Neville Dalton is a journalist with the BBC News website and a Portsmouth fan of more than 40 years. His expressed views are his and not necessarily those of the BBC.

In the same way as I didn't leap to conclusions after Pompey's opening-day hammering at Stamford Bridge, I'm not going to presume that our excellent win over Middlesbrough means that we're back as a force to be reckoned with.

It's starting to look that way, admittedly, but…

No. Much too early. Such a long way to go. One swallow doesn't make a football season, and we've got a little matter of a hundred games in about three weeks coming up.

Including Europe, by the way!

No, I'm remaining true to my realistic roots. But I do believe that Saturday represented a watershed in our development.

At the very least, the contrasting first and second halves (each with much to commend them) showed that at long last Pompey have a Plan A, Plan B and maybe even a Plan C, D and E.

The point is, we can change tactics according to the state of the game and our opponents - and more to the point, we have the personnel to do it.

In the space of just a few weeks, we've gone from a team with virtually no width, and precious few options to try to change that, to one with almost an embarrassment of riches on the flanks.

And amazingly, the two summer signings brought in precisely to give us options on the wings can't get near the starting line-up.

The loan deals for Armand Traore and Nadir Belhadj look like inspirational business.

In two moments of magical manoeuvring in the transfer market, we have solved four problems in one:

q Cover for left-back

q A lack of left-sided midfield player

q A way of getting the best out of our options on the right, and

q Lack of pace!

It's obviously too early to come to definitive judgments on either of the lightning-fast youngsters who shared the limelight on the left-hand side on Saturday.

And they both surely have much still to learn at their tender ages.

Searing pace

But their arrival has enabled Harry to switch to the exciting 3-5-2 formation (or variations of it) that served us so well in the past and pose largely fresh problems for even been-there-done-it Premier League defences.

Either appears to be able to play in the wing-back role, and while Traore still needs to work on the skill and control to accompany his searing pace, his series of tempting crosses from the left touchline towards the giant figures of Peter Crouch and Papa Bouba Diop promised much for our immediate future.

Belhadj - on just 45 minutes' showing - looks like he may have it all (or at least, an awful lot of it).

Matching Traore for pace, he also has strength and no little skill, looking equally comfortable in attack and defence.

And unlike so many Pompey teams of recent times, he's so quick, he can perform both tasks in virtually the same move.

Apart from laying on a gilt-edged chance for Defoe on Saturday and a tremendous challenge when he raced back from his advanced position to deny a naissant Boro attack, he also performed one of those memorable moments for those of us who appreciate individual skills performed under the immense pressure of live match conditions.

The way he calmly brought down a high ball with his instep and made it stop virtually dead before confidently turning and weaving his way past his onrushing opponent will linger long in the memories of many of us.

But it's not just as wing-backs that they excelled. Their flexibility meant the half-time switch to 4-4-2 was virtually seamless, each taking it in turns to support the other in more advanced positions and to help out back in defence.

More importantly, that flexibility also means Harry has genuine options for change during a match if things aren't going Pompey's way.

The new system has freed up Glen Johnson into his best role, as an attacking defender on the opposite touchline, with the ability to dribble, cross and defend, but with the insurance of genuine defensive cover behind him when he ventures past helpless full-backs.

But we all know that a switch back to 4-4-2 will find Johnno equally at home.

It means Pompey have a more solid look in the middle of the park, with Diop generally more comfortable there, and the likes of Diarra and Davis flourishing in their roles.

Oh how Pedro Mendes would have enjoyed himself in such a formation!

Free role

And it means Harry can pick horses for courses, knowing that he can fit square pegs into square holes all over the field at long last.

One of the most notable benefits, of course, is that he can pair our two attacking maestros, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch without worrying that he is leaving his team short in midfield.

And in my opinion, the best is still to come, as I believe that - at home at least - Pompey can make even more out of the new system when Niko Kranjcar is fit by deploying him in a free role behind the two strikers, at the expense of one of the three solid central midfield players.

If there was one shortcoming on Saturday (apart from the monumental mix-up between Younes Kaboul and Sol Campbell) it was the lack of pace in central midfield - apart from when Lassana Diarra was on the ball.

Drafting in Kranjcar won't improve that, but it will mean that there is instant support for the front two, especially when Traore and Johnno are lofting in the crosses.

And his perceptive passing will surely create chances galore for Defoe and Crouch.

I think the revelations that the new system have produced give the Pompey coaching team no end of options, but much as I like the wing-backs system, I think our formations now should depend on the circumstances of the match and who we are playing.

It clearly worked brilliantly at Everton, and while we looked bright and lively in the first 20 minutes using it against Boro, it was nowhere near as effective when we went a goal behind - due partly, in my opinion, to the aforesaid lack of mobility in the centre of the park.

A quick switch to 4-4-2 and we were up and going again - actually with more class and penetration, thanks to the changes in personnel.

Even John Utaka looked threatening and lively as a second-half substitute.

It was undoubtedly the best we'd played in that formation for best part of a year or so.

Maybe Harry will deploy wing-backs more in away games, when there is less onus to chase results, and switch to 4-4-2 when there is.

Maybe he'll change late in games if he's pursuing a particular goal.

Maybe he'll even go with his tried and trusted 4-5-1 on occasion.

But - injury crises apart - he can't now complain that he doesn't have the quality of player to provide him with those choices.

A quick word on the atmosphere on Saturday.

I noticed early in the game how fired-up the crowd seemed, and am pleased to note that they spent most of the game singing and roaring their support, even during the inevitable quiet moments and the blow of going behind against the run of play.

I'm sure it helps the players, as Defoe admitted on Saturday.

But it's equally true that spectators will generally get behind the team when the team gives them something to shout about.

We don't have to be winning for that to happen - indeed, it's often when we go behind that the Pompey crowd is at its most intimidating best.

But I think the contrast on Saturday with many recent Pompey games and the emergence of an exciting, vibrant new Pompey are no coincidence.