Gaffer: By far the better side against Oxford United, but Portsmouth had to make more substitutions

Gaffer for a Day, Will Hahn, aged 48 from Waterlooville, gives his opinion on Pompey’s 1-1 draw with Oxford United...
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

How do you evaluate that performance?

Overall, we deserved to win that, we were the better team over the 90 minutes and created the better opportunities.

I was encouraged. At times we got the ball down and made some good chances, which we didn’t at AFC Wimbledon, despite having a lot of goal attempts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

We were the far better side in the second half and if we can produce that over 90 minutes then could pull ourselves out of the situation we’re in.

However, I don’t think we’ll get into the play-offs, I can’t see us putting together that sort of consistent run. Ideally, if we want to get there, we need to win 6, 7 or 8 games on the bounce.

What did you make of the substitutions?

Ross McCrorie was very steady, he didn’t do a lot wrong and it was a bit unfair to take him off.

Pompey winger Ryan Williams   Picture: Joe PeplerPompey winger Ryan Williams   Picture: Joe Pepler
Pompey winger Ryan Williams Picture: Joe Pepler

However, I was not against the substitution – there should have been a few more changes to bring on fresh legs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

There needed to be substitutions from 75 minutes onwards, just to give us something different, to change the dynamics, bring on Ellis Harrison, Marcus Harness and Andy Cannon.

As it was, Harrison came on after Oxford had equalised, something to do if we wanted to time waste.

What are your thoughts on Kenny Jackett?

I don't think he is the right man to take us forward, but I am not shouting to oust him out.

Change is needed and it’s needed to be done quite soon. If that happens early enough, we might scrape into sixth place.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I think his time has come, he keeps trying different things which don't seem to work. How many times can he keep trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat before they all disappear?

There is no guarantee new blood will work, but it could give us a different mentality, because I think we have good players who can take us up.

Who was your man of the match?

I thought Ryan Williams was head and shoulders above everybody else.

I want to see both wingers having a go at an opposition’s back line, even if it means losing the ball, just have a go. I thought Williams showed that on Saturday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He had movement, pace, made some good runs and had a couple of decent efforts, one of them maybe he could have done better with.

Williams was the catalyst for our second half and really impressed me.

Craig MacGillivray 6

Ross McCrorie 6

Christian Burgess 6

Sean Raggett 6

Lee Brown 6

Ben Close 6

Tom Naylor 6

Ryan Williams 7

Gareth Evans 6

Ronan Curtis 6

John Marquis 6

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.