Gaffer For A Day: Portsmouth need to make a big decision about Colby Bishop
Gaffer For A Day Nick Smith, aged 44 from Gosport, analyses Pompey’s 1-0 defeat to Hull...
What do you make of that performance?
Driving up the Eastern Road at 10am, the sun was shining, it was like our win against Leeds last season. Walking into Fratton Park, there was that positive feeling, a real confidence going into the game.
We were worthy of the draw, we looked the better team, we had the majority of the ball. But it was a repeat of Sheffield United, there’s nothing going forward, there’s no end product - and we lost.
When you make silly errors like we did in our own box, then what do you expect? You’re just giving it to Hull on a plate. We were definitely worth a draw, so it was a point lost.
It has been a heavy schedule, five games in 15 days, and four of those are teams up there in the play-off positions. We looked tired on Saturday, but we are relying on goals from defenders and midfielders.
Who stood out for you?
Choosing our man of the match is quite a tough one, there was no real Roy of the Rovers performances, it was a frustrating result.
You could have given it to any of the back four, who have consistently been good recently, but I’m going to choose Terry Devlin, who put in a shift and won a lot of the ball.
If Connor Ogilvie hadn't been out injured, he would get my player of the season vote at the moment. If it wasn’t for Josh Murphy last season, Ogilvie could have got last year.
But, such have been Devlin’s performances this season, he should get it in my eyes. He’s getting better and better with each game. He’s grown into a leader, he is quality.
How do you see Adrian Segecic’s mistake?
It was suicide. I didn’t think Segecic was having a good game anyway, his crosses either go to no-one or they don’t beat the last man. He really does need to practice them and his set-pieces.
With that goal, he could quite easily have cleared it. Then he got the ball back and made that wayward pass leaving Nicolas Schmid on his own.
When I saw the starting line-up with John Swift out being injured, I was quite excited about watchig Segecic in the 10 role. He should be doing better, though.
I have my doubts about him because of his size. He’s scored some goals this season, but he always wants to take that extra touch. If he could just fire off the ball first time then we’d get more out of him.
How do you assess Colby Bishop’s ongoing form?
I’m all for Colby, but Mousinho has got to make a tough decision for Blackburn. I think we’re better with him on the field, he offers more than Jacob Brown does.
However, there are a lot of people calling for him to be dropped. We will see what happens next weekend.
I sit in the North Lower, there’s definitely some negativity towards Colby. He wasn’t particularly very good on Saturday, he normally holds the ball up quite well, but had an off-day.
I can't put my finger on why. Nothing's going his way and the more and more he doesn’t score, the more and more he will feel that weight on his shoulders. Compared to last season, he’s a completely different player.
Nicolas Schmid - 6
Terry Devlin - 7
Regan Poole - 7
Connor Ogilvie - 7
Zak Swanson - 7
Marlon Pack - 7
Ebou Adams - 7
Harvey Blair - 5
Adrian Segecic - 5
Millenic Alli - 6
Colby Bishop - 6