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Pompey 2 - Liverpool 3

Fratton

7/2/09

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Pompey throw it away again

Pompey did it again, 3 points were in the bag, and then someone presses the self destruct button and we go home empty handed again.

You've got to feel a bit sorry for Tony Adams now, you can criticise him for selection, substitutions, coaching and just about anything, but how can he coach against Crouch playing a suicidal backpass and Distin swinging and missing for the second week in a row?

Angelo Basinas made his debut in centre midfield, Mullins was pushed wide to compensate for Pennants absence, Campbell replaced Kaboul and Belhadj was a straight swap for Traore. David Nugent got his deserved start against his fellow scousers and as an Evertonian seemed fired up from the off.

The first half was a cagey affair, Crouch fired a volley over for Pompey, Aurelio narrowly missed for Liverpool from a free-kick, and Jamo saved well from another strike which may have been drifting wide, that was about it realy, but the second half was to have Hitchock style twists.

Kranjcar came on for Mullins at the break, but it was Liverpool who should have broken the deadlock first, Babel completely missing the ball in front of an open net, thats what 11.5million buys you!
The miss was costly as Nugent got clear 2 minutes later and buried it under Reina's body, que wild celebrations at Fratton!

Crouch was the next Pompey forward to be involved in a goal, but for all the wrong reasons, his attempted backpass found Benayoun who was only denied by a diving James, this led to referee Webb signaling for an indirect free-kick which Aurelio blasted home from 12 yards.

Pompey fans had that familiar feeling once again, but 10 minutes later and Hreidarsson did the unthinkable and actually scored from a set-piece!

This time we were looking good for all 3 points, that is until Distin inexplicably swung and missed for the second time in 7 days, Kuyt was in and at the second time of asking blasted past James at his near post, Pompey had shot themselves in the foot once more.

The feeling was that a draw was better than nothing, but sub Torres was having none of it, a cross landed squarely on his head and James could only force it into the roof of the net, 3 points became none, and Pompey made Benitez look a tactical genius.

Star Player

Nugent ran and ran and ran, he has scored 3 of Pompeys last 4 goals in the league, and is starting to look like the player we thought we had signed from Preston.

Distin has been quick to criticise Pompeys defending and lack of concentration of late, he was player of the season last year, but he has been one of the main culprits recently, maybe he should look closer to home before he gobs off to the press again.

Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco

Writer: paultsmouth

Date:Saturday February 7 2009

Time: 9:04PM

Your Comments

But for a couple of a really bad errors it was in the bag, just about summed up our time under Tony Adams, I'm starting to really feel for the bloke

paultsmouth

I don't want this to sound bitter but did anyone else think the ref was a disgrace today. I know we were playing a top 4 club but sitting in the fratton end I could not believe some of the decisions that went against us. No wonder herman got booked... he looked like he was gonna explode when the ref didn't give that corner. I wouldn't mind but this isn't the first time I've left a game thinking we were playing against 12 men.

Pompeymiguel

Paul, Mrs Eastneydave and I with you 100% on that he cannot be to blame for simple mistakes like those made tonight. But he is still putting a brave face on things even though he probably feels like throwing in the towel!!

eastneydave

the promising from this was nugent and basinas.Them 2 were immense they ran there socks off.Basinas has a good free kick on him 2.PUP all we need is luck !!! 3 games left for adams then i fink he must go

stfc ballboy

Adams can not be blamed for the school boy errors of Distin. We will be back in the Championship next season... Hopefully the pathetic JCL Pompey fans can sod off too. What has happened to all the proper fans?

ashfordblue

ashford; Do you mean that Pompey have had the same fans since it's induction in 1898?...Oh I do love you boy's who think they've been there since Moses was a boy!

pentonpompey

Penton your pathetic. If you are not a JCL you would know exactly what im saying proper Pompey fans have ALWAYS stuck behind there team. Since we have become a premiership team the support has gone from being the best in the country to as fickle as most clubs.

ashfordblue

Ashford, the atmosphere may not have been up to the dizzy heights of the Milan game, but the fans were trying to sing up and support the boys - also there was no booing this time and singing for the lads when they came over after the final whistle - it is getting better. Do you really want all the JCL's to 'sod off' - so we can take 10,000 in our new 35,000 stadium if we ever get it?

tracyc

I really thought we could hang on and win tonight - gutted at the end, and its easy to turn round and blame TA - but there were some awful defensive mistakes, and what was Crouchie thinking? But TA should have taken off MOM Nugent who was knackered at the end, and brought on Gekas - otherwise why have him on the bench? Or brought on a defender and tried harder to hold onto our slender lead. But all the time TA is the manager, I will stay behind him.

tracyc

ashford there are no JCLs on vital pompey, just people who care a lot for the club. its a natural human reaction to be angry and look to blame someone for mistakes. and whilst i understand people warming to TA (i tried a little) he is inexperienced ... not his fault and not our fault, but this is the wrong time to be trying to give him the experience if we want to stay in the prem. we really needed to get some CDs in the window - something he surely saw but did (or couldnt do) anything about. the lack of subs used when we conceeded to make it 2-2 highlights why we lost 1 point, let alone 3 tonight. as ive said previously id rather lost 0-1 than 2-3!

pompey--pessimist

Whatever ashford!...

pentonpompey

I think it's time for . . . FANFARE . . . Linvoy. Distan is a great player but rubish at the moment. Tony has to make his first BIG decision and drop Distan in favour of Linvoy. This is the time for great people and Linvoy deserves his place in history cemented - to determine the fate of PFC. Death or glory, The Great Escape, The Sequel, or A Bridge Too far, Operation Market Garden. Frankly, I don't know where our next win is coming from. Redknapp, you ****.

Et_tu_Pompeii

I felt that there were a lot of promising signs from Basinas, esp in second ha;f when he seemed to be communicating better with the rest and some nicely judged passing. ALso was encouraged by the ferocity of play of Nuge and Davis but I wonder if PC needs a bit of a rest. Niko made a big difference too. We so didn't deserve to lose. I thought when 'Pool a) hit the post and b) missed that chance when Babel was acting like Darren Bent's cousin that at last we were getting better luck for once but no...

hammersmithblue

The end paragraph sums it up perfectly. Sol's come in for a lot criticism of late, but Distin has been as shaky if not worse. I thought we were a mess in the first half we lacked genuine width. If there was a more potent player down Liverpool's left than Dossena we could have found ourselves a couple down at half time. Adams made the correct changes at the break as Kranjcar offered us a bit of creativity as Liverpool went out to win the game. However, we've suffered from two silly mistakes today when we could have rid ourselves of that nasty statistic hanging over our heads. The rot continues, the run goes on and the disgruntled voices will air their opinions once more. I honestly can't see a solution apart but as fans we have to stick by what the club and the management do for as long as they're in charge. Today's game was the first time I saw a bit of genuine fight and hunger but I fear another late show from the opposition could kill any progress we were beginning to make. PUP.

stillthewhizz

I agree with Paultsmouth. How the hell can you blame TA for what happened today? Anyone who does - ie: should have made substitutions blah blah blah., are clutching at straws. I feel really sorry for the man. What I did saw is a team who played their socks off and if we had been playing a team outside the top four then we would have taken the three points. For crying out loud, would we have expected to beat the league leader if Chief Rat was here? No we wouldn't, so why expect it from Tony? So come on the doubters. If we play like this next week against Stoke, we will aniahlate them. Reasons to be cheerful? Too many to mention.

Gandor1

Cant believe we lost again in the last 10 mins.. Didnt get to watch this game as bleedin Setanta stopped all the net broadcasts.. Glad to see Nuge get another goal. True, if we play like this against Stoke we will surely win, plus Rory Delap is Suspended, so no nonsense throw ins to deal with

nodster

i think your final paragraph is one that you, my cousin and i all agree on and shared when walking away from fratton wasnt it - TA cannot be blamed at all for the defeat today, the big finger of blame goes at the defence and in particular sylvain 'i gob off too much, laying blame everywhere else bar myself, yet i will probably be heading the que to leave in the summer' distin... agree with others, was the rock of our defence last season but perhaps it is him that is the main one to blame this? i would love primus to be the answer, but cannot see it - kaboul for me is the man that needs to step into the breach, tough call to be made TA, but do you want selecting distin again and another cock up or two being the cock up that cost you your job?

pompeyrug

i can assure you ashfordblue that penton is not a JCL! when all is said and done all clubs need new fans, were are all a JCL at some point - granted the breed that only 'sing when we are winning' isnt helpful to anyone, but we cannot tar all new fans with the same brush can we...
as for the atmosphere today, not much can, and probably every will again, compare to milan, but i thought it was a damn fine atmosphere today!

pompeyrug

bring back linvoy if he's fit he we steady the back maybe not the best player weve got but doesn't make to many mistakes and gives 100%

robertpog

Really pleased that hardly anybody is blaming Adams ... You guys gave said it already to be honest,.. the only thing I will add it that if we feel deflated imagine how TA feels and most of the players too Nugent ran his heart out Crouch (as a stupid mistake) ran and ran all game.. Hermann has more guts than a gutty thing.. It'll come boys .. We will get those three points and we will get up that table.. Man City next.. If we get the same effprt again .. we will do it..

Chix

Your defenders are a joke

Tiny T

Gutted by the result. Almost did everything right. He was brace to tip us to win 2-1 & was nearly there. I would have gladly taken a point at any stage but when they went 2-2, My stomach ached for the fear they would get another. Fck.

storagematt

thank you, tiny t, for your amazing insight into our current, poor form. any views on the world recession, to wow us with?

Et_tu_Pompeii

give Distan a holiday get his head together, ther are good alternatives. I was so impressed with the nugget.

plymouth graham

yesterday wasnt TA's fault, makes a change, lol, anyway.. it wasnt really his fault, maybe he could have done better but hey, we were again, unlucky, and again the defence seemed to foget how to defend at times! 2 games tony....

MFFP

Think TA showed how much he cared when he volleyed the dugout after the second equaliser

paultsmouth

Adams cant be blamed for the incompetence of Distin, after all the gobbing off he has done over the last few weeks, he should be ashamed of his performance yesterday. He needs to be dropped and Hermann or Wilson put alongside Sol. There is no real threat in the air for Man City is there, as Bellamy and Robinho are both small and quick, i also failed to see the logic of Basinas starting on the right, then Mullins going over there and then finally Belhadj playing there?

Owenspompey

It was a reasonably positive display, apart from how deep we sat at times, but my main gripe was that the backpass rule was brought in to stop timewasting and as in most cases is left to the discression of the ref. james had no choice in diving in for the ball, and the fact that he didnt pick it up, to me suggested that it was a save rather than a collected packpass. The fact that ok it was meant as a backpass but was in fact a *****e pass surely means it was open play for our keeper to dive at the feet of their on rushing forward. altho just the luck we seem to be having at the mo. Rant over

Super Bock 1898

Distin was such a fantastic player last season, its awful seeing him on such a poor run of form - I think perhaps to drop him in favour of Kaboul might not be a bad idea. Personally would love to see Linvoy get on the bench instead of Lauren.

tracyc

If its any consolation, the four below us all lost their games yesterday, so we haven't slipped any further down the league.

Gandor1

Off topic slightly - but I remember Chix talking a couple of weeks ago about how its nice that we don't usually get away fans in the Milton Arms. Well yesterday they took over everywhere, including the Milton, started to feel uncomfortable and decided it was time to leave as we were getting more and more outnumbered. They were especially full in the section by the pool table, I had to push my way through them to get to the loo, which was quite intimidating in itself, then had to evict one of those ignorant northern b@stards from the ladies (and evict him I did!) - and push my way past them back out. Not impressed. Where are we Pompey fans supposed to go for a pre-match pint then?

tracyc

Cheer up fellas, 9 games ago we were below you in the league. You just need one run of games and you hit that magical 40 point mark. The only difference between us in 6th and you in 16th, is in those 9 games we've won every game except those we played against the SKY 4 (where we drew 3, and got beat at old trafford), whilst you have had an awful run. But there's not a game you should go into with any side below the top few, that there isn't a chance you can win. Get one win and the players will believe again, then you can go on a similar run to what we did. Bare in mind we didn't even have a striker for that run, the league hasn't got 17 sides better than Portsmouth in it, so there's no reason to panic at this stage. You've had an abysmal run and are still out the bottom 3, it tells you all you need to know about the quality of some of the teams in this league.

EvertonMike

Super Bock 1898 - totally agree. how anyone can claim that it was a pass is beond me (having said that though, I would have given it...). Tony adams will be a good manager - give it 5 seasons, if we are still in the premiership, we will be back challenging for medals/glory. he has clearly picked up harrys "whealing/dealing" teckniques! How much was basinas? pennant=new d'allesandro (maybe?), mullins=new davis... he has carbon-copied our previous survival attempt. EvertonMike - we should be fine - and easily so. however, I'm not sure if one win will be enough. it may take two lucky wins... there have been so many chances for confidence to rise, so many times we have gone into games with great beleif, thinking "this one is here for the taking", I think we just need to survive the last 10 minutes of the game again. Anyone think we may be having a problem with players fitness?

pompeycarpet

Thank you Everton Mike for taking the time to come on our site and share that with us - it is very much appreciated. We have every belief in our team, its just that we have had some real hard knocks lately and they are probably not believing in themselves right now, as you say. Carps, I thought Basinas looked whacked at the end, but did not notice the others.

Gandor1

tracy, I go in the fans marquee now before the game, it's for home fans only, more room than the Milton, and better for my kids!!

pompey4me

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