Neil Allen's video verdict from Portsmouth's 2-1 loss at Millwall

The News, Portsmouth

Millwall 2 Pompey 1: Neil Allen's full-time verdict

Transcript

00:00Greetings from the Den where Pompey lost 2-1 today. A frustrating day because it was very

00:11similar to what happened in Pompey's last away match, which was at Preston, when they

00:16lost again 2-1. There are a lot of similarities and John Messina actually said in the press

00:26conference that he felt that Pompey played a bit better at Preston. But yet again, Pompey

00:34come back late, they fight their way back from falling 1-0 behind. And then yet again,

00:40like Preston, which I think was about the 86th minute, today was the 88th minute and

00:45the home side get a late win. I think Millwall deserved it, I agree with their manager, they

00:50deserved it. As I said at half-time, both sides needed to go up their gears, it was

00:57too comfortable for both sides. Did anyone want the game? Did anyone want to win the

01:01game? I don't know, there was just nothing to it. And then Millwall obviously scored

01:07twice in the second half. But again, obviously I'll write this in my verdict when I get

01:11home from today, but it's just away from home Pompey are quite insipid really. They're

01:18comfortable, they're quite happy at times just to have a goalless draw or whatever.

01:24There's not a lot of impetus, it's just like, okay, this will do us, let's sit back,

01:28let's just control things, let's keep things safe and ticking over. And Pompey were firmly

01:34in control of the second half, as were Millwall, now they keep everything to do. But Pompey's

01:41wingers, Murphy had a nice day, didn't have much of the ball. Matt Rich spent the whole

01:44time defending and did absolutely nothing in the opposition half and he was brought

01:49off in the 69th minute. And Pompey didn't offer too much, but then nor did Millwall.

01:54But obviously, they're the ones that have won the game. It's just very, very similar

01:58to Preston. And yeah, these away games now, they're just points, precious points, slipping

02:04away at the death, aren't they really? A point today wouldn't have been a really good

02:08point. And it's another defeat, isn't it, away from home. And piles on the pressure

02:14next game against Derby at home, which there's going to be pressure on that anyway, to be

02:17fair, isn't there? But yeah, it's just frustrating yet again. It's just very, very similar to

02:22the last one. They're not getting hammered this time away from home, are they? But just

02:25letting late points slip. And especially after coming back to equalise as well on both occasions.

02:33So, yeah, he was angry today. Not as angry as he was against Preston, but he was still

02:41angry today and annoyed, frustrated. It's just another defeat, isn't it? And so Pompey

02:49was solid and unspectacular, but a point wouldn't be good enough, wouldn't it? But

02:53they let us slip yet again. And yeah, it's to Coventry. I'll actually mention next home

03:00game. Yeah, Coventry away. Sorry, my apologies. Coventry away on Wednesday. Pompey now at

03:05next home game against Derby. It's been a long day, so my apologies. It's been a long

03:11day. And there's also stuff that happened afterwards where John Massino was accused,

03:14Millwall fans, of using discriminatory language. He reported to the referee, then he reported

03:19to the fourth official. What disturbed John Massino most, by the way, his claims, was

03:28that he felt that nothing was done about it by the authorities or whoever was here, and

03:32it continued through the game. So, we'll get in more on that on Monday when we sit down

03:37and have a press conference, Monday or Tuesday ahead of the Coventry game. So, we'll get

03:40more details on that over the coming days. It's a bit more difficult when you post-match

03:44press conference, everything's a bit rushed. But that'll continue to develop that story

03:49as well. But in terms of football, let's talk football here, pure football. It's another

03:53away defeat from Pompey, so many of them. And yet another one, like Preston, in the

03:59last minutes of the game for a precious point lost. And that is just so frustrating. Yeah,

04:04not good enough, is it? You don't expect Pompey to win every game, but you've got to

04:09pick up points away from home, and you have to. And yet again, they've failed. So, yeah,

04:15a disappointing day, but it's not too far to go. So, yes, a miserable day at Millwall.

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