Pompey Talk: Pompey reassurances ahead of bid to unsettle Rams
Pompey Talk returns this week with a host of issues to delve into amid a hectic run of games for John Mousinho's side. In the latest episode, Mark McMahon and Neil Allen get together to discuss Tuesday night's draw against Norwich, the performances of Paddy Lane and Owen Moxon following their recalls, the chances of the duo keeping their places against Derby, plus the Blues' potential reunion with Marcus Harness at Pride Park.
Pompey Talk returns this week with a host of issues to delve into amid a hectic run of games for John Mousinho's side. In the latest episode, Mark McMahon and Neil Allen get together to discuss Tuesday night's draw against Norwich, the performances of Paddy Lane and Owen Moxon following their recalls, the chances of the duo keeping their places against Derby, plus the Blues' potential reunion with Marcus Harness at Pride Park.
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00:30and over we scored, but there was little in the box to deal with, but I thought Pompey
00:36played some good football at times, they played on the front foot, they played positively,
00:40the press worked again, and Norwich just looked quite mediocre, really. It was nothing about
00:46Norwich, was there? I know John Mussini was very positive about the game, and I can understand
00:53that, but, and again, it wasn't as creative from Pompey, and that's a disappointing thing.
01:00Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Pompey Talk, my name is Mark McMahon, and
01:09joining me today to discuss all things Pompey is the Newcastle Chiefs Sports Writer, Neil
01:14Allen. Neil, it's a busy period in the season, game Tuesday night, another one on Friday.
01:19Mark, did you say, where are your Christmas decorations? I've got a token one behind me,
01:26where's yours? It's all in the living room, if you want to see it, it's like Lapland,
01:31it's so unreal, but I just need a nice Christmas-free zone in my kitchen. Christmas is up and running
01:40in the McMahon household, don't worry Neil. The trouble is, Pompey normally have dreadful
01:45Christmases, so let's leave that for another day though. Leave that for another day. Let's
01:51try and stay positive. What was your assessment of Tuesday night's goalless draw against,
01:58I keep on forgetting who they were even playing, against Norwich? I mean, some people are saying
02:03it was a dreadful game. I said that earlier. Other people have said it, Pompey were the
02:09better team, I thought Pompey did well. It was just a fact, and it is a fact, that neither
02:14the keeper had anything to do really, apart from Smith had to save a deflection from Devlin
02:22really, a couple of shots at him, and then Angus Gunn didn't have a lot to deal with.
02:29He wouldn't have fouled when Ogilvy scored, but there was little in the box to deal with,
02:37but I thought Pompey played some good football at times, they played on the front foot, they
02:41played positively, the press worked again, and Norwich just looked quite mediocre really.
02:47It was nothing about Norwich, was there? I know John Massini was very positive about the game,
02:54and I can understand that, but, and again, it wasn't as creative from Pompey, and that's a
02:59disappointing thing.
03:01During the game, I kept on thinking about the Sheffield Wednesday resultant performance.
03:07Pompey obviously did well against Sheffield Wednesday, but then Sheffield Wednesday's
03:11quality came through in the end, and for some reason on Tuesday night, that's all I kept on
03:15thinking, are we going to see Pompey actually go well against Norwich, go up against them,
03:22be the better team for large points, but then a bit of quality from Norwich would then just ruin
03:27all that there. So I was very much conscious of that there, and then obviously pleasantly
03:31surprised when Pompey actually did hang on and pick up what would probably be a very
03:35valuable point in the end.
03:37Yeah, it keeps this run going, and we keep talking about since Hull, where they brought
03:43Matt Ritchie in, they changed the way they play, the high press there. Since Hull, the form's
03:50been very good, and the amount of points they've picked up is decent as well, I think that's
03:54nine points, isn't it? So there's definitely an improvement. It's not just a freak blip or
04:01whatever, you can see the team improving, playing better. Ogilvy now is looking like
04:07a championship player, isn't he? He's growing and improving. Devlin, Ritchie, Dizelle who
04:13didn't play the other night, there's a lot to like about Pompey at the moment, isn't there?
04:17So it's very heartening, and of course, Pompey now find themselves at this moment in time
04:24outside the relegation zone.
04:26Just for the record, I think Pompey are 8th in the form table at the moment, and that's
04:30over the past six games, and the past eight games, which shows you, that shows you exactly
04:37how well they're doing at the moment, so they can't be dismissed alone. There's a lot of
04:40draws in that derby, but 8th in the form table suggests quite a lot that Pompey are doing
04:45okay. There was a lot of concern before the game about the loss of Andre, Dizelle and
04:50Callum Lang. How do you think the replacements did in Paddy Lane and Owen Moxon?
04:56Oh, good question that, because Lang's been Pompey's best player this season so far, without
05:01doubt, so they're going to miss him. Paddy Lane came in the number 10, he was voted by
05:09the sponsors as man of the match. I know people give me stick around my ratings, but who the
05:15hell voted him as man of the match? Great disrespect, Paddy. I'm not saying Paddy had
05:19a bad game at all, but nowhere near man of the match. Plenty of other candidates there.
05:25What Paddy gives you is the energy, the work rate, the great determination, and he had
05:35a couple of chances at the end. That chance he had, didn't he, just before he came off?
05:38He should have scored that.
05:40Yeah, it was so frustrating because it was on his left foot and it was sort of a weak
05:44side foot, and perhaps it was tiredness due to him being back in the team for the first
05:49time since Cardiff. So yeah, that was disappointing. Paddy's yet to spark in the championship
05:56creatively. He'll always give you so much work rate and endeavour, and we saw that at
06:02the away games at Middlesbrough and Leeds, what he gives you defensively down that flank.
06:07Phenomenal, but other than that assist he got at Burnley, he's not clicked for Pompey
06:14creatively this season, whereas other players have. So yeah, Paddy was OK.
06:20And then Owen Moxham, full credit to Owen Moxham. It's his first start of the season,
06:27it's his full championship debut. It's always going to be a tough one for him, isn't it,
06:32really? And he did OK as well, didn't he? So, John Massini pointed out how Owen, he
06:40lost possession a couple of times early on, but he bounced back for that and he thought
06:44he did really well and he did OK there, didn't he? So yeah, again, Pompey picked up a point
06:51having with two players out suspended who would be first-team regulars at the moment
06:55in this run. So that's another reason to be encouraged.
06:58Just talking about Paddy Lane, what do you put his, I'm going to say struggles, let's
07:04be honest about it, he's been in and out of the team this season. What do you put that
07:07down to? And can he take inspiration from the likes of Conor Ogilvie, who many doubted
07:12his championship quality, but he's been given the time and the games to sort of build up
07:17the speed. Is Paddy Lane the unfortunate victim that when you're not doing well forwardly,
07:23there's always going to be options, you're always going to be taken off to get that spark
07:26up front? Is he just the victim of that? Or just needs a run of games, does he?
07:31Well, firstly, you said struggles, not me.
07:34That's why I did say me, struggles.
07:37Yeah, with Ogilvie, Ogilvie's been fortunate in a way because of the injury to Farrell.
07:42So there's been no alternative for Ogilvie. He has to play through it, doesn't he? So
07:47he's had to play through it and he has come through it. He's adapted, he's got better
07:51and better. And he was a contender for me in Man of the Match the other night. He was
07:56getting battered as well, wasn't he? Around the head, the body, the fouls against him.
08:02He just soldiers on, doesn't he? And defensively, he's so soft. He really is.
08:08And it's just the improvement there. You can see the improvement in Ogilvie. I'm assuming
08:13everyone can see that. Because it's obvious to me, he was struggling. I'm saying Ogilvie
08:18struggled to start the season.
08:19Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:20He definitely was, wasn't he? But he's come through that now and he's got better and better
08:24and he's just adapting to the surroundings. With Lane, he started the season in a team,
08:29then he came out, he got the injury at Cardiff on his recall. He's just not had the creativity.
08:37You forget he's still a young lad. He's never played at this level and it takes time,
08:42as Ogilvie's shown. Some people slot in straight away, don't they?
08:46Yeah.
08:47Bishop's done it, hasn't he? I think Paul's done it to an extent as well. They make
08:54the step up and they slot in straight away. Yengi's struggled making the step up, hasn't
08:58he? With other things. But Ogilvie's come good, hasn't he, really? But it has benefited
09:04from him that there's no other left-backs, so he has to play their every game.
09:07How pertinent is it then that we're hearing that Jacob Farrell could return to first-team
09:12training next week? Is Ogilvie's return to form corresponding with the fact that Jacob
09:18Farrell might be knocking on the door pretty soon?
09:21Yeah, you do think that because there was a great rivalry in the battle between Yengi
09:29and Bishop last year, wasn't there? Who should start up front? You can only play one of them.
09:34He tried it a couple of times. You can only play one of them up front. And I know people
09:37had a lot of opinions and a lot of people thought Yengi should have got the nod. But
09:41the competition was important. It drove them both on. They both finished the season exceptionally
09:46well, scoring goals, didn't it? Whereas Ogilvie has had no competition whatsoever. But he's
09:52coming through it. So you can only presume that the imminent return of Farrell will put
10:00competition. Although, let's face it, as I've said before, Farrell's only had about one
10:04week's training since he's got here because of injury. So he'll need a bit of time.
10:11Just going back then to Lane and Moxon. Have they done enough to retain their places against
10:17Derby, Burnham Out, both Dezel and Lang will have served their one-match bands?
10:21You've got to bring Lang back. Forget it. Bring Lang back.
10:25Straight in there.
10:27It's got to be. And Dezel, you'd imagine Dezel, he'd been improving, good run of form. You'd
10:33imagine he'd come back in as well, wouldn't you really? And that's credit to Dezel because
10:37he's really winning people around now, isn't he?
10:40John Massino had to dig a bit deeper into his reserves in terms of his substitutions.
10:47Both Sadie, Swanson, Sorensen, Kamara all came on. Was that a needs must or is there
10:53a greater trust in those players contributing to Pompey this season?
10:58We were discussing in the press box that that substituted bench wasn't the strongest. But
11:03also, there's only players left. Injury, suspension, whatever. I don't think Blair
11:11was there, was he?
11:12He was on the bench but he didn't get on.
11:14No. But even Blair came in as well, didn't he?
11:17Yeah, but Blair was also on the bench.
11:19Yeah, it wasn't a strong bench, let's face it.
11:23Is John Massino having a wee bit more trust in those players or was it simply that's all
11:28we had and we needed to freshen things up as the game progressed the other night?
11:32Yeah, he steadily has more trust in Moxon at this level, hasn't he? He's been introducing
11:37him for a while. He wasn't in the squad. He's been introducing him off the bench now and
11:40again and now he trusts him to start. And then he clearly trusts Swanson and Sadie.
11:47There's no issue putting them forward.
11:49Neil, we'll wrap it up there for the first half. Stay with us, we'll be back soon.
12:02Hello, welcome back to part two of Pumpey Talk. Neil, we mentioned there about the positives
12:13of having Bazelle coming back and Callum Lange boosting Pumpey's options for Derby on Friday
12:20night. But it seems to be a case of two steps forward, one step back with news that Regan
12:25Poole is a doubt for the Game of Pride part.
12:29Yeah, it's interesting because Regan spoke very eloquently and honestly a few weeks ago
12:35to us about his injury situation and how he's had to adapt, he's had to change how he prepares
12:43for games now because of the operation. Physically he's fine, but he said sometimes his hamstring
12:49tightens up in the leg where it was taken out and he just has to handle himself a bit
12:55better pre and post-match. And obviously one of the issues of that was the hamstring
13:02in the leg where it came out of and he was feeling tight and they took him off. And John
13:08Massino said Regan wanted to carry on but they didn't want to risk him. So it was precautionary,
13:14very wise and yeah, he's 50-50 for Derby. But I'm sure they'll look after that properly
13:21because he's played a lot of football since he's come back. He wasn't necessarily expecting
13:25to play as much after being out for such a long time. But it was needs must and you just
13:31hope that they handle it correctly so it's only a little thing and it doesn't matter
13:35more size into anything more serious.
13:37Yeah, I think John Massino from his press conference yesterday said yeah, he's 50-50,
13:42if he's not available for Derby then he'll be back for Coventry. Is it worth risking
13:48that though for one game? I know it's an important game against Derby and there's a lot at stake
13:52but is it worth just going no, let's give Regan a well-deserved break and let's have
13:57him back firing in full cylinders for Coventry? Do you have options there? I know they don't
14:03have too many options at the minute but you've got Tom McIntyre, you've also got Riley Tyler
14:08so it's not as if Pompey are really, really desperate or short in numbers in that department.
14:13Yeah, you can't risk it. If you've got a slight hamstring issue, you can't risk it.
14:18You never know what sort of pairs they become, don't you? Pompey were that unlucky last
14:23year. They lost Andrew with a hamstring injury for a long time and Robertson as well, wasn't
14:33it? Robertson's hamstring was so severe it required an operation. He was out for half
14:38a season. So yeah, you've got to be clever and not risk it. There's enough injuries
14:44going around at the moment, aren't there? Yeah, so would Tom McIntyre likely step in
14:49there? Again, he did well when he came on Tuesday night, didn't he? Yeah, he's a good
14:55player Tom but he's just prone to the odd error, isn't he? In matches, you see that
14:59but clearly he's a good player and can play at this level and has played at this level
15:03previously. It looked like he broke his nose the other night as well and he carried on.
15:09Apparently he didn't break it but at the same time looked pretty nasty in the end, didn't
15:13it? Yeah, well the guy that was interviewing him said his nose was all over his face. So
15:20he didn't break it then, okay, there we go. But yeah, so imagine he would come back into
15:28the side after slotting in on Tuesday night. Yeah, I know I've already touched on it slightly
15:34but just how reassured have you been of Pompey's recent form of performances bearing in mind
15:40the importance of this game on Friday night? Yeah, I just like the way that John Messina
15:45spoke about it in the week. I just like the way he's adapted and evolved this team. So
15:53you see, you follow Premier League football and the Zlatan management get a lot of stick
15:58for not changing the way he plays after promotion. The Spurs manager is getting a lot of stick
16:04for not changing the way he plays when you're 2-0 up against Chelsea and whatever. They
16:10both get stick for they're stubborn, they won't change, there's no plan B but Messina
16:15has acknowledged there's an issue with Pompey getting promoted into a higher division and
16:21and losing and he's adapted, he's changed the way they play and I think that's fantastic.
16:27What clever management and it's working so far. There has clearly been an improvement.
16:33So I think when he spoke about it so eloquently, so intelligently, he's such an impressive
16:40communicator and he acknowledges that Pompey aren't playing the same style they were last
16:47year in League 1 when they won the title. Now they play less out from the back from
16:53the keeper, they're pressed higher, they're a little more direct, different to how they
16:58played last year and it's working. So I think fair play to the management there and
17:04his coaching staff are spotting that and they're brave because Messina said I've got no qualms
17:13changing the way I play to cope with this level because I want us to stay up. So fair
17:17play, they've recognised that and they're trying to do something about that.
17:20Talking about League 1 there, obviously Pompey beat Derby to the League 1 title last season.
17:26Will that give them, I know Derby are sitting, I think they're sitting something like 17th
17:30from the table, they've done okay, fair play to them since returning to the Championship
17:34but do you think Pompey finishing above them in the League 1 title race last season will
17:38give them, maybe the slight edge going into this game, a slight superiority to them?
17:43No, no, it's just another season. Derby look okay don't they? You're talking about
17:54sides that went up with Pompey, Oxford, we've said this every week, they're plummeting
17:59aren't they? And Plymouth. With Oxford they had a decent start to the season, good job
18:06because they can't pick up a point now can they? But no, it's just a game isn't it
18:11Derby? It's a tough one, no doubt about that isn't it? Pompey on their travels actually
18:17haven't been too bad overall, I know there was a travel game at Cardiff and a wretched
18:21game at Stoke but they've picked up points on their travels haven't they? Including
18:25Middlesbrough, Leeds, Swansea and they won at QPR. But it's just, it's another game
18:32isn't it really? It's different circumstances, different teams, different divisions, there's
18:37no credence at all surely to last season's title win?
18:41Midweek, I know it's a Friday night but midweek away games haven't necessarily done Pompey
18:47any favours this season, you forget about Plymouth, I know they played well at Plymouth
18:51and still got beat at the end, so the track record for these night games away from home
18:56isn't exactly pretty reading is it?
19:00Not this season I suppose is it? But it is what it is, I sound like the Spurs manager
19:07about it, it is what it is isn't it? But no, that's what it is I think. Mind you, Pompey
19:15don't play many two Saturday, there's not many Saturday home games for Pompey at 3pm
19:20for a while coming up, they're all over the place.
19:23Which is annoying for not just the fans but also us trying to cover Pompey League, so
19:29moving on a wee bit, Marcus Harness, Pompey will be reunited with Marcus Harness at Pride
19:34Park or will they? Because he's not exactly playing every game is he for Derby at the
19:39minute?
19:40It's been said a lot, it's really interesting because, I'm going to write something about
19:44this, because Marcus Harness basically, he wanted to leave Pompey, they sold him to Ipswich,
19:51decent fee, used a lot of that money to bring in Colby Bishop. Harness has gone on to win
19:57two promotions and play in the Premier League and Colby Bishop's been phenomenal for Pompey
20:02hasn't he really? So they both had success in their own ways, the guy who left and his
20:07replacement. But yeah, he was a funny player for Pompey, Marcus Harness wasn't he? He upped
20:14his scoring rate but he did have spells where he just disappeared and yeah, silly red card
20:20I remember one time and yeah, he was a funny player.
20:23I just never got the sense that we seen the best of him. I always thought there was another
20:29gear to him that, admittedly he's come out and down again but half the time you were
20:34sort of going, where's the Marcus Harness that I know he could be like? So when Pompey
20:38got, what was it, 1.5 million would have been for him?
20:41No, I think it was about 600 grand or something like that.
20:45That's right, you're right. At the same time too, I still thought that was decent money
20:48because he was so inconsistent and you were left pulling your hair out I thought an awful
20:52lot, hence why the baldness here.
20:54Yeah, yeah. I can't remember the exact fee for him so don't quote me on 600 grand but
21:00he was round about that anyway. But yeah, I mean, Cowen said at the time he needed that
21:05money to rebuild the squad and he brought in Bishop and I agree, he never quite hit
21:10that top level did he really? There's more to come from him. During his time at Pompey's
21:14team did improve, he saw improvements without doubt and he was a very effective player and
21:18we saw some good performances from him as well. In a not great Danny Cowley team, let's
21:24not make any bones about it. And in the end, he wanted to move on and further his career
21:32or whatever but I don't think too many were that upset when he went really.
21:36Yeah, yeah.
21:37But he was still a good player and a first team regular for Pompey.
21:41One other player in the Derby ranks that automatically stood out for me when I just
21:46had a quick look through there, Corey Blackett-Taylor. Any time he seems to play against Pompey,
21:51he has a whirl day and Pompey just didn't know how to cope with him. So as soon as I
21:56seen his name I went, oh no, here we go again. But he hasn't really been playing for Derby
22:01either so I'm trying to figure the positives from that there.
22:05Last transfer window in January, they signed him and Pompey got Lange and a lot of people
22:12were disappointed Pompey didn't go for Corey Blackett-Taylor. But Lange's been a revelation,
22:17that was the attacking player they signed. And I don't think he did that much with
22:22Derby in the running either, did he really? Whereas Lange was a pivotal player for Pompey.
22:27But yeah, he does always seem to do well, definitely against Pompey.
22:31Well, from what I gather, the chances of him actually being in the XI is quite remote.
22:35Although Paul Warren might watch this and go, nah, friggies, I'm sticking him in.
22:39Thanks for the tip off. Before we go, performances, we've already discussed about that.
22:45But do you think that the performances have taken the urgency off the January transfer
22:49window slightly? Or is it still very much, no, the focus needs to be on getting in those
22:54reinforcements?
22:56If you looked at the bench on Tuesday, before the game, it's clear they need reinforcements.
23:01Simple as that. They need a central midfielder, they need a central defender, they might need
23:07another winger. They need to strengthen, without a doubt, because Pompey needs to stay up.
23:11So let's not get carried away. And I'm sure Pompey aren't going to change their focus
23:17on the transfer window from before. They need to sign those players.
23:22Right, unfortunately we do have to wrap it up now. We could speak all day about Pompey
23:25as you know, but unfortunately time is against us. Thank you for your help and thank you
23:29all for watching. We'll be back again soon. Goodbye!