Michael Pantling ser nærmere på årsaken til at vi har fått en fantastisk start på sesongen.

Av: MICHAEL PANTLING

MENINGER: Michael Pantling er som kjent den av våre medlemmer som ser Pompey live oftest. Mange ganger i sesongen reiser han fra København til England for å se Pompey. Han deler igjen sine tanker om det han har sett så langt i år:

I suspect that everybody is both a little surprised and exceptionally pleased how well our season is going so far.

Looking at the scorers it might suggest that our success is down to our two wide players Lowe and Curtis – who Alan Knight has likened to Vince Hillaire and Kevin O’Callaghan of the promotion winning team of 1986-87. I disagree in that the game has changed since their day with both players having gained extensive experience at a higher level earlier in their careers whereas Lowe and Curtis are both fresh and making names for themselves at Pompey.

Curtis and Lowe add pace and flair that clearly has contributed to the splendid progress so far and long may it continue.  Of course there is a downside in that Curtis’ talent has been recognised by the Irish national side and we may regularly lose him to   International fixtures. I also suspect that their talents and continued potential will not have gone unnoticed by other clubs and they might be tempted away to a higher league if our fortunes change.

– Gareth Evans is providing leadership

They both have demonstrated considerable talent and deserve the accolades being heaped on them but I believe that our success is not just down to them. Gareth Evans has matured and is providing leadership in the middle and helping create the opportunities for the forwards. We should not forget the contribution made by Brown and Naylor or indeed Thompson in defence or Clarke and Whatmough . Our last line of defence has also been strengthened by Mac Gillivray.

Clearly the whole team are contributing  and long may it continue – our wingers are the icing on the cake and are playing their part in getting the goals but the defence are stopping us giving goals away.

Brett Pitman

It will be interesting to see if Pitman’s reprieve will continue – Pompey are an even better team when he is playing well.

We are bound to lose at some time but let us hope it isn’t too soon or often – if we can keep focused particularly during the final 10 minutes of a match we could actually achieve automatic promotion.

Our main challengers are Sunderland, Barnsley, Peterborough, Doncaster and possibly Scunthorpe who have had some very good results recently.

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