Duncan Barkes

Here's what he has to say.

And there's no doubt about it that one of the pleasures of watching a game of football on a Saturday afternoon with Pompey playing is watching Colby Bishop do it against their centre half.

Because he's generally, almost always, a couple or three inches or more shorter than the person who's marking him and perhaps a stone lighter.

But he's got a great physique, that low centre of gravity that some coaches talk about being important.

And if you watch it, he's got it down to an absolute art form.

He sees the trajectory of the long ball coming to him, usually from Schmidt.

In fact, almost always from Schmidt.

Schmidt's picking him out.

They obviously work hard on it in training.

And Bishop starts backing into his marker.

And as he pushes and pushes, you won't get blown up for a foul if you simply just push back with your body.

Move backwards.

There's nothing to stop you doing it.

The centre-half has to risk giving away a foul, which rarely gets given, by pushing back.

But Colby can generally make himself a little bit of extra space whilst the ball is in the air so that he can steady himself, make his jump in the way that he wants to and either flick on or if he can get his chest on the ball, hold it up.

And I seem to remember more than one occasion when Schmidt was actually able to pick him out and Colby did enough against his centre half to be able to take the ball with his feet.

And that's almost unheard of in English football anyway.

On a personal level, what I would say is that Colby Bishop needs somebody playing off him.

OK, he needs a little oppo who is, I say little because often they are smaller and quick.

He needs somebody playing off him so that those flicks that he does get plenty of in the game, he actually outheads his centre half more often than he is outheaded and outmuscled.