Gaffer For A Day: Forget Michael Eisner and money - this is something for Portsmouth to celebrate
Gaffer For A Day, Andy Arnell, aged 71 from Marston Green, West Midlands, assesses Pompey’s 5-1 defeat at Coventry...
So Pompey have secured Championship survival.
It was one game too far, they ran out of steam after five brilliant matches, Coventry are a good side, you cannot deny that and, when we lose Terry Devlin and Keshi Anderson to injury, our depth is just not there. It’s easy to moan, but it was just a case of one game too far and us not having enough steam.
It was the nicest 5-1 defeat I have ever walked away from. I got the feeling Coventry were quite pleased for us as well, while we were clapping for the winning the title and saying well done. It was all very, very nice at the end and all very pally.
You have to say that’s a great, great achievement. People can go on about the Eisners and the money, but we stayed up and I think it’s something to celebrate, especially doing that with two games to spare.
What next for Pompey then?
I thought this year we needed to tackle the strength in depth - and I still think the strength in depth needs to be taken onto another level.
We’ve got to replace Marlon Pack, bless his cotton socks we missed him against Coventry. That might be a selection error or it might be just resting him, but I dread next year if we haven’t got someone who’s going to replace him.
He can't go on forever, it would be naive to think so, but we need to invest in that creative midfielder, a Pack-esque type of player, because without that we’re going to struggle.
You also need something around Colby Bishop, either to replace him or to get someone to back him up.
In addition, we need to sort out our central defenders, there are six of them and I’m not entirely sure any of them are long-term Championship players.
That might be unfair, but some are injury prone and some are very inexperienced and have doubts over their ability. There are too many of them, so Mousinho needs to sort it out.
Who stood out for you?
Well the goal Adrian Segecic scored was decent, so it will have to be him.
He’s a youngster, whether he’s got enough I don’t know yet, he just needs more time. If you get a return of seven goals in your first Championship season then you’ve got to be a decent player.
There’s a player there and whether he can do that sustainably next year only time will tell, although he’s got to get beyond a one-trick pony.
He scored a good goal at Coventry, along with another 2-3 other decent goals during the season, and certainly in the first half he was eye-catching. I like him as a player.
It doesn’t seem you were impressed with Nicolas Schmid
There's obviously a player there and he’s been good to us and he has been reliable to us, but he has let some howlers in, a few of those on Tuesday night.
Schmid needs to prove himself and show that he’s got it. My perception is there’s something missing from his game and we now have the chance to put that right.
Coming at the opposite end, I was a long way from the first game we conceded, but it looked to me that, between him and the centre-half, they messed it up. It was sloppy defending.
As for that second goal, words escape me.
Nicolas Schmid - 4
Jordan Williams - 5
Regan Poole - 5
Madiodio Dia - 5
Connor Ogilvie - 5
Andre Dozzell - 5
Ebou Adams - 5
Adrian Segecic - 7
Conor Chaplin - 5
Milli Alli - 5
Colby Bishop - 5