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If there's a positive it was Turner, who was excellent for the most part and much more mobile than Ferdinand.
White 5 No protection from Wright. Better at centre back. Still can't cross.
Sam, I know you've never rated him but honestly, do you think that's true today? He was the only player putting a cross in until McLaughlin came on, apart from corners or free kicks. All the forward play came through him and yet we were unable to exert any influence on crosses into the box from him.

Talking to some Portsmouth fans on the train they think we were the better side. When I showed them marks of 3 on the zone for some of our players they laughed.

football fans aren't they wonderful ��

Yep, we're our own worst critics - but I think that's common with many fans at this level. We matched them for probably an hour.

Ranger's more interested in his image and ****ter account than playing football.

And still making wrong choices. I hear the fine pot is doing well.


Well if he is, it didn't show in today's performance. Whatever you can accuse him of, he couldn't be accused of not trying today.

I disagree, trying was absolutely what he didn't do today. For a guy of his build, he should be putting himself about far more in the box - I feel he's actually better in our own box with his head than he is in the opposition one.

Massively frustrating. It was the wrong formation, far too narrow, and Timlin is still not a left back. I don't know what he has to do to be dropped from the starting line up - presumably that won't be till Coker is back. He did so much that was good in winning the ball, but then promptly gave it away almost without fail. Ranger did win a few headers but there was never anyone near him to win a flick on or play off him - and that's surely a failure on the training ground. Theo may have been hungry but he was fed nothing. Our only chance to get anything today was to run at them as they were very dominant in the air in their box yet we failed to do this time and time again.

Positives today, well, Turner looked very comfortable again and hopefully that's an important addition to the starting line up as he was also good at the other end. I thought Wright did ok too.

Oxley - 6, didn't have to do much but am being critical of his inability to get the ball out quick
White - 7, thought he was fairly solid, particularly as he was exposed down the flank. Got forward and could (and probably should) have had a good shot on goal in one instance
Turner - 8, my MOTM, read the game well and coped pretty well with their forward threats, happy to go forward and cause problems too
Ferdinand - 7, improved on recently, couple of decent moments
Timlin - 5, just poor decision making, so often not looking up before kicking
Kightly - 5, seemed to have little idea where he was playing, unlucky on so many occasions you have to ask if it's down to poor judgement
Leonard - 6.5, fairly quiet game, possibly struggled in a congested midfield
Wright - 7, probably our best midfielder, some good passing
Robinson - 7, thought he worked hard
Cox - 6, a real shadow of the Cox of last year
Ranger - 5, poor

Subs:
McLaughlin for Ranger - 7, came on and made a difference
Fortune for White - 6, really hoped for more from him
McGlashan for Robinson (I think?) - 6, not much chance

Officials - pretty inconsistent. I didn't understand how the penalty could have been given but no card shown - surely it should have been a yellow at the very least, felt the lino over to our right was pretty intimidated in the 2nd half.

My first visit to Fratton Park, I won't hurry back. Not the most welcoming of places and thought it was pretty poor that they failed totally to mention how many of us were there (and spending our money). Getting out was a total farce. I note Brown was talking about people who might not be here in January, well, on today's performance, it's some of the bigger names should be looking worried.
 
Pathetic performance really. You won't see many penalties worse than Ranger's, still not entirely sure how there was no card shown for that either. We could have kept playing all year and we wouldn't have threatened. No width, no creativity, no movement. Really poor.

Changing players' positions and the team shape every 5 minutes in the second half just meant that we never really built up any momentum. Putting Leonard at right back for the last 10 meant we lost all control in the middle of the park and the game was over. Too many big names (Cox, Kightly) need to take a long hard look at their performances of late.

Defence was fairly strong after a 5 minute spell where all of their boots became stuck to the pitch meaning they were unable to do anything other than stand and watch and hope Turner would clear off the line.

If there's a positive it was Turner, who was excellent for the most part and much more mobile than Ferdinand.

Oxley 6 Stuck to his line. Not a lot to do.
White 5 No protection from Wright. Better at centre back. Still can't cross.
Ferdinand 6 More like his old self.
Turner 7 Alert and intelligent.
Timlin 3 Woeful positioning and needlessly giving the ball away when we were in control.
Wright 4 Seemed to have no idea where he was playing. Did half of the job of a central midfielder and half of the job of a right winger. Problem with doing half of each means that he wasn't very good at either.
Leonard 6 Quiet. On his own in the middle a lot of the time.
Kightly 5 Makes nice dribbles but no end product. Rarely beats the first man with his set pieces.
Cox 4 No threat. Too deep to be a forward and too far forward to be in midfield. See Wright above.
Ranger 3 No threat either, didn't win anything in the air, worst penalty I've seen in a while.
Robinson 6 Had a good effort first half then was used as a target man which he isn't.

Subs
Fortune 6 Tried to battle up front
McLaughlin 7 Actually posed a threat with his runs
McGlashan 5 Wasted, long balls for him to chase

Need to improve on that massively. PB needs to stop misusing players (Kightly in the middle, Cox in midfield, Wright on the right, Leonard at right back, Timlin at left back) when he doesn't need to. They were there for the taking but once again left with nothing on the road. At least it was only 1-0.

Absolutely this. Those two in particular are starting to annoy me, I'd have started without both today. On recent form I'd have started Robinson up front and McLaughlin on the left. Too many big names are guaranteed a starting place without merit.
 
Sam, I know you've never rated him but honestly, do you think that's true today? He was the only player putting a cross in until McLaughlin came on, apart from corners or free kicks. All the forward play came through him and yet we were unable to exert any influence on crosses into the box from him.
Not been his biggest fan but think he's been one of our best players this season to be fair.

Today he was criminally isolated by the rest of the defence and Wright in front of him, and whilst he did try to put crosses in most of them ended up in the puddle in the car park alongside Ranger's penalty.

Lack of anyone getting on the end of the one or two decent balls he put in didn't help his case. Hopefully Demetriou will be back soon and he can return to the middle.
 
Sam, I know you've never rated him but honestly, do you think that's true today? He was the only player putting a cross in until McLaughlin came on, apart from corners or free kicks. All the forward play came through him and yet we were unable to exert any influence on crosses into the box from him.



Yep, we're our own worst critics - but I think that's common with many fans at this level. We matched them for probably an hour.



And still making wrong choices. I hear the fine pot is doing well.



I disagree, trying was absolutely what he didn't do today. For a guy of his build, he should be putting himself about far more in the box - I feel he's actually better in our own box with his head than he is in the opposition one.

Massively frustrating. It was the wrong formation, far too narrow, and Timlin is still not a left back. I don't know what he has to do to be dropped from the starting line up - presumably that won't be till Coker is back. He did so much that was good in winning the ball, but then promptly gave it away almost without fail. Ranger did win a few headers but there was never anyone near him to win a flick on or play off him - and that's surely a failure on the training ground. Theo may have been hungry but he was fed nothing. Our only chance to get anything today was to run at them as they were very dominant in the air in their box yet we failed to do this time and time again.

Positives today, well, Turner looked very comfortable again and hopefully that's an important addition to the starting line up as he was also good at the other end. I thought Wright did ok too.

Oxley - 6, didn't have to do much but am being critical of his inability to get the ball out quick
White - 7, thought he was fairly solid, particularly as he was exposed down the flank. Got forward and could (and probably should) have had a good shot on goal in one instance
Turner - 8, my MOTM, read the game well and coped pretty well with their forward threats, happy to go forward and cause problems too
Ferdinand - 7, improved on recently, couple of decent moments
Timlin - 5, just poor decision making, so often not looking up before kicking
Kightly - 5, seemed to have little idea where he was playing, unlucky on so many occasions you have to ask if it's down to poor judgement
Leonard - 6.5, fairly quiet game, possibly struggled in a congested midfield
Wright - 7, probably our best midfielder, some good passing
Robinson - 7, thought he worked hard
Cox - 6, a real shadow of the Cox of last year
Ranger - 5, poor

Subs:
McLaughlin for Ranger - 7, came on and made a difference
Fortune for White - 6, really hoped for more from him
McGlashan for Robinson (I think?) - 6, not much chance

Officials - pretty inconsistent. I didn't understand how the penalty could have been given but no card shown - surely it should have been a yellow at the very least, felt the lino over to our right was pretty intimidated in the 2nd half.

My first visit to Fratton Park, I won't hurry back. Not the most welcoming of places and thought it was pretty poor that they failed totally to mention how many of us were there (and spending our money). Getting out was a total farce. I note Brown was talking about people who might not be here in January, well, on today's performance, it's some of the bigger names should be looking worried.

not sure how Leonard gets 6.5 and Kightly 5. Least Kightly did try and make things happen, Leonard was way off the pace for most the game. My 13 year old son said it's the worst he has seen Leonard play, have to agree to a point
 
Just joining the thread, it seems Ranger is the new Robinson, and the Nouble before that. Everyone needs a "blame game" I guess on this forum.

Everyone was blaming Cox for missing he's penalty 10 days ago, now it's Ranger's turn. Let's be honest if Leonard handed the ball to Wright, Ferdinand, Timlin, or even Oxley for that matter etc.... And they still missed!!.... Whoever it might have been, we would still be complaining why somebody else didn't take it instead. Unless of course they scored. Then they would all be our saviours.

How fickle are we. The joys of football eh! :sad:


Basically, get over it!!... At the end of the day, we lost away against a team that was above us in the league before kick off, we had the upper hand in the 1st half, we defended well overall (0-1 is hardly a drubbing!) and their only goal was a real peach.
 
not sure how Leonard gets 6.5 and Kightly 5. Least Kightly did try and make things happen, Leonard was way off the pace for most the game. My 13 year old son said it's the worst he has seen Leonard play, have to agree to a point

Because very little Kightly tried came off! Now that could be down to luck or judgement, but whatever it was, he gave away the ball far too much.
 
Because very little Kightly tried came off! Now that could be down to luck or judgement, but whatever it was, he gave away the ball far too much.

Yes very little came off, but at least he tried to do the right thing, but it didn't happen. Leonard on a day we needed him to have a big performance he didn't produce. Just think a 6 for both was probably fair that's all
 
Yes very little came off, but at least he tried to do the right thing, but it didn't happen. Leonard on a day we needed him to have a big performance he didn't produce. Just think a 6 for both was probably fair that's all

We'd best agree to disagree. Put the two of them side by side statistic wise and I think you will find Leonard was better than Kightly.
 
Whether its the tactics by PB or the fact that we have strikers that shoot blanks i dont know,but if we cant score goals its going to be a long hard season of frustration forthe supporters and for RM, something needs to change and quickly if we are to get our season back on track,this can only be done by either PB changing attitude and starting to play attacking football ,our strikers having a change of mentality and a shoot on sight attitude ,or RM saying enough is enough ,ive put the money there for us to have a promotion challenging team and it s not happening.On a brighter note good to see Turner playing and as some of you said looking class.
 
It was shared around the ground that Brett Pittman for them scored his 12th goal of the season which is only 2 less than we have scored out of everyone in the team - that's a pretty poor standard of goal scoring.
 
It was shared around the ground that Brett Pittman for them scored his 12th goal of the season which is only 2 less than we have scored out of everyone in the team - that's a pretty poor standard of goal scoring.

Yes I put that on Twitter earlier. 12 goals already in league 1 is a great effort. But, as proved today it only takes one chance. The one time he beat Anton to the ball he scored. Other than that both the CB played well and kept him quiet. But as you pointed out, 14 goals from the players on show is a poor return.
 
I thought kightly was our biggest disappointment today, as he was at Yeovil. Obviously he is one of our top earners and he did get a lot of the ball today playing in the middle but as OBL rightly says nothing came of it. Some of it bad luck but most of self inflicted.

Our problems aren't at the back as we have settled down in the last few weeks. With Anton and Turner playing well Oxley really didn't have a lot to do. In fact their keeper made the best saves, any one remember Robinsons curler in the first half.

Our problem has and still is in the final third. No its not down to the myth that we sit back for a 0-0. Its a lack of quality when we do get the ball. I have long moaned about our set pieces but our crossing is also poor. That's the one area where Portsmouth were streets ahead of us. They delivered some real quality dangerous balls in the first half. Anton in particular dealt really well with them. Some were tight to Oxley but he was watching Anton and had the confidence to let him deal with it.

Eventually if you put enough dangerous balls in the box you will score and that's exactly what happened almost against the run of play. I haven't seen the goal yet but Pitman was right in the middle of the goal which gives you options as a striker. Ranger lurks beyond the far post, which gives him very little chance of scoring with his head.

When I say crosses it doesn't have to be from the by-line, you can put a ball in from 40 yds back. Wright had opportunities but would rather play a safe square ball. Kightly in the same position clipped difficult little balls down the channel for Theo to chase, even if got there he could only try and cross it under pressure.....Why not look up and put in the box in the first place, especially if your 1-0 down.

On the plus side I was impressed with Turner. People will say he has no pace but he read the game well and about 15 minutes in made good ground to get a tackle down the left side of our box. It was also his header at the far post that helped create our penalty. Shame we under hit corners in the second half so Turner had no other chances to attack.

Well done to all those who travelled, yes it was a disappointing result for sure. But in a tight, sometimes scrappy, game if you miss a penalty then you won't be the ones nicking the 3 points.
 
Yeah a bunch of about 100 who for some reason were all sat right over in the corner. I was two blocks along and could barely hear any noise at times other than the drum.

Had they gone in the middle the noise would have been better.

**** poor performance. **** poor facilities at fratton park. Had ran out of burger 20 mins before KO.

The selection and formation was all wrong AGAIN!

Not good enough at all.

I'd like to see a new manager come in. We have very good players who are being undermanaged and undermined.

Brown and Coughlin have come as far as they can take us and appear to have run out of ideas.

I may be proved wrong as the season unfolds but I think we will finish lower mid table. With the squad we have that would be criminal.

We just don't have a clue how to attack sides.

I see Nathan Jones being mentioned. I mentioned him ages ago. His team is a joy to watch and just attack for fun. Scored 7 again today. We barely look like scoring 1!

Interesting comment from one of our own...as a point of order, I think that the seat allocation was initially 500, and offered to STH's first...thus filling the corner and working across as demand required....was it really that quiet in the middle ?

ps...I was in the 2nd block with my son, and it was buzzing, with 90% stood up engaging in the atmosphere
 
Love the way people are suggesting we should bring in Nathan Jones - what makes you think he wants to come to us!!
 
IOur problems aren't at the back as we have settled down in the last few weeks. With Anton and Turner playing well Oxley really didn't have a lot to do. In fact their keeper made the best saves, any one remember Robinsons curler in the first half.

Our problem has and still is in the final third. No its not down to the myth that we sit back for a 0-0. Its a lack of quality when we do get the ball. I have long moaned about our set pieces but our crossing is also poor. That's the one area where Portsmouth were streets ahead of us. They delivered some real quality dangerous balls in the first half. Anton in particular dealt really well with them. Some were tight to Oxley but he was watching Anton and had the confidence to let him deal with it.

I think Theo's effort is in the highlights, it was a really good save. Your 2nd highlighted part shows how much we missed Woody and McLaughlin as creative players - and goal scorers too. I don't like the diamond system - it may have worked when we had Payne here but it doesn't work now.
 
Just on the diamond system. I think it can work, but the key to a diamond is the full-backs creating the width and neither, yesterday, are comfortable bombing forward like Demetriou and Hendrie would be.
 
Just on the diamond system. I think it can work, but the key to a diamond is the full-backs creating the width and neither, yesterday, are comfortable bombing forward like Demetriou and Hendrie would be.
yep agree, John White is not a very good attacking option down the right, there were times he should of taken on his man in the final 3rd but either put the cross in to early with no one in the box or decided to go backwards:sad:
 
Just joining the thread, it seems Ranger is the new Robinson, and the Nouble before that. Everyone needs a "blame game" I guess on this forum.

Everyone was blaming Cox for missing he's penalty 10 days ago, now it's Ranger's turn. Let's be honest if Leonard handed the ball to Wright, Ferdinand, Timlin, or even Oxley for that matter etc.... And they still missed!!.... Whoever it might have been, we would still be complaining why somebody else didn't take it instead. Unless of course they scored. Then they would all be our saviours.

How fickle are we. The joys of football eh! :sad:


Basically, get over it!!... At the end of the day, we lost away against a team that was above us in the league before kick off, we had the upper hand in the 1st half, we defended well overall (0-1 is hardly a drubbing!) and their only goal was a real peach.

You are missing the point. I'm not fussed about missing the penalty. It happens. We should be creating a lot more in open play.

As for Ranger. The man is a complete waste of space. Both as a human being and as a footballer for this club. We have stick by this cretin and offered him a 3 year deal. His performances have been dire.

The fact that we offer a criminal a 3 year deal and sack a groundsman of 20 years experience for a mistake is a joke.

Our pitch is now showing the price.

You talk of fickle. The management are fickle. Trying to play certain players out of position whilst over looking others.

The chairman is fickle. Sacking staff for making mistakes whilst over looking others that cost the club money and don't do their jobs.
 
Just on the diamond system. I think it can work, but the key to a diamond is the full-backs creating the width and neither, yesterday, are comfortable bombing forward like Demetriou and Hendrie would be.
And having some creativity or drive in midfield.

Leonard was sat too deep and Wright doesn't have a defence splitting pass in him so just ended up going from one side of the pitch across to the other back and forth until someone hoofed it forward to Ranger or Robinson, leaving Cox wasted in no man's land.
 
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