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POST-MATCH THREAD: Portsmouth vs Charlton Athletic: Saturday 11th November 2023 | KO 3:00 PM

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    edited November 2023
    Phil said:
    It doesn’t matter who we have in defence if we’re going to allow players unmarked on the edge of the box at corners!
    It’s so frustrating that we still can’t get the basics right.
    We have everyone back when defending corners. I can’t remember Alfie winning a defensive header!
    This is the sort of stuff that needs sorting.
    Agree, training and set up, which is sadly lacking, the players should be able to perform better, it's basic wherewithall that's needed in a lot of cases...
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    Hear what you are saying Braziliance and on the surface we don't look good or organised in several positions, but is it just a case of shipping out and shipping in replacements, I'm not convinced, and the problem could  lie on the training ground and the people involved in training these apparent failures....
    Agreed we need support for Alfie, but the rest...not so sure, but agree some experience is needed to be instilled into the squad...
    Yeah I am not sure if we will, more hoping so, I think we have a fair few players that are high end of this league, but to get promoted we just need a bit more qualify, right now I see us finishing anywhere between 5th to 10th. Peterborough are exceeding my expectations, so are Stevenage massively and I have to be honest and say I didn't expect Oxford to be doing so well. Had Bolton, Derby and Portsmouth nailed on for top6 with Barnsley also likely. 

    Right now I'd say the top3 probably won't change (as in wont drop out of the top6) so we are fighting it out with a minimum of 5 sides for 3 slots, maybe 2. Going to be tough.
    So, if you say that Peterborough, Stevenage, and Oxford are exceeding expectations, which I agree with you on, is this because they have better players on paper than us, i'm not so sure on that one, or is it the infrastructure at the club, and the way the training regime is set up that just gets the best out of these players,....i'd say it is probably the latter.
    I think Peterborough and Oxford both have a handful of players that walk into our starting XI tbh, but I've always thought they both recruit well. It was more so how bad Oxford did last season and how bad Peterborough choked the play offs, thought they'd both have a bit of a hangover. Oxford for instance have the best player in the league in Cameron Brannagan imo, amazed they have kept him so long. I'd also rate Clarke-Harris the best striker in the league after May and only Bishop is of a similar level (think Devante Cole isn't quite on the level of those 3.

    Stevenage not as much, deffo a few players I wouldn't mind. Mainly Piergianni and Jamie Reid who are both having great seasons so far. 

    Recruitment is definitely something we need to really work on as clubs like Peterborough and Oxford without being rude, just talking historically, shouldn't be bogey sides to us and without sounding even more arrogant shouldn't have players who walk into our team. 

    Of course this is just all my perception, maybe too many highlights and football manager for me.
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    MarcusH26 said:
    AndyG said:
    limeygent said:
    Thought Pompey were nowhere near as good as Bolton.
    I agree mate Bolton for me are by far the best team this year and I’m sure they will win the league. 

    Was far more impressed with Bolton than Pompey , a few decent players like Lane and Robertson but Bolton looked a cut above. 
    That's the way I see it too. Given that Pompey had a good  accurate delivery from corners and crosses, that's  bound to cause problems in L1.I would say they were better than us  (with the chances etc )but I thought we played decent stuff along the ground when we had our best spells.  ? "improvement" with Hector was that when he fluffed clearing that cross Pompey didn't score.He's  inconsistent, tho  possibly better than others atm.
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    Don't want this to come across as negative, and I have watched the highlights a few times now to make sure I wasn't being harsh, as post match everyone in my opinion over praising AMB, don't get me wrong, he had a good game, and made couple of decent saves, but I think they was saves you would be expecting your keeper to save, and if they wasn't you would be seriously question.. My point is, that some are not counting the penalty because 'kept us in the game'' I am not buying.. Was saves expected to make in my opinion.
    As I said he had a good game, but not as good as people are making out.. And I think if we didn't give the penalty away we would have gone on.. Anyway, very good point, and mentally a good point as well, and very jealous of the day out.
    Personally I can see us making the play offs this season, and who know what could happen!
     
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    DubaiCAFC said:
    Don't want this to come across as negative, and I have watched the highlights a few times now to make sure I wasn't being harsh, as post match everyone in my opinion over praising AMB, don't get me wrong, he had a good game, and made couple of decent saves, but I think they was saves you would be expecting your keeper to save, and if they wasn't you would be seriously question.. My point is, that some are not counting the penalty because 'kept us in the game'' I am not buying.. Was saves expected to make in my opinion.
    As I said he had a good game, but not as good as people are making out.. And I think if we didn't give the penalty away we would have gone on.. Anyway, very good point, and mentally a good point as well, and very jealous of the day out.
    Personally I can see us making the play offs this season, and who know what could happen!
     

    Completely agree. 
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    DubaiCAFC said:
    Don't want this to come across as negative, and I have watched the highlights a few times now to make sure I wasn't being harsh, as post match everyone in my opinion over praising AMB, don't get me wrong, he had a good game, and made couple of decent saves, but I think they was saves you would be expecting your keeper to save, and if they wasn't you would be seriously question.. My point is, that some are not counting the penalty because 'kept us in the game'' I am not buying.. Was saves expected to make in my opinion.
    As I said he had a good game, but not as good as people are making out.. And I think if we didn't give the penalty away we would have gone on.. Anyway, very good point, and mentally a good point as well, and very jealous of the day out.
    Personally I can see us making the play offs this season, and who know what could happen!
     
    It's a fair point. He received MOM and much praise, but I'd be interested in the average rating from the player marks thread as it didn't appear to be nearing 9.
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    mendonca said:
    Would you consider us selling Dobson and CBT, and bringing in some freebies as the Owners backing us? 

    That's all I can see happen sadly:(
    CBT yes, but Dobson would be hard to replace. When he doesn't play or he has a bad game we invariably don't win. He has his limitations but he is the heart of the team. If he goes in January so do our chances of promotion IMO.
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    Hear what you are saying Braziliance and on the surface we don't look good or organised in several positions, but is it just a case of shipping out and shipping in replacements, I'm not convinced, and the problem could  lie on the training ground and the people involved in training these apparent failures....
    Agreed we need support for Alfie, but the rest...not so sure, but agree some experience is needed to be instilled into the squad...
    Yeah I am not sure if we will, more hoping so, I think we have a fair few players that are high end of this league, but to get promoted we just need a bit more qualify, right now I see us finishing anywhere between 5th to 10th. Peterborough are exceeding my expectations, so are Stevenage massively and I have to be honest and say I didn't expect Oxford to be doing so well. Had Bolton, Derby and Portsmouth nailed on for top6 with Barnsley also likely. 

    Right now I'd say the top3 probably won't change (as in wont drop out of the top6) so we are fighting it out with a minimum of 5 sides for 3 slots, maybe 2. Going to be tough.
    So, if you say that Peterborough, Stevenage, and Oxford are exceeding expectations, which I agree with you on, is this because they have better players on paper than us, i'm not so sure on that one, or is it the infrastructure at the club, and the way the training regime is set up that just gets the best out of these players,....i'd say it is probably the latter.
    I think Peterborough and Oxford both have a handful of players that walk into our starting XI tbh, but I've always thought they both recruit well. It was more so how bad Oxford did last season and how bad Peterborough choked the play offs, thought they'd both have a bit of a hangover. Oxford for instance have the best player in the league in Cameron Brannagan imo, amazed they have kept him so long. I'd also rate Clarke-Harris the best striker in the league after May and only Bishop is of a similar level (think Devante Cole isn't quite on the level of those 3.

    Stevenage not as much, deffo a few players I wouldn't mind. Mainly Piergianni and Jamie Reid who are both having great seasons so far. 

    Recruitment is definitely something we need to really work on as clubs like Peterborough and Oxford without being rude, just talking historically, shouldn't be bogey sides to us and without sounding even more arrogant shouldn't have players who walk into our team. 

    Of course this is just all my perception, maybe too many highlights and football manager for me.
    Brannagan’s midfield partner McGuane is another I’d have over any of our midfielders. Oxford have the best midfield in the league. Fully fit, ours is still up there as one of the best of the rest especially with depth, but without Camara and Taylor it is probably lacking a bit now.  

    I still think we have a top 6 squad though. Outside of the current top 4 I think you could only maybe argue Barnsley and Derby would have better squads than us so I’d put us around 5th-7th best squad in the league. But even with that, I don’t think Pompey or Bolton have particularly better players than us, just better coached/recruited for a style and a manager that has had a bit longer to implement it than ours has 
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    NabySarr said:
    Hear what you are saying Braziliance and on the surface we don't look good or organised in several positions, but is it just a case of shipping out and shipping in replacements, I'm not convinced, and the problem could  lie on the training ground and the people involved in training these apparent failures....
    Agreed we need support for Alfie, but the rest...not so sure, but agree some experience is needed to be instilled into the squad...
    Yeah I am not sure if we will, more hoping so, I think we have a fair few players that are high end of this league, but to get promoted we just need a bit more qualify, right now I see us finishing anywhere between 5th to 10th. Peterborough are exceeding my expectations, so are Stevenage massively and I have to be honest and say I didn't expect Oxford to be doing so well. Had Bolton, Derby and Portsmouth nailed on for top6 with Barnsley also likely. 

    Right now I'd say the top3 probably won't change (as in wont drop out of the top6) so we are fighting it out with a minimum of 5 sides for 3 slots, maybe 2. Going to be tough.
    So, if you say that Peterborough, Stevenage, and Oxford are exceeding expectations, which I agree with you on, is this because they have better players on paper than us, i'm not so sure on that one, or is it the infrastructure at the club, and the way the training regime is set up that just gets the best out of these players,....i'd say it is probably the latter.
    I think Peterborough and Oxford both have a handful of players that walk into our starting XI tbh, but I've always thought they both recruit well. It was more so how bad Oxford did last season and how bad Peterborough choked the play offs, thought they'd both have a bit of a hangover. Oxford for instance have the best player in the league in Cameron Brannagan imo, amazed they have kept him so long. I'd also rate Clarke-Harris the best striker in the league after May and only Bishop is of a similar level (think Devante Cole isn't quite on the level of those 3.

    Stevenage not as much, deffo a few players I wouldn't mind. Mainly Piergianni and Jamie Reid who are both having great seasons so far. 

    Recruitment is definitely something we need to really work on as clubs like Peterborough and Oxford without being rude, just talking historically, shouldn't be bogey sides to us and without sounding even more arrogant shouldn't have players who walk into our team. 

    Of course this is just all my perception, maybe too many highlights and football manager for me.
    Brannagan’s midfield partner McGuane is another I’d have over any of our midfielders. Oxford have the best midfield in the league. Fully fit, ours is still up there as one of the best of the rest especially with depth, but without Camara and Taylor it is probably lacking a bit now.  

    I still think we have a top 6 squad though. Outside of the current top 4 I think you could only maybe argue Barnsley and Derby would have better squads than us so I’d put us around 5th-7th best squad in the league. But even with that, I don’t think Pompey or Bolton have particularly better players than us, just better coached/recruited for a style and a manager that has had a bit longer to implement it than ours has 
    Yeah another very decent player and one we should have been aware of being a local lad, ah well. I'd say our midfield is pretty decent, still think the squad as a whole is just shy of play off material but fortunately we have some very good players amongst it all. 



    Just seen this video on twitter and it highlights my concerns, Robertson had far too much time on the ball and he isn't the first midfielder to do it to us.

    Why is May closing down in that kind of space, how is he turning into so much space. One of the big concerns is how Dobbo is left twice and doesn't really recover, bit reckless. Not trying to be too critical but this has been a theme the past few seasons, some teams just look too relaxed in the middle. Luckily a big difference we have now is that May doesn't stop pressing from the front. 

    Really hoping to see Dobson and Watson dominate the midfield in these next 3 games or so against 'lesser' opposition. Very curious to see how Owen Moxon fairs against us as he gets rave reviews and Carlisle fans think he could be playing the level above.
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    edited November 2023
    Think picking out a few clips of the best midfielder we’ve played against this season (perhaps McGuane aside) and using it as a reason to say ours aren’t up to it is a bit harsh.

    Both Robertson and McGuane are Championship ready IMO. Pompey fans saying they’ll be surprised if Robertson isn’t a Premier League player in 2-3 years and I believe them based on Saturday. I was seriously impressed. Dobson, Watson et al will never play at that level, unfortunately.

    I do understand the general concerns though. I’ve tried to bring it up a few times with Dobson especially who seems to get dragged towards the ball more often than he should, when holding his position could often serve the team better.
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    Blucher said:
    An absolutely cracking day out. We met a few mates who are Portsmouth season ticket holders for pre-match beers and I was surprised how fatalistic they were about their prospects against us and of winning promotion. Their fear of Corey Blackett-Taylor was visceral and, in one or two cases, almost verging on terror. Suffice it to say that we did nothing to assuage those anxieties, emphasising how much Corey's end product has improved this season, although ironically he went on to have a very quiet game. One guy was regaling me with his memories of Derek Hales and Colin Powell during our 3-0 win at Fratton Park in an FA Cup replay in 1976 in front of over 30,000.

    As for the game, we were under the cosh for the first 10 minutes or so but then took control and had a very good 20 minute spell, when we threatened their goal. Kamara's goal changed the momentum for the rest of the half but I felt we had played pretty well and were unfortunate to be behind. The second half was a different story, with Pompey dominating the play and we had Maynard-Brewer to thank for keeping us in the game. It was a great end to the match for us and a really exciting game of end-to-end football in front of a raucous full house. As Ron Manager would say: marvellous, isn't it.

    As others have remarked, I don't think that Pompey are at the same level as Bolton but they are a well-drilled side, with plenty of experience and a couple of impressive loanees in Robertson and Kamara from Man City and Norwich respectively. Despite their excellent defensive record (only 10 league goals conceded before yesterday) they looked vulnerable on the occasions when we pressed them at the back and their disgraceful goalie and the full back ballsed it up at the end and nearly presented us with what would have been a smash and grab winner. That said, I was told that Charlton were the only team to come to Fratton Park this season and have a real go at them, so I don't think anyone could really begrudge us the point.

    An excellent old school ground and my first experience of safe standing, which I thought was very good. One area that does need attention is the toilet facilities in the away end - a narrow concourse and one small urinal for 2,146 away fans is far from ideal, particularly for men of a certain vintage.

    A very happy trip home on the train, with some fun chanting, my favourite being:

    "Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, we're going to Cray Valley, Que Sera Sera".
    Was at the FA Cup replay in 76. Queues were bad getting in and we missed the start. Ended up behind the goal Pompey end and had to keep quiet when the goals went in. Got chased all the way to the station and the old bill had to close the station to stop Pompey supporters getting to is. A great night though.
    Ha. I bloody lived there, being at what was Portsmouth Poly in those days. Talk about salty. The Portsmouth Evening News headline next day was "Pathetic, Pompey" and their reporter, a bit of a name on that island of inbreds, described us as "a team flattered by the description 'mediocre'" We were about 8th in the table then, and they were bottom more or less. Loved it, once I'd reached the relative safety of the Tricorn Club where the only Pompey fan in there seemed to be my best mate, who was literally drinking to forget. We're still in touch, he lives in Sydney, but is far too reasonable nowadays, so I didn't "jeer" him, as they call it down there, (or did in those days). But for me that wasn't just a very decent away win. That was at Pompey. 

    Anyway, I wanted to mention to @Blucher that I was surprised the Pompey guy mentioned Derek Hales, because on the night, he was very quiet. Subdued. I think he was carrying a knock. If I recall, the goals came from a striker called George Hope. Now he was mediocre....
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    Blucher said:
    An absolutely cracking day out. We met a few mates who are Portsmouth season ticket holders for pre-match beers and I was surprised how fatalistic they were about their prospects against us and of winning promotion. Their fear of Corey Blackett-Taylor was visceral and, in one or two cases, almost verging on terror. Suffice it to say that we did nothing to assuage those anxieties, emphasising how much Corey's end product has improved this season, although ironically he went on to have a very quiet game. One guy was regaling me with his memories of Derek Hales and Colin Powell during our 3-0 win at Fratton Park in an FA Cup replay in 1976 in front of over 30,000.

    As for the game, we were under the cosh for the first 10 minutes or so but then took control and had a very good 20 minute spell, when we threatened their goal. Kamara's goal changed the momentum for the rest of the half but I felt we had played pretty well and were unfortunate to be behind. The second half was a different story, with Pompey dominating the play and we had Maynard-Brewer to thank for keeping us in the game. It was a great end to the match for us and a really exciting game of end-to-end football in front of a raucous full house. As Ron Manager would say: marvellous, isn't it.

    As others have remarked, I don't think that Pompey are at the same level as Bolton but they are a well-drilled side, with plenty of experience and a couple of impressive loanees in Robertson and Kamara from Man City and Norwich respectively. Despite their excellent defensive record (only 10 league goals conceded before yesterday) they looked vulnerable on the occasions when we pressed them at the back and their disgraceful goalie and the full back ballsed it up at the end and nearly presented us with what would have been a smash and grab winner. That said, I was told that Charlton were the only team to come to Fratton Park this season and have a real go at them, so I don't think anyone could really begrudge us the point.

    An excellent old school ground and my first experience of safe standing, which I thought was very good. One area that does need attention is the toilet facilities in the away end - a narrow concourse and one small urinal for 2,146 away fans is far from ideal, particularly for men of a certain vintage.

    A very happy trip home on the train, with some fun chanting, my favourite being:

    "Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, we're going to Cray Valley, Que Sera Sera".
    Was at the FA Cup replay in 76. Queues were bad getting in and we missed the start. Ended up behind the goal Pompey end and had to keep quiet when the goals went in. Got chased all the way to the station and the old bill had to close the station to stop Pompey supporters getting to is. A great night though.
    Ha. I bloody lived there, being at what was Portsmouth Poly in those days. Talk about salty. The Portsmouth Evening News headline next day was "Pathetic, Pompey" and their reporter, a bit of a name on that island of inbreds, described us as "a team flattered by the description 'mediocre'" We were about 8th in the table then, and they were bottom more or less. Loved it, once I'd reached the relative safety of the Tricorn Club where the only Pompey fan in there seemed to be my best mate, who was literally drinking to forget. We're still in touch, he lives in Sydney, but is far too reasonable nowadays, so I didn't "jeer" him, as they call it down there, (or did in those days). But for me that wasn't just a very decent away win. That was at Pompey. 

    Anyway, I wanted to mention to @Blucher that I was surprised the Pompey guy mentioned Derek Hales, because on the night, he was very quiet. Subdued. I think he was carrying a knock. If I recall, the goals came from a striker called George Hope. Now he was mediocre....
    Was at the 1st game, but not the replay at Fratton Park.  With little/no media coverage (London radio stations ignoring us as always), I resorted to phoning the ground for a  latest score update.  Amazingly, someone answered and grumpily said "Two-nil to Charlton"

    But re Saturday, a few random comments:

    • For their 1st goal, I was screaming at someone to mark Kamara on the edge of the box, fearing another slick short-corner routine.  It must have been deliberate to leave him unmarked...
    • Why were there so many empty seats at an apparently sold-out away end? (I don't mean the section cordoned off, there were a good few others unused down on the left)
    • Are there any better away days at this level?
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    Pompey have always had a good number of ruffians but things were so much worse in the 70s heyday of hooliganism.

    As to the Pompey supporter, maybe he was simply an admirer of hairy, occasional violent strikers who knew where the onion bag was. He and his mates were complaining that, prior to the last 20 years, Charlton was usually a home banker. I remember watching us getting tonked 4-0 there on a Boxing Day with poor Tony Lange in goal. Some years prior to that, they had a tall, lanky centre-forward called Ray Hiron, who also seemed to score against us (one season, I think he got 3 or 4 in a 6-1 win).

    Happily, we’ve now become a bogey team for them
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    NabySarr said:
    Hear what you are saying Braziliance and on the surface we don't look good or organised in several positions, but is it just a case of shipping out and shipping in replacements, I'm not convinced, and the problem could  lie on the training ground and the people involved in training these apparent failures....
    Agreed we need support for Alfie, but the rest...not so sure, but agree some experience is needed to be instilled into the squad...
    Yeah I am not sure if we will, more hoping so, I think we have a fair few players that are high end of this league, but to get promoted we just need a bit more qualify, right now I see us finishing anywhere between 5th to 10th. Peterborough are exceeding my expectations, so are Stevenage massively and I have to be honest and say I didn't expect Oxford to be doing so well. Had Bolton, Derby and Portsmouth nailed on for top6 with Barnsley also likely. 

    Right now I'd say the top3 probably won't change (as in wont drop out of the top6) so we are fighting it out with a minimum of 5 sides for 3 slots, maybe 2. Going to be tough.
    So, if you say that Peterborough, Stevenage, and Oxford are exceeding expectations, which I agree with you on, is this because they have better players on paper than us, i'm not so sure on that one, or is it the infrastructure at the club, and the way the training regime is set up that just gets the best out of these players,....i'd say it is probably the latter.
    I think Peterborough and Oxford both have a handful of players that walk into our starting XI tbh, but I've always thought they both recruit well. It was more so how bad Oxford did last season and how bad Peterborough choked the play offs, thought they'd both have a bit of a hangover. Oxford for instance have the best player in the league in Cameron Brannagan imo, amazed they have kept him so long. I'd also rate Clarke-Harris the best striker in the league after May and only Bishop is of a similar level (think Devante Cole isn't quite on the level of those 3.

    Stevenage not as much, deffo a few players I wouldn't mind. Mainly Piergianni and Jamie Reid who are both having great seasons so far. 

    Recruitment is definitely something we need to really work on as clubs like Peterborough and Oxford without being rude, just talking historically, shouldn't be bogey sides to us and without sounding even more arrogant shouldn't have players who walk into our team. 

    Of course this is just all my perception, maybe too many highlights and football manager for me.
    Brannagan’s midfield partner McGuane is another I’d have over any of our midfielders. Oxford have the best midfield in the league. Fully fit, ours is still up there as one of the best of the rest especially with depth, but without Camara and Taylor it is probably lacking a bit now.  

    I still think we have a top 6 squad though. Outside of the current top 4 I think you could only maybe argue Barnsley and Derby would have better squads than us so I’d put us around 5th-7th best squad in the league. But even with that, I don’t think Pompey or Bolton have particularly better players than us, just better coached/recruited for a style and a manager that has had a bit longer to implement it than ours has 
    Yeah another very decent player and one we should have been aware of being a local lad, ah well. I'd say our midfield is pretty decent, still think the squad as a whole is just shy of play off material but fortunately we have some very good players amongst it all. 



    Just seen this video on twitter and it highlights my concerns, Robertson had far too much time on the ball and he isn't the first midfielder to do it to us.

    Why is May closing down in that kind of space, how is he turning into so much space. One of the big concerns is how Dobbo is left twice and doesn't really recover, bit reckless. Not trying to be too critical but this has been a theme the past few seasons, some teams just look too relaxed in the middle. Luckily a big difference we have now is that May doesn't stop pressing from the front. 

    Really hoping to see Dobson and Watson dominate the midfield in these next 3 games or so against 'lesser' opposition. Very curious to see how Owen Moxon fairs against us as he gets rave reviews and Carlisle fans think he could be playing the level above.
    That is the problem with playing him there, he’s got to do that defensive side. He is great at closing down from the front when we don’t have the ball, but if we are sat behind the ball he’s not going to know where he should be because he’s not a midfielder. Appleton realised this though and that’s why we changed to 3 actual midfielders later in the second half and there’s then a lot less clips from that period of the game as we had more control ourselves and it was less easy for Robertson and Pompey to play through us. 

    I think Appleton has probably learned from Saturday that in some games you can get away with May in the 10, in most homes games and against weaker sides away. But in the tougher games I think we will see him out on the right wing from now on, with 3 actual midfielders on the pitch in a 4-3-3 like we finished on Saturday 
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    ross1 said:
    I keep reading about Dobson's miss at the end, unfortunately none of the highlights show it. Has anyone got a clip of it. Thank you 
    Hopefully the full match broadcast will be on the app again soon to watch this back.
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    NabySarr said:
    NabySarr said:
    Hear what you are saying Braziliance and on the surface we don't look good or organised in several positions, but is it just a case of shipping out and shipping in replacements, I'm not convinced, and the problem could  lie on the training ground and the people involved in training these apparent failures....
    Agreed we need support for Alfie, but the rest...not so sure, but agree some experience is needed to be instilled into the squad...
    Yeah I am not sure if we will, more hoping so, I think we have a fair few players that are high end of this league, but to get promoted we just need a bit more qualify, right now I see us finishing anywhere between 5th to 10th. Peterborough are exceeding my expectations, so are Stevenage massively and I have to be honest and say I didn't expect Oxford to be doing so well. Had Bolton, Derby and Portsmouth nailed on for top6 with Barnsley also likely. 

    Right now I'd say the top3 probably won't change (as in wont drop out of the top6) so we are fighting it out with a minimum of 5 sides for 3 slots, maybe 2. Going to be tough.
    So, if you say that Peterborough, Stevenage, and Oxford are exceeding expectations, which I agree with you on, is this because they have better players on paper than us, i'm not so sure on that one, or is it the infrastructure at the club, and the way the training regime is set up that just gets the best out of these players,....i'd say it is probably the latter.
    I think Peterborough and Oxford both have a handful of players that walk into our starting XI tbh, but I've always thought they both recruit well. It was more so how bad Oxford did last season and how bad Peterborough choked the play offs, thought they'd both have a bit of a hangover. Oxford for instance have the best player in the league in Cameron Brannagan imo, amazed they have kept him so long. I'd also rate Clarke-Harris the best striker in the league after May and only Bishop is of a similar level (think Devante Cole isn't quite on the level of those 3.

    Stevenage not as much, deffo a few players I wouldn't mind. Mainly Piergianni and Jamie Reid who are both having great seasons so far. 

    Recruitment is definitely something we need to really work on as clubs like Peterborough and Oxford without being rude, just talking historically, shouldn't be bogey sides to us and without sounding even more arrogant shouldn't have players who walk into our team. 

    Of course this is just all my perception, maybe too many highlights and football manager for me.
    Brannagan’s midfield partner McGuane is another I’d have over any of our midfielders. Oxford have the best midfield in the league. Fully fit, ours is still up there as one of the best of the rest especially with depth, but without Camara and Taylor it is probably lacking a bit now.  

    I still think we have a top 6 squad though. Outside of the current top 4 I think you could only maybe argue Barnsley and Derby would have better squads than us so I’d put us around 5th-7th best squad in the league. But even with that, I don’t think Pompey or Bolton have particularly better players than us, just better coached/recruited for a style and a manager that has had a bit longer to implement it than ours has 
    Yeah another very decent player and one we should have been aware of being a local lad, ah well. I'd say our midfield is pretty decent, still think the squad as a whole is just shy of play off material but fortunately we have some very good players amongst it all. 



    Just seen this video on twitter and it highlights my concerns, Robertson had far too much time on the ball and he isn't the first midfielder to do it to us.

    Why is May closing down in that kind of space, how is he turning into so much space. One of the big concerns is how Dobbo is left twice and doesn't really recover, bit reckless. Not trying to be too critical but this has been a theme the past few seasons, some teams just look too relaxed in the middle. Luckily a big difference we have now is that May doesn't stop pressing from the front. 

    Really hoping to see Dobson and Watson dominate the midfield in these next 3 games or so against 'lesser' opposition. Very curious to see how Owen Moxon fairs against us as he gets rave reviews and Carlisle fans think he could be playing the level above.
    That is the problem with playing him there, he’s got to do that defensive side. He is great at closing down from the front when we don’t have the ball, but if we are sat behind the ball he’s not going to know where he should be because he’s not a midfielder. Appleton realised this though and that’s why we changed to 3 actual midfielders later in the second half and there’s then a lot less clips from that period of the game as we had more control ourselves and it was less easy for Robertson and Pompey to play through us. 

    I think Appleton has probably learned from Saturday that in some games you can get away with May in the 10, in most homes games and against weaker sides away. But in the tougher games I think we will see him out on the right wing from now on, with 3 actual midfielders on the pitch in a 4-3-3 like we finished on Saturday 
    As another CAFC fan highlighted on twitter as well, surely May can't keep up those work rates for much longer without an injury.

    30 games to go still minimum and if he's pressing like that I can see him breaking down, our midfielders need to be more active in the middle.

    As you say I think 433 will be more frequent as the two midfielders seems to be a bit iffy as no one is complete enough. 3 midfielders may suit us for the time being and Alf seems to pop up with goals wherever he plays up top
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    Blucher said:
    An absolutely cracking day out. We met a few mates who are Portsmouth season ticket holders for pre-match beers and I was surprised how fatalistic they were about their prospects against us and of winning promotion. Their fear of Corey Blackett-Taylor was visceral and, in one or two cases, almost verging on terror. Suffice it to say that we did nothing to assuage those anxieties, emphasising how much Corey's end product has improved this season, although ironically he went on to have a very quiet game. One guy was regaling me with his memories of Derek Hales and Colin Powell during our 3-0 win at Fratton Park in an FA Cup replay in 1976 in front of over 30,000.

    As for the game, we were under the cosh for the first 10 minutes or so but then took control and had a very good 20 minute spell, when we threatened their goal. Kamara's goal changed the momentum for the rest of the half but I felt we had played pretty well and were unfortunate to be behind. The second half was a different story, with Pompey dominating the play and we had Maynard-Brewer to thank for keeping us in the game. It was a great end to the match for us and a really exciting game of end-to-end football in front of a raucous full house. As Ron Manager would say: marvellous, isn't it.

    As others have remarked, I don't think that Pompey are at the same level as Bolton but they are a well-drilled side, with plenty of experience and a couple of impressive loanees in Robertson and Kamara from Man City and Norwich respectively. Despite their excellent defensive record (only 10 league goals conceded before yesterday) they looked vulnerable on the occasions when we pressed them at the back and their disgraceful goalie and the full back ballsed it up at the end and nearly presented us with what would have been a smash and grab winner. That said, I was told that Charlton were the only team to come to Fratton Park this season and have a real go at them, so I don't think anyone could really begrudge us the point.

    An excellent old school ground and my first experience of safe standing, which I thought was very good. One area that does need attention is the toilet facilities in the away end - a narrow concourse and one small urinal for 2,146 away fans is far from ideal, particularly for men of a certain vintage.

    A very happy trip home on the train, with some fun chanting, my favourite being:

    "Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, we're going to Cray Valley, Que Sera Sera".
    Was at the FA Cup replay in 76. Queues were bad getting in and we missed the start. Ended up behind the goal Pompey end and had to keep quiet when the goals went in. Got chased all the way to the station and the old bill had to close the station to stop Pompey supporters getting to is. A great night though.
    Ha. I bloody lived there, being at what was Portsmouth Poly in those days. Talk about salty. The Portsmouth Evening News headline next day was "Pathetic, Pompey" and their reporter, a bit of a name on that island of inbreds, described us as "a team flattered by the description 'mediocre'" We were about 8th in the table then, and they were bottom more or less. Loved it, once I'd reached the relative safety of the Tricorn Club where the only Pompey fan in there seemed to be my best mate, who was literally drinking to forget. We're still in touch, he lives in Sydney, but is far too reasonable nowadays, so I didn't "jeer" him, as they call it down there, (or did in those days). But for me that wasn't just a very decent away win. That was at Pompey. 

    Anyway, I wanted to mention to @Blucher that I was surprised the Pompey guy mentioned Derek Hales, because on the night, he was very quiet. Subdued. I think he was carrying a knock. If I recall, the goals came from a striker called George Hope. Now he was mediocre....
    Was at the 1st game, but not the replay at Fratton Park.  With little/no media coverage (London radio stations ignoring us as always), I resorted to phoning the ground for a  latest score update.  Amazingly, someone answered and grumpily said "Two-nil to Charlton"

    But re Saturday, a few random comments:

    • For their 1st goal, I was screaming at someone to mark Kamara on the edge of the box, fearing another slick short-corner routine.  It must have been deliberate to leave him unmarked...
    • Why were there so many empty seats at an apparently sold-out away end? (I don't mean the section cordoned off, there were a good few others unused down on the left)
    • Are there any better away days at this level?
    A lot of people came in the first entrance to the stand (to the left as you look at the away end) and didn’t move to their left or attempt to find their own seats, hence it looked emptier at the other end.
    It was overfilled in our bit, too many wanted to be near their mates by the looks of it. I got to my seats with my young son bang on kick off as the coach was delayed and had tell a couple of younger lads they were in my seats, his reply was “well somebody is mine”, in my politest tone I told them it wasn’t my problem and it didn’t give him the right to take mine, he moved once he realised it wasn’t up for discussion.
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    NabySarr said:
    NabySarr said:
    Hear what you are saying Braziliance and on the surface we don't look good or organised in several positions, but is it just a case of shipping out and shipping in replacements, I'm not convinced, and the problem could  lie on the training ground and the people involved in training these apparent failures....
    Agreed we need support for Alfie, but the rest...not so sure, but agree some experience is needed to be instilled into the squad...
    Yeah I am not sure if we will, more hoping so, I think we have a fair few players that are high end of this league, but to get promoted we just need a bit more qualify, right now I see us finishing anywhere between 5th to 10th. Peterborough are exceeding my expectations, so are Stevenage massively and I have to be honest and say I didn't expect Oxford to be doing so well. Had Bolton, Derby and Portsmouth nailed on for top6 with Barnsley also likely. 

    Right now I'd say the top3 probably won't change (as in wont drop out of the top6) so we are fighting it out with a minimum of 5 sides for 3 slots, maybe 2. Going to be tough.
    So, if you say that Peterborough, Stevenage, and Oxford are exceeding expectations, which I agree with you on, is this because they have better players on paper than us, i'm not so sure on that one, or is it the infrastructure at the club, and the way the training regime is set up that just gets the best out of these players,....i'd say it is probably the latter.
    I think Peterborough and Oxford both have a handful of players that walk into our starting XI tbh, but I've always thought they both recruit well. It was more so how bad Oxford did last season and how bad Peterborough choked the play offs, thought they'd both have a bit of a hangover. Oxford for instance have the best player in the league in Cameron Brannagan imo, amazed they have kept him so long. I'd also rate Clarke-Harris the best striker in the league after May and only Bishop is of a similar level (think Devante Cole isn't quite on the level of those 3.

    Stevenage not as much, deffo a few players I wouldn't mind. Mainly Piergianni and Jamie Reid who are both having great seasons so far. 

    Recruitment is definitely something we need to really work on as clubs like Peterborough and Oxford without being rude, just talking historically, shouldn't be bogey sides to us and without sounding even more arrogant shouldn't have players who walk into our team. 

    Of course this is just all my perception, maybe too many highlights and football manager for me.
    Brannagan’s midfield partner McGuane is another I’d have over any of our midfielders. Oxford have the best midfield in the league. Fully fit, ours is still up there as one of the best of the rest especially with depth, but without Camara and Taylor it is probably lacking a bit now.  

    I still think we have a top 6 squad though. Outside of the current top 4 I think you could only maybe argue Barnsley and Derby would have better squads than us so I’d put us around 5th-7th best squad in the league. But even with that, I don’t think Pompey or Bolton have particularly better players than us, just better coached/recruited for a style and a manager that has had a bit longer to implement it than ours has 
    Yeah another very decent player and one we should have been aware of being a local lad, ah well. I'd say our midfield is pretty decent, still think the squad as a whole is just shy of play off material but fortunately we have some very good players amongst it all. 



    Just seen this video on twitter and it highlights my concerns, Robertson had far too much time on the ball and he isn't the first midfielder to do it to us.

    Why is May closing down in that kind of space, how is he turning into so much space. One of the big concerns is how Dobbo is left twice and doesn't really recover, bit reckless. Not trying to be too critical but this has been a theme the past few seasons, some teams just look too relaxed in the middle. Luckily a big difference we have now is that May doesn't stop pressing from the front. 

    Really hoping to see Dobson and Watson dominate the midfield in these next 3 games or so against 'lesser' opposition. Very curious to see how Owen Moxon fairs against us as he gets rave reviews and Carlisle fans think he could be playing the level above.
    That is the problem with playing him there, he’s got to do that defensive side. He is great at closing down from the front when we don’t have the ball, but if we are sat behind the ball he’s not going to know where he should be because he’s not a midfielder. Appleton realised this though and that’s why we changed to 3 actual midfielders later in the second half and there’s then a lot less clips from that period of the game as we had more control ourselves and it was less easy for Robertson and Pompey to play through us. 

    I think Appleton has probably learned from Saturday that in some games you can get away with May in the 10, in most homes games and against weaker sides away. But in the tougher games I think we will see him out on the right wing from now on, with 3 actual midfielders on the pitch in a 4-3-3 like we finished on Saturday 
    I think the problem with our midfield is not there overall ability but the nature of the players in and around them. We are a team full of offensive players, three up top, three in midfield with only Dobson being considered defensive minded, even our left back on Saturday could be more comfortably described as a wing back. There have been mistakes by individual defenders but overall we don't retain the ball and always want to get forward. The introduction of McGrandles on Saturday allowed us to compete in midfield as we could match Robertson and Morrell with Dobson and McGrandles and that change kept us from being overun. Appleton faces an interesting problem, to make us more competitive in midfield McGrandles may well eventually start, but who would you leave out ? 
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    Going away to the better sides, I’d be inclined to go with 3 midfielders and use Tyreece Campbell from the bench. Against some of the weaker sides, we might well get away with five predominantly attacking players.
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    DubaiCAFC said:
    Don't want this to come across as negative, and I have watched the highlights a few times now to make sure I wasn't being harsh, as post match everyone in my opinion over praising AMB, don't get me wrong, he had a good game, and made couple of decent saves, but I think they was saves you would be expecting your keeper to save, and if they wasn't you would be seriously question.. My point is, that some are not counting the penalty because 'kept us in the game'' I am not buying.. Was saves expected to make in my opinion.
    As I said he had a good game, but not as good as people are making out.. And I think if we didn't give the penalty away we would have gone on.. Anyway, very good point, and mentally a good point as well, and very jealous of the day out.
    Personally I can see us making the play offs this season, and who know what could happen!
     
    I think the game highlighted AMB's overall skillset as a keeper to be honest. Unbelievable reaction saves, terrible decision-making. When he has time to think he tends to get it wrong; he rarely pushes a shot to a safe location when a longer shot comes in and he does insane things like take multiple blows to the head because he's thrown himself at something like a torpedo or absolutely murder an incoming attacker for a pen. Take away his thinking time though and he can make some remarkable saves as he did on Saturday
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    I don't know whether AMB had a good or bad game, but I believe he won us that point.
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    DubaiCAFC said:
    Don't want this to come across as negative, and I have watched the highlights a few times now to make sure I wasn't being harsh, as post match everyone in my opinion over praising AMB, don't get me wrong, he had a good game, and made couple of decent saves, but I think they was saves you would be expecting your keeper to save, and if they wasn't you would be seriously question.. My point is, that some are not counting the penalty because 'kept us in the game'' I am not buying.. Was saves expected to make in my opinion.
    As I said he had a good game, but not as good as people are making out.. And I think if we didn't give the penalty away we would have gone on.. Anyway, very good point, and mentally a good point as well, and very jealous of the day out.
    Personally I can see us making the play offs this season, and who know what could happen!
     
    The highlights didn’t show all his saves, possibly including his best ones. 
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    I believe they missed the one that he tipped onto the bar. Maybe the best of the lot. He definitely kept us in the game when we were under a bit of pressure.
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    Rob said:
    I believe they missed the one that he tipped onto the bar. Maybe the best of the lot. He definitely kept us in the game when we were under a bit of pressure.
    This one was on the highlights. 
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    Crusty54 said:
    It was thrown from the left of the away end (the right as you look on tv etc) looked like a vape to me, ridiculous thing to do. 
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    edited November 2023
    .
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