Sunderland 1 Portsmouth 2

Picture: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Pompey took away all three points after Jermain Defoe scored an injury time penalty.

Portsmouth have been unlucky in their last three games, with a 1-1 draw at home against Fulham, a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool through a Steven Gerrard penalty, and a 2-1 loss to Wigan at home despite hitting the bar four times and having the ball cleared off the line three times.

So bearing that in mind, everyone at Pompey was up for taking all three points back to Fratton Park this week.

Manager Tony Adams made two changes to his side that lost to Wigan the week before, Noe Pamarot came in for Armand Traore, so that Nadir Belhadj could push up the wing, as well as match-fit Niko Kranjcar starting ahead of penalty prat Papa Bouba Diop.

It didn't start well for the visitors as Andy Reid dispossessed Lassana Diarra before picking out Djibril Cisse with an spectacular 60-yard pass, with Cisse not hesitating to slot it through the legs of David James and into the back of the net.

James was forced to make several crucial saves during the first half as Roy Keane's Sunderland pushed on for a second goal.

Sunderland nearly doubled their advantage minutes later as Keiran Richardson clipped the outside of the post with his right-footed shot.

James tipped Cisse's shot over the bar as the French striker met Danny Collins' cross with a powerful header, before saving another from Cisse, fumbling the ball past the post for a corner.

Pompey had been far out-played in the first half, and it took until 35 minutes in to the game for the Blues to trouble Sunderland keeper Marton Fulop as an ambitious effort surprisingly from Sol Campbell, as the Pompey captain attempted an overhead kick.

Half Time: Sunderland 1 Portsmouth 0

Adams' half-time talk must have influenced Nadir Belhadj, as the on-loan wing back hit a thundering 25-yard shot past the Black Cats keeper following Niko Kranjcar's pass, to make the scores level only six minutes after the break. Belhadj's goal was his first for Pompey, and providing we can secure a permanent deal for the Algerian, it will be the first of many.

Cisse nearly restored the lead a couple of times for the home side, but David James was on hand to keep the ball out of the net, with Cisse also having a goal rightly disallowed after moving into an offside position.

Reid also went close for Sunderland but could only place the ball into James' hands.

Nwankwo Kanu came on for Peter Crouch in the latter stages of the match, as the Nigerian substitute's well worked play with Kranjcar, but Pompey's goalscorer Belhadj wasted the opportunity as his cross swung out of play before it could meet a blue shirt in the box.

Pompey were pushing forward and successive attacks allowed England and Pompey right back Glen Johnson to run into the box, before Pompey fans' number one enemy El-Hadj Diouf brought down Johnson for a penalty.

Defoe calmly slotted the ball past Fulop to secure all three points in injury time.

Referee Steve Bennett blew the whistle shortly after as Pompey celebrated their first win under Tony Adams.

Adams spotted at Leeds vs Northampton

Pompey boss Tony Adams was spotted at Leeds' FA cup tie with Northampton Town at Elland Road on Friday night, scouting out players from the stands.

Although it is unknown who he was following, Leeds' highly-rated midfielder Fabian Delph has already been linked with moves to the Premiership, attracting interest from Arsenal and Newcastle.

My pics of Pompey

Here are a few pictures of myself with various Pompey players, and the FA Cup final and parade.

Jordan leaves Pompey!

Picture: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Pompey coach Joe Jordan has parted company with the club after a four-year spell at Fratton Park.

Jordan has left Pompey following rumours of his future, as well as new manager Tony Adams' attempts to bring in former-Gunners Dennis Bergkamp and Martin Keown.

Keown has supposedly turned down the chance to work with Adams, but Jordan has still decided to move on.

The 56-year old Scot acted as caretaker manager briefly when Redknapp first departed with the Blues.

Adams is expected to unveil his new team of coaching staff at some point next week.

I would like to thank Joe, along with the rest of Portsmouth FC and the fans, for all his hard work in his time at Portsmouth and wish him good luck for the future.
As long as you don't join the scummers!

Recent reports show that it seems that Jordan is most likely to join back up with Harry Redknapp at Spurs.

Hreidarsson to move on?

Picture: www.4thegame.com

Out of favour left-back Hermann Hreidarsson is rumoured to be considering a move elsewhere due to his lack of first team football, according to his agent.

Hreidarsson's agent Olefur Gardarsson has claimed that Hermann is frustrated by his exclusion from the squad, due to the summer arrivals of Armand Traore and Nadir Belhadj, both of whom have played superbly since arriving.

Gardarsson said: "At this stage of his career, it's difficult for him to sit on the bench and not play."

Despite Traore and Belhadj keeping Hreiarsson out of the team, both players are only on loan.

Tony Adams expressed his desire to make Belhadj's move permanent in the January transfer window, and if he does then Hermann's move may not a bad thing for the Icelandic defender.

Arsenal reunion at Pompey?

Is Portsmouth becoming a reunion for ex-Arsenal players who want to become coaches?
As much as I think Tony Adams was the right man to be put in place for Pompey manager, the way in which Martin Keown and now Dennis Bergkamp have been linked with coaching roles at Pompey is a bit strange.

It seems that now that Adams has been given a chance, he wants to give his ex-Arsenal mates a similar chance. I don't think we should be the club to do it, although the experience and talent from the two ex-players linked is phenominal, I just don't think we should have so any new faces in the backroom.



The link of a January transfer move for Patrick Viera amuses me, as I can not see Viera moving from Inter Milan to our little south coast side. Not because we're not good enough, because we are, but because he isn't for sale, and if he was, he would rather go somewhere else, than link up with his former Arsenal team-mates that he split with when moving.

Although one Arsenal player I wouldn't mind being link with is Thierry Henry, as well as one of the best strikers the game has seen, he still plays with passion and realises the support the fans give him - as you can see in the picture below when he clapped the Fratton Faithfull after a home game against the Gunners.



Maybe Adams should give a chance to Bergkamp or Keown but I don't think we need both, and Arsene Wenger will probably be chasing the two of them anyway. We want to be singing Play Up Pompey, not Play Up Ex-Arsenal.

Torric Jibril signs for Pompey

17-year old Torric Jibril has signed for Pompey from Hearts of Oak. Torric looks to be heading out to Belgium though, as it seems the Pompey prospect will join Pompey's partner club Zulte Waregem on loan until he has gained the relevant experience to fit into Pompey's side

The young Ghanaian midfielder has signed for Pompey following a month of speculation surrounding the player's Pompey move, and has expressed his intentions to becoming a big hit in the Premiership one day.

"This is a very important moment in my career because it has always been my dream to play with a top club in Europe," he told Ghanasoccernet.

"I have been here for many days and I am happy with the facilities here and I am now relieved that the deal has been completed.

"I can fully concentrate on my career and hope that I can continue to develop to become what a lot of people expect me to be.

"I’m sure very soon I will be one of the best players in England. God willing I will live up to my potential because with all these facilities here in England I will not disappoint. Where I have come from we don’t have all of these. So the sky is the limit.”

It looked like Torric was set to move to Arsenal in the summer, with the Gunners closely following his progress, but Pompey have put pen to paper and signed him.

Pompey v Wigan Highlights

Portsmouth v Wigan

Pompey Rumours 02/11/08

Picture: http://home22.inet.tele.dk

Portsmouth manager Tony Adams wants to sign his former Arsenal team-mate Patrick Vieira.
Adams plans to contact Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho about signing the France international who played alongside him in the Arsenal team that won the Double in 1998 and 2002.
He said: "He is definitely a player I'd like to bring here if he was available.
"I will be speaking to Inter manager Jose Mourinho and asking about him.
"With Patrick you know what you are getting, he is a proven winner and a great character." - ITN.co.uk

Europe's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, has turned down the opportunity to buy Portsmouth.
An intermediary acting for the club last month approached representatives of System Capital Management, the holding company that controls Akhmetov's other businesses, with a prospectus, but was rebuffed immediately. - The Guardian

Martin Keown could be reunited with his former Arsenal and England teammate Tony Adams at Portsmouth.
The 42-year-old has confirmed that he is scheduled to meet the new Pompey boss next week to discuss joining the coaching staff at Fratton Park.

"If I can help in any way it's something I'm prepared to look at," Keown told the BBC. "That's why we're going to meet.
"I need to decide if it's something for me to do in my career. I'm quite comfortable at the moment at the BBC and it would be quite a life-changing decision to go back into football."

Meanwhile, Joe Jordan is still to decide whether his future lies at the south coast club. The 56-year-old Scot, who starred for Leeds United, Manchester United and AC Milan during a 20-year playing career, was believed to have been interested in becoming Harry Redknapp's successor as Pompey boss.

Adams said: "The first-team coaching staff needs to be done by the end of next week because we're a man down at the moment.

"I don't think it's appropriate to go into too much detail at the moment. I'm in talks with Joe and I'll have another conversation with him and see what role he wants.
"That will dictate what type of coach the new person will be. I love Joe. I cannot speak highly enough about him and he's Portsmouth through and through."

Unlucky Pompey defeated by Wigan

Portsmouth will be wondering how they didn't beat Wigan at Fratton Park on Saturday, as Pompey hit the bar four times, and had the ball cleared off the line three times.

Campbell and Johnson returned to the starting 11, with Pamarot and Kaboul making way for the England stars.

Wigan started the better side, and evidently were the better team throughout the first half. Zaki nearly opened the scoring early on for the visitors, as his looping shot beat David James but was denied by the outside of the post, before going out for a goal kick.

The visitors followed up with a couple more efforts coming from Wilson Pacalios and Zaki, but James was on top of it.

It took a sketchy 17 minutes for Pompey to get their first shot away, and it came from Glen Johnson, his shot from the edge of the box was comfortably taken by Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland.

Pompey went a lot closer soon after, as Lassana Diarra's corner met Crouch who headed it onto the top of the bar. Jermain Defoe also went close minutes after, when he met Johnson's incisive pass to fire just inches wide.

Defoe went close again in the 38th minute as he skipped past Titus Bramble, but couldn't get a shot away before the ball was cleared behind.

Bouba Diop nearly broke the deadlock as his header was tipped onto the bar and then cleared by Palacios.

Then the Senegalese midfielder went from hero to villain for the second time in two games, as Bouba Diop clumsily brought down Bramble in the box, to give Amr Zaki a penalty that sent Wigan 1-0 up into half time.

Adams must have been writing notes during all of Harry Redknapp's infamous half time speeches, because whatever he said in the break gave Pompey a lift, and the blues were throwing everything that had into the match.

Kranjcar replaced Traore on the left, who nearly scored instantly with a free-kick following Figueroa's challenge on Defoe, Niko's shot deflected off Crouch, but was cleared off the line once again, this time by Emmerson Boyce.

Crouch headed Belhadj's cross just wide, before Pompey were given an indirect free-kick 9 yards out, following a Wigan pass-back. All 11 Wigan players lined up on the goal line, and Defoe's shot was once again cleared off the line to safety.

Zaki and Heskey could of put Wigan further in front soon after, but Heskey mis-timed his shot, and Zaki spooned over the bar.

But Pompey fought back to dominate the second half, as Johnson and Crouch both hit the crossbar in quite succession.
It looked like it wasn't going to be Pompey's day, and second half substitute John Utaka, who came on for Bouba Diop, had his throttling shot blocked. But on 82 minutes, Niko Kranjcar finally found the back of the net for Pompey with a well placed shot from the edge of the area to bring it back to 1-1

It looked like Pompey's fortunes had changed following the equaliser, and Adams' men carried on pushing forward and looked destined to get a late winner, but it was Wigan who got the late winner as Lee Cattermole picked out Heskey to fire it past James and leave Pompey in the dumps.

Despite having only gained one point under Tony Adams, the blues nearly stole a point midweek against high flying Liverpool, and should have won with a magnificently unlucky performance against Wigan. I think the passion from Adams is there, and I am sure our luck under him will change - we've just got to give it time.

Play Up Pompey