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Pompey vs. Birmingham

Fratton Park

12/03/08

19:45

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Pompey v Brum

Pompey come back down to Earth again with a league appointment with struggling Birmingham.

Vital Quotes:

Birmingham maybe at the wrong end of the table, but their last 2 outings against both North London sides have yielded 4 points.
Their infamous clash with Arsenal saw them snatch a point against the leaders with a backs to wall performance with just 10 men. Next up was the 4 goals thrashing of League cup winners Spurs, so no mugs then.

All the talk about Pompey now is of the F.A cup, it not only offers our best hope of some glory, but also of Europe, the Uefa spots are currently taken by Spurs (definite), and Everton (looking probable). With no team from the top 4 able to win the cup, it will be only 1 spot available to league placement this year.

Pompey Team News:

Defoe looks like a certain starter, as does Baros whose second half appearance helped earn our win on Saturday. In defence I do wonder if Harry may take the chance to give Aubey an outing, with Sol taking a deserved rest and Hermann switching to the centre. Midfield maybe mixed a bit also, with Villa on Saturday, squad rotation never looked more likely than tonight. Hughes however, looks likely to miss out after bruising his leg in a collision with Wes Brown.

Player to watch: Defoe

He is one player who won't be side-tracked by the cup run, he only wants to score goals and keep his run up of scoring in each of his home fixtures.

Birmingham Team News:

McFadden and Whitehead (Forssell) look like starting upfront again, their partnership is gelling nicely and bearing fruit in the form of goals.
Taylor serves the 2nd game of his 3 match ban, and Oliver Kapo is hamstrung.

Player to watch: Forssell

The Finn is looking more like the player he was when initially on loan to Birmingham, his knee injury took a lot out of him, but signs of the old deadly striker are surfacing again quickly. Arecent hat-trick against Spurs is testament to a return to type.

Match Facts & Stats

Pompey took the honours at St.Andrews, but the memeory of a 5-0 hiding 2 years back sits fresh in the mind to many

Match Prediction:

Will our cup exploits give us a hangover, a'la Spurs, or a lift-off? Here's hoping for the latter, but hedge your bets here.

Next Fixtures:

Villa at home Saturday completes our Midlands adventure.

Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco

Writer: paultsmouth

Date:Wednesday March 12 2008

Time: 5:26PM

Your Comments

What with Jamo signig on again, time for a knee's up?

paultsmouth

hope we can get a win - with me being there and all...but somehow i just think we will slip up...

pompeycarpet

just released pompey v west brom 12:15 sat kick off+

knocker

a nice easy win for us i think, i have a feeling defoe will score a couple after being fustratingly cup tied.

pompeysno.9

Nice one Paul. I have some apprehension about this one, but still think we'll end up with all 3 pts (gotta practice beating up Brummies for Wembley after all !)

Toronto4Pompey

Just got back, we were bloody awful second half and still won 4-2! Hermann mom

paultsmouth

Strange atmosphere tonight dont you think? Was bewildered at half time, how did we let that 2 goal lead slip? Still, we came back. Up to 7th now I think. PUP

pompey4me

Disgusted with the fans jeering of Diop. I know some of you aren't fans of him but it is our duty as fans to back when they're having a tough game. It's clear he's a good player after his early form and his performance against MU.

Mendes was my MOM. Slotted in very nicely today although there was a few wayward passes at the end of the match which could be due to a lack of match sharpness.

stillthewhizz

Yeah whizz, what was the jeering in aid of?

pompey4me

Diop misplaced a series of 10 yd passes close to the north stand... and caused a number of Brum counters - the North Stand jeered and then clapped cynically when he strung a few good passes together - unfair yes, he's one of my favs and wins most in the air immaterial of his general form.

ChrisW

Us Aussies didn't get to see the game on TV. I have read newspaper reports and the comments range from fairly bad to brilliant and that is generally reflected by posts on this and other sites. What was the game really like and who played well? A realistic summary would be appreciated.

frattonaussie

well fa, we started like a train, got a pen for handball, then Muntari hits a thirty yarder, Taylor parries it to Baros, parries again and Defoe smashes in the rebound. Just as we sit down, awful defending from a free-kick leads to a free flick-on and bang 2-1. Bit of a stalemate, then Larsson hits home a cracking free-kick to equalise. 2nd half, and a scramble from a Pompey cross falls to Hermann who bangs home from 7 yds, celebration includes roly-poly. Then for a good 35 mins Pompey are hammered, we cannot string 2 passes together, but with time running out and Brum attacking, Mendes slings in a cross for the unmarked sub Kanu to head home. 3 points in the bag, Brum unlucky losers to be fair. This was a view from South stand upper!

paultsmouth

My account wouldn't be that different Paul - But I'll add... a man on the post would have prevented Brums second goal which was actually a well taken free kick... Johno had an up and down game and after losing possession three times in five mins got frustrated wth himself and went on a surging 50 yard run ..only to run out of steam in their box.. Jamo made another world class save when we were 2-2, Herman, Sol & Dist looked ok but generally the back four will be hacked off with defending for the first goal and Johno for conceding the free kick which led to their second. Midfield ..umm missed Diarra if I'm honest but by the time he came on he couldn't realy get in the game. Muntari was up and down but his shot which led to our second was incredible (goal of the season had it gone in) Krunchy did the easy thing difficultly but still looks class every time he gets the ball. Pedro was MOM but it was a poor match. Diop is not the answer on the right in a four man midfield (didn't hear the booing from the North Stand but Fratton End were cheering ole in a jokey way when he eventually put a decent pass together).. (definately no ***** taking from where I was) Defoe busy early on but lacked supply in the second half. Baros is an intelligent Nugent I thought he worked his socks off but was always in the right place at the wrong time... my brother thought he was awful. All in all a weird game.. scored four but were average at best, Brum are not relegation fodder and I hope they stay up.. Atmosphere was weird too as P4Me said .. it was a bit like after the Lord mayors show and the game (to the crowd) just when on around us.. More thoughts of Wembley from the crowd than the players... but a good three points ll the same on what was a potential banana skin... Harry will be happy but if we play like that against Villa we'll lose ..Does that help FA ?

Chix

wow i predicted defoe would score 2 and he did, that means he's got 5 goals in 5 games, spurs could have done with him against psv last night instead their stuck with Bent who is nowhere near as good as defoe.

pompeysno.9

5 goals in 5 games...but he has hardley offered much else...still, thats what we have diara for i guess. (although we did miss diara, when he came on on the right, he looked very uncomftable).

pompeycarpet

and the whole diop thing. well, essentially, he didnt do anything right in regards to keeping the ball for quite a long period in the second half, and when you ahve a player like utaka has been, keeping out of the way, keeping the ball - but not adding anything, it is ok. But when you have a player in the heart of your midfield, who you rely upon to Break Up counter attacks, who is mis placing passes, and starting counter attacks, and having a negative impact on the team (inabilty to keep hold of the ball) - fans will inevitably get annoyed.

pompeycarpet

still, wierd atmosphere probably didnt help his confidence, and allowed the fans to get more involved in the game, and possibly lacked a distraction from anything else...(having said that, there were a couple of "que sara sara"'s that were almost defoningly loud...

pompeycarpet

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