The games in question are Wigan, Burnley, Birmingham, Sunderland, Stoke, Hull, Blackburn and Wolves. Adult tickets have been cut to £20 in the Milton End, and £30 in the wings of the upper North Stand.

It’s just the kind of gesture the fans need to see at the moment, but more importantly it improves the chances of the ground being full for these important games, as people continue to struggle in the recession. To the season ticket holders who are already complaining, I can only say, STOP BEING SO SHORT SIGHTED! The whole club needs to pull together at the moment and this is a positive step towards that happening. Obviously the biggest step will be a great performance and win against Bolton, but back to the ticket prices. You can’t actually buy a season ticket in the Milton End, and the price you paid guarantees your usual seat. But also remember, when you by something, including a season ticket, there is no guarantee that a better deal won’t come along further down the line. Simple as that. The club should not be criticised for this positive move. Play up Pompey!

Now personally, I thought Paul Hart should have reverted back to the tactic that worked so well against Sunderland at the back end of last season. Namely, play 4-4-2 and give Utaka one last chance to save his Pompey career up front where he looked like a class act (and interested!) in that Sunderland match. But I wasn’t surpised he opted for 4-5-1, with Utaka in his usual ineffectual wide right role. Again there was no place for Basinas despite the fact we desperately needed someone who could pass the ball in the middle. Mullins played well but does not possess the killer ball (or any forward pass).

Enough about tactics. What was clear from Saturday was that they are irrelevant until we buy some more players, better players. OK we had the farce of Vanden Borre and the Italian Football Association, and Finnan is injured but those two aren’t going to save us. We need a quality striker (or two), and someone who can pass the ball in the middle of midfield. It doesn’t appear that Basinas will ever get the chance to do that. And after that we probably need another three or four players capable of pushng for first team places. This team just isn’t good enough. Although David Nugent hasn’t had the chance to prove himself that Utaka has, the evidence is clear. He isn’t good enough, even for a struggling Premiership side. Also, I hate to say it because I admire the way he has stepped in to the breach, but I am not convinced about Paul Hart’s managerial ability either. Last season was one thing, but to my mind, you try to beat Fulham at home in the first game of the season with what you’ve got. He didn’t do that.

All in all, things are much bleaker now than they were before the game, especially as we are now into Groundhog Day number 827. I can’t bring myself to say any more. It’s been a HELL of a summer…

It looks inevitable that Peter Crouch will leave within the next week as Pompey have recently accepted a £12m bid from Sunderland, and Crouch has already been up there to talk to them. There may yet be other interest. So why is this happening? I alluded a few days ago to the fact that the sale of Crouch was a possibility, if a new manager was in place and had indicated, let’s say, that Crouch remaining at the club was not a pre requisite to his taking the job. i.e. the proceeds of the sale could be used to negotiate the price as any new manager would have other specific player targets either lined up, or in mind. This is still possible I suppose, but I must say that since then my view of the takeover has become considerably more pessimistic!

The most worrying thing that I have seen is the apparent statement in Al Fahim’s document outlining his vision for the club that Paul Hart is the preferred choice as manager. If this is true, it shows either that Al Fahim has very limited knowledge, or that he has very limited finances. I have nothing but respect for Paul Hart but we should be showing more ambition than that! Having said that, nothing would please me more than if he were to prove people wrong and progress Portsmouth on the pitch. I don’t necessarily believe that he doesn’t have the capacity to attempt to play entertaining football, but not least of his problems would be attracting the quality of players necessary to do that.

That brings me on to my next HUGE concern. At this rate, we won’t have ENOUGH players to field a team, let alone enough of sufficient quality. Since the end of the season (not counting the dead wood), Sean Davis and Glen Johnson have left, Sol Campbell looks to be on his way out of the club as does Peter Crouch, and now it is reported that Sylvain Distin will be next. I sincerely hope this is because the incoming owner is so prepared that he doesn’t need to worry about this, but if that were the case, surely he wouldn’t need to sell anyone at the moment? The deal could be completed, a new manager appointed, and then the issue of the playing staff addressed.  

I have been frustrated over the last few weeks with negative comments and speculation I have seen about the takeover from Portsmouth fans. I felt they were being too negative, but still believe there was not enough information at the time from which to form a sceptical view. Well, I hate to say it, but now I am worried. Something doesn’t seem right, and it’s the seemingly inevitable sale of Crouch that has brought me to that way of thinking for the first time.  We obviously don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, but it doesn’t appear that he has been pressing for a move (despite his comments before that England game). More that Portsmouth have merely accepted Sunderland’s £12m offer. At the moment, it seems that can only be because all is not as we have come to expect with this takeover. All will be revealed on or shortly after July 24th. Can’t wait.

 There were few changes to the Championship winning team, Portsmouth’s books actually revealing a credit balance on transfers of £16,400! The Champions started the season well enough with a 3-1 win at Newcastle United, but were up and down after that. There was a defeat at home to Stanley Matthews’ Blackpool, interspersed with a 5-1 win at Middlesbrough and a 7-0 thrashing of Everton at Fratton Park. On 1st October league leaders Wolves visited Fratton Park, and for the first and only time. more than 50,000 spectators crammed into the ground for a league game. A 1-1 draw left Pompey in seventh, but only three points behind Wolves. The title race was to remain tight for the rest of the season.

Large scale merchandising was still a thing of the future in those days and in the 15th October Football Mail, Pompey Championship ties were advertised at Landports Drapery (which later became Allders). Portsmouth didn’t have a club shop until the late 1960s and the only items visible in club colours amongst the crowd tended to be scarves and rosettes. But one supporter of the time, Cyril Lucas, recalls that the absence of large scale commercialism aded to the sense of occasion on match day. ‘When I stood on the north terrace opposite the tunnel, I couldn’t wait until the players came up the tunnel. I was just so full of pride when I saw those royal blue shirts and that star and crescent badge. That shirt was only worn by the eleven players – no-one else wore it, unlike the replica shirts you see these days – and you wouldn’t see it again until the next match. It was Pompey’s pride and glory and a huge cheer went up when the players ran out.’

Even the players had to supplement their wages! Eleven of them commissioned photographers to take individual and team photos, which were then sold privately to supporters and through newspapers.

Pompey continued to be up and down, and a feature of the season was that the team was far more unsettled than in the previous campaign. More players were used, and more than one found themselves making their solitary Pompey appearance as they covered for injuries.

Portsmouth were drawn against Third Division (South) Norwich City in the FA Cup third round and underperformed in the Fratton Park tie, drawing 1-1. In another example of how similar football fans are both then and now, consider this letter to the Football mail in the aftermath of the game. ‘I think this was a disgusting show for a first division team. Almost 20 years at the Park and I have never seen anything like it…If Pompey want to make a show in the Cup or league they have to go out and buy a couple of forwards in my opinion. I reckon Pompey are the meanest club of all divisions for paying out, and may I finish up, If Pompey do not win on Thursday (the replay), my old woman will be having more of my company on Saturday afternoons in the future.’ As I said, nothing changes!

Going into March, four points separated the top seven with Pompey in fourth behind Manchester United, Liverpool, and Sunderland. Portsmouth continued to stutter, losing 2-1 at Derby with Jimmy Scoular sent off. This was a huge incident in the days when it was extremely difficult to even receive a booking, and the issue hung over Pompey for weeks before the relevant FA committee was due to meet to discuss punishment. But, it seemed to be the title that nobody wanted to win as other teams also dropped points.

Going into the crucial game against leaders Manchester United at Old Trafford on 15th April, four points separated the top six, with Pompey lying third, a point behind the leaders. Reid and Froggatt scored in the last six minutes for a priceless 2-0 win. Second placed Sunderland lost at home to Manchester City. Pompey were now in pole position with three games to go, and could become the first club to retain the Championship since Arsenal’s hat-trick of titles was completed in 1935.

Pompey won their next game against Liverpool, and results that day showed that one win from two was now required to retain the Championship. The next game was at Highbury, never a happy hunting ground. Pompey had never won there at the time, and slumped to a 2-0 defeat. But the maths still held and a win in the final match at home to Aston Villa would be enough, barring an improbable 20 goal haul by Wolves in their last match.

This was the era of goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), and Pompey’s was vastly superior. From the moment they scored after 20 seconds of the game at Fratton Park, the result was never in doubt and they ran out 5-1 winners. The Championship was retained. The next team to achieve the feat was Manchester United’s Busby Babes in 1957. Portsmouth had proved themselves the best team in the country.

Despite this, the press failed to recognise the achievement. Alex James of the Daily Express, a distinguished former Arsenal striker, reserved his choice of team of the year for Second Division Champions Tottenham Hotspur. ‘Don’t think I’m knocking Pompey,’ he said, ‘it takes a wonderful side to win the league championship two years running.’ He evidently considered it more wonderful to win the Second Division once than to win the First twice!

That reminds me, I must catch up on the latest installment of ‘Pompeygate’.

A couple of weeks ago, I featured a classic match against Oxford United from 1984. This was part of the first season of three consecutive pushes for promotion to the first division by Alan Ball’s ‘dogs of war’ in the mid 1980s. Deservedly, we got there at the third time of asking. But, there was another notorious match against Oxford United wasn’t there?

Ironically, Jim Smith was our manager this time, having been the Oxford boss in ‘84. It was a midweek away fixure in November, and its significance didn’t become clear until the end of the season. But, even as the result came in, the game was instantly memorable; you would always remember where you were! That’s because it finished 5-5! And not only because it finished 5-5. Portsmouth were 5-3 up going into injury time. Talk about throwing it away! It is the game that must have flashed into every Pompey fan’s mind the moment end of season playoff heartbreak was confirmed. Those two dropped points would have done it for us. We would have been up. As it turned out, it was another ten years before we finally made it with only the slightest sniff, in one single season, in all that time. It is easy now to underestimate the frustration and injustice I felt. It was the same feeling brought about by the FA Cup semi final defeat to Liverpool the previous season. That was washed away when we finally won the FA Cup again last year. Similarly, our Premier League status is now firmly established, but that game haunted me. Granted, I was only young and attached too much significance to these things, but I am willing to bet more than one adult fan was haunted by it too, a victim of success starvation.

The team were playing well that season, the previous season’s FA Cup success acting as a catalyst. But I think I’m right in recalling that, in a way, it meandered along for a while with Pompey sitting in 9th place or so, always looking threatening, but nevertheless just sitting there. No it was the spectacular run in of twelve wins from the last fourteen that made that season so memorable, along with Guy Whittingham’s successful strike partnership with Paul Walsh, and record breaking 42 league goal haul. 42 league goals!

Every fan will have their favaourite memories of that season, and there were many. The point when I knew it might really be on was a fantastic 2-0 (Whittingham, 2) midweek away win at Tranmere, which I had the privilege to be at. West Ham lost the same night (at Oxford I think) and the sense that we could do it was palpable. We had to come from a hell of a long way behind though! But the wins kept coming. A draw at Millwall was a slight setback, but a good result nonetheless. It was the 4-1 defeat to Sunderland at Roker Park in the penultimate game that really did for us. we had actually gone top of the table the previous week with a win at home to Wolves (Newcastle had games in hand), but everything went wrong at Sunderland. Walsh was sent off early on, and it didn’t get any better. I even let off an air horn as Don Goodman stepped up to take a penalty, but he slotted it home anyway! That win kept them up. Even on the last day, when we needed a favour from Cambridge against West Ham, the Fratton End went delirious over a false Cambridge goal report, but it wasn’t to be. Leicester City did the rest in the play-offs.

My mind returned to Oxford, but I think I’m right in saying that this was the era when positions were decided on goals scored rather than goal difference. Two more over the course of the season would have done it for us. A 4-3 defeat at Sunderland for example. But so, of course, would an extra point. Two defeats against West Ham didn’t help, but I could never get that Oxford game out of my head. Here it is.

Steve Bruce to be new Pompey boss. Mancini to sign Crouch. Or something.

In truth, we should have known what was coming. It has been like this for weeks but at least the grind is now over. The job has been done. Portsmouth are set to  kick off their seventh successive season in the Premier League and for that we should be grateful, but we have certainly endured rather than enjoyed the crawl to safety.

Yesterday’ match appeared to just confirm what we have all believed for a while, namely that we were always going to do just enough, and no more. Many of the players had probably long lost belief as a result of Harry Redknapp’s departure and the subsequent turmoil and instability, whilst others probably went as far as to let their minds wander to the subject of their probable summer transfer destinations. It must be said though, that there has been precious little to keep them interested regarding the brand of football they have been required to play. The second half against Sunderland was different, but yesterday the same old negativity returned. A mistake by Sol Campbell midway through the first half gave Wigan their goal and it could have been more. Despite safety being confirmed, the club was weary of this awful season and had no more to give.

Paul Hart will discover his future this week, and the decision will probably depend on the takeover situation or lack of it, but a more positive show yesterday would certainly have helped to alleviate some of the fans’ considerable misgivings. The club’s first reported summer signing, Aaron Mokoena of Blackburn Rovers, would seem to suggest more of the same next season.

The real story, of course, was at Villa Park where Newcastle, despite eventually needing only a draw to survive, were meekly relegated. The standard of the Premier League this season was borne out by the fact that not one of the four teams involved in the relegation issue on the last day could muster even a point. The real crime from Newcastle’s point of view was that they never looked remotely like doing so.

Five years of mismanagement has now come home to roost. Ever since Bobby Robson was sacked shortly into the 2004-05 season, things have been in decline. How Newcastle must long for the top five finishes provided under Sir Bobby’s reign. Even the mid table security of Sam Allardyce’s solid approach would have been preferable to this, and there can’t be many who believe this would have come to pass if Allardyce had remained in charge. His only crime appeared to be not having his team play like Brazil. Perhaps the fans who clamoured for his resignation need to take a share of the blame for that. They got what they wanted, though, as Kevin Keegan made a messianic return, only for Mike Ashley to impose such restraints on him that he found them intolerable. 

Such mistakes have led to this and one of the Premier League’s biggest wage bills will need to be trimmed drastically as well if Newcastle are to avoind the fate of some of their predecessors, most notably Leeds United. They will surely ba back in the future, though and they should take heart from a club like Everton. Traditionally a big club, Everton’s status, like that of many other big cubs recently, has been eroded by the Champions League qualification situation and the creation of the ‘big four’. They are showing, though, that sound sensible management enables a bigger club to produce consistently in the league. The old argument goes that the top players are not attracted to the North East, but Everton have achieved on a limited budget. ‘Achieved’ might be relative in our uncompetitive league, but  it is simply the result of good management. Newcastle will need a lot of that if they are to return any time soon.

MIDDLESBROUGH

 Only a contender in a mathematical sense. Middlesbrough WILL be relegated on Sunday. To discuss the meaning of their result at West Ham would be to needlessly go through the motions. They are not capable of getting the required result (a thumping win) even if Newcastle and Hull do both lose. They have had a number of chances to pick up wins in the last few weeks, especially at home, and have not looked remotely like doing so. Why should they do so now, when everything is all but lost? The club is run the way fans of every club would want, but it means nothing if the result is an inevitable slide towards relegation. Gareth Southgate has admirably been given time to mould his side, but it hasn’t worked. The last throw of the dice would have been a change of manager, even after the transfer window, a couple of months ago. It is amazing how often a new manager can get improved results from the same group of players (Paul Hart, Sam Allardyce, and yes, Harry Redknapp). The fact that Middlesbrough have stuck with Southgate suggests that they are happy to relinquish their Premier League status for their priciples. Admirable, but there is no guarantee of returning any time soon.

Prediction: West Ham 2  Middlesbrough 1

NEWCASTLE UNITED

They’ve got a decent chance, considering that if they win, both Hull and Sunderland must do the same. A win at Villa?  A quick look at Aston Villa’s home record shows more points away from home, and nine home draws. Only three defeats, granted, but nevertheless not an overpowering force at Villa Park. Yes, they also have fifth to fight for, but they were in the top four not so long ago, and for such a large portion of the season that it became their realistic target. Since they so meekly surrendered their position to Arsenal, they have looked a shadow of their former selves. Sheer persistence and desperation will see Newcastle through.

Prediction: Villa 1  Newcastle 2

HULL CITY

Possibly the biggest freefall seen in the Premier League. Only their mind blowing start to the season has kept them safe to now. We all knew that a half time rollocking on the pitch was a mistake, and so it has proved, their decline closely mirroring that turning point in their season. They are at home, and they are playing a team with nothing to play for, but they are playing Manchester United. A reserve side it may well prove, but Hull have only West Bromwich Albion to rival them in the weakest-team-on-paper competition. Manchester United’s reserve side could well still appear stronger than Hull, and a lot will depend on the exact composition of their team and, crucially, the bench. If United find themselves behind with 20 to go, ominous substitutions could follow. Bearing in mind Newcastle’s narrow win at Villa, will Hull have enough to find the win they need?

Prediction: Hull 2  Manchester United 2

SUNDERLAND

This would leave Sunderland safe. But they will be defeated at home to Chelsea, who will be experimenting with players and formations likely to figure at Wembley in the FA Cup Final against Everton the following week. No benefit for them in resting players. Sunderland simply won’t be strong enough to stop them. So, Sunderland will be safe? I wouldn’t be so sure. The issue will be decided at the KC Stadium, probably by how much pride Manchester United reserves have. I’m willing to bet each and every member of their side has quite a bit of that to be on the playing staff of Manchester United in the first place. They will have enough to avoid defeat, I’ve said as much. But, the last day is always dramatic and produces the unexpected. This Sunday that would take the form of a Hull win over Manchester United at Sunderland’s expense.

Prediction: SUNDERLAND 1  CHELSEA 3

Pompey fans, this time we can don our fancy dress, get ourselves to Wigan, and watch a fantastic 3-1 win (Utaka hat-trick)! Bring your radios, but relax, safe in the knowledge that its just an entertaining distraction. Don’t lose them though, we might need them next year!

John Utaka was Portsmouth’s unlikely hero as he scored once and made the two others in a 3-1 win at Fratton Park in last night’s Premier League encounter. A dire first half gave way to a pulsating second, and once Utaka had brought Pompey level within a minute of Sunderland taking the lead, there was only going to be one winner.

Paul Hart could not be accused of sticking to his much criticised 4-5-1 formation, instead opting to play Kanu in behind the front pair of Crouch and Utaka. It didn’t work, Crouch’s header against the post and across the goal line being Pompey’s only real chance of the half. Instead, Sunderland had most of the  possession and were undeniably the better side. Midway through the half, Asmir Begovic, making his debut, produced a smart save with his feet whilst going the wrong way and then smothered the follow up.

But there was little else to excite in a first half punctuated by wayward Pompey passing, crossing, and control. A particularly poor cross behind the goal from Utaka when in receipt of the ball in a good wide position sticks in the mind. The opposite of things to come. As the half drifted, Pompey and Sunderland fans united to muse on the situation in which Alan Shearer and Newcastle United find themselves. 

As half time approached, Sunderland should have taken the lead. Kenwyne Jones’s glancing header deserved a goal in truth but instead hit the inside of the post and rolled across the line unconverted in a carbon copy of Crouch’s earlier chance for Pompey.

The second half displayed twin themes of Pompey’s revitalised pace, power and drive, together with poor Sunderland defending. The first was evident as the teams came back out and Kanu and Hughes had been replaced with Kaboul and Traore. Kaboul slotted in at right back allowing Johnson to move further forward but the real impact was seen down the left and up front as Traore ran at the Sunderland defence with intent, and Utaka seemed to revel in a new found freedom. Pompey were playing well, one turbo charged passage of one touch passing ending with a foul on Crouch on the edge of the area. Davis appeared committed and effective, although it looks like he will leave. Don’t go, Sean. 

Inevitably, then, Sunderland took the lead. A long, deep, raking cross from Davenport dropped over Sol Campbell’s head and was deftly toched into the far corner by the lurking Jones. Sunderland were safe, then imploded. Pompey’s response was instant. Utaka raced on to a through ball provided courtesy of a Sunderland defender’s headed rebound, and lashed it into the corner under pressure from Davenport.

Then came the strangest incident of the night for those watching Setanta’s coverage. Referee Alan Wiley blew for a penalty as the ball travelled towards the back of the net before deciding to allow the goal. Setanta confidently predicted the chalking off of the goal for a foul by Utaka on Davenport and ruined the rest of the night’s coverage as they tried to justify their confusion. Dear, oh dear. The game moved on without them. 

Eight minutes later, Begovic cleared long and high downfield. Ferdinand’s howler allowed the ball to squirm under his foot and Utaka was through. He calmly rounded the keeper and Bardsley, as unsettled by his pace as the rest of the Sunderland defence, finished the job for him as he was about to pull the trigger. Here was a man revitalised. A man who, in his Pompey career so far, had spent long spells on the sidelines and  looked ineffective wide on the right when he had played. Not only that,  he has recently looked so uninterested as to appear halfway through the exit door. Last week, as he tried to make an impact at Blackburn, he blazed a hopeless late penalty high and wide. Paul Hart, whilst firstly acknowledging the fact that there is continuing uncertainty at Pompey, IF you are to get the job and assuming that Utaka is one of those players whose fate lies more in the club’s hands than his own, he might be worth a go up front in his favoured position! This is something I never thought I would say, even only last week as I watched that penalty soar, and reflected on the time, money, and effort it had taken me to be there.

Sunderland tried to get back in it, Richardson and substitute Cisse working chances around the box. Pompey dealt with it and Sunderland’s finishing needed to be better. With two minutes to go, Utaka again broke free with some neat footwork on the edge of the box and fed Traore. He advanced into the penalty area,  and shot left footed, low and hard across the keeper and into the net. Game over. With Arsene Wenger under pressure to deliver proven experience next season, is this another young prospect we can snare? To Paul Hart’s utmost credit, the job has been done, but boy have we missed watching the kind of pace and drive that Traore and Utaka brought to that second half last night!

The icing on the cake, of course was Linvoy’s last minute cameo. He didn’t put a foot wrong and was my man of the match but continuing on a theme, let’s try and make sure he stays. He is the antithesis of everything that has gone wrong this season. Loyalty, a big heart, and a genuine reciprocated affection for the club.

Sunderland now host Chelsea on the last day of the season. They shouldn’t be relegated, but if Newcastle and Hull were both to win, they would need to do the same. I wouldn’t want to be in their position.