Despite some great performances that have lifted us out of the relegation zone – early celebrations of Premiership survival were put on hold with the bank holiday defeat away to Charlton. | "I am completely confident that Portsmouth FC will once again prove our critics wrong and maintain our excellent history of escaping relegation." | | Charlotte Bishop |
Pompey supporters have seen a complete u-turn in performances from our boys in blue – at last some exciting, attacking football complimented well with the ability to shut down even the most superior of footballing sides. The mid-week draw against Arsenal only further highlighted the higher work-rate that has been featuring in our team of late. The fitness of our squad has played a huge role in the turnaround of fortunes with recent games. Our midfield in particular appear to be able to effectively keep up with the flow of play – evident in the draw against Arsenal, a top European side capable of breaking down a side through their ability to play the ball around the field at ease and eliminating an entire midfield. However, despite Arsenal being a world-class side, we gave them little room to manoeuvre and rose to the challenge of shutting down some extremely skilful players. We as a team are fighting for every ball – but the fitness of our midfield men has remained crucial as it has allowed us to be quick off the mark and first to the ball when needed.  | | Mendes - a class act |
Mendes has looked complete class controlling our midfield from in front of the back four. Those who first had their doubts about this former Tottenham man, only have to look at his work rate and passing accuracy to acknowledge why he has been so crucial to our recent form. Not only do we often see Mendes building up an attack from deep in defence, Portsmouth fans have also seen him score and create opportunities at crucial times. If we do stay up – surely his late and spectacular goal against Manchester City will be hailed as one of the moments we began to turn things around. It seems our team is buzzing at the moment and I believe that not even the defeat at Charlton will halt this. However, we must treat every game like it is a cup final – Bent’s late winner only further emphasises this… we cannot take anything for granted, especially with Birmingham snapping at our heals. We look like we have the makings of a good side – how nice it would be for Redknapp to be able to build upon this next year in the Premiership. If we play like we are playing Arsenal every week, we won't even have to worry what Birmingham are up too. Every player needs to fight for every challenge, chase down every lost cause and constantly shut down our opposition. Portsmouth fans are in good voice and will continue to remain known as the best fans in the Premiership… we are right behind our boys and I am completely confident that Portsmouth FC will once again prove our critics wrong and maintain our excellent history of escaping relegation… Although it doesn't hurt to have every thing crossed… | 
