I suppose you could say the writing was on the wall even before the game started yesterday. During the warm-up David James was making all sorts of howlers which didn't give the Pompey fans the best of confidence for the game and James seemed to spend a lot of time trying to punch the ball into a section of Rovers fans to his left giving him stick. Something just seemed wrong with him...
Then, our worst fears were confirmed when James rushed out after Nonda went through on goal and chipped the Pompey 'keeper to give Blackburn the lead before even a minute of the match had been played.
To be fair, we did try and bounce back straight away but couldn't really carve out any clear opportunities apart from a free kick that was easily saved. Then Blackburn went down the other end and a harmless looking cross from the left was missed completely by David James, leaving Nonda to tap in the easiest goal he will ever score. Believe me, only Benjani misses those chances.
It would be unfair to label James as the sole culprit for the second goal as Sol and Linvoy were both there to clear it but a mix up meant nobody did. When your three best performers of the season have an off day you know it's just going to go pear shaped.
Any thoughts we had of making a second half comeback were quickly doused as Warnock knocked in a third from a far post cross. It could have been worse as James gave away a penalty but, to his credit he managed to save the embarrassment of having Nonda score a hat-trick.
The best chance we had came from an Andy Cole header that he managed to put over from about 3 yards out but if anything it looked like Rovers were going to add to their tally. To summarise; the game was virtually a mirror of the opening day when we thrashed them and had a penalty saved.
The funny thing is that the team can't be faulted for effort like they could at Wigan because they all tried and the midfield wasn't overly bad. But we were shocking at the back and we were guilty of overplay when we went forward. The amount of times the Pompey fans said "Shoot! Go on... shoot now... NOW!" only to see a Blackburn defender take it from them was particularly frustrating.
Still, never mind. Our UEFA Cup hopes are hanging by a thread now and we only have Chelsea at home next. On the bright side, it might stop those idiots singing that irritating "European Tour" song, as they did yesterday despite being 2-0 down at the time.
Pompey Player Ratings
David James: 4 - Nightmare game. Gets a point for saving the penalty he gave away.
Glen Johnson: 5 - Tried to get forward but gave the ball away far too often.
Linvoy Primus: 5 - Worst game this season for Linvoy. Off Day.
Sol Campbell: 4 - Also torn apart by the Blackburn attack. Off Day.
Noe Pamarot: 5 - Not much better than the rest.
Gary O'Neil: 7 - The only player that looked like making something happen.
Pedro Mendes: 6 - Average.
Sean Davis: 5 - Kept losing the ball.
Matthew Taylor: 6 - Did OK but nothing special.
Lomana LuaLua: 5 - Frustrating showing.
Andy Cole: 5 - Did nothing apart from miss an easy looking header.
Subs
Jamie Ashdown
Djimi Traore
Arnold Mvuemba: 6 - Looked alright given the time he had. Got booked too!
Niko Kranjcar: 5 - Couldn't get involved.
Kanu: 5 - Did nothing apart from skewing two shots.