Gaffer For A Day: I'm very worried about Portsmouth - I'm not sure our quality has improved this season
Gaffer For A Day, Matt Penny, aged 31 from Fareham, assesses Pompey’s 3-2 defeat at Hull...
How do you assess Pompey’s performance?
The first 25 minutes was probably one of the best pressing attacking performances I have seen from us for a while.
Hull’s first goal kind of knocked the wind out of us a bit and maybe we emptied the tank in that opening 20 minutes, but I like how Conor Chaplin is now stepping up and leading the press.
We deserved a point. The Hull third goal, of course, was a big lapse in concentration at the back, but 2-2 would have been fair.
Sometimes you come away really disheartened and concerned for the rest of the season. But I came away from that with hope that, if we can make that opening 20 minutes a long-term thing and really push that onto 60 minutes, we can take it to a lot of teams.
How concerned are you about four defeats in five games?
I remember being on a massive winless run and rock bottom last season - and we are doing a bit better now.
However, I don’t know if the team has progressed that much in terms of quality and I do worry about where we are. Now teams around us are going to start getting points, including Southampton.
Now we have some good rest time. We were in a horrible run of games, but after that have slightly easier teams on paper coming up. When we get the injured players back, it will be great and the depth will be better.
Who’s your man of the match?
Scoring two from right wing-back alone is a great feat, but Terry Devlin barely let a Hull player get past him all game and showed endless energy. It was almost a complete footballing performance.
It took a bit of shine off it when he was booked for a reckless challenge and there were a couple of good crossing options which could have ended in goal-scoring opportunities, but a solid nine is justified.
He’s suited for anywhere on the pitch, I have never known a player like him. The song ‘Terry Devlin plays where he wants’ is perfectly fitted to him. It’s unreal, you could put him up front in the next game and he would do a great job.
With that performance, he should be one of the first names on the team-sheet. Pompey fans love a player who gives 110 per cent no matter what.
What to do about Colby Bishop?
He’s got a special place in a lot of Pompey fans’ hearts, but, at the moment, Makenzie Kirk seems to get into the much better goal-scoring opportunities. Bishop isn’t getting anywhere near the goals, he’s getting nothing.
Kirk is missing a few opportunities, but at least he’s getting there. It’s not a bad thing to drop Colby, it’s not a criticism of his ability, something isn't right at the moment, so give Kirk a run and see if he can put those chances away.
We love Colby, we just want to see him get back to his best. Let him have a bit of rest and, when he returns, the team may be performing better.
Josef Bursik - 5
Regan Poole - 6
Josh Knight - 5
Ibane Bowat - 5
Terry Devlin - 9
Jordan Williams - 6
Luke Le Roux - 6 (Marlon Pack 7)
Andre Dozzell - 6
Conor Chaplin - 7
Colby Bishop - 6
Josh Murphy - 8