Kaide Gordon: the 'exciting' Liverpool youngster who struggled at Norwich and is now down pecking order at Portsmouth

The Blues travel to the winger’s former stomping ground, Carrow Road, in search of crucial league points as they remain in a dog-fight at the wrong end of the Championship table.

But it’s a meet-up that remains nothing more than a possibility, with the on-loan Liverpool youngster far from guaranteed to be included in John Mousinho’s match-day squad for the game against the Canaries.

After being involved in every match-day since joining the Blues until the end of the season on transfer deadline day, but used only four times as a substitute, the 20-year-old didn’t make the cut for last Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Derby County.

Former Anfield team-mate Harvey Blair was instead preferred as he made a rare appearance on the Blues team sheet.

And with no injury issues reported, it suggests Gordon’s omission came down to tactics for the Rams’ visit to Fratton Park.

With that in mind, it remains to be seen if the wideman will make the trip to Norwich, where he featured just 10 times and scored a single goal over the first half of the season before Johannes Hoff Thorup cut his frustrating stay short in January.

Why didn’t it work out for Kaide Gordon at Norwich?

Speaking after Gordon’s Carrow Road departure, the Norwich boss said he remained a fan of the England Under-20 international. Yet he just wanted more from him following his arrival from Liverpool.

The Dane told pinkun.com: ‘I rate him as a good player with a big potential. The situation with him is when we bring a player in on loan you expect more or less a performance from day one.

‘If he was a player here on a long-term contract I would be more than happy to work with him, because there is a player with potential.

‘It was difficult because he came in and that performance was not there from day one. We had to build him, physically and also tactically in the way we play.

‘This league is so competitive, so physical, you can be prepared in some ways but it is a completely different environment to youth football. It will take time. Some are good at more or less taking that step from day one.

‘Others, it takes longer but with a loan player you need that step more or less from day one. I think for him it would be good to get game time for a season or two in one place.’

Pompey excited by Gordon’s loan arrival

Norwich’s loss was considered Pompey’s gain, according to John Mousinho, when the Blues agreed to take Gordon on loan on transfer deadline day.

He told The News in February: ‘Kaide is a very exciting young talent who first came across my radar when we went to see Liverpool play at Old Trafford in a PL2 game at the back end of last season.

‘There were a few promising players that night, a couple who have since featured for Liverpool or gone out on loan, and Kaide was one of them. He was really promising that evening.

‘He can play anywhere across the front three behind the front man, but I think his best position is off the right.

‘He’s a direct winger, very good one-v-one, and brings a lot of excitement and a lot of potential to be that out-and-out winger which we like to see. We’re really excited to bring him in.’

Kaide Gordon still waiting on full Pompey debut

Despite being an admirer of Gordon’s qualities, the winger has yet to convince Mousinho that he warrants a place in the Blues’ starting line-up.

Indeed, the former Derby youngster is yet to be named from the start and has been used sparingly from the bench during his time at Fratton Park to date.

A total of just 119 minutes have been amassed as a result, with Gordon’s last Pompey appearance coming against Preston North End on March 15.

Explaining why the wideman has been lacking the game time he wants, Mousinho said at the start of April: ‘It’s a tough one with Kaide, he has come in with high expectations and quite rightly - but it’s stiff competition in wide areas.

‘We still have really positive expectations around him and what he can do at the football club, but, at the minute, we think he operates best off the right.

‘You have seen when we’ve wanted to make a change there, we've played Kaide and brought him on at half-time and played a few games, but presently Matty (Ritchie) is giving us a huge amount.

‘Matty leads the press for us, he is obviously the captain at the moment, he shows his quality when he’s got the ball and also chipped in with goals and assists. At the minute, Matty is really impressing and Murph on the other wing as well.

‘Kaide wants to play more. If any of the players who aren’t playing are okay with their playing minutes then they are in the wrong spot and the wrong club. I don’t want any player to be happy with not playing.

‘He’s been bright, he’s had a real impact without necessarily having the end product - and that’s something we really want to work on with Kaide.

‘Once he gets that confidence, he’ll keep going from strength to strength.’

Harvey Blair gets nod over former Liverpool team-mate

Gordon’s omission against Derby shows he’s not quite there yet. And according to The News’ Jordan Cross, Blair’s involvement against Derby suggests he’s further away than expected.

He said: ‘After four appearances, it’s fair to say Gordon hasn’t torn up any trees in his time at Pompey - although John Mousinho had seen him being closer to the team than his moments on the pitch had suggested.

‘His most promising showing came at Luton in the second half and he was being viewed as someone who could supplement Matt Ritchie by adding energy as the veteran faded in games.

‘But in recent outings, Harvet Blair has gone above Gordon in the pecking order.’

For your next Pompey read: Norwich City v Portsmouth: Jordan Cross' predicted line-up with 2 changes for critical Championship clash