Mark McMahon and Neil Allen get together to discuss Friday night's defeat to Sheffield Wednesday and give their views on some key issues that have been raised since the Fratton Park loss.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Pompey Talk. My name is Mark McMahon and joining
00:05me today to discuss Pompey's game against Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night is Chief
00:09Sports Writer Neil Allen. Neil, the dust has settled on that there game on Friday night
00:15at Franklin Park. Now it has, what's your thoughts now on the whole thing?
00:22First of all, it was clearly an improvement on Cardiff. Improvement for individuals, improvement
00:29in terms of commitment, energy, dynamism, drive. Improvement, but, big capital B-U-T,
00:39but it still wasn't good enough to get a point or win a game. So I saw Andy Moon tweet
00:47something similar saying it was an improvement, but, and people say, well, why are you saying
00:51it's an improvement? It was an improvement. It was, but it's still not good enough. And
00:57that remains a concern, doesn't it? Because they were, it was just a better performance,
01:05but still Pompey lost 2-1. Yeah. I think that's what everybody's take on it all is. Yeah,
01:12Pompey were better. You couldn't be any worse than what they were against, especially in
01:16the first half against Cardiff. But it just ran home that even if you're stepping up that
01:21level, it's not good enough to compete against these teams. And particularly at home, which
01:26is even worrying. So like, yeah, it's just, it's worrying. So it's worrying all around
01:33that Pompey can improve, but still have nothing to show for it at the final whistle. Yeah,
01:38obviously they're beaten by a very, very good goal, but Pompey didn't create enough themselves,
01:43did they? They really didn't. And then creativity has been a huge, a huge issue all season.
01:50And he changed the system back to four at the back, four, two, three, one, four, three,
01:55whatever you want to call it. And they still conceded twice. They still didn't have that much
02:01attacking verve and creativity. So the issues are still there, even though there were some
02:06good performances, Terry Devlin in particular, more energy, a response they wanted. It just
02:14still fell short. And John Massena was very honest afterwards saying, you know, I think
02:19we're better, but we just weren't good enough to get something from this game. And he's right.
02:23Pompey weren't. They weren't terrible. I've read some people saying they were terrible.
02:28They weren't terrible. Terrible was awful at Cardiff. They just, it was improved,
02:33but it still wasn't good enough. I suppose the whole picture would have changed if Callum
02:38Lange had scored that there header right at the deflect. Again, he's been a player in such good
02:44form for Pompey and he was the one you really wanted that ball to fall to. So if he had scored
02:49that, the whole picture would have changed. A good, hard-earned one-all or two-all draw. But
02:55unfortunately, you need to take those chances in the championship. Otherwise you do live to regret
03:01them. Yeah. And there was a lovely moment in the second half where he's on the left touchline,
03:06he cuts in and wriggled past a couple of players to get into the box. And not many players from
03:11Pompey seem to do that or have the capability of doing that at the moment. So yeah, he's the
03:17one player that we all can say has stepped up and he's such a huge figure now for Pompey.
03:22But they need more people to step up, unfortunately, because at the moment they're just
03:27walking into a relegation battle already this early into the season. They need to pick up points,
03:37they need to win games, they need to score goals. They've barely got a goal at home all season other
03:42than an own goal. So it is not good enough, unfortunately. Yeah. Well, the main five changes
03:52from the defeat at Cardiff, apart from Terry Devlin, who I think everybody recognises did very
03:59well for Pompey at right back on Friday night. Anybody else among those five changes stand out
04:04for you? Did they make that much of a difference? Yeah. Devlin was obviously the star performer,
04:10wasn't he? But the rest were okay. It wasn't particularly bad. But Devlin stood out. It was
04:19just his energy down the right-hand side. The first 20 minutes, I swear he was taking a throw
04:24in every minute. Everything was down that side, wasn't it? It was winning tackles, sliding for the
04:29ball, pushing forward. I thought he was absolutely outstanding, wasn't he? He was. But probably need
04:36more of that Josh Murphy's drop right off. Steve, sorry, I said Steve Potts. Freddie Potts had a
04:44better game. He was absolutely dreadful at Cardiff. I know people love him and he's got quality. He's
04:50a quality player, but he's young and there's going to be ups and downs. He's not played this level
04:54before. He's going to have good games. He's going to have bad games. Cardiff was a bad game. But
04:59Friday night, he was good again. He looked really good player, isn't he? So he had a decent game.
05:04But it's the creative positions, isn't it? And I felt sorry for O'Malley because he was just
05:10being battered by the huge centre-half and he found that very difficult. And Yenge came
05:17off the bench and might have come to a point where he needed to start games up front for Pompey as well.
05:22Yeah, no. Mahoney was definitely starved of some sort of service there. Again, does that come back
05:28to a point where Pompey just don't have a real creative force, even in the number 10 position?
05:33No, Christian Sadie's done well there, but is he really going to unlock the fences,
05:40have added a bit of sparkle to Pompey's attack? To me, from the past two games, when you've got
05:45Barry Bannon running the show for Sheffield Wednesday, you've got your guy Koval running
05:51the show for Cardiff. Pompey just don't seem to have that creative spark that can just,
05:56a wee bit of magic, can put Pompey on the way that's maybe setting up an attack or scoring a
06:01goal. Is that still an issue that Pompey just has never been able to find a solution to in
06:08the past few seasons? Well, first of all, Marlon Pate ran the show last season from deep, so he
06:16completely made Pompey tick and was superb. Player of the Year, rightly so. Named in the
06:23PFA Team of the Year, wasn't he, as well? All these accolades, that's what he did. If you're
06:28talking about number 10, that's what Callum Lange can do. Yeah, yeah. But they have to keep playing
06:33him everywhere else because no one else is down performing. That's the problem. Callum Lange can
06:39play the number 10, he can do those sort of things. He's also moved around for the system,
06:44so when they played a 3-5-2 or a 3-5-1-1 or whatever, he sort of moved around there as well,
06:51as one of the two or whatever. But he can play number 10 and do that role, opening up defences
07:00and things like that. Completely different player to Sadie. There was a time when Massino in pre-season
07:06was trying Silvera in that role as well. Hasn't quite come off and he looks more effective on the
07:11wing. But Lange's needed everywhere unfortunately at the moment, isn't he? And even though he's got
07:17immense mobility, he can only play one role. If only they'd put a couple of Callum Langes in
07:26attack, that would definitely help. So yeah, Lange is the one to do that, but they've used him on the
07:33left, on the right, as part of a 3, part of a 2, whatever. So he's moving around a bit at the
07:38moment. Yeah, no doubt. We talked about Marlon Pachter very briefly. Were you surprised by the
07:44decision to drop the captain for that game? Not really, because John Massino said afterwards
07:51about it wasn't just about form. It was also the fact they played three games in seven days,
07:58doesn't it? So that was the issue there and whether he could do that. But his form has dipped. I think
08:04we can acknowledge that. It's not the Marlon Pachter we saw in League One. It doesn't mean
08:10he's not a good player. It doesn't mean he's not committed. It's just not happening at the moment.
08:15So hopefully he can rediscover that, because as we're seeing, if Marlon Pachter's not in top form,
08:20Pompey's team struggle. And they are struggling to replace him as well. So that's a huge
08:26concern at the moment, isn't it? Did André Dezel make it harder for him to get back into the team?
08:33Yeah, he did alright, didn't he? I think it wasn't too bad. I thought he did quite a few
08:36interceptions and things. I feel for him a bit, because he's come in and a lot of fans
08:43automatically haven't taken to him. He does seem to play within himself a lot of the time,
08:52a bit safe. It doesn't mean he's a bad player, but John Massino said he wants more from him.
08:58And I like him from set pieces as well, actually. But they need more, because Barry Bannon
09:04from deep just dominates the game, doesn't he? He's just controlling it,
09:07keeping the ball, drifting past players. He put the ball in for the first goal.
09:13What a player. And Pompey haven't got that at the moment. And again,
09:18they didn't really recruit him either, did they?
09:20Yeah. Talking about recruitment, it's something that Gary Whittingham honed in on BBC Solent
09:26in his post-match analysis. He's saying what we're all saying. Pompey just doesn't seem to
09:30be good enough at this moment in time. And that has to boil back to recruitment in the summer.
09:36What's your take on the recruitment? Pompey brought on 15 players,
09:40and a lot of people seemed happy at the time, but now judgments are changing.
09:46Did Pompey do enough in the transfer window? Did they have enough money to tackle this transfer
09:50window as they should have done, bearing in mind their championship status? Just what's
09:54your thoughts on the whole recruitment over the summer?
09:57Wow. Like a stock record, I've said this every time I speak to you. I only said it Thursday.
10:03Yeah, well, the financial thing is a different one, actually, which is interesting, because
10:08the Isers believe in Pompey being sustainable. And as a consequence, they increased the budget,
10:16we are told, by double. We're told that by John Massino, and Andy Cullum reiterated that recently.
10:23But clearly, Pompey are the paupers compared to everyone else in this division, because they want
10:29a sustainable route. We know a lot of clubs out there are getting a lot in debt, loans to owners,
10:38others have parachute payments to help them, that sort of thing. So Pompey can't compete there
10:42financially at all. But the consequence of that is that Pompey have a smaller budget,
10:48it's more difficult to recruit at this level. So Rich Shoes has gone for what he's got
10:56in his wallet, basically. And at the moment, it's not looking, I was gonna say value for money,
11:03it's not really value for money, is it? At the moment, the players that have been recruited
11:08aren't up to the required standard at the moment. And again, I would like to reiterate,
11:14it can change, players' forms can improve, they can develop. Abio Kamara is a prime example from
11:19last season of that. So they can get better. But at the moment, as a squad, the recruits look short.
11:28Some of them looked at the parting games were inconsistent. So they need a lot more from a lot
11:33more players. And yeah, it's always gonna come back to recruitment with Pompey and how much they
11:40spend in the summer on recruitment in terms of wages as well as transfer fees.
11:46Many seem to feel that the solution lies in the January transfer window. But there's two problems
11:51with that, I suppose. One, will Pompey be cut adrift by the end and nobody will want to come
11:56if they're looking like they could potentially come back down to League One? And two, will the
12:00owners be dipping their hands in the pockets to help salvage the situation? Is there going to be
12:04extra money in January for Pompey to spend? And also, it's a more expensive window.
12:11In January. And they need to create space in their squad. Boa, obviously, is out for the season.
12:18You've got one spot there. But as it stands, they couldn't register Lowry and Stevenson,
12:25could they? So they've got a big squad as it is. So they'll have to ship some out, presumably on
12:30loan. But yeah, well, and again, we're sort of holding out. Stoklas is going to be coming back
12:38next month in December, hoping that Colby comes back in January, the same player before his
12:49condition was detected. But there's no guarantee he will be the same player to begin with because
12:54he needs to get fit again. Yeah, exactly. Match fitness and everything that goes with that. He
12:58doesn't have another preseason, does he? So there's going to be a lot of pressure on him as well. So
13:04can they send loans back? I don't know. There's so much. I mean, there's a lot of games we play
13:09between now and then. Let's not get too dispirited. Hopefully, they can pick up a win somewhere and
13:15progress on that. But at the moment, as you judge everything in the here and now, it's not great.
13:20And it's hugely concerning. You said Pompey need to pick up a win,
13:26according to Gareth Evans, who has contributed to your book sales in this past few weeks now.
13:32Pompey 4, get that in there. He said on Skysports Owner Night that John Massini has got three games
13:38to potentially save his job. Would you agree with that there? Well, no. He signed a contract
13:48last month, in September, didn't he? And these owners have, time and again, stuck by their
13:53managers, their head coaches, and giving them time. Let's not forget what happened last year,
14:00where he's a League One Manager of the Year. Did a phenomenal job last year. And 12 games in now,
14:08and some people want the manager sacked. It's crazy, isn't it? Give the guy a chance here.
14:13It's a harder division, tougher league. I don't like making predictions. I think it's nonsense
14:21making predictions. But I did say at the start of the season that Pompey would finish 21st.
14:25Yeah. Everybody would snap their hands off now, wouldn't they?
14:30Surely, surely no one out there thought that Pompey were going to do an Ipswich. Please tell
14:36me no one out there thought that. Especially with the run of fixtures at the start. So it was always
14:44going to be a difficult season trying to stay up. That's it is. It's not about lack of ambition. It's
14:48just staying up your first season. And it is a struggle. It's not over yet, but it is a struggle.
14:55And Pompey, I don't want to say stick by your manager, because then it's going to be headlines.
15:00You'll be putting in headlines then, aren't you? Saying, back my manager. But no, it's just
15:07people seeing John Massino's name and South Sea Common in May.
15:11It's still very early in the season, despite obvious concerns and correct concerns from
15:20supporters. Yeah. Okay. Let's try and finish on a positive note. We'll try our best.
15:28Is there any way that Pompey might have any of their walking wounded maybe back for
15:33Saturday's important game at Hull? It's quite a lengthy injury list. Surely,
15:38some are on their way back, aren't they? Well, yeah. Smyd has got concussions, so he could be back.
15:47Williams may be available. He's got a hip flexor and he's back running on Thursday. Paddy Lane's
15:52injury is not as bad as first feared, so they could well be back, couldn't they? So that's
15:57something. But it's all very well having players come back from injury, but they still need to win
16:02games, whoever they pick. And the biggest misses this year at the moment are Scotland Sea and
16:09Bishop, and they're not anywhere near coming back, are they yet? So yeah, it's shuffling the pack as ever.
16:17Okay. Not the positive news that I was hoping for, but at least potentially three on their way back
16:21for that trip against Hull on Saturday. Neil, we'll wrap it up there. I know we're very busy.
16:26I appreciate your time as always, and thank you all for watching and listening. We'll be back soon.
16:31Thank you and goodbye.