January

Results

Crewe 0 - 1 Portsmouth

Decent outing and a very good win for our first match of the year.

We're still 9 points clear at the top of the table which is very promising. Hoping that the lads will stick together and continue to grind out the all important wins and get us a much deserved promotion!

Signings

December

Results

Portsmouth 4 - 1 Cheltenham (FA Cup 2nd Round)

What more can I say other than.... 3rd ROUND BABY HERE WE COME!
Will it be possible for Portsmouth to win the FA Cup again!? Will their be one of the biggest shock upsets in recent football history?! We will have to wait and see!!

Crawley 1 - 3 Portsmouth (Johnstone's Paint Trophy Quarter Final)

Oh hello Semi-Finals... How you doing?! Ready to meet my boys? I hope so! We're coming for ya! We're HUNGRY. We want that trophy.

Portsmouth 3 - 2 Oldham

Hello 3 wins on the trot. Loving this form after our recent run of relatively bad results.
Keeping us in pole position of the league, we're slowly regaining our players from injury as well, which is helping out like a mega tone!
Lets bring that League 1 title home!

Crawley 0 - 1 Portsmouth

WoooooHooooo!!! We're doing it, we're living the dream. We're going into every match positively and it's working wonders for us!
The entire team is now back to full fitness again and we're on fire! Lets pray that we can keep up something close to this kind of form towards the second half of this season.

Carlisle 2 - 0 Portsmouth

Slightly disappointing considering that we have been performing so well and then against Carlisle we just took our foot of the pedal and we're punished severely for it.
We didn't ever look like we were interested in the game and I made sure I let the players know that by hammering them when we got into the dressing room at full time.
That will not fly for the rest of the season, we need to be 100% focussed and ready for any opposition, if we begin to let our performances slide against teams like this, we stand absolutely no chance against the bigger side later on in the campaign.


Portsmouth 1 - 0 Preston

Thats what I wanted to see, an absolutely dominant performance from the boys!
Not an action packed match but a win is a win. And thats what we're striving for, to win every match regardless of the way we do it. We just want that ball in the back of the net.
Good result lads.


Doncaster 1 - 1 Portsmouth

Exceptionally boring midfield match.
Gyepes putting us in front from a close range header.. Which was later undone by Buzsacky who conceded a penalty which was then converted by Billy Paynter.
Unfortunately we couldn't capitalise to go 11 points clear at the top of the table, but 9 points is still a very healthy lead at the New Year interval.

November

Results

Portsmouth 3 - 0 Luton (FA Cup)

Great win for the lads here, clean sheet as well, kicking us straight into the second round of the FA Cup which is our minimum expectations set out by the board.


Portsmouth 2 - 0 Swindon

Another solid performance from a very solid Pompey side currently.
Can't take anything away from the lads with this win, they knew what they wanted to do and they went and executed it perfectly.

Bury 2 - 3 Portsmouth

Was quite a nerve wracking game in honesty, Bury came back late towards the end of the game which made me think the game was going to end as a stale mate and we would have to take the single point, but the lads had other idea's are were not about to go and let two points slip away from them when there is so much at stake currently while we're sitting at the top of the table.

Portsmouth 0 - 1 Hartlepool

Can't say I wasn't disappointed with this result, however we have had such a fantastic run of form and the team have performed so well throughout the entire campaign so far that I couldn't be too hard on them, especially considering it was only a one goal deficit by what is a pretty solid League 1 Team.
Well played, very unlucky; especially considering the fact that we had several injuries around this time which severely limited our team and all the players were starting matches with around 70% fitness.
Good effort. #PROUD.

MK Dons 2 - 4 Portsmouth

Lads decided to take their frustration out on the poor Dons after their loss to Hartlepool.
We absolutely destroyed MK Dons, took every little bit of hope they had when the clawed a goal back and then just hammered another goal in.
Shattering performance.


Colchester 2 - 1 Portsmouth

Unfortunately another loss so soon after playing Hartlepool.
But again I can't be too hard on them due to fitness levels within the camp and injuries plaguing us.
The team tried, and thats all I can ask of them.


Portsmouth 0 - 1 Leyton Orient

Getting a little bit frustrated with the poor form currently... The lack of fitness is starting to kill us and I can't bring in another fitness coach as the board will not allow for extra funds to be made available. Looks like I am going to have to struggle until all team members are finally fit again.


Sheffield Utd 2 - 2 Portsmouth

Fantastic result against arguably the strongest side in League 1.
Enough said. 2-2...

October

Results

Portsmouth 1 - 0 Stevenage

Match got off to a flyer! Both teams gunning for the other, slide tackles landing all over the place, the ball flying from one end of the pitch to the other in the blink of an eye, great end to end football with both teams getting a lot of chances.

29th minute Piquionne is brought down viciously in the box... PENALTY.

Howard steps up slowly for the penalty before slowly placing the ball down on the spot.. Paces back slowly before unleashing the ball violently into the top left hand corner of the net. Fantastic penalty.

Thompson makes it 2-0 at exactly the 80th minute from a well placed corner courtesy of Liam Walker - Both of whom were second half subs.

Portsmouth 3 - 0 Walsall

The fantastic form continues!

Squad put in a dominating peformance (which is what I have come to expect from the team now) against stone cold bottom of the table Walsall.

The team pushed on early and grabbed two first half goals. We came out in the second half to a Walsall team who were obviously angry at the domination they have encountered and piled on the pressure, to which we countered over and over but no goals came until Howard was caught in the box and put away the penalty he so deservedly earnt.

Goal Scorers: Korey Smith, Ashley Harris and Brian Howard (Penalty)

Portsmouth 2 - 0 Bournemouth

This match was all about Tom Thorpe. He defended strongly all game long making crucial interceptions and astonishing tackles, as well as then hoofing the ball downfield to allow other players to get onto it and cause the opposition trouble.

Ontop of how amazing his defending was all game long he then came forward for two corners and put both of them into the back of the net. The first a net ripping header, the second a majestic volley at the near post.

Player of the game.

Scunthorpe 1 - 2 Portsmouth

Match was very tight even though we went 2-0 up in the first half. Scunthorpe were always threatening and the match was end to end most of the game.

They came back late into the second half, but we dug deep and defended our lead to take it to 9 wins on the bounce, setting a new record!

Sidibe and Howard didn't score spectacular goals like I have seen throughout the season, but a goal is a goal and a win is a win

Come on you Pompey!

Notts County 3 - 1 Portsmouth

Was a pretty poor game. However a lot of players wern't completely fit, and were tired.

Also away from home I am not too disappointed to lose, Notts Co aren't a bad team in terms of League 1 competition and hey, the winning couldn't go on forever. I'm still absolutely ecstatic that we are doing as well as we are.

I just really hope this isn't a sign of things to come...



Portsmouth 1 - 0 Coventry

The game was basically a midfield game. Not many chances, not many aspects of the match to go into great detail about, both teams had chances, both teams were wasteful but at the end of the day we got that all important winning goal which keeps us 6 points clear at the top of the table & thats what counts currently.



Tranmere 1 - 1 Portsmouth

Pretty hard match if I'm honest.
We had less position and spent a fair amount of the match with our backs against the wall, however we did manage to scramble out of the game with a point which means we're now 7 points clear at the top of the table.
A few of our short term loans will soon be making their way back to their respective clubs which obviously means I am going to be short of depth for a few months. Lets hope we can steer clear of injury until January.



Portsmouth 2-0 Swindon

Considering we had less position overall in the game we made much better use of the ball and took our chances when we needed to which ensured another stunning victory.
Brian Howard has now picked up his 10th goal of the season. His influence on the team cannot be under-estimated currently. He is a fantastic asset to our team and is a constant danger while in possession of the ball and can cause any defence problems if not dealt with instantly.
Lee Williamson got a pretty rare goal from Central Midfield to top off the game and round it off nicely.

September

Results

Preston 1 - 2 Portsmouth
Players really pulled their weight in this match.
We went 1-0 down in the first 12 minutes, unfortunately we had been in control of the match, but the ball was fumbled into the box and Preston reacted quicker to put the ball into the back of the net.
We went into the break at 1-0 down, feeling pretty sorry ourselves considering we had been in control of the game.
However; we came out in the second half with an admirable determination and we began to put the hammer down on Preston, hitting them on the break time and time again until eventually Nile Ranger smashed the ball into the back of the net at the 71st Minute.
Mamady Sidibe then decided he wasn't going to allow Ranger to be the star of the show and started an astonishing run in behind the Preston defence, thread through by Harris to tuck it away and put us up by 1.
The rest of the game was more of the same, we continued to hammer Preston, keeping them in their half and hitting them on the break, but not being able to put the ball into the back of the net; which is not a great concern to me currently as we're still in top position of League 1!
Come on Pompey!


Portsmouth 4 - 2 Swindon (Johnson's Paint Trophy)
Great game! Was awesome from the outset, once again a completely dominant game from our Portsmouth players who all came out with an extremely high match rating.
I don't know how this has come about for us to be putting in such Opposition Soul Destroying play but we are gunning for every single opposition team we come up against. Every single player wants to win their match, and it  seems like every single one of my players wants to be getting on the score sheet as well!
Brian Howard was the player of the game scoring 3 of our 4 goals, his performance was dominating and Swindon just couldn't handle him at all, he picked the ball up in the pocket of the midfield, played a ball forward, continued his run and was in the right place at the right time to score goal after goal after goal.
Dumbaya scored our 4th goal rounding off a capital performance of the highest quality.
Celebratory drinks in order tonight!!


Brentfood 1 - 0 Portsmouth
Pretty disappointing match in honesty; I mean I know the winning streak wouldn't last forever, but we didn't put up much of a fight at all to try and come back.
I'm not angered by this considering we're still second just disappointed at the lack of fight we showed this match, but again saying that we are Portsmouth who should be fighting our way out of relegation and we have only picked up our first loss in League 1, five matches in.


Portsmouth 1 - 0 Crewe
This win keeps us on the straight and narrow and in our winning form.
Unfortunately this wasn't the most entertaining of matches as you can obviously see by the score line, but you know what a win is a win and I'll take that and celebrate with my players as would any manager in the position I am currently in.
Cannot stress my happiness with my players enough!
Pompey Fighting!


Portsmouth 4 - 1 Yeovil
Keeping up the winning form!! Outstanding performance
Michalik, Ertl, Coombes and Howard all getting onto the scoresheet!


Shrewsbury 1 - 2 Portsmouth
This was a tough match. Shrewsbury set up shop during the first half and defended really well, weathering the storm exceptionally well. I didn't think we were going to get anything from this game until we went 1-0 around the 70th minute, shortly after Shrewsbury equalised and I thought well thats it, we're only taking a point from this game, UNTIL a hook downfield into the Shrewsbury half, a shot from Sidibe pushed wide by the keeper who then chases it up to the edge of the box... FUMBLES the ball... Rogers picks up the ball at the corner flag, pushes it slightly more in field for a better angle... AND..... GOALLLLL!!! Sublime finish!!
Fantastic match overall, great fun to watch!!


Portsmouth 3 - 0 Doncaster
Against a team that have Championship experience I am over joyed with this result. Words cannot describe my jubilation at my teams current form!!
Nile Ranger hit Doncaster on the 45th minute to deflate their morale just before the half time break, which caused us great confidence and absolutely destroyed the opposition because when they came back out again after half time it was as if they didn't even wan to be on the pitch.
Ashley Harris (I am in awe of this kids talent) then added the second goal in the 70th minute, followed by Darel Russell in the 84th minute; Just putting the 3rd and final nail into Doncaster's coffin.
That win pushes up into 1st position above Hartlepool as well!


Bournemouth 1 - 2 Portsmouth
Stressful match, extremely physical, extremely fast paced. Lots of yellow cards flew out of the referee's pocket this match, Tom Thorpe picked up an injury - But the main aspect of the match is that we once again came out on top and gained the more important 3 points!
Ashley Harris was by far the player of the game! He was the play maker of both goals and picked up both assists in the two goals as well.

Summary
21 points from 24 is freaking fantastic. Bring on October.
#LetTheGoodTimesRoll



Signings

Players
Kalifa Cissé
Defensive Midfielder / Central Midfielder / Centre Back

A versatile player; With the ability to play as a DM, CM or a CB.
I see him fitting in extremely well, considering he will mainly be playing as a Central Midfielder or a Centre Back. I am extremely excited for when I will eventually be able to see him in action, which won't be very often until the next registration window, however he can play in cup competitions such as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, etc. Great anticipation floating around this player.


Staff
Bobby Bennett
Scout

Considering that he has an JA rating of 15 and a JPA of 17 I think this is a fantastic addition to our scouting team.

His report upon joining brought up a Defensive Midfielder / Central Midfielder named Kalifa Cissé, who I feel will add increased stability to the team when we're trying to defend a lead.

I have already Approached to sign him and he has accepted the deal, we're now just waiting to see whether or not we can get him here due to work permits, etc.

Injuries

Mamady Sidibe
Sidibe picked up an injury in the 3-0 against Doncaster, putting him out for around two, maybe three weeks. Fortunately we have just regained Piquionne who is now going to have to regain his prior form as soon as possible.

August

So, we're finally getting the season underway and my first match for League 1 is going to be against Crawley.

I won't be taking a single game lightly this season, I will be under taking a full evaluation of every match I go into and I will not be setting out with a half strength team for any matches. I will ALWAYS be going out with the strongest team available to me.

In other exciting news, their is talks of a Takeover in the pipelines for Portsmouth. Our current chairman is looking to step aside and sell the club.

If it goes ahead then their is a chance of extra funds becoming available for Transfer and Wages, if not more, depending on the buyer.


Tactics

Changed up my 5-3-2 formation slightly, moved the Supporting Central Midfielder to a Central Attacking Midfielder to help with the Board Request of playing attacking football.
The transition of this move has been surprisingly smooth due to Buzsaky & Harris both flourishing in this role, it gives more attacking options with still maintaining the defensive prowess which I so desperately need this season.
This is the formation I have used in every League Game so far.
Also the screenshot shows my current Squad and Depth.

Results

Portsmouth 3-0 Crawley

The game was an absolute triumph!

We played out of our skins, each and every player pulled their weight and performed to the top of their game.

Korey Smith opened the scoring on the 27th Minute followed by Ashley Harris on the 30th and 56th minute.

That win puts us up to 2nd in the league behind Hartlepool, who won their match 4-1 against Oldham.


Oldham 1 - 5 Portsmouth
Very entertaining game. Portsmouth are showing me they have some excellent quality on the ball as well as the ability to put the ball into the back of the net.
New signing Sidibe picked up Two goals on his debut!
Daniel Devine also made his debut this match and was faultless, he made crucial tackles and fantastic interceptions for us, he is looking like a very promising player considering he is currently only 19.
Buzsaky, Coombes & Webster also picked up goals during this matchm
Dumbaya gave away a penalty which lead to the only goal we conceded, which is a shame but a fantastic result none the less!


Portsmouth 1 - 0 Carlisle
Great result for us, however the match wasn't fantastic. The goal came within the first 30 second of the match from an early cross supplied by Dumbaya and was then vollied home by Ranger, just inside the box on his Debut.
Other than that nothing really happened this match, we defended well and didn't allow very many chances, the only chance Carlisle had was a freekick which was saved by Andersen and pushed onto the bar before being cleared.

1st in the League!


Portsmouth 0 - 2 Norwich
Not a surprising result by any stretch of the imagination. Obviously Norwich have a lot more class than we do in front of goal and they showed it by pounding on the pressure and keeping us in our own half.
Our chances were very few and far between and unfortunately we wern't able to take advantage of the few chances we did get.
But at the end of the day I am proud of the performance my team put in and the fact that we only conceded two goals to a mid table Premiership side. 


Results Summary
9 points from 9 in the League is absolutely amazing. I cannot put into words how thrilled I am with how my team are currently performing.
Unfortunately we were knocked out by Norwich in the second round of the Capital One Cup but that is to be expected & fortunately for us the second round was as far as the board expected us to go.



Signings

Mamady Sidibe!

Look at those stats! ... Player is a complete work horse! His team work, determination and work rate all 20's. Exactly what I need for Pompey right now, a player with extremely high work ethic. Can't wait to see this guy in action.


Nile Ranger!

Brought in as a backup while Piquionne is out injured. Decent stats, decent pace and acceleration, maybe he can pick up a few goals for us.




Injuries
Frederic Piquionne. Player is going to be out for between 5 - 7 weeks, massive hit to my front line, especially considering the amount of time it may take for him to regain his form and start banging in the goals for us again... Now contemplating whether or not to cancel his loan and look elsewhere for my leading striker.

Gabor Gyepes. Will be out for between 7 weeks and 2 months. Not the biggest loss to my back line, however I am not currently in a position where I can afford to be losing players for such an extended period of time.

Pre-Season ... / ... August

Results

Peterborough 4 - 2 Portsmouth

Abysmal game. Poor defending in every aspect. Torn apart by through balls and crosses combined.

Ashley Harris again with a fantastic long range strike and Michalik from a corner provided us with our two goals.

We showed glimpses of quality on the ball, and again showed our ability to pass and get the ball forward effectively, but our defending needs to be sorted out ASAP, need to come up with drastic changes in our defensive third of the pitch.

I will be considering changing all of my training to defensive for the time being, even though the board have asked specifically for Attacking football; I just don't think I can realistically deliver on that front if they want us to stay up, let along challenge for anything else in this league.

Havant & Waterlooville 0 - 3 Portsmouth

Not a bad result, however they are a Blue Square League Team, which isn't even close to being a challenge. However a 3-0 win is great for Morale within the team, and a fantastic runout for all players involved.

Piquionne picked up two goals and Ashley Harris with a Goal as well.

Harris is rapidly becoming my favorite player for Pompey and is likely going to be starting most matches in the upcoming season, considering him being my Number 8 considering the way he is currently playing.

Portsmouth 0 - 1 Blackburn

Pretty decent result against a much stronger team.

We did not get bullied, we didn't get pushed around and we didn't let them control the whole game.

The fact we only conceded one goal is a huge success in my eyes, especially against a Championship side who are odds on for getting that all important promotion.

McLeod however did have two glorious chances which he squandered... This didn't please me and I am now beginning to question whether or not I will be renewing his contract when it's up in around 3 months; Unless he can drastically improve his form and start scoring some goals.


Portsmouth 2 - 2 Leicester
Good game against a Mid-Table Championship side. We showed decent technique infront of goal, great ball movement around the edge of the box which is very promising.
Our two goals came from Darel Russell and Tom Thorpe, both decent goals, but I won't be expecting goals galore from either of these players throughout the season, so I won't be reading into their goals too much.
Defensively could have played better, but the fact of the matter is we didn't lose against a team in a division higher than ourselves when we are in complete turmoil. Good game.

Yeovil 0 - 1 Portsmouth
Capital One Cup 1st Round

FANTASTIC GAME! Absolutely sublime performance put in by every single player.
We went out and dominated the game from start to finish & the fact we were away from home made this victory even better and the performance even more amazing.
We kept Yeovil in their own half almost all game, we continuously pressured their players which lead to mistakes by them and constantly giving up possession back to us.
Adam Coombes with the goal; Dalla Valle had the initial shot which was saved and spilled into the path of Coombes, who from a tight angle managed to smuggle the ball into the back of the net.

Signings

Frederic Piquionne!

Ex-pompey player Frederic Piquionne has agree'd a season long loan with us! Fantastic capture for us for the season, absolutely stunning ability for League 1 and I am hoping he will grab around 15 goals for us this season.

He still loves the club which I am hoping with spur him on to go on and help us gain as high-a league place as possible.

Will be looking for him to lead out front line this season.

Lauri Dalla Valle

High Finishing, Extremely High Determination, decent work rate and high composure. This kid is everything I am currently looking for in a striker.

He will be with us for the short period of 3 months, however I am hoping he can make a big contribution in a small amount of time.

Korey Smith

Strong stats right across the board with this player.

He does not look like he is going to excel in a single area of his gameplay, but instead looks to be a player who can sit in the pocket of the midfield and distribute the ball well.

My aim for hi, is to produce assists and decent through balls which will trouble the defence and allow our more attacking inclined players to latch onto the ball and cause problems.

Adam Coombes

Coombes is a quick player who is able to run at the defence and cause problems and drag players out of position which obviously makes holes and allows chances for other players to get in and bang the ball into the back of the net.

Thinking of playing Coombes as a Trequartiesta style player which I am hoping will suit him, considering he will only be with us for again the short time of three months.

Daniel Devine!

Decent looking youngster scouted on Trial Day.

Promising stats for a defender, including positioning and anticipation.

Unfortunately composure and concentration aren't in double figures, however I am hoping this will be made up in other key areas of his play.

We will have to wait and see...

Departures

For the time being I doubt their will be any further departures from the club due to the lack of funds currently available to me and the fact I think I am going to need all the help I can get; Players and staff included in that statement.