Now Birmingham, who are using agents to make discreet approaches, aim to bring in someone fast - with Eric Black in temporary charge but also heading for Wigan shortly.

Black, in charge for Saturday's home clash with Portsmouth, could have stayed at St Andrews but has opted to join Bruce's JJB Stadium coaching team.

Bruce will be unveiled tomorrow after quitting Birmingham yesterday, with coach Keith Bertschin joining him and Black not too far behind.

Print this

David Gold, Birmingham's co-chairman has his own website and I'm still not sure that if it's a wind-up or not. He comes across like some character out of an Eighties soap opera.

Matt Taylor's Sentata Blog

2007-11-18T12:56:00.001-08:00

I've seen a couple of internet articles saying that Taylor's comments in his blog show that he is happy at Pompey - I hope he is -but I'm not sure that there is anything in this article that proves or disproves anything. Anyway I like player's blogs so I'll post his.

clipped from sports.setanta.com

Why Luton case will help football

Written by Matthew Taylor

on Sunday, 18 November 2007

It hurts me to say it due to my feelings for the club but I have to think the charges brought against Luton on Thursday will actually have a positive effect on football.

Obviously it is negative for the club who will now be thrusted into the limelight, but hopefully it will help to rip the ugly side of the game out of football.

Mike Newell bravely brought the issue into the public eye and lost his job because of it, but irregular payments need to be exposed and now it appears it has come to a head – albeit in unfortunate circumstances for Luton.

The club will always be close to my heart, I always look out for their scores – after all, they helped me get as far as I have in the game today.

One of my closest friends, Matthew Spring, is still there and we actually met up with the kids on Tuesday so I still have great ties to the club.

I was never aware of any wrongdoings whilst I was at Kenilworth Road, but now The FA have it in their hands and I guess they will make an example of this case to warn others off making the same mistakes.

MIND GAMES

Readers of my last blog entry will have noticed my extreme confidence that we would only play one up front against Manchester City. I would like to say I was entering into the Sir Alex Ferguson school of mind games but unfortunately I was just wrong!

Harry decided he would play two up – he discussed it with the coaches and then on Friday morning we were told of the change of tactic. It's nothing new to us, Kanu and Benji played together last season, and I thought we played well against City.

Other than Vassel's chance they had little else, and when I picked up the morning papers their keeper was man of the match so that tells its own story.

I can assure Pompey fans that both Kanu and John Utaka should be fine for the next game. I'm not sure exactly what injuries they picked up because they've been in intense rehab since, but I read somewhere that they would be fit so I'm pretty sure that will be the case.

BACK IN THE FOLD

It was nice to get some game time against City, and I thought I did ok. The only disappointment I had was that I didn't score but, bar one occasion when I sent the ball into the stands, I thought I got in a couple of decent efforts.

The header was probably closest, but that's what my game's all about, getting into positions to threaten the opposition and as I say I was disappointed not to score.

Fitness wise I felt good, it was good to play 45 minutes and it just builds the hunger for more action.

There were probably a few raised eyebrows when I played on the right, but I'm happy playing there – it's not strange to me and I'm happy playing either side.

I feel I'm more than capable of holding my own against any Premier League side on the right and when I looked in the mirror that night I was satisfied with what I had done.

That's all I can do, train well, play well and then see who Harry selects.

Cannot See Why Harry Would Want To Go To Newcastle

2007-11-18T03:36:00.001-08:00

Taken From Today's Mirror...

clipped from www.sundaymirror.co.uk

HARRY'S TALK OF TOON

NEWCASTLE TARGET POMPEY BOSS Ashley eyes Redknapp

Paul Smith 18/11/2007

Harry Redknapp has emerged as the number one target to replace Newcastle's under-fire manager Sam Allardyce.

The Magpies' multimillionaire owner, Mike Ashley, has made no secret of his admiration for Portsmouth boss Redknapp and the impressive job he's done at Fratton Park.

Ashley's uneasy relationship with Allardyce is bordering on disintegration and although Redknapp has recently signed a new contract at Pompey, that won't deter Ashley from making a formal approach to the high-flying south-coast club.

The alternative for Newcastle will be a move to persuade former superstar Alan Shearer to accept the challenge of becoming their next manager.

Sources close to the Toon talisman suggest that, having decided to take a two-season sabbatical away from football, Shearer now has fresh enthusiasm to get back into the game when his media contract with the BBC expires next summer.

The Sunday Mirror exclusively revealed in July that the former Magpies and England skipper had held talks with chairman Chris Mort about a return to St James' Park in an undefined role.

Ashley and Mort are keen to re-establish a Geordie connection at the club, but when sounded out Shearer, 37, made it plain that he wasn't interested in an ambassadorial role.

It seems certain Shearer, who has worked tirelessly to get the required coaching qualifications since his retirement season of 2005/06, will one day return to Newcastle as manager.

Allardyce's popularity on Tyneside continues to diminish with supporters largely unimpressed with him.

His appointment to the post was made by former chairman Freddy Shepherd prior to the buy-out by Ashley. And rumours have been rife all season that it's only a matter of time before Ashley boots him out of the club.

While the club have publicly dismissed speculation about continuing rumours about Allardyce's future, privately it is well known the two do not see eye-to-eye.

Ashley's admiration for Redknapp shows no sign of subsiding though, and he has made it abundantly clear he will move heaven and earth to land his man.

During two spells at Pompey Redknapp has transformed the club into a major force in top-flight football.

He is well known for his attacking style of football, which Ashley believes will captivate the Toon Army and steer the club to long overdue success.

Print this

Round up of the last couple of days.

2007-11-14T01:50:00.000-08:00

I have not posted anything for a couple of days apart from the match reports so I thought I'd round up some stories from the last couple of days - sorry if you've seen them before.

Harry thinks Glen Johnson should be in The England Squad. (Times)
Nugent is Homesick (The Mail)
This is Harry talking about the Africans in his squad - I'm not sure if this a reworking of comment's Harry made a couple of weeks ago- but I don't think it is.
Warnock was not happy with Songo'o (Mail) and he may be coming back to Pompey.
Kanu and Utaka are not playing for Nigeria friendly match. (Sky)
An article about the England Croatia match from the Times which mentions the Pompey players that could be involved and in which Harry makes a little joke.
This is from last week- it's Jamie Redknapp in the Mail on his father.
This is a Times blog - by a Man City fan- following Sunday's game and which mentions Harry and trots out almost every cliche there is about the man.
This is the e-mail interview thing in the Independent with Linvoy. (If that had been a tabloid then the headline would be "I'd Invite Hitler to Dinner)
I enjoyed reading this - I love it when fans turn on their own club. (or this club at least)

This is the website for the Australian Supporters Club.
This is the website for the Portsmouth FC USA Supporters Club.

Half Man Half Biscuit and Garth Crook's Team Of The Week

2007-11-12T03:59:00.001-08:00

...I was not at the game yesterday - but I listened to it on the radio and I've read the match reports and it sounded to me like that the two Man City centre backs had a fantastic game- so perhaps one of them should have been in Crook's selection.
However football is full of differences in opinion and I'm happy to listen to other people's views - even Garth Crook's
...but a fact is a fact and because Distin plays for Pompey - not Man City as is shown here and because Crooks has got it wrong in public I am going to take this opportunity to quote my favourite song lyrics ever.

"There is surely nothing worse than washing sieves
There is surely nothing worse than washing sieves
With the possible exception
of Being Garth Crooks
There is surely nothing worse than washing sieves."

(Half Man Half Biscuit- Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes)

Because this is my blog and I can do what I like I am now going to post a Half Man Half Biscuit video even though it does not have anything to do with Pompey.
(Unfortunately there is not a huge amount of decent HMHB stuff on youtube- and this video is just some bloke's take on one of their songs and has nothing to do with the band.
But it's a good song and unlike most of the other HMHB stuff on youtube it was not filmed on a camera phone)

Portsmouth Man City Reports

2007-11-12T02:12:00.000-08:00

The Times.
The Telegraph.
The Guardian.
Also from the Guardian here's the charismatic David Pleat. (The reader's comments are pretty funny)
The Independent.
The Sun
The Mail. (with a fantastic photo of their goalkeeper making a save)
Mirror

Harry Redknapp has a go at the Champions League

2007-11-09T01:48:00.001-08:00

...from the sun

clipped from www.thesun.co.uk

Euro Cup? More like the Carling

HARRY REDKNAPP - Columnist

Email the author

Published: 08 Nov 2007

THIS may sound odd but isn't the Champions League getting a bit boring?

Liverpool's record 8-0 win against Besiktas had the whole Continent chattering but on reflection, it is not really a good advert for Europe's leading club competition.

Just a few weeks ago Arsenal ran out 7-0 winners against Slavia Prague.

The Champions League seems to be suffering from a condition similar to Climate Change: unusual events are becoming commonplace.

It is because of the huge disparity between the teams and, moreover, what I regard as the monotonous, plodding group stage.

There has been a huge expansion of the competition, providing the big clubs with a buffer in the first phase to ensure they go through to the second round, when it at last gets interesting after nearly six months of matches.

It is not that teams like Slavia Prague and Besiktas do not deserve their chance, even though they only finished second in their leagues last season. England has four teams entering every year.

The difference is any one of them are capable of winning the damn thing.

Take Arsenal. Arsene Wenger let star names Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky, Kolo Toure and Aleksandr Hleb stay at home and watch last night's game on TV because the club is so comfortable in Group H they can afford to take it easy.

Great viewing for the public, then. The Champions League is fast replacing the Carling Cup as a stage for the reserves to enjoy a few days in a pretty, foreign town and a run out.

Ironically, Chelsea pulled in just 24,000 for their Group B game against Rosenborg in September, while the Carling Cup match with Leicester on Halloween was a near full house — no coincidence in my mind that it's because the result had to be decided on the night.

Liverpool's situation was unique on Tuesday. Having lost 2-1 in Istanbul to Besiktas two weeks ago, the five-times European champions were fighting for survival at Anfield.

It meant the return game suddenly took on the feel of the traditional, old knockout match — and that's why people were interested.

Imagine if Chelsea, who were embarrassed by a 1-1 draw with Rosenborg, had been forced to travel to Norway a fortnight later fighting for their European lives in the frozen north, desperately needing to win and win well to overcome the away-goals rule.

What looms is a few weeks of meaningless practice games, where the fans will pay top prices to watch teams already through to the second round — or already doomed.

It is a laboured argument but one that is gathering momentum. I am speaking not as a manager and member of the football fraternity, but as a punter who likes to watch exciting games on TV, simple as that.

Chelsea had an off night in Germany against Schalke, getting a 0-0 draw after being battered. But what is the lasting effect?

Boss Avram Grant summed it up: "We are still top of the group." How exciting. Can't wait to watch them shuffle across the finish line in December and join, funnily enough, all the other big teams in the last 16.

The UEFA Cup is suffering the same syndrome and my Portsmouth could well be in it next season.

I am old-fashioned, after all I am in my 60s, and I know the super clubs' chief execs would be dead set against reverting to the old format.

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Jimmy Dickinson, Man City and Pink Floyd.

2007-11-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

Didn't know this but today is the 25th anniversary of the death of Jimmy Dickinson- and this site quite rightly pays tribute.

The first match previews always come from bookies- and they can be worth reading- so this one - for Sunday's game points out that Man City don't win away at teams in the top half the table- but we tend to do badly after we win away.- (So that'll be a draw then.)
I think this preview is a bookie's site as well- and the bulk of the article is probably taken from somewhere else.
This is a preview from the Times- but still seems to be written by a bookie.

..and this is a sort of preview from Setanta. (Setanta has it's origins in the Irish Pubs of North London- the very pubs that I will be mostly drinking in this coming Saturday- I am probably the only man on earth that gets excited about a trip to the Holloway Road)

This is another interesting piece by the Scottish Fitba bloke. This is praising Distin.

This story was everywhere yesterday- about Traore not paying his council tax. I posted this version just because it was in the Mail-and I thought that with the ingredients - "Daily Mail", "Tax" and "Foreigners" I would be able to come up with a killer joke- but I can't.
So you'll just have to make up your own.

...and anyway this is the funniest thing I've ever seen that mentions the council tax.

Don't know if counts as a rumour- but Harry likes a young Palace player.

Here is another post match assessment of last week's game by NUFC fans and again they are full of praise for Pompey. I've said it before but since I've started this blog I've been really impressed with how Liverpool, Man Utd and now NUFC fans are prepared to acknowledge good football when they see it.

This has very little to do with Pompey but today on Rivals there was a spontaneous Pink Floyd fest. (I love it when things like that happen). I like early Floyd with Syd Barrett more than the post Syd Stuff (...and you may be interested to know that he shopped in my local Sainsburys - but then again you might not.). This is about my favourite song of their's and I recently found out that they played it on Top of the Pops the night before I was born and then they travelled down to play in Portsmouth the day I was born.

Benjani-rumour

2007-11-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

I clipped this article from here

clipped from www.newzimbabwe.com

Juventus set for £7 million Benjani raid

LAST LAUGH: Mwaruwari

• Mwaruwari nets 8th league goal in Pompey romp

• Mwaruwari tops premiership scorers' charts

• Mwaruwari scores in Manchester United draw

• Mwaruwari fires Pompey into Asia Trophy final

• Mwaruwari sets Pompey target

• Mwaruwari set to commit future to Portsmouth

• Mwaruwari cuts holiday to play in Kanu fundraiser

• Mwaruwari named skipper, scores for Pompey

By Sports Reporter
Last updated: 11/07/2007 11:39:48
PORTSMOUTH striker Benjani Mwaruwari has been linked with a shock £7 million move to Juventus.

Benjani has been in sensational form for Portsmouth this season and has already scored eight league goals after a disappointing season last year.

Mwaruwari, also the skipper for the Zimbabwe national soccer team, joined Portsmouth from French club Auxerre in a then club record fee of £4,1 million in 2005.

Reports in Italy suggest Juve will move for their man in the January transfer window, although Pompey boss Harry Redknapp is unlikely to let him leave Fratton Park.

"He makes goals, his work-rate is incredible and he's just a terrific professional," Rednkapp told Sky Sports. "The fans have loved him from day one because he gives everything.

"Defenders never get a minute's rest because he's strong and aggressive, and has good skill. And now he's weighing in with goals as well it's brilliant. He deserves it."

On Wednesday, Mwaruwari was cool on the transfer speculation.

He told New Zimbabwe.com: "I have great respect for the Juventus coach Didier Deschamps. He wanted me to join Monaco when I was still at Auxerre.

"I have not heard anything official, so I can only continue to work hard for Portsmouth. I am still contracted to this club and I want to do my best for them."

Portsmouth will be without their African players in January due to the Africa Cup of Nations, making it highly unlikely Redknapp will agree to sell his free-scoring striker. Benjani is not travelling to the Nations Cup because Zimbabwe failed to qualify.

Redknapp will have to make do without Nwanko Kanu, Sulley Muntari, Papa Bouba Diop and John Utaka.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
ozzie@newzimbabwe.com

Since I started this blog I sometimes see sites that run stories that don't seem to have any real basis -so a couple of days ago I saw this Benjani/Juventus rumour at this site and thought it twaddle- and since then I've seen the same rumour repeated elsewhere- and just thought that it was other sites just repeating the initial website's unsubstantiated story.

But in this version the authors quote Benjy- so maybe there is something in it- though it all still seems to be unsubstantiated. I'd like to know where it started.

James on Insurance. The ANC and not much else.

2007-11-07T01:22:00.000-08:00

Here is David James' Observer blog- (it's about personal insurance- wooo.)
This story has been everywhere- but just in case anyone missed it here are Harry's concerns about the ANC. (..and as it's about the ANC- I've linked to an African site)
..and here is Vitalfootball's take on the story. It makes pretty interesting reading- the author thinks the problem is not as bad as it first appears but I don't agree with him- the ANC could really screw up our season- the loss of one key player has a major effect when you are so close to the top of the Premiership - but 4 or 5 ?- It will be will be one of Harry's great managerial achievements if we are anywhere near top the 6 at the end of the ANC . Forsure.

Here's a transfer rumour:

"Moreover Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is keeping tabs on Younes Kaboul’s situation at Tottenham. The People says Kaboul’s Spurs future is in doubt with new manager Ramos planning a New Year clear-out. The French centre back, 21, was hauled off at half-time during Ramos’s first match in charge. Redknapp tried to sign Kaboul from Auxerre in the summer but could not afford the £7m fee paid by Spurs."

It was originally from the People- and it seems to me that they often run rumours that no one else anywhere mentions.

For the Story about Cranie wanting to stay at Pompey and for the sad news about him breaking his leg look for the Portsmouth News stories in the right hand column.

I know there is a link for my other blog in the right hand column- but I've posted quite a bit of general football stuff there in the last couple of days- so here is another link

Pompey Midtable in Attendance Average as a Capacity %

2007-11-06T08:03:00.001-08:00

I like the blog that this table came from because he somtimes comes up with stats like this- don't know if he did it himself or if it's from somewhere else- but either way it's a bit disappointing that Pompey are so low. Though I cannot talk because I only go once a year around xmas time. (Spuds this year I hope)

clipped from eplleague.blogspot.com

Yesterday EPL Talk looked at the highest average attendances in the Premier League so far this 2007-2007 season. Today, we take a closer look at the 20 clubs to see which grounds have the highest average attendances based on the capacity of their ground.

For example, Arsenal's home matches in the league this season have resulted in an average attendance that's 99.32% of their capacity. All matches are sold out but a large factor for the Gunners and the other clubs below is how many seats the away fans fill -- which could help or hurt a club's attendance depending who it is.

1. Arsenal, Emirates Stadium, 60432 capacity, 99.32% average attendance as % of capacity
2. Manchester United, Old Trafford, 76212, 99.21%
3. Tottenham Hotspur, White Hart Lane, 36247, 99.07%
4. West Ham United, Boleyn Ground, 35089, 98.23%
5. Chelsea, Stamford Bridge, 42449, 97.92%
6. Liverpool, Anfield, 45362, 97.14%
7. Newcastle United, St. James' Park, 52387, 96.93%
8. Derby County, Pride Park, 33597, 95.76%
9. Reading, Madejski Stadium, 24200, 95.71%
10. Portsmouth, Fratton Park, 20888, 95.35%
11. Aston Villa, Villa Park, 42719, 93.52%
12. Everton, Goodison Park, 40170, 91.08%
13. Fulham, Craven Cottage, 24700, 90.32%
14. Manchester City, City of Manchester Stadium, 47300, 89.38%
15. Birmingham City, St Andrews, 30009, 88.09%
16. Sunderland, Stadium of Light, 49000, 85.52%
17. Middlesbrough, Riverside Stadium, 35049, 76.49%
18. Bolton Wanderers, Reebok Stadium, 27879, 75.49%
19. Blackburn Rovers, Ewood Park, 31367, 74.43%

20. Wigan Athletic, JJB Stadium, 25023, 73.69%

Impressively, the top 13 clubs all have average attendances that are 90% or higher of the capacity of their grounds. Wigan, again, ends up bottom of the list with only 73.69% of their seats being filled on average.

// posted by The Gaffer @ 6:34 AM

You can see the rest of his blog here

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A Newcastle Blogger's view of Saturday's game

2007-11-05T12:02:00.001-08:00

clipped from www.blogonthetyne.co.uk

There was no hiding place for Newcastle United after their 4-1 defeat against Portsmouth and Sam Allardyce has now got six days to sort things out for the biggest game of the season at the Stadium of Light.

Big Sam's tactical input since he took over had meant United were unbeaten at St James's Park this season before yesterday's farce unfolded.

And although Toon fans aren't yet convinced about the style of play Newcastle are playing in this new era, winning football matches keeps managers in jobs and smiles on the faces of supporters.

How you win sometimes doesn't matter but how you lose, like Newcastle did against Pompey, matters dearly to the folk of Tyneside.

Defeat when a team is exhausted on the full time whistle, when they are soaked in sweat, blood and snot and have attempted to block every tackle, keep every ball in touch and challenged for every single header still won't make you flavour of the month.

But it will at least show your watching public you care and make them a little bit more forgiving.

Yet against Pompey it was the visitors who gave Newcastle a lesson on how to play and how to perform away from home.

Harry Redknapp knew that, despite United's modern approach to the game and tactics of creating chances in the box by the amount of direct balls played into the penalty area, going for the throats of United from the word go and giving it a real go, and I mean a real go from the first whistle - he'd have the best chance of winning the contest.

And he was right.

For a minute he forgot about the modern game, ProZone and stats and figures and simply got his team fired up to win the battle - the old fashioned way.

Old fashioned as in when you throw teapots around dressing rooms and reward your players with cans of lager and fish and chips on the journey back.

And boy, how Newcastle could have done with that at Derby, Reading or Manchester City.

Redknapp used the traditional method of getting his side fired up and probably told his team they had nothing to lose considering they hadn't won since 1949 at Gallowgate.

They responded by chalking up a 3-0 lead with 11 minutes on the clock and that was game over there and then.

Some fans walked out long before the final whistle.

The boos around St James's at 3-0 were loud and clear, it was the same at half-time and the same by the end.

Shellshocked United had no chance of getting back into the game.

They appeared to lack a leader or an inspirational figure even though Steven Taylor did his best.

Yet even that looked to me like his team-mates weren't taking any notice of him.

So is this a blessing in disguise?

Have Pompey taught us a lesson in how to approach games away from home?

Yes they have, but how many Newcastle players paid attention in class?

Newcastle clearly have enough overseas stars who are talented enough to earn thousands of pounds a week.

But the nitty gritty of pulling on the black and white shirt is winning your home games and being up for the fight AND of course beating Sunderland is one of the reasons players like Steven Taylor wanted to become a professional footballer in the first place.

Toon stars like Abdoulaye Faye, Jose Enrique, Charles N'Zogbia, Cacapa (whose alarming dip in form was highlighted as part of the humiliation v Pompey), Geremi and Emre all have to be on top of their game at Sunderland.

Maybe forget ProZone for a week.

And perhaps don't bother showing them a video of where they went wrong against Pompey, that should now be obvious.

Pull down the big screen and show them the 2-0 play-off defeat against Sunderland in 1990 and how losing to that lot destroyed a lot of people's summers!

Show them Liam O'Brien's wonder goals and the scenes that followed, show the last ever win at Roker Park and pause the video from the last time when Michael Chopra scored.

He may be in red and white now, but that day required Geordie battlers and he delivered remember his face when he scored?

We've bounced back before from things like this 6-2 against Man U, 4-1 against Fulham and 5-1 against Birmingham but United could not be going into the derby in worse shape.

Can they hit back quickly?

(Least we aren't feeling as bad as 12 months ago!)

www.blogonthetyne.co.uk/2006/11/sicker_than_parrots.html

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You can read the original article here
I think the writer works for a local Geordie newspaper. Good piece of work I thought.

Newcastle 1 Pompey 4 Match Reports and a pretty lady in a bikini.

2007-11-05T01:47:00.000-08:00

Monday's Match Reports

The Times
The Guardian (as much an essay about Allardyce's future as a match report)
The Telegraph.
...and this, also from the Telegraph is Harry defending Allardyce.
The Independent.
The Mail
The Sun. (I think that this is a different report from yesterday.)
The Mirror really do say that Newcastle were crap.

On the whole- with the exception of the Observer/Guardian yesterday- the emphasis in most of the match reports was on how bad Newcastle were which I think really is only half the story.

This is a report from Setanta- it has quite good match stats. I like the fact that Setanta began in the back of an Irish Pub in London.

And this review is from a rather good Newcastle Blog. I've been running my blog for a couple of months now and regularly look at other football blogs and so far it seems to me that Fulham, Liverpool and Arsenal fans blog the most- but this is a highly subjective assessment.

This blog has the blogger's take on Harry R. as well as two other Premiership managers. For some inexplicable reason he heads his piece with a picture of a pretty lady in a bikini. Barmy- but distracting.
The People has a rumour about us and Nelson Cuevas. (I bet the people that run The People regret the name of their paper when it comes to search engines)
This story about the ANC appeared everywhere yesterday-but I'll post this version because it's on a site called Soccer Fairy.
This story about Matty has been around for a couple of days. I really don't want him to leave - but it's starting to look inevitable.

Scroll down for yesterday's reports, The Goals and Harry's post match interviews.

Newcastle Portsmouth Match Reports

2007-11-04T04:49:00.000-08:00

This is the best match report about Pompey I think I've ever read (and I'm surprised because it's from the usually indifferent Observer/Guardian.) The man has got it right- POMPEY thrashed Newcastle at their place-the whole of the Pompey Team were MotM and the story today is all about us and how good we were. For sure defensive errors played their part- but not as much as the power and pace and precision of our attack. Benjy's goal was fantastic- he muscled their player off the ball, kept his balance and then curled it past their goalkeeper with his left foot. If that had been Henry a couple of years ago all the pundits would have been a-cooing and and-aaahhing. So hats of to the Guardian/Observer for getting it right.

..and a hearty boo to the Times because their review is all about Newcastle and their weaknesses and the work Allardyce has to do. I've read it twice and I'm pretty sure it does not even mention Harry Redknapp.

..and hey guess what- the Telegraph pretty much does the same.

... and the Independent somehow manage to mention Arsenal, Sunderland, Man Utd, Roy Keane as well as Newcastle and Allardyce before they mention Pompey (..who, by the way, were the team that won the match and moved to 4th in the Premiership)

The Mail are slightly more balanced.
..and so are the Sun- and they have a great slide-show

There was only one winner yesterday...

..and that's today's story.

(If you missed it you can scroll down to see the goals and Harry's post match interview on Sky)

Harry after Newcastle 1 Pompey 4

2007-11-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

Newcastle Previews and 2018 World Cup

2007-11-01T06:17:00.001-07:00

Feeling a bit low today- and I'm never sure whether to post match reports when we've been rubbish:
So moving on

Here's a preview of the Newcastle game- from their point of view- it's slightly out of date as it was written before yesterdays disaster.
Here's another one from a Sunderland newspaper- has a bit to say about Benj (who I reckon will start on the bench)
And this one is from NUFC's official website.
And this one is from a fan's site and it shows the match reports from the last four times we went there- it makes better reading if you are a Geordie

Here is a piece from the Times about England's bid for the World Cup which mentions the possibility of Pompey's involvement.

I mentioned this yesterday- but we have been accused of tapping up a player- from the Sun.

Here's another review of the Up Pompey Book- from the Telegraph. The reviewer quite likes it.

...and I'll post one match report from last night-so that hopefully I can read it in a few months time and recognise it as the low spot that it will hopefully end up being.

Blackburn, D'Alessandro and the dumb abuse of a Southampton fan

2007-10-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

Blackburn Match Previews

This might be out of date by now- and I'm sure it's a syndicated article from elsewhere- but it's speculating on Pompey's team tonight
...and here's a preview from Scottish Fitba.

From a Lancashire Paper (and obviously from a Blackburn perspective)
From A Blackburn website and is hopefully a bit optimistic.
...and this is also from a Blackburn point of view. I did not know that Blackburn were playing Liverpool and Man. Utd in their next two games after tonight. Hopefully tonight we will knock the stuffing out them and they will struggle to get back to the form they have shown in their last couple of games.

Other Stuff

Someone else is miffed at our recruitment policy. The whole deal looks messy-if indeed it is true.
Here Andy O' Brien says that he has no regrets about leaving Pompey. Which is far enough because neither do I.
LuaLua seems to be quite happy having moved on. Despite what he did for us in one game in particular I never had that much time for him.
This is a long article about Harry- from the Telegraph.
Here is a really daft- and quite funny Myspace video of a Southampton fan being abused.

Finally- a short essay.

During the 2002/3 season (I think) I found myself watching the Copa Liberdatores (South America's Champion League) on the telly. It was a brilliant competition that year- the final being fought out between Boca Juniors (featuring Tevez) and Santos (featuring Robiniho) with Boca winning.
On the way to the final I saw one of the most entertaining and daft games of football I had ever seen-it was America de Cali (from Colombia) against River Plate in the quarter final - I think 5 or 6 players were sent off -as was one of the managers but the thing I remembered most about the game was towards the end of the match. There was loads of space all over the pitch- because so many players had been sent off and a young River Plate player-one Andres D'Alessandro picked up the ball in the left back position and ran the length of the pitch and as he tore down the pitch the Columbian fans hurled down a barrage of rocks, flares, stones, coins and mobile phones at the young player. I'm a big fan of a tricky winger-(I know that he really likes playing in the number 10 position) but watching him run the length of the pitch under a hail of debris from the terrace was about as brave a thing I've seen on a football pitch. I'd never have believed he would ever play for Pompey and was delighted when he did and pretty depressed when he left.
...and now there are vague rumours about him coming back.
This YouTube Video does not really give full justice to how bonkers the match was and does not show the moment that I remember with D'Ale

But this video does do him justice:

No Rotation for Blackburn, A good blog piece from the Times - all padded out with old news.

2007-10-30T03:29:00.000-07:00

Right- time to look forward so here's an upbeat post from the News about Harry's plans for Blackburn. (the story also appears in the News links in the right hand column- but I wanted to post it here because I wanted to start with something that had nothing to do with last week's news much of which was a bit depressing)

Here's a good piece on Saturday's game from the Time's fan's blog thing. He's right to point out that it not unreasonable to say that we have dropped 7 points this season- against Derby, Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham and I'm worried that those dropped points are going to be what hinders our campaign to get into Europe next April.

Here is an Mp3 of Harry's post match press conference from last Saturday's game. (Might not work in all browsers)

Here is a rumour
..and this is someone from a lower league club having a moan

I guess most people know this but just in case- here is the Guardian reporting Harry getting his new contract- and here is the Times' take on it.

Likewise -this story-about Songo'o going on loan to Palace is old news- but I'll post it anyway

I've posted this article about Saturday's game from the Mirror in which Carlton Cole talks about the moral support his granny gives him. I suppose if that's what drives him on (rather than the fact that he is reasonably talented and is paid a very decent salary) then fair enough, but I couldn't imagine a player coming out with this stuff twenty years ago.

..and also on that subject of the good old days- The Telegraph has given a little plug to a new magazine called Backpass- which is dedicated to football in the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties. It has this little snippet about Harry's first game as a manager

"Many fans might believe that English football is racing down a super highway.

But like all sports supporters, they still enjoy little detours down Amnesia Lane, which is why one welcomes the launch of a new magazine called Backpass, dedicated to football in the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties.

The first issue carries a feature called "First Games in Charge", focusing on Harry Redknapp's managerial debut as caretaker boss of Bournemouth on Dec 18, 1982, for a game at Lincoln in the old Third Division.

As Lincoln were top at the time, a 2-0 half-time deficit on an icy pitch did not seem too bad to Redknapp, but Lincoln scored seven more after the break, giving the Cherries their record defeat. Redknapp, who recorded his 1,000th game as a manager earlier this year, says: "I thought about jacking it in after that match. The pitch was frozen solid and our players didn't have the right studs. When two of them fell over running up the tunnel I knew it wasn't going to be our day."

All in all I thought last week was pretty depressing-what with the Stadium plans being changed and the flat performance against WHU. Still things are looking up with Harry's new contract and hopefully we'll get a good performance against Blackburn.

Pompey- West Ham Match Reports

2007-10-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

The Times
Observer
Telegraph
Independent
The Sun

...and this from the Mail is not a match report-it's just daft

West Ham Previews, and Stadiums.

2007-10-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

One story dominates all the others today-so I'll pretty much ignore talking about the new stadium (though you can read what I think here -or you can just scroll down to the next post)

Here are some West Ham Previews:

They have a lot of injury problems
Here is Setanta Sport's preview-not that interesting-(though I didn't know Sean Davis was suspended) - but they are showing it.
I probably can't watch it though because I've just found out that my in-laws are coming for dinner.

-Bollocks- it really is turning into one of those days.

..anyway more previews
I like these Vital football preview things
Here's another one-. I don't know if it is that Westwood bloke that they are interviewing- but as they are using his photo I suppose it might be.
This is a barking mad thread about Saturday's game from a WHU chatroom- the first part is libelous and probably not true (and anyway I thought Harry was a Spuds fan as a kid) and then it just gets weird as some bloke writes an odd song - set to a trad arr. tune- and then the libels continue to come thick and fast.

And here is some other stuff:

A good piece by Scottish Fitba on Benjy.
Yesterday's news-pretty sad stuff about Toddy -I hope he bounces back.
Finally-what with all this talk of stadiums-I quite like what this blog has to say on the subject- I've been to Derby and Fulham this season and I know which ground I preferred.

Finally here is the link if you want to look at my other -non-Pompey blogs

Portsmouth Revise New Stadium Plans and I'm a Bit Disappointed.

2007-10-26T03:27:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty disappointed about the plans for the new stadium at the Hard falling through. I guess I can be a bit of a sentimental sod at times but whenever I travel back to Pompey and I see the Hard and that part of the harbour I feel the same way as some Geordies might feel about the Tyne bridges- or a Scouser might feel about- well, anything to do with Liverpool really.

Until a couple of years ago I lived on Holloway Road in North London and I watched Arsenal build the Emirates Stadium and I was so impressed by how the club just trampled over everyone's reservations - about traffic and crowd numbers and the impracticabilty of the proposal- they just sorted those problems out on the way to building the stadium. Now, when I travel from where I live in East Anglia to London, I pass the Emirates and I love the way it towers above the streets of Finsbury Park and Holloway- the stadium is still so much part of where Arsenal are from (sort of..) -and it does it on a scale that shows the ambitions of the club.

And that's what I thought about the Hard proposal- by having on the waterfront, and by using those architects it just shouted out to anyone that would see it that this was a big club which this city takes very seriously.

For the first game of this season I travelled up to Derby and I thought their stadium was a grim old place- tucked away amongst industrial estates- away from the city centre as if the city didn't care too much about their football club. I get the impression that the same is true of Middlesborough's and Sunderland's ground. So I'm a bit depressed that the new proposal seems to be more in the line of what Middlesborough, Sunderland and Derby achieved. I don't like that Peter Storrie said something about how the land fill will keep the ground hidden from the people that live in Port Solent. I don't want it to be hidden away- I want it it be a huge landmark-a place that makes me feel a bit tingly when I see it. Why can't they build it on the seafront in Southsea- a proud landmark-built by seasiders-towering over the English Channel.

However- I guess people travelling in on the continental ferries will see it on the new proposed site- and I think it'll look good from Hardway in Gosport- where I grew up. Finally, returning to my original point about me being a soppy sod- the other view of Pompey (and Gosport) that always gets me is the view from the top of Portsdown Hill and I guess from that vantage the stadium will still look great.

PS. If any more people from any other clubs laugh at our plans having to be changed- we should just remove the roof from the Milton End- that'll learn 'em.

Harry to Spurs or England and Sean Davis-comedy genius

2007-10-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

Here's Harry's Column in the Sun- He's having a go at Berbatov

The Harry to Spurs rumour continues- this from the Telegraph.

This is a debate, hosted by Tony Cascarino about whether Harry should be England manager- from the Times.

Old story from yesterday -but Harry says he is going to recall Pedro Mendes against WHU

All of my other blog's updates today can be found here. (...though other than this page they don't have much to do with Pompey but I like them)

I'm glad Pedro Mendes is back in the team- but I've also grown to be a big fan of Sean Davis and this is one of my favourite moments

James and Pompey's goals

2007-10-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

I could only find one thing worth posting and that's David James' Observer Blog

..and because that's all I could find I'll post this video that someone kindly made of all of Pompey's goals this season- up to the Fulham game.
(About 8000 people have watched it so it's not that exciting- and the music is really really terrible in my opinion- but I liked it)

Pompey Wigan Match Reports and Harry for England

2007-10-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

Monday's match reports from Saturday's game

The Times
The Guardian
The Telegraph
The Mirror
The Sun
The Independent
The Mail

This from the Times is exactly what I think about Harry Redknapp and why he should be in the frame for the England job- but of course I care much more about Pompey than I do England-so I don't want him to get the job.
This is also from the Times from the fanzone blog thingy.
This is about Johnson and England and is from Sky Sports so is probably syndicated everywhere.
I've seen this in a couple of places- apparently we are the 24th best team in the world.
Derby still want Nugent- according to a Derby fan (if I was a Derby fan I'd want Nugent)

scroll down for yesterdays reports, the goals and Harry's comments on Sky.

Pompey v Wigan

2007-10-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

..with a bit of a strange commentary- not because it is women-just because it's odd

Some Match Reports Portsmouth 2- Wigan 0

2007-10-21T03:13:00.000-07:00

The Guardian
The Telegraph
The Independent
The Sun
Sunday Mirror
The Mail

P.A. Report on Pompey-Wigan match

2007-10-20T10:41:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.sportinglife.com

Glen Johnson runs at the
Wigan defence.
Wigan 0 Portsmouth 2

By Mark Staniforth, PA Sport

Click here for full match stats

Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth secured their fourth successive win at the JJB
Stadium but it was as far from another 11-goal thriller as any Barclays Premier
League match is ever likely to get.

Benjani Mwaruwari and Glen Johnson fired home in the last 10 minutes of a forgettable encounter as Wigan boss Chris Hutchings saw his side stretch their goalless streak beyond five hours.

Redknapp will not mind for a moment that his side's 7-4 epic against Reading
last month was consigned to distant memory by a match in which his side
simply had to show dogged determination to claim the points.

But for Hutchings it could soon be time to press the panic button after a dismal
display which showed just how far the Latics have fallen since the dizzy early
season days when they found themselves top of the league.

Things had looked promising for two minutes. Michael Brown flung a long
free-kick into the box which was knocked across goal by Andreas Granqvist and Scharner shaved the woodwork with a diving header.

But it was not hard to see why Wigan had such a poor recent record in front of
goal with Portsmouth looking the liveliest in the final third, Benjani denied a
clear chance after being flagged marginally offside.

Pompey's record in the goalscoring department might have been distinctly
better than the Latics' but it became increasingly hard to see quite how they had scored seven against Reading as the minutes trudged by.

Niko Kranjcar's long-range effort flashed well wide for Pompey and a flick
header in the box from Wigan's Antoine Sibierski also sailed the wrong side
of the post as both sets of strikers struggled to assert themselves.

In an all too brief interlude of Wigan pressure, Marcus Bent - their most recent
scorer against Reading last month - burst down the right flank in the 39th
minute but his shot from a tight angle found the side netting.

Nigerian Julius Aghahowa provided some brief entertainment after replacing
Sibierski in the 51st minute. Before even touching the ball he had clattered Sol Campbell and earned a yellow card from referee Peter Walton.

Then two minutes later when he did get his first touch he was flattened by it - Kranjcar's free-kick clattering into the Wigan striker who needed a number of
minutes to rediscover his poise.

Pompey pressed through Kranjcar, who played in Benjani for a shot which
deflected high over the bar, before Campbell came close to connecting with the Croatian's resulting corner in front of goal.

Then Sulley Muntari blazed a long-range free-kick inches wide as Pompey
continued to speckle a dismal encounter with the best chances and look most
likely to break the stalemate.

That moment duly arrived nine minutes from time when Benjani converted the simplest of chances to grab his seventh goal of the season as he poked
home a perfect Muntari cross.

Aghahowa tried his best to make a belated good impression when he cut into
the right side of the visitors' box only to be hustled off his shot by Sylvain Distin
in the Pompey defence.

But Johnson wrapped up victory when he was allowed to roam unchallenged
across the Latics penalty box before drilling a low shot past Chris Kirkland into
the corner of the net.

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Harry on Pompey v. Wigan

2007-10-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here's Harry's view

Sol, Rumours, 40 coaches and Wigan

2007-10-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

I've been aware of the story about the amount of coaches that are going to Wigan tomorrow because it it seems to be the main topic of conversation on Rivals- but I have not really taken it in - but in this round up of Pompey news in the Mail they mention it- and I suddenly realised how full on bloody astonishing that is. 40 coaches for a league match at Wigan at this stage of the season is just extraordinary.
(I'm not going -I'll be listening on Quay via the internet in my tiny house on the edge of the Fens)
The article also has rumours about Defoe, Marlon King and Crouch coming to us.
This story has been cropping everywhere about Harry's concerns over Sol having to play for England. I don't know where it appeared originally.
This is not an article- it's a list of all the people that currently work for Pompey-and I like lists. I think it's up to date.
This is the BBC's preview of Saturday's game.
Here is a preview of Saturday's game from a Wigan Paper (obviously it's from a Wigan perspective)- and here is another one.

This has nothing to do with Pompey-but it's a YouTube video-probably made by an Everton fan who is happy to point out how bad Gerrard played against Estonia.

Harry on Sol, James on Toilets and Hiddink on England.

2007-10-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here's Harry in the Sun on Sol and yesterday's game
I've never seen this website before- but this bloke has jinxed us by saying we could be top 4 at Xmas.
This is from yesterday's Telegraph-about Sol. Seems strange reading it after the game-but I thought Sol had a good game.
I think this is an old story but it's about David James and toilets and I think it's odd.

Because it's thin pickings I'm going to link to one of my other blogs where you can find a round up of match reports from the England Russia game- which I did just to let off steam.

So everything winds down while we take a break from all things Pompey just so can MacClaren bollox things up. Hopefully it'll be normal service tomorrow on the posting front and another good away win on Saturday.

(Don't forget that there are more RSS Pompey news feeds in the right hand column)

Sol, Kanu, Nuge and some Old Stuff

2007-10-15T01:20:00.000-07:00

Because it's the international break there has not been too much Pompey news the last couple of days. People may have already seen these but there's a couple of things from the News- about Sol and about Kanu which are from the weekend. (Most of the Pompey stories from the News, and a couple of other sources, can be found in the right hand column).
Likewise, this story- about the new training complex -comes from Pompey News, a website that runs Pompey stories. It can also be found in the right hand column. Just as an aside - years ago I worked for Fareham Borough Council cutting the grass around where the new training complex is going to be. Not a very interesting fact, in fact it's a rather dull fact- but it's a fact all the same and I like to trade in them.
This is a rumour about Nugent going to Reading.
This is just odd- it's from an African Paper and it's not really about Pompey-though it mentions the Chimes. It's about what a ex-pat Fulham fan sings when he goes to watch football games in Uganda.
Because it's been a bit quiet- I'm going to post this old article about Utaka- from the Times last month. I don't think I posted it before- and I think it's pretty interesting.
I'm really padding things out now. This article is from the Observer in 2003 just before our first season in the Premiership. It's by Ed Vulliamy and it's about as Guardian-esque as you can get. He talks about the city and the fans in the same way as a C19th missionary would talk about Africa- but you get the impression that the writers get a bit of a thrill talking about football and hooligans and violent young men and so on. And that's because they are silly Dull Heads.

That all.

Sol, Transfers and Jimmy Dickinson.

2007-10-13T04:09:00.000-07:00

This is from the Times- about Sol's call up to the England squad
This is from the Mail- about Sol's call up to the England squad.
The story about us being interested in a lower league player is listed in the feeds over on the right. But I'm posting this version from the Echo (so named because if you want people in that city to understand something you have to say it twice). The comments at the bottom of the article are kind of funnyish.
This is not a bulletin board- but here's a bulletin board type of post about the Xmas fixtures.
Things have not been going too well for Begovic down at Bournemouth.
You can win 4 tickets for Pompey-Blackburn here.
Should have posted this yesterday. A BBC journo on Sol's return.
Here's a blog by an American whose happy to take the moral high ground in response to Harry's comments about the XBox culture. ( You can find a link to Harry's article in yesterday's blog.)
I think I'm right that Jimmy Dickinson was the last Pompey player to start a competitive match for England. I love this picture -it could almost be the cover of a Smiths single.

Bit shameless this- but click on this picture and you'll go to another blog of mine - showing video clips of the 5 players I wish I'd seen play live (including Jimmy Dickinson)

2007-10-12T03:38:00.000-07:00

ScottishFitba - is angry (correctly in my opinion) about the cost of tickets for the Carling Cup game against Blackburn
Hughes is facing a ban- he never seemed a violent player to me.
This is from the News- about James not getting a start against Estonia. (All the latest stories from the News are listed in the right hand column- but this one does not seem to be there). Even a mate of mine- who is a Spurs fan - and who refuses to accept that we might be better than Spurs this season, agrees that Robinson is terrible at the moment and that James should play.
Should have posted this earlier- It's David James' Guardian blog and it's great.
Here's David Lacey- the Guardian Columnist talking about the Reading game. (Sorry it's a bit old). Lacey always struck me as a bit of a dour writer- I remember him once chastising Beckham for not doing much in a game that England won 2-0. He was right in that, other than scoring one goal and setting up the other, Beckham did have a quiet game. He's fairly typical of the Guardian - a paper that has honed it's critical instincts to the point where they often miss the point. (ok - mini-essay over)
This is Clan Pompey's hompage

Click on the picture to go to one of my other blogs and see a video of why Harry is the best English manager there is.

Lauren, African Player, Fulham and more.

2007-10-11T02:33:00.000-07:00

No update for a while because I've been a bit busy-
I try to avoid printing links to the stories that you see everywhere else in this blog but I guess some will slip through. What I have done is put 3 RSS feeds onto the page (one from the News) which constantly update the main Pompey news. You can find them in the right hand column.

Here's a transfer rumour about Lauren that I've not seen anywhere else.
You can find this story by Harry everywhere- but this is the original article in the Sun.
This is three days old, from the Mail, and is about Pompey's African players.
This is a review of Sunday's match by the bloke who writes for the Scottish Fitba website. I like his stuff.
This is a post from a Sunderland chatroom- about what they think about Harry. I only included it because between all the usual cliches about him being a used car sales man/spiv/etc. someone says he's got a face like a melted welly. Which made me laugh.
This is a few days old-and I may have posted it before but it's a NOTW columnist full of praise for Harry. I agree entirely with what he says- though I did not know that Harry changed his name. I wonder why?
This is a really nice blog by a Fulham fan. Got his view on Sunday's game.
...and this is what I thought- about the same game at one of my many other blogs.

As most people know- Chuck Culpepper's book "Up Pompey" has made the long list for the William Hill Sports book of the year. I would want it to win but Mark Collings who wrote "A Very British Coop (about pigeon racing!) is a good mate of mine and he mentions me in the dedication. So that's where my loyalties are.

Fulham Pompey Reports

2007-10-08T02:39:00.000-07:00

Match Reports (and seeing as I was at the game I am going to mark the report out of ten)
The Times- 3/10 - Poor report. I didn't like the way he dismisses Benjy's goal as being a result of a defensive error followed by a deflection. I saw it as being a result of a incisive pass from Davis with Benjy using his pace and strength to move away from the Fulham defender - which was then followed by a slight deflection.
The Sun. 6/10. Better than the Times if only because he mentions the work Fulham did in the first half which led to James have to make a few decent saves. I did think that the ratings given to our defenders were too low.
The Mirror. 8/10. Good report. He's right about how good James was - my only slight criticism is that he should have also made more of just how good our defence were-(and also how Fulham did make them work- especially in the first half)
The Mail. 6/10. Decent enough report-with a nice photo of Benjy.
The Guardian. 1/10. Not really a match report- more an article about Lawrie Sanchez which mentions in passing a few things that happened in the game. (Not like the Guardian to totally miss the point )
The Telegraph. 4/10. Disappointed with this as the Telegraph's reports are usually best-but a bit like the Guardian they have decided to use the report to reflect on Sanchez's future. Did show a nice turn of phrase though- I particularly liked "filleted by a resurgent Portsmouth".
The Independent. 5/10. Pretty average really

Fulham previews, Pericard, The Who and Manu Chao.

2007-10-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

I have not included much from VitalFootball for a while - here they round up some rumours from the last couple of days.
Odd blog this by a Fulham fan- who reckons that Diop is going to score and then shows a Youtube video of The Who doing "Baba O'Riley". Not sure why - but I enjoyed it anyway.
Another Blog- by a bloke who seems to quite like himself -giving a preview of Sunday's match. I'd like his blog more if he included random videos of rock gods.
Here's a preview of Sunday's game- which got me all excited because I'm going.
This is from the News- by the man who still styles himself on DeBarge. He always cheers me up when I see him on the telly.
Here's a rumour from yesterday's Mail- which then turns into a piece about Linvoy's beliefs.
This man is worrying about whether we should expanding Fratton Park. He makes some good points- but seeing as we are struggling to sell out at the moment I'm not sure there is any need to expand.
I missed this story about Pompey old boy Vincent Pericard-now at Stoke - from Juventus to a jail in Exeter is a pretty grim journey (as is Juventus to Stoke I suppose)

This has nothing to do with Pompey but in the spirit of the Fulham fan who posted the Who video -I'm going to post this video of Manu Chao- because I'm going to see him tonight at Brixton:

Courtney Pitt, Gregory worse than Rix, More Reading

2007-10-03T04:03:00.000-07:00

This is a couple of days old it's the Times' match report on the Reading game - but I quite like it- just for Coppell's comments about second season syndrome.
The Daily Star manages to string about 5 sentences together. I've only included it because there may be a disguised dig at Nugent in what Harry says. (maybe)
Here's a rumour about Tony A which I'm sure has been posted elsewhere - but I hadn't seen it.
Here's a short blog about whether Rix was worse than Gregory when he was in charge. One of the most depressing game of football I think I ever saw was Palace v. Pompey on a cold March evening in 2002 at Selhurst Park. (Here's a report from a Palace point of view). It was right at the end of Rix's tenure and at the time I just thought we were a club going nowhere. Playing for us that night was Courtney Pitt who now plays for Cambridge Utd.- my local team who I sometimes watch. I think he's found his level in the Conference (..you really shouldn't re-brand crap) - but watching him play now and thinking about that Palace game and it's hard to think of another club, other than Pompey, that has come so far so quickly. (Reading maybe- but we've just stuffed them).
This is out of date -but I'm sure if you want Harry to give you an after dinner speech these are the people that'll sort you out.
This is also a couple of days old- it's the Mirror's view of Saturday's game- I think he has a little dig at MOTD which I liked.

Sol, Kanu, Radio Stations and more Reading

2007-10-02T04:10:00.000-07:00

This is the best photo I've found from Saturday's game

Sol thinks we are going to do better than we did last season- from the Mirror.
This is Harry on Kanu's contract.
Here's a blog by a Pompey fan- I really like the photo at the top. He's giving his take on the Reading match.
And this blog is a Reading fan's view of the game. (He was doing some gardening at the time)
This transfer rumour is from yesterday - Jarosik is claiming we are interested in him.
I've written this before but I get most of these stories from Google alerts- and one thing I noticed yesterday is that the Pompey Reading match was being written about in local papers and on local sites that have not much to do with either club. Most of them were not particularly interesting but this Welsh one had some fairly interesting stats (maybe?)
Here's Reading's Stephen Hunt on the game- brilliantly he says he can't remember much.
I'm not sure that this is new news about Pompey buying into all the local radio stations but it was released yesterday. We are taking over the world.

I like this picture as well- click on it and you can read the News of the World's match report- which I didn't include on Sunday-but wish I had because it uses the word bamboozled which is a great word anyway-but sounds really great if it is said by a French women, (as does higgledy piggledy- go and a find a French women and test it out)

Did We Play Well?

2007-09-30T03:15:00.000-07:00

Turning to the papers to try and get a decent overview of yesterday's game and this is what I found.
The Guardian/Observer- go in with the freakish result angle- and claims the first half was sleepy- which was not the impression that I got listening to The Quay
The Times also said that the first half lacked incident- so maybe the Quay were getting carried away.
But, and this is for the third week running, The Telegraph write about the match that I thought I was listening to- acknowledging that Pompey annihilated Reading in the first half.
The Mail also acknowledge Pompey's attacking flair with the line
"dreaming of Europe again after a spectacular attacking display from their men of Africa."
(... liked that)
- and this view then balanced out the perfectly fair observations about the poor defensive displays and the odd result. (It doesn't seem right calling the Mail balanced)
The Express is perfunctory in their assessment.
The Sun has a great slide-show- picture 10 being my favourite.
The Independent think that the first half was pedestrian- and this from a journalist who says that this could have been a rugby score- funny one that- shame it was a line that I heard used in about a dozen places.

....but this man (familiar to anyone who regularly uses Rivals) says exactly what I want to hear- and has put me in a much much better mood.

Well I guess there has to be questions about our defensive performance-but any team that scores 7 goals must be getting something right. Harry's rebuilt the midfield that kept us up 2 seasons ago and took to us the brink of a UEFA spot last season and I got the impression from what I heard on the radio that yesterday , as far as attacking goes, it clicked into place and Reading just could not cope. So I watched MOTD last night hoping for some analysis-and all I got was the cynical Lawrenson dismissing the game as a freak result. If anyone hasn't seen the goals MOTD's coverage can be seen here. It does not include his dismissive comments.

Most of the stuff I found here is from the national media- so you can get it all from NewsNow- but hopefully there will more stuff from blogs and so on later in the day, stuff like the video the Reading fan filmed yesterday in the Milton End- which I posted yesterday and which made me laugh a lot.

James Saving the Penalty

2007-09-29T12:35:00.001-07:00

Handball and a Penalty

Harry's View from Sky.

2007-09-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

A few Reading Previews (and some barrel scraping).

2007-09-28T03:10:00.000-07:00

This Is Harry on Reading- I think it's a syndicated story.
This Is Coppell talking about Saturday's game.
Here is someone from Vitalfootball really looking forward to Saturday's game.
This is an appeal from North Devon for their Pompey supporters club.
This is old news about the Nigeria squad- but I quite like it that Kanu has been called up and Yakubu hasn't - though that probably suits Everton- so maybe I don't like now I've thought about it.
Nothing to do with football really but it's about one of our players - this story is from the News.
Here's a thread from a Sunderland board all about the bloke with the bell. (It's been a bit quiet today)

Bit Of A Mixed Bag Today

2007-09-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a view of Pompey's physical strength from a Reading coach.
Here is Harry issuing a warning to Muntari about his discipline- from the Mail.
Here is an Arsenal fan's view of Harry's view of Arsenal (if you see what I mean) which he gave in the Sun.
Here is an article about Shaka H. from a paper in Trinidad and Tobago.
This is from the Blackpool Gazette- it's about Harry's hopes For David Nugent- and is a match report from Tuesday's game.
This is Harry's view of the season so far- from the Independent

If you scroll down to yesterday you can find a link to that report that said that Fratton Park has the third best atmosphere. The poll prompted loads of articles- most which just repeat what the poll said- but the writer of this blog gets very angry in what I thought was a cracking, though bizarre, rant. It's a poll- a measure of what people think and it does not strike me as odd that most British football fans might be more familiar with Fratton Park or St James Park than with the intensity of the Genoa derby. What he should do is copy the poll and then go out to some high street somewhere and ask the same questions and then he can shout at anyone who fails to mention Borussia Dortmund at home or a Greek Derby. It is a cracking blog though.

Fratton Park. Third Best Atmosphere In Drivers Jonas Poll

2007-09-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Property consultants Drivers Jonas ran a poll in which Fratton Park was voted as having the third best atmosphere at a football ground- better than Barcelona's and Newcastle's. Not that I go to Fratton Park that often- but I don't think the atmosphere is as good as it use to be - though it's still a lot better than most places. I do however think that at the few away games I've been to it's the Pompey Fans that create the atmosphere-(White Hart Lane last season being the exception).
Sometimes though it's impossible to create an atmosphere, even with a few thousand people singing Blue Army the Emirates was still like a church.
You can read the whole report by following the link at the bottom of their page. Funnily enough Fratton Park does not rate too highly in the list of stadiums with best bars, best food and best transport.

Mainly Burnley Pompey Reports

2007-09-26T01:43:00.000-07:00

A few match reports from last nights game.
The Times report is here.
The Telegraph report is here
The Sun are mixing their metaphors here (with match ratings)
The Mail report is here- with a great photo of Mendes
The Express is here
The News has Cotterill's view here , Nugent talks about handball here Harry's view here and a match report here
I think this is a syndicated article- I'm not sure where it is originally from but I think it's the one that crops up on ESPN and some other Murdoch sites. It has Harry's view of Nugent
This is from Vitalfootball
..and the official site has three articles on the match in their news section

And here are a couple of other things.
This is a preview of last night's match- from a Burnley fans' site- I just thought it was pretty good-they've made a real effort.
Here's a rumour about Mendes going to Villa from Vital Football.
And I've got another blog which is about other football stuff I find -and like-and some of it is about Pompey.

Mostly Burnley Previews

2007-09-25T02:54:00.000-07:00

Got a good feeling about tonight-and I reckon that if Matty T. is playing then he's a good shout for first scorer-anyway enough of my inane guessing.
This article about tonight's game has been syndicated everywhere but I quite like 4-4-2 so I'll post their version.
This is also a syndicated article about Kanu's contract- It is pretty much the same one as I posted yesterday-but I'll post it again.
I have not really looked at this blog-but it might be interesting-what is more interesting is the BBC article that he links to about Pompey's African players- so click on that.
This is a great article from the Lancashire Post, about tonight's game and focuses on Burnley's manager Steve Cotterill and his friendship with Harry
..and this from the same paper gives Harry's view of Cotterill and Burnley.
This is a preview of tonight's match from Burnley's official site.
This about tonight's game from The News.
Here is a pretty good preview of tonight's match from Vital Football.
This is an overview of the whole Carling Cup - it looks like like it's written by a bookmaker-but it talks up Pompey's chances.
One thing I've noticed is that a lot of sites post stories that come directly from the official site- which I imagine most of you read- I'll try not to post too much stuff that has been recycled from the OS but apologies if that is what I've done.

Just got my ticket for Fulham- which will be my third away game for the season-which I guess would be a reasonable level of commitment if I went to home games-but I rarely do ( I live in Cambridge-poor excuse I guess -I know that some people travel from Scotland to Fratton Park). Anyway looking forward to it. A win on Saturday plus a good win tonight and the team will be going to Fulham- a team that leaks goals- feeling pretty up-beat about their away form.

More Pompey-Blackburn Reports.

2007-09-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

As I said yesterday-I've just noticed that a lot of these reports are syndicated so sorry if I post the same one twice.
The Telegraph- is full of praise for Davis. 'Twas a good report again I thought.
The Scottish Daily Record sees the game slightly differently-(I think that is a syndicated report)
The Guardian also rates Davis' performance.
The Sun makes Distin Man of the Match- they also have my favourite photo of the match.
The Mirror don't really single out short-'ouse Davis and instead put our success down to having "six footers galore". Bit of an odd report- maybe the journalist is a bit short or something.
The Times has match ratings- I thought this one made good reading.
The Independent praises Campbell-by calling him "Northern Rock"-which is a rubbish metaphor.
The Express has this story about Kanu's contract.
...scroll down to find the reports that I posted yesterday.

Some Pompey Blackburn Match Reports

2007-09-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

Great Day-Great Day...I think that is a huge result for us- and I'm celebrating by listening to the Broken Family Band really loud*
Anyway who cares what I'm up to...here are some of the first match reports I've found (a lot of these are syndicated so I'll try to avoid posting the same one twice.)
Here is one with an old photo of Kanu-that's lazy journalism that is.
This one from ESPN-It's the same one as Sky and the Times is running, but this one has a great photo of Kanu running through the Blackburn Defence. It has also added some comments from Harry.
This one is by the BBC - and guess what - we got the result because they were tired- (and Liverpool were resting players, and Man Utd. are lacking a natural goal scorer etc. etc.)
Here is the Mail saying the same thing- (though, to be honest, in the whole scheme of things I have a whole bunch of other reasons to dislike the Mail)
Here's a short one from The Telegraph- but it has a quote from Harry. (You have to scroll down for it).
This one is from VitalFootball
And this is from the official site.
..and to finish here's an article in Today's Independent about Harry.

Unfortunately I tried to listen to the Quay's coverage-via the official site-but it wasn't working-(and that is something I pay for so they really ought to sort it out). Luckily someone called "pompeytic" pointed out on rivals that BBC Radio Lancs were broadcasting it on line -so he is my hero for the day. As a bonus-it was really decent coverage-their focus was on Blackburn-but they were full of praise for Pompey- and from what I heard we deserved our victory-with Diop, Muntari and Davies being dominant. The pundit had some great lines "Davies is playing with a cigar in his mouth" and he described Tugay as "the Mercurial Turk". I hope they are covering the Burnley Game.

*I go to a stupid amount of gigs for a middle aged man- probably seen about 50 0r 60 bands this year- and the Broken Family Band are certainly on my shortlist for gig of the year- if you don't know them listen to "You're Like A Women" from the L.P. "Balls".

Today is mainly Pompey-Blackburn Previews

2007-09-22T04:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a preview of tomorrow's match-which is in part from a Blackburn perspective
...and here's a preview- from a Blackburn newspaper I think-focusing on Harry's view of Blackburn player Ryan Nelsen.
Here is one of VitalFootball's many polls-this one about how points do you think Pompey will get in the next six games.
This is another preview-but the main focus is Harry's view of our midfield. Good reading this one.
This is about a Pompey player going on loan to Bournemouth.
Here is another preview of tomorrow's match which is very much to the point.
..and here is the BBC's preview of the same match.
Here is a short piece about who is going to take our penalties.
This is a BBC blog with a not hugely interesting in-sight into Grant's time at Pompey.
Here is an article looking at whether Taylor should return for the Blackburn game. It also claims that we played 4-3-4 against Liverpool- so no goalkeeper then.

Blackburn Previews, Grant and a Book

2007-09-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Article about Matty T. and a preview of Sunday's game.
This is someone's personal view about Avram Grant and Pompey.
Scottish fitba- reflect on Harry's job security.
The Sun-claim that Jamie Redknapp is being lined up to help Grant at Chelsea- it's a bit tentative I suppose-but what with him being Harry's son it's another part of Pompey's involvement in the whole Chelsea drama/nonsense. (and Avram Grant looks like a cab driver)
This is an article from a Zambian blog about Collin's Mbesuma- a character whose slight role in Pompey's history I always found rather odd.
This is not really about Pompey at all-it's a blog about Chelsea-but he is doing what I am trying to do - and he is doing a lot better I suppose, ( and that is almost the only nice thing I will ever say about anything to do with Chelsea).
More importantly here is Harry talking about the Blackburn game.
Less importantly here is Harry talking about some other club.
Here's another preview of the Blackburn game, and here is Krancjcar's view of the upcoming game- both from the same- rather good -site.
And from the same site here's a poll on what formation Pompey should play.
This is a podcast of an interview with Chuck Culpepper who wrote this book about Pompey. (Follow the links for the interview). I have not read the book-but I will, and I have not listened to all of the interview-but I will.

Quiet news day-so here's some pictures of footballers wives.

2007-09-20T01:34:00.000-07:00

This is where the real footballing news is...
A short web piece about where Linvoy will fit in.
Harry is moaning about the international break- apparently he was fuming- which is not as bad as being in a rage I suppose.
This is a web opinion piece about Mendes' role at the club.
Here is a very short piece , originally from the Times I think, about Distin wanting to get into the French squad.

Not much else today- most of the news today is going to be about what's going on Chelsea - my view is that it's bad news if you've any time for Chelsea and it's good news if you like entertaining football. I have not included any stories about Avram Grant taking over there- despite the Pompey connection-because it'll be all over the news and I really don't care too much.
Instead here's a blog with lots of pictures of footballer's wives- including Christian Karembeu's who apparently scouts for Pompey.

PompeyRodney, Linvoy, Zombies, New Scout and MySpace.

2007-09-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

Fairly quiet on the news front. The News ran this poll about Matty Taylor. For what it's worth-I think he should be first choice as left midfield-with the exception of the game against Arsenal- we have always played better as a team when he's on the pitch. Don't know why that it is- maybe it's something to do with balance- (though I'm never sure exactly what pundits mean when they say that), and , of course, he scores a lot of goals.
You have to scroll down to the Pompey section in this Times round up of Premiership news. Peter Storrie's remit at the FA has been expanded-and he is a comedian to boot.
This story is about the appointment of a new scout by Paul Hart. Seems like he is experienced and decent - but to be honest that is not the most satisfying thing about reading the story.
Yesterday the Express ran with the story that Harry is interested in bringing Crouch back-but I guess most of you already know that.
VitalFootball have a couple of stories. This- based on an article from the official site is about Linvoy's ambition to get back in the squad., and this opinion piece is about whether Harry should try to get Crouch back. I think he should just so he can sell him for a third time.
There isn't much need for me to give any more links to reports from the Liverpool game but I'm going to do one more- partly because it's a pretty fair description of the game and partly because it's written by someone who likes horror films-"particularly ones with Zombies in"- Good man methinks for being so precise about his passion.
Because it's quiet on the news front here's a link to Sulley Muntari's MySpace page, and here's Matty Taylor's, ( I think they are both for real) and here's Kanu's- which is about the charity work he does. ( Be warned-it plays music as soon as it opens)

Tuesday 18th.

2007-09-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Start with this- another report on Saturday's game-this one by a Liverpool fan- who like a lot of Liverpool fans is pretty generous in his assessment of Pompey. He acknowledges how good the atmosphere can be at Fratton Park-so reciprocally I will acknowledge his nice turn of phrase.
Here's a transfer rumour.
Here's Harry full of praise for Distain and Campbell
Here's some photos from Saturday's game- mainly from a Liverpool perspective-and some digitally watermarked- but a couple I liked.
And here's David James on the Women's World Cup-from his always readable Guardian Blog.
Here's a poll from Vital Football about how many games will you get to this season.

2007-09-17T01:12:00.000-07:00

More Predictable Monday Morning Match Reports. Pompey 0- Liverpool 0

Daily Mail same as yesterday-Liverpool dropping 2 points is their theme.
This from the Irish Independent is the most irritating - Hands up all those at Fratton Park who bought their tickets because they wanted to see Liverpool's stars play.
The Guardian think that the story is all about Liverpool as well.
The Independent has both managers moaning away. Surely their job is to manage and not make excuses.
I've included this story from an Asian Paper because its focus is on Pompey and MotM Diop. I thought his performance was the best thing to come out of the match.
A Liverpool Fan Site is happy to point out how impressive Pompey's defence was.

...and because I'm now bored with the mostly predictable match reports - here's some Pompey videos that I like- and which you may have seen before.

2007-09-16T07:35:00.001-07:00

Portsmouth 0 - Liverpool 0. What the Sunday papers (and the bloggers) say.

As any Pompey fan knows- whatever the result and however well we play against Liverpool most papers and pundits only ever really want to talk about Liverpool. So as usual there are quite a few match reports which bang on about Benitez's rotation policy and Liverpool players having just come back from international duty.
So here is the Sunday Times' view from the Kop:
The Sun is slightly more balanced:
The Guardian/Observer seem keen to point out that Liverpool struggled to carve out chances before mentioning that Pompey made the better chances-well Farringdon types-maybe it was because they played slightly better football on the day:
The Mail claim that Reina made an exceptional save- but then later write that it was an easy save. Nice photos though:
The Independent:
The Liverpool Echo is much better in it's assessment of the game- pointing out that Pompey had the better chances. (Why can't the News' coverage be as good as this)
I also liked this blog- from Malaysia I think-which also acknowledges that Pompey might be a good team:
..and perhaps there is a pattern developing because this blog-which is a pretty decent, and funny, round up of all the weekend's Premiership games also seems happy to give credit where it is due.
However-for me the best match report came from the Telegraph's Patrick Barclay who seems to understand that his readers are not all Liverpool fans and as such is as happy to write about what this result means to Pompey-as well as what it means to Liverpool.

For what it's worth- even though it wasn't a really great game I thought that Pompey shaded it. Liverpool's team selection did make it easier for us- but Pompey's job was to beat whatever team Benetiz decides upon - (which he probably did in one of the few breaks he takes from his endless whinging- and I thought Harry R was bad for getting his excuses in early and often). I thought Papa Diop had a good debut and the defence were pretty solid- Hreidarrsson and Johnson seem more settled than they perhaps have been in some recent games. I do wish that Matty Taylor had been on the pitch- perhaps having him on the bench affected the outcome of this game more than Torres and Gerrard being on the bench - he would have probably scored the penalty and we may have taken the three points.

15th Sept.

2007-09-15T05:26:00.000-07:00

Article from Dorset Daily Echo about Bournemouth's on loan goalkeeper Begovic- and the Pompey-Bournemouth connection:
http://www.thisisdorset.net/display.var.1690986.0..php

Article From The Guardian about ex Pompey player Gary O' Neil - where what the headline says doesn't quite tally with what Gary O' Neil says:
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2169714,00.html

I like this website's Pompey coverage - comprehensive list of which Pompey players had to work during the international break:
http://www.scotland-mad.co.uk/news/loadgnrl.asp?id=352473&teamno=424

From last week- Pompey are after a couple of Millwall's youngsters:
http://www.eatsleepsport.com/articles/620992.html

Entertaining article about the Floodlights at Fratton Park
http://www.portsmouth.vitalfootball.co.uk/sitepage.asp?a=82224

Today's Links

2007-09-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Stats from a Liverpool fan's blog-You have to wade through the adverts but the stats are quite interesting.
http://kopnews.blogspot.com/2007/09/portsmouth-v-liverpool.html

Article about Gareth Barry- including what Harry R. thinks about him- from the Express (which claims to be the World's Greatest Paper no less)
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/19117/Barry-s-payback

Not sure why I found this interesting-but is there a record for Duffy being the most loaned player
http://www.clarets-mad.co.uk/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=ED35&id=310548

This Website made Utaka Player of the Month.
http://www.portsmouth.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=82581

I don't care about this stuff-but it's about bent deals and mentions Harry R.
http://www.glory-glory.co.uk/forums/thread/205445.aspx