Back from the game......and really angry!

[Dirk Gently]

It could well have played a significant factor. Had they not scored that early on, the way the game developed would have been very different.

You might have had a case had it been a second goal scored late in the game but it wasn't. It was a very telling early first goal against 10 men.

That's two games on the trot now where appalling decisions by the officials have had a major bearing on the way the game has developed.

Well they would have scored regardless of it being from that free kick or not as we were already down to ten men. They scored that particular goal because USA dropped a clanger, Pompey then sat in 2nd gear for the rest of the match because they knew we didn't have much chance of playing near on 90 minutes with ten men without leaving huge gaps in midfield/defence. Portsmouth were physically better bigger and more dangerous than us all over the pitch, as proved by Utaka rinsing Shorey over 40 yards when Shorey had a head start, the very best we could have hoped for a was a draw and even then a scoreless one at that

We showed at West Ham and Man U what we could do with 10 men, provided officials weren't donating goals to the opposition!

A scoreless draw might have proved a very useful result as we start to get dragged towards a relegation fight.

But I defy any team to play for over an hour with 10 men on a Wednesday, play another match 3 days later and then be asked to play another 88 minutes with 10 men again just six days after the first match!

[Huntley & Palmer]

It could well have played a significant factor. Had they not scored that early on, the way the game developed would have been very different.

You might have had a case had it been a second goal scored late in the game but it wasn't. It was a very telling early first goal against 10 men.

That's two games on the trot now where appalling decisions by the officials have had a major bearing on the way the game has developed.

Well they would have scored regardless of it being from that free kick or not as we were already down to ten men. They scored that particular goal because USA dropped a clanger, Pompey then sat in 2nd gear for the rest of the match because they knew we didn't have much chance of playing near on 90 minutes with ten men without leaving huge gaps in midfield/defence. Portsmouth were physically better bigger and more dangerous than us all over the pitch, as proved by Utaka rinsing Shorey over 40 yards when Shorey had a head start, the very best we could have hoped for a was a draw and even then a scoreless one at that

We showed at West Ham and Man U what we could do with 10 men, provided officials weren't donating goals to the opposition!

A scoreless draw might have proved a very useful result as we start to get dragged towards a relegation fight.

But we conceeded a goal which bore no relevance to being down to 10 men, if we had 11 men and had conceeded that then I couldn't really see much way of coming back. Portsmouth were a much better team than us on the day, West Ham and Utd weren't

[Rawlie19]

It could well have played a significant factor. Had they not scored that early on, the way the game developed would have been very different.

You might have had a case had it been a second goal scored late in the game but it wasn't. It was a very telling early first goal against 10 men.

That's two games on the trot now where appalling decisions by the officials have had a major bearing on the way the game has developed.

Well they would have scored regardless of it being from that free kick or not as we were already down to ten men. They scored that particular goal because USA dropped a clanger, Pompey then sat in 2nd gear for the rest of the match because they knew we didn't have much chance of playing near on 90 minutes with ten men without leaving huge gaps in midfield/defence. Portsmouth were physically better bigger and more dangerous than us all over the pitch, as proved by Utaka rinsing Shorey over 40 yards when Shorey had a head start, the very best we could have hoped for a was a draw and even then a scoreless one at that

We showed at West Ham and Man U what we could do with 10 men, provided officials weren't donating goals to the opposition!

A scoreless draw might have proved a very useful result as we start to get dragged towards a relegation fight.

But we conceeded a goal which bore no relevance to being down to 10 men, if we had 11 men and had conceeded that then I couldn't really see much way of coming back. Portsmouth were a much better team than us on the day, West Ham and Utd weren't

But we WERE down to 10 men. Your argument doesn't really stand up very tall...

[RoyalBlue]

It could well have played a significant factor. Had they not scored that early on, the way the game developed would have been very different.

You might have had a case had it been a second goal scored late in the game but it wasn't. It was a very telling early first goal against 10 men.

That's two games on the trot now where appalling decisions by the officials have had a major bearing on the way the game has developed.

Well they would have scored regardless of it being from that free kick or not as we were already down to ten men. They scored that particular goal because USA dropped a clanger, Pompey then sat in 2nd gear for the rest of the match because they knew we didn't have much chance of playing near on 90 minutes with ten men without leaving huge gaps in midfield/defence. Portsmouth were physically better bigger and more dangerous than us all over the pitch, as proved by Utaka rinsing Shorey over 40 yards when Shorey had a head start, the very best we could have hoped for a was a draw and even then a scoreless one at that

We showed at West Ham and Man U what we could do with 10 men, provided officials weren't donating goals to the opposition!

A scoreless draw might have proved a very useful result as we start to get dragged towards a relegation fight.

But we conceeded a goal which bore no relevance to being down to 10 men, if we had 11 men and had conceeded that then I couldn't really see much way of coming back. Portsmouth were a much better team than us on the day, West Ham and Utd weren't

Funny that - we sat there thinking how crap and ineffective Portsmouth were. And I don't believe it for one moment that it was merely because they didn't need to do anything once they had gone a goal up. I also thought our team did pretty well, understandably heads dropped a bit after the second goal but they still kept plugging away and created a couple of chances in the closing stages.

[glosson]

I bet Convey was fuming at having to come off, felt sorry for him

Especially since he looked like scoring that match. I'd been keeping him in my fantasy team lineup thinking that he was going to score any day now...I was pissed SC took him off. Isn't Cisse supposed to be able to pay midfield OR center back? I'd have simply dropped him back and kept Hunt, Harper and Convey in midfield. Of course I'm only a manager in FIFA08 and who am I to question SC?

[Huntley & Palmer]

But we WERE down to 10 men. Your argument doesn't really stand up very tall...

So Hahnemann dropping the ball and gifting Pompey a goal was down to how many men were on the pitch? It put us on the back foot regardless of a man being sent off

[Rawlie19]

But we WERE down to 10 men. Your argument doesn't really stand up very tall...

So Hahnemann dropping the ball and gifting Pompey a goal was down to how many men were on the pitch? It put us on the back foot regardless of a man being sent off

Who knows how that free kick would have been handled had we had 11. Indeed, we might not have even HAD a free kick against us there if we'd had 11... A butterfly flaps it's wings in New York and Sonko gets sent off in Reading...

[Dirk Gently]

But we WERE down to 10 men. Your argument doesn't really stand up very tall...

So Hahnemann dropping the ball and gifting Pompey a goal was down to how many men were on the pitch? It put us on the back foot regardless of a man being sent off

Who knows how that free kick would have been handled had we had 11. Indeed, we might not have even HAD a free kick against us there if we'd had 11... A butterfly flaps it's wings in New York and Sonko gets sent off in Reading...

Can we have that butterfly's name and make sure he never flaps his wings again when we're playing?

[Rich@Eaststand]

But we WERE down to 10 men. Your argument doesn't really stand up very tall...

So Hahnemann dropping the ball and gifting Pompey a goal was down to how many men were on the pitch? It put us on the back foot regardless of a man being sent off

Who knows how that free kick would have been handled had we had 11. Indeed, we might not have even HAD a free kick against us there if we'd had 11... A butterfly flaps it's wings in New York and Sonko gets sent off in Reading...

I think you'll find that it was a big American 'Keeper' flaps and Pompy score in Reading.

[Victor Meldrew]

Royal Blue,
Did you go on so much whe the lino effectively gave all 3 points to us v Sunderland in giving a doubtful decision went our way?
What goes round comes round and if we had scraped a draw v Pompey (ref helping us out) but only had a draw v Sunderland (lino not helping us out) we would now be one point worse off and a fellow relegation struggler would be much nearer to us in the league.

[Sharpy]

on the plus side i managed to get lita's sex tape on my phone

[RoyalBlue]

Royal Blue,
Did you go on so much whe the lino effectively gave all 3 points to us v Sunderland in giving a doubtful decision went our way?
What goes round comes round and if we had scraped a draw v Pompey (ref helping us out) but only had a draw v Sunderland (lino not helping us out) we would now be one point worse off and a fellow relegation struggler would be much nearer to us in the league.

There is a very big difference.

There was some (and only some) doubt that the ball didn't cross the line against Sunderland and only because the tv footage was inconclusive.

The double mistake made by the linesman against Portsmouth clear for all to see both real-time and through tv replays. Harper did not commit a foul, if anything the foul was committed against him. Campbell was clearly offside at the time the ball was headed onto him by another Portsmouth player.

Given that, it is not a fair case of what goes around comes around.

I would also point to the disgraceful mistake by Keith Stroud as another pivotal goal against us and one where the evidence against him was absolutely conclusive.

[Victor Meldrew]

Sorry Blue but I don't see the difference.
If there was any semblance of doubt about the goal v Sunderland it should have been disallowed.
Just because a poor free-kick was given isn't the same as giving a goal-Pompey still had to make the fee-kick count.

Should Sonko have been sent off v Sunderland when the penalty was given?
Should Liverpool have had a penalty when Sonko took Torres out and how would that have affected the result?

We all see things from our own team's perspective and feel that we might have held out for a point at Spurs if the encroachment had been penalised.
The only team that I feel didn't get a fair crack of the whip was Fulham earlier this season but otherwise like most clubs we don't do too badly and to keep on and on about referees (who are all bad)just clouds the issue of how poor we are as a defensive unit.

[Man Friday]

I think I can see your point, Victor, but on the whole I side with RoyalBlue on this one (and many of his points over the last few weeks, I've come to realise). Essentially, we've had many more (important) decisions go against us this season than for us. For me it's summed up by Maik Taylor not receiving even a yellow card when he brings down Hunt whereas Sonko gets sent off for what is the same type of offence.

[royals pete]

I've eventually settled down a bit and read through the comments; its clear how many views on different aspects are around. The sending off was being invited by Sonko. But ny day was absolutely ruined by seeing the referee 'decisions' It actually started after about 60 seconds when Doyle 'touched' their full back who realised he had lost the ball and FELL OVER. Dean gave him a free kick. Then we know what happened. Decision after decision agaist Reading boys. We couldn't all be wrong and the verbal against the ref was well deserved. We live to fight another day; the crowd in the second half was FANRASTIC and is probably what Fergie could have done with at Old Trafford ! And to cap it all this morning was to read the SUN report, supporting the ref and awarding him 9 out of 10 Which games to they watch

[Victor Meldrew]

I think I can see your point, Victor, but on the whole I side with RoyalBlue on this one (and many of his points over the last few weeks, I've come to realise). Essentially, we've had many more (important) decisions go against us this season than for us. For me it's summed up by Maik Taylor not receiving even a yellow card when he brings down Hunt whereas Sonko gets sent off for what is the same type of offence.

And Hunty at Man City?

[BLUES & ROYAL]

It could well have played a significant factor. Had they not scored that early on, the way the game developed would have been very different.

You might have had a case had it been a second goal scored late in the game but it wasn't. It was a very telling early first goal against 10 men.

That's two games on the trot now where appalling decisions by the officials have had a major bearing on the way the game has developed.

Well they would have scored regardless of it being from that free kick or not as we were already down to ten men. They scored that particular goal because USA dropped a clanger, Pompey then sat in 2nd gear for the rest of the match because they knew we didn't have much chance of playing near on 90 minutes with ten men without leaving huge gaps in midfield/defence. Portsmouth were physically better bigger and more dangerous than us all over the pitch, as proved by Utaka rinsing Shorey over 40 yards when Shorey had a head start, the very best we could have hoped for a was a draw and even then a scoreless one at that

We showed at West Ham and Man U what we could do with 10 men, provided officials weren't donating goals to the opposition!

A scoreless draw might have proved a very useful result as we start to get dragged towards a relegation fight.

But we conceeded a goal which bore no relevance to being down to 10 men, if we had 11 men and had conceeded that then I couldn't really see much way of coming back. Portsmouth were a much better team than us on the day, West Ham and Utd weren't

What a load of rubbish

They were poor and flat considering they had eleven men against a team that had to totally reshuffle the side and change the game plan after 3 friggin minutes!
I think that with 11 vs 11 they were there for the taking as they really struggled to get to grips with the game and break a resilient defence down.
They scored a fortunate goal with assistance from USA and then huffed and puffed until they got the break away goal in the second half. It was only then that the game was over.
Up until that point we had a chance of getting something from the contest as the players finally ran out of steam.

With a little bit of luck on our side we would have got something from the game.

Any side with more players for that length of time is going to have more possession, its what you do with it that matters and the opposition yesterday struggled for long periods.

[Bill Oddie]

I'm still fuming ! I haven't been as angry at a match for many a year. As for you guys saying the ref got it right, your sooooooooooooo wrong !!!! I have just relived that rubbish on football first. Sonko brought him down, clear penatly, however just before sonko brought him down he had lost control of the ball and it was a good 8 yards infront of him. Yes give a pen but for gods sake a red card after 3 minutes ? Use some f+cking common sense, a yellow and a penatly is bloody enough. I have never left a game before the final whistle before but I really wanted to leave after that sending off as I really knew that was game over, in fact after the penatly miss I was inpassive as I knew we would lose and sat there in total silence, despite Y25 giving it a good go and I'm always up there singing and chanting but today I was so pissed off with that c*nt in yellow I wanted to go. Honestly after 3 minutes there was no reason to send anyone off, it just ruined the game for 24K people, a disgracefull decision. My theory is a black man from Reading ran off with his wife. How else can you explain in the last 3 Reading matches he has officatied he has sent off a Reading player (all of whom are black ?). Mr Dean you ae a f+cking, R+csit, ch+ating, c+nt who has no business back in our town, so F+CK OFF and don't come back. I honestly have never been so angry since Clive Wilks performance against Hull City in about "89" where I crashed my car upon leaving Elm Park in a rage. I HATE YOU DEAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worse than Graham Poll, at least he had the common sense to retire, you Dean are a w+nker, w+nker, w+nker !

After blenting my slpeen I would just like to say how well I thought we battled, never gonna score though, but all credit to the team and especially to DLC who's crosse's were superb, everone aimed at a man. I really think he is a better option than Murts at the minute.

[Sharpy]

quaLOLity post

[Gordons Cumming]

I'm still fuming ! I haven't been as angry at a match for many a year. As for you guys saying the ref got it right, your sooooooooooooo wrong !!!! I have just relived that rubbish on football first. Sonko brought him down, clear penatly, however just before sonko brought him down he had lost control of the ball and it was a good 8 yards infront of him. Yes give a pen but for gods sake a red card after 3 minutes ? Use some f+cking common sense, a yellow and a penatly is bloody enough. I have never left a game before the final whistle before but I really wanted to leave after that sending off as I really knew that was game over, in fact after the penatly miss I was inpassive as I knew we would lose and sat there in total silence, despite Y25 giving it a good go and I'm always up there singing and chanting but today I was so pissed off with that c*nt in yellow I wanted to go. Honestly after 3 minutes there was no reason to send anyone off, it just ruined the game for 24K people, a disgracefull decision. My theory is a black man from Reading ran off with his wife. How else can you explain in the last 3 Reading matches he has officatied he has sent off a Reading player (all of whom are black ?). Mr Dean you ae a f+cking, R+csit, ch+ating, c+nt who has no business back in our town, so F+CK OFF and don't come back. I honestly have never been so angry since Clive Wilks performance against Hull City in about "89" where I crashed my car upon leaving Elm Park in a rage. I HATE YOU DEAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worse than Graham Poll, at least he had the common sense to retire, you Dean are a w+nker, w+nker, w+nker !

After blenting my slpeen I would just like to say how well I thought we battled, never gonna score though, but all credit to the team and especially to DLC who's crosse's were superb, everone aimed at a man. I really think he is a better option than Murts at the minute.

For a minute I thought that it was me who wrote this post but half way through it deteriorated abit and got a little extreme.

Understand your feelings exactly.