Well last week`s column got you all talking about the use of TV replays. Behind goal officials have been mentioned and technology to tell if the ball has crossed the goal line. Well that was needed at the KC Stadium in the week when Hull were given a goal against Sheffield United when the ball clearly did not cross the line.
Well you all gave your own opinions and Chix asked what I thought of the second goal – when mate it was rightly allowed. As to the penalty, Johnson did well to get his arm out of the way after Campbell flicked it on and the key thing to me was that no Stoke player appealed, in fact they could not believe their luck.
So why not referrals to the fourth official, should they be limited? NO! Just watching England in the West Indies and as I type Chris Gayle has been given out by the third umpire after a referral. Gayle is very unhappy but the decision is RIGHT!! There is no doubt in cricket if there is any uncertainty about the decision the third umpire sticks with the original verdict
Teaser
What have the following players got in common? Phil Jagielka, Everton; Aaron Hughes, Fulham; Michael Turner, Hull City; Jamie Carragher, Liverpool; Sylvain Distin, Pompey and Fabricio Coloccini, Newcastle.
Birthdays
1st March – Bobby Kellard is 66; apologies to Bobby as I have just noticed that last year I said he was 85!! Tommy Curtis 36; Djimi Traore 29.
2nd March – Giannis Skopelitis 31; Warren Hunt 25.
3rd March – Darren Anderton 37; Darren has of course recently retired, finishing his career at Bournemouth. Robbie Simpson 33
4th March – John Philiips 72 John was the third member of the Phillips clan to play for Pompey during the fifties. They were not related Len and Lionel being the other. John was a right half who came through the junior ranks and made 77 appearances between 1956 and 1960 but failed to find the net in all that time.
Gary Stanley 55
5th March – Jimmy Elder 81; Made just one appearance in the 1948/49 championship season wearing the number four shirt in the place of Jimmy Scoular. Came to Pompey from the oddly named Jeanfield Swifts, a Scottish club based in Perth.
John McCelland 74 speedy winger of the early sixties. Still a regular visitor to Fratton Park.
6th March – John Kerr 54 who in 1987 became the first league substitute to be himself replaced.
7th March – Ian Purdie 56; Ian scored Pompey’s last goal in Division Four at Northampton in May 1980. Andy Griffin 30
Home Farm
So this week Pompey announced an arrangement with Dublin club Home Farm to jointly produce young talent. Home Farm have a great history of doing this and a quick look at their web site shows the list of stars they have unearthed in the past. You will have seen the list on various sites etc. during week including Ronnie Whelan, Liam Brady, Kenny Cunningham, Mark Kinsella and Stephen McPhail.
They also discovered the player who has scored most own goals in Premier league history and long time Pompey target, Richard Dunne. Home Farm have in the past had links with both Everton and Leeds United, in fact for a spell when they were linked with the Toffees they were actually known as Home Farm Everton!! Dunne signed for Everton during that spell in 1996.
Someone in the week also insisted that Steve Archibald was discovered by the Dublin club which is absolutely untrue! For a start Archibald is Scottish and although he did play one game for Home Farm he was 40 at the time!! According to legend he was sent packing by then manager Dermot Keely with a flea (well some ‘f` word) in his ear.
More digging found that Toast reporter Jimbo has visited the Dublin club during his adventures. He describes the facilities as amazing with a modern clubhouse contained pictures of all players who have ‘made it`. Good quality pitches and a stadium probably at about Southern league standard. They regularly entertain youth sides from English league clubs especially in pre-season.
Thanks Jimbo but the Toast team were trying to find a link between Pompey and their new partners. Nobody else has found one but after hours of searching we have got lucky!! There is a player in Pompey history that played for Home Farm as a youngster.
That player is Tony Macken who joined on loan from Derby for two spells in the relegation season of 1975/76. The bustling and stocky dark haired midfield player was a hit with the few fans watching those days and in ten games scored once in a 2-0 win over Plymouth Argyle. His debut came at Hull when Pompey had lost their last SIX games – three more to follow before a Bobby McGuiness goal sealed a 1-0 win at Forest.
Tony was only Pompey’s fifth ever loan signing after goalkeepers Bob Widdowson and Graham Horn, Ian Collard(Ipswich) and John McLaughlin(Liverpool). In total Pompey took five on loan that season and they were all midfield players!! Problem was we only score 32 goals. We only won nine games all season and Tony from just ten starts played in four of them. Tony will probably be best remembered for his spell at Walsall for who he played around 200 times in the late seventies and early eighties.
The legend of Uruguay
Ex Pompey star Dario Silva has spent the past two years attending rehabilitation and physiotherapy and learning how to best use his prosthetic legSuch has been the success of his recuperation that Silva joining a local semi-professional team Les Bastilles, scoring a remarkable 40 goals in 31 games. He also get involved in all manner of marathons and sponsored runs with able bodied people and has to date shown no ill effects.
However to cap it all Dario Silva took the pitch again on January 13th after a 3 year absence, taking part in a charity match between a Uruguay XI and an Argentinan XI for the Children with Wings Foundation charity. In a fantastic moment he stepped up to slot a penalty passed the opposing keeper and immediately hugged by every player on the pitch including the Argentine keeper!
He is being talked about as a possible recruit to the MLS or Australian league and has already stated his desire to enter the 2012 Olympics as a rower.
The legend of Uruguay has proved why he was given the name.
WANTED
Do you love Pompey and know all there is to know about the best team on the south coast? If the answer’s yes, then we need you!
So went the opening of an article this week on the Pompey Official Site. Eyes light up until we find the club are looking for tour guides to show fans around the famous old stadium that is Fratton Park. Tours will be run by a company called Stadium Tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday except matchdays and they are looking for people who:
– are confident public speakers
– have a vast knowledge of Pompey
– are natural performers
– are good at dealing with large groups of people.
Interested email your CV to mark.taffler@thestadiumtour.com. Now who do we think might like the job?
Vítor Hugo Gomes Paços
In the latest of the series on players that came to Fratton Park in the transfer window we turn our attentions to young Portuguese midfield star Pele.
Born in Porto on 14th September 1987 he started his career at Vitoria Guimaraes in 2006 after previously being on the books of Benfica. The tall (1.87m) stylish player was a success and helped Guimaraes to promotion tht year. His reputation was by now known across Europe and it was Internazionale of Milan who came in and signed him on a five year deal.
Inter had a disastrous season in 2007/08 with injuries and Pele was soon in the side making a total of fifteen appearances in the title winning side. He also managed to score in both the cup semi final against Lazio and final which they lost to AS Roma. It was a surprise when he was allowed to return to Porto in exchange for Ricardo Quaresma on 31st August 2008. He never settled back at his home town club and is now trying life in England.
Pele has won five Under 21 caps for his country and fans wonder how long we will have to wait to see him play for Pompey.
Hart must stay
The groundswell of opinion is growing that Paul Hart and assistant Brian Kidd should be appointed as the permanent management duo. Toast has to disagree however as we are worried about the possibility of losing Hart if results took another downturn.
Hart was employed to develop the Academy and a great job he has done but it is far from finished and the club cannot afford to lose the man who is probably the best at his job in the country. It is a difficult position for the club but they must ensure they keep their Hart in the Academy!!
Euro chumps!
You may have noticed the headlines in the week when AC Milan were knocked out of the UEFA cup by Werder Bremen. Thing is the other two qualifiers from Pompey`s group were also eliminated. Braga were defeated by Everton’s conquerors Standard Liege on away goals and Wolfsburg crashed out to Paris St Germain 5-1 on aggregate.
Obviously we have along way to go before winning the UEFA cup!
That’s it for this week, see you soon.
PUP
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