Pompey boss speaks on his Fratton future

Guy Whittingham has assessed his position at Pompey and promised: I'm not taking anything for granted.
Guy Whittingham. Picture: Joe PeplerGuy Whittingham. Picture: Joe Pepler
Guy Whittingham. Picture: Joe Pepler

The Blues boss pulled no punches about his role as manager as frustration mounted among fans in the wake of the 4-0 mauling by AFC Wimbledon.

Whittingham refused to serve up excuses for the dismal defeat to the Dons at Kingsmeadow on Saturday.

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The loss made it three on the bounce for Pompey in eight days – and ends a five-game unbeaten run in League Two.

Whittingham’s side now sit six points from the play-offs and the same amount of points from the drop zone, a third of the way through the season.

Chairman Iain McInnes stormed from his seat in the directors’ box, in the wake of Wimbledon’s fourth goal in stoppage-time.

Whittingham dismissed offering up any defence for the performance for his side but knows his team are still a work in progress.

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When asked if he was concerned for his future, the boss said: ‘I don’t take anything for granted, let me tell you that, so I’m not resting on my laurels.

‘I know and I’ve always been told that we are going to work together.

‘We knew that this was going to take time.

‘There were always going to be hiccups along the way.

‘At this moment in time that’s where we are – and we need to sort things out.

‘I will not make any excuses.

‘I didn’t after everything we went through last season – and I won’t this season.

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‘You can have all the excuses in the world but it doesn’t stop you giving 100 per cent on the pitch.

‘You can’t make excuses. People don’t want to hear excuses. They (the board) know where we are. They know it’s a new squad with 16 new players.

‘We’ve been doing okay. But we had a bad game at York, a bad game in midweek and a bad game on Saturday.

‘There are things that aren’t as we want them but we have to get through it.’

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Pompey’s players were kept locked in their dressing room after the defeat as the post-match inquest was carried out.

In the wake of Tuesday’s Johnstone Paint Trophy exit at Newport County, Whittingham delivered a rallying cry and focused on the opportunity afforded his players this season.

But Wimbledon were disappointingly the hungrier side for the second game on the bounce.

Whittingham said: ‘The will to win from the opposition was better than ours.

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‘What we have to face now is teams believing if you show a will to win you will get on top of Portsmouth.

‘We have to put it right and when we’re on the pitch we have to know what we’re doing. It’s back to basics and we have to be organised.

‘Most of all we have to show the will to work hard.’