|
The boys were back in town for a trip to our nice neighbours down in picturesque Bournemouth. The Fitness First Dean Court stadium is a mildly disappointing arena in the modern breeze block, square stand school of architecture. The people who design and commission such stadia have done terrible damage to English football, wiping out the ledges, shelves, chicken runs, paddocks, spion kops, humps and quirks of one hundred and forty odd years of football history with their utter lack of imagination. Is the only way to design an affordable stadium really to have your imagination removed first?
The most imaginative thing about Dean Court now is the large image of Steve Fletcher above his eponymous stand. Now I could be wrong but this image seems to have had the benefit of some substantial air-brushing – the last time I saw that remarkable embodiment of loyalty and service he had a face that even his friends would admit looked like it had been repeatedly slammed in a wardrobe door. The poster made him look like a refugee from the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Pompey were backed by a large contingent of vociferous blues who started the singing ten minutes before kick-off and finished ten minutes after the final whistle as usual. It was a good turnout, possibly half the crowd, and the singing was far more protracted and universal than on the last couple of visits to Dean Court, which was generally felt to signal a Pompey the hard core are much more comfortable with. Underdogs with their backs to the wall.
Its hard to gauge our prospects from these matches simply because some players we hope or expect to be here, Sonko, Mokoena, Kanu and two expected additions were absent, while some players we hope are going to be leaving have yet to do so, Ben Haim, Boateng, and Utaka are soaking up a cool £5m pa between them in wages. With the 5 players we expect/hope to be here and the 6 or 7 you could sign for half the wages we are paying our three 'stars' the teams prospects could be utterly transformed.
How we could do with those 11 or 12 extra players. The bedrock of Mullins, Brown, Wilson, Hughes, Nugent and Smith, supported by the kids did well enough against a progressive and ethusiastic Cherries side, sporting footballing pensioner Lee Bradbury. Richie at left back got better as the game went on, Ciftci did well enough despite limited supply, Ward put in an excellent performance at right back. Among the older pros, Ashdown did well when called upon and Smith showed his familiar Puckish charm, some moments of great control and a couple of wayward shots enlivened the first half. Nugent, looking ever more like Peter Kay, let them 'Ave it with one that whistled over the bar. One run in the second half when he reached ramming speed showed his determination at least is undimmed.
Meanwhile Bournemouth came closest to scoring when Pugh, (signed from Trumpton Fire Brigade FC), cut inside a couple of challenges in the box and curled a shot against the foot of the post. The biggest entertainment for the Pompey fans involved continually throwing a plastic football onto the pitch, before lobbying for its return, which inevitably was greeted by a cheer and the balls immediate return to the pitch where it would be ignored for another ten minutes. That's entertainment as the Modfather said.
Article continues here
|
|
The second half saw the Cherries squander three great chances in five minutes. Our players looked very tired, and Hughes in particular ran like a man recovering from a double hip replacement. At one point he went in so late it was almost like waiting for my postman. Brown seemed to boot someone in the head and got a yellow. Nugent hit a fine strike that the Cherries keeper touched over.
Wilson had his shirt tugged in the area from a set piece and there was a collective moan to the ref and he waved play on. Five minutes later from the next set piece, Wilson again was having his shirt pulled off his back but this time the ref saw it and the universal protest saw him point to the spot. Wilson stepped up and dispatched it into the net. Rough justice on Bournemouth. The game degenerated into a series of substitutions, which changes were anyones guess owing to the inaudible tannoy system. (They come in two varieties, inaudible or deafening, which would Sir require?). Another set piece saw Richie swing in a good ball which Wilson headed home, only for the ref to disallow it – a terrible decision from the Magoo in the middle.
And that was pretty much it. Clearly Cotterill has a preferred formation, he is trying to bed it in and there are some very small foundations to build on. He is going to need a busload of players to make this thing happen, after being outplayed by Bournemouth but to put it in perspective, on Saturday when Fulham arrive for St Linvoy's testimonial – (be there or be condemned to an eternity in Hell) – at least 5 more players should be available for selection even if some of them are poised by the exit door. We also have to remember that we can continue to loan players in outside of the transfer window in this league, so we should get stronger as we go along.
Its going to be tight but with a manager of the calibre of Steve Cotterill we will certainly get the most out of whatever we have.
Man of the Match: Marc Wilson, with honourable mentions for Joel Ward and Hayden Mullins.
|
