Avram Grant was left ruing missed chances once again – knowing that these missed chances were what cost us YET AGAIN at Fulham.
If you cannot score you cannot win, something that is not lost on Grant, as he told The Pompey Site when reflecting on the loss, knowing that we were the better side: ‘we played very good football and created a lot of chances. We were the better team by far.
‘But football is all about goals and we did everything well except score goals.
‘The players are sad and frustrated. They came on to the pitch and gave their heart but we need to take our chances.
‘We cannot come here and miss so many chances. We missed too many and at the other end one lapse of concentration cost us, although I think their goal was offside.’
He still thinks that we showed that we have enough quality to stay up and took heart from what he saw, in spite of the defeat: ‘when you’re bottom of the league you can have less confidence but the players looked confident on the ball – they didn’t look like a team who are bottom of the league.
‘I’m very proud of them. We showed that even though there are problems off the pitch, we showed a lot of spirit and tried to play good football.’
The support that the 3,000 travelling fans gave the club was fantastic, and I really enjoyed being a part of that. The highlight being a fantastic rendition of ‘Avram Grant’s blue-and-white army.’
This support was something that Grant was very appreciative of as well: ‘it makes me feel good. For me they are the best fans in England and the relationship between us is really good.
‘The team can be proud of the fans and the fans can be proud of the team.
‘I’m trying to do the best I can for this team. The club is very dear to me – I love this club.
‘When the whole city is behind this club and supporting the team, then I feel more committed.’
His counterpart Roy Hodgson also had something to say about the Pompey fans: ‘we have to give credit to their fans. They didn’t stop cheering and singing for the whole 90 minutes. I was very impressed with them.’
I could not believe how quiet the home fans were though!
Survival is something that David James feels we can do: ‘we had two games in hand, now its one, but a six-point gap is not insurmountable
‘You’ve seen us out there at Fulham. We played well. One incident has cost us the game while we’ve had four or five chances and not taken them. I don’t think confidence is an issue. We looked good.
‘The defeat was the story of our season. We’ve lost so many games by one goal. In the first half we had good opportunities to put ourselves ahead. We dominated the game and until they scored we seemed alright.’
James, who is pleased to be back playing again, knows that it does not get any easier with the trip to Old Trafford to face Manyoo on Saturday but says we will go there looking for the win, as we should every game: ‘we’ve got to look at every game as one we need to win. It doesn’t matter where we get the points – Old Trafford, Fratton Park, White Hart Lane or wherever.’
That defeat was another crushing blow, and leaves us with an uphill battle – yet when I reflect, as always I am left thinking that IF we can start taking our chances then we can still stay up…
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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