Portsmouth: New Year's resolution is to learn from past
- Published
Andre Green is mobbed after scoring Portsmouth's winner at Norwich in the FA Cup third round in January 2019
"Green, decent touch, Green, can he get the shot away? Andre Green, still Green, he's scoooooooored".
It's not quite Shakespeare, and I apologise for an extremely self-indulgent start by quoting my own commentary. That memorable day at Norwich City in the FA Cup was five years ago.
What do I remember of that day? Blowing a car tyre about two minutes after leaving the office (not the ideal start). A few people celebrating Green's goal in the press box (naughty, naughty, that's not allowed). The social media reaction to mine and Guy Whittingham's commentary being used on Match of the Day which varied from "absolutely brilliant" to "why have they let the work experience guys on".
But most of all I remember driving home from Norfolk with a feeling of near-certainty that Portsmouth were going to win promotion to the Championship.
Victory over AFC Wimbledon on New Year's Day left Pompey with a whopping 57 points from 26 matches, and five points clear at the top of table. They wouldn't win another league match until March.
Anyone who claimed they saw that collapse coming is probably lying. This was a team built on a rock solid defence, with Craig MacGillivray behind outstanding centre-backs Jack Whatmough and Matt Clarke. The ever-improving Jamal Lowe and breakout star Ronan Curtis made and scored plenty from the wings. The football was pragmatic. By early January they had already registered 10 wins by a single goal.
Was the budget promotion-worthy that season? A place in the top two would have been a massive overachievement. Kenny Jackett is not remembered too fondly by Portsmouth fans, but that year he was only a few points away from an incredible success - sparking wild scenes of celebration on Portsea Island. Even without promotion, 88 points was a great effort.
So what went wrong? Never fall in love with a loan player, they say. It was too late by that point for Portsmouth fans with Ben Thompson. His return to Millwall was a massive blow. Would Pompey have gone up if he had stayed? It's hard to imagine his presence wouldn't have been worth a few more points. To make matters worse Ben Close, who would go on to have a fantastic end to the season, was injured in January and not able to slot straight in.
Whatmough's serious knee injury in early February was also a blow, but Christian Burgess stepped into his shoes impressively.
What undoubtedly did cost Portsmouth was the January transfer window. Money was spent. Somewhere near £300,000 on Andy Cannon and Bryn Morris. However Cannon was a player for the future, when Pompey needed someone for the here and now. Both hardly featured that year because of injury. The less said about the loan players the better. Viv Solomon-Otabor is a worth an article alone for his one infamous moment, while Lloyd Isgrove made a grand total of zero appearances.
Fatigue also played a factor. Pompey played 62 games that season, which was up there with the most in Europe. Curtis and Lowe in particular seemed to run out of steam towards the end of the campaign. Maybe it would have been better if Green had not scored that stunning last-minute goal?
What lessons can be learned from five years ago, for the current Pompey side? "Have a better January transfer window" feels a bit of a churlish thing to say, but Portsmouth will not win promotion if they do not.
There are recall clauses in the loans of Alex Robertson and Abu Kamara, but all the noises suggest they will remain at Portsmouth for the season unless circumstances were to change. Losing either would be a big blow.
This Portsmouth squad is definitely deeper and has already coped well with one serious injury in Regan Poole. It will feel strange having very few midweek games but it will help. Pompey may only play 53 matches this season. Cup runs and Covid outbreaks have led to very hectic schedules in recent years.
Finally, it is not very scientific to say so, but, perhaps just get that bit of luck in a couple of big games - which did not happen back in 2019.
Promotion is often decided by things like that.
You can hear every Pompey match live on BBC Radio Solent with Andy Moon and former Blues striker and manager Guy Whittingham.
