From the Cheap Seats

[pommpey]

Okay. Not trying to oust Deadbat or owt. This was my first Blades match watched for some time, so here's my ten pennorth:

Given the swine had capped a wonderful 'flukey' run of shitloads of wins under their new boss (actually, looked a shitload more promotable than us, TBH) we were always going to be under pressure on this game, against a side ten seasons ago you'd have said " ... who? Where's Stevenage?" and we'd ahve played in the FA Cup Third Round, fielded a second string and beat by two goals with five sent off.

I thought we started excellently. Left side was looking good, even with Taylor and Quinn put in some cracking crosses for our woeful front two. The midfield looked iffy mind. Williamson got the award for turd of the match. He put in a Bobby Fordesque showing of shit passing, poor judgement and piss all to reconcile him of one of our best midfielders. Their goals, despite being a bit spawny, were well crafted and caught us cold. Our goals were typical battling Blades, but really they should have been matchwinners, stamping our authority, rather than scrappy match savers.

Anyroad:

Simonsen: 6/10. Only just. Flat footed for the first, spozzy-handed with some direct shots and a smidge unlucky with the second. We need a good keeper. Full stop.

Lowton: 6/10. Despite the goal, he looked ineffective and weak in areas and was not quite the fast, attacking threat we have know.

Maguire: 5/10. Fucking hell. My heart goes in my mouth every time he gets the ball. I think he thinks he is the Lionel Messi of centre backs. Provided a good cross for one of the goals, but shit all else. Needs to grow up, speak to Morgs once in a while and do some proper centre backing. Smashing it across the back four and out of play is unforgivable.

Collins: 7/10. Stronger and more reliable than Maguire in this match. Great blocking and defending headers and (where he could) minimised their attaching threat.

Taylor: 6/10. Did well, first half but you can tell he's been in and out of football too much. Was run ragged by Freeman at times and all the back four are guilty of leaving their well-bollocked heads back in the dressing room at the beginning of the second half.

Williamson: 4/10. Shit performance. Crap passing, at fault for the first goal and looks a pale shadow of the crafty winger we saw smash two in past Preston a year ago. Whether he is just not at the races needs to be ascertained. He is a key player who, in Evans absencse, can change the game significantly. Today, he was cack.

MacDonald: 7/10. Tried and tried today, just lacked the finish. Very impressed with his work rate, even if he is a yard off the pace at times.

Doyle: 6/10: A bit absent in places. No real grasp of the game despite a reasonable input. I felt he struggled to impose himself in midfield and vanished entirely when he needed to come short, collect and lay off.

Quinn: 7/10. Impressed with his graft. Five times he tracked back and nicked the ball off the opposition, got wide and stuck in some delicious crosses. Why was he subbed? No idea, mesen.

Porter: 3/10. Fucking woeful. No other comment.

Ohalloran: 5/10. Did improve when Cressy went on but fucking hell, Billy Sharp, or what?

subs

Flynn: 6/10. I'm shocked why he came on for Quinny, when our only outlet was down the flanks and they'd spent a lot of energy nullifying Quinn. We could have done with more pace and even going to five in the midfield late on with Quinn/Flynn and Cresswell exploiting the channels we could have made much more.

Cresswell: 7/10. Our only proper striker now. Well taken goal, and plenty of graft, for once.

Beattie: 5/10. Ta-ra.

Stevenage: God value for money. Well organised, pushed us far, far back up the pitch with some pressing play and exploited their talents in Shroot, Bostwick and Freeman.

Ref: Wanker. Two pens. But that's DArsehole, innit?

Crowd: Well done guys. Stacks of noise. Shame some of the players just don't get it. Just like most seasons.

Next week? Yep, we'll win. But so will the pigs. We're fucked now. We've proven we are arse at the playoffs, and Agent Wilson has nothing in the bank to cash in to give us any sort of chance. The pigs up, and us staying in Div Three. I fucking LOVE the humiliation. Oldham and Exeter at home. Think about it Bladesmen.

pommpey

 

[yorkshirecoast]

Did your cheap seats have a restricted view? Beattie was excellent. He won everything in the air and created 3 or 4 clear chances. We were crap in the 1st hour - woeful defending and nothing up front. Beattie & Cresswell made a massive difference but it was too little too late.

The Pigs have been incredibly lucky - no doubt about that - but it was in our hands and we messed up again.

Had we still got Ched of course - we'd be as good as up.

 

[1973_Blade]

I'm glad you don't go too often if we all have to put up with this type of negativity. 5 in midfield when chasing a game? Interesting.

I can see how on this game you may want to slag the players off, but Doyle. Maguire, Willo, Lowton etc have been excellent this season. Quinn flatters to deceive and the majority of his play involves square passes, turn back on himself or running other players out of the game.

Looking at the starting strikers today - he only had two who could have been classed as match fit - maybe he should have started with Cressy, but also they may not have known how his shoulder would hold up. O'Halloran isn't good enough, but Porter played well last home game when he came on for Cressy.

If you are humiliated by the Blades then don't tell people you support them! I for one will be there next season regardless of which division we are in, but then some may slag me off for being a 'happy clapper' - so be it.

 

[pommpey]

I'm glad you don't go too often if we all have to put up with this type of negativity. 5 in midfield when chasing a game? Interesting.

Well, the flat four midfield was not making too much impact, was it? We needed to stop them pushing through our midfield and pushing the whole team back into our half. It would also enable out best midfield attack threat - MacDonald - to push forward to create. Too many times he was fetching and receiving behind our centre circle and having to play through their midfield to get them on the back foot and finding no one to lay off to or make space for him.

I can see how on this game you may want to slag the players off, but Doyle. Maguire, Willo, Lowton etc have been excellent this season. Quinn flatters to deceive and the majority of his play involves square passes, turn back on himself or running other players out of the game.

Well, we are talking strictly about this game.

Looking at the starting strikers today - he only had two who could have been classed as match fit - maybe he should have started with Cressy, but also they may not have known how his shoulder would hold up. O'Halloran isn't good enough, but Porter played well last home game when he came on for Cressy.

But today, Porter was cack. Their keeper was smoking a fag through most of the first half.

If you are humiliated by the Blades then don't tell people you support them! I for one will be there next season regardless of which division we are in, but then some may slag me off for being a 'happy clapper' - so be it.

Proud to be a Bladesman, to be honest. Sometimes, however, when we ship four at home against the division's dogshit side and fuck up a perfectly good lead against Oldham, those five points kinda seem valuable now, don't they?

pommpey

 

[boo radley]

And its a 1 for the report. I'm with Warrington and Deano on this BT won everything he was asked to. If I were to judge thing the way you do McD was crap. As it is I'm willing to accept him or anyone can have an off day.

 

[1973_Blade]

Well, the flat four midfield was not making too much impact, was it? We needed to stop them pushing through our midfield and pushing the whole team back into our half. It would also enable out best midfield attack threat - MacDonald - to push forward to create. Too many times he was fetching and receiving behind our centre circle and having to play through their midfield to get them on the back foot and finding no one to lay off to or make space for him.

That's what he does, takes the ball off the defence and creates. They packed the midfield today , but as the game went on he was more effective.

Well, we are talking strictly about this game.

Fair point.

But today, Porter was cack. Their keeper was smoking a fag through most of the first half.

Hindsight - you can't pick players on how they are going to play, just on how they have and also on whether there are any viable alternatives.

Proud to be a Bladesman, to be honest. Sometimes, however, when we ship four at home against the division's dogshit side and fuck up a perfectly good lead against Oldham, those five points kinda seem valuable now, don't they?

The Exeter game was one where both Maguire and Long showed their inexperience and you will know all about the Oldham game - neither were typical games over the season.

pommpey

 

[pommpey]

And its a 1 for the report. I'm with Warrington and Deano on this BT won everything he was asked to. If I were to judge thing the way you do McD was crap. As it is I'm willing to accept him or anyone can have an off day.

Beattie has proven to be fuck all, despite his lauded return. Hasn't scored for two and a bit years, comes back here and sudden;y he is the prodigal Messiah. Sure, he's done good stuff for us in the past, but since he has come back, and today, he has been a bit meh.

McD had the best day of the midfield.

pommpey

 

[puppet]

beattie transformed the attack today and became a credible threat and won everything in the air... with sharper or less imprisoned strikers we'd have won today even from 0-2 down

 

[pommpey]

That's what he does, takes the ball off the defence and creates. They packed the midfield today , but as the game went on he was more effective.

And would have been a whole load more effective if he had people to lay off to, run off the ball to open up his field or create space. At times McD was surrounded by two, maybe three players as he surged forward. My question is this: If McD had two player on him, that means somewhere on the pitch they are short handed. Same gos for Flynny out wide. Two on him when he picked up the ball. When they are playing that, you open up space elsewhere.

Hindsight - you can't pick players on how they are going to play, just on how they have and also on whether there are any viable alternatives.

Nonsense. Of course you bloody do. Tell me, would you pick a tiny front pairing when playing someone like Blackburn Rovers, when they played the likes of Samba for example? Would you go light on your midfield playing Everton? You pick your side according to what your opposition is. That's what you send scouts and coaching staff out for, to ascertain what they have and how they are playing. Pointless just picking the side on merit of the last game, regardless of the result - your opposition might play completely differently and overrun your midfield, outpace your lightweight defence or completely cancel out any attacking strategy you have.

The Exeter game was one where both Maguire and Long showed their inexperience and you will know all about the Oldham game - neither were typical games over the season.

The Exeter game was one where we failed to maintain a credible lead and cancel out their attempts to exploit weaknesses. If needed, Wilson should have gone 5-3-2 for the last ten and simply launched the ball down to the Bramall Lane corner flags. Similarly, we crumbled against Oldham once Cresswell nodded the ball into our net at 2-0. There have been many other examples, muchly typical of our season, Pigs at home (two shitty, avoidable goals despite kinging the game for a period) and the like of Walsall away ... this is why we are where we are.

pommpey

 

[MunXy]

beattie transformed the attack today and became a credible threat and won everything in the air... with sharper or less imprisoned strikers we'd have won today even from 0-2 down

for the first time today i laughed, thanks puppet.
ive tended toward the idea strikers banged up a 100+ miles away, no matter how good they are going to find it hard to get a goal
pomppey i dont know if you were suffering with deja vu or summat but quinn was fucking shocking, sure he ran around, unfortunately most of the running was out of position, his passing was woeful, his movement off the ball was erm unusual is the best way i can put it to my count he gave the ball away 4 times in as many pass attempts (incedently not 1 of the midfielders was innocent of that last bit, they all made more passes to stevenage players than to fellow blades) maybe pressure got to them or team moral still low after last week, but if 30,000 at home isnt enough to pick you up and give you a lift then football is probably the wrong sport to be in.

MunXy

 

[metalblade]

Shows how shit League one is when a pair of average teams get near on or possibly over 90pts and one still only makes 3rd place. The only team with any sort of consistency will hit 100pts next week.

 

[pommpey]

for the first time today i laughed, thanks puppet.
ive tended toward the idea strikers banged up a 100+ miles away, no matter how good they are going to find it hard to get a goal
pomppey i dont know if you were suffering with deja vu or summat but quinn was fucking shocking, sure he ran around, unfortunately most of the running was out of position, his passing was woeful, his movement off the ball was erm unusual is the best way i can put it to my count he gave the ball away 4 times in as many pass attempts (incedently not 1 of the midfielders was innocent of that last bit, they all made more passes to stevenage players than to fellow blades) maybe pressure got to them or team moral still low after last week, but if 30,000 at home isnt enough to pick you up and give you a lift then football is probably the wrong sport to be in.

MunXy

The last bit - bang on the head, nail style Munx. The crowd were ace, first half, understandably pissed off and quiet when their second one went in and back in voice for the last quarter, once we started to press a bit. But Quinn, out wide, put in some fucking eatable crosses and, lets face it, if we'd played Cresswell and BT from the off, mebbes they would have buried them. Quinn, four times at my counting, picked their pockets and ran on, unfortunately with Jesus F Fuck-all to set going or anyone to aim for in the box. As with Quinny, if it aint working, he'll revert to type and start hooking the ball to their players. Compared to them all in the time he had, he was better than the rest, certainly Williamson who was shit, with shit aspects.

pommpey

 

[1973_Blade]

Pommpey:

They had two players on us because they played one up top and we had 3 or 4 defenders behind the ball - that's how it is.

You pick the team to your strengths not to combat the opposition - especially at home. You pick your team on previous performances and to maintain consistency - as DW has all season. We don' t have a squad big enough for rotation, so you play your best players every week - or at least those in form. Could you imagine the back lash if we picked our team to combat Stevenage's strengths - rubbish.

You cannot go through a season of 46 games without having set backs and mistakes being made - are you going to go through all the games we have won and pick out the goals etc? No - you are just highlighting some of the few instances when the wrong decisions were made. I can tell you now that I have made the wrong decision at work over the last year - are you perfect?

 

[pommpey]

Pommpey:

They had two players on us because they played one up top and we had 3 or 4 defenders behind the ball - that's how it is.

So how did they manage to push us out of their half and attack on the counter? One up front is collect/lump and chase to support. Warnock used it so many times to our detriment. Given they have one up front leaves us to play a virtual 3-1-4-2. We didn't. We went 4-4-2 right up to the last ten.

You pick the team to your strengths not to combat the opposition - especially at home. You pick your team on previous performances and to maintain consistency - as DW has all season. We don' t have a squad big enough for rotation, so you play your best players every week - or at least those in form. Could you imagine the back lash if we picked our team to combat Stevenage's strengths - rubbish.

Well,we fucked up then, didn't we? Stevenage played on the counter, and bummed us good and proper in the first half, and then in the second as well.

You cannot go through a season of 46 games without having set backs and mistakes being made - are you going to go through all the games we have won and pick out the goals etc? No - you are just highlighting some of the few instances when the wrong decisions were made. I can tell you now that I have made the wrong decision at work over the last year - are you perfect?

No. But I am not a football team, either. Avoidable mistakes are exactly that, and I am sure you'll agree that being 2-0 up at home, giving away a OG, having two of your back four red carded and gifting a penalty isn't the stuff you can just put down to 'a mistake'. It was more than that. It was fucking woeful. The side let the whole of the club down that day and have on occasion throughout the season - let us face it, we were (briefly) top of the pile once and, on Feb 14, some points ahead of the pigs with games in hand. Do you now fancy aligning that crucialloss of advantage to simply 'wrong decisions being made'?

pommpey

 

[boo radley]

I'm no fan of deadbats reports or markings. So I rarely read them but they serve a purpose for those far away. This report does not as it is too full of negative emotion from the writer. If this was a game in mid season most would probably say a great comeback whilst not playing well and the fightback was excellent.

 

[pommpey]

I'm no fan of deadbats reports or markings. So I rarely read them but they serve a purpose for those far away. This report does not as it is too full of negative emotion from the writer. If this was a game in mid season most would probably say a great comeback whilst not playing well and the fightback was excellent.

Well,I'm not asking you for marks out of ten for my report. Agree with me or disagree, please, regardig the team's performance on the pitch, and if possible, provide material to support your POV. As it stands, it isn't a mid-season game of little consequence where we can pat the team on the back and say, 'well done'. It is a vital (read that) vital end of season game which has handed the initiative and momentum straight into the hands of our bitter city rivals. Both of us have one game left, against already relegated teams. We are one point behind, they have a far superior current form. We are looking exposed, underpowered and very much like a side set for the playoffs, a position we have plenty of experience in fucking up big style. Want evidence? Palace, Wolves and Burnley. I'd rather we went automatic, like the pigs are set to do.

How easy is it getting out of this division next season with half our squad gone and Pompey, Coventry and Doncaster vying for the top positions?

pommpey

 

[bladeinspaceandtime]

How easy is it getting out of this division next season with half our squad gone and Pompey, Coventry and Doncaster vying for the top positions?

pommpey

That worries the hell out of me. With the decent players gone (well the two in Evans and McD) and the club brassic we could be stuck at this level for years. At the end of last season I would have thought the most likely way we would leave League 1 this season was through the trap door, so Wilson has massively outperformed my expectations. If I was him I would be getting my CV ready in case an ambitious Championship side are interested.

 

[boo radley]

Well,I'm not asking you for marks out of ten for my report. Agree with me or disagree, please, regardig the team's performance on the pitch, and if possible, provide material to support your POV. As it stands, it isn't a mid-season game of little consequence where we can pat the team on the back and say, 'well done'. It is a vital (read that) vital end of season game which has handed the initiative and momentum straight into the hands of our bitter city rivals. Both of us have one game left, against already relegated teams. We are one point behind, they have a far superior current form. We are looking exposed, underpowered and very much like a side set for the playoffs, a position we have plenty of experience in fucking up big style. Want evidence? Palace, Wolves and Burnley. I'd rather we went automatic, like the pigs are set to do.

How easy is it getting out of this division next season with half our squad gone and Pompey, Coventry and Doncaster vying for the top positions?

pommpey

Cuddle it is then. Where can I find you?

 

[puppet]

Pompey will be in decimiation. Doncasters transfer policy has left them in a state, Coventry lookeed SHITE on TV today. I don't fear them

 

[pommpey]

Pompey will be in decimiation. Doncasters transfer policy has left them in a state, Coventry lookeed SHITE on TV today. I don't fear them

And we'll sign Robinson, Felliani, Ferdinand, Puyol, Ben Arfa and Van Persie will we?

If we stay in the Third Division, we'll struggle to keep players, revenue will be basement level and we'll be in there for fucking years.

pommpey

 

[puppet]

why will we? we can pick up players to get us out of this division

 

[bladeinspaceandtime]

Pompey will be in decimiation. Doncasters transfer policy has left them in a state, Coventry lookeed SHITE on TV today. I don't fear them

It's a fair point. I would expect at least one of that trio to be competitive but the "relegation effect" so,etimes takes a while to shake off. However Huddersfield (assuming they don't go up), MK Dons (ditto), Preston and Carlisle will probably be up there. Will we be able to compete?

 

[Menjo]

For Pommpey, subsitute pompous. Sorry appalling report, if only for the constant use of obscenities, makes for very poor reading. Yes, we were awful for 60/70 minutes today and only finally got our act together for the last 20 minutes. Too many players had a bad day, including Quinn, Willo, Maguire and for the first half McD. The match I watched saw us playing to Stevenage's strengths and I guarantee that if and when we play them in the play offs it won't happen again. They are a very ordinary side who have over achieved this season on the back of their promotion from League 2.
As for the relegated teams, two will be lucky to be in business next season and the third will not be able to keep their expensive loans because of financial regulations and poor income streams, i.e. low gates.

 

[metalblade]

Poor reading yes but only because what Pommpey says is just about spot on, we could be in League One for years.

 

[pommpey]

For Pommpey, subsitute pompous. Sorry appalling report, if only for the constant use of obscenities, makes for very poor reading. Yes, we were awful for 60/70 minutes today and only finally got our act together for the last 20 minutes. Too many players had a bad day, including Quinn, Willo, Maguire and for the first half McD. The match I watched saw us playing to Stevenage's strengths and I guarantee that if and when we play them in the play offs it won't happen again. They are a very ordinary side who have over achieved this season on the back of their promotion from League 2.
As for the relegated teams, two will be lucky to be in business next season and the third will not be able to keep their expensive loans because of financial regulations and poor income streams, i.e. low gates.

Christ. For originality, read 'not'. Pompey/pompous. Ho, ho, ho. Who writes your comedy material, son? I'd sack the twat if I were you. But please, don't apologise for your critique of my report. I'd rather you discuss the abilities of the football team than waste your time opining about my writing. By the look of your massive post count, it's obvious you are a huge contributor to debate about Sheffield United on the web over the past fifteen or so years.

Anyway, you just about agree with all my points, i.e. we were shit today save for a late, facesaving rally, the midfield was largely cack, and we were under the cosh for large periods and couldn't get past their midfield. Oh, and they are, and should be always a 'who the fuck are Stevenage?' kind of side, which today, we made them look like Reading or West Ham.

The relegated teams - Doncaster may fall through the trapdoor, but if we have to play them (which is now likely) I guarantee they'll make us look like Stevenage should look. They have in the past. Pompey ... not sure if you are tracking the local press down here (i.e. very possibly not) but once the door opens and they drop, I doubt it would be for long. Stuff is happening for them. See, Southampton suffered practically the same fate a couple of seasons ago and next season will be playing PL footy, just like we should be. Coventry are similarly placed, with a fairly good set of players who will undoubtedly do something like Charlton did this season.

pommpey

 

[mpjacko]

why will we? we can pick up players to get us out of this division

Really? What with.

DW has shown he is no good at signing players. Just look at one he has brought in. I have always said DW has been lucky this year having been able to keep some good players. These will go at the end of the season but I guess anyone is better than having Simmo in goal. So maybe it won't be bad after all.

The question will be " how long do you keep DW when things are going wrong next season?"

Next season will be harder due to the teams going down and the ones coming up from league 2. People are saying Donny will have problems with their loans but people forget that these loans are on lower wages than Utd, plus they have a chairman who is willing to back his team with his own money.

Also, you may say that players have been excellent all year but that's no good when they don't perform in the game that matter. I think deadbat said that utd have won only 2 matches when playing the top 8 teams. That ain't good enough for a team that is aiming for promotion.

But i still sat united wouldn't been in this position had we won those three games. The down fall is our own making, not the pigs. They did what they had to do, we couldn't do ours.

 

[grafikhaus]

Really? What with.

DW has shown he is no good at signing players. Just look at one he has brought in. I have always said DW has been lucky this year having been able to keep some good players. These will go at the end of the season but I guess anyone is better than having Simmo in goal. So maybe it won't be bad after all.

The question will be " how long do you keep DW when things are going wrong next season?"

Agree with this. Surprisingly accepting about yesterday's events and others will have a lot more to say. My point is DW and definitely don't want to turn on him now our promotion dream is over (and believe me, it is), but give a measured response to what I've thought all season.

Danny has never impressed me. His record at managerial level is patchy to say the least (please don't bother quoting getting Barnsley into the PL. That was 15 effing years ago and football has changed totally since then).

He's been lucky this year with having Ched. With him we'd have won yesterday, no doubt. But this has masked DW's deficiencies as a manager. A team mirrors a manager's personality, and while I don't want to see the manufactured touchline pracing of, say, Martin O'Neill, I do want to see some fucking passion. I want to see the players dreading leaving the field after a poor performance. A Paulo DiCanio (or as we'll see next season) Evans at Rotherham. Wilson out-does Robson in the tailor's-dummy stakes. OK, not all managers rant and rave - Adkins for example. But he doesn't have to. He's a good manager. So, apart from the Passion-O-Meter, where does DW fall down?

The loan market. He's been an absolute disaster. O'Halloran & Hoskins never showed enough. Compare and contrast with Wendy - Antonio, Treacy and before them Ben Marshall. Any half-decent manager should be aware of the unused talent out there, whether it's established players who've 'gone off the boil' (Matt Phillips), or the incredibly-talented players just not good enough to break into the top-level at Man. U., Arsenal etc. (Freeman for Stevenage is just one example).

Substitutes. Usually too little, too late. Everybody knew Cressie (and probably BT) should have started the second half. Until recently he was bringing subs on with 5/10 minutes left.

Public persona. Too 'Mister Nice Guy', I rubbed my ears in disbelief when he said on RS the other night that kicking off after Wednesday wasn't fair on them!!! FFS, what's happened to 'mind games'? Why wasn't he saying 'Whatever Wednesday do at Brentford will probably not be enough - we'll know exactly what to do.'?

The team. He's had long enough now to see what most of us see every week. Four or five of that team are simply not good enough and need to be shipped out or we're looking at mid-table next season. In the Third Division.

Tactics. DW is not alone with this. We've been inept for years. At throw-ins, everybody hides. Crosses/corners are 'floated' in. A general feeling of 'I've done my bit'. At set pieces, 'straight off the training ground' doesn't apply to us.

I'll sign off for now. We'll be stuck with DW until November/December, until McCabe sees what most of us can see now. And the season will be gone and we'll be back to square one.

 

[bramptonblade]

Beattie has proven to be fuck all, despite his lauded return. Hasn't scored for two and a bit years, comes back here and sudden;y he is the prodigal Messiah. Sure, he's done good stuff for us in the past, but since he has come back, and today, he has been a bit meh.

McD had the best day of the midfield.

pommpey

Beattie may not be the player he once was but yesterday he did everything right and almost scored, he made chances for others and scared the defence to death,.! Sorry mate you got this one wrong.

 

[pommpey]

Beattie may not be the player he once was but yesterday he did everything right and almost scored, he made chances for others and scared the defence to death,.! Sorry mate you got this one wrong.

Okay. We differ in opinion. This is a forum, and it would be boring if we all agreed. Imagine being on Man United's forum where all there is is a general wankery agreement on how ace life is?

But Beattie - yes. I acknowledge, he 'mixed it up'. But so did Ashley fucking Ward, for no sum result in many areas. Beattie is and will remain, a prima donna. He's back to cap his career and in honesty, a bloke with his pedigree, Premiership and England alike with buckets of goals and such a keen footballing acumen, I'd say now we have our goal machine banged up, I certainly wouldn't be leaning on an iinept pairing of Hallers and Porter as a means of sustaining our momentum. Why is he not starting at least? A two goal lead yesterday would have bummed Stevenage, big style, and all we'd have to do is lean on their midfield and make them chase the game. Why is Beattie being preserved for the last ten? If he is that out of condition/past it/injured/unfit, what the fuck were we doing signing him back on? Has he scored yet? Yesterday he had a cracking waist high volley pop up at ten yards and managed to launch it into the family corner. I see him as a waste of resources. Either play him, make him make a difference in the game or fuck him off. Lets not forget what he did on his return when he got sent off. Not exactly a thing to lay down the palm branches at his feet for.

pommpey

 

[oldblade]

Obviously I could end up being proven completely wrong, but Portsmouth, Coventry and Doncaster look weaker than than the sides likely to replace them - Charlton, Wednesday/Us and one from Us/Wednesday, Huddersfield, MK Dons and Stevenage/Notts County .