Portsmouth News 24/7Writer: paultsmouth 
Date:Saturday January 24 2009
Time: 5:13PM
UK time is: 14:39:38
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Pompey 0 - Swansea 2
Fratton
24/1/09
Attendance:
Goodbye big ears
Pompey bade farewell to the cup we had waited so long to see again, Swansea outplayed us in a first half which we conceded 2 goals.
Swansea were already a goal to the good from Public enemy number 1 Nathan Dyer, when Belhadj dangled out a leg for Jordi Gomez to tumble, Jason Scotland did the rest and Pompeys grip on the cup was first loosened and then ripped away.
Tony Adams gave a debut to Jermaine Pennant, not on the right but in Kranjcars free role, Nugent played on the right again, and Hughes took Kabouls place in the centre.
The first 10 minutes or so saw both sides pushing for a worthwile chance, but Swansea were probably the brighter of the two sides, they were playing the football and Pompey were doing the chasing.
Nathan Dyer had already had one sighter of James' goal, when on 26 minutes he opened the scoring with a drilled shot, and then milked the applause from the Welsh contingent. Five minutes later and Konstantopoulous denied Crouch from 12 yards and Pompeys day was taking a grim look.
Pompey were out of sorts make no mistake, but Swansea were making us look so, and as half-time beckoned, Belhadj showed his defensive limitations by conceding a soft penalty, he may of protested it was out of the area, but referee Marriner was the man who mattered, and Jason Scotland made no mistake from the spot.
Second half and Nugent and Traore were hauled off, Hreidarsson moved to left-back pushing Belhadj on, and Kanu went up front with Crouch and Pennant made his way to his natural place on the wing.
Pompey certainly had the lions share of the play this half, but Swansea were stoic in defence, and when Crouch did get a header in, the post came to the rescue.
Konstantopoulous was inspired and kept Pompey out, but we were not with a cutting edge.
You can take nothing away from Swansea, but Pompey are now 2 months without a win at Fratton park, Villa are up next and you really fear for where the points are going to come from.
Tony Adams tactics will no doubt come into close inspection once more, Pennant was wasted in the middle, Hughes was not fit and could face another long spell out, and Nugent bouyed by his first goal at Spurs may well have taken a step back after being dragged off.
Not good enough.
Your Comments
Pompey only had thre Lions share in the 2nd half, as we had Pompey in our pockets, foot off the gas for the Jacks, we've had tougher non league teams this season, pmsl
cyjax
The sad thing is i doubt anybody will disagree with you!
pentonpompey
Think adams must go. Having been a supporter of his appointment and a believer in giving him time I must now bow to what I think is the general consensus. Playing Pennant through the middle in the first half was criminal, and thats not the first basic mistake he's made in his time. TA OUT!!
Pompeymiguel
sigh =(
pompeym@
What a disappointing afternoon. You guys are right about the tactics, playing Pennant in the middle didn't work at all. My heart is throwing a tantrum about going out of the cup, especially to a Championship side. My head says we need to be away from the distractions of the cup, because we have a real scrap on now to survive in this division. (We weren't gonna win it two years in a row anyway). And if we don't bolster the midfield this week, we won't do it, whoever the manager is. At least we can't lose to any more championship sides this season (only premiership ones), but after this season - who knows?
tracyc
Tony does seem to have picked up HR's "special" ability to play his players in all the wrong positions, and then be surprised that you don't get a coherent team out of that mess. Hmm.. come to think of it, having said that signing Pennant was all about getting crosses in for Crouch and then playing Pennant in the middle ( where it's surprisingly difficult to deliver crosses ) perhaps he has HR's ability to contradict himself too.
PhilTaglia
he said in an interview after he signed, that he had seen pennant play behind the striker before, and he thought it had worked well. (see one of the forum threads...)
pompeycarpet
Personally, we played well. The change at half time was the right one, and Pennant was fantastic. I think we should play Belhadj in front of Hermann all the time, Hermann played really well. Kanu was great, but Cranie was poor. Basically we were really unlucky, hitting the post and crossbar, their keeper was in great form. Ref was dodgy. The penalty was debatable as to whether it was in or out, and Dyer's goal was a case of no-one picking up the runner. Dyer, despit being a dirty thieving scummer, looked pretty decent.
jbaker
Our only hope is that villa seem to have stuttered somewhat, so there's a possibility we could capitalize on that on tuesday.
No doubt about it, we miss Johno whenever he isn't playing.
Desperately dissapointed, but it's not the end of the world. Two silver-linings - One, Spurs went out as well, second, the manager from'that lot down the road' has quit! Not, much, but it's a small conselation!
powered_by_pies
Never mind I am sure you will get to take your frustrations out when you play them a couple more times and soon.
TergeHauge
Squee = glum :(
Squee
So you expect Swansea to get promotion then TergeHauge?
Pompey Half Pint
either that or he expects us to get relegated atm i know which 1 i'll be going for
pompeym@
How on earth can you say we played well!!
What game were you at, we were outplayed by Swansea, we never took our chances AGAIN, what on earth the poor excuse for a manager we have thinks about pre-game is a complete mystery to me.
To blame the ref is typical and untrue, we were just poor, and Hughes was never fit to play.
I bet we are unlucky against the Villa and then Fulham, get real lads we are a poor bunch of players, not even a team, and Belhadj is about as good a defender as my gran, move him further up the field out of harms way please.
Dyer good!! i would have looked good against that load of tripe.
Owenspompey
How bad were we without Johnson & Niko, arguably are best outfield players. With limited supply to our forwards & wasteful again with what they had. Poor tactics in the first half, the players looked down & don't seem to respond to Adams. Other than Glen coming, we look very poor again. Heaven help us with Villa & Liverpool coming to FP. Any positives from the Spurs game went today. Bl00dy embarrassment to the shirt.
storagematt
Agree, Owens, we didn't play well. Pennant did well, esp considering he was in the wrong position, in a team new to him and hasn't played for ages, hence a bit of cramp towards the end. Cranie was out of his depth. Yes we do mis Jonno, thank goodness he's back Tuesday. The pen was fair, from where I was sat it was well within the area, he took the player in the penalty area - that's what you get. Heard Adams interview, not sure really what he could have said - but he was playing up the second half performance - but if you just take the second half alone, 0-0 against a championship side is not good enough.
tracyc
Adams is a great talker, i am afraid getting the best out of this load of rubbish is not for him, and it is now obvious that none of our so called targets will be coming.
We are so poor, and weare really going to get another hammering very soon.
Owenspompey
give him a few more games if not he is out !!! a draw to bristol and defeat to swansea is crap my hometown swindon drew with swansea we got villa at home what will be good game but we need the points.they have no young so we have a chance . GET SUM SIGNINGS 4 ***** SAKE
stfc ballboy
we NEED midfield players. However, as you say ownes, we missed chances. at least we are creating them! and it's not down to tony to make the team score these chances. he can coach them to be in the right positions, he can coach them to create the chances, but he can;t help them if we hit the post ior there keeper saves it. Villa will be a different proposition, and hopefully one we are more suited to playing.
pompeycarpet
Not got a lot to say tonight, but my optism of the last couple of games has evaporated...........
paultsmouth
Flippen Heck!
nodster
I know, Nodster, I know.... :(
Gandor1
I have to say....it took a while for your luck to run out in this competition!!
ForeverUnited
ForeverUnited... Have to agree to some degree.. The Manyoo game lat year was the last game we actually beat a team without any luck... Since then we have been oh so very lucky !
Chix
Well I'm stuggling for something to say following that performance yesterday - Pennant must wonder what kind of team he has joined. AWFUL IN EVERY DEPARTMENT.. from Storrie pretending to sign players, to Adams being cluless tactically, to the players rolling over and handing the cup back without a fight...
Chix
Chix I; and I feel just about everybody on here knows how you feel. I don't think i've known it to be quite so empty. I thought people would be up in arems, ranting and raving. However people seemed stunned and resigned to our fate. I really think it is finally dawning on people just what a mess we're in. Do you know, I didn't even have it in me to get wound up yesterday. I knew it was coming, and when it did I just shrugged my shoulders. How sad is that?
pentonpompey
Carpet how can we be more suited to playing Villa?
We will be over run again, what with Heskey and Agbonlohor up front, Milner and Petrov, plus Barry and Sidwell in midfield they more than match up to us.
We are really poor, and have no-one in midfield to keep our shape, and then provide the pass to our creative influences/s, we have to act now, otherwise we will soon be in the bottom three.
Owenspompey
Very sorry to say it, but for the clibs sake, ADAMS HAS TO GO !
He is tactically inept, he does not know what he is doing, seems unable to communicate anything to the players, FFS it even took him 5 minutes to replace Hughes when he staggered off injured, 2-0 down!!!
I really don't think we have the time to wait another few matches before we let him go, because the window will have closed, we will not have signed anyone, more points will have been lost, and we will be championship material!
OIne bright lining to that though, - most of my years as a Pompey fan have been inthe lower leagues so at least I know where to go! Fan since 1976. Pompey 1 Brighton 0 .
wakey
Act? - Owens! Isn't that what Adams is doing in the theatricla sense I mean.. He is the main male lead in 'Sunk without Trace'
Chix
How any one could ever think that a midfield of Davis, Hughes and Kaboul is good enough to keep us in the Premiership is beyond me.
I see that Emerson from Milan is the lates has been to be linked with us.
Saviola's representatives are due tomorrow!! come on what a load of old rubbish, he will have been really impressed with our recent performances wont he.
I cant believe that the dross in the squad is just sitting around and being paid.
Duffy, Traore, Lauren and Cranie to name but a few, We need players in very quickly, but the lack of movement proves, in my opinion, that the management are preparing for life in the Championship, whereas Stoke, Hull and the Baggies are giving it a go.
Even Boro are trying new things, refusing to let their better players to leave, and the chairman is backing their young English manager.
Owenspompey
Wot I wouldnt give to have 'arry back now, all those of you that hated him and wanted him gone, surely you can see now it was him that was keeping this **** together. I agree wholeheartedly with someone (cant remember who) that once Harry went, we should have got in Big Sam Allardyce.
pompey4me
I was calling him all the way from his holiday Si.. I like Adams but as a No2... Tactically inept, Strategically inept, but CHEAP... But in the words of Mrs Cybil Fawlty "he's only Cheap because he's no bloody good"
Chix
Yep, at the time, once Harry had gone, I thought Adams was the only choice. When I got back off hols and went to the Bristol C game, I just could not believe his (lack of) tactics and (lack of) substitutions. He seems a nice bloke to me, but he just is not up to it. Thing is, if a layman like myself who only ever played social standard football can see it, why cant a bloke with dozens of England caps???
pompey4me
heres a question... should we be thining about keeping the dross... the cranies, pamerots, hughes...etc., just in case next season, our good players have all left?
pompeycarpet
No get rid of them, they wont hang around when we get relegated trust me.
They will all be off to other clubs, for another wad of cash, all footballers are the same, loyalty is a thing of the past.
Owenspompey
I see that Richard Hughes is going to be out for several weeks due to his latest injury, seems like a nice loyal player, however he is a real liability injury wise, we should see if Bournmouth want him back.
The squad needs players who can perform week in and week out, and he clearly isnt capable of this.
Owenspompey
After ten mins I was thinking that Pennant had run more, fought harder and generally seemed to CARE more than Defoe had done since Jamie's dad abandoned him here. I now feel ashamed for having criticised him for being unsure as to whether to come here...I just can't get my head round what TA thought he was doing (have you noticed that virtually all reports about Pennant say that he is there to "whip" in crosses for Crouchy, Not corss, not pass but "whip in crosses!" so PUT HIM ON THE WING YOU MORON!!. Was a bit surprised to see Traore going off but Herman did a great job and Belhadj was looking so much more likely as a left winger.
hammersmithblue
And another thing...I have just got round to copying the AC Milan match off my Sky box onto DVD having been unable to bear seeing it again till now and it occurred to me that we have all the same players that were in that match; there was no JD, no Diarra vs Milan. I know Bouba Diop is injured but the same blokes ought to be able to be motivated to defend the cup, for gawd's sake.
hammersmithblue
My girlfriend said it all when listening to it on the Radio coming back from Marwell Zoo - 'I know nothing about Portsmouth FC, or even football, but even I can see that your manager is **** and needs to be sacked'.
PFCGino
I think TA has had long enough to prove himself. We need an experienced manager - the Premiership is NOT proving ground for new managers!! We have the squad to mount a decent challenge for the top half but we just can't do it lately and quite frankly that scares me.
PFCGino
It's all well and good Tony moaning about "no fighting spirit" and, sure that was lacking in the first half but so too were: 1) any semblance of winning tactics - i.e. playing JP throught the middle when he is a talented winger and crosser of the ball and keeping Nugent, a striker, on the right wing and 2) ability to pass the ball to someone in a blue shirt. No matter what bleedin' formation we play is irrelevant if we can't keep possession. Football is a simple game; win the ball and pass it to a member of your OWN team. JBaker, we were CLUELESS in the first half - OK, we were better in the second half, when Kanu managed to retain possession for us (agree with you, he was great), Herman put himself about and JP caused problems but still simply not good enough. We were sat a few feet from Adams, who was doing his nut but, I have to ask, what is the so-called tactical genius of Johnny Metgod bringing to the party at the moment? Also Adams was putting on a big show of gesticulating at Nugent and Davis and, at one point, Davis just shrugged his shoulders - Tony, who I admire very much, just wasn't making any sense to them and they looked, frankly, yes, even Saint Sean, like they couldn't care a ****. I keep banging on about it, but just two months ago we outplayed Milan with 5 regulars out of the side - since then we've gone backwards. I'm usually one of the more optimistic one on here but I have to say we were utterly 5hite. Much more of this and we're for the drop. Never mind all the talk about fighters Tony, take some of the responsibility for your inept tactics and, if you must, then sign not just "fighters" please, but players with a modicum of ability. By the way, you were wrong Tony, Cranie did let you down - he's simply not up to it - gave the ball to a white shirt more times than to a blue one (I was counting). I've changed my opinion - we're going down.
NinjaTim
we will be alright, no we wont were going down, were be alright, no we are definately going down.....my brain is going nuts
plymouth graham
pesismists. Sorry but we have been through lots in the past, and we will go through lots in the future. We are NOT chelsea, we are NOT Man Utd, we are Pompey, so get behind your team, get behind your manager, be the 12th man that we have been in times gone past, and stop phoning the bloody quay calling for Adams head. Who do these callers want instead? Curbishly???? No thanks.!
Midge
Agree about Cranie though tracy, well out of his delpth. I Notice Harry hasnt come calling for him, despite his remarks when we got in from Scum on how good a player is to be. Same comments he used about Utaka if i recall. Come on Harry, show your grit, come and buy both, we'll even do a Buy one Get One Free.
Midge
Midge, With respect, your are wrong! If we were pessimists then we'd expect the worst and just shrug our shoulders and say, "I told you so". I, and several others on here, are eternal optimists and, therein lies the reason for our disappointment - we expected better from our manager and our team. Please don't asume we're all calling for Adams' head either - but at the same time, don't criticise those who are. They, like all on here, are entitled to an opinion.
NinjaTim
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