Jump to content

Mark .Y.

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    1,700

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Mark .Y.

  1. Posted

    I live in Fareham just outside Pompey and my son is a Pompey season ticket-holder.

    I can tell you that they will not deliberately be "not trying" but they are at the end of the season with a new manager who has already decided he is making changes and I don''t think all is well in the dressing room.
    Yakubu is 99% certain to be leaving and Steve Stone (who has been an important player for them this year) is also not getting a new contract.
    None of the team (to my knowledge)are local lads so they don''t have any particular dislike for So''ton - just nothing to play for.

    WE MUST WIN OUR GAME !!!!!!!!!!!

    Mark .Y.

  3. Posted

    Come on everybody - lighten up....................

    This is not the complete disaster it is being made out to be.

    I can see Palace and So''ton drawing and So''ton drawing at home to Man Utd last game of the season, so only 2 more points for them. If we assume (only an assumption, I know) that WBA will get nothing from Man U or Arsenal that leaves them with only 3 more points than their current total. Palace could get a win at Charlton obviously, but.............

    if we make sure we beat Brum, hopefully we will be in pole position going into the last day.

    Then of course - we must win at Fulham in case Palace win at Charlton or So''ton do pull off an unlikely win against Man U.

    I know our away record is appalling but nobody can ask for any more from their last game of the season than playing a club in the bottom half of the league which has nothing more to play for. 

     

    Mark .Y.

  4. Posted

    Off the boil.................

    One thing that has hit home to me this season is that the luck really does even out.

    Just lately we have benefitted from some good fortune which has helped our recent run.

    However, earlier in the season I just could not believe it. I''m pretty sure there was a run where we lost a player in the first ten minutes every game for four games. Three injuries and a sending off (at Pompey). We lost Francis through a training ground injury just as he hit peak form and we had several decent shouts for penalties etc which would have given us many extra points earlier in the season.

    It really does even out and we are STILL owed some    

     

    Mark .Y.

     

  5. Posted

    HEAD  v   HEART

    Fulham     v  Everton        0-1       0-3  (Everton v. difficult to beat)

    Man City  v  Pompey        1-1       1-3  (my son''s a Pompey season ticket holder)

    Newcastle v  Palace         3-1       3-1 (I really think Newcastle must win a game in front of their own fans soon)

    So''ton       v  Norwich       2-2       0-3 (Both defences can be suspect !!)

    W.B.A       v Arsenal         1-2      0-4  (we need some help with the goal difference)

     

    Hopefully, by the time Pompey go to West Brom we will be safe.

    Mark .Y.

     

  7. Posted

    Not surprised...............it really is s.it or bust for them, if they are losing with 10 minutes to go I am sure you will find they put on 4 strikers, they simply cannot afford to lose.

    A draw wouldn''t be great for them but a defeat would almost certainly mean relegation.

    I would expect them to start with Crouchy and Phillips, if we are doing well - Camara would come on for a 3 man strike force and it would be made up to 4 if they still can''t score.

    Ormerod is a fairly straight replacement for Crouchy as well, just in case his hamstring goes again. From what I have seen of Blackstock, he actually quite impressed me - direct and fairly dangerous in the box.

    We shall see................

     

    Mark .Y.

       

  10. Posted

    I watched the whole of the Pompey v So''ton game in my next door neighbours (Pompey fans). I am currently at work on nights in Southampton.
    The feeling around here is resignation that they will go down, however.....
    they will be dangerous against us, even if Crouchy doesn''t play, Camara and Phillips are a decent strike force. They alone can hold their heads up after today''s performance, the rest of the team including the usually excellent Niemi were abysmal.
    Harry Redknapp will work with them all week though and drum into them that they will be down if they don''t beat us, we will need to be at the top of our game and bury any chances that come our way (and if their defence plays the same as today there will be chances for us) - they are a completely different side at home as to away.

    I am sure we can get at least a point as long as we work hard, after that I have a funny feeling that a win against Brum and a draw at Fulham will be enough to keep us up.

    Mark .Y.

  12. Posted

    Steve Bruce was a great signing, didn''t know much about him before he signed and I''m sure he scored an own goal in his first or second game but a great player for us until Man U tempted him away (probably after Kenyon met him in a hotel somewhere - oh how sweet it is to see them kopping the same sort of thing as they''ve done to other clubs over the years..................       Rio Ferdinand - chance meeting, my a-se !!)

    Anyway, you''re right Deano COULD turn out to be the best yet.

    Mark .Y.

    PS Why do I have to have my posts "approved" first, some gimp from Crystal Palace comes on here and writes what he likes and I have to wait for approval    

  13. Posted

    Was watching the Chelsea game (just for something to do !!) and kept looking at the minutes counting down. They started at 8 so was adding time and thinking "must be finished, must be finished". As soon as the "Infobar" came up  I knew it was trouble and so it proved.

    Flicked back over to Sky Sports News and began moaning at the missus. She of course knows absolutely nothing about football but told me to keep positive, there was still time. I of course told her not to be so stupid but then...........................the presenter started gabbling something about "is he the bargain of the season" and "lets go over to Carrow Road"...................

    and you all know the rest....................Fan-bloody-tastic and we''re still in with a shout.

    I''ve told my nipper (Pompey season ticket holder) that they must win on Sunday, if we can do our bit on Saturday we really are in for a finale.

    I don''t get to FCR much but for all of you that do go, please make it a "wall of sound" from start to finish. Doesn''t matter whether we''re 2-0 up or 2-0 down, just keep the noise going and I''m sure we can do it.

    OTBC (and Play up Pompey for Sunday !!)

    Mark .Y.

  14. Posted

    "It hurts to say it, but after our naivety on Saturday we don''t deserve to stay up"

     

    Yep, naivety (if that is how you spell it) is the key word. I said before the game that the way to stop Palace was to man-mark Johnson with Flem. He should have been given the task of following him everywhere. That would have left Shack, Drury and Helveg with Safri right in front of them to hold the line. I honestly believe that would have been sufficient to keep Palace out but I also honestly believe that it is now too late. Much as I don''t want to, I believe that it is unlikely we will beat both Newcastle and Charlton - 4 points maybe but now we desperately need all 6.

    We can but pray..................  

     

  15. Posted

    Two key away games, tomorrow and Scumton (well I do live by Pompey) - win them both and I think we have a real chance of staying up. Unfortunately I don''t think draws will be good enough.

    We do have a GENUINE chance though, if the confidence can be maintained and we can attack and DEFEND as well as last week we can do it.

    It''s going to be a nailbiter.................

     

  16. Posted

    "Makes me laugh that some of you are pointing out that palace are a one man team. Seems you have forgotten about Routledge which is fine by me,"

    I did mention him mate, good player and you''re definitely not a one man team but in Andy Johnson you do have an outstanding player and if we can stop him I would suggest that our chances of winning are increased pretty dramatically.

  17. Posted

    Let''s be honest, Andy Johnson is a huge threat to us (and any other defence come to that).

    How to stop him - have Flem follow him round all afternoon, wherever he goes, hassle hassle hassle him - even if he drops  very deep for the ball.

    Leave Helveg, Shacks and Drury as the "back three", Safri will be sat not far in front of them.

    Shacks has to make sure he covers the full back if Routledge gets running with the ball and the other full back and Safri have to cover the space in the centre in that scenario.

    That then gives Palace the problem of stopping us, if they give Hucks too much attention I am sure Bentley can take advantage and deliver some real quality balls for Deano and Leon.

    Sounds simple I know, but honestly - football is a pretty simple game. As long as Flem does not allow Johnson to get away from him too often (and a few nudges/trips up by the halfway line when neccessary should help) we would be OK with this system. 

  18. Posted

    Stupid I know but it would be entertaining!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Not at all stupid in my opinion, we MUST outscore teams in our last seven games to have any chance whatsoever.

    Four at the back has failed us miserably so why not give it a real go and if we do go down let''s go down fighting. Don''t forget that if we attack enough and are in possession of the ball, the opposition simply cannot score.

    I for one would really like to see us throw caution to the wind and go for it. In Huckerby, Ashton and Bentley we have players capable of opening up premiership defences and scoring goals. Safri has a decent shot on him, we know Francis can score and McKenzie is capable if given decent service.

     

    WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE !!!!

     

     

     

  20. Posted

    Agreed, this is the other half of our poor defending style - the first bit is not being first to the ball in the box and the second is allowing opposition players all the room they want just outside the box.

    This also happened to the guy who hit the bar, he was allowed to get near enough to the box without being challenged that he was encouraged to shoot. Caused by us defending way too deep.

    It happened many other times at corners/throw-ins where there were Bolton players completely unmarked on the edge of the box waiting for a head-out - we must station at least one and possibly two players to mark on the edge of the box at opposition set-pieces, it really is the basics of football.   

  22. Posted

    "so what happens? Dowie changes their formation"

    IMO this is Worthy''s key problem - the inability to see a situation and make changes.

    Last night''s game was a classic example, it was a "cup-tie" for us really and Worthy changed nothing until 3 minutes from the end. We should have gone for broke and had Doc on with 20-25 minutes to go, a 2-0 defeat would have been no worse than 1-0.

    I am, however, not in favour of sacking him or "asking him to leave", I feel he needs to get somebody alongside him to guide him - it was no surprise down here that Harry Redknapp''s first move on taking over So''ton was getting Jim Smith back with him.

    I haven''t thought about who might be available but I am sure he can come up with somebody he can work with and who can maybe also offer something on the training ground.

     

     

     

×
×
  • Create New...