What I know about Marlon Pack’s centre-back conversion we should think about before piling in on Portsmouth skipper

The man who’s responded to the Blues’ emergency call at the back has done so stepping into a role he’s never operated in before - to solve a crisis threatening to wreck his team’s season.

He’s done so as the figurehead of a makeshift back four, one containing a player who became a fifth choice centre-back option in League One this time last year and a complete novice full-back.

Maybe those piling into Marlon Pack with a startling ferocity should consider those circumstances, before dolling out the level of abuse which is really unacceptable.

There’s a difference between valid criticism aimed at the Pompey skipper, even if some of it overlooks the nuances of the in-season defensive conversion he’s gone through to aid his club, and the flak which flew in the wake of his Sunderland red card.

Pack has now completed 10 matches, since dropping into a back line which had conceded 27 league goals and was the second worst defence in the top four divisions of English football. In that time his side have won four games, drawn two and lost four fixtures returning 14 points. In the previous 15, Pompey had won once.

That kind of points return across a season doesn’t just keep John Mousinho’s side in the Championship, it puts them on the fringes of the play-offs.

The level of stick towards the figurehead of Pompey’s League One title success would suggest this was a man who had not only been consistently underperforming at the back, but couldn’t care less. We know about the latter and, when it comes to his defensive performances, that’s evidently not the case.

Pack impressed against Preston at the start of November following Mousinho’s surprise move and then played 90-plus minutes on a yellow card, but still shone at Swansea. He emerged with credit from the Bristol City home win and a running battle with Ashley Barnes against Norwich.

At Derby it was other performances at the back which let Pompey down with the Buckland boy channelling Franz Beckenbauer against Coventry, displaying grit at Watford on Boxing Day and showing up decently against Swansea on New Year's Day. That leaves the shaky display at Bristol City and what unfolded at the Stadium of Light, as the games where he’s come up short.

And let’s just underline that’s the performance record of someone who’s never operated as part of a central defensive two before. Ever.

Finding the right balance over when to engage attackers or delay has been an issue at times and that trait of retreating against pace for fear of being exposed has, naturally, been evident on occasions. In that case, defending with Pack on tighter pitches like Fratton over wider expanses where speed can kill in behind, may be the way to go. It’s a factor Mousinho and his staff would’ve mulled over.

A shift in pitch geography is another consideration, with the 33-year-old getting his bearings wrong in costly fashion at Ashton Gate. Likewise, an attempt to drop a shoulder on Adil Aouchiche and start a move the other way hurt his team against Sunderland, as Pack was mugged by Wilson Isidor with the inevitable dismissal following.

But the move deeper has also had a big Pompey upside in possession for a player with Pack’s ball-playing quality, as evidenced by the raking diagonal balls and disguised forward passes which continually break lines.

It’s perhaps Pack’s dip in form when playing in midfield which is clouding some of the judgements being made, maybe not taking a second to appreciate the circumstances and certainly that emotional reaction when things don’t go well for our team.

The good news is the cavalry has started arriving in the shape of a tried and tested operator in Rob Atkinson, with Regan Poole not expected to be too far behind. We hope for Conor Shaughnessy to contribute significantly still this season too, but while rivals have bolstered their settled existing options Mousinho has been plugging gaps.

The fact Pompey’s leader has stepped up as that solution and contributed to a points return we hope can make the difference this season is worthy of consideration, certainly before we make him a scapegoat.