Post Portsmouth Musings!
Mar 8th, 2010 | By KevB8ll | Category: Blues News, Kev's RamblingsAs you can imagine, after Saturday’s game – the forum was full of disappointment, pointed comments and suggestions of how we could have won.
Here is a hotch potch of those thoughts and some of my added comments.
I’m of the opinion that straight after the game is not the time to analyse, hence a 24 hour wait! Emotions run high and the taste of defeat is raw. So hopefully some of these thoughts are a bit more reasoned today.
The first thought begins like this.
I can’t remember being as gutted about a Blues result for a long, long time. More than the disappointment or anger of watching a linesman and referee make a human error, I’m bitter and twisted over the fact that at least three Portsmouth players saw that the ball had crossed the line and yet, did not speak up. I was angry with Keith Fahey last week when I believed that he cheated to gain us a win over Wigan.
But this week, I’m absolutely furious over the fact that David James – a man who is almost forty – could not find the strength inside to be honest with a referee and say that he had conceded. I know that these days, the game and winning is more important than honestly and integrity and as I watched, I felt myself falling out of love with the game just a little bit more. It’s not about people, honesty and emotion any longer. It’s about cheating, misdirection and who can do what to get the best over his opponent whilst baring following the spirit or rules of the game.
Just… meh, can’t remember being this bitterly disappointed for a long time and just wanted to express absolute anger at a player and a man who would, I hoped, have been a bit more honest.
I totally understood this point, but when you look at the replays it is understandable why it was missed. I don’t particularly blame James, it’s not his job to give the decisions.
HOWEVER I do agree that footballers SHOULD be able to say to the referee – no I didn’t touch the ball, yes it was hand ball, the ball was over the line. It SHOULD happen, but it won’t – yes I know it is fanciful, but at least some of the feelings of injustice would be removed for fans, after all that is the biggest barrier we have to climb! 
(Oh and before you get cross, read the 3rd point – but not before the 2nd point!)
The second point.
The country got the result it wanted so who are we to have a moan about it? Some of the coverage has literally made me feel sick to the stomach. At half time, Blues were great value, playing well, etc, etc. By full time, Portsmouth ‘fully deserved the win’ and their loan players ‘showed that they cared as much as any Portsmouth fan does.’ Gah, the stuff you could lose your lunch to.
The club I love has been reduced to a footnote in the season of a club who has pulled the wool over the eyes of the footballing public and media with lies and deceit. They’ve financially mismanaged themselves and apparently, this makes them ‘deserve it’ and ‘earn that little bit of luck’. Why? Because they can’t manage and haven’t played very well this season?
Now I totally agree with this. I don’t have an axe to grind with Portsmouth fans, for them this must be a hideous situation – but action should have been taken by the FA or Premier League. We were relegated when Portsmouth’s administration, (excuse the pun), bought big and kept them up. Since then they won the FA cup – however have been racking up the debts. Any other business would not have continued, they just can’t support the large wages and relatively lower gates. The sums don’t add up.
In effect, they have taken advantage of other sides by playing players they couldn’t afford to pay which brings the whole Premier League and FA cup into disrepute. If the FA and / or the Premier League had stepped in earlier, this mess may well have been avoided.
Right, before you jump down my throat saying it is sour grapes, read the next point!
I felt we didn’t deserve to win, although we were never really stretched in the first half, in the second we needed to step up, and to do that we had to offer more in wide areas. Fahey was very poor and Larsson had an off day. I thought Chucho actually looked interesting wide on the left and I hope Gardner starts on the right next game. If we aren’t going for width, why not play 4-3-1-2 with McFadden behind a front two.
Totally agree. Although we were well in charge in the first half with possession and defence, we never really looked like scoring either. We didn’t come out of the changing room until 75 minutes were on the clock and it was too late by then. Portsmouth played well for 15-20 minutes and scored twice, as a result deserved to go through.
I really don’t understand why Chucho and Jerome didn’t start. I appreciate that Alex has tried to keep an unchanged side wherever possible, and that is a positive – however the performance against Wigan was lethargic and I think that Benitez would have bought some life up front. Fahey will become a very good player IMO, but he been poor for a few games now and should be rested.
So it is now all about whether we finish 7-14th, perhaps a little disappointing in that we aren’t playing for something – but at least we know we are going to be playing in the division again next year and with some new faces at the club – maybe we could do EVEN better!
I think the references to “deserving it” and “earning that bit of luck” are directed at the fans not the club. We didn’t ask to be put into so much debt…and historically Pompey haven’t been a club that expect much, we dont moan like Arsenal fans do about lack of huge signings…all we ask is that we have a club to support and players that work hard.
So forgive me if I kind of feel like we do deserve a bit of luck this season…after all the shit us fans have had to put up with this is a silver lining on a very dark cloud.
you fail to realise that the staff of portsmouth fc and the fans havent brought this on themselves, the people at the club are trying to save it from liquidation and the debts and lavish spending was the result of previous regimes enjoying themselves with no forward thinking, realising what a massive shambles they had created and they ran for the hills.
The owners and staff and fans are paying the price for sasha, storrie and redknapp steamrolling through our club for their own egos and leaving us with a twitching corpse of a club, barely breathing.
Kicking a dog when hes down is not a good quality in anyone, and youre pointing fingers are directed at the wrong people.
If anything you deserved to lose,not because you didnt get your goal but because your team had no passion, you didnt look like a team that wanted to win at any stage during the game.
Thanks for your comments guys. I think you have misunderstood where I am pointing my finger, certainly not at you the fans.
I don’t want to name names, but there are probably two or three key people who have caused this for you and that is where I’m pointing. You would probably agree with the names I would say. My point is, that the FA or PL could and should have stepped in before now.
This would have prevented the mess that the club is clearly in, and to be honest there must still be a serious doubt over your future. If they had had a bit of bottle, yes ok you may have gone into Admin before now – but at least the debt wouldn’t have been so great. SO that is why I pointed the finger at them.
As for Saturday, I think you’ll find I have said in the final paragraph that we didn’t deserve to win because of our performance, (that was certainly what I intended). The frustrating thing is, I believe if we had played like we can – we could have won! THAT is what really irritates me tbh.
Kev
I agree wih the sentiments, but who can predict the future. When the likes of Man U. Liverpool, Wigan. Chelsea, etc loose the input from their owners (i.e. remove their capital) do we say that quote “they have taken advantage of other sides by playing players they couldn’t afford to pay which brings the whole Premier League and FA cup into disrepute” endquote.
When do we say that a club cannot afford a player? In 2008 Portsmouth did not (apparently) fail to pay taxes etc. Nor have the other clubs. But what happens in the future?
That is a good point Colin.
I totally agree that action should have been taken by the FA or Premier League. I am glad someone says it how it is rather than “poor old Portsmouth”
Three teams who played within their finances and pay their taxes have been knocked out by players who the PL allowed them to sign on loan who Pompey can’t afford to pay in full. They want advance payments to survive, fail to see why they should have 9 points deducted. I can’t see any evidence of them cutting much more than their catering bill. It seams that the PL and FA want the court to swing the axe. However the FA Cup has become a farce. In my humble opinion they are cheating as much as an athlete on steroids. If that wasn’t bad enough the football debts are increasing and those debts are taking priority over taxes and local businesses debts.
The situation at Pompey could be repeated at any Premiership Club if there rich benefacter pulls the plug and the Banks call in there overdraft. Lets face all the teams are finacally mismanaged.
bitter and twisted, hard luck stories, PLAY UP POMPEY
Portsmouth could and should have sold all its players to pay its debts in the last two transfer windows, but no they signed more loan players they can’t afford to play. If their management had done that they might possibly have survived to fight another season. Now they have far more debt than potential income. If they by some miracle of advance payments scrape through will have to field a park team in the championship and plummet down again and again. Has all this help been offered to Bournemouth?
John, I think if you read my article again – (my comments are the none italic), I am not being bitter and twisted!
Sorry lads been ablues fan for too long now to expect anything else .I would have given us more of a chance against one of the top teams .ALTHOUGH if our good goal had b een allowed we wold have pushed on and would have no doubts about beeting them in a in extra time
Getting back to the game, in the end Blues lost because They displayed no passion, no drive and no determination with an unbalanced side. The tactics were wrong and what should have been an inferior Pompey side got the better of us because they exploited our shortcomings in this regard and wanted it more. This is more or less what Garry, second comment down is saying. Regardless of the disallowed goal, whether Piquionne was offside in the build up to his first goal and whether they won against the run of play, they did what we failed to do when we were on top; SCORE! Defeat has to be taken gracefully and as far as I am concerned it is. Well done Portsmouth.
KRO SOTV
Selling all our players just wasnt an option, surely you can see there is more money in the premiership to pay off our debts, we massively reduced the wage bill with a very public cull of our top class players and wanted rid of a few that wouldnt go(nugent, utaka, etc) , when a player at the twilight of their career is on a contract like our old guys had them on they dont want to leave, draining the club of funds, ie: lauren, traore. Please understand the new ‘owners’ havent spent a penny on new players, weve been selling and replacing with loans and frees. Perhaps the managers after sasha/storrie/harry thought saving the club wasnt going to be sell ALL our playing staff, and still be in massive debt and playing championship football, i think they probably thought it would kill off the club….perhaps they thought they might still be able to survive if we tried to stay in the premiership.
As a Pompey fan living in Brum, those Bluenoses I have spoken to have all pointed out the fact that despite the injustice of the linesman not spotting the ball crossing the line, Pompey managed to score twice, echoing Bazz’s point above.
As for the current state of the club, well I would just say that some of what has happened in the last few months isn’t simply a case of overspending. Both the Guardian and the Telegraph have been naming some Israeli gangsters and loan sharks involved with the club. There was a good matrix produced by the Guardian on the 28th February which showed the various relationships.
There’s more behind the scenes than meets the eye.
the fa and the premier league thave their responsiblities due to their ‘fit and proper persons’ test….god knows how you fail that….
Good luck tomorrow,ive nothing against you lot, but i do often get the feeling its not always reciplicated….we seem to be blamed for your relegation.
i hope your new owner has his head screwed on right, cos i wouldnt wish the last 18 months weve endured on any other sets of fans anywhere.
PUP!!
Nor would I Garry, nor would I.
Have to admit I’m a Saints fan, but we are also a bit miffed that players who Portsmouth can’t afford made such an impact in our FA cup game. Have a look at the following thread http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14620 (later pages suggested as there are more posts than Pompey’s average crowd!), for some very informed comment. Far more informed than you’ll see on Pompey web-sites or most of the national media.
Sorry about the ball over the line incident: one of my best sporting achievements is referee’s “man of the match” award in a Sunday football game when I gave an over the line decision against my own (friend’s) team. It was over: any doubt and I wouldn’t have given it, but my personal integrity also includes football. Pity there isn’t more of that about.
Bitter and twisted!
Doesn’t even come close.
It seems every fan in the Country can see through this except those from Pompey. Going on about other clubs benefactors and debts adds insult to injury, the point being if those clubs find themselves in the mire I doubt they will be allowed to continue to behave like PFC. Making lower paid permanent staff redundant while retaining highly paid LOAN employees, whats that all about?
One Pompey fan even had the nerve to blah on about Blues 20mill loss last season. The failure of Blues to buy that striker (Pav) in the Jan window now becomes clear, we couldn’t afford him so we didn’t buy him.
That decision, despite being right in every sense had consequences, ripples through my club and its supporters. Directly in the failure to score AS IN THE SEMI, and indirectly through discontent among the fans.
Meanwhile the club that continually fails to conduct itself correctly, not paying taxes and bills to other local businesses, using players THEY couldn’t afford, asking for advances and other special treatment sails on regardless. Even having the nerve to lecture everyone that their fate should be decided on the pitch not by the rules (point deductions) or in the Courts. Factors that every other club have to cut their cloth to abide by!!
Jeez, in mid rant I called it a semi instead of a quarter….doh! Wishful thinking?
Still, being a Blues fan being involved in the latter stages of competitions is a foriegn land.
I read your 1st comment and missed that completely!
Disappointing as it all is I don’t think you can blame David James for not speaking up. It wasn’t that clear cut that he could have known for definite the whole of the ball had crossed the line. What if he had said “I think it crossed the line” and then subsequently it was not a fore gone conclusion. He would be ripped to shreds by club, fans and media alike.
Ironically the game reminded me of a Championship side versus a Premier side. They were all fired up like underdogs and we were playing the more composed football. If we had scored first I think we would have won comfortably. As it was our failure to score whilst on top came back to haunt us.
I feel almost as if we were on the wrong side of a giant killing even though we are both Premier sides!