'Had to be done' - Portsmouth boss's controversial decision to sub 'best' player during Southampton game defended
Ebou Adams was a key player for Pompey against Southampton up until his substitution on 65 minutes
John Mousinho had no other choice but to substitute Ebou Adams during Pompey’s derby defeat against Southampton.
That’s the verdict of The News’ chief sports writer Neill Allen, who believes the midfielder would likely have been sent off if he had not been withdrawn during the second half at St Mary’s.
Adams was undoubtedly the Blues’ best outfield player for the latest south-coast match-up between the two fierce rivals.
Yet he found himself withdrawn from the action and replaced by Odin Bailey on 65 minutes, despite Pompey trailing 1-0 to a Southampton side that had been reduced to 10 men following Cam Bragg’s sending off for a second bookable offence one minute before half-time.
Adams was the player involved in both incidents which saw the home midfielder eventually dismissed by referee Adam Herczeg.
The 30-year-old was also spotted squaring up to Southampton duo Ryan Manning and Flynn Downes either side of a booking he received for shoving the former to the ground in the 35th minute.
Despite his influence on the game, the former Derby man was clearly walking a disciplinary tightrope.
And according to Allen, that left Blues boss with no alternative but to bring him off with just under a third of the fixture remaining.
Mousinho ‘had to take him off’
Speaking in the latest episode of Pompey Talk, and after the Blues failed to find an equaliser at St Mary’s Allen said: ‘He was probably Pompey’s best out-field player.
‘(But) the thing is, Southampton were down to 10 men, Adams was on a booking, he was in every conversation, he was in every moment when there was a bit of aggro between the sides. He was always there.
‘Every time a Pompey player made a foul, the Southampton fans were on their feet going: “book him, ref”, “yellow card, yellow card”, and all that business because they’d had a player sent off.
‘In the back of your mind, you're thinking: “the ref might want to even this out, he’s already sent one player off, perhaps he could send another off”.
‘So he (Mousinho) had to take him off.
‘If you're there as well, in the atmosphere, south-coast derby, down to 10 men, the opposition fans pleading, shouting, demanding bookings at every occasion, Adams was the obvious one to go off.
‘He (Mousinho) also brought off Jayden Meghoma for that same reason as well, because he was on a booking.
‘I think with Adams especially, it had to be done.
‘Pompey suffered because of it, but they couldn’t have risked him getting sent off, and it could easily have happened.’
‘Why I prefer him to Rocco Shein’
When asked if Mousinho should have demanded Adams rein it in rather than withdrawing his star player from the action altogether, Allen responded: ‘You’ve got to remember, every flashpoint in that game, he was involved in. From the first minute.
‘That's why I prefer him to Rocco Shein in midfield as well, by the way.
‘He gets involved like that. And even the Azaz incident (which saw the Southampton midfielder avoid a red card), I thought he (Adams) made a foul on him before that.
‘Azaz went in on him and it was a terrible tackle,
‘He was a victim in that incident, but he was involved in everything.’
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