The latest episode of Pompey Talk is back as Mark McMahon and Neil Allen discuss Pompey's deadline day business and the transfer window in general, with eight players in and eight heading out before the window slammed shut.
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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 Transfer Deadline Day with Pompey is the news's chief sports writer
00:12Neil Allen. Neil, welcome.
00:13Hello.
00:14A bit of a hectic finish on Monday. Two ins, three outs with a lot of the business done
00:22in the last two hours of the window.
00:24It was two ins, four outs. It was just chaos. You lose track. It's easy to lose track.
00:29The last three hours, it was just bedlam, wasn't it? Players coming and going and all
00:35sorts happening.
00:36Yeah. Remind me who the fourth one was there? I've got Mox and McIntyre-Nars. For some reason
00:42I've forgotten who the fourth one was.
00:44Scully.
00:45Scully.
00:46Ah, there you go. That explains it all then.
00:50All this happened in the last three hours of the transfer window.
00:52Yeah, yeah.
00:53It's been a bit quiet, isn't it? Suddenly boom at the very, very end. Yes, it was a
01:00frenetic, frantic end to the window.
01:03Yes. Let's talk then about the incoming first and foremost, Ben Killop. He was the surprise
01:10new arrival on Monday night. Kate Gordon, we were anticipating that happening, so Ben
01:17Killop seemed to be the one that was put under the radar a wee bit.
01:22Yeah, yeah. It was interesting because it was made very clear, wasn't it, that Norris
01:27had no future at Pompey and they're trying to offload him. And then Norris leaves and
01:35they've got replacements. So I suppose you look at that situation, that allows Toby Stewart
01:40to go out on loan once more and continue his development in non-league football. It worries
01:46him very well. So that's good for him rather than being third choice and not playing for
01:50anybody sitting on his backside for the rest of the season.
01:54And also it's interesting to see where Killop fits in with the battle with Jordan Archer
02:01for the number two spot because he's started 17 championship games this season. In fact,
02:07up until their last game, he was regular in the starting line-up.
02:11League one games?
02:13Yeah. So yes, league one. So he's not just arrived here to be third choice, presumably,
02:20on a six months deal. So it'd be interesting to see how that works out. But at the end
02:27of the day, it's just plugging a hole, isn't it? It's not going to impact on the first
02:31team, you would think, unless there's a flurry of injuries to their goalies. So it's just
02:37keeping Pompey with strength in depth, which we've all called for. We've all wanted strength
02:41in depth. This is an example. So it's not really to criticise Pompey bringing in a third
02:46choice keeper, is it?
02:47Yeah, yeah. What's your thoughts on the Kate Gordon move? We all know Pompey wanted to
02:52add to their attacking options on the final day. His name was dropped in maybe a week
02:56beforehand. They finally got it across the line. Is that a good bit of business from
03:00Pompey?
03:01Yeah, it remains to be seen. But Pompey said before that Pompey needed to bring two attackers
03:05in and he's the second one, isn't he? So it just gives options from the bench, which in
03:10that position, which they've not had previously in the season. Paddy Lane's come in, hasn't
03:17he? And he's not quite been up to it so far, has he? Now, unfortunately, he's injured for
03:22the rest of the season at a time when he was improving in fairness. Harvey Blair's nowhere
03:27near it. And the fact that he's not even used on the bench these days, he barely gets in
03:32the squad either. Silvera has rightly gone back to Middlesbrough. So the choice for the
03:38wing options, barely anything there, has it? And Pompey continue to beast the attacking
03:44three who have been very good to them this season. But they're going to get tied in games.
03:49They're going to get tied from game to game. Teams need more energy on occasions in matches
03:56so that they need more options in those positions. I think, again, everyone can agree to that.
04:01Now they have. Whether or not it comes off remains to be seen. We don't know. We haven't
04:06seen enough of him. But I'm very pleased they've brought in a player that fits that
04:11bill to challenge for a first-team spot.
04:14Right. In terms of the exits then, let's not go for the obvious one first, but let's go
04:20for Tom McIntyre. We're surprised by that. Again, everybody expected Rayleigh Tyler to
04:25be the one, out of the central defensive options, to leave. But in fact, it was McIntyre who
04:30went to Charton in the end, although...
04:32Yeah, obviously, transfer window changes really quickly. And there was a lot of interest in
04:38Rayleigh Tyler for a long time. He started 10 championship games. It was very attractive.
04:44But for whatever reason, nothing could be worked out anyway. And McIntyre goes instead.
04:49You do wonder, and it's one to speak to John Massino tomorrow at the press conference,
04:53whether it was a case of one or the other to go on loan rather than both of them. So
04:58it doesn't leave Pompey too short. But McIntyre's gone. Well, he's not played a minute of the
05:05league, has he, since he had an awful performance at Derby. And then he came in for Wycombe
05:10in the Cup and didn't play well there. He's had some good moments since he returned from
05:15injury, but it's been really difficult for him, hasn't it? And he slipped so far down
05:20the pecking order. He was behind Towler as well. I know Towler was omitted from the squad
05:25recently, and McIntyre was ahead of him, but generally McIntyre was behind Towler.
05:30So it makes sense. He needs games from, he's had a lot of injuries at Pompey. Like it's
05:37very similar to the Regan Paul situation where Regan Paul came straight into the team after
05:41a long-term injury. He caught up with him and picked up with Nicholls and his form was
05:45up and down. Same with McIntyre, apart from the injury Nicholls, his form's been up and
05:49down after being so long out with thirsty, a broken ankle and then a hamstring. So hopefully
05:56he's a lovely lad, really nice lad, Tom McIntyre. Hopefully he gets some games at Charleston
06:01and comes back stronger.
06:02Yeah. Owen Moxham went to Stockport. That was announced very, very close to the deadline.
06:09Were you surprised by that one? Bear in mind, Pompey have got four, well five if you count
06:14Kamara, bodies you can play in the centre midfield. But there's sort of a worry that
06:19could injuries hamper that there. Were you surprised that Moxham was allowed to leave?
06:25Not at all. I'm more surprised that some people are saying they're disappointed to see him
06:30leave because he never showed he was capable of playing in the Championship. I know it's
06:35easy to say, oh well, he wasn't a good enough match. He played against Bristol City. He
06:41wasn't a good enough start, that is correct. But he played against Bristol City, didn't
06:45he, when they rotated it and that failed. He played against Wickham in a sort of slightly
06:50different position and that in the FA Cup and that failed. For me, he hasn't shown any
06:55glimpses that he's capable of adjusting to this level. And not every player coming from
06:59League One can adjust to the Championship level. It's taken Ogilvy a long time to adjust, hasn't
07:05it? Paddy Lane's not yet. And I hadn't seen anything from Moxham whatsoever, apart from
07:11commitment and work rate, to show that he was capable of that level. And John Massino,
07:17he seems to share a similar opinion because he barely used him off the bench. Let's face
07:22it, there was a spell when he wasn't even in the squad and he's not been used off the
07:25bench for a long time as well in matches, has he? So he was falling further down the
07:30pecking order as well. So apart from Kamara, the other former fielders for me are far superior
07:37to Owen Moxham. And it seems a natural one. And obviously let's, let's remember the player
07:43also has a say in it. And the player clearly wants to go to games. That's why he, I'm sorry,
07:48he wanted to play games. That's why he considered a permanent move to Stockport. So he now goes
07:55back to League One and good luck to him. Another good lad. What an important goal last season
08:00against Derby as well. Gave everything. But Pompey have to strengthen this squad. And
08:07we'll probably go back to this. I believe they've strengthened it massively with players
08:11who haven't quite clicked to the championship, moved on.
08:14Yeah. Pompey obviously got a wee bit of money for Owen Moxham. The same can't be said though
08:19for Will Norris, who was released, I think the statement from the club said, released
08:24from his contract so that he could join Wycombe. One, your thoughts on Norris' departure and
08:30two, were you surprised that Pompey didn't actually get a fee for him in the end?
08:34He had 18 months to his contract left. When he signed, he was one of the top earners when
08:41I, when he signed. Obviously that was the summer of 2023. So it's, it's, it's, it's
08:49interesting situation. And one, hopefully I'm speaking to the club about soon. Did it
08:54make financial sense to release him from his contract? Obviously they would have negotiated
08:57that for 18 months is a lot of money for him to give up. So he would have had a substantial
09:03curse as well, wouldn't he? Really? But he had no future here. There are too many goalies.
09:11And clearly behind the scenes, he wasn't happy with being omitted after the Stoke game. And
09:17it was best for all parties. He left. It's sad that somebody who probably so brilliantly
09:22last season left in that manner. But you can understand it because he needs games.
09:28He wasn't even second choice for Pompey. Jordan Archer was preferred. Obviously he came back
09:33for Blackburn, didn't he? When Archer was injured and on the bench in front of 13,000
09:39soulless Ewood Park. And that was the last we saw of him. Very sad ending to be fair
09:45for somebody who did so much for Pompey last year, but he'll be always, always remembered
09:49because he was the only player that started every game of that fantastic League One title
09:54winning season. And he'll be fondly remembered. And there's some lovely messages from fans
09:59towards him as well. So good luck to him again, because he's done a lot for the club and it
10:05was absolutely gutted, clearly, that he lost his place. So he felt he had to leave.
10:11Yeah. One of my abiding memories of that night against Barnsley was that picture of John
10:17Massino and Will Norris embraced as they stood over the crowds in the South Stand.
10:23You could see just how much it meant to both of them. And they appreciated the role each
10:28of them played in Pompey's title success. That there situation that presented itself
10:34on transfer day, nobody could have predicted that there back then, back in the opening
10:39day of the season. It really is like a real moment where you're just going, how did this
10:45happen? Was John Massino, he got them after the Stoke game, was that harsh or was it deserved?
10:51It was a difficult one because he actually started the season, I think he started the
10:56first eight Championship games as well. And Jordan Archer has been a number two goalkeeper
11:04for a while. And Nicholas Smyth, outside the club, we didn't know too much about him, did
11:09he? So he had some man of the match performance as well. Millersbrough, Sheffield United at
11:14home, Luton, he had some really good games, but there also been errors, hadn't there?
11:21And there were errors in that Stoke debacle, of course, he wasn't the only one who had
11:24a stinker, but he did, unfortunately. And how the Pompey transfer model works, they
11:31don't pay 200 grand, 300 grand or whatever for Nicholas Smyth to have him as number three.
11:38They don't work like that, Pompey. So they must have had an eye on him being number one
11:42eventually to Norris. And unfortunately for Norris, it came sooner rather than later.
11:47Again, Smyth has proven his quality. There's no denying he is Pompey's best goalkeeper.
11:53Yeah, yes, completely, completely. He's certainly warranted being promoted and he's deserved
12:01to stay there since. So that's not a problem in the moment, the goalkeeper issue, is it?
12:06No, no, he's fine. Obviously, he made mistakes recently, but no, I think he's been very good,
12:12especially coming from a different country into leagues he's not performed in before.
12:17And he's settled in very, very well. So he deserves a lot of credit for how he's performed so far.
12:22Just one final thing on Norris. You mentioned there's been quite a lot of good messages
12:27posted by Pompey fans on social media, thanking him for what he did for Pompey.
12:32And also a lovely note from Will Norris himself posted on Rex, just expressing how he felt playing
12:38for Pompey, the crowds, playing for a club of Pompey's stature, the League One title win.
12:45You could see it meant an awful lot for him. So he leaves with a heavy heart as well, doesn't it?
12:49Yeah, exactly. And great memories, isn't it? What Pompey did last year.
12:55And he'll always be fondly remembered because of that. So, yeah, it's a sad way to end,
13:02but inevitable, wasn't it, for a long time? It wasn't a shock. It's just sad how football
13:09works sometimes, best for both parties, isn't it? Just like it was sad to say goodbye to
13:15Sean Raggett and Joe Rafferty and Joe Morrell as well, isn't it, in the summer,
13:20who were part of that title win.
13:22OK, then. Well, just turning to your general thoughts on the transfer window itself,
13:27Pompey brought in eight players in total, four of which were loanees,
13:31released eight. I keep on forgetting Anthony Scully. How would you sum up Pompey's transfer window?
13:39Yeah, they've filled the gaps in the squad, such as Bramwell's come in as a left-back to cover
13:47for Ogilvy. They've sorted out the goalkeeper situation because they were trying to offload
13:53Norris. They've added some more attacking options, which they desperately needed.
13:58They've added Atkinson in the centre of defence, which they desperately needed,
14:02and he will be first choice the rest of the season. They recruited another central midfielder
14:07in Isaac Hayden, again, desperately needed. So they've strengthened all over the pitch.
14:12They've plugged the gaps. There's competition for every spot. And nobody can tell me that the
14:19squad is now weaker than when they went into the transfer window. It is far, far stronger
14:25as a squad. And I would argue that Rob Atkinson is one of the best defenders I've got at the club
14:35now as well. So they've improved that. Now, obviously, you can debate about whether more
14:40money should have been spent. Was it a gamble bringing the two Aussie kids over for £1.2
14:47million in Matthews' case? You could argue with that. But again, they're looking to the future
14:52as well as now in terms of the loans. But I've always said I'm not fussed how much Pompey spend
14:58in the transfer window, as long as they bring in the required quality to keep them up. I'm not
15:03obsessed with he's a free transfer, therefore he must be rubbish. He's worth £1 million,
15:09£2 million, therefore he must be wonderful. He's on loan, therefore he's not very good.
15:16Just let's judge them as they are at Pompey. There were people doubting Atkinson before he came as
15:21well. So I think he's been a tremendous signing as well. So as long as Pompey bring the right
15:26calibre of players in the football club to keep them up, that's good for me. I don't care if it's
15:31permanent or not. So we shall now sit back and wait and see, won't we really? But I'll be
15:36encouraged by, as I say, I keep banging on about Atkinson. Him and Shottonis here are going to be
15:40huge for the rest of the season. Hayden's been up and down, isn't he? But he's competing for those
15:49midfield spots, isn't he? And we saw how Dezel stepped up with the competition, didn't we,
15:54against Burnley. And Ushe, I don't know how you pronounce it. Ushe? Yeah, we'll be looking forward
16:04to how he performs as well. So yes, they've brought eight in. Yeah, and then you've got the
16:10whole debate, haven't you, about six lone players and there's only five matchday spots for lone
16:16players. That's another debate. Yeah, we'll touch on that in a second, like, but I've heard
16:21Andrew Cohn say this. I've heard Joe Massino say this. As long as... They must always be stronger
16:26at the end of the window than it was when they entered it. You're of the opinion, though,
16:31Pompey on paper are a lot stronger. A better squad that can at least compete to survive in
16:38the Championship over the rest of the season? Well, they're massively stronger. They're massively
16:42improved in the window. They've got a stronger squad. Now it's down to them to show they can
16:48compete. They are currently two places above the relegation zone, so they've got a fighting chance
16:55at the moment. And you just hope that these additions to the squad, which does make it better,
17:00is sufficient enough to continue keeping Pompey above those relegation spots. And again, I'm not
17:07one for predicting how players do before I've seen them play. I want to see them play for Pompey.
17:11So we shall see. I'm not going to say so-and-so is a world beater. We shall see. But I'm more
17:19encouraged with the squad than I was on January the 1st. Everyone should be. But we wait to see
17:25whether that is sufficiently improved to keep them in the Championship. Yeah, I think everybody
17:31has the same opinion. You can just see the social media reaction when Joe Massino named his starting
17:36XI in bench for the game against Burnley. There seemed to be an awful lot more confidence in the
17:41options Pompey had. And that was before Uche arrived. Well, you couldn't say, you couldn't play.
17:46That was before Kate Gordon arrived. So there was an awful lot of positivity there. They could see
17:52that Pompey were getting stronger there. Is Conor Shaughnessy though, is he like a brand new signing
17:58for Pompey? Bear in mind he's come in and already he's picked up the pace at Championship level. So
18:03he needs to be considered as a positive as well as in January, like a new signing. Yeah, if you
18:08look at, I think what I worked out the other day, there have been, what's that noise? There's noise
18:14there. That's why I'm moving. But yeah, Pompey had 10 centre-half partnerships in the Championship
18:22this season. On occasions, they've had Riley Taylor with Marlon Pack. Jordan Williams has
18:28served there. They've had nowhere near their first choice centre-half partnerships. They've got that
18:33now. We saw that on Saturday. That is in place. Let's hope those two play every game. Because
18:39again, that's a huge part of keeping Pompey up. So yeah, they have that now. It was always a weak
18:46spot. Pompey have got the second-worst defensive record in this division. But they've only played
18:52one game with their first choice centre-halves. They were never going to be as good. And that's
18:56an issue hopefully now resolved. Yeah. One issue that's still cropped up though is the six loans.
19:03We've mentioned it briefly. Six loans, but only five in a matchday squad. Who's the loans? You've
19:09got Freddie Potts, you've got Rob Atkinson, you've got Isaac Hayden, you've got Marco Mahony, you've
19:13got Ushe and you've got Cade Gordon. What's Pompey doing there? That's very good. You did that quickly,
19:19didn't you? I've got it all written down here. But yeah, there's clearly a problem there, isn't there?
19:26It's not ideal, is it? It's really rare I've seen it at Pompey. It doesn't happen to clubs
19:33often really. You know, we stop at the five, don't you? So who misses out? Atkinson starts, Hayden's
19:41on the bench, all starts. Ushe's going to be involved for the rest of the season, you can imagine.
19:46That's three of them. Who else have you got there? Potts of course. You've got Potts, Mahony and Gordon.
19:53Potts starts, that's Gordon and Omani. Liverpool recalled Gordon from Norwich because he wasn't
19:59playing enough. He played 10 times, including I think his one championship start. And Omani,
20:05who's coming back from injury and is really the only proper alternative to Colby Bishop at front
20:11at the moment. How can you drop Omani from the squad? And people are saying that Bishop looked
20:19a bit tired against Burnley, and I can see that. He wasn't at his best, but you can't constantly
20:25drop the only alternative from the squad. And then you've got Gordon who gives more options
20:31on the wing, don't you, as well, which we've already said is so, so important. It's going to
20:36be a tough one, isn't it? I'm not quite sure how they're going to do that. Well, it's obviously
20:40not going to do that. They have to drop one of them. But how are they going to come to that
20:43conclusion of which one to drop? Presumably game by game. Yeah, exactly. And obviously,
20:48we all know injuries have had such a massive impact on Pompey's season already. There's no
20:52guarantee that all six are going to be available between now and the end of the season. And of
20:56course, Yang is still a month away as well. So Omani's back in training last week. So he's
21:02probably still a couple of weeks away. But Yang is still a month away. So when he's back, I suppose,
21:11it makes the situation a bit better, doesn't it? But he's not back at the moment and the
21:16injuries have picked up. So Omani has to play a part, surely, as a backup to Bishop for a while.
21:22Yeah, yeah. I suppose it's a selection headache that John Massino would welcome,
21:27rather than a selection headache brought on by injuries and he's got nothing to choose from.
21:32Yeah, and don't get me wrong. I'm not criticising the club over this because
21:35it's a needs must, isn't it? I wrote an article about this yesterday.
21:39It's a case of, in the here and now, Pompey have to stand in Championship.
21:44So they brought in lone players from teams above them in the league or teams from high divisions
21:51to improve the squad. So I get that. I understand that because Pompey may need them to stay up.
21:58So I've not got an issue with that, with a bit of short-termism. We saw long-termism
22:04in the summer with some of the signings I made. Again, I reiterate it, too many for tomorrow,
22:09not enough for today. So now Pompey at least are focusing on today to keep them in the Championship,
22:14which is the most important thing at this moment in time, rather than developing players or give
22:18him a chance, give him a go. No, no, no, don't give him a go. Pompey, you have to stay in this
22:23division. Pick your best team. Don't beast them and pick up injuries. You've got to look after
22:30them as well. So yeah, you've got to juggle that as well. But I've got no issue with more
22:35loans arriving to keep Pompey in the Championship. Yeah, hopefully there's not as many midweek games
22:41between now and the end of Season 2, which will also help Pompey in terms of their rest,
22:46injury situation as well. We're going to have to wrap up before we do. Just one final question.
22:52Were you surprised that Kamara, Harvey Blair are still there? Were you anticipating maybe
22:57a loan loose for them on transfer deadline day? Yeah, John was saying a few times that he doesn't
23:01want them to go. He wants them around the place. You don't know if he was interested or not either.
23:10But considering the squad has been strengthened so much, I don't expect them to be in the 20-man
23:16squad for many games the rest of the season, unless there's injuries. So yeah, hopefully they'll
23:22develop and come back stronger next year. But by the end of the season, they wouldn't have played
23:28much part in Pompey either staying up or getting relegated. No problem. Okay, Neil, thank you very
23:36much for your time. I know you've had a hectic day yesterday and I'm just adding to your workload
23:40today. So much appreciated. I hope you enjoyed that too. We'll be back again, probably Thursday,
23:46Freddie, for another Pompey Talk. Until then, thank you and goodbye.