(right) Geoffrey Holland and John PFC Westwood

This week we have a feature on local Portsmouth fan Geoffrey Holland, a knowledgable supporter of his beloved Pompey, before our fixture at home against Portsmouth.

So how long have you supported Pompey for, and why Portsmouth?
Pompey for life really, my Dad was born in Portsmouth in 1924 and he got to see them in the glory years, the FA Cup win in 1939 and the League titles in 48/49 and 49/50. We’d watch the “Game of the week” on Saturday mornings, which was usually a game from last week, and always check the paper for Pompey’s scores. Checking the results was a habit that I never stopped, even though for quite a few years I didn’t follow football too closely.

How is Portsmouth looking so far, to you?
We seem to have worked hard in almost every game, but we’re lacking a proven Premiership scorer. Watching Yakubu move on was a tough thing to do, and unless we find some goals soon it’ll be a long struggle.

Gary O’Neil has been excellent all year, I worry that he might break down though as he’s so young and quite slight. He’s been a workhorse and scored as well. Matthew Taylor has come back nicely from some early season controversy to show the form that was such a big part in the promotion season.

Is there a supporters club? How do you find it being out here and being a Pompey supporter?
There’s tons of supporters on the internet, and I’ve come across a few in Canada as well. Thanks to the Virtual Fratton End all the games are netcast from the radio broadcast, usually there’s a lot of people in the chat room for those. I’ve also been able to see 2-3 games live on the net through SopCast as well, which has been nice.

I know there is a US supporters club, but I haven’t had any contact with them yet.

Did you have expectations this season, and have they changed? How?
Expectations were really that this season would be a struggle, as it’s turned out to be. Again, losing Yakubu has been a massive loss, and with a new manager to the English game in Perrin, as well as the recent resignation of Velimir Zajec (whose hiring of course started the whole Harry Redknapp fiasco) it’s been another season of controversy. Now Milan Mandaric has started talking about how all the stress is hurting his health, and how he would like to move on in 2-3 years or so, once he’s got the new stadium built and established the team in mid-table.

Your best/worst players? Ones to look out for down the road? Disappointing players who just don't turn up but are capable of more?
Best players are O’Neil, Taylor, Dario Silva has shown some flashes but the formation we’re playing isn’t suited to him. Brian Priske has been a decent signing and Jamie Ashdown is a top notch keeper who in my mind will one day be the England #1.

Worst players? Well, I knew when we signed Laurent Robert that he ran hot and cold, but his behaviour has been ridiculous. Really a wasted investment. Signing Sander Westerveld was a mistake as well, his errors really cost us in the first few games of the season and throwing him into the lineup ahead of Ashdown could have really affected Jamie’s confidence, thankfully it hasn’t. Richard Hughes has had to start too many games, and tends to be somewhat invisible. He’s much better off as a sub. Collins Mbesuma is still a wild card, he hasn’t been in good enough shape to play but supposedly he has a nose for goals, so here’s hoping he gets it together and starts firing. And as exciting a player as Tresor Lomana Lua-Lua is, and as much as we’ve missed him while he was hurt, he tends to pout too much when forced to play wide, and he simply isn’t a strong enough force to carry the team like Yakubu was.

How's the manager doing? Tactics, motivation of players etc...
Hmmm….Perrin hasn’t impressed much, his history suggests good things but he seems over his head in the Premiership. Strange decisions like starting the season with Westerveld haven’t helped, and his timing for substitutions is atrocious. I know he wants to win, and Mandaric likes him a lot, but with 4 big games in a row coming up I was actually quite surprised that he wasn’t replaced during the recent World Cup break.

Any great moments so far this season? Memorable moments?
Not a lot this season so far, only Matthew Taylor’s 40 yarder against Sunderland stands out, and beating Everton on an own goal by Drunken Ferguson was nice as well.

Memorable moments in history? Without a doubt the FA Cup games 2 years ago against Liverpool were great football. Matthew Taylor’s late tying goal at Anfield followed by his 100 yard run down the pitch to celebrate in front of the Pompey crowd was fantastic, and Richard Hughes' shocked expression after scoring the goal to win back home, after Hislop had saved Owen’s penalty, was a great moment for Pompey and maybe a tiny bit of revenge for the classic Semi-Final back in the day.

Of course, seeing my first game at Fratton in April, against Liverpool nonetheless, was quite special as well. I also got a chance to meet John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood, and that was great. Even though we lost it was a really memorable experience, and watching Liverpool warm up before the game really showed a huge difference between how a World Class club goes about business compared to a Premiership minnow like Pompey.

Another memorable moment of course was seeing the amazing Champions League final fight back, what a great experience. And if you remember Paul, I told you at half time that if I had a bookie I’d bet all I had on Liverpool to win it. I never had a doubt.
[yes, you did, Geoffrey. I remember you yelling in the pub "Anyone who leaves now isn't a real fan" and I thought you were going to get us some verbals! But we were pretty shaken up...]

Opinions on Liverpool? How's Benitez doing? Any players of ours you could realistically take on loan or buy from us?
Liverpool seems to have real problems getting geared up for boring old league games, it’s almost as if they’re meaningless compared to the Champions League. I really thought Peter Crouch would be useful for those types of games, as he’s really not a world class striker but seems to do well against the mid table types of teams. Of course he’s done little so far, and with Owen again in top form it looks to have been a bad decision by the Liverpool brass on that one.

I’m sure Pompey would be happy to take Cisse from you, he doesn’t seem happy in Liverpool and I’m sure we could find a slot for him…realistically though, as our main need is goals I can’t see any movement during the window.

How are our ex-players and players on loan doing (Vignal, Diao)? How'd Paddy Berger do overall for you guys?
Vignal seems average at best, the French Connection in Portsmouth seems to have been a bit of a flame out with him and Robert not doing a whole lot of good. Diao I like a lot as a defensive midfielder type of player that we had been missing since we sold Amdy Faye off, and I think he should be able to hold a spot in the 11 as long as he’s healthy.

Patrick Berger did a great job for us. His signing did a lot to let the rest of the league know that Pompey was serious about being in the Premiership, and I’m sure it opened doors for a few other players to join up who might not have otherwise. He was hurt a lot of the time, but when he played it was generally well. I’m sure his favourite Pompey memory was scoring the goal to beat Liverpool in our first Prem season!

Any ex-players of Pompey you'd like to bring back?
Yes. Yakubu being the main one of course, but we also dearly miss the veteran leadership and hard graft of Aryan DeZeeuw and Steve Stone. Neither Andy O’Brien or Dejan Stefanovic are the take charge center back types that Pompey needs with a younger keeper, and not re-signing Stoney was a bad move. Even as a sub or part time starter he would still have been a useful player. I was also disappointed that we missed out on re-signing John Aloisi, he bagged a lot of goals for Pompey and looked like a real good fit, but ultimately his good form in the Confed Cup priced him out of our league.

Of course if we’re talking any era, I’d be happy to suit up Jimmy Dickinson, Alan Knight & Peter Harris, 3 of our all-time greats.

You've been out to a few LFC Vancouver get-togethers as they're your "second team"...opinions on us and how the club's run?
Certainly Liverpool is now and has always been a world class club. The recent interest from the USA is interesting, as long as it’s not a Glazer style takeover it can only mean good things for the team’s pocketbook. I do worry that this influx of American money could backfire on the teams though, and we could see some situations like with Leeds where if the team doesn’t get into the Champions League they might be quickly financially adrift.

I’d also like to see the press just leave Steven Gerrard alone, and I’d also like to see him stop making all the daft remarks that he makes about Liverpool for life, and all that. I hope that whole thing is all settled now, but it still wouldn’t surprise me to see him change his mind again.

What do you guys need to do in January?
Find some sucker to take Laurent Robert off our hands. Unload Sander Westerveld. Make sure that Lua Lua never goes back to Africa without having taken his Malaria shots. Score some goals. Find a new manager?

How's the Premier League looking so far this season? State of football?
The Prem looks interesting, especially with Wigan being such a shock. Nice for Henchoz & DeZeeuw to prove their old clubs wrong, and certainly makes a case for Jewell as a future England manager.

I think the league does need to make some drastic changes though, mostly in the money end of things. It’s not going to be any fun to watch Chel$ki win the league year after year with all their money, so some kind of salary cap/percentage should be worked in soon.

I also think the idea of a five minute “sin bin” for yellow cards to be intriguing, goal line replay is a must, 2 refs and 4 linesman as well. The game is just too fast and each point is too precious for decisions to be missed. I don’t know about shootouts to settle ties unless there’s a short OT as well, but that would really mess with the perfection of the 2 hour telecast. More points for 3+ goals could work, but again that favours the rich teams.

Predictions for us and you guys in the table this season?
Liverpool will sneak into 4th at the end of the season. Pompey will hang on and finish 15-16th, and Mbesuma will pot a bunch of goals to help us forget the Yak.

Thanks to Geoffrey for the thought out answers, some good stuff there and good luck to Pompey this season. Nothing against you man, hope you're not grinning on Saturday though!

It’s early November and we already have ten Premier League matches behind us, meaning a quarter of the season has already gone. How have we performed so far, and what should we expect for the rest of the season?

The first ball to be kicked in anger was actually taken in mid-July. Last season’s fifth place finish combined with our Champions League success resulted in entry to this year’s competition from the very first qualifying round. That put pressure on us to perform immediately, rather than slowly build up to full fitness with a series of friendlies through the pre-season. Fortunately, the opposition in the first two rounds was not too severe and we were able to prevail and get set for the third qualifying round. The third round is where we would have been if we had finished third or fourth in the League, so in hindsight it should not be asking too much to go through four competitive matches in place of pre-season friendlies. In fact, it may be an advantage to begin the season with a head-start on fitness levels when compared to other clubs.

The Premier League season kicked off for us in mid-August, away to Middlesbrough, only a few days after our third-round first-leg against CSKA Sofia. The same League match last season was a 2-0 loss, so any result would be welcome out of this season’s opener. That is especially so when we remember that last year we had so much trouble in the Premiership following mid-week matches in Europe. A home win against Sunderland and qualification for the Champions League group stage in the following week put us in the best possible frame of mind, which was just what we needed before competing for our first trophy of the year before we have seen the end of August! The UEFA Super Cup is now ours for the third time by coming from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 3-1. The big concern at this stage is the imminent closure of the transfer window in less than a week. So many names were being put forward that it was hard to keep track, with two of the biggest being Figo and Owen. Neither of those deals came to pass and so we had to accept that no significant signings were made. That is if you don’t count Reina, Zenden, Crouch, and Sissoko (among others) as being significant. Of course, many will say that Steven Gerrard was the most significant “signing” of the summer when he made that dramatic u-turn and agreed to a new contract within hours of saying he was going elsewhere. We should also acknowledge the re-signing of Carragher, and a one year contract extension for Hamman. For my money, this squad is stronger than last season and I would claim that the results so far will back this up. Besides, what can we do until the next transfer window opens in January? There is absolutely no point in complaining about who we should have, or could have, or would have signed; this is the squad, let’s get on with it.

September brings us Tottenham, Man Ure, and Birmingham. Compared to last season, we manage to pick up an additional two points, and are so far undefeated. Meanwhile in the Champions League (first round group stage), we get off to a great start, 2-1 away to Real Betis and a 0-0 home draw against Chel$ki.

October begins badly with a 4-1 home loss to Moro’s millionaires but is soon turned around with results of 1-0 at home against Blackburn and 1-0 away at Anderlecht in the Champions League. Unfortunately, that was followed by a couple of seriously disappointing results 2-1 at Crystal Palace in the League Cup and a 2-0 loss away to Fulham. The pattern looks all too familiar, with the joy of winning in Europe followed by the heartache of losing domestically. But, is it really so familiar and so bad? At this stage last year we were 4 points better in the League (17 points from 10 games vs. 13 points from 9 games) but worse off in Europe by 3 points (an away loss to Olympiakos). The month ended more positively with a home win against West Ham, which should at least put a temporary gag on the critics and restore the confidence of both players and supporters.

November started off in the best possible way with a 3-0 home win against Anderlecht, and a 2-0 away win against Aston Villa. This was especially satisfying as it proved that not only can we win away from home, we can also win immediately following a European match. So we have a run of three clean sheets with seven goals from six different players (Alonso, Zenden, Morientes, Garcia, Cisse, Gerrard and Alonso again).

So we now come to the latest international break with 16 points from 10 games in the Premier League and sitting comfortably in first place in our Champions League group. Even more satisfying is that even though we are 15 points behind the first place club in the League, we do have two games in hand. We are also looking down at that same team in Europe, undefeated with a lead of 3 points and 2 games remaining. The next European match at home against Real Betis should be enough to put us through to the second stage. First place is definitely possible, provided we don’t slip up in those last two matches. Compare that to last year where we needed a good deal of luck to beat Deportivo away, and then a thrilling last-ditch victory against Olympiakos. We were within a few minutes of being knocked out of the Champions League, and quite honestly didn’t look like being one of the favourites to go much further.

In summary, I’m optimistic with good reasons to be so. We already have one trophy in the cabinet (to go alongside that other big one from the end of last season). Even though we’ve had a few set-backs, we are looking good and I believe we are going to get even better as the season continues. The new players are settling in nicely, with the returning players getting better as Rafa’s methods take hold. Defensively we have a total of 10 clean sheets versus 6 last year. Goals have been harder to come by in the Premier League but have been flowing in for us in Europe. Morientes and Cisse are finding the scoring touch with only Peter Crouch still waiting for his first goal. However, Crouch is showing his abilities in holding the ball and controlling the play in the area; surely it’s only a matter of time before he gets that first one and then scores regularly after that. Morientes had difficulty for a long while but is looking to be back in form with one against Anderlecht last week, and one for Spain this week. Cisse has also scored a few recently including one for France this past week. It’s often been said that form is temporary, class is permanent. All of these players have lots of class, so I’m not too concerned about a temporary lack of form. Garcia has goals both domestically and in Europe, and has just scored a hat-trick for Spain. So many players, so many reasons to be positive.

10 down 28 to go in the Premier League; 4 down and 2 to go in the Champions League group stage (followed by how many more?). The next big test will be in December with a congested fixture list (7 League matches in 32 days) and the World Club Championship in Japan. It doesn’t get a lot easier after that as the F.A. Cup will be adding to the fixture list by that time. That loss in the League Cup may turn out to be a blessing as the last thing we need is even more matches to worry about. Transfer rumours are already coming thick and fast with the hoped-for reinforcements to be brought in during the January transfer window. That will certainly be a welcome relief all around.

The end of December will also mark the end of the second quarter of the 2005/06 season. I hope to have even more reasons to be optimistic at that point. Until then, all I can say is "onward and upward!"

What do you think? Fire us a reply and we'll get it to Keith, and try to put it in next week's newsletter

The latest link is Simao for Dudek plus cash...looks like the hero of our Champions League final is on the way out either way. Nothing much else new, but it'll pick up as January gets closer...it looks like Simao's a shoo in though.

I'm out of questionnaires so start sending them in, people! Guess it's my turn then.

Here's the template, copy/paste and send it in, just wipe out my answers for yours.

name: Paul Gill

age (optional!): just about 32

how long have you supported Liverpool for?: since I was 9 or so...

why Liverpool?: My family's Forest and saw LFC playing them in that European Cup game waaaay back. For some reason I picked LFC and followed them since.

best memory of being a Red: May 25 2005. Think it was the best day in our entire history personally. Couldn't have made it up, from Vladi playing well to Carra's cramp to the Dudek dance...not to mention that amazing pass from Kaka, whatshisname from Milan adjusting his shinpad before Vlad's goal, the rebounded penalty...I could go on for days.

worst memory/moment as a Red: Hillsborough, but I was at that 1996 FA Cup final and that really sucked. Was like a morgue.

fave LFC players (all-time): Fowler is my fave, though Dalglish is the King.

current LFC faves: Carra and Alonso are head and shoulders above. Garcia, Finnan, Pongolle, Hyppia are other faves.

most hated team(s): Man Ure, Chel$ki, Everton. And that MLS crap.

best LFC game: May 25 2005.

fave non-LFC player: tough call...Nedved, out of current ones.

all-time best non LFC player: Maradona was different class. Beckenbauer wrote the defensive book.

how's Rafa doing?: really well. Slowly but surely...like him as a person, says and does the right things, no crowd shushing or any idiocy like Moron-iho.

If you were the manager, 3 players you'd sign: Dirk Kuyt, Pablo Aimar, William Gallas

what do we need to do to the side right now?: finishing and even a better 'second last ball' as I call it...crosses and passes need to cut through more. Striker movement is hit and miss with us. Defensively we're pretty much sorted.

LFC dream starting 11 (and 5 for the bench): no time right now. I should make this a seperate column.

International footy...yay or nay?: nay

Which country's team does it for you (if yay): I'm hoping Spain win it because they have the most Reds. Alonso is a genius, end of.

Opinion on the state of football right now: It needs to come down to earth, it's spinning out of control. Gerrard on 100,000 a week?!? Nobody's worth that insane money.

Anything else?: Justice For The 96.

See you all next week!