'Didn't really see this coming' - Portsmouth told they're a huge concern ahead of 'big' Wrexham and Hull games
Concerns have been raised about Pompey’s slide down the Championship table after three straight defeats
Pompey are currently ‘not the team that we thought we were going to see’.
That’s the honest verdict of Not The Top 20’s George Elek, who has been sharing his thoughts on the Blues following Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at the hands of Birmingham City at St Andrew’s.
The loss, which was Pompey’s sixth of the Championship season and their third in a row, saw John Mousinho’s side slip to 20th in the table and just four points above the relegation zone.
It also saw the Blues head coach drop attacking duo Colby Bishop and Conor Chaplin, who have just one goal between them this season, with the Fratton Park side having the joint-lowest goalscoring record in the division alongside fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United (10).
Pompey have two games before the next international break to stop their slide against Wrexham and Hull respectively. Two games which Pompey legend Guy Whittingham termed ‘must-wins’.
However, Elek believes it won’t be easy on current form and with the Blues ‘chopping and changing’ in search of a winning formula.
Elek - ‘Often a bit of a red flag for me’
Speaking on the latest episode of the Not The Top 20 Podcast, Elek said: ‘Pompey are the team right now I’m looking at, the one I’m pretty concerned about. I didn't really see this coming.
‘Chaplain and Bishop both dropped from this one (against Birmingham), which Hugh on our NTT20 group said was a bit of a swipe at the church, which I thought was quite a good line. But, you know, they're not the team that we thought we were going to see, they're not really the team that started the season relatively brightly.
‘(They’re) finding it really difficult in games at the moment, like second best in most. Some of the summer signings, certainly Swift being one, (are) just not really performing; some players from last season who looked really good, Dozzell being one - not necessarily performing, too.
‘Obviously, injuries playing a huge part as well. But, you know, it feels like Pompey… whenever you see a team struggling, normally there's a kind confidence or a calmness, but now Pompey seem to be trying to chop and change pretty regularly to find a winning formula, and that is often a bit of a red flag to me.
‘So, yeah, they need to work out how to improve - (this is) a big week or so for them. They host Wrexham in midweek - a bad time to play Wrexham I would argue - and then they go to Hull on Saturday, who at least we know defensively give a lot away, even if they are a bit of a winning machine at the moment.
‘But, yeah, it feels like a big week for Pompey and Mousinho, because if this continues, I think Pompey fans are going to get quite frustrated.’
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