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.