Exeter City vs Portsmouth Match Day Thread (7.30pm KO)

[Stormin Norman]

So, no retribution - just a heart-breaking repeat of last time. On the bright side, there's now more time to recuperate before the chance to stop this sequence and gain a most needed victory.

 

[dontpassback]

If we don’t get our league form back ASAP,the tentacles of mid table will be wrapping around us and another season of league two beckons

 

[Red red]

Didn’t get chance to see the game tonight (unlike Tuesday) but a disappointing result but positive no need to go to Cambridge on a Tuesday night. Think it time now to sort squad. Get rid of Seymour. Bring back Sparkes. Don’t really know what K taylor brings to the team. Amond like as a person but time to send back to Newport spend cash invest otherwise more time in league 2. 8 days to unwind

 

[fred binneys head]

Irrespective of the result I really like what Matt has done tonight, he’s played it really well.

I stand by this, I thought Taylor played it just right - bloodied some fringe players or those returning from injury / illness, held out until half time, made great substitutions, dominated the 2nd half and deserved to win. Couldn’t quite hold on, but we had an inexperienced centre of defence and Caprice had a 5 minute brain melt, these things happen.

 

[Matt Phillips]

Think that this is the most frustrating team we've had in a while. There's so much quality, yet so many gaps, not just in depth (clearly up front) but also in mentality.

Caprice... he's tricked us into thinking that he's improved this year, when in fact he's just "exciting" because he runs at defences. He has so little end product given how high up the pitch he gets. Someone needs to remind him before each half of football that he's only scored 1 goal in over 300 games! At the end, when Coley did really well to retain the ball and drift inside, I walked away from my laptop when it got played out to Caprice, in full knowledge that the commentary to follow would be "Caprice cuts inside, and shoots well over".

I think Stubbs looks really good, although the mix up between him and Kite at the end cost us. Can imagine us going to a back three of Sweeney, Stubbs and Hartridge by the end of the season. Also like the look of Coley who definitely offers pace to the team with abit of quality, unlike Edwards who has pace and tricks but can't pick a pass.

This will be a really interesting month to see who we can bring in, and if we lose anyone. In a weird way, I'm not sure I'd mind us losing Key (for decent money), as it might force Taylor to balance the team out, and bring Sparkes back to play on the left.

 

[Egg]

Caprice... he's tricked us into thinking that he's improved this year, when in fact he's just "exciting" because he runs at defences. He has so little end product given how high up the pitch he gets. Someone needs to remind him before each half of football that he's only scored 1 goal in over 300 games! At the end, when Coley did really well to retain the ball and drift inside, I walked away from my laptop when it got played out to Caprice, in full knowledge that the commentary to follow would be "Caprice cuts inside, and shoots well over".

Quite. While it was great to see Caprice finally get his first goal, I wonder if it's actually done us a disservice. On the basis of that one goal in 300-plus appearances, he seems to think he's Alan Shearer and opts to shoot when it's nothing like the percentage call. The incident you cite is a case in point. It's deep in injury time, we have seven or eight players in the Pompey box, and he chooses to shoot wildly into the big bank.

 

[SaintJames]

Just back from the game which with my partisan hat on I'm still fuming that we lost a game where we dominated the second half and but for wasteful and poor decision making would have been out of sight. However, having calmed down I agree with FBH in that the performance was excellent and several notable plus points. My first sight of Diabate and I have to say he was excellent throughout. Caprice largely again was both offensively and defensively sound as was Key. Sweeney got through a good 45 and Jay and Brown both looked close to being back to their best and Coley got valuable minutes. I thought Edwards probably had his best game in some respects but equally flatters as he doesn't have an end product with four crosses/passes in good positions failing to deliver the right outcome. Taylor for me still looks like someone not yet fit but equally our Manager is unsure what midfield role suits him best. No point dwelling on Seymour but my last comment is in regard to Podge. A player I have admired for a few years but to me he offers little threat and his wastefulness late on lead to us losing the ball which eventually lead to their equalizer. You may feel that's harsh but 2 goals all season is that really good enough?

 

[irishbrian]

I take full responsibility for this defeat, in much the same way that I take credit when I predict Norman Collier to score and he does.

5 mins from the end, I texted my son who was at the game, saying “do you remember two years ago when we travelled to Portsmouth away and went 2-1 up before they equalised with a late goal and then scored an even later winner?”.

He now hates me.

Yep , you’re some crow after that !

 

[Sexton Blake]

So, no retribution - just a heart-breaking repeat of last time. On the bright side, there's now more time to recuperate before the chance to stop this sequence and gain a most needed victory.

Yes almost a carbon copy but a complete break until a week tomorrow so time to build up fitness levels after a few postponed games.

Opportunity for MT to concentrate his efforts on strengthening the team during the transfer window…….in short no real excuse for not getting our house in order and making a serious push for promotion.

 

[east_mid]

Thought the marking in the box was poor at times and we got pulled to the left too often which left space on the right.We missed someone in the back line with organisational ability to maintain control and concentration like we had on Tuesday.Grounds influence on that match was under rated.If Ray was fit enough for 15 minutes, we should have used him.Possibly the one fatal mistake Taylor made with the substitutions.

Going forward was promising, need to regain that confidence,There were enough encouraging signs in that match.