Defensively the Blues look sound - Eddie Howe, De Zeeuw and the highly impressive Foxe will form an impressive back three - Linvoy Primus also looked the part in the second half. In goal Hislop looked secure and Kawaguchi should make a superb second keeper. Surprisingly upfront Pompey also looked solid. Rory Allen looked ready to finally live up to his billing and Todorov was a different class - beautiful passing, good strength and fine skill - it seems that the Bulgarian could be the answer in this division. The introduction of Mark Burchill in the second half was also cause for optimisim, the performance of Steve Lovell unsurprisingly wasn't.
The wingback positions look like that might be one of ou weaknesses. Once again Jamie Vincent was completely dire and Kevin Harper did trouble Celtic, but his final ball is still unacceptable. In midfield Pompey looked pedestrian and completely unoriginal. Trialest Ernst packed his own bag with a weak display but once again Quashie and O'Neil failed to create any chances of note for their strikers. Quashie was industrious and is a fine player to have in a midfield but O'Neil once again flattered to deceive. I'm in a minority but if any club offered anything over £2million for the youngster then I would bite their hands off, pretty yes - useful no. It was the second half where Pompey really came into their own with Hughes and Bouchaart running the show. Thankfully Hughes will be with us next season and the Bournemouth youngster showed vision, poise and skill on the ball. Bouchaart was a revelation, running at defenders, pace, skill and he also set up both goals. Bizarrely Redknapp is choosing not to see any more of him. However it is clear that Pompey need to find a creative player quickly and David Ginola is suddenly looking even more enticing.