stfrancisofbenali

It was only moments ago that people like you were singing ‘Tonda at the wheel’. What a pathetically fickle lot we are.

Any team that ups the intensity against us has a chance. Azaz and Wood awful. Playoffs at the very best but not sure we have the fight.

Carragher wasn’t taking about us specifically but it was an interesting point in the context of an away performance in which the defensive side of our game meant that we would need to score three (again) to have any chance of winning. True that defence AND attack needs to be at the top of our game to get a result on Saturday. The wider point is that (home or away) our defence is not providing a solid base for us to grind out results with only one clean sheet in eight.

Jamie Carragher just made an interesting point on Super Sunday about defending away from home. He said that as a defender that’s where you knew you could win the game for your team, whereas at home is when the attackers win the game for you. On the evidence of yesterday, our defensive unit don’t have this ingrained into them. They were all over the place and Coventry will rip us apart if we don’t tighten up and show some positional nous.

Too many players below par today, Jander in particular who has generally been magnificent. Norwich were the first team to work out how to nullify Scienza and were simply hungrier and more aggressive than us. We had 30 mins after they scored their second and didn’t even try and lay a glove on them which is worrying.

Rolls Royce of a player. Scienza deservedly gets the headlines but Jander is the beating heart.

A young Tony Kroos. A very classy player.

Saints players were coming off saying we love this manager and want to play for him. He’s certainly made an impact!

I think SR were about to appoint GON and then realised they couldn't after the Sheff Weds game. So, we are left with Tonda as no-one else available, affordable or appropriate. Fanbase can't shout no to GON and then complain bitterly about the alternative as well.

But Carillo was £18M and allowed to be signed by a manager who was about to get sacked. Total incompetence from everyone concerned.

Imants Bleidilis played three time in three years at around £220,000 a pop. We’ve been wasting money on dross for years.

Arne Slot?

Can’t be O’Neil after today. Carrick far too nice and mild-mannered. No one perfect but Corberan best ‘available’.

Of course there are other realistic options out there (although not sure Vieira is actually realistic!) and no-one knows if they will be better than O'Neil. My original point (perhaps worded clumsily) was that a lot of the names being suggested by the fanbase (Lampard, Rodgers etc) aren't realistic and that dismissing O'Neil out of hand because of his Pompey links when he might well be the best man for job at the moment is idiotic. I think there is a big risk in appointing him but if he steadies the ship and gets us climbing the table, the Pompey links will be forgotten quickly.

I'd strongly go for Vieira if there is even the slightest chance of tempting him.

I note that you're still avoiding naming anyone which rather proves the point that this isn't an exact science and is fraught with indecision because no candidate is perfect at our level.

Who? I guarantee they will all be a gamble. I'm not saying O'Neil is The Messiah but neither are any of the names that have been linked because we're not in a position to attract top, experienced managers.

Who do you expect, Zinedine Zidane? Our fanbase seem to have a completely unrealistic view of the position we are in and who we can attract. If O'Neil gets the job, we to need grow up and remember he played for nine clubs in his career and only one of the them was Pompey.

Gary O'Neil was interviewed yesterday and he thought his presentation 'went very well.'

When you're at such a low ebb, you need little staging posts to turn things around and last night is a very small step forwards. It's not going to happen instantaneously so a scrappy away win with two good goals and a backs against the wall attitude is a move in the right direction.

Unless that player is D Downs.

You could delete the app in a fit of pique.

The game has got too clever by half. Prioritising the recruitment of potential to make profit on future sales, when to get out of this division you need a spine of experience is naive in the extreme. Couple that with a promising but inexperienced kid in the dugout and it was only going to go one way. We need a hardened old pro in charge but I worry that this approach and his request to sign a 30+ striker and CB in January won't be cool enough for Sports Republic.

Not entirely his fault of course but it couldn’t carry on. No experiments, no gambles please. A manager with proven Championship pedigree please. Gary O’Neil or Liam Rosenior.

No excuse. I blame the parents. Get the lad to grow a pair and dig in for the long haul. Or would you prefer to take him to Highbury/Anfield?