The Old School Tie - The Prep School

The Old School Tie is back for another instalment, and this week resident teacher 'PFCGino' examines the recent performances and provides his grading on those former Blues that are currently playing in the lower leagues.

Darren 'Bruno' Moore - Barnsley:
Darren Moore's team are currently sitting 17th in the Championship, and since the last report have the impressive record of winning three out of their last five games. Moore played in four of these (three of them being wins), having picked up a knock in the 2-1 in over Watford. Barnsley's recent good form have been as a result of Bruno's solid defending, and he even got on the scoresheet in an impressive overall performance that culminated in his team winning 3-1 at the Valley. A solid recent run of games for Moore, which was unfortunately hampered by injury - a B grade.

Dejan Stefanovic - Norwich City:
Norwich have been playing rather poorly of late, and find themselves 19th in the Championship. Dejan only played in 2 of the last five games for Norwich, and was substituted after only 8 minutes in the 2-2 draw with Preston, after being stretchered off with a knee injury. Unfortunately later scans have shown that Norwich will be without him for the rest of the season. I'm sure that I will not be the only one in wishing Dejan a speedy recovery, as he was a great servant for Portsmouth, and I'm sure the Norwich fans will miss him a great deal.

Deon Burton & Lewis Buxton - Sheffield Wednesday:
Another underperforming Championship team, currently home to two ex-blues. Deon Burton is only playing a bit-part at Sheffield Wednesday, and in their last five league games has only played in three, coming on as a late substitute in all three games. He earns a D grade, as he hasn't really performed too well for Wednesday. Buxton played in four of the games, missing one through injury, and has been ever-present in the Owls side. Despite that, he has been powerless to stop their bad run of form, and as such earns a C.

Svetoslav Todorov - Charlton:
Charlton sit 22nd in the Championship, and have had an incredibly bad season this term. Todorov has been getting more regular football as he gets over his various injuries, and has played in four of Charlton's last five games. He has been substituted in all of these games late into the second half, and in four appearances scored no goals. He is yet to return to the form that saw Portsmouth promoted in 2003, and I am certain that one day he'll be banging them in for the Addicks - a grade C here.

Sammy Igoe, Shaun Cooper, Darren Anderton & Lee Bradbury - Bournemouth:
Plenty of ex-Pompey players to report on here, and I'll try to be as concise as possible. Bournemouth's most recent game saw them draw 3-3 with Grimsby, with ex-blues Anderton and Bradbury (2) on the scoresheet. All four of the above ex-blues have featured at some stage in their previous five games, but Bournemouth currently lie very close to the bottom of the League Two table, and with their points deficit, relegation is a real possibility for them this season. They have only picked up four points in the past five games, and as such Igoe and Cooper get a D, and Anderton and Bradbury get a B, purely because their goals last weekend got Bournemouth a much needed away point.

Shaun Derry - Crystal Palace:
Ex-Pompey skipper Shaun Derry plays his football at Crystal Palace, in what is officially his third spell at the club. Crystal Palace are currently sitting mid-table in the Championship, and Derry has played well in the Palace midfield this term for them. Despite missing last weekend's game, he has played well in an under-performing side, with solid but un-noteworthy performances and as such earns a C grade

Jason Crowe - Northampton Town:
Jason Crowe's Town are again, underperforming, hovering not too far away from the relegation zone in League One. His efforts however, aren't going unnoticed. He scored two goals in a 5-2 defeat at home to Leeds a couple of weeks back, but two goals are put into perspective when you concede five in the same match. Crowe's recent performances, like Derry's have been solid but not amazing, and so he too earns a C grade.

Mark Burchill - Rotherham:
Finally, we head all the way down to League Two, where Mark Burchill, once tipped for great things, plays with Rotherham, currently sitting in 11th place. Burchill has found chances to score for the Millers few and very far between - a very poor run of results has seen Rotherham concede 11 goals in all competitions in their last four games, losing 3-0 to a very poor Aldershot Town side. Burchill's efforts to score in this game were limited to the second half after coming on, and couldn't prevent the defeat - a grade D for Burchill's overall contributions of late.


That's it for the lower leagues, PFCGino's view of ex-Pompey players playing abroad or currently out on loan will follow in later articles.

What are your thoughts on the players featured?

Were you glad to see them go?

Could we do with them now?

Do you agree with PFCGino's ratings?

Perhaps there's a particular player PFCGino hasn't featured or whom you'd like featured in more detail.

Please share your thoughts by posting a comment below.

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