‘Get John Swift out of Portsmouth’ – Midfielder torn to shreds over ‘terrible’ incident vs Watford
Portsmouth were once again unable to pick up a victory as they drew 2-2 with Watford at Fratton Park.
After going into the match on the back of two defeats, there was an expectation that there would be a reaction against the Hornets.
However, after a superb first-half display that saw John Mousinho’s side lead through Yang Min-hyeok, Pompey completely collapsed.
While Adrian Segecic did manage to rescue a point, it was a disappointing result overall.
Multiple Portsmouth players were awful against Watford, with John Swift putting in a particularly poor display, much to the anger of the Fratton Park faithful.
Portsmouth fans fume with John Swift vs Watford
Swift was no doubt awful against Watford.
Coming back into the starting XI after Swift was benched for the Ipswich match, he did not impress.
The midfielder gave the ball away numerous times, one of which directly led to Watford’s equaliser, which changed the course of the match.
Even late on, Swift almost repeated this error, with Josef Bursik forced to make a great save to keep the scoreline level.
On top of this, the former Baggies stay was unable to have a positive impact on the match, either offensively or defensively.
As a result, many Portsmouth fans took to X on 1 October to express their anger at the midfielder.
Terrible ball retention by Bishop and Swift, straight up the other end and they score. So poor #Pompey
— Mark Somerset (@mark11s) October 1, 2025
Given away by Swift again. Sorry but he’s just not good enough.
— Joe Robbins (@joerobbs) October 1, 2025
#pompey Crap pass from Swift & off they go & score. FFS
— BOB THE ORACLE (@WISEASS999) October 1, 2025
On top of this, many fans simply want Swift out of Portsmouth despite his importance in Mousinho’s side.
John Swift with yet another diabolically lazy performance. Not an ounce of effort, and the most unenthusiastic body language. He must be dropped #Pompey
— Archiemcgreal (@archiemcgreal) October 1, 2025
Swift has made too many errors and doesn’t look sharp enough #pompey
— @swepup (@swepup01) October 1, 2025
With Dean Maskell also writing: “Get Swift out of Pompey. What a [expletive] lazy player.”
Now, it remains to be seen if the manager will keep the former Baggies man in his starting XI for Middlesbrough on the weekend
How bad was John Swift against Watford?
According to Fotmob on 1 October, while Swift was poor against Watford, he was far from the worst Pompey player on the pitch.
The website actually gave him a 6.9 rating, which was around average for the hosts.
However, attacking-wise, he was poor, and failed to hit the target once from three shots, while also only putting in one accurate cross out of six.
| John Swift vs Watford | |
| Minutes | 90 |
| Shot | 3 |
| Shot on target | 0 |
| Chances created | 1 |
| Passing accuracy | 91% |
| Accurate crosses | 17% |
| Recoveries | 5 |
Nevertheless, Mousinho has to consider dropping Swift against Middlesbrough.
The former Baggies star is proving to be a massive liability, and if the same mistakes occur against Boro, they will be punished heavily.
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