Leicester Pompey Post Match Thread

[Kitchandro]

people actually pay to watch this and have the privilege to sit in a souless bowl.

Is it worth it?

Right, I'm sorry but all you do is come on here and talk about how everything with modern football is shite and you can't be arsed to attend games because you don't like the stadium.

WTF is your problem? If that's all you've got to say this forum is a waste of your time, surely?

Unless you're a wum which is quite likely.

[Jace]

He was quite fit.

I always prefered Flowers to Walker because of his looks....

[acooling08]

No win in 5.

3 points from 15.

Mid table nailed on at the moment.

[seenitall]

Konchesky and Abe were good. Nuge, Bamba and Schlupp were decent at times. Pelts, Gally were average. King, Wellens and Mills were worse than shit. Fcuk them.

But then Bamba played their winger onside for thee Pompey goal because he wasn't payong attention - the other three were in a perfect line when the ball got played forward so the Mills jibe is cheap and the praise for Bamba seems misplaced

[seenitall]

We just seem to have nothing at all in terms of creativity from the midfield. We create so few chances that it's virtually impossible to win games. PS. Beckford is shit.

PPS to above poster, Abe was our MOTM.

But better than most of our other players, has pace and caused more trouble in their penalty area in 20 mins than the rest of the team in the previous 70 - otherwise I agree

[tylesta]

But then Bamba played their winger onside for thee Pompey goal because he wasn't payong attention - the other three were in a perfect line when the ball got played forward so the Mills jibe is cheap and the praise for Bamba seems misplaced

perfect line? abe steped up and was almost in line with bamba so there was no perfect line.

[The Guvnor]

Trying to pick out the positives,thought we played with more urgency today,unfortunately it was poor passing and decision making in the final third which cost us today.

Wellens for all his critics put in a shift but his lack of pace is noticeable.Bamba was solid,Gallagher put in some quality balls, Nugents goal was superb, and Beckford with his cameo showed glimpses of his true ability.King for me is still way off the mark especially for a player who scored 16 odd goals last season.

Have faith NP will sort it out!

[seenitall]

Just paused it on sky, Peltier, Mills and Konchesky in a line and moving out, Bamba back marking their striker, too slow to react so the speculative ball forward on their wing was played onside - anyone who has ever listened to Alan Hansen knows that is wrong

[breadandcheese]

Disappointing today. I'm not sure why it took us until the last five minutes before we woke up in the second half.

Credit to Beckford today. I'm really not his biggest fan and worried that we had no imposing strikers on the pitch when Nugent and Schlupp had been withdrawn, but Beckford played very well. If he plays like that every time, then I will eat every bad word I've ever said about him.

[EnderbyFox]

We still can't deliver a decent corner to save our lives. Time after time, it just floats around the edge of the area. Woeful.

Something else of note was that i think Wellens played better than he has been doing.

Abe impressed again making vital interceptions, still feel he's a little lightweight for a defensive midfielder though.

Disappointed with King as everyone else is.

I feel that the Substitutions from Nigel were awful. Nugent is our biggest goal threat and to take him off when we are 1-1 at home is poor.

Impressed with Schlupp in the first half, wasn't getting much of the ball at all in the second. I think he would have been better off playing in the centre of attack instead of on the left.

Konchesky is definitely my MOTM.

[Bert]

Wellens was better than he has been today. Beckford looked sharp when he came on, created a great chance towards the end and was denied a penalty when it was nailed on. King was dreadful, could've made a run in the first half when we were on the break but just stood and that lead to the attack falling to bits.

Mills was pretty solid against quite a tricky opponent, same for Bamba.

If Gally whipped his corners in like his free-kicks we'd stand more of a chance. But he only seems to want to pass to Wellens.

Schlupp had a good game. Something not right though, should've battered them.

[inckley fox]

Baffled at praise of some players. I've seen glowing remarks here by one or two people on-

Abe - who was lightweight and failed to protect the centre backs; we were caught three on three / four on three at the back several times. He also gave the ball away in crucial positions once or twice (eg his 40 yard shot late on which turned into an attack for them).

Bamba - saw someone actually praise his second half display! He doesn't understand, fundamentally, what a centre half does. Off-side is a mysterious rumour to him. Shades of Alan Paris (fans loved him too).

Konchesky - okay, so the praise I saw was for the overall impression he's given over 24 games. I'm afraid for the last two, as with Schmeichel, he's been a liability.

Wellens - still poor. We have a toothless central midfield which outnumbered Pompey's two man unit but was still effortlessly over-run. I actually thought King was no worse than the others, but only by default because he skilfully managed to avoid participating in a dreadful performance.

Gallagher - a complete wimp. He may have the ego and flair of a top flight player, but as his playing career suggests, the work-rate and all-round game-play are distinctly third tier. Never tracks back either, leading to Peltier having to deal with the overlap again and again. Reasonable dead ball deliveries, but needs to vary them a bit.

Nugent - a vital goal and he worked hard, but I didn't see enough all-round to exempt him from the criticism. He needs to put defenders under more pressure.

As for Pearson, well I thought his subsitutions worked well today. We picked up the pace in the final five minutes and should have nicked a goal. Yet the subs didn't instantly settle into the game when they came on (was it 65 mins or so?), which perhaps underlines the senselessness of his repeatedly making changes in the final five minutes. It's far too early to turn on him but people are quite right to slate some of his decisions. In retrospect he'll regret not having tried to remodel this side more in the nine games he's had (eg giving Schlupp time to improve, trying Bamba or Peltier in more advanced roles, giving Tunchev a go, playing Danns down the middle,Moussa out wide etc.)

[tylesta]

One thing that surprised me today is schulpp, for a guy of his size he does win alot of the balls in the air.

[ScouseFox]

In all fairness, from the middle of the kop I can't say I was in much of a position to comment on the back line, but I did say "Bamba was decent at times", hardly glowing praise. Mills was woeful, I'm not changing my mind on that. Shaky defensively and on the ball, I think I counted at least 6 over hit, speculatively shite long balls. There was probably more, too.

[cc_star]

To an extent maybe - but what about the players that were signed by Pearson during his first tenure or the ones he built his team around two, three years ago? Turds that have been lying around longer than just one or one-and-a-half seasons?

With a few exceptions (Nugent, Schmeichel and probably Konchesky have done more than well over the course of the past 24 games), they're all at fault for not playing well enough and I wonder how much that has to do with being ill-coached or being totally unprofessional on an individual basis.

The summer is where a team gels, last season was fecked up by Sousa's ineptness... Sven made a good stab at it last Jan, which worked for 8 games, sadly it wasn't enough... Because of that short-termism in Jan it drastically affected Sven's summer & the wholesale changes meant we have a team of individuals... This is still evident even after half a season

Where NP had done well, Sven has destroyed - the close-knitness of the team has long gone & NP needs to build a whole new team and foster that spirit again, Kasper, Pelts, Nuge will survive along with a few others but almost everyone can go if replaced.

Think once NP gets some guys in untainted by the upheavel of the last 18 months we'll start to build something, whether the owners & crucially the fans allow him to do that is a different matter.

But short-termism will do us no favours here whatsoever

[seenitall]

The summer is where a team gels, last season was fecked up by Sousa's ineptness... Sven made a good stab at it last Jan, which worked for 8 games, sadly it wasn't enough... Because of that short-termism in Jan it drastically affected Sven's summer & the wholesale changes meant we have a team of individuals... This is still evident even after half a season

Where NP had done well, Sven has destroyed - the close-knitness of the team has long gone & NP needs to build a whole new team and foster that spirit again, Kasper, Pelts, Nuge will survive along with a few others but almost everyone can go if replaced.

Think once NP gets some guys in untainted by the upheavel of the last 18 months we'll start to build something, whether the owners & crucially the fans allow him to do that is a different matter.

But short-termism will do us no favours here whatsoever

Agree - let's hope the Chairboy is reading

[ibbosuk]

The second half was very much like watching a game on the local park. Totally disjointed display, no pattern that I could make out, passing beyond woeful. Very embarrassing to think that game was shown live on sky. So sorry for the fans who paid good money to watch that utter dross.

The owner's must be in deep despair!!!

[kingfox]

Just got back, still the same problems.

Defending from crosses poor.

Mills can't pass out of defence, and just hoofs it up field.

Gallagher yet again hit and miss

Wellens playing negative passes

King nowhere to be seen for much of the game

Beckford is shite when he has his back to goal

Same problems, same dire performances, team need to get a grip because it isn't good enough.

[Alexikokopops]

Actually yes. Back then we had a limited budget, a team full of youth team graduates and limited players who at least put in a decent effort, and we had characters in the team who we could identify with and who cared - Mauchlen, Ramsey, Mills etc. We also made more noise with 8,500 than we do with 25,000 today. In the relegation season, it had been coming for a number of years, and similar has happened to Southampton, Norwich etc.

Today, with more money invested than we ever would have thought possible even 18 months ago, to see such insipid football week after week after week, with no passion, everybody underperforming and the library that the atmosphere at home every time we play there, is, for me more embarrasing. That's my opinion, you're entitled to have a different view. Personally i've never felt more disillusioned after 30 years.

Maybe I'll give you the Tony James era, but worst than the relegation season? After 3 or 4 seasons before that of constant dissappointment?

[NorthernFox]

I thought we were woeful today. Premiership dream this season seems a long way off.

[acooling08]

Wellens shooting from 45 yards when we have numbers forward for a break.. what a twat

[steveherbe]

Slightly off topic, but no time to start a new one. This calendar year, league games played 46, 70 points. Would have us finishing 8th in last seasons table. Not good enough is it?

[Salieri]

The second half was very much like watching a game on the local park. Totally disjointed display, no pattern that I could make out, passing beyond woeful. Very embarrassing to think that game was shown live on sky. So sorry for the fans who paid good money to watch that utter dross.

The owner's must be in deep despair!!!

When did you start posting like a normal human being?! :xmasohmy:

[Guest Basildon Fox]

In all fairness, from the middle of the kop I can't say I was in much of a position to comment on the back line, but I did say "Bamba was decent at times", hardly glowing praise. Mills was woeful, I'm not changing my mind on that. Shaky defensively and on the ball, I think I counted at least 6 over hit, speculatively shite long balls. There was probably more, too.

Was quite clearly our best defender today by a long, long way. You are wrong.

[Kitchandro]

As for the game - fookin' Wellens single handedly cost us 2 points again.

Seriously though, he and King have completely gone. Wellens is probably too old, King however, WTF?

We started OK, the front 3 had OK games. Gallagher's set-pieces were all effective but in the second half he was anonymous other than that. Nugent did his best and scored, he perhaps could have done better with a few half chances. Schlupp looks very promising IMO, he's very quick but also technically decent. He looked very dangerous early on but after Portsmouth scored he never got the ball in the right positions. If he's out wide he needs to be on the right, and he needs to be instructed to pull off his marker out wide. The when he recieves it in space he can run at people. We have almsot no one in the squad who can do this.

Our defending was abysmal. Konchesky was my MOTM but was constantly outnumbered, I'm guessing because the midfielders didn't get back enough. Mills was hit and miss, covered well a lot but too many mistakes and poor passes. Peltier was terrible and Bamba even worse. Kasper was his usual self other than a couple of blonde moments, his kicking from the floor is good but bad out of his hands.

We cannot pass the ball. Some of our players are technically not good enough. None of our midfielders pass it accurately or quickly enough, nor do any of them want the ball when others are in possession. Abe did well in the first half but his typical inconsistency was seen in a single match with his clown-like second half. He's good at covering the back four positionally but he's actually no better at tackling than Gallagher. Well, maybe a bit better, but he's not very good at it.

As expected Danns did bugger all when he came on, he and Dyer are examples of technically poor players. They take ages to get it out of their feet. In fact Dyer simply cannot kick a ootball. I'm still not sure why he's a professional footballer. Most of the time he's not even man enough to knock it by someone and sprint.

Beckford was his usual pathetic self when he came on apart from one good effort, even when he was denied a stone-wall penalty it came about because he picked the wrong option.

I still hope we can get in the play-offs but the more we play the more there seems wrong with our team. Pearson will not make many signings in January, he's not that kind of manager. None of the 5 midfielders that took the pitch today (King, Wellens, Abe, Dyer and Danns) are good enough for the first 11, but lets face it, Nigel will not be replacing them all. We are going to have to live with at least one of them playing for the rest of the season.

Getting fed up of this, I know what's coming everytime I step out my front door and set off for the match.