The College Dropout

Poor tactics/team selection by BS Play your top scorer and goal provider on the bench and at left back..... master stroke Out played. Fortunate they scored when they did or else they would've scored too late for us to make a comeback.

Did McClen ever find another club?

6m wasnt particularly pricey then at all. Laurent Roberts fee sort of puts paid to that argument. As do the fees for Veron and Ferdinand (2000 and 2002 version). Bellamy paid back way more than we paid for him. Despite the fact I can't abide the little cock for his subsequent misdemeanours. You paid £6m for a good-to-very good player in 2001. You pay £6m for Alan Smith, Mido and Scott Parker these days. And would you say Bellamy was better in 2001, than Darren Bent is today? I think i probably would. That's the point i'm making... i'd say we got what we paid for. I wouldnt. Prices these days are different but 6m wasnt particularly pricey tbh. Darren Bent for 16m or Veron for 30m? Both extreme examples. You pay 11m for Rebrov in 2000 and you'll see the point i'm making. If you think we got a 6m player for 6m then youre wrong. £7m bought you Carl Cort 2 years earlier. £10m would get you Chris Sutton.

We lost out on the best 2 years of Bellamy's career due to bad decisions. Scored regularly for Blackburn and got many assists as well as helping the team in many ways. He's scored more PL goals in that 1 season for Blackburn than Owen has in 2 1/2 years. A great player for us. Made teams worry about US... stretched teams.. worked very hard and just when he looked like he could step up another level of performances we got rid for the same fee... smh

My team have fairly shit team when it comes to individuals however we are better than most teams because we work harder, are better athletes (if that's the right word) and we know our system & players very well. The best matches come when teams play a 4-0/0-4 system because then your really forced to go man for man and everyone thinks they can score on the counter so everyone goes forward.

Yes.

Ronaldo also happens to be one of the most technically gifted players in the world at the minute. Remember Wayne Fereday anyone... fast as f*** he was Wayne Fereday doesn't play Premiership football in 2007. Ronaldo doesn't seem to play as well when he comes up against top quality, pacey left backs.

and i'm saying it's not the be all and blah blah as a lot of people think Nobody has said it'd the be all, they've said it's an important asset that a team needs along with players with good technique. and my point is that some players eg arsenals, appear quicker due to technique and nouse (as i have given rosicky,hleb) than true pace. And they also have players at fullback who are some of the fastest about because of the way they set up. As I said, they have a mixture of both, at the same time they don't have anyone slow either. What point are you trying to make? They may not have attacking players with the pace of Bellamy or Martins but they don't have players with no pace either, all of their attacking players are good athletes. first off being a good athlete doen't mean you're quick, secand as i've pointed out last seasons slow pokes are now quick (hleb rosicky...i'll even throw eboue in there) do you think they have got physically quicker ? Eboue slow?! He's one of the quickest around. Other players use technique to beat a man but that doesn't mean you don't need pace in a side and to say it isn't important is rubbish, watch how Arsenal set up, they encourage their wide men to come in field so it gives their ridiculously fast fullbacks the opportunity to overlap and get in behind the opposition. Again, what point are you making? Do you even have a point? yet last season eboue wasn't one of the quickest around, has he got physically quicker ? or is it the style they play makes them appear quicker ? teams with moderate pace can attack and defend at pace due to nouse (arsenal) but teams filled with pace and no nouse will always fail. baggio you are on here often enough to know about how many when asked what we want in the transfer window etc want PACE. Errr.... Eboue has always been one of the fastest players in the league. He beats players with PURE pace sometimes.. seriously few of our players are as fast as him.

Eboue has more pace than any of our starting XI today.

Fuck Off!!! Arsenal have one of the fastest, strongest sides in the league. Kolo Toure is faster (and stronger) than everyone in our first team bar Martins. Clichy can run neck to neck with Ronaldo. Rosicky and Hleb aren't fast per se but like someone said, they have a good burst and are faster than friggin Milner. Adebayour and Van Persie aren't blistering but their quick enough whilst also being big and strong. Infact all their players are very strong.. a terrific bunch of athletes.. this plays some part in all of their late goals they seem to get. Fitter, faster, stronger than all of our players practically man for man. Even the slower ones like Fabregas and Gilberto would still skin the Butts, Milners and Cacapa's of the world. Pretty much all of their players are as fast (and strong) as Rooney. Which isn't lightning but is fast enough to make teams think twice about playing a high line as if you give them a yard you wont make it back. Pace not important? Notice any notable characteristics about Utaka and Benjani hold and a certain Cacapa doesn't? A whole team without pace (which is pretty much us) is a huge drawback.

3-1 with one of the defenders expected to run up and down for the duration of the match.

Why? Because the players are pussies?

That was always the case.

Yes, like Sven Goran Eriksson. Until you get beaten 6-0 and then you have to sack them, and then 'go British', until that manager gets beaten and then you have to sack them, and 'go foreign'. It's at times like this I wish many fans would go bloody interstellar rather than foreign, and launch themselves into the sun. Portsmouth aren't Chelsea. We are at home. We haven't played some excellent football. None of our new signings have looked as good as Elano. We are not 3rd. Whilst I agree with your sentiments, that is a very poor example. exactly i was thinking! No, you weren't thinking. CD, how do you know we won't string together 4 wins on the trot and play some good football along the way. Citeh have been lucky, awful, and good this season. It's a pretty fair comparison if you ask me. I don't know. Maybe we will. But we certainly haven't so far and that's what alot of our fans are changing Sam on. Like I said, we aren't 3rd (okay 5th). If we where alot of fans would take this defeat more kindly. The result looks like it had been coming, can't say teh same for Citeh.

It's time we faced up to the reality that teams like Pompey are simply bigger and better than us. In all reality we are a lower-rung premier league team with a fairly formidible home ground which keeps us from getting relegated each year. Any kind of genuine quality will bring us undone every time, ditto any kind of genuine heart. Pompey played decent, top 8 standard EPL football. You simply cannot play football like that when you have the likes of Milner, Butt, Smith and (on todays form) Barton in your side. Simply put, we have the three shortest attackers going around on. They have one of the most physically big and strong back lines going. So our entire attack is lobbing in balls at head height to their defensive line. A-Grade tactics there. Like any professional outfit would do, they've sent that s*** back with interest. Better, yes, a bigger club? No. Harry has done quite well with them and it has taken a few years. Allardyce has had months, chill out. That goes for the rest of you knee-jerkers. Tbf, did Pompey get bummed by Newcastle 4-1 at Fratton Park? What does that have to do with anything? The point in your first post seems to be in a few years Sam will sort it out the same way Harry sorted out Portmouth and that patience is needed. Whilst this might happen, you have to concede that most managers that take a while to get things going don't get whooped at home by their league rivals. That's what happens to the Roeders and Souness' of the world. Why not? Teams get whooped all the time. Recall Liverpool taking one on the chin to Arse last season. 10 minutes of shitty football, mate. It doesn't mean anything long term. I think Sam deserves the season. I agree Sam should have the season but we shouldn't ignore the result. That was in the league cup. After they had already beaten Arsenal. Y'know winning the Champions League and such kinda buys you more time to get things right in the eyes of the fans.

Yes, like Sven Goran Eriksson. Until you get beaten 6-0 and then you have to sack them, and then 'go British', until that manager gets beaten and then you have to sack them, and 'go foreign'. It's at times like this I wish many fans would go bloody interstellar rather than foreign, and launch themselves into the sun. Portsmouth aren't Chelsea. We are at home. We haven't played some excellent football. None of our new signings have looked as good as Elano. We are not 3rd. Whilst I agree with your sentiments, that is a very poor example.

It's time we faced up to the reality that teams like Pompey are simply bigger and better than us. In all reality we are a lower-rung premier league team with a fairly formidible home ground which keeps us from getting relegated each year. Any kind of genuine quality will bring us undone every time, ditto any kind of genuine heart. Pompey played decent, top 8 standard EPL football. You simply cannot play football like that when you have the likes of Milner, Butt, Smith and (on todays form) Barton in your side. Simply put, we have the three shortest attackers going around on. They have one of the most physically big and strong back lines going. So our entire attack is lobbing in balls at head height to their defensive line. A-Grade tactics there. Like any professional outfit would do, they've sent that s*** back with interest. Better, yes, a bigger club? No. Harry has done quite well with them and it has taken a few years. Allardyce has had months, chill out. That goes for the rest of you knee-jerkers. Tbf, did Pompey get bummed by Newcastle 4-1 at Fratton Park? What does that have to do with anything? The point in your first post seems to be in a few years Sam will sort it out the same way Harry sorted out Portmouth and that patience is needed. Whilst this might happen, you have to concede that most managers that take a while to get things going don't get whooped at home by their league rivals. That's what happens to the Roeders and Souness' of the world.

Once again I repeat. We wasn't getting raped by our league rivals 4-1 at home.

Have you seen how much money these lot get for doing nothing? We do pay some very generous wages. I'd think half this side get paid more than Riise does. IN some cases 3 times as much.

It's time we faced up to the reality that teams like Pompey are simply bigger and better than us. In all reality we are a lower-rung premier league team with a fairly formidible home ground which keeps us from getting relegated each year. Any kind of genuine quality will bring us undone every time, ditto any kind of genuine heart. Pompey played decent, top 8 standard EPL football. You simply cannot play football like that when you have the likes of Milner, Butt, Smith and (on todays form) Barton in your side. Simply put, we have the three shortest attackers going around on. They have one of the most physically big and strong back lines going. So our entire attack is lobbing in balls at head height to their defensive line. A-Grade tactics there. Like any professional outfit would do, they've sent that s*** back with interest. Better, yes, a bigger club? No. Harry has done quite well with them and it has taken a few years. Allardyce has had months, chill out. That goes for the rest of you knee-jerkers. Tbf, did Pompey get bummed by Newcastle 4-1 at Fratton Park?

Portsmouth are far better than B'Ham.

Squad Rotation.

To be fair to Roeder. He didn't spunk £45M on Boumsong, Luque, Owen, Parker, Faye & Babayaro.

Is Shay going to have this problem permanently? As much as I have a go at him I think it's important for a club to have a permanent #1.

I'd still sign Gilberto.