Gaffer For A Day: Portsmouth must stick by Nicolas Schmid, despite costly Stoke mistakes
Gaffer For A Day, Ian Piper, aged 67 from Southsea, assesses Pompey’s 2-1 defeat to Stoke...
What are your thoughts on that?
Nicolas Schmid’s first mistake was a game changer, which was a shame, but regardless of the result you can see the progress being made.
Either that or we are seeing the poor standard of the Championship this season. It’s probably a bit of both, there definitely isn’t a Coventry in the league this term.
We have made progress and we have to build. It will be interesting how we come out after the break and whether it will be all guns blazing.
It’s sad news about Marko Milovanovic being out, we also missed Iyad Mohamed against Stoke, he’s a calmer player than Ebou Adams.
What did you make of Schmid’s display?
His distribution was probably the best I have seen him, long diagonals left and right. I must also say that me and my son were sitting in South Stand lower, on the 18-yard line, and we had a good view of both goals he conceded.
Schmid should have saved the first. It was an awkward cross in and all he had to do was pick it up, but somehow it went through his fingers. Stoke were beginning to get more into the game, so that goal was a game changer.
For the second goal, he should have pushed the shot wide, but he didn’t - and also pushed it up for their man to score from.
Having said that, I would stick with him, he has already come out of the team once and while the replacement Daniel Bielica was okay, but there wasn’t exactly a massive improvement.
I would keep him in, you have to stick with Schmid.
Who stood out for you?
Odin Bailey did a consistent job, he joined things up and was always trying to get on the ball and make things happen, as a number 10 should.
I have been surprised by his impact considering it’s only his second start for the club. He's been excellent since coming into the team against Swansea.
I would like to see Bailey as the six or eight in midfield, although he is probably the best number 10 we have, better than Adrian Segecic in that position.
Segecic gets crowded out quite easily as the number 10 because there are so many players in that area, whereas on the right that is more space for him, plus he can cut in from there.
You have given Abu Kamara a particularly low mark.
Kamara had a shocking game, he’s not creating anything, he’s low on confidence. I know he started on the left against Stoke and it’s probably not his natural position, but he also didn’t do much on the right when he moved there later.
He is a confidence player and hasn’t got any at the moment - and I don’t know what the answer is. You don’t get confidence by not playing and he’s not getting confidence at the moment by playing! Abu needs some sort of dodgy goal, but he has some assists.
I remember when he first came to us from Norwich, he didn’t have the best of starts but, by now, he had really started to kick on. There’s no sign of that at the moment and I’m concerned.
We all wanted him back and if it had been anybody else the crowd would have got at them. You look at who he is, what he’s done previously and his potential, so everybody has been restrained. I don’t know how long that will go on for.
Nicolas Schmid - 5
Terry Devlin - 7
Regan Poole - 7
Madiodio Dia - 7
Jayden Meghoma - 7
Marlon Pack - 6
Ebou Adams - 7
Adrian Segecic - 7
Odin Bailey - 8 - Man of the Match
Abu Kamara - 4
Tyrese Shade - 7