9 hours ago, sharpysharps86 said:

Sure thing. Also here's an away concept as well,  based on the grey rumours that were floating around...

I'd be buying for the first time in years if they looked like this. Amazing how much a kit improves when there is some thought in how to match the sponsor rather than just splodging it on 

3 hours ago, Ricky said:

Really good post that. I would like us to go for Matt Clarke as well. I work in hampshire and some colleagues are Pompey fans and rate him very highly. Not getting promoted may mean he wants out.

Jarod (Bowen) will probably end up at Everton who have been monitoring him for a long time. 

I live in Portsmouth. Matt Clarke is their standout player at the back. Pompey were good defensively last year. Going forwards is where they came unstuck. He would be a good signing.

Plus he's 22 with only 1 year left on his contract. 

Chris Sutton is a cracking pundit

Rodwell can't even organize his own 2 feet

Classic Bell

10 minutes ago, Crimpshrine said:

Sorry - That is very true but the fans voted to allow him to take over and made sure he was going to run the club in a way that they approved.

I think the Portsmouth Supporters Trust still has a seat on the board.

They may or not have a seat on the board I'm not sure. But even if they do it is very much a token gesture. One of the terms of the deal was total control. Eisner was putting that much cash in that he's pretty entitled to want complete authority over it.

Fans did get too vote. How much that means in my opinion isn't a huge deal. All it takes is a small bit of media spin. No fan can really know what potential owners are like. And there were no caveats as part of the deal in terms of Eisner had to do a, b, c.

A couple of my good mates were shareholders (I live in Portsmouth) and I was a little perplexed when they were happy to sell to Eisner. But these are just normal people who'd put in about a grand or so of their own cash to buy the club when it could have gone into extinction. But they could see there was no possible progression unless the club was sold.

7 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Rothwell is a strange one. Hes definitely got something, hes always positive, hes direct and hes quick. He could argue that he hasnt been given enough game, but then again I dont recall any goals or assists from him. Hes come close with a few good shots, he hit the bar v Reading, the post v Ipswich and had a good shot tipped over Millwall, but I cant remember much else. He does get people off the edge of their seat.

Any repreive in terms of Palmer going back potentially opening a passage to the first team may be temporary until Chapman is fit. 

My personal opinion is if we saw him centrally pushing right up with a central striker as Dack does we would have seen more in terms of goals/assists. Opportunity hasn't been given though largely down to the good form of Dack.

I have the feeling if Palmer was still here he still would have brought Conway on. It was 55 mins, we were under the cosh a little. Mowbray square pegged it trying to shoehorn a little game management in the form of Conway when there was an outlet on the bench in the form of Rothwell. A very negative, ineffective and ultimately costly decision. 

6 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

Watching the highlights again, it’s either Travis or Evans who does a piss poor attempt at closing down the shooter: positioned too far back, half-hearted run then turned their backs. Something I didn’t notice for the killer third goal is that, when the ball loops up, Rodwell puts both his hands up clearly signalling “C’mon Raya!” then reacts late to the dropping ball. Still a horrendous clanger by Raya but a clear assist by Rodwell - Hendry/Moran/NcNamee would’ve attacked that ball and flattened the striker.

Unless he got a shout. Which is probable

Criminal he didn't come on yesterday. In what I'm sure could be his best position on the park. Few defensive responsibilities. Brentford still chasing an equaliser. His pace and ability and the opportunity to play centrally was perfect for yesterday. I genuinely think that sub could be the final nail in the coffin for him mentally when it comes to his rovers career. Very much expect him to move on in the summer now and be a huge success elsewhere 

Any clue as to what we've paid to bring Chapman in?

Personally I'm disappointed we've not been able to go for Gallagher. I don't want to see us dropping totally unsustainable amounts of money signings. I doubt we'll go up this year. Still could. But we've got our club back. We have pride. Mowbray values the club rather than short term success which is very rare for a manager. Hopefully the summer is better. But I think we've got it pretty good

3 hours ago, Pepsi Max Cherry said:

I’m new on here so just wondering what an 11 o’clocker is?

A journo Alan Nixon used to post on here years ago. Giving out the tiniest tidbits of information followed by "more in tomorrow's paper" which whipped people up into such a frenzy. The term nickoteen was even created.

 Anyway he used to post at about 11pm as the papers were already being printed at that time which coined the phrase 11 o'clocker. 

What about.

Harry Chapman's on a sledge, on a sledge, on a sledge.

Harry Chapman's on a sledge.

He hates Burnley 

56 minutes ago, philipl said:

Very smart man management by Mowbray. Reassures the side which slaughtered Hull, keeps Conway hopeful and throws down a challenge to Chapman.

Pulis always kept Stoke players whippet fit if I remember correctly so I doubt he is doing any different at Boro. That said the medical staff might have a different view on conditioning to avoid injuries. 

Peter crouch talked about pulis in his book. Said he did nothing on fitness but all team shape. Robert Huth used to cycle 40k to training to up his fitness as he felt he didn't do enough under pulis

How I feel about this signing

Bloody love that bit where he's on a sledge 

4 hours ago, dingles staying down 4ever said:

You cant of been watching Rovers for so long if you think that Bell's performance against Millwall was one of the worst. I'm no way a Bell fan and think he is poor and no improvement on Williams but several of his previous performances have been worse. Two clean sheets in the last two league matches should be praised and Bell has been part of that. Granted against poor opposition but the defence has looked better.

I can only assume you didn't watch that game. Nyambe proved me wrong. I hope Bell can progress in the same way. I just really don't think we've seen a recent consistent upturn in form

2 hours ago, Fraserkirky said:

RE: Bell

I wish he would shoot sometimes. He makes these glorious runs at times and always picks the wrong choice. Very frustrating as you say, but it’s funny seeing guys challenging him to a foot race. His defensive work has improved in the last few weeks, and not many silly mistakes, like Williams is famous for.

Against Millwall. Literally our previous league game it was one of the single worst performances I recall from a rovers player. Just because he wasn't tested much against bottom of the league doesn't mean he's improved 

Anyone who posts on here asking for links to streams. You're better off looking on reddit. Loads of links posted from there

Chapman will in all likelihood be very cheap. Nobodies seen him play to say whether his pace has or hasn't gone. For the ability we know he possesses he's worth a gamble if the price is right. But not as our only winger as it would be foolish to relay on him 

Not quite as good on the ball tonight. But how good is this bloke at winning possession back. I lost count how many times he won the ball in midfield battles

1 hour ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

For no ‘natural’ Crouchie has done alright - he’s got the most headed goals in PL history.

Exactly. It's a skill which can be learnt. Technique and mentality. Having the frame Brereton does is a great headstart though.

Hopefully dropping below Nuttal will give Brereton a kick up the arse that he's not doing enough. He says he's been quite pleased with some of his cameos. He shouldn't be. First things first he needs to start working hard for the team. Mowbray said it in his post match interview that Nuttal regaining his place was largely down to him understanding he needed to defend from the front. Brereton needs to understand this also.

Secondly he needs to beef up and use his size more. He doesn't need to be a pure target man but it needs to be an aspect of his game. He could be decent at a few things but not excelling at any one (e.g. Armstrong and his pace) so needs to develop into more of an all rounder. 

I read Peter Crouch's book at Christmas. He was talking about how he was never a natural at heading the ball. It was learnt. And a major part of it for him was programming himself to forget he might get hurt. Brereton is a big lad but he needs more of this type of mentality. If he can do these things then the things he is naturally better at such as running with the ball will mean he can be a decent player. It's all up to him though. Needs to stop being happy with cameos and being one of the lads and push on

Nuttal worked his socks off yesterday. I was very discouraged to see him start as he's been terrible whenever I've seen him previously. But he was a physical presence who worked hard and got himself into the 6 yard box when it mattered. Plenty of players have made a career out of this. If he can learn to control a ball he may make a championship player in the future. He's not there yet.

What's encouraging is Mowbray managed to get him chasing down. If he can get Nuttal who was one of the laziest players I've seen defending from the front, then maybe he's able to give Brereton the rocket he needs to start actually running. 

There may have been a small bit of psychology today too. Giving Nuttal the chance must surely play on Breretons mind that he needs to do more 

Would it not be possible to discuss Brereton in the Brereton thread?