Pompey 1 Bournemouth 2: Gaffer for the Day

We played well, especially in the first half. We played as a unit, got in their heads and frustrated them. That helped us to get a grip on the game.

And a goal to remember.
That was some goal. There must have been 30-odd passes. It’s just a shame the BBC didn’t show it.

When I saw we were the first game on Match of the Day I was pleased because it doesn’t often happen.

But, apart from the goal, it showed about two minutes of the first half and the rest was Bournemouth dominating.

What changed the game?

Matt Ritchie. As soon as he came on he had the ball within about 10 seconds.

I turned around to my brother and said the subs would be a game-changer and they would win. Their subs made the difference and ours didn’t, unfortunately.

The only call Paul Cook got wrong for me was to bring on Ben Tollitt. I think there were 19,000 thinking it was going to be Conor Chaplin.

Your man of the match?

I felt Enda Stevens was excellent.

He got after Adam Smith in the first half and didn’t give him a minute’s peace.

And other performances?

There were a lot of good ones.

The keeper looked decent. His kicking was a lot better than against Oxford and he is really quick to get the ball released.

He came out of his box a few times to keep things moving.

I like the look of him and hopefully he can get better.

Would you like to see any arrivals today?

I wouldn’t mind seeing a striker come in.

Or if we don’t get one in I’d certainly like to see Matt Tubbs given a chance.

I expect he’d rather play for us than the likes of Eastleigh.

Any final thoughts?

I have. I’m pretty happy with how it’s going overall, so I’d like to see all the fans stick together and get behind Paul Cook.

I’ve heard one or two saying things aren’t any better than what they were.

If we go up, great. If not, we need to let him build.