The brutally honest Portsmouth message from Newcastle United arrival after sickening Plymouth Argyle blow
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The Gosport lad made it clear Pompey have only themselves to blame for their Championship plight, after suffering a sickening 1-0 defeat at Home Park.
John Mousinho’s side were better for long periods against the Pilgrims, but failed to make more of promising positions and presentable opportunities.
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Hide AdFormer Southampton man Michael Obafemi then displayed the ruthless edge missing from the Blues’ performance, as he dismissed Regan Poole and fired in the only goal of the game eight minutes from time.
It means Pompey remain rooted to the bottom of the table and five points from safety, with 14 games now played this term.
Ritchie acknowledged the positive of his team’s performance against Wayne Rooney side, but wasn’t prepared to sugarcoat the faults which lie firmly at the door of his side.
He said: ‘It’s a bitter pill to swallow but ultimately we have to be better.
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Hide Ad‘I thought we were good and the performance was there, but we have to raise our standards.
‘We created chances we weren’t able to take. They took their chance and they didn’t have many - that is the level of the Championship and its fine margins.
‘I thought we performed really well, but ultimately not well enough to win the game - so we have to raise the bar and do more.
‘It (the Championship) is absolutely not (a place for hard luck stories). We can’t look at anyone else than ourselves for the position we’re in.
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Hide Ad‘We have to dig deeper and find something more. We have to look internally at ourselves and what we can improve on, what we can do better. Collectively we’ll do that and have to raise the bar.
‘The league is the league, it’s not going to change for us - we have to change for the league
‘We have to be clinical and more ruthless in both boxes. We have to raise the level.’
Ritchie was more than prepared to break down the details of where he sees specific improvements are needed, if Pompey are to turn their campaign around moving forward.
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Hide AdThe 35-year-old feels there’s a developing resilience and intensity in his team’s play, but reckons there has to be better moments in transition and more composure in possession.
Ritchie added: ‘I thought we were really aggressive in our press and played on the front foot.
‘Plymouth would have found us hard to play against, but the difference was they were ruthless with taking their chance.
‘No one is going to help us - we have to help ourselves.
‘We have to work hard because nothing is going to get us out of where we find ourselves other than working hard, desire and mentality to stick together.
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Hide Ad‘At the moment, where we’re at, we’d take a bad performance and three points. That’s where we at but the performance is a positive.
‘We’ve certainly been harder to beat. That’s a positive and a step in the right direction, now it’s can we be in a little more control on the ball?
‘The moments I feel we can be better is in transition. Can we find a little bit more quality and control in those moments?
‘It’s down to the group, but the big message is: raise the bar - we have to raise the bar.
‘We have to get better. It’s a tough league, a great league. Now we have an opportunity on Saturday to get three points - it’s a huge challenge, but one I’m personally looking forward to.’
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