STM

We've played shite sides so far, this was our first real test and IMO we passed it. It was by no means a dip in performance, we were just playing a better side. In some respects there are more positives from this game than there were against Reading.

Would have loved N'Zogbia to bring on like.

Just to reiterate my point from before, i thout Beye was a bit quiet on the attacking front. I know i'm being greedy but knowing how well he can attack oppo fullbacks makes me feel we could have exploited Herman "dirty bastard" heridesson* a little more. He was sound defensively though.

Happy with the overal situation. A few games ago if you had told me we could go to Portsmouth and look very comfortable i would have laughed in your face. Now i'm coming away feeling disapointed that we haven't won it. Pompey had TWO shots on goal, which suggests our defence is much improved. Harper- 7 Fairly comfortable afternoon Beye- 6 Solid in defence but could have got forward more Taylor- 7 Good performance. Dealt with Kanu all game long Faye- 6 Couple of sloppy moments against an in form Defoe but ok overall Enrique- 7 Good defensively, mixed passing Geremi, Butt and Barton 7- All work extremely hard, Geremi looking our biggest threat Owen- 7 Industrious but should have scored Viduka- 6 Fairly quiet day. Distin kept him quiet Martins- 8 Best player on the park by a mile.

I thought we were the better side to be honest. We can't be doing bad if the corners read pompey 0 newcastle 5. We have had more and better chances. I expect a better half from pompey next though.

First time hodgson has said that fulham are preparing for relegation and they go and win.

I still believe Duff will improve under KK. Not a bad player to bring off the bench. Man City 2-1

There issues were; Who's signing the players? Are we going to get backed financially? Then they claimed we'd be back to square one by the start of next season. What a bunch of shit stiring cunts, thank fuck kk don't take any notice.

He's only 21/22 he's still a bairn in terms of footballing development. Playing with better teams and better players always improves you. The last few years haven't been easy for our defenders, ever since we lost Shearer, Bellamy and Robert. Last year we lost Solano too. To a degree dire went but he hardly played and when he did he wasn't arsed a lot of the time. Don't you see what a difference this makes to the overall pattern, shape of the team and development of all the players at the club ? I've seen loads of defenders improve as they get older. Loads, and not just at Newcastle. Bobby Moncur had no pace, but he was a good captain. As a defender he improved all through his career, I'm sure he wasn't even a regular first team player until he was in his early 20's. Ollie Burton too was a "right-half" who converted to a centre half in his mid 20's and became one of the best we have had. Kenny Burns was always a decent player at Birmingham. But moving to Forest and playing in a top side transformed him into one of the best around. This is how it is. He needs to step up from playing in a team of the standard he's played in for the last year or two into a better side, and if its with us he can and should perform much better himself. Fair enough. I don't think he's as bad as some make out, but he's not good enough IMO. We can't afford to wait for him to iron out the individual errors he's been making from day one - these are still occuring irrespective of who he's been playing alongside, which isn't a good sign. man for man, I'm quite happy with our current back 4, especially with Beye. I concede we can do better, of course, and we need strength in depth. Edgar might be a player on the fringe who can cover all positions for the moment unless we get an opportunity to bring in someone who can go straight into the first team. Maybe Edgar can step up himself. He looked a bit nervy last week, but he was excellent playing against Manu last season and he is very tall which helps especially if you are a centre back. Your whole reading of the game improves when you play at the back for a good team with better players around you. Completley agree with this. Although, i'd like see us add one first class centre half to partner Faye and i will be content going into next season. Taylor has been anything but crap, he's just the scape goat.

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/645/44133422charlespa300wg5.jpg Be quiet or you'll scare him away. He's about to sneeze.

Whats this Boussaffa kid like?

Aye that was some goal.

I'm suprised at you wullie. At the angle it fell combined with his weaker foot in the biggest game in the world, it's slightly more than decent.

Kaka, Pato and Ronny. Not bad See if Sheva regains his form over there too.

Good player that became a victim of his surroundings. There was a quaestion mark on whether he would produce over here regardless. Everything went tits up for the lad. Injuries, change of managers, standard of football and it got to him big style. The question is would he have failed without these variables? I can't help thinking probably.

Like greydos touches on, they have two players on the flank who like cut in, which suits our style. The biggest threat we would have had was having two players double up on our fullbacks but they won't do that. Basically this means our centre midfield has to win a battle of 4 vs 3, which will be tough. However, that means the game will get scrappy, which again suits us (being the away side). Hopefully we can rely on one of our three front men to come up with something special, as apposed to their one...... Defoe.

was cup-tied for the cup draw, and visited his family for his grandmother's funeral. will be back for us though (naturally). How bloody inconsiderate. Couldn't have snuffed it a couple of days later for our benefit. Clearly a conspiracy.

Dare i say goals like that you don't mind conceeding. Absolutely nowt we could do about that, yet some on here believe we should have dealt with the second ball.

Martins goal practically writes it's self into youtube Watching Zizo vs Leverkusen always gives me a chill, pure worldclass. On his left, on the volley, in the final. That Ginola goal against Ferencvaros. Roberts brace against spurs. The one that i saw live most recent would have to be Emre's versus Reading last year, just because it was the winner.

Is that good business though? Then what if the likes of Kaka don't cut it in the premiership which isn't impossible? He's the best player in the world, if I was Fergie I wouldn't sell under any circumstances. Unless he demanded the move... If Ronaldo wasn't in their side, i still believe they would compete for the title. Add Kaka etc they would (probably) win it. No player is a certanty to be a success in a any league but good plyers lessen the risk. Although, i get your point. Every manager strives to find the best playerin the world in order to help them win the league and Man Utd have done that, so why sell? What i'm saying is you could buy five potential Ronaldo's with that money, which is a breathtaking thought.

On hitting his marker with every cross. Bad craic! Seriously though: I'd say Geremi, Butt and Barton have all been at least as bad as - quite probably worse - than Milner has this season, and look at how they're playing now. Milner has had some seriously impressive games for us during some of our lowest spells, I hope that Dan is right about him and that he can hit top form under Keegan as well. I've seen the lad be practically unplayable at SJP at times, none moreso than against Man Utd in that 2-2. There were times last season when he looked the only player capable of making something happen. He's never going to be quick, but he can play a big part here still. Yer i'd go with that. I wouldn't be pleased if he started next season though, he is a squad player.

I'd take Crouch here. So under rated as a footballer. Would prefer someone more creative mind.

Oh yer what a horrible weekend in Rome you have, poor you.

A couple of weeks ago someone said we were not going to be on t.v again this season. Now we have Pompey, The mackems and Chelsea.

Pretty much what i've just said.