Michael Pantling deler sine tanker etter Pompeys fine seriestart.

AV: JOAKIM ELLINGSEN

MENINGER: Vår medlem Michael Pantling er fortsatt den av våre medlemmer som oftest ser Pompey live. Han er bosatt i Danmark, men reiser ofte til England for å se Pompey både hjemme og borte. Nok en gang deler han sine tanker med oss:

Pompey have had an unbelievable start to the season, to already have 13 points by the end of August is superb.

The big question is can we keep it up – are we on our way? I believe that we are doing better than last season – it might not be pretty to watch but we are not letting many goal in.

MacGillivray (bildet til høyre) is giving much needed confidence to the defence with Whatmough and Clarke forming a competent solid partnership. Brown’s experience is telling on the left even if he is keeping Haunstrup out of his preferred position. I’m not so sure about Walkes and it will be interesting to see if he is replaced by Thompson (N).

Similarly Naylor has brought a bit of bite to the midfield and I quite like what I have seen of Thompson (B) so far but he is picking up yellow cards. Close’s more cultured approach is an absolute asset if things need adjusting. Curtis and Lowe are improving but both have had off days.

– Har alltid likt Evans

I have always liked Evans and he remains steady rather than exceptional. Our achilles heel would appear to be up front with Hawkins blustering and Pitman having a bit of a sulk. There is still an outside hope of bringing in a striker on loan and that would enable Chaplin to be released. I cannot see Chaplin playing for us again. We have generally got good cover with Wheeler/ Close/Burgess so I’m reasonably confident that we can survive a few injuries.

We don’t appear to be playing that well but are getting the points – long may it continue. I was expecting more of Oxford and Bristol Rovers whereas Luton were very unlucky but Doncaster were always going to be the first real test against a “top 6 team” and we did ok.

– Som forventet er Sunderland og Barnsley der oppe

The general pattern of the league is already beginning to develop. As expected both Sunderland and Barnsley are on the up and I would be surprised if we can end up above both of them. Burton seem to be struggling as do Scunthorpe and Shrewsbury both of whom were strong in the past 2 seasons. Peterbrorough have had an excellent start and are likely to be challenging for a top 6 spot at the end of the season. I would be surprised if Walsall can keep up.

We play Plymouth on Saturday and that is always a challenge irrespective of their position in the league. They haven’t started well like last season but they made a tremendous recovery after Christmas.

It is a long way to go but we are doing well long may it continue – we look more robust than last season and could well be on our way.

I’m looking forward to Saturday and hopeful of a decent win with the goals coming from Lowe or Curtis.

PuP