Ian Darke laments ‘abysmal’ Portsmouth with rare Mousinho criticism
Portsmouth were “extremely bad” against Bristol City and Ian Darke believes John Mousinho picked the entirely wrong team for the 3-0 defeat.
TV commentator and Blues fan Darke, speaking exclusively to Pompey News, lamented Mousinho’s team selection despite acknowledging the importance of resting players during the busy festive schedule.
Pompey found themselves trailing by three goals before the break at Ashton Gate in a dismal display, with Swansea City visiting Fratton Park on New Year’s Day as Mousinho looks to restore his side to winning ways, with several changes likely.
“I think John Mousinho, who hasn’t done a lot wrong, picked a team at Bristol City that had very little chance of winning the game,” Darke said.
“I could see the reasoning, obviously he wanted to rest key players for a game he thinks is more winnable against Swansea at home. He took a calculated gamble, but the team who took to the pitch had little pace about it and were never going to hurt Bristol City.
“The result was predictable – it was the fourth really extremely bad, abysmal away performance after Stoke, Cardiff and Derby.”
Portsmouth looking to salvage survival
A survival battle was something many if not all of a Portsmouth persuasion expected ahead of the start of the season, but most did after seeing the lack of significant transfer spending.
January is certainly vital in terms of improving the squad, whose home record seems to be increasingly heavily relied upon with just one away win all season, coming at QPR on 19 October.
After Swansea, the Blues make the long trip to face promotion-chasing Sunderland before averting their gaze to Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup third round.
In other Portsmouth news, the club announced a £5.6million hit in their latest accounts.
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