After a poor first half he made a radical change of shape at the start of the second. We went to a 442 with a box in midfield - a 4222 if you like with Leko/Stockley ahead of Gilbey/Lee ahead of Watson/Clare .
It was very narrow, but did the trick beautifully - allowed us to dominate the middle of the park, and suddenly we were running the game.
We were still vulnerable to the counter (or any kind of attack really) as we have been all season, but it was the change of shape, more than the change of personnel (Clare for a largely wayward Arter) that brought us back into it.
Plenty to work on from both sides, but an enjoyable game between two well matched teams. We were lucky Pompey weren't out of sight in the first half - that miss from Marquis!
No professional football team should be 9 games into a season & openly saying they have got to manage 3 players minutes on the pitch due to fitness or potential injuries.
Either the training / fitness regime is way off or you are buying the wrong players.
If NA is now to finalise his preferred starting 11, quite simply it cannot possibly include Stockley. With multiple permutations of formation and personnel tried with him starting up front, none has looked remotely as effective as when Davison has led the line.
Although Davison didn’t lead the line today when he came on. .
I feel sorry for Stockley. Yes, he’s been dire but he’s feeding off scraps in a multitude of different formations, which usually have him up front on his own and isolated. I would drop him for his own sake and that of the team but I still think he’s a good player , in the right system with the right manager .
We started tues without Stockley and with Davison & CBT and won that half, with CBT setting up the goal.
We finished the 2nd half today without Stockley & with Davison & CBT. The former scored from the latter's cross.
Actually, with the benefit of a good night sleep, our build up going forward has improved a bit yesterday, particularly our one touch football and accurate balls to runners into the box. We created some good chances. Or have I slept too good..? The gaps in the middle of the park when defending are embarrassing though - school recess football...
The more Thomas speaks on the football side, the more naive he seems to be.
We are where we are based on results.
Portsmouth could have been out of sight at half time, it's that simple.
Ive not followed Arter's career, but I know he has done well in the past. Haven't seen a shred of evidence of any of that so far.
Im not a Matthews fan, mainly because I know he is a lot better than he is showing at the moment, but he was left woefully exposed by Leko for Pompeys first goal and he didnt know who to track so did neither. It was noticeable that Leko swopped sides with Lee shortly after.
Our backline remind of kids who have been told to play out from the back and the coach telling the midfield to stand like statues. It's very dangerous to play this way with nobody dropping deep to assist from midfield. Oh for a Josh Cullen right now.
Our game plan is so poor that at times Pompey had six against our four as they broke from midfield.
Stockley....I really liked the bloke, but my god his form and lack of movement is terrible at the moment. He is totally one dimensional and he needs to be dropped out of the squad in the same way DJ and Kirk were.
Slightly improved second half but I couldn't help but think that a good opposition side would absolutely murder us at the moment.
Adkins wants to play a certain way, but he really doesn't have the right blend of players at his disposal at the club. We are very predictable and you can see that other teams have done their homework on us.
The plus for me was Watson played well despite being the only midfielder in the first half and that's two games running he has put in a shift.
The other positive is Gilbey is fit. He showed in flashes what a good player he is and when totally fit will be a shoe in on my team sheet.
Purrington brought balance to the side against Gillingham, I hope he returns on Tuesday.
I could ramble on further but Adkins is beginning to irritate me somewhat irrationally...at 2.25am when he came on and started his interview I switched off, same old words in a different jumbled order, he talks a good game but I think maybe he has had his day.....based on how I feel right now, as nice as he obviously is, I wouldn't shed a tear if and when he goes.
I believe it's telling that Adkins told us that he changed the formation after 20 minutes.
Oh well, at least Adkins has a plan B.
Makes me wonder why we didn't start the match with that changed formation? We gradually looked much better for it.
I dont think a box in midfield is a long term prospect. We looked a lot more dangerous when we had a bit of width . I don’t advocate two out and out wide players, per se, but having none is madness
Was ridiculous in the second half the amount of times that Bazunu and centre-back just lazily passed back between themselves in the middle of the park with no pressure on them.
Dunno if it was intentional from Stockley and Leko to force them that way but they'd just stand there to try and stop it from going out wide, and even when it did they ended up chasing it.
Tactical. Did you catch Stevie Brown explaining it on commentary? He said it was a big part of how we got ourselves back in the game
Was ridiculous in the second half the amount of times that Bazunu and centre-back just lazily passed back between themselves in the middle of the park with no pressure on them.
Dunno if it was intentional from Stockley and Leko to force them that way but they'd just stand there to try and stop it from going out wide, and even when it did they ended up chasing it.
Tactical. Did you catch Stevie Brown explaining it on commentary? He said it was a big part of how we got ourselves back in the game
Was ridiculous in the second half the amount of times that Bazunu and centre-back just lazily passed back between themselves in the middle of the park with no pressure on them.
Dunno if it was intentional from Stockley and Leko to force them that way but they'd just stand there to try and stop it from going out wide, and even when it did they ended up chasing it.
Tactical. Did you catch Stevie Brown explaining it on commentary? He said it was a big part of how we got ourselves back in the game
I’m with SELR, we never deserved to win could have been 0-3 at HT.
At half time, they had scored from their only shot on target
Doesn’t mean we weren’t utterly pathetic. As someone else said if Maquis could finished we’d of been out of sight.
But we weren't utterly pathetic. First half was poor second half we were quite good. Agreed we have to do better but a draw was a fair result but don't let that stop you being negative, yet again.
That first half was utterly pathetic half the stadium was booing. Course I’m fuckin negative we’ve won 1 in 9 in league one and are 22nd ffs what do you expect me to say the sun is shining the birds are singing.
To be completely honest I'd rather you didn't say anything at all.
Why ya weirdo it’s a forum, if negative opinions hurt your ears perhaps you’re too sensitive for the internet.
Took a mate for his first trip to the Valley, and he was shocked how disorganised we were in the first half. But overall he thought it was great entertainment and loved our spirit in the second half. He also thought that our defence looked like they were on the Pompey payroll at times. I can't believe how our players fall over so often in dangerous positions. Poor old Pearce was the worst culprit. He tries so hard but is really struggling this season. I suspect Famewo will be back on Tuesday?
I'd been banging on to my mate about Corey Blackett-Taylor before the game, and he didn't let me down. He's had such an impact in such a short period of time. Two assists already is it? We're a different side with him in the team. Opposition sides will have to double up on him, which should create gaps, but he also has the pace to latch on to through balls, and you can't double up to stop that. He'll start on Tuesday I'm sure.
I was disappointed to see Arter being pretty ineffective today. Hopefully he'll improve. Watson is fine when we just want to maintain possession for a bit, but struggles when we're on the back foot. He lacks that little bit of pace you need to get tackles in these days. We still look vulnerable down our flanks, and I'm not sure what you do about that. Positives were good performances from CBT, Lavelle and Lee. Clare also looked useful, but needs to improve his distribution. Great finish for his goal though. Still think Davison is a better option than Stockley.
Thought the fans let us down a bit today. More booing of the knee, and as soon as we're a goal down, the atmosphere starts turning toxic. Understandable, to some degree, but the Portsmouth players must have loved that.
Oh and the ref wants shooting for halting play with Gilbey through on goal with their keeper in no man's land.
No the fans in no way let is down. Yes when we went one down it wasn't great but we all rallied round. As for the booing for the knee it is totally wrong but I think that particularly avenue has run its course!
What particular avenue (your post is ambiguous)? The booing of the knee or the players' taking the knee?
If it's the latter, do you understand why they are taking the knee and for what cause/purpose?
Actually both. I completely understand the reason for taking the knee but it is clear others don't or want to understand hence the booing. Taking the knee when it first came out was very good and it made people think but now it appears to divide opinion and will unfortunately continue to do so. Not saying it should stop but maybe an alternative would be more effective.
we witnessed our earliest leaver yesterday. As pompey celebrated their first goal the bloke next to us grabbed his belongings and left. Never to be seen again.
Are things improving. Yes without doubt. Are things improving to finish in the top 6. Nope no where near that level.
Not concerned about relegation at all. Still don’t think Adkins will last past Xmas, but he’s got himself another two at least to start building some momentum for us.
First 30 mins or so Portsmouth could/should of been out of sight. Adkins changed it and we were a different team. Dominated most of the 2nd half. Much improved after Stockley was taken off. From what I've seen cannot believe this guy is one of the best strikers in the league. He's slow, static and with the ball on the ground his finishing is woeful. CBT is a must start for me. As for Jason Pearce I think retirement beckons. Awful today.
I thought Marcus and Ronan first half were excellent, really good. I thought the system suited them. I thought they got between Charlton, I thought they occupied really good space.
I thought it was really hard for Charlton’s six, Ben Watson, to deal with both of them, it was too far for their full-backs and centre halves to judge, so we just got them in a really lovely space and we were able to just keep playing through to them.
We forced Charlton into a formation change maybe in the 35th minute from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and they matched us up in the middle. We were getting lots of overloads and playing through them, I thought it was a good decision for Nigel [Adkins] to do that.
Very good comeback after that first half hour when the game should have been gone.Some things are glaringly obvious,Pearce defends very well,when he has the ball it is heart attack time,this is something any astute opposition manager will pick up on,similar Papa,ok defending,caught with the ball,dont like long ball game,but when either of these two are in possession,please just get rid.I have been saying from the start of the pre season,Davison deserves a chance to establish himself,he is a good player waiting for that run in the team,he brings energy and just gives defences no peace,sadly,Stockley has been found out and is ineffective.We must get CBT fit to play,this lad is desperate to prove himself,and causes chaos,also a great eye for a pass.good to see Gilbey back,also Clare looked sharp albeight one or two dodgy passes.Just a glimmer of hope we might start our season on tuesday.
Enjoyed the game. There was an ebb and flow to it, with both sides enjoying periods of success. A draw felt fair to me although Portsmouth had a couple of clear chances without working our keeper. Their keeper was much busier and looked good.
I think we are starting to look pretty good on the ball and look like we might score some goals but off the ball we need to be better.
I don't mind the rotation at this stage because we have so many players who are playing catch-up with match fitness (Souare, Purrington, Gilbey, CBT and Arter). This is an approach that ought to pay dividends later in the season. I expect to see 5 or 6 changes to the starting team on Tuesday and I'm ok with that. Get through this busy period with few injuries and we'll be ok.
Adkins won’t last because the tide has turned against him and I see no signs of him being able to turn it around. Little things like saying he can’t give certain players like CBT 90 minutes because he has to bed him in
To be fair, he said in the post-match comments that he was flagged as a risk by the sports science people and shouldn't even have been on the bench.
So the sports science people are making team selections now are they. Oh good.....sack Adkins & put them in charge then.
Comments
After a poor first half he made a radical change of shape at the start of the second. We went to a 442 with a box in midfield - a 4222 if you like with Leko/Stockley ahead of Gilbey/Lee ahead of Watson/Clare .
It was very narrow, but did the trick beautifully - allowed us to dominate the middle of the park, and suddenly we were running the game.
We were still vulnerable to the counter (or any kind of attack really) as we have been all season, but it was the change of shape, more than the change of personnel (Clare for a largely wayward Arter) that brought us back into it.
Plenty to work on from both sides, but an enjoyable game between two well matched teams. We were lucky Pompey weren't out of sight in the first half - that miss from Marquis!
Our general defensive positioning for both of their goals leaves a lot to be desired
Either the training / fitness regime is way off or you are buying the wrong players.
We finished the 2nd half today without Stockley & with Davison & CBT. The former scored from the latter's cross.
Does anyone see a pattern forming....
Or have I slept too good..?
The gaps in the middle of the park when defending are embarrassing though - school recess football...
We are where we are based on results.
Portsmouth could have been out of sight at half time, it's that simple.
Ive not followed Arter's career, but I know he has done well in the past. Haven't seen a shred of evidence of any of that so far.
Im not a Matthews fan, mainly because I know he is a lot better than he is showing at the moment, but he was left woefully exposed by Leko for Pompeys first goal and he didnt know who to track so did neither. It was noticeable that Leko swopped sides with Lee shortly after.
Our backline remind of kids who have been told to play out from the back and the coach telling the midfield to stand like statues. It's very dangerous to play this way with nobody dropping deep to assist from midfield. Oh for a Josh Cullen right now.
Our game plan is so poor that at times Pompey had six against our four as they broke from midfield.
Stockley....I really liked the bloke, but my god his form and lack of movement is terrible at the moment. He is totally one dimensional and he needs to be dropped out of the squad in the same way DJ and Kirk were.
Slightly improved second half but I couldn't help but think that a good opposition side would absolutely murder us at the moment.
Adkins wants to play a certain way, but he really doesn't have the right blend of players at his disposal at the club. We are very predictable and you can see that other teams have done their homework on us.
The plus for me was Watson played well despite being the only midfielder in the first half and that's two games running he has put in a shift.
The other positive is Gilbey is fit. He showed in flashes what a good player he is and when totally fit will be a shoe in on my team sheet.
Purrington brought balance to the side against Gillingham, I hope he returns on Tuesday.
I could ramble on further but Adkins is beginning to irritate me somewhat irrationally...at 2.25am when he came on and started his interview I switched off, same old words in a different jumbled order, he talks a good game but I think maybe he has had his day.....based on how I feel right now, as nice as he obviously is, I wouldn't shed a tear if and when he goes.
we witnessed our earliest leaver yesterday. As pompey celebrated their first goal the bloke next to us grabbed his belongings and left. Never to be seen again.
We'll probably see him on Tuesday, with Gilbey rested
Some telling thoughts of Danny Cowley.
I thought Marcus and Ronan first half were excellent, really good. I thought the system suited them. I thought they got between Charlton, I thought they occupied really good space.
I thought it was really hard for Charlton’s six, Ben Watson, to deal with both of them, it was too far for their full-backs and centre halves to judge, so we just got them in a really lovely space and we were able to just keep playing through to them.
We forced Charlton into a formation change maybe in the 35th minute from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and they matched us up in the middle. We were getting lots of overloads and playing through them, I thought it was a good decision for Nigel [Adkins] to do that.
I think we are starting to look pretty good on the ball and look like we might score some goals but off the ball we need to be better.
I don't mind the rotation at this stage because we have so many players who are playing catch-up with match fitness (Souare, Purrington, Gilbey, CBT and Arter). This is an approach that ought to pay dividends later in the season. I expect to see 5 or 6 changes to the starting team on Tuesday and I'm ok with that. Get through this busy period with few injuries and we'll be ok.