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Portsmouth (h): A View From The Away End (Q&A)

Vital Football · Julian Burley · 2026-08-22T09:07:40+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Ahead of today’s match at home against Portsmouth in the Championship, I asked Adam from Pompey News Now some questions. QUIZ: How much do you know about the history of Portsmouth Football Club? Click HERE to see if you can get 10 out of 10 on our quiz! Pre-match Discussion: Ahead of this match, you can get involved with the pre-match discussion HERE. How long have you supported Portsmouth? Over 40 years. Plenty of ups and downs. Have watched Pompey in all four divisions. What are your hopes and expectations for the season ahead? Our main hope has to be survival, first and foremost. Pompey stayed up last season, and there’s a feeling that this year could be about taking the next step rather than simply looking over our shoulders. We still need more quality injected into the squad, which hopefully should materialise by the end of the transfer window. Hopefully we can finish somewhere around mid-table; if we manage the top half, I’d consider that a very good season. What are your thoughts on the Portsmouth manager? I’m a big believer in John Mousinho. He’s still relatively young as a manager, but he’s already taken us from League One into the Championship and then kept us up, which shouldn’t be underestimated. Last season was difficult at times; he didn’t decide to move on during the summer despite reported interest, so it’s reassuring we have that stability. He probably needs to show that he can take us beyond simply surviving now, but I think he deserves the opportunity to do that. One(s) to watch? Adrian Segecic would be my obvious choice. He was our top scorer last season with 11 goals and has the ability to conjure something out of nothing. Keep an eye on Luke Brooke-Smith too. He’s one of the younger players in the squad and has been highlighted as a potential breakout player this season. Ryan Kavuma-McQueen is another promising youngster; he’s on loan from Chelsea and looked bright when he came on last week during the home defeat to QPR. Random fact about Portsmouth? Pompey’s first colours were salmon pink shirts, and the club were known as the Shrimps. Which were your favourite and least favourite matches involving Portsmouth? My favourite has to be the 2008 FA Cup final against Cardiff City. Winning at Wembley and seeing Pompey lift the FA Cup was a brilliant day and will always stand out. On the least favourite, there’s a fair few to choose from! The most recent would be the 6-1 defeat at QPR last season. Which sides do you think will finish in the top eight and the bottom three? For the top eight, I’d go with West Ham, Wolves, Burnley, Middlesbrough, them lot down the road, Norwich, Birmingham, and Millwall. There’s bound to be a surprise though. I think Lincoln have enough about them to surprise a few people, so for the bottom three, I’ll say Blackburn, Bolton and Cardiff. What are your thoughts on Lincoln City? I’ve got a lot of respect for Lincoln. Winning League One last season and getting back into the Championship for the first time since 1961 is a fantastic achievement. They obviously face a huge step up, and the opening-day defeat at Middlesbrough showed how tough the Championship can be, but I think they’ll be competitive and could make life difficult for plenty of teams at Sincil Bank. If you could steal one Lincoln City player for your team, who would it be and why? Freddie Draper. He’s a young striker with plenty of potential and is exactly the sort of player we could benefit from having. I think he could develop into a very good Championship forward. What is your prediction for this match? I’m going to be optimistic and say Lincoln City 1-2 Pompey. Both sides lost their opening Championship game, so there will be plenty of motivation to get that first win on the board. Despite this being Lincoln’s first home game in the second tier for 65 years, I’m hoping our experience at this level will give us the edge. How’s Regan Poole doing? Disappointing start to the season; he could be dropped for the match. How much are Pompey fans loving Southampton being the pariahs of English football since Spygate? It’s pure comedy, isn’t it! Let’s hope opposing fans milk it as much as possible this season and beyond. What do you think of the Chairman’s plans to stay at Fratton Park and potentially expand over the coming years rather than moving to a new location with better transport infrastructure? We have always been planning to remain at Fratton Park. One day in the next decade or so, hopefully we will see a new North Stand with hotel and hospitality facilities that will help increase revenue on both match days and non-match days. Ongoing debate on required infrastructure improvements in the local area, including Fratton railway station – and who pays for it.