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Pompey Talk is back to fill the Blues void that is the international break! This week Jordan Cross and chief sports writer, Neil Allen, remember Milan Mandaric after his death at the age of 87. Sporting director Rich Hughes' recruitment is assessed on the third anniversary of his arrival, with a look at Pompey's best performers so far.
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00:00welcome to Pompey talk I'm Jordan Cross joined by chief sports writer Neil Allen as we battle
00:12through the wasteland that is the international break Neil how's your how's your international
00:18break gone so far you surviving it yeah just just about isn't it there's not just nothing going on
00:25it's always the same with international breaks and on the next season they're on about international
00:29breaks lasting two weeks aren't they oh can you imagine that they're only expanding them so
00:36there'll be fewer international weeks sorry international breaks but those international
00:40breaks they do have will be considerably longer there's only so far John Massino's I mean John
00:46Massino's very generous with his time by the way um but there's only so far you can take a John
00:51Massino quote and the player stuff and distraction content so far isn't it it's going to be a
00:56challenge but these are the are we the only publication out there that don't take time
01:01off in the international break in our company they all seem to disappear don't they yeah yeah
01:07yeah hard task master is Mark McMahon that's uh I know that's the truth so Neil Neil let's um this
01:14yeah in that barren way stand for regional sports reporting what have you been writing about this week
01:19obviously the one and only Milan Mandarix featured a few times doesn't it um which uh spoke about in
01:26a video the other day as well and uh and obviously you've written some articles on him um yeah it's uh
01:33um yeah resonates with everyone really doesn't it it's um just reminds you of the golden years and
01:40they were golden years weren't they uh and what what a character he was um it's brilliant this one
01:46is one of those people when you reminisce about and talk about you smile it's such a
01:52what a legacy that is what a legacy there's some people you can talk about and you scowl
01:57but Milan Mandarix you smile as you remember the the great man he was um that's brilliant isn't it
02:05he was so loved great man he was so generous with his time i'm not i wasn't intending because we've
02:10already done a video on this but you know you started me off now he was so generous with his
02:17time to us his journalists the fans you know i know it's kind of a it looks a bit of a pr stunt but
02:23you know him to go down the newcomb arms and have a pint with the fans or turn up in the fratting end
02:27and he was very good at playing the pr game let's have it right but oh yeah he he chanted he had a
02:34synergy with supporters and he understood the supporters and it was yeah it was i mean we would
02:41go in at a conference on the seven o'clock back in the day at hilsie towers wouldn't we and they'd
02:45come out of conference at 7 a.m and give us crazy demands to get hold of harry redknapp at that time
02:50and and Milan and Milan would pick up wouldn't he you'd get him at those times of day and he wouldn't
02:55have any grunts he'd you know have time and then it shows you that he set the bar very high as an
03:01owner in terms of communicating and connecting with the fans um and in the subsequent years
03:07until the trust came in none of the other owners actually bothered did they really uh they didn't
03:13couldn't care less couldn't give us stuff could they apart from um
03:17solomon al-fayim's mad waving at the crowd and wanted the game stopped
03:23going in the boardroom with a mick monster burger and all sorts and all that nonsense um
03:29yeah no one bothered trying to follow Milan's footsteps really which would have been very
03:33difficult because he set the bar extremely high in that respect didn't he um yeah so you go from
03:40one extreme to the other don't you really and in terms of owners when you compare him to to
03:45sasha guidemack who didn't care less about football and and the other mob uh that came after him until the
03:52trust came in so um yeah yeah good days yeah they were i did i did my um newsletter the premium
04:01newsletter for subscribers so i just let Milan's quotes do the talking because he was so quotable
04:06wasn't he and i went back and picked out i've got him here i'll just find this is who's he talking
04:13about here this is not the most pleasant moment of my life but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do
04:18i could not see any light at the end of the tunnel and when i did there was a train heading in the
04:22opposite direction
04:23was it sucking the manager was it it was sucking it yeah of course it was it yeah it was i'll give
04:32you up yeah it was alan ball it was talking about alan quite far he was the right man at the wrong
04:37time that was tony pulis this is one of his one of his most memorable quotes he often came back to
04:43but he spoke about one particular manager it's better to live like a lion for a day than a lamb for a
04:48lifetime steve clarridge lasted 137 days
04:54but he was but again Milan was brutal and that was brutal the way he treated steve clarridge
05:02uh so that was so harsh because he he let him believe the whole time he was manager
05:09and then at the end he was like no actually you're a caretaker manager
05:12yeah yeah it was so so harsh uh steve clarridge deserved far better than that but that's the
05:20ruthless side of Milan Mandrake isn't it uh yoshi had to play telling graham ricks he would be sacked
05:26and to make yoshi each every wednesday yeah it's just ridiculous um but we all loved him and he yeah
05:35a special character uh you won't see me you don't see men like that like that in football these days
05:42do you no no and i honestly feel you know i know you're talking about one of the stories about a
05:47lasting memorial for uh Milan people offering their services for that but whether a statue or not i i
05:53think you know in terms of 127 years of portsmouth there's not many people that have impacted to the
05:59extent that Milan has and i think he's certainly worthy of some kind of lasting memorial in whatever
06:04form whatever form yeah yeah and it's interesting a lot of fans have mentioned it as well about they'd like
06:09a tribute there somewhere uh i know the fans rallied together and worked and raised money for the
06:16jimmy dickinson statue which is superb isn't it really yeah so that's there at the moment so
06:23yeah i'd be interested to see what will happen with Milan as well because um he definitely deserves that
06:27um and uh yeah he was left at fratton park a year ago almost a year to the day yeah yeah yeah that's there
06:36yeah incredibly sad and emotional times but that's oh as i say we've we we shouldn't we've just
06:42segued into that we've already done a video on that but let's bring it back up to speed i think
06:46something you've been working on this week now was um rich hugh's anniversary isn't it you've been
06:50looking at yeah three years three years at pompey and and looking at his work there what have you
06:56found oh people don't like some of my comments about the hits and misses of it of his players
07:03basically i've done he signed 59 players uh i've split them between 40 43 permanent players and then
07:11you've got 16 low knees which i'll do another day so i've i've rated the 43 permanent players
07:18uh and reviewed them as well so i've done hit miss um on the fence and i'll give you about an on the
07:24fence example like jordan archer uh josh martin that they weren't good or bad just all right aren't they
07:33really yeah and then you've got one you've got the ones um jury's still out so obviously kovnowski
07:41larue um i would put harvey blair in that category as well so you look at you look at that situation but
07:48i don't know if you agree but some players like ben stevenson i would make a strong argument was a hit
07:56although some fans said well he didn't really impact the team and he left after a year i don't know what
08:01would you say about someone like ben stevenson ben stevenson did not have a bad game for portsmouth
08:07football club did he he was not a you know in the scale of hits to you know the callum lanes at one
08:13one end of the hit but he you know he didn't you know in a fairly wide scale he he was he would go
08:18down as probably a hit for me because he he contributed um he was cheap um he wasn't like
08:23he was bad value was it and um he came in and was that squad he was brought as a squad player and
08:29did exactly what he said on the team wasn't it he was came in for a league game here and there
08:33came off the bench steady never let anyone down and and on he went so yeah i can understand the
08:39the reasoning reasoning and that i think we think every promotion side they need the solid squad
08:44players who just fill in now and again you can name all these promotion sides over the years that have
08:48had them um and he was one and and like you say he never let pompey down he always did a decent job
08:53didn't he and he came in never moaned he was a free transfer from froys green rovers who
08:58rich who's a previous sign for them he was just a backup that's all he was uh as you say he was
09:04cheap and he was part of a pompey team that got promoted so for me that's a hit i know he was an
09:10integral part of that i'm not in terms of getting on the pitch i know he wasn't a star of that but he
09:16still played an important role in that for me so i think free chance transfer cost absolutely
09:22pittance wages that's a good one and jack sparks is another one yeah jack sparks is a hit for me
09:28again free transfer played 40 odd times started 27 games pompey got him on a free sold him to
09:37peterborough uh for wiley was a key player that's that's a good signing for me that's a hit because
09:45again he had a big part in pompey's promotion that season so yeah you look at it like that and uh
09:52um obviously others like ryan scofield was a big big miss dear me uh still remember the women in game
10:01in the uh efl trophy oh dread he was so bad after that game he wasn't even good enough to be number
10:08two and pompey brought in matt macy again this time on a permanent i feel like that was slightly
10:14they were again you know that was you can put in a way macy never played but he was a hit because he
10:20came in and was the cover there wasn't he not necessarily here but they understand the reason
10:24for the signing yeah well and also that's not a case uh uh mace had a very successful loan spell as
10:29well so we knew what a good keeper he was as backup so i i think obviously i'm influenced by the the
10:35previous player he had but he was a hit but uh yeah it's um very subjective and uh much debate and
10:41um yeah although somebody did try to claim that yangi was a miss i was gonna ask you about this
10:46yeah one that because he was kind of people remember the most recent things don't they
10:52and i remember that he didn't work but i knew someone i wondered whether that's going to be
10:56let's see what you know let's remember what he did for pompey in league one by the way
11:00what he did such a contribution to that success second top scorer in that in that team he had
11:06some really good performances some crucial goals so peterborough away iconic moment wasn't it really
11:13uh bolton at home he scored as well and he also scored in the game then pompey got promoted and won the
11:19title not going to be a miss is it and it wasn't it was it was poor in the championship he wasn't of that
11:26level um uh and there were other issues and they didn't just didn't play well great but let's
11:32remember how good he was in the first year because he was exceptional one of the stars of pompey's
11:38title winning season he's a hit every day of the week for me i bet no one had a gripe about riley
11:43taylor being a hit if he was and given no i mean i'm sorry i can't comprehend why he was i would
11:53say that young he was a miss really but there you go um but some players in life get you to a certain
11:59level and they have to leave sean raggett yeah sean raggett you know he got pompey to that level to
12:05the championship and then left rafferty and other people like that so and then you move on you evolve
12:11but it doesn't stop them being good players and having a huge influence in that side so um yeah
12:17but it's very subjective and uh it's difficult to sort of properly rate the a lot of the current
12:22team because we've not seen a lot of them uh of those in the current team segatich is clearly a hit
12:27i know knight's only played four games but he looks a good signing already so i would say he's a hit at
12:32the moment so yeah um and again somebody the other day said well rich who's has got fewer than 50 right
12:39uh that's just rubbish it's just what was your kind of ratio what was your ratio of hits what he's
12:44you know uh i haven't looked really um must have been sort of only very few misses relatively yeah i
12:52mean they say there's something not sure on aren't there um farrell not sure and yeah oh we can't
13:00comment yet because he's only played twice so that's another one we don't know about you mentioned
13:05harvey blair didn't you yeah harvey blair i'm i'm still on the fence with that one i don't
13:10don't really know you've got to judge don't you yeah yeah and i'm fair to come to a conclusion on
13:18on you know the end of last season and a couple of yeah well i had an interesting debate on twitter
13:23and it was very polite debate and um it was really good actually really good conversation with a couple
13:28of people last night on twitter about about farrell and i said i don't think farrell it's not farrell's
13:33fault he's injured and he's only played twice so i don't think you can say hit or miss with him
13:38um i mean if anything we talk about this rock suit rock suit okay destroyed him didn't he in that
13:43chef united yes yeah and then when he was subbed farrell was a far better player and and then he's
13:49played one more time since so it's it's difficult to judge so and archer as well how do you rate archer
13:55really and kill it well okay the game he was okay wasn't he then the sheffield wednesday game
14:00he was okay a couple of edgy moments but not much to go on standard standard fair for a backup keeper
14:07isn't it yeah and kill it as well i i'm not judging him just yet because um uh other than his kicking
14:13and his positioning for the goal against bolton sorry about bolton for against sheffield wednesday
14:18with barry bannon um he's been all right to be fair he's made some good saves he made some good saves in
14:23that game yeah yeah so yeah i mean the overall you look and if rich used to do such a bad recruitment
14:31job how can pompey are now in their second successive season in the championship in 14th place during his
14:39three years if it's been bad recruiting that time pompey wouldn't be at this level and that's
14:45what it's worth mentioning kind of probably what the recruitment hit rate is it's kind of if you hit
14:49one and and it's a 50 50 kind of one you get right one you're doing okay there anyway that's the kind
14:55of i don't know that's the kind of the official sort of the unspoken bar but if you're kind of getting
15:00one out of two then that's not that's not not too bad he's well above that flip it on its head
15:06florian biancini was bought august 2024 for two million by swansea that's a lot of money to waste on a
15:16player and he's clearly not done it for them they sent a pomp in he's not done it here yet
15:20two million rich use has never never spent two million on the player uh so he's also shopped in
15:27a different um ion let's say um and he's he found some some great bargains uh from smith who they
15:36obviously paid for segasic um shocknessy paul um so many good signings as well so um you can't give
15:45credit where he's due and and i think the hughes have done a really good job well let's throw it
15:51forward to this season then and i actually say not not you know as we pause the international break
15:56it's kind of we can have a a view of sorts on what's happened so far can't we in terms of
16:01who would you say have kind of shown promise out the current group at this stage of the season
16:07uh well obviously in terms of newcomers segasic clearly caught the eye i've been hugely impressed
16:12with regan paul this season i've got a list here one segasic two regan paul and probably in this
16:19order and i've also just kind of chucked in dozell as well yes i totally agree with dozell as well
16:26um he just keeps growing doesn't he to sell but regan paul and i'll tell you i'm not even just i'm
16:31not saying because it's just now but i i said it throughout pre-season he looked really good in
16:36pre-season actually marlon did as well actually but but um but yeah regan paul was really impressive
16:41pre-season um he's over those those injuries and the associated niggles with that um and he's been a
16:48an outstanding performer for pompey so far really has uh what a player he's just just dog it isn't he
16:56great leap on him just fights um brilliant i think it's been great signing yeah yeah adrian segasic
17:04as well given that he's come into a new culture and um you know it's such a step up from the a
17:09league as much to see with top goal scorer there with a caveat he will probably have a plateau at
17:14some point and have some peaks and troughs in his form but really good start from segasic clearly he's
17:18been trying to stand out the eye-catching probably signing isn't he yeah and i like the fact that um
17:23um um his three goals left footed they've all been on the edge of the area just slightly in the
17:30area area around the area so they're all they've all been from let's say for argument state just from
17:36outside the box right with his left foot um they're good goals to get as well aren't they they really
17:42are good goals they're not tap-ins they're not being in the right place at the right time some of
17:47them have been conjured out of nothing haven't they just great striking ability um and uh yeah
17:53he's he's been a real find it's just about guess where you play him because for me he hasn't been
17:59as effective on the right wing um even though he has scored a couple of goals from that position
18:05yeah yeah interesting that because he actually played much of football there last season but
18:09and he's honest about it himself he's like anywhere in that range what you're talking about there
18:12in that channel space half space for the cool kids is um he's just looking to get half a yard
18:17to get a shot off isn't he you can see what he's doing he's trying to keep his body anywhere around
18:20that area i'm looking to unload and if you look at his highlights reel from last season
18:24so many of those goals come from picking up or coming in from the right a give and go and then
18:29get a half yard and bang and it's all from like kind of 18 to 25 yards yeah because Pompey don't
18:36have that otherwise do they because it's not a bishop sort of goal is it and
18:40does that doesn't do that and pack doesn't do that and um um he offers something different
18:45there doesn't he so um yeah it clearly been a very good signing so far and would you say andre
18:52tozel was probably the first currently anyway the sort of elevated himself to first midfielder on the
18:58team sheet now yeah it's an interesting one but again you talk about recruitment and at the time
19:06him people that enamored with andre dezel coming over free agent um i've been trialing at sheffield
19:15united um and he and it was a so so start but he has grown he's got better and better and better
19:22hasn't he um and fans really like him now um he's just that vital cog in midfield isn't he
19:28and uh it is it is incredible how he's just improving absolutely well neil we've rattled
19:38somehow through we've waffled our way through 20 minutes of Pompey talk through the uh international
19:42break so uh we'll leave it at that and um we'll reconvene next week for uh the sustenance of a press
19:50conference so we've got a weekend to get through yet haven't we so um oh yes what are you doing for this
19:54weekend oh um working no my daughter my daughter's my daughter's birthday which i'm looking forward to
20:02i was going to try and duck out to go and watch uh the women against southampton but i've been told
20:06i've got to turn turn up to my daughter's birthday oh no i'm trying to find a non-league game today
20:11so i think exactly so we'll see all right okay well thanks for joining us uh we'll catch up with you
20:17again very soon
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