1. PREMIERLEAGUESCORE
We’re the real ambassadors of football,
not people who make decisions in offices
WE ARE trying to do our job for
Portsmouth after the bad and
wrong decision that went
against us with the points
deduction.
During the week, we decided
to play until the end of the
season.
I never said we would play a
weak team. We have no weak
team. They are all at the same
level.
What I said was I would do
what was good for Portsmouth
and good for football and that’s
what we did here today.
We will come to every game
with a high spirit.
It’s very easy to break spirit
but we have overcome
difficulties week after week so
we are strong here.
I’m frustrated that we are not
just dealing with football
problems.
I said to my players that we
need to be professional and we
were. I’ve always said to this
team and to the Chelsea players
before that we will see how you
behave in the good times and in
the difficult times because this
is when you see real character.
The Premier League should
be proud that we are the real
ambassadors of football and
not the people who
make decisions in
offices.
It's going to take a
lot for us to stay in the
league but we’ve
spoken a lot about
character, spirit and
mentality.
Anything can happen
in football, right up to the last
moment and we showed that
today.
Avram Grant
IT’S A cruel, cruel game but I
have to say there was enough
tenacity and spirit there to
please me.
When the third goal went in it
felt like a big void opening in
front of you but you have
to ignore that.
I’m disappointed like
the rest of the boys but
I’ve got to remain
upbeat.
We’ve got eight
rounds to go of a
nine-round fight.
We’ve lost the
first but we’ll crack on. At
worst, we deserved a draw.
Portsmouth put on a very
good show but my inspiration
comes from the way we played.
And our keeper hardly had
anything to do.
There was always a mountain
to climb but I won’t be
downbeat. We can’t allow
negativity to happen.
We all feel low. But I have to
make them keep believing
because belief is such an
important thing.
You learn a lot about people
in disappointment. We’ll learn a
lot about ourselves this week.
I had this horrible feeling in
the pit of my stomach when
n KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON — Tommy
Smith scores Pompey’s equaliser while
(below right) Jamie O’Hara celebrates
his 88th-minute leveller with team-mates
12 SCORE, March 21, 2010
FIRED UP GRANT LETS
PREM CHIEFS AV IT
I love being a coach. I came home on
Thursday and my wife said I looked alive
PORTSMOUTH FC
GREG GOBERE
PORTSMOUTH ............... 3
HULL ................................ 2
Smith 37, O’Hara 88, Kanu 89
at Fratton Park
Folan 27, 73
H
E hammed it up at the final
whistle. He was even
tempted to do a lap of
honour before his better
judgement made him do a
U-turn and give his adoring
public more waves instead.
Why not? To Avram Grant, the win
wasn’t just a futile three points.
It was reward for the Portsmouth fans
who came week after week, fresh from
reading about the latest calamity to strike
their crisis-hit club.
And a thinly-veiled two-fingered retort at
the Premier League, who would have
expected Pompey to go down without a
fight after kicking them when they were
down.
Fratton Park boss Grant said: “We did
the Premier League a great favour today.
“If we did what everyone thought we
would and stopped trying, the fans would
be annoyed and not turn up and it would
damage their competition.”
Even though Grant failed to back up his
threat of fielding a below-par side for the
occasion, there was still a chance of a
weakened team coming out. Not in
presence but in mind.
It would been understandable seeing as
their leader’s spirit had been shattered.
Vaporised
When a man bears the brunt of a
thousand slings and arrows and one
cheeky so-and-so decides to start throwing
stones, it’s inevitable something will snap.
The lies, the double-dealing, the dud
wage slips and even the Taxman could
just about be stomached by the Israeli,
but the nine-point deduction — that was
the last straw.
Everything the club had persevered
through was in vain.
But any doubt about Pompey’s
commitment to this game vaporised in the
opening minutes.
Aaron Mokoena put his
body on the line with a
hard sliding challenge to
mug Jimmy Bullard in the
Portsmouth area.
It let the Hull players
know this was not going
to be an easy three
points to try and take
back to Humberside.
No doubt Bullard’s
fragile bones are still
feeling the impact of
Mokoena’s challenge
right now.
Pompey had wasted
no time in declaring
they were up for the
fight.
But what of Iain
Dowie and Hull? A
fifth-choice
manager went
into a six-pointer
against a team
that has been
docked nine
points and
produced a
third-rate show. It’s as simple as that.
Even though there was an element of
smash ’n grab to the tie, the better team
won and nothing Dowie could do could
change it.
Injuries did force his hand, however.
Their six-goal top-scorer Stephen Hunt
was out but with so
little time left to beat
the drop, there can be
no room for excuses.
Tigers chairman
Adam Pearson laid that
sentiment on the line
before kick-off.
When asked if the
pressure of keeping
Hull up was maybe a
little too much, he
replied: “He’s got a
quarter of the season
in charge and that’s
enough time to
influence Hull’s future.”
No sympathy there
then. When Dowie was
appointed on
Wednesday, it’s fair to
say that some fans
thought their board
had traded in a
Volkswagen Golf for a
Ford Cortina.
But when Hull broke
the deadlock after 27
minutes, Dowie must
have thought the
omens were in his
favour.
Craig Fagan took a long, long hopeful
drive through a mass of bodies and Caleb
Folan got the touch to deflect it past
keeper David James.
That was the striker’s first
Premier League goal since
August 2008 when Hull made
their top-flight debut against
Fulham.
He scored the winner then
and twice Dowie thought he
had done enough to pull his
team to the brink of safety.
But it wasn’t to be.
If his side are to have
any chance of pulling off
the Great Escape,
Dowie will need to
start wrapping Bullard
in cotton wool
because he was the
most influential
character on the
pitch.
He tried to rouse
his plodding team
with screams and frantic arm gestures but
his fighting spirit had more impact on the
old ladies he fought in front of with Nick
Barmby a week ago than his team-mates.
So he took matters into his own hands
by adopting the role of midfielder,
defender and striker.
It worked a treat as the Tigers became
more of a threat and his pushing
contributed to the opening goal.
However, it was Pompey who kicked on
where Hull should have taken the
initiative. Jamie O’Hara’s cross was
avoided by the Hull
backline like the
plague and Tommy
Smith bundled it in to
level the game in the
37th minute.
There was then a
hint of a Calamity
James moment when
the keeper dwelled too
long on the ball and
allowed Folan to
charge him down.
Thankfully for him,
Marc Wilson was on
hand to bail him out.
Fans may have
feared Nadir Belhadj
would be one of the
first players to start
playing for himself
once the club’s fate
was effectively sealed
by the Premier
League’s nine-point
sanction.
As one of the
brighter sparks in the
Pompey team, the
danger of advertising
himself to other
interested parties could
have got the better of him. But he and
O’Hara could not have done more for the
team.
Every wide ball they sprayed into the
box sparked panic.
The football on display was far from
Nou Camp standard but Hull were easily
second best and Kanu’s introduction
made their task even more difficult.
Fuming Dowie was livid with his players,
screaming at them to “pass it!”. Referee
Phil Dowd obliged by knocking a Pompey
clearance into Richard Garcia’s path.
Garcia fed Folan, who weaved his way
into the area before leaving James
sprawling like Bambi on ice.
Pompey were heartbroken and, with just
17 minutes left, were close to conceding
their fate.
But the flatlined club sprung back in
style when O’Hara unleashed a strike of
pure quality from a set-piece in the 88th
minute and Kanu swept home Belhadj’s
cross just a minute later.
Wednesday’s opponents Chelsea may
want to take Pompey a bit more seriously.
they got that goal but we
have to put it behind us.
There are too many
people who want to
distract you in the
negative but I’m
happy.
I came home
on Thursday and
my wife said I
looked alive
again.
You don’t do all
these long hours to
get your pro licence and
not want to sit on the
side of the pitch.
I love being a coach
and the response of
my players has
been first-class.
I just wish we
passed the ball
more effectively
in this game but
we will get that
right.
Iain Dowie
Piquionne
O’Hara
BelhadjHreidarssonRochaMullins
Smith Mokoena
Owusu-Abeyie
Wilson
Kilbane FolanMarney
Vennegoor
of Hesselink
Fagan
Mouyokolo
Dawson MendyMyhill
McShane
James
PORTSMOUTH
v HULL CITY
HHH
hhhh
ii hhh
PORTSMOUTH SUBS — Kanu (for Mokoena) 57,
Webber (for Owusu-Abeyie) 82, Basinas (for Rocha) 84.
Not Used: Ashdown, Diop, Brown, Finnan.
HULL SUBS — Barmby (for Vennegoor of Hesselink)
66, Garcia (for Dawson) 70. Not Used: Duke, Geovanni,
Cooper, Olofinjana, Cairney.
PORTSMOUTH: Wed v Chelsea (h). HULL: Sat v Fulham (h).NEXT FIXTURES:
SCORE, March 21, 2010 13