- 5 months ago
Mark McMahon and Neil Allen joins forces to discuss Pompey's 2-1 Championship home defeat to Norwich City at Fratton Park.
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00:01Hello and welcome to this latest edition of Pompey Talk. My name is Mark McMahon and joining me today to discuss Pompey's 2-1 defeat to Norwich and Fratton Park on Saturday is the News' Chief Sports Raider, Neil Allen.
00:13Neil, it was hardly the best way for Pompey to kick-start the Champions of Season at Fratton Park, was it?
00:18It was a weird game. Absolute strange, crap-hot sort of game, wasn't it? It was just Pompey were drifting into nothing in the second half. Goal from nowhere. Missed penalty before that, of course. Suddenly, it was a grandstand finish. We had strong penalty appeals turned down. A wonderful shot from Swift hit the bar.
00:44It just suddenly came to life. But it was just a very strange game. Especially when Pompey gifted Norwich two goals. And from that point in time, Norwich were quite comfortable, really. They didn't have to do a lot, did they?
00:59So, yeah, it's a strange old match. I've seen a lot of people saying it's one of the worst Pompey performances I've seen, or it's not. It wasn't that bad.
01:08But, actually, I think the finale sort of sticks in their mind rather than the rest of the game. Because they were lacklustre, weren't they, Pompey?
01:19They had a lot of possession. A lot of possession. But you cannot gift two goals to a side like Norwich. Then that's what they did. They gave them two goals.
01:30It changes the complexion of the game. Not only the scoreline, but Norwich can sit back, hit Pompey on the break, which they did.
01:36They looked very threatening on the counter, didn't they, Norwich? And it's just difficult for Pompey then to break them down.
01:42And second half, Segesic is another example of what a strange game it was. Anonymous did absolutely nothing.
01:49And then he changes slightly, goes to the right wing, forces a good save from the keeper.
01:54And then he's leading the charge. And his goal got Pompey back in it as well, didn't they?
02:00So, it was just a weird, weird match.
02:02There's a lot of elements that you've sort of touched on, but we'll go into a wee bit more detail in a second.
02:07But was Joe Massino afterwards able to pinpoint why they were so lacklustre for the majority of that game?
02:14What was the reason behind that first half performance in particular?
02:19Yeah, I'm not sure. But they were definitely slow out of the blocks, though, weren't they?
02:24I mean, let's face it, you can't get carried away, praising them after one game, condemning them after the next,
02:34which is Oxford to Norwich. Oxford, Pompey, defending the long ball into the box and set pieces superbly.
02:43Really, really well. Absolutely outstanding.
02:46Yet, the following league game, it was horrendous defending for the first goal, unmarked from a free kick from Darling to head home.
02:55And the long throw flicked on, Sargent comfortably scored from close range for the second goal.
03:01The game before that, that wasn't the issue.
03:04Yeah.
03:04So, you have to look at it game by game and not get carried away.
03:07Because these weren't an issue 90 minutes earlier previously against Oxford, but they are an issue now.
03:14So, yeah, it's just really, really poor defending.
03:18And there was no coming back from that for Pompey, unfortunately.
03:22Yeah. The goals conceded, like, they come at a time when, last week, Pompey were linked with Christian Bielek at Birmingham.
03:30They've come at a time when they've been linked with George Knight at Hanover 96.
03:36Does that surprise you?
03:37Like, bear to mind the goals that conceded, that Pompey still might be out of the centre-half?
03:41No, it surprised me, because John Messina said the other day they weren't after it at the centre-half.
03:45We all know John.
03:47He said they weren't after it at the one. They're very happy with the four of them.
03:53McIntyre.
03:53But, obviously, you know, they're looking at the situation, the fitness of Boat as well and such not.
04:00But, yeah, they haven't seen the goal in pre-season either, Pompey.
04:04Paul's been in really strong pre-season as well.
04:06So, yeah, they always wanted Atkinson. We knew that.
04:12If they had an excellent calibre defender available, they would look at that, as in Atkinson.
04:21And they seem to be continuing to look at that position as well.
04:23So, yeah, it's a developing situation, isn't it?
04:29Yeah.
04:30But, before the game started and once the team sheets came out, there was a lot of positivity amongst Pompey fans that this is their strongest XI.
04:38Nobody could really fault the starting XI whatsoever.
04:41But then, how do you explain such a poor performance?
04:45I think that's what's really in mind a lot of people.
04:48That's Pompey's best XI, but yet they're not sparking the light whatsoever at the necessary times during that game until the last 10, 15 minutes.
04:57But they're 2-0 down after 14 minutes, and it's all of Pompey's own doing.
05:0214 minutes, 2-0 down.
05:04It changes games. It changes approaches.
05:06Pompey actually started the game quite brightly.
05:08But, like, they were great the first two minutes against Reading, and then they went down the hell after the hell.
05:14By the way, by the way, please don't.
05:17Some people are saying it was worse performance than Reading.
05:20Reading was a far worse performance.
05:22Far worse performance.
05:24Pompey started brightly.
05:25In fact, I mean, let's look at this properly.
05:28Pompey were 1-0 down.
05:30Regan Paul had that chance at the far post, didn't he?
05:33To make it 1-0, and it was a great save from the goalkeeper from close range.
05:38Seconds later, Pompey are 2-0 down.
05:40These are sort of fine margins.
05:42It should have been 1-0, and they actually ended up in 2-0, doesn't it, after 14 minutes.
05:47You can't give two goals away after 14 minutes and not expect the game to change.
05:52That's how it works.
05:53And it's their own fault.
05:55No one else's.
05:56Not great play from Norwich.
05:58Terrible defending from Pompey.
05:59And no doubt, they've been looking at that in the analysis afterwards.
06:04Yeah.
06:05We can't also forget that Schmidt nearly handed Sargent another opportunity.
06:09It could have been 3-0 at one point, whenever he cleared the ball, went straight to him.
06:13So, again, there was a lot of things went wrong there.
06:16How do you explain, then, how Pompey went from so poor to, in the last 10-15 minutes, being fantastic?
06:24Swift, you mentioned, hit the crossbar.
06:26Segecic scored the goal.
06:27They looked a real threat, and they just couldn't get it across the line.
06:30So, again, that must frustrate the life of John Massino, that they could be so poor, but so good in the space of one game.
06:38It's just the cliché, I think, goals can change matches.
06:41And it did for Pompey, didn't it?
06:43They had a lot of possession.
06:45The centre-half had a lot of possession.
06:48Regan Paul was driving forward a lot, looking to pass it as well.
06:52But Pompey didn't do enough with it.
06:53And then suddenly, there was a good save from the keeper, from Segecic in the second half.
06:58But there was absolutely nothing.
07:00And Biancini came on, didn't he?
07:04And won the penalty.
07:06Yeah, his crossing didn't really clear the first defender, but he caused a lot of problems.
07:13Let's not forget, Hulstman got booked for dragging him down as he burst through very late on when it was 2-1 as well.
07:20Just desperately defending.
07:21He knew what he was doing and accepted the booking.
07:23So, he made an impact when he came on.
07:27But Colby Bishop missed that penalty in the 80th minute.
07:30You think that's it.
07:31And suddenly, with Segecic, shot from outside the box from nowhere, it's 2-1.
07:36And it changes, doesn't it?
07:37It changed the game.
07:39When they put 10 minutes up, Fratton Park was like, yes, come on.
07:42And Pompey finished so strongly.
07:44All because of one goal from Segecic completely altered the match.
07:49Yeah.
07:49Well, let's talk about specifics then.
07:51You mentioned the penalty incident.
07:53What's your thoughts?
07:54Colby Bishop, should he be taking penalties?
07:56Or, again, is that us just jumping on the bandwagon?
07:58There's a lot of negativity after Colby missed that there.
08:01Is he still the best man for the job?
08:03Well, it's really – you look at his penalty record.
08:06He's taken 23 penalties and scored 18.
08:10So, he's very good.
08:12I've done a piece looking at people's penalty record at Pompey over the last 25 years.
08:16Brett Pittman took 10 penalties and missed two.
08:21John Mark, which took five penalties, missed two.
08:24So, you've got Yacouba, who took eight penalties, I think, and didn't miss any.
08:27So, you look at all those records.
08:30But his overall record is good.
08:3223 penalties, 18 scored.
08:35But the concern is, of his last 10 penalties taken, he scored six.
08:41So, glass half full, glass half empty.
08:43Scored six, missed four of his last 10.
08:46So, that is the concern.
08:48And Pompey needs to look at that.
08:52While he was injured, he had Lang take penalties.
08:56He scored two out of two.
08:58Yengi took penalties in the promotion season.
09:01Scored four out of four.
09:03So, there are other people that can take penalties.
09:05But they weren't on the pitch, were they?
09:06Yeah.
09:06They weren't on the pitch on Saturday.
09:07Lang was injured.
09:10Yengi's gone.
09:12So, who else other than Bishop?
09:14So, what would have been fascinating if Ogilvy should have had that penalty, which he should have, really?
09:20I'm going to ask him about that.
09:21Who would have taken it?
09:23That would have been interesting.
09:24Would have been Segetich?
09:26Would have been Swift?
09:27Who would have taken that penalty?
09:29Yeah.
09:29Okay.
09:30Like, you don't know exactly.
09:32And Colby Bishop might have went, no, I'm taking this.
09:35And buried it in the ocean.
09:36You never know.
09:37These things.
09:38You mentioned the other penalty.
09:41Where'd he sit in this?
09:42I'm on the fence, are we?
09:43But was Ogilvy fouled?
09:45Was that a penalty?
09:46Did the referee miss a, had a glaring opportunity to hand Pompey a penalty there?
09:51Well, there was a connection, wasn't there?
09:53He did connect with him.
09:55Yeah.
09:55He controlled it on his left foot, took it on the outside, and the guy that straight's legs connected with him.
10:01So, yeah, that was there.
10:04I can't understand how he was booked for simulation, because there was contact.
10:10Do you not think he exaggerated his movement?
10:12This is where I sort of, I think there was contact, and I think there was enough to ward the penalty.
10:17But did Ogilvy do himself any fears by over-elaborating the fall over?
10:23Well, it's just the heat of the moment, isn't it?
10:25He was going one way or the other, and that's what players do.
10:29Ogilvy was absolutely fuming afterwards.
10:31We have a mixed zone by the pitch, and players walked by, and he was shaking his head, convinced it should have been a penalty.
10:38Absolutely convinced, fuming.
10:42So, I thought it should have been a penalty.
10:45Yeah, fair enough.
10:46And then, who would have taken it?
10:49Bishop probably would have taken it, actually, again.
10:51But, yeah, it's a funny one, Bishop, because he missed one of his first 13 penalties for Pompey, and now he's missed four of his last 10.
11:06Yeah.
11:06So, yeah, it is a concern, and Josh Murphy backed him afterwards.
11:12He's your striker, but it does concern me massively that he's missed so many since, I think it's January 2024.
11:24That's his record since then, four missed penalties out of 10.
11:27Okay, another topic I want to discuss, and maybe this is a wee bit loader than my part.
11:33There's Ellen Swift in midfield on Saturday.
11:36I don't know.
11:38I just thought Pompey liked a little bit of bait, a little bit of nastiness in there.
11:43They didn't really take control of the game, in my opinion.
11:46And I just, in my head, I'm just screaming out for a midfielder that's going to be nasty.
11:52A Michael Doyle type figure.
11:53I just want to get your thoughts on it.
11:55Pompey, Joe Masino said they're finished in midfield, but did they have the necessary players in there
12:01to sort of be battle-hardened for the championship season?
12:06Well, Potts was no nasty player.
12:08No, true.
12:09He did very well last year, didn't he?
12:11Something I felt like, even last season, as well as Potts did well, I just thought,
12:17they never grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.
12:20You know what I mean?
12:21And no situations on Saturday.
12:23I just wanted a midfielder to go, right, we're getting bait, rally the trips and just
12:27go hard at night, you know what I mean?
12:31You're not going to ask for Rico Hackett to come back as well, are you?
12:34I'm not going to ask for Rico Hackett, no.
12:36Who about Rico Hackett?
12:38By the way, if you follow Twitter, you'll know exactly what I'm on about.
12:42Revisionist history, brilliant.
12:43Yeah, I see what you mean.
12:48Marlon's not there at the moment.
12:49He's playing swift as a six, which seems a bit of a waste for me because he was signed
12:55to play primarily as an eight.
12:58I thought Dizzo had a really good game with my man of the match.
13:03Covering tackles as well, I thought Dizzo did really, really well.
13:07They've still not solved that centre-of-field issue, have they?
13:10And obviously, the Reading game, they put quite a few in the centre-of-field, didn't they?
13:14Just get games.
13:15Of course, Nozki's still adjusting.
13:17LaRue's a six, so he could come in as well.
13:20Perhaps he can give you that bite.
13:21Yeah.
13:23But he doesn't quite trust him yet in the league.
13:25He's not even used him yet in the league, has he?
13:27Yeah.
13:27So, perhaps they are the answers.
13:31It'll be interesting to see when they actually will get to chance.
13:34But let's not forget that McPhail was fine the previous game against Oxford.
13:38So, again, it's just...
13:39No.
13:40Again, way up against the opposition.
13:42When you're playing against a Norwich side that's going to be going for a top six,
13:46against an Oxford side that's probably going to be battling down there at the bottom league.
13:51Yeah, but they need time.
13:54So, Swift...
13:55That's not Swift's best position, surely, as a six.
13:58He needs to be further forward.
14:01He's got a lovely range of passing.
14:03That stripe that hit the bar was wonderful, wasn't it?
14:08Control on the chest and that volley.
14:10So, you'd want him further forward, wouldn't you?
14:13And they don't see Gisela as necessarily a six.
14:16So, that balance definitely isn't right at the moment, is it?
14:21But, again, you're going to have to prioritise for me.
14:26Let's not worry about signing any more midfielders.
14:28They need a right winger.
14:29They need another striker.
14:31They clearly want another centre-half.
14:34So, they are well-stopped centre midfielders because you've also got Devlin in there as well.
14:38So, there's plenty of options there at the moment.
14:41Just when you mentioned then right wing, like Callum Lang's injury, that's going to be a bit of a...
14:46Well, it's not a bit of a blow.
14:48It's a huge blow for Pompey.
14:49But he's obviously started out right in the last two games.
14:53Pompey are going to need to have to do a wee bit of head-scratching here to find a solution to that, aren't they?
14:57But, yeah, he was going to be played out of position, according to the manager, that was his phrase, out of position, to fill a gap, to solve that problem.
15:08And now he's injured.
15:09We don't know how long for, but it looked bad at the time, didn't it?
15:14Straight away, it was that tackle went into him and he got up, looked over to the bench, indicated to the bench.
15:20He trotted around a bit, ran around the back of the wall from the free kick.
15:25And you could tell he was feeling it and he signaled to the bench again and had to come off.
15:30And there was a moment, I mentioned in my match report, there was a really frustrating moment where Murphy put this great ball in from the left,
15:36pulled it back into the box, crying out for someone to run onto and shoot.
15:42And that would be Callum Lang all over.
15:44But he had his answering injury and he couldn't move, he couldn't get to it, sadly.
15:48And that's what he's so good at.
15:50It's just like those late runs as well, isn't it?
15:52Yeah, and he was brilliant last week against Oxford, really was.
15:58Then Segacic went there, didn't he, on Saturday.
16:01So Segacic goes there, who goes in the 10?
16:03Is that Swift?
16:04Swift?
16:05Yeah.
16:06Yeah, so straight away you got, it's just, it's a big problem on the right side of midfield.
16:11Are you surprised it's taken Pompey so late into the transfer window to even find a proper solution for it?
16:18I'm not saying Yang, Minhoek isn't the solution, but there just seems to be that right wing.
16:25John Messina's come out himself and said, we still need a right winger.
16:28Is it, by the mind, Matt Ritchie's situation, are you just surprised it's taken them so long to get their front nine right winger?
16:35Yeah, the Matt Ritchie's situation, Messina talked at the end of last season about how they were looking to get,
16:43they said to Matt Ritchie, wouldn't get regular football there, regular starts, and they'll be strengthening that position.
16:50And we're now, what, middle of August, and that position still hasn't been strengthened.
16:55So then the problem Pompey have got, it's all very well saying, Matt Ritchie, yeah, we want to go a different direction,
17:02we want to get a different profile of right winger, somebody that can counter more, offer more pace, more of a threat from open play.
17:13But they haven't done that yet.
17:15And Matt Ritchie's still not around, is he?
17:17So that's an ongoing issue, isn't it?
17:19Yang can play there, by all accounts, apparently he can play on the left or the right.
17:25But then, intriguingly, he wasn't even used there, was he, on Saturday?
17:29Yeah, no.
17:31So, yeah.
17:34Yeah, it is a concern, that position, especially Harvey Blair's out for the long term, we know that as well.
17:41Now you've got Lang for whatever period of time, they're short in that position.
17:46They need somebody that can come in and fire straight away.
17:50I know, Matt Ritchie's available.
17:53Well, yeah.
17:56Ain't happening.
17:59Let's end on a positive note.
18:00I know he didn't have the greatest first half, a bit like the rest of the teams, but Adrian Segisic,
18:05you can't help but be impressed by what we're seeing from him.
18:09But, like, going to his second game for Pompey, second start, he seems to be quite a fan for Pompey, doesn't he?
18:15Yeah.
18:16Yeah, exactly.
18:17You've got to give him credit for that.
18:19He's hit the ground running, impressed immediately in pre-season.
18:23He catches the eye with his energy, his work rate.
18:26I love the fact that he's not allowed to, he's not scared to shoot from distance, and he can.
18:31Imagine the week I'm here, if you watch his goals over in Australia,
18:36a lot of them outside the box, left-footed.
18:37And again, he's done that, he's done that so far.
18:40Pompey, two goals in two league games, doesn't he?
18:43So, he's not afraid to shoot from distance, and he can do it.
18:46So, he gives you that dimension, doesn't he?
18:48There's so much to like about him.
18:52Pompey fans love that sort of player as well, isn't he?
18:55Been a real find so far.
18:57Excellent.
18:57So, he's going to be pivotal to the team this season.
19:02Absolutely pivotal.
19:03Yeah, they need to keep him fit.
19:05He's the key man at this moment in time.
19:07I know it's early days yet, but everybody seems to be thinking he's the man that's going to be the spark that Pompey need there.
19:13Yeah, let's not forget, you know, you've got Lang will come back, won't he?
19:17And Murphy as well, great to see Murphy play on Saturday, such a massive influence as well.
19:24And Colby Bishop, probably, if and when they're all fit, they've got a real strong four there, haven't they?
19:30Yeah.
19:31Really, really strong.
19:33I think everyone would agree on that.
19:36But that takes into account Lang on the right, doesn't it?
19:38But they still need to add to that rhyming field.
19:41Yeah, yeah.
19:42What about Murphy's performance?
19:43I know he hadn't played this season to date.
19:46A hamstring injury picked up against Peck Swalla in the final pre-season game.
19:52Again, were you surprised to see him in the starting line-up?
19:55Yeah, it's interesting.
19:56Speaking to him afterwards, he trained on Friday.
20:02And John Messina said on Wednesday they'd look at it on Friday about him.
20:06And they did and decided he was ready to play.
20:08And Murphy even said that the medical team thought he should have taken a week longer.
20:13But he wanted to play.
20:16He said he was fine afterwards.
20:17I thought he looked a bit rusty.
20:20He put some good balls in.
20:22But those two awful wayward shots in the second half.
20:26Dear me.
20:28But he's such a tremendous player.
20:31You want him playing as soon as possible, don't you?
20:33And he still put some good balls in.
20:36He'll feel his way back.
20:38But until his injury in pre-season, he was quality in pre-season as well.
20:43Especially the way he tore apart Reading.
20:45Really good player.
20:47So that's something to look forward to.
20:48Now he's back.
20:49Hopefully injury-free.
20:51Yeah.
20:52And again, hopefully he'll be on the side for Saturday.
20:54Whenever Pompey go to West Brom.
20:57You'll be there too, Neil.
20:58Fingers crossed we can turn around that defeat on Saturday.
21:02In the meantime, thank you for your expertise.
21:05Thank you all for watching.
21:06We'll be back again soon.
21:07Goodbye.
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