Gaffer: There aren't any good striker combinations at Portsmouth - Plymouth again showed they play as individuals

Gaffer for a Day, Dave MacAskill, aged 49 from Waterlooville, delivers his verdict on Pompey’s 2-2 draw with Plymouth...
John Marquis and Ellis Harrison drew a blank as a strike partnership against Plymouth - and Gaffer for a day Dave MacAskill has an opinion why. Picture: Joe PeplerJohn Marquis and Ellis Harrison drew a blank as a strike partnership against Plymouth - and Gaffer for a day Dave MacAskill has an opinion why. Picture: Joe Pepler
John Marquis and Ellis Harrison drew a blank as a strike partnership against Plymouth - and Gaffer for a day Dave MacAskill has an opinion why. Picture: Joe Pepler

Who’s your man of the match?

I really liked Charlie Daniels’ consistent delivery, how he was up and down the pitch, always trying to start someone off, always trying to do something different.

He is definitely a class above. You can tell he has come to Pompey to do a job and seems to have the right motivation.

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Daniels also gives us something from set-pieces, although overall our delivery was really, really samey.

It was Daniels, Marcus Harness and Michael Jacobs stood over the ball, step over, step over, then take it.

Were you disappointed in Pompey’s set-piece delivery then?

Plymouth did what they always do – they came to compete – and it took Pompey 20 minutes to settle, forcing a lot of corners.

However, if I was manager, I would have been spitting feathers at half-time having been given 11 corners and not doing anything with them.

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A side conceding that many should be losing 2-0 every match by rights. A decent team with confidence should have capitalised on that.

Our corners were hit to the far post every time and after the fourth, Plymouth worked out how to defend them.

What was the turning point?

Ronan Curtis changed the game. He goes from frustration to petulance, petulance to performance every game.

He came on and produced a goal out of nothing. We were not dead and buried at that point, but you could see the heads had gone down.

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Kenny Jackett has been right to drop Curtis, he’s not as big a player for the team as he thinks he is. Certainly not on the same level as Jed Wallace.

He has to earn his place. Just because he came on Saturday doesn’t mean he should start again.

Curtis is still young as a player. He’s skilful, with his heart on his sleeve, but there's a massive difference from where he has come from and our level and above.

What about Pompey’s strike pairing?

I don't think there's a good combination in the club, although at this level going up to the next division, everyone has responsibility to score goals.

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John Marquis and Ellis Harrison are playing as individuals. They’re not passing to each other, not taking knock downs.

In training, I would tie them together with a 10ft piece of rope and make them work closer together. Anything to get them co-operating.

This is Marquis’ second season at Pompey and clearly you buy someone who has scored 18-20 goals a season for a reason.

The system of play hasn’t suited Marquis. It’s like playing Oli Hawkins up front and then turning him into a defender.

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We got Brett Pitman from Ipswich and demoralised him. It does seem to happen a fair bit.

Craig MacGillivray - 7

Callum Johnson - 7

James Bolton - 6

Sean Raggett - 7

Charlie Daniels - 8

Marcus Harness - 7

Tom Naylor - 7

Andy Cannon - 6

Michael Jacobs - 7

Ellis Harrison - 7

John Marquis - 6

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