‘There wasn’t a single grain of fight in team’
GAFFER FOR A DAY Josh Sweetman, aged 29, from Havant, gives his verdict on Pompey’s 2-1 loss to Cambridge United on Saturday... What did you think of that then?
Well, I would love to tell you about the opening 15 minutes, but I spent it queuing to get into the Fratton Park. It was absolutely ridiculous.
One queue for the Fratton End went past the club shop and the other stretched along the majority of the North Stand. It was chaos.
Some fans were saying their new cards had malfunctioned and the only steward on the two turnstiles had to instead let everyone in with his own card!
Stewards were telling us not to put the card in but to swipe it contactless, which I did without any issue when I got to the turnstile.
Most fans expected something to go wrong, which says it all.
What did you make of the supporter reaction to defeat?
To be honest, I didn’t boo. As for that ‘This is embarrassing’ chant, I think that was more directed towards the last 4-5 years.
As a club, we’re going nowhere. It’s like walking into a wall and trying to carry on walking. I can understand the chant entirely.
In terms of football, there wasn’t a single grain of fight in that team. No passion, no fight, no desire.
And what has happened to the pressing game?
So what is the issue with this team?
Under Danny Cowley we’re supposed to be a passing team, but it’s all sideways, not one player tried to be creative.
Nobody wants to risk giving the ball away, the amount of times we went long was ridiculous.
I know we are desperate for a striker, but why didn’t we attempt to sign another winger in the summer?
Ronan Curtis has started the season dreadfully and so has Marcus Harness.
Can you even pick a man of the match?
That’s a tough one, we were dreadful from start to finish. It’s impossible, but I’ll go for Mahlon Romeo.
You can tell he’s Championship quality. He’s quick, strong, decent with the ball at his feet and attackminded. Certainly Kieron Freeman doesn’t go forward as well as Romeo.
I was also encouraged by Miguel Azeez on his debut. He wanted to get on the ball and make things happen.