Gaffer For A Day: 'What the hell is going on at this club? Something, somewhere isn't right at Portsmouth'
Gaffer For A Day, Andy Dobbs, aged 56 from North End, assesses Pompey’s 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United...
How do you assess the display?
We should have been three up at half-time, while we faded terribly after an hour, the energy went.
I know there were injuries, yet, from being intense in the first half, we backed off and backed off and Sheffield United’s goal was almost inevitable in the end because of it. It’s a sucker punch.
I have friends who are massive Blades friends and, after last season’s 2-1 loss at their place, they admitted we were mugged on that day. I got a message from one of them after Saturday’s match and it was: ‘I don’t know the hell we won that game’.
I am trying to be optimistic, but that is a team heading towards League One unless we can start taking our chances. You can’t stay up scoring zero.
Who stood out for you?
I love Ebou Adams. It’s his never-say-die attitude, you would swear he’s a Pompey fan, cut him open and he bleeds blue.
Everything about that man smacks of the best I have seen from Pompey players in my lifetime. He gives 100 per cent every day - plus he winds up the opposition which makes it even better, Kalvin Phillips knows he’s been in a game!
For everything positive about Pompey, he’s there. Winning a tackle to set up a chance, playing the right balls, and sometimes even tackling his own players to win the ball.
What do you think of Colby Bishop at the moment?
I hate social media, I am not one of these Bishop haters, I’m really not. Against Sheffield United he did what he does well - other than what he used to do really well which is putting the ball into the back of the net.
He holds up the play beautifully, he’s winning headers, he’s putting his team-mates away, but it’s just not happening for him in front of goal. We all know Colby Bishop needs a certain type of ball and not having Josh Murphy playing means he’s not getting the ball he wants.
There was one fairly early doors on Saturday when Millenic Alli played the ball across goal. A year ago, Bishop would have been there or thereabouts or at least getting a touch, but he was off the pace a bit.
We are not giving him the service he needs - and he’s now got a high percentage of 18-19,000 Pompey fans on his back.
With Aji Alese and Conor Chaplin the latest casualties, what do you think about the injury situation?
I don’t know what the hell is going on at this club. I’ve been a supporter for 50 years and I have never known anything like it for injuries, something, somewhere isn’t right and I don’t know what it is.
I just can't understand how we can get so many injuries, but we can’t hope and pray and rely on those players coming back.
I feel for Mous, he’s still the right man for the job, he just needs a bit of luck. He says I need a player in this position and someone somewhere goes and signs that player.
The way I view it is if you asked Gordon Ramsay to make a Michelin star meal out of a Kit Kat and a packet of Hula Hoops, he couldn’t do it. The same with our manager - the recruitment is League One level and not Championship.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re not going to compete with the big spenders signing £15m players any time soon, nor should we. We’ve got to remember what happened to this club 15 years ago.
But if we are struggling to keep up with the likes of Oxford United and Charlton with our recruitment, it’s a worry.
Nicolas Schmid - 6
Terry Devlin - 6
Regan Poole - 6
Connor Ogilvie - 7
Zak Swanson - 6
Andre Dozzell - 6
Ebou Adams - 7
Adrian Segecic - 6
John Swift - 6
Millenic Alli - 7
Colby Bishop - 6