[themaclad]

PORTSMOUTH
FRATTON PARK 9/11/2024 15.00HRS

My one and only visit was in April 1979 won 2-0 Bruce, Elwiss

https://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/

MANAGER



EX North Ender, educationally very well qualified

Portsmouth
Mousinho was appointed as head coach of League One club Portsmouth on 20 January 2023, his first managerial role.[93] He signed a "long-term contract" with the club.[92] Portsmouth chief executive Andrew Cullen stated Mousinho's leadership and motivational skills were an important reason behind his appointment.[92] Mousinho's first game as manager was a 2–0 victory against Exeter City at Fratton Park on 21 January 2023.[94] With the club positioned in 15th place in League One at the time of his appointment,[92] Portsmouth ended the 2022–23 season in 8th place after finishing the season on an 11-match unbeaten run.[95]

Portsmouth's unbeaten run extended into the new season and, having guided his side to thirteen points from five matches, he was awarded the EFL League One Manager of the Month award for September 2023.[96] He won the award for a second time in February 2024, four wins from an unbeaten five matches further cementing their place at the top of the league.[97]

On 14 April 2024, he was named the League One Manager of the Season for 2023–24 at the EFL Awards.[98] Two days later, Portsmouth clinched promotion to the EFL Championship and were crowned champions of League One.[99]

LAST TIME OUT





FORM GUIDE

POMPEY 7 PNE 7

IN FORM



LANG decent player, Murphy was with us a couple of seasons ago

Newbies



BIT OF PREVIOUS



Still funny, last time we played at Fratton, Westley was manager and the forward line was Chris Beardsley and Anthony Elding and long way from Tom Finney

FAMOUS POMPEY FAN



John Anthony Portsmouth Football Club Westwood (born 1963) is a notable football fan and supporter of Portsmouth (known as Pompey); his occupation is an antiquarian bookseller. He has featured in books, magazines, on TV and radio, and the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Westwood's appearance has many Pompey-related features, some temporary and some permanent. Westwood has a mixed reception among Pompey Fans and has served bans for bad behaviour.

CULTURE

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is the jewel in Portsmouth's crown, home to the world famous historic ships HMS Victory and HMS Warrior 1860. Take the ferry across the harbour to Gosport, home of HMS Alliance at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum and Explosion! Museum of Naval Firepower.



The Fitness Test

Liam Lindsay was forced off in the midweek draw against Sunderland with a suspected groin injury and will need to be assessed ahead of this game.

North End will once again be without Ched Evans, Patrick Bauer, Robbie Brady, and Will Keane.

There are no other injury issues for Paul Heckingbottom to contend with.

Pompey


After spending 12 seasons outside of the Championship, Portsmouth made their long-awaited return to the second tier earlier this year, after finishing top of League One under former North End captain John Mousinho.

Things haven’t quite got going for Pompey this term, though, having taken nine points from their opening 14 matches and they currently sit bottom of the table.

They earned their first victory of the campaign last month in a 2-1 win over Queens Park Rangers, while they’re still looking for their first home success of 2024/25.
The Officials

Referee: John Busby
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Hunt and Shaun Hudson
Fourth Official: Charles Breakspear

John Busby will referee North End for the first time since March 2024, when North End beat Plymouth Argyle on the road.

Busby has also taken charge of four other PNE victories, including a 3-1 win over Huddersfield Town in December of last year.

So far this season, Busby has refereed ten matches and has shown 38 yellow cards and two reds in that time.

OTHER GAMES



TABLE



MACS VIEW

We are a bit of a mixture at the moment, curate egg, performances, which probably has to be expected, small squad, lots of games, one more until the International break against a Pompey side still adapting to the league, they have not won at home, hopefully not tomorrow.
7am coach the joy

[themaclad]

Portsmouth 3 Murphy, Oglivie, Bishop pen Preston North nd 1 Riis

Pompey (4-2-3-1): Schmid; Devlin, Poole, Pack ©, Ogilvie; Potts (Moxon 78), Dozzell; Ritchie (Saydee 70), Lang, Murphy (Lane 86); Yengi (Bishop 78)
Goals: Murphy 36, Ogilvie 45, Bishop 89 (pen)
Booked: Poole
Subs not used: Archer, McIntyre, Kamara, Silvera, O’Mahony

Preston (3-5-2): Woodman; Storey, Whatmough, Hughes; Potts (Þórðarson 46), Holmes (Ledson 46), Whiteman © (Frøkjær 46), McCann (Bowler 81), Kesler-Hayden; Riis, Greenwood (Okkels 78)
Goals: Riis 50
Subs not used: Cornell, Best, Nelson, Stewart

Referee: John Busby

Attendance: 20,295 (1,062 away fans)

No complaints about the result, one foot foward thirty back at the moment, the first half performance being particularly woeful, out fought, second best across the pitch and couldn't cope with the long ball style of the home side, wasn't pretty but it was effective.
Interesting to see Pack playing in the back line for Pompey good tacticle moe as the home side dominated the first half, we ran around in everdecresing circles, arriving where the ball had been about an hour early, defensively we were shambolic, Whatmough returning to his old club had a shocker of a first half but the change of formation at half time worked in his favour.
Pompey denied when Woodman made a good save form a Pack header following a Potts corner. We kept them at bay for 35 minutes before reality kicked in, a corner from the right puched out to Murphy 30 yards out, back it came into the bottom corner of the net.
On the stroke of half time came the second and quelle surprise from a corner, Woodman's feeble punch fell to Ogilvie and in it went.
Truly abysmal.
Threechanges at half time, he could easily have made five, worked though Ledson's magnificent pass to Riis game on, could have been level Whatmough header well saved by the keeper, but that was about as closed as we came. The coup de grace came late on, Hughes misjudged the bounce of the ball and brought down Lang, BBishop did thhe rest from the spot, deserved nothing and that is what we got.

THE BOSS

Paul Heckingbottom said his side were “totally bullied” in the first half of the 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth.

North End made the trip to Fratton Park for the first time since 2012 looking for a first away win of the season but went into the break two goals down following 45 minutes where they were second best.

Three changes were made at the break and Emil Riis quickly got a goal back for his side, however a leveller never arrived and Colby Bishop sealed the win in the final stages of the game.


Hecky said: “We were totally bullied in the first half. That's the best way to describe that first-half performance.

“There were no surprises from us in terms of what we knew we were going to face. We looked surprised on the pitch. We were totally bullied, overrun, and they deserved their lead.

“We got outrun and outfought, simple. We got bullied. That's the best way to describe that first-half performance.

“You're not going to win a football match if you don't compete. You're not going to win a football match. Simple.”

While there was a reaction in the second half and PNE looked to find a way back into the game, the manager was ultimately frustrated by the position they put themselves in.

Hecky said: “We competed, but it's an uphill battle. It's very similar to Millwall away when we came out and had the play and the chances in the second half, but we’re giving teams too much of a head start.

“We got a goal back and we did have the opportunities. I'm just disappointed with the first half. Obviously the result first and foremost, but you can't be giving two-goal head starts and then expecting to come away with points, although we looked like we were going to.

“The three subs at half-time made a difference and they changed their shape, and then we made more subs later on and we didn't really look threatening.”

MOOSE

Pompey had not been rewarded for their positive performances on the road at Hull and Plymouth in the past week.

So John Mousinho was delighted that an assured display against Preston at Fratton Park yielded a precious three-point haul.

A fine long-range strike from Josh Murphy broke the deadlock and Connor Ogilvie doubled the lead, only for Emil Riis to hit back for the visitors after the break.

But Colby Bishop made a surprise appearance from the bench and converted a late penalty to calm any nerves.

It was a victory that saw Pompey climb off the foot of the Championship standings and ensured Mousinho will take a good mood into the international break.

The Blues boss said: “We needed a result at the end of a frustrating week. That was the most important thing, with the performance a very close second.

“The levels we’ve shown of late meant I was confident we’d produce a good showing and there were a few things that clicked for us.

“Our opener is the sort of goal we haven’t scored this season and it lifted the pressure a bit, then the second meant we went in at half-time with a deserved lead.

“The levels we’ve shown of late meant I was confident we’d produce a good showing and there were a few things that clicked for us.”

John Mousinho

“We didn’t start particularly well after the break, but from the 60-minute mark we settled down and competed much better.

“The lads could have thought ‘here we go again’, so I was happy with how we responded and then it was a relief to score the third late on.

“It was huge to pick up three points and give everyone a lift because there’s a bit of head-scratching on how we only got one from the games at Hull and Plymouth.

“We probably don’t want the break to come now, although there’s a chance for the boys to get a bit of a rest.”

There was certainly plenty of surprise when the teams were announced an hour before kick-off, with Bishop selected among the substitutes.

Mousinho said: “It’s something we’ve been keeping under wraps and he had three scans this week before it was signed off – the last one being on Thursday.

“There was every chance that he wouldn’t be available and so we weren’t 100 per cent. We didn’t want to say he’d be back and then it didn’t happen.

“But it gave everyone a really nice boost and he’s been training with the first team for the past six weeks now.

“When Ibane Bowat was injured and we knew he wouldn’t be back this season, there was the right to appeal to make the change to the squad.”

[themaclad]