‘A graveyard’: expert's verdict on Portsmouth's Fratton Park after latest Championship win v Leeds United
Fratton Park has become ‘a graveyard’ for Championship teams this season.
That’s according to EFL expert Ali Maxwell, who is also adamant Pompey’s decision to stick with John Mousinho has proved pivotal in the Blues’ escape from the relegation dogfight.
League leaders Leeds were the latest side to be dismissed at PO4 as the hosts’ excellent run on home soil continued.
In fact, they’ve only fallen to defeats against two of the Championship’s top 10 sides so far this season, following losses against Sunderland and West Brom at the start of the campaign.
Mousinho’s men have held automatic promotion hopefuls Burnley and Sheffield United to goalless draws, while they enjoyed emphatic victories over play-offs-chasing Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Coventry respectively.
As Leeds became the latest side to flounder at fortress Fratton, Maxwell labelled the Blues’ home the toughest place to currently visit in English football.
Speaking on his popular Not The Top 20 podcast, he said: ‘Portsmouth is possibly the toughest place to go in the Championship right now. The football cliche “tough place to go”, it can’t apply to a top team in the division.
‘It never gets used like Manchester City or Arsenal and they’re tough. You could say Elland Road is a tough place to go or Bramall Lane, but it wouldn’t be fitting to the true vibe of the phrase.
‘I think Portsmouth and Fratton Park is the toughest place to go and that’s how it turned out for Leeds. It’s a graveyard.’
Pompey reaping rewards of sticking with John Mousinho
Sunday’s 1-0 win against Leeds propelled Pompey clear of the relegation battle at the foot of the table, with the Blues now 10 points clear of third-from-bottom Derby.
That’s an incredible achievement given Mousinho’s men picked up just one win from their opening 14 games following their return to the Championship.
Maxwell believes Pompey are reaping the benefits of sticking with the head coach, despite a difficult start to the campaign.
‘It’s so fun to watch when a team is in the shape Portsmouth are in at the moment, where they’re achieving what they set out to do and went through some tough and challenging circumstances to do so.
‘Remember during the first two months of the season where every Monday we were wondering “so Portsmouth, they haven’t won yet, I wonder if they ever will?” That fixture list was brutal and we wondered about the benefits or the drawbacks of having such a tough fixture list. You’ve got to be brave and you’ve got to grit your teeth because it is a long season.
‘In September, you’re not thinking it’s a long season, you're thinking when are we going to win a football match because we’re losing pace already.
‘Now, here we are and everything’s fine and dandy and the love and the pride the fans have in the team as well as the manager at the moment is really special and it doesn’t happen all the time. Maybe a couple of clubs across the country, but most of them are going to be promotion candidates rather than teams batting to stay up.
‘I like it especially because they’re the only team in the bottom 10 in the Championship not to have sacked their manager this season and not to have rolled the dice and given up on the manager they have previously thought was a good thing.
‘Mousinho just gets better and better seemingly, which is super exciting for Pompey and for English football overall.’