Scunthorpe (H) 29th September 2012

Ask any Manager what it takes to win a football match and one of the biggest key elements they’ll tell you is to have a little bit of luck come kick off. It doesn’t matter how many internationals players you are able to field on the pitch, it doesn’t come down to how many hours you’ve spent together on the training pitch making sure every part of your game is well drilled into the minds of every player. All it can take is one slice of luck; one kick of the ball, one deflection ,one bobble of the ball in front of the home goal as the opposing striker sends his shot high over the bar or one dodgy penalty decision. Sometimes that one stroke of luck can turn around an entire season and be the start of something that galvanises a team and a side that looked like it couldn’t beat their wives suddenly looks like its capable of anything when they enter the field of play. What Michael Appleton needs right now is a Pedro Mendes moment. One of those goals that hits the back of the net and sends the Fratton End into raptures and lifts the team out of the doldrums. It doesn’t have to be as spectacular as that Mendes goal, for all I care it can be a goal that ricochets off the back of Luke Rodgers shiny head in the 6^th minute of injury time after the goal keeper miss times his clearance. Michael Appleton right now just needs that bit of luck.  

As popularity goes most club managers cannot claim to have the support that Michael Appleton has from the home fans. Their support has been unequivocal, unwavering whatever the result come the end of 90 minutes. Given the off the field troubles the club find themselves in once again he has held his head high with dignity throughout and has stayed when many other managers would have walked away from the daily pressures and no one would have blamed them for not wanting to stay. There have been many examples of managers trying to do a job with one hand tied behind his back. Perhaps Appleton is a bondage fan which is why he chooses to stay with the club which asks him to perform miracles with two hands behind his back every Saturday afternoon come 3pm. Most likely his never say die attitude to his first role in management comes from having his career on the pitch cut short in the manner that it was. There can’t be one fan that would begrudge Michael Appleton a slice of luck come kick off tomorrow afternoon. Not just for him but for the long suffering fans as a collective. It doesn’t have to be the prettiest of displays but come 5pm even a 1-0 win will be celebrated like we’re about to go off to Wembley for a nice day out in the sun. Tomorrow we need a win at all costs and to begin to turn the corner on the pitch.

The days of visits from illustrious names such as Manchester United, Arsenal and AC Milan to Fratton Park are now a fading memory and the reality of life in NPower League Two is starting to really hammer home. No disrespect to Scunthorpe United but if your life depended on naming their first eleven in the next minute unless you followed them the chances of you still being alive at the end of that minute would be very slim indeed. Without looking at the squad the only name of any player I can tell you that’s ever played for Scunthorpe off the top of my head was the cricketing legend Ian Botham and that was over 20 years ago now. However we’ve soon learned that in this league not being able to name any of the opposition players before kickoff doesn’t come with a guarantee that we’ll end the game with all three points in the bag. If it wasn’t for the generous refereeing of Mr Deadman away to Crawley Town when he dismissed two of their players Pompey would still be searching for their first win eight games into the season. Before last week’s game to Notts County Michael Appleton said that Pompey’s season started now. Let’s pretend we didn’t hear or read that one; the season starts in earnest tomorrow and three points are critical at this stage of the season. Avoiding defeat is certainly imperative.

A win tomorrow would see us leap frog Scunthorpe tomorrow on goal difference as Alan Knill’s side start the game in 18^th position having seen his side his side win only once away in a 1-0 win against Shrewsbury Town. They picked up a point against Oldham Athletic following a 1-1 draw and recorded losses against Hartlepool United (2-0) and Crawley Town (3-0). Their home form has been equally as indifferent with just one win so far against Colchester United (1-0), one draw against Sheffield United (1-1) and three losses in total; Notts County (3-0), Yeovil (4-0) and Crewe Alexandra (2-1). In all competitions Scunthorpe have shipped 23 goals in 10 games including 5 in the remarkable League One Cup tie away to Derby County in round one that saw them through to the next round on penalties after the game finished 5-5.

Historically the two teams remain have been quite even with 8 draws recorded in 20 games in all competitions. Pompey have the slight upper hand with 7 wins to Scunthorpe’s 5 having scored 37 to their 27. Random fact – Pompey can lay claim to having helped Scunthorpe achieve their record home attendance in all competitions when 23,935 saw the FA Cup fourth round tie played way back on January 20^th 1954. I suspect a far smaller attendance of around 10,500 will witness tomorrow’s must win encounter. Whatever the attendance there are bound to be goals but a 1-0 home win will do for me.