Pompey Talk returns with the visit of league leaders Leeds United very much the focus. In this week's episode, Mark McMahon and Jordan Cross get together to discuss how both the Pompey team and their style of play have changed considerably since since their trip to Elland Road on the first day of the 2024-25 campaign.The duo also discuss Pompey's approach to the fixture - with Plymouth's visit to Fratton Park on Wednesday night deemed the more important of the games immediately on the horizon. Meanwhile,John Mousinho's pragmatic approach to injuries comes up, too, with the Blues desperate not to add to their already sizeable treatment table waiting list!
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Pompey Talk. My name is Mark McVann and joining
00:09me today to discuss all things Pompey is the news's Jordan Cross. Jordan, welcome.
00:16Hello Mark, how are you?
00:19Not to be baffled, how are you?
00:20Have you quieted Boris down there?
00:21Yes, he's playing with a ball in the background so hopefully he'll stay quiet. Let's get started
00:29Jordan, big game on Sunday. Are you excited about it?
00:34I am, I am really excited actually. We're getting along in the tooth now so to get excited
00:41is more of a rarity. I'm joking, it's a privilege to cover Pompey and this is a game. As the
00:51week progressed and I gave the game more consideration, there's a bit of a buzz about it. It's a
00:59free hit for Pompey really, isn't it? Leeds are in powerful form, I think they're something
01:06like one defeat in 17, going all the way back to November. It's a really tough task. Stranger
01:16things have happened and we've got Fratton Park, a fortress Fratton's won and truly back
01:20isn't it this season and as the campaign's gone on. I was listening to David Protten
01:26talking about it on the Essential EFL The Sky Sports podcast. He was anticipating a
01:34real dust up on Sunday and I was like, yes, it's going to be that. It might not go Pompey's
01:40way but you know that Fratton will be rocking, Leeds will be well supported, Pompey fans
01:46will step up to that, the atmosphere will be there, sun's starting to shine a bit isn't
01:50it? So it's got the makings of a good occasion. Even with taking into account Pompey's injuries
01:57and being weakened, I think Pompey have got enough about them on a one-off. As I showed
02:02at Ellen Road in very different circumstances at the start of the season, they can give
02:06anyone a game.
02:07Just when you mentioned the Ellen Road game at the start of the season, a wee quiz for
02:12you. There's eight players who started that game, will not be involved, definitely won't
02:18be involved on Sunday's game. Can you name them?
02:21Oh God, I haven't been there for a while now. Will Norris would be one, wouldn't he?
02:27Yes, one.
02:28Conor Shotton would be another, Jordan Williams would be another.
02:31He was up there before Williams.
02:34Sorry, I've gone for Conor Shotton SC.
02:36Yeah.
02:37Did Conor start left-back, didn't he, I'd have thought?
02:41Yeah.
02:43Who was the other centre-back? You're putting me on the spot now. Was it Marlon? Marlon
02:47was starting, that's for sure. The likes of Sorensen as well, Paddy Lane and the like.
02:54I'm throwing a few at you there. Where was Sadie? Was he around for that one?
03:00He was on the bench.
03:01Yeah, that's what I've got for you at the moment, Mark, off the top of my head.
03:05OK, so the other ones were Tyler started.
03:08Of course he did.
03:10Silveira started.
03:13Sammy Silveira, yeah, yes, yes.
03:17The left-back was probably the most important one, Callum Lange.
03:21Yeah, yeah, big day for him. I spoke to Callum after that game.
03:25Yes, two goals.
03:27And that really set the tone, didn't it, for Callum's start. The goals were fantastic,
03:34weren't they? They were really good goals, Callum's one. Even Sorensen's thump,
03:41and it kind of spoke a promise for him. I saw a story actually from, I think it was
03:45a Leeds fan site saying that, did that game actually happen from their point of view?
03:49Because so much has changed since then. And it does feel like a different lifetime.
03:53Pompey could have been, as John Massino said himself, they could have been,
03:59I'm not joking, I think they could have been about five-nil down within 15 minutes.
04:02And that's no exaggeration. They got absolutely pummeled in that start.
04:07And it was like, welcome to the championship. Is this the level that Pompey are facing?
04:11And that's enough. And then that goal came back.
04:17Yeah, my standout, my other standout memories is the Pompey fans that day
04:21down the side of the pitch, and it was about two and a half, three fouls from them.
04:25And they were rocking and they applauded and respected the Leeds fans.
04:31Lots of comments about the show of force there that day.
04:34And of course, yeah, and then right until the death and then that late heartbreak,
04:38could Will Norris have done a bit better? People were saying things like that,
04:42weren't we back then? And yeah, that goal. You came away from that game
04:46not knowing how to feel the highs of being in front, going to stop his time
04:50and then having it snatched from you. Real drama.
04:54And yeah, one of the, oh, I'm forgetting, fantastic press food.
04:59That was welcome to the championship. There was an early kickoff, wasn't it?
05:03So there was a fried breakfast. I'm not expecting the same at Pompey this weekend,
05:07put it that way. Although Mick Hogan, the Pompey press steward, does go out of his way
05:11to put some cake on and bits and pieces and piglets.
05:15We get a bit of piglets pantry involved these days.
05:17They're not on the most custom because there's red onion in them.
05:21Too spicy for Neil, isn't it?
05:26Yeah, it'd be too spicy.
05:30Yeah, I suppose though, like Bird of May 2,
05:34there's four players have left that were on the bench that day for Pompey.
05:38Ben Stevenson, Owen Moxon, Tom Larry and Gavin White.
05:42Let's not forget Gavin White. To me, it just shows you how much Pompey have evolved.
05:46How, from the start of the season to the present situation now,
05:50that team has just evolved beyond recognition,
05:54hasn't it?
05:56It's not just the personnel, which you rightly point out, it's the whole identity.
06:00That was a case in point that day.
06:04Admittedly, a really, really tough start
06:08for the season for Pompey. It quickly became apparent
06:12that if they were to continue playing the kind of expansive
06:16game they were doing in League 1, obviously they were
06:20playing out from the back, the pivot was coming in, the centre-backs
06:24were going wide and the full-backs were pushing on,
06:28they were going to get relegated.
06:32They'd be dead and buried by now if they were to continue in that fashion.
06:36They didn't have the personnel to take on the likes of Leeds
06:40and the big hitters with the big budgets in the Championship. If they stood trying to stand toe-to-toe
06:44with them in that fashion, they didn't stand a chance.
06:48It was very shrewd of John to quickly spot that, identify that
06:52and not be too proud to say, OK, we're going to go a different way here.
06:56We're going to go more direct. We're going to play a high-pressing game. We're going to get amongst
07:00teams. We're going to run ourselves. Our running numbers are going to be off the charts,
07:04probably to the point that they contribute to the injuries that Pompey have faced.
07:08We're going to get ourselves to turn it around this way. And it worked.
07:12They've not had it their way. They've had big injuries along the way this season.
07:16We'll talk about Marlon Pack actually, I'm sure we will.
07:20One win for the first 15 games, he went back in a defensive
07:24crisis and contributed to the upturn that started in November.
07:28Here we are now, when I'm thinking maybe a couple more wins might just get
07:32from the final 11 games. And that's no exaggeration. I think it can be as little
07:36as two wins from the remainder of the season to secure
07:40Pompey's place in the Championship. Anyway, going back to Leeds,
07:44it was a really great occasion. I can't believe they got to look at their team and the way they've
07:48changed a heck of a lot as well. The likes of Nonto, who I thought was just ridiculous.
07:52He's on the bench every week now. He can't even get to the start in 11.
07:56And now they've got the likes of Solomon and the guys
08:00that are coming in. Tanaka has come in the midfield.
08:04Just the fact that they can leave him on the bench just says it all about what Pompey
08:08are up against. Just going back to that initial point that we were talking about,
08:12when did you think Pompey had that realisation
08:16that one, we need to change our approach
08:20to games, or two, what we had prepared for
08:24player-wise this season might not be good enough to get us
08:28to 21st place in the Championship. When do you reckon that moment
08:32occurred to Pompey? The player part of it, I think they knew.
08:36In terms of recruitment, they were
08:40dealt a number of issues. Obviously the Colby hit and replaced him. You're not going to go out and pay
08:44millions of pounds for a replacement when he's coming back as it was in October, November time.
08:48Jordy, continue on with the Leeds theme.
08:52What's Pompey's approach to this game? Bear in mind there's another
08:56big game on Wednesday night against Plymouth at home.
09:00A game that's going to have massive repercussions for the bottom of the Championship.
09:04In the past, John Massino has maybe rested a few players. Thinking back to
09:08how he lost in January when he rested five or six for West Brom away.
09:12There was a game against Millwall coming up, that backfired.
09:16How does he approach this? You said it's a bit of a free head, but at the end of the day,
09:20Pompey want to maintain...
09:24I was going to say, Pompey want to make sure they're not going to add to their already
09:28big injury list, aren't they?
09:32The bigger game is Plymouth, no doubt about that.
09:36They're pretty much going eight tenths of the way to getting the job done this season.
09:40Leeds is a free head, but
09:44what can he do at the moment? What can John Massino do?
09:48There's not a lot of players in the
09:52stand at the moment, is there? There's nine players injured.
09:56Who wasn't involved in the last game, in the squad-wise?
10:00Probably Abdoulaye Kamara is well and truly out of favour. Ben Killip,
10:04probably. They're the two, in terms of the squad, I don't think they're going to shake things up
10:08too much, are they? No disrespect to Abdoulaye Kamara or
10:12Ben Killip, but within the group, there are
10:16issues. OK, so Marlon Pack or Rory Taylor,
10:20or switch it around and
10:24shift Ogilvy in or Isaac Hayden. I think
10:28it'd be Marlon Pack again. I know that probably disappoints
10:32some supporters, but I think there's every chance that that would be the case. Swanson
10:36or Devlin, maybe. With the pace that
10:40Leeds have got in forward areas, I think they'd probably lean towards
10:44Swanson. I see it as, sorry for giving away
10:48this, I just won't be out, but our predicted line-up, it's going to be unchanged in our
10:52predicted line-up story. I can't see any
10:56changes from last week, really.
11:00What can he do? He has, as I say, a duo. She's probably not really hit. Oh, the other one would be
11:04Cade Gordon, wouldn't it? He was a big positive
11:08at Luton, but again, I think it would be Matt Ritchie that would get
11:12the nod ahead of him, really. And of course, the one
11:16story that we have going in is Freddie Potts is back and had a good week under his belt, so he's
11:20well and truly. He wasn't ready. He was on the bench last
11:24week, didn't play, but I don't think they really felt he could do more than
11:2815, 10, 15 minutes. He wasn't really ready to play. That was the thought of
11:32Pompey, but he's had a good week under his belt now, and he comes into the frame, so
11:36that would certainly be a serious consideration,
11:40but I think that would perhaps, my prediction on that one, would they start with the same
11:44line-up and maybe introduce him, and you've got him on, yeah, you've got him to add
11:48and Marco Mane and, yeah, and Yengi you can throw
11:52into the mix as well, can't you? Again, Yengi, talking about the
11:564-4-2, I think that would be, as John said, go with Yengi and Bishop in the two
12:00like he did chasing the game last week when he went more direct. I don't see Pompey
12:04starting games in that way, but it is quite exciting that they could put those two up and
12:08really, that's a handful for any defence, isn't it? Bishop and Yengi together,
12:12that gives them food for thought. Again, I don't see a diversion
12:16from the way Pompey start games, but that would be
12:20my thought on that. Bear in mind for Pompey, yes,
12:24the line-up game is probably more important in the grand scheme of things, but how much
12:28importance do Pompey need to take into consideration that this is one
12:32live on Sky, they've got a lot of, there's going to be
12:36a lot of people watching this game, probably want to sort of
12:40set a good impression all round, potential
12:44signings in the summer, they want to maintain that front and park as a real
12:48fortress, you're in front of the team, it has to be in
12:52Pompey's interest to really go for this here and put on a good display
12:56for a whole manner of reasons, isn't it?
13:00It's a platform, isn't it? It's also on ITV, isn't it? It's not just on Sky.
13:04That kind of amplifies the
13:08occasion, it's Leeds coming, there's going to be eyes on Pompey, that's something for Pompey
13:12to relish, these are the occasions, this is why they come to the Championship for these moments, isn't it?
13:16To take on these big boys, if you can't be up for this game, get out of town.
13:20I'd give my left and my right arm to be involved
13:24in an occasion like this, wouldn't you?
13:28You've just got to savour that, and then the vibe
13:32I get in terms of referring to some of your earlier points, in terms of
13:36can they make changes, I think they've got three games in seven days, and all the
13:40noises I've asked, lots of, can Regan Poole do three games in seven days?
13:44Get on with it, from John Massino, you've got to. They've got an
13:48international break coming up, they can recoup after that, there might be some
13:52good news on the horizon with Connor Shocknessy, there's news there of him being
13:56well on course for a return to training around that
14:00international break, and then hopefully a couple of weeks from coming back.
14:04Go and slog your guts for these three games,
14:08I don't see any massive changes, they can probably change it in parts of the
14:12game, and again, they can probably shake it up with in-game, because once you get
14:16to 60, 70 minutes, you're going to be, these players, that's been a dangerous start
14:20for fatigue and injury, but in terms of starting
14:24I think they'll be pretty much as powerful as we can go
14:28and get stuck into these three games and get on with it.
14:32Bear in mind, Pummey's track record in revenge this season, let's just say
14:36does John Massino ever worry going into any
14:40game that, oh goodness, we get out of 10-11 now, or does
14:44he just go, no, he can't even think about that type of thing?
14:48No, he's so pragmatic about it, even
14:52there's a running joke amongst the press corps, how we go in
14:56on a Wednesday or Thursday and have a chat with him, they drop a grenade about this one's
15:00out, Shocknessy's out, in such a matter-of-fact fashion, I mean he's had a bit of time to get his head around
15:04that news before he drops the grenade on us and we're kind of recoiling
15:08but without
15:12sounding too brutal, he is just so
15:16headstrong on the games and what you get out of it
15:20even when Shocknessy got the injury, he was like, well
15:24we've got a goal out of him, that goal might keep us up, yeah I'll take that
15:28I don't know, it sounds brutal
15:32treating the players like commodities on what they return, but he's that
15:36clinical about it, and the other injuries
15:40well, they've actually returned things as well, these players, so we'll take those hits for what they've given
15:44that and maybe, did we bring them back a little bit too early? I think we did
15:48on most of them, but they've done what we wanted them to
15:52do, so he's very good at compartmentalising these things
15:56and staying on the level, as everyone would see from the fact that
16:00he can come out after a game and just put a real fair assessment, as fair
16:04as I can see, an unbiased assessment in that
16:08mouth from the heat of a football match, he's very good at that
16:12he's a cool operator and very calculating and calm
16:16in that fashion, credit to him for all that. Even when the likes of
16:20Rob Atkinson out for 68 weeks on top of Shocknessy, even when
16:24we've got hidden mafios out for the rest of the season, he's sort of like saying
16:28even in those circumstances, when he's looking at a centre-back's list and going
16:32flipping hell, what have I got left? He's still very composed, very calm in the situation
16:36and sort of tackles everything in a composed manner.
16:40Yeah, you probably look at that and say they came in a positive result.
16:44We kept the team strong, we could have changed it up a bit, but double whammy
16:48but we got the three points, we're three points closer to our target.
16:52And that run of three games, that was massive
16:56and they took the collateral damage of that, but they got
17:00the returns. It now puts Pompey, Pompey could have probably lived
17:04and they might, pardon the pun with the injuries, they could
17:08limp over the line and they probably will because
17:12you need to eke out. I think if you look at, without getting too statsy on it,
17:16if you look at the league table, no-one down there is really putting any kind of
17:20effective run together and they're not looking like it.
17:24I think Pompey were going about 1.6 points per game,
17:28really decent return for the last six games before last weekend. Plymouth were the only ones
17:32looking close to that, they then lost again. And then if you look at
17:36the other teams around there, they're on some absolutely horrific runs down at the bottom
17:40with the likes of Derby, Luton, and obviously there's that
17:44gap there now. So, unless
17:48there's an almighty turnaround from those sides, and you
17:52can't write off that happening and they stick a run together, Pompey could get to about
17:5646 points. Two wins in a draw does it,
18:00three wins definitely without any doubt does it. So, those from 11
18:04games, you can kind of almost target your games and
18:08the home form and maybe eke out a draw or a result away from
18:12home and Pompey will be in the Championship next season, I would
18:16suggest.
18:30you