Josh Perry on the recent comings and goings at Fratton Park and what they, the comings, can do for our season…hopefully! Read on for more.
Nearly a week has passed since the Transfer Window slammed shut.
Deadline Day was an anti-climatic affair for Pompey fans as they witnessed their threadbare squad whittled down even more.
Tommy Smith and Blues captain Marc Wilson were sold whilst youngster Marlon Pack was loaned out to Cheltenham Town.
Steve Cotterill managed to bring in Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson as part of the Wilson deal, as well as £2m in cash. A great piece of business.
Now though, it is up to the manager to find a system that works for the players he has at his disposal. So far, the formations he has used haven’t paid off and shockingly in our four league games; we’ve barely looked like scoring once. In fact, our only league goal thus far, was a fluky deflected effort from Nadir Ciftci against Reading.
Cotterill has stated on many occasions he is trying to change the ‘style’ of football we are used to and that it will take time. I’m fine with that as long as after ten games we’re not rocked to the bottom of the league.
We have a very decent first eleven on paper and it’s been a shock how poorly they’ve performed in this league. There’s not really one part of the side you can point your finger at either. The defence have been very shaky, whilst the midfield has been one-dimensional and completely lacking in ideas. Upfront we aren’t ruthless enough and get bullied by the opposition.
However, I have no doubts that Lawrence and Kitson will be a massive boost. Stoke fans adore Lawrence and they are gutted to see him leave The Britannia. Whilst Kitson will offer an outlet and hold the ball up – Something Nugent desperately struggles to do.
Away from Deadline Day, there have also been a couple of deals done. Kanu finally joined after weeks of speculation. He will be a big asset this year.
For me though – the biggest asset is the latest signing, Ricardo Rocha. Bringing him back to the club is a massive coup for Steve Cotterill. Rocha and Mokoena forged a great partnership at the back in our FA Cup run last season, hopefully they can pick up where they left off. Of course it also means that Sonko can finally be dropped after a string of calamity performances.
We have some very tough games coming up. We host inform Ipswich on Saturday. Then after that, two away games in five days sees us travel to Crystal Palace and Sheff Utd – and we all know what Pompey are like on the road?
Therefore it is crucial Cotterill uses this time off to get his players right physically and mentally for the stretch of games to come. An indication of how they are doing will be seen tonight in a friendly against Gosport. Fingers crossed we don’t suffer any injuries and the players receive a confidence boost by scoring a few goals.
Written by Josh Perry.
The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.
