I'll get the game out of the way first.
We were absolute crap to tell you the truth. I can't remember Chris Kirkland having to make any sort of decent save, whilst we were outfought and often outplayed by a team who have just lost 9 games on the trot!
The quality of "football" on show by Pompey was dire too. We were playing in a style that would make Watford look like Premiership winners, constantly hoofing it up to the "imposing" figures of Lomana LuaLua and Andy Cole in the second half.
Then there were some pretty bad individual performances too.
Glen Johnson continues to have a toilet 2007 so far (bad pun intended). Lauren wasn't much better but he's still trying to find fitness, not to mention being played in a position where he can't excel. The strikers were anonymous too and gave the Wigan defence an easy game.
The only players to come out of that game with any credit were James, Campbell, Linvoy, and Pamarot. The performance of Douala on the left also filled me with a bit of hope but there's not much you can do when the rest of the team play the ball constantly in the air.
We can't blame injuries to key players for the defeat either. Gary O'Neil may have been injured and Matt Taylor and Sean Davis may have been on the bench but our injury list was nothing compared to Wigan's who have Baines, Heskey, Camara, Scharner, De Zeeuw and others sidelined. Another player who was thought to be injured was Lee McCulloch yet he was passed fit and inevitably he scored the winner.
There was a whole sense of inevitability about the game and an impending loss. After the goal we just capitulated a la last season where we showed no fight and no determination to get back into the game, if anything, Wigan looked like adding a second in a game that had the stench of Villa away last season steaming from it.
And what game followed that atrocity at Villa Park last year? A season defining game at home to Man City that ultimately shaped our season. I can't help thinking that this season is going to be similar after what has been a 2007 full of dreadful performances containing lack of goals and any decent football.
We have only scored twice in the league in 2007 and aboth of which have been total flukes. Benjani's against Spurs took a wicked deflection, Claude Davis gifted Gary O'Neil his first goal at Sheffield United.
Whichever way you look at it, we have only scored 2 goals in 5 league games, failing to score against Charlton and Wigan. That seriously worries me, as does the quality of football we are playing. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was unhappy with the shit that was served yesterday but it has been like that all year so far. What happened to the football that destroyed Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Reading earlier in the season? What's ironic about that is that Reading are now above us in the league whilst Blackburn and Boro are not far behind us.
Harry needs to sort out our slump because by the time all the teams have played an equal number of games, we could be 9th at the time of writing this rant.
It was as if the fog yesterday symbolised what our season has been like so far in 2007. What was, and possibly still could be a great season for us is now in serious danger of becoming very mediocre.
Pompey Player Ratings
David James: 7 - Made some decent saves and takes.
Glen Johnson: 4 - Fans are losing their patience with him rapidly after another poor showing. Harry says he will play every game he can for the rest of the season but will he have the balls to drop him after a string of awful games?
Linvoy Primus: 7 - Battled well and can't be blamed for the debacle.
Sol Campbell: 7 - Strong at the back and a great saving tackle when a Wigan striker was one-on-one with James.
Noe Pamarot: 7 - Good return to the side for Noe and also made a great saving challenge in the box.
Lauren: 5 - Poor game. Should be playing at right back.
Richard Hughes: 5 - Outbattled by the Wigan midfield.
Pedro Mendes: 6 - Showed some good touches and passing but also gave it away far too often.
Rodolphe Douala: 6 - Showed promise with his pace down the left.
Kanu: 5 - Didn't do anything.
Benjani: 6 - Tried to get into the game but was nullified when he was moved to right midfield to accomodate LuaLua.
Subs
Jamie Ashdown
Sean Davis
Matthew Taylor: 5 - Couldn't change the game.
Lomana LuaLua: 5 - Couldn't do anything with the long balls delivered to him.
Andy Cole: 5 - Did not influence the game at all.