Good week for the Manager

[Zingari]

That's a bit naive. You need a squad for this division, as demonstrated by injuries to numerous players already not to mention Kisnorbo's suspension - and we released quite a few players in the summer from an already quite thin squad.

i'm aware we need a squad for cover but primarily we want the solid basis of the team that will play most weeks ;ie a team of players that are recognisible as the 1st team ; i really have no idea which combination of our squad is the best and i'm starting to suspect that neither does the manager

[THEBIGJOHNSTEADER;]

wrong wrong wrong ; he aint alone

there is alot more of them on here who still believe that "barry fry /wholesale" team buying methods rather than choosing and buying selective players is the best way to improve a team;

how many of this crop of imports will actually improve the team

and if only 3/4 of them (optimistic) ; why bother with the others

i want to see the manager only bring in players that will definitely go into the team ( other than future prospects)

When you look back at Milans Pompey team they had the likes of Steve Stone, Paul Merson, Matty Taylor....all grafters with undoubted quality and more importantly the right attitude. I just don't see it here at the moment. It's all a bit of a mess. Hopefully the team will iron out sooner rather than later

[James.]

i'm aware we need a squad for cover but primarily we want the solid basis of the team that will play most weeks ;ie a team of players that are recognisible as the 1st team ; i really have no idea which combination of our squad is the best and i'm starting to suspect that neither does the manager

2 competitive games.

That's 2.

What are you on about?

[Basingstoke Fox]

It's been a rocky old week for Martin so far, but I imagine this is exactly what he thrives on. He's the sort of chap who I can imagine works well when there's perceived pressure on him.

I'm still concerned at the lack of attacking flair throughout our team and it's been the same for years. I'm not talking about strikers either, but there's nothing in midfield that you'd class as being a danger to the opposition when we're on the attack. No sharp shooter from long distance, no one who's built a career on arriving late in the box to smash one home and not anyone who can get the crowd on their feet with mesmerising runs. I'm hoping this will be resolved soon, because we can't rely on grit and determination to get us through.

Kaebi is now got all my hopes pinned on his shoulders.

I cant wat to see him play but it feels like he will never ever ever be fit

At least not for the games I can get too. After Palace its Charlton

He will be great for us though

[Zingari]

When you look back at Milans Pompey team they had the likes of Steve Stone, Paul Merson, Matty Taylor....all grafters with undoubted quality and more importantly the right attitude. I just don't see it here at the moment. It's all a bit of a mess. Hopefully the team will iron out sooner rather than later

very true and another difference being ,that in harry redknapp , pompey had a manager that draughted in players wisely and selectively, (that were going to improve the team) , not just make up numbers as MA seems to be doing , harry very rarely took players on that he did not use ; i can envisage at least 5/6 of the recent additions playing only a handful of games and being a hefty drain on finances ; even MM has not got a golden goose

[davieG]

very true and another difference being ,that in harry redknapp , pompey had a manager that draughted in players wisely and selectively, (that were going to improve the team) , not just make up numbers as MA seems to be doing , harry very rarely took players on that he did not use ; i can envisage at least 5/6 of the recent additions playing only a handful of games and being a hefty drain on finances ; even MM has not got a golden goose

I have recollection of Harry collecting no end of players he never or rarely used, could be wrong but that's my feeling. Mind you they could all have been MM signings

[MPH]

If you think steady progress is losing at home to Blackpool and scraping a 1-0 at Accrington then your the only tool on here you muppet!

did you go to the blackpool game? YOU muppet

[Zingari]

2 competitive games.

That's 2.

What are you on about?

do you think you know what is our best starting line up do you think that there is the look of a basis of a "first team" about the current squad ? ;

i certainly dont ,and if you were to ask most fans who should be starting you would get different answers from most of them ;

compare that with MON days ( i know i know ) when you knew more or less the best starting 11 and who would be brought in if needed

[mancunianfox]

Man City

Man City only seem to have got quality players in and are also playing quite a few of their youngsters as well. They haven't bought anywere near the amount of players that we have. Plus with all respect to Martin Allen he isn't really in Sven's league is he?

[Fez of Mahrez]

do you think you know what is our best starting line up do you think that there is the look of a basis of a "first team" about the current squad ? ;

i certainly dont ,and if you were to ask most fans who should be starting you would get different answers from most of them ;

compare that with MON days ( i know i know ) when you knew more or less the best starting 11 and who would be brought in if needed

I'd rather he worked out his best XI over the first few weeks and months of the season than picked one and stuck to it, especially given that there are a lot of new players we haven't even seen play for us yet.

[MPH]

i'm aware we need a squad for cover but primarily we want the solid basis of the team that will play most weeks ;ie a team of players that are recognisible as the 1st team ; i really have no idea which combination of our squad is the best and i'm starting to suspect that neither does the manager

not suprised you dont know which are best team is- we signed 12 new players- i sure dont know yet which is our best team

I doubt very much Martin Allen knows our best team yet either- the only true way to find out is to watch players playing on the pitch in competative games. I doubt very much Allen expected MDV to be the way he has been or Kenton, but its the measure of the man that he can realise he may of been wrong to list them and give them the opportunity. We could of course promoted soemone from within who knew the players we had but look how far that got us last time!!

You have to look at the magntiude of the task Allen is undertaking... he is attempting to totally transform the club. It wont happen over night and there is so much more that goes into a good team performance than buying the right players... you cant buy understanding and teamwork, that only comes by playing together and not just after one or two matches either..

We have a manager who is driven, determined, passionate and hates losing. he wont be off to his boat in monaco if we lose to relax for the weekend , he'll be doing things like taking his nephews to a park and thinking all day about a defeat ( as he already mentioned)

Rome wasnt built in a day and Leicester City can not be transformed over night...

[MPH]

Man City only seem to have got quality players in and are also playing quite a few of their youngsters as well. They haven't bought anywere near the amount of players that we have. Plus with all respect to Martin Allen he isn't really in Sven's league is he?

niether is the quality of player we are able to afford compared to Man City

[James.]

do you think you know what is our best starting line up do you think that there is the look of a basis of a "first team" about the current squad ? ;

i certainly dont ,and if you were to ask most fans who should be starting you would get different answers from most of them ;

compare that with MON days ( i know i know ) when you knew more or less the best starting 11 and who would be brought in if needed

Yes I completely agree with you. We don't yet know who our starting XI will be, and I'm sure Allen doesn't either. But no one said this was going to be easy. There are fewer greater challenges in football than taking a shambles of a team and turning it around into a genuine promotion contender.

Why can't people be a little more patient? This team needed a massive overhaul and through, amongst other things, the signing of a number of players this process has started. But things take time to gel.

If you tell me around Christmas that Allen doesn't know his best team then to some extent I'll share your concern. But this won't happen overnight and the sooner people realised that the man needs time the better.

To be honest I'm quite dismayed at the fact this sort of post needs to be written in August. After 2 games.

EDIT: MPH, just seen your post...

[BartonFox]

If you think steady progress is losing at home to Blackpool and scraping a 1-0 at Accrington then your the only tool on here you muppet!

Sorry I ddidn't realise we had to win all 46 games this season plus the League and FA Cups.

We created more chances in that one game than we did in the whole of last season at home. We got sucker punched it happens. If you couldn't see any improvement on the dross we saw from Kelly then I guess you're either blind or retarded.

I'm guessing the latter

[James.]

Sorry I ddidn't realise we had to win all 46 games this season plus the League and FA Cups.

We created more chances in that one game than we did in the whole of last season at home. We got sucker punched it happens. If you couldn't see any improvement on the dross we saw from Kelly then I guess you're either blind or retarded.

I'm guessing the latter

I'm guessing he wasn't even at the match. If he was then yes Barton you're probably right about the latter.

[Zingari]

I'd rather he worked out his best XI over the first few weeks and months of the season than picked one and stuck to it, especially given that there are a lot of new players we haven't even seen play for us yet.

this is the sort of" barry fry wholesale" team buying mentality that concerns me ;

the team he inherited was pretty poor, i agree , but the adjustment needed should have been done after careful consideration of the assets ( players) already available and where the improvements needed were most important ,

eg is jimmy neilson better than henderson/ logan ?....... no !! then don't buy him there is no point ; and stick to that principle throughout all player dealings its not rocket science

[Fez of Mahrez]

this is the sort of" barry fry wholesale" team buying mentality that concerns me ;

the team he inherited was pretty poor, i agree , but the adjustment needed should have been done after careful consideration of the assets ( players) already available and where the improvements needed were most important ,

eg is jimmy neilson better than henderson/ logan ?....... no !! then don't buy him there is no point ; and stick to that principle throughout all player dealings its not rocket science

Yeah Mandaric, ONLY BUY GOOD PLAYERS! STOP BUYING THESE CRAP ONES ON PURPOSE!

[James.]

this is the sort of" barry fry wholesale" team buying mentality that concerns me ;

the team he inherited was pretty poor, i agree , but the adjustment needed should have been done after careful consideration of the assets ( players) already available and where the improvements needed were most important ,

eg is jimmy neilson better than henderson/ logan ?....... no !! then don't buy him there is no point ; and stick to that principle throughout all player dealings its not rocket science

Mistakes happen.

Employing DM was clearly one.

Time to get over that and move on.

[Manwell Pablo]

this is the sort of" barry fry wholesale" team buying mentality that concerns me ;

the team he inherited was pretty poor, i agree , but the adjustment needed should have been done after careful consideration of the assets ( players) already available and where the improvements needed were most important ,

eg is jimmy neilson better than henderson/ logan ?....... no !! then don't buy him there is no point ; and stick to that principle throughout all player dealings its not rocket science

Yes but when your brand spanking new "Talent scout" who managed to uncover the increadible talent that is Massimo Maccarone (we really should of seen this coming) tells you he knows this Danish GK who is fantastic and has won Danish GK of the year twice during Peter Schmicheals palying career, you may be forgiven in thinking he's better than those two.

[Zingari]

Mistakes happen.

Employing DM was clearly one.

Time to get over that and move on.

very true and i hope that MA does indeed learn from it, but i still think that he has put himself in this predicament of having brought too many players that seem to be of a standard that quite frankly are no better than the ones that were already here '

in fact i will go as far as to say after having brought in at least 12 players ( lost count ), the basis of the team will be made up of the players that he inherited

[THEBIGJOHNSTEADER;]

Yes but when your brand spanking new "Talent scout" who managed to uncover the increadible talent that is Massimo Maccarone (we really should of seen this coming) tells you he knows this Danish GK who is fantastic and has won Danish GK of the year twice during Peter Schmicheals palying career, you may be forgiven in thinking he's better than those two.

It's the same concept as yep you've guessed it, a woman dildo shopping, pick one by word of mouth (Mackay on Neilson), buy it (with Milans dosh), take it back to your bedroom (the Walkers) shove it up your fanny (give him a game pre-season), hey presto

Verdict: complete an utter bollucks, didn't get me wet. Should have trialled it in the shop when no one was looking (give Jimmy a trial before we sign the ****)

I'm glad I'm a man with 2 hands

Cost efficient

[BartonFox]

very true and i hope that MA does indeed learn from it, but i still think that he has put himself in this predicament of having brought too many players that seem to be of a standard that quite frankly are no better than the ones that were already here '

in fact i will go as far as to say after having brought in at least 12 players ( lost count ), the basis of the team will be made up of the players that he inherited

Fulop, Clarke, N'Gotty, Kishishev, Clemence, Campbell and even de Vries*.

* I am fully aware MdV was our player but he was so far out the picture it was embarrassing

Hardly.

[Thracian]

Sorry I ddidn't realise we had to win all 46 games this season plus the League and FA Cups.

We created more chances in that one game than we did in the whole of last season at home. We got sucker punched it happens. If you couldn't see any improvement on the dross we saw from Kelly then I guess you're either blind or retarded.

I'm guessing the latter

If we'd attacked the game properly in the first half - and in numbers - instead of containing the game for half an hour we'd have had a better chance of winning.

That's three times MA's played like that against decent sides and I'm not impressed. It smacks of fear and caution. And how could it be right seeing we lost all three?

Furthermore not one of our strikers is scoring and I'm not altogether surprised judging by their sloppiness in that Walkers Stadium training demonstration we witnessed. That and the constant juggling of the team, not just now, but in pre-season.

You are right though. The team did look better against Blackpool than in Kelly's time.

There were far more chances. Yet we still spent the first half hour in cruise control and by the time we went to Accington all the encouraging passing and moving had disappeared.

If that's going to be our usual approach to away matches we'll get walloped in the Championship.

[Manwell Pablo]

whats his points score than Thracian?

[Ric Flair]

If we'd attacked the game properly in the first half - and in numbers - instead of containing the game for half an hour we'd have had a better chance of winning.

That's three times MA's played like that against decent sides and I'm not impressed. It smacks of fear and caution. And how could it be right seeing we lost all three?

Furthermore not one of our strikers is scoring and I'm not altogether surprised judging by their sloppiness in that Walkers Stadium training demonstration we witnessed. That and the constant juggling of the team, not just now, but in pre-season.

You are right though. The team did look better against Blackpool than in Kelly's time.

There were far more chances. Yet we still spent the first half hour in cruise control and by the time we went to Accington all the encouraging passing and moving had disappeared.

If that's going to be our usual approach to away matches we'll get walloped in the Championship.

Or, the players aren't doing what Allen is asking them to do, hence the substitutions he made early in to the 2nd half against Blackpool. I don't recall any of our previous managers throwing a 3rd striker on at 0-0 after just 52 minutes.

As for Accrington, we were just utter mince. It was one of those games, I wouldn't put it down to tactics or anything. Again, we had 3 strikers playing.