Portsmouth fans are out of order after what happened to Colby Bishop

Colby Bishop has been an excellent servant to Portsmouth Football Club.

The 29-year-old striker moved to Fratton Park in the summer of 2022 from Accrington Stanley.

Without the former non-league star, Pompey quite simply wouldn't have won promotion to the Championship in 2023-24.

Bishop netted 21 goals in 44 League One games that season, following on from scoring 20 in 46 appearances the term prior.

His form in front of goal has dipped since making the step up to the Championship, but he's remained a key player under John Mousinho.

So, the reception he received from some Portsmouth supporters against Sheffield United has rightly been flagged up as being fairly unacceptable.

How did a 'couple' of Portsmouth fans react to Colby Bishop vs Sheffield United?

Last Wednesday night saw Portsmouth record a vital three points in a 3-2 win over Sheffield United at Fratton Park.

Bishop was named on the bench for that game, but Mousinho turned to him just after the hour mark to try and help see home the result.

However, speaking to Pompey Talk via The News, reporter Neil Allen noted that he heard boos coming from some fans at the introduction of Bishop.

"I was intrigued to hear when he (Bishop) was introduced on Wednesday night against Sheffield United, to the right of the press box in the South Stand, (I) probably heard a couple of people boo as Bishop was being introduced off the bench, which I just find bizarre," he said.

"It was only a couple of people, and I know somebody else who sits in the North Stand said the same, he heard a couple of people boo.

"So it's a tiny, tiny minority, very small, but I just can't get my head around that.

"Somebody like Colby Bishop, what he's done for this football club, the commitment and effort he's put in, the goals he's scored, the leading scorer in the League One-title-winning team, scored in the game which won Pompey the title and earned promotion...

"And there's people booing him because he's out of form, and he is out of form, he's not scoring goals, he's not playing particularly well.

"I don't get that, he's not outspoken, he handles himself professionally and in the right manner, he's never done anything untoward to my knowledge at Pompey."

So, how strong have Bishop's underlying numbers been this season despite his lack of goal production?

Bishop's impact has been felt away from the goals department

First and foremost, your job as the centre-forward is to score goals, especially if you wear the number nine as Bishop does.

So when the goals aren't coming, there is often a perception that follows that said player isn't playing well.

That isn't always the case, however, and Bishop's underlying numbers this season strongly point towards that being applicable to him.

Per FotMob, his 0.23 expected assists per 90 rank in the top 6.2 percentile of all Championship strikers so far this season.

Meanwhile, his 50 per cent cross success rate puts him in the top 10.9 per cent, whilst his 1.29 chances and 0.37 chances created per 90 place him in the leading 25 per cent.

Bishop is also way above average per game for his 3.86 aerial duels won, 1.10 line-breaking passes, 0.73 dispossessions and 1.47 clearances.

Strong underlying numbers aside, at the heart of this is the fact that a player who has played 185 times and scored 61 goals for Pompey is getting booed.

That just isn't right, so whilst Bishop shouldn't be immune from criticism, a player of his standing and service to Portsmouth should be from that level of disrespect.