Chapter 1: What is the latest update on Pompey team selections?
The latest Pompey news updates every day from the Pompey Sound Newsdesk.
John Massimio has announced that he intends to use Conor Shocknessy for Leicester and Ipswich in the same way that he was used in Pompey's two previous games. The game time for the towering centre-half is being rationed in an attempt to prevent any recurrence of the injuries that have dogged him so far in his Pompey career.
The dilemma facing the Pompey head coach is whether to start shocknessy and rest him after 60 or 70 minutes, or to start him on the bench on a something of an impact sub, capable of affecting the game at the back, but also bringing much-needed aerial power to Pompey's attacking corners.
It's another tricky one at the back, isn't it, for the Pompey boss? And he's had so many tricky ones with who to play at the back this season, as last season, actually. Connor Ogilvie, of course, is out for three games.
Chapter 2: How is Conor Shaughnessy's injury affecting team strategy?
Zach Swanson is still injured. So luckily, Williams had a really good game when he came on after 17 minutes when Ogilvie got his card. So that particular dilemma is probably solved. But they're rationing Conor Shaughnessy, quite rightly, because he's such an important figure to have, not only at the back, but, and I think this is almost as important as his contributions to defence.
When he comes forward... for a corner or for a free kick or a long throw from Marlon Pack. We do seem to be winning more balls that we can allow us to employ the long throw during the last 20 minutes of the game. I don't know if that's a statistical fact.
but it seems like it to me there are more moments when the crowd gathers itself because the ball is going to go into the box one way or another and we do we gather ourselves if it's a corner it's because the ball's going into the box a free kick from the right place same thing a marlon pack long throw again ditto uh same thing because conor ogilvy got a long throw i think he has but we won't find out for three or four three games now so damn
that's academic but shortnessy going forward anybody who was there the night we won the title which is now a lifetime ago but anybody who was there was it the 87th 88th 89th minute we had a corner over on our right in it came the frat and end inhaled and i'm sure to see went up and it was the most pile driving header near post as i remember it or more or less near post uh
perfectly guided but so powerful i mean i'm being absolutely factual when i say that even when i was in my some sort of pomp i couldn't kick the ball as hard as he headed that goal i was on the halfway line in the stand and i heard the header i heard the thump as his head hit the ball and it was just it was a mark hateley if you go back that far
If you don't, ask your dad or even your granddad or grandma if they ever saw Mark Haitley head the ball because he did thumping headers like almost nobody. No, I'm going to say like nobody, actually. An English centre forward, old-fashioned English centre forward. Father was an old-fashioned English centre forward, a man who did thumping headers as well.
But not since the days of Mark Hateley, I would put it to you, have we seen anybody who can do a thumping header at a corner like Connor Shaughnessy. So we will probably start him once and bench him, start him on the bench.
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Chapter 3: What dilemmas does the coach face with player rotations?
once in these two important games that we've got coming up. But we can make team selection decisions like that on the back of an envelope and it amounts to nothing. John Massino has to make them and they get pinned up on the notice board. We asked AI to find out what Neil Allen and Andy Moon are saying about Connor Ogilvie's red card. And as ever with AI, it's not quite there yet.
It's a bit cack-handed, but interesting nonetheless. So Neil Allen, but first of all, Andy Moon.
I've watched the replay back a number of times. It's not a great challenge for me, though. It's in the clumsy category rather than the reckless, dangerous categories. So I feel it should have been a yellow card rather than a red.
I accept there are some people out there arguing so red fair enough I don't think there's any chance of an appeal being successful because it clearly is a yellow card and the bar to overturn a red is is very high. But the key I would say is if the referee shows a yellow card for that challenge there is no way we are starting by talking about it.
Matt Bloomfield is not talking about after the game it's just a yellow card and an incident, and that's it, everyone moves on, and I don't think anyone comes back to it that probably tells me that I don't think it's, it's the right decision, and, yeah, Pompey on the end of not getting the rubber the green with the decisions.
Neil Allen says there was an audible gasp wasn't there when the red card went up for me it was the yellow card I thought that at the time without any replays but yeah everyone was stunned Ogilvy was actually protesting whenever I was giving against him before even saw a card and I kind of I've seen the replays and from some angles it doesn't look good but again it wasn't endangering an opponent it was clumsy he wrapped his leg around to try to get the ball as well and there as well so I think a yellow
So apologies for the fact that that AI compilation is slightly grammatically incorrect and the punctuation leaves a bit to be desired. But nevertheless, we got the gist of it. Neither Moon nor Alan, and they're right, believe that it was a red card. It was a very, very yellow, yellow. What do I mean by that? People often talk about an amber.
In other words, worse than a yellow, but not quite a red. And it was an amber. It was an amber. And just as an aside, there was a moment in the game when the referee pulled out a card. I think it was to caution a, do we still say caution? To caution an Oxford player, but it might have been a Pompey player.
And the colour of the card that came out of his pocket in his hand before he held it up was black.
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Chapter 4: How does the team plan to utilize set pieces effectively?
We've got options there, we've got different players who can fit the slot. There's Chappers, Seg, Swifty and even Jacob Brown's done a stint in there. I think where we've been over the past few weeks is we've been controlling games and getting the ball into the final third, but then we've not had quite enough final product and attacking impetus.
That's why we've tried to change a few things in those attacking positions so that's where the rotation of the team selection will come from.
John Massino on the current challenges of team selection at Pompey. Thank you very much. And we need to get a point here, a point there and three points here and another point there. Something along those lines. And we all know that. And team selection, what part does that play in that?
Well, a former Pompey manager I remember talking to once at a supporters club meeting said to me that ultimately a game of football is 10 one-on-ones. Because when you go out there, you find out very quickly on the pitch which player you're up against that afternoon.
And if you can win against him and seven of your teammates, six or seven of your teammates can win in a similar way, then you're going to win the game. Doesn't matter what format you have. Doesn't matter what formation you have or how exhorting the manager's pre-match team talk is. Any of those things. You beat your man. You have a better game than your man.
And at least half of your colleagues have a better game than their man. And he said, and you will win the game. Now, he wasn't the greatest manager ever. I'm not going to name names. I think John Massino is a different gravy to this guy. And he's aware of that, as well as the importance of team selection. It's a particular challenge because of consideration number one, which is injuries.
And then consideration number two now seems to be coloured by the research that is done into the opponents that we are facing for each game and looking at their strengths and weaknesses and trying to negate the strengths and exploit the weaknesses. And we should be happy that we've got a manager who has the cerebral capacity to devote himself to such highfalutin ideas and thoughts.
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