- 4 months ago
There is light at the end of the tunnel with the international break coming to a close. Pompey Talk is back as Pepe Lacey is joined by Neil Allen in the latest edition to discuss injury frustrations over Josh Murphy and Jacob Farrell, Andre Dozzell's form, Rich Hughes' loan signings and much more.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Pond de Talk, I'm Pepe Lacey and this week I'm joined
00:11by Chief Sportswriter Neil Allen. Neil, there is this light at the end of the tunnel, thankfully.
00:18The international break is almost over. There is light at the end of the tunnel, finally.
00:23Oh, I know, it's miserable, isn't it? And there's another one next month, isn't there?
00:30Yeah, it's unrelentless. It's unforgiving, the international break, isn't it? We had one
00:37in October, well, one in September, sorry, one in October, and now one in November. It's
00:42just, I think Geordie summed it up quite perfectly last week. It's a dogged wasteland, is the
00:46international break, as a local sports reporter. But we go on.
00:50Yeah, we were back down on the training ground yesterday, so catching up with Andre Di Zell
00:57and John Massino, which is nice. And we're now looking forward to a game at Leicester.
01:02Yeah, absolutely. Let's touch on that then. Let's start with the key topics from John Massino's
01:09press. I think the main thing that everybody was looking forward to was that information
01:14about Josh Murphy. He's the one everybody's talking about. Will he be fit for Leicester?
01:19No. So, yeah, so John Massino ran through his seven injured players yesterday in the presser,
01:26gave an update on them all. And Josh Murphy, he expects to be available for Stoke. So, with
01:36Murphy, it's always like, next week, next week, next week, next week. Tomorrow never comes,
01:40isn't it? I love you tomorrow. You're only a day away. But yeah, so it's always the next
01:48day, isn't it? But that's the latest one anyway. I mean, bizarrely enough, it's giving
01:56Yang the chance to shine in that position, isn't it? But you want Murphy back there as an
02:00automatic starter, and then hopefully find somewhere else for Yang and the team. But
02:04yeah, it's another little wait, isn't it? And it's a tough group of games coming up as
02:09well, isn't it? Really tough. Leicester away, Coventry at home, Stoke at home. They're the
02:15top three, aren't they, of the championship?
02:17Yeah. I don't think Stoke quite. I think Stoke are in and around the playoffs, but you've
02:22got Leicester, a third, Coventry, who are top, front runners. They're leading the way
02:28and then Stoke are in and around the playoffs. So, the next three games are so tough for Pompey.
02:33The only bright side to it really is that Coventry and Stoke are at home. That's the
02:38only thing that I can see that's slightly positive, but it's a tough run of games.
02:42Well, thank goodness Pompey beat Middlesbrough.
02:44Yeah.
02:45I mean, they'll probably be second actually, wouldn't they? So, yeah. So, yeah. You throw
02:50that into the equation as well. It is a tough run of games. I know Pompey messed up with
02:55Sheffield Wednesday, but you guys do that in a season and then you have to move on. And
03:01now they've got a tough run of games, haven't they? It's, yeah. I don't want to say it's
03:06a defining period of season because it's not, but it would definitely focus where Pompey may
03:14be aiming for in the league table this year.
03:16Yeah. And I want to touch on Josh Murphy because I think just that his injury, we've never really
03:23got like a clear indication of the injury. It's an ankle injury, but we haven't got like
03:28a clear timescale on it. John Massino said it's been a sort of niggling injury. It's a frustrating
03:35one. They've tried him on the training ground and then he's been a bit hit or miss. So, clearly,
03:40if he's been out for four games, roughly about four to five weeks, including the international
03:45break, it's a slightly more injury, slightly more serious injury than what people are thinking.
03:51Well, he played with it against Southampton as well. And you could tell, you could tell
03:55he wasn't quite going on the outside as much as he used to or usually does. And I remember
04:03seeing at the time, I think I even remarked on him on match ratings about he wasn't taking
04:07players on the outside with his pace. He did it a couple of times, but he wasn't the normal
04:11Murphy. You could see it. And since then, they've been managing it and hoping he's going to come
04:17back. And it's just described as a niggly ankle injury. And obviously, conspiracy theorists
04:24were putting out that he's sulking and refusing to play and all sorts.
04:27But then, lo and behold, he signed a new contract. So, what a surprise. That's a load of nonsense.
04:36So, yeah. Yeah, it's... Pompey need him back. They're a far better team. He's their best
04:41player. We all know that, stating the blindingly obvious, isn't it, really? And in the meantime,
04:49Young's had two cracking games on the left wing. So, you really want them both in this side
04:55together, don't you? Yeah. I mean, Young is sort of... When you take
04:58out Murphy, everybody kind of thinks that Pompey are a lot weaker, which in some sense
05:03they are. But it also presents opportunities for others. And Minhoek Young has taken that
05:09opportunity by the palm of his hands. Two goals in two games and the winner against
05:16Middlesbrough. And he's looked phenomenal out on the left.
05:19Yeah. At home, of course. So, it's different at home, isn't it?
05:24Yeah. Again, it's obvious, isn't it? Completely. Yeah. So, it'll be interesting to see how he
05:28does away at Leicester. But he's been extremely good the last two games. Really won over the
05:35fans. He had taken a lot of unfair criticism for me, from minority perhaps, before he came
05:44good. Calling for him to be sent back to Spurs after a few games. But he's settled now.
05:51He's 19, isn't he, as well? A 19-year-old lad. And yeah, the last two appearances were really
05:57strong, weren't they? And a goal in each. Two very well-taken goals as well. His energy,
06:02his work rate, his enthusiasm. He looks a good player. My only concern is his age at 19.
06:10There's going to be dips in form. There's going to be games when he doesn't play particularly
06:13well. That will happen, especially with a winger. So, we should wait and see on that
06:19one. But there's so much to be encouraged about him at the moment.
06:23What I couldn't quite get across, I was in the Frattening for the Reading Cup game back
06:29in August. And that was his first start and his first real time on the left. And you could
06:35tell, I think he'd only been at the club three, four, five days maybe. He was thrown onto the
06:41bench against Oxford, came on for the 20-odd-minute cameo at the Cassam Stadium. And then, obviously,
06:48it was sort of unfair backlash. There were chances of sending him back or people were unhappy
06:54with his performance. No one played well against Reading. It was one of those cup games where
06:58no one played very well. But I just thought it was so unfair to sing it out. A player had
07:04literally been at the club less than a week. He's 19 years old. The left wing at the time,
07:08he hadn't had a chance to understand Pompey, didn't have much training time with John
07:13Massino. And I just couldn't quite get my head around it. And now, he's sort of come
07:20to his own. You can tell John Massino's work with him and the coaching staff have worked
07:25with him because he had that spell out to me for five games where he wasn't in the
07:30team. But you can see now where he's sort of improved on the training pitch. And you're
07:34starting to see that good quality from him. Now, it's about trying to get that into a
07:3990-minute performance because, obviously, he's come off with 15, 20 minutes to go in
07:43the last two games. But now, it's about getting that 90-minute performance in. But I've been
07:50really impressed by him and how much he's improved in such a short amount of time.
07:55It just takes players some time, doesn't it? Segetich, obviously, a permanent deal.
07:58Hit the ground, didn't he? Straight away. His first friendly appearance at Woking.
08:02Caught the eye and scored a goal. I remember a couple of years ago when Myles
08:06Pert-Harris was here. Unbelievable debut at Port Vale. Never got anywhere near those
08:12heights again. He went the other way. He was a young. Kamara struggled to begin with
08:17as well, didn't he? But you think Pert-Harris, he was phenomenal at Port Vale.
08:22Everyone's rubbing their hands thinking, what a player Pompey had got here. And he just
08:25plummeted. And there was a period when he wasn't even in the squad before he came back
08:30at the end to feature when Pompey had already won promotion. So, yeah, it can reverse, can't
08:37it? You just want a consistent performer there, don't you? And he's certainly been consistent
08:42the last two games and he needs to maintain that. But there will be dips, unfortunately.
08:46It goes with the territory. That's how it is. It's not ideal. Nobody wants that. But that
08:51will happen with young players. But I find him hugely encouraging at the moment, his form.
08:57Yeah, and there's plenty of competition on the wings. At some stages this season, Pompey
09:03have barely had two wingers to put on the team. And now you've got the returning Harvey
09:07Blair, Franco Umar, OK, he's still a couple of weeks away. But Adrian Segesic on the right,
09:12Yangmin Hooks coming into form. There's plenty of options now on either wing. And that's not
09:19even with Josh Murphy in the team.
09:21Yeah, but they've never, they've never cracked the right wing of it yet this season. They've
09:26used about, I think it's five or six players now, include Chaplin as well. So, they need
09:32to crack that, don't they? They've not replaced Matt Ritchie.
09:35Would you put Yang on the right if Murphy was to come back in? Is that something that...
09:39Well, that's... John Massini was talking about that yesterday. You can do that. Apparently
09:44he played on the right plenty of times for QPR during his loan spell the second half of last
09:48season. So, you can put Yang on the right. That would make perfect sense. Murphy on the
09:51left, Yang on the right, because they haven't solved the right wing problem. Biancini hasn't
09:57come off yet. He's not even played the last two games, has he? So, Chaplin played the
10:03last couple. He was better against Middlesbrough. But again, he's never played there before in
10:08his career, Conor Chaplin. He's left-footed as a second striker, a number 10. He started off
10:15his career as a kid, as a left-winger. He's not a right-winger. And he's had to adapt
10:20to that as well. So, that right wing, all season, it's been a concern, hasn't it? And
10:26I'm not convinced Segersic is the answer there either. I prefer him as number 10, personally.
10:31So, yeah, that's the hole in Pompey's squad at the moment.
10:35Another key line from John Massino's presser yesterday, injury-related, was that of
10:40Jacob Farrer and a slightly surprising one. John Massino revealing that the left-back
10:46has got a groin injury and an injury that no one really knew about.
10:51Yeah, but because he's not been part of the squad, there's not that much interest in
10:55that. That's how it works, isn't it?
10:56Yeah.
10:58I remember a player saying to me about eight years ago, he says, oh, you never want to
11:03speak to players when they're injured. And I was like, well, yeah, because you're not
11:07in the squad and the club don't put you up for an interview. That's how it works.
11:11Yeah.
11:11So, we're completely oblivious about what's happened with Farrell. First, wrote about
11:17him last, ahead of the Sheffield Wednesday game. And in that time, he's picked up a groin
11:23injury, which appears to be dogging him. So, yeah, another injury. He's played twice since
11:29he's come to this football club. It's been disappointing, isn't it? Really, really
11:33disappointing. Thankfully, probably have got Connor Ogilvie still there. Reliable, definitely
11:41of the standard. Dependable. So, they're not short in that position. And Williams, I thought
11:46Williams came on and did excellently against Southampton at left back as well. So, they've
11:49got cover there, but you have to feel for Jacob Farrell.
11:53Yeah, it's really frustrating because when he came in, there was, I remember watching clips
11:57of him out in Australia and there was just so much promise about him and so much to be
12:01excited about. And there's only been one league appearance since, and that was last season,
12:07and then one appearance this season, which was fairly disappointing showing in the Carabao
12:12Cup. So, it's a hugely disappointing stay in one not many people would have expected when
12:20he first signed.
12:20Yeah, it's, it's, I'd say, he played against Sheffield United a year ago now, over a year
12:27ago now, isn't it?
12:28Yeah.
12:29And, yeah, like the Reading game, he played in that and it wasn't a good performance on
12:33the team. He played pre-season as well, but didn't really catch the eye particularly.
12:37So, he hadn't done enough to dislodge Ogilvie, who's got plenty of credit in the bank, and
12:43now he's injured. So, desperately disappointing, isn't it? He just, you look at him on the outside,
12:50he just seems to be an injury player, injury-brain player. He had a groin issue last year as well.
12:55Obviously, he had his knee problems, which requires surgery. And now he's injured again
13:00with a groin.
13:01Yeah. Someone you interviewed yesterday, which, about injuries, was Andre Dezel, one of the
13:08players of the season so far, it's fair to say. I thought it was a really good interview
13:13from what I read yesterday. It seemed like someone that was happy to open up about his
13:19career so far and how well he's playing at the moment.
13:22Yeah, yeah. He's 26 and a lot of, I did the story and a lot of people saying how well he's
13:29playing, as you said, some people say he's been player of the year so far. For me, at
13:34the moment, Paul has been the star man for Pompey, but Dezel's definitely up there. He's been
13:39ever-present in the league. He's consistent. He just seems to be continually growing, doesn't
13:47he? And now he's admitted he's in the best form of his career at the age of 26. So, credit
13:55to him. He also gave credit to John Messina and his coaching staff as well. Because when
14:01he signed in August 2024, there wasn't that much excitement about him, which I completely
14:07understand. A free transfer. But he did have plenty of championship experience, which Pompey
14:15needed.
14:16Yeah. And it was a bit of a low-key start for him, but he grew and grew, didn't he? And
14:20he's established himself in the pompous team. So, he's been a great sign, isn't he, Andre's,
14:26is that? And in the last year of his contract, and no doubt they'll be moving to try to extend
14:31that as well sometime, probably towards the end of the season, you imagine. And he's a very
14:36honest player as well. Fits in well around the football club and just gives everything, doesn't
14:41he? So, yeah. He's very popular among the fans for good reason.
14:49Yeah. The thing that really impressed me about him last year was the way he was able to bounce
14:55back. It was a difficult start to the season. A lot of fans had already turned on him after
15:01just a matter of games. Took a period out and then came back and just formed a really good
15:08partnership with Freddie Potts. He kept that going for the rest of the season. And then
15:13at the start of this season, he's already just, he's been so dominant in the midfield
15:17and easily probably one of the first names on the team sheet. It's now about how Pompey
15:22worked with him because for me, he'd be one of the first names on the team sheet. Easily
15:28one of the first players in the midfield. It's then, who do you partner with him? Because
15:31that's been, it's been a lot of chopping and changing this season already with John Swift
15:36partnered him. Luke DeRue partnered him at Ipswich. Marlon Pax now back in. It's, it's
15:41who you were, who you partnered Andre DeZell with. But either way, whichever partner he's
15:46with, he seems to impress easily.
15:50Yeah. You say in Wednesday that he's, he's under, under John Messina, he's hugely improved
15:55off the ball as well. And you can see it. He just seems to be popping up everywhere,
16:01doesn't he? And normally his role is a bit deeper. Especially last year, he played a deep
16:06deeper role, didn't he, in midfield. So you don't notice him that much. He's not going
16:09to get you goals and assists either. He's not that sort of player, but he offers so, so
16:14much more. He's not necessarily going to catch your eye, is he? But the Pompey fans definitely
16:19appreciate him because he's just done a sterling job so far.
16:22Yeah. Yeah. I think Andre DeZell is one of my players of the season so far. Same as
16:30Regan Poole, Adrian Segesid. Probably those three are my...
16:34Oh, we don't want to go down that...
16:36No, we're not going...
16:37Do you remember when Ryan Tunnicliffe turned up in here? Everyone was saying he's going
16:42to be mad. He's going to try the year end in August, do you, mate? What happened
16:45there? Ryan Tunnicliffe. Oh. Oh, let's stay away from that one. I want to touch on... I
16:55listened to last week's episode of Pompey Talk and you reviewed Rich Hughes' signings so
17:02far. You've since revisited that and gone through his loan signings. Plenty of hit or misses
17:10there. There's 16, I make it, since he's in charge of Pompey. I'm just scouting. I've
17:19got the story up here. There's Matt Macy, DeSean Bernard, Abu Kamara. There's been some
17:24great names in there.
17:26Yeah. The one that gave me trouble was Pino Anderim.
17:31Yeah.
17:32He did it right, but he didn't do enough, really, did he? High expectations coming from
17:38Chelsea. Five months out injured. Did he really help Pompey get promotion? Not really, did
17:46he? He got to ruin the team when... He actually started the game when they won the title. And
17:51then he got to ruin the team after they were already got promoted. So, it seems a bit harsh
17:56giving him a miss, but he was really. He didn't do enough because of injury and his absence.
18:02So, yeah. It felt slightly harsh, but he didn't do anywhere near enough that season for those
18:09reasons. And then you've got someone like Myles Perth, who I mentioned, and another who's
18:15just deeply disappointing, especially setting the bar so high in his debut. And again, well,
18:19he's only got a goal after they've been promoted when he scored at Lincoln or whatever, but
18:23it's irrelevant, isn't it? And did he really help Pompey? No. No. So, I mean, it helps
18:29Pompey with a squad, I suppose. But these guys are coming down from the Premier League
18:32and you expected more of them in League One and that they didn't do it. And Perth
18:37Harris, I think he goes, Swansea on loan last year? Yeah, Swansea on loan and then got
18:41injured to miss the final month or two of the season. Yeah. And then he's gone back to
18:44Brentford. He's not gone out yet and he's not been involved in the Premier League. So,
18:48again, for me, that was a miss because it didn't do enough. But there's plenty of hits
18:52there as well. Yeah. That Tino Andrum one was the one that caught my eye the most
18:58because there's plenty of Pompey fans and maybe even put myself in the side. I thought
19:02maybe viewing it differently because that was the promotion season and he obviously featured
19:08and got a run of games in when Pompey were going on to win the title. But I was quite impressed
19:15by him during that large or that small chunk of games at the back end of that 23-24 season.
19:21But that's like, what's that? Three games in a season?
19:26Well, you can't base it off.
19:27You can't base it off.
19:28Well, hold on. You come from Chelsea and play well in three games at the end of the season
19:31when Pompey were already promoted. Anyone can rock up when Pompey were already promoted
19:37and play well.
19:39It's a difficult one because he obviously got injured to miss four or five months of the season,
19:44which you never know. He could have seen a different Tino Andrum.
19:46In fairness, I do believe there's a talent there. He's a really nice lad as well.
19:52He was just very unfortunate with Pompey. I would definitely have welcomed Pompey to sign him.
19:57And he's done very well since leaving as well. He just didn't do anywhere near enough.
20:02And even when he picked up the injury at Chesterfield, Pompey was easing him into the games,
20:07trying to come back from the injuries. And he didn't particularly, it wasn't particularly
20:12any great shakes then either. So, yeah. But, say, the talent was there and the application
20:19was there. It was just the injuries, wasn't it? Which made it a disappointing loan.
20:23But he was far better than Miguel Aziz.
20:25I was just about to touch on that because...
20:28That's not a Rich Who signing, by the way. That's not a Rich Who signing.
20:30I was just, I was going to touch on that because I'm just scrolling down this list here.
20:34And there's so many hits. When you actually read, like, the loan signings made,
20:41there are so many hits, which is so unusual for Pompey pre-Rich Hughes because you had
20:46the likes of Miguel Aziz, was a Hadmay on loan as well.
20:51And then...
20:52Oh, dear. Josh Caroma.
20:54Josh Caroma, the dark days under Kenny Jacket as well. Lloyd Isgrove.
20:58And, yeah, the list goes on, really.
21:00But Josh Caroma, Miguel Aziz, so much were expecting them.
21:04Yeah, Owen Dale, as well, he didn't really set...
21:07Owen Dale worked incredibly hard but couldn't get a goal or assist.
21:13It's...
21:14Gassana Sabmi, have been, too.
21:17Well, the fact that he's just so many clubs at all, really.
21:19But, yeah, he scored a good goal, get a hatcher against Ham and Waterloo, and then...
21:24It's so refreshing, though, to see so many hits when Pompey have had such a negative
21:29recent history before Rich Hughes came in of a failed loan signings.
21:33It's almost kind of changed the perspective of loan signings.
21:35But also, that's why I get that they're expensive loan signings as well.
21:40Yeah.
21:40Tyler Walker.
21:42Don't.
21:43Don't.
21:44The only...
21:45One of the things Pompey have done, and Andy Cullen says this repeatedly, they've reduced
21:50the cost of their loan players.
21:55And at one point, it was a ridiculous amount they were spending on majors of loan players,
22:00loan players who weren't doing it, such as Caroma and Walker and people like that.
22:04So, Pompey have reduced the cost of their loan players they've taken in, but also significantly
22:10improved the quality.
22:13Tyler Walker was a disgrace, really, wasn't he?
22:16Yeah.
22:16Didn't want to be here, did he?
22:21Caroma didn't do it.
22:22Again, Aziz, arrogant around the place, speak to any player around that time, bragging about
22:30how much he earned, arsehole, his cars, all sorts.
22:34So, yeah, you get these characters, then you get the good ones, don't you, that have done
22:40well for Pompey.
22:40Yeah, I feel like it's, since Richie's come in, he's sort of turned the tide on loan signings,
22:46because especially when it's Kenny Jackett and Danny Cowley times, there was such a negative
22:50perceivence on loan signings, and some part, rightly so.
22:55But you look at Pompey have gone back into the Premier League too, over recently, is Abu Kamara
23:00one of them, Alex Robertson, Minahut Yang's one of them now as well.
23:04And working with John Massino as well, they make them work.
23:09Yeah.
23:09Richie scouts them out, and John Massino, he trusts John Massino to make it work.
23:16And there's been so many young players that have come in, Minahut Yang, the latest, and
23:20it's worked.
23:22Yeah.
23:22But you also need good pros around the football club as well.
23:27If you look at Lincoln a few years ago as a case in point under Michael Apertin when they
23:30lost the playoff final, didn't they?
23:33And they had people like Ballard in there, and Morgan Rodgers, and Brennan Johnson.
23:37And then when those guys went back next season, they were terrible, and after he got the sack.
23:43So they created some unbelievable loans out of the year.
23:48So, yeah, you have good players around them, don't you, as well?
23:51And it's worked very well the last three years, the Richie's.
23:54I was a bit surprised by some people claiming that he's got a hit rate of below 50% and criticising
24:03his signings.
24:04But if he hadn't brought in so many good players, Pompey would not be 14th in the Championship,
24:09because that's an actual fact.
24:10Yeah, we're just going to wrap it up.
24:14We've got 25 minutes on the clock, so we're going to start wrapping it up now.
24:17There was one name that's emerged last week, Patrick Bamford.
24:22That was one name that emerged from the depths of Twitter and social media last week.
24:28Now, John Massino did respond to the questions about the former lead strike and whether a move
24:33would take place.
24:34I think it's fair to say that avenue is going no further.
24:39It's rubbish, isn't it?
24:41It's just nonsense, isn't it?
24:43It just shows your social media.
24:45People believe everything they read on social media.
24:48But for a start, there'd be his wages.
24:54Secondly, he's completely different to the model Pompey operates in.
24:58Pompey don't.
24:59It's very different.
25:00In the days of Harry Redknapp especially, he would bring in,
25:04top experienced pros in the days, such as your Mersens and Stones and people like that.
25:08Tim Sherwood and DeSue's and things.
25:12Well, perhaps not DeSue to the extent of the others.
25:14But Pompey don't operate that model now.
25:17So it would have been very surprising anyway.
25:19It didn't make a lot of sense that they'd be bringing in someone like Bamford,
25:23particularly with an injury record.
25:24And Pompey's injury record is not great as it is, is it really?
25:27So, yeah.
25:28But of course, it soon became a fact that Pompey was signing him.
25:31But there was absolutely nothing in it.
25:36So it was a bit of fun, I suppose.
25:38It did a bit of fun during the international break.
25:40Well, the international break is almost over.
25:44We're making a trip up to Leicester, me and Neil, aren't we?
25:47So we will see you up there.
25:48Thank you for watching this latest episode of Pompey Talk.
25:52I'm Ben Paladin.
25:53And thank you, Neil Allen, for joining me today.
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