Gaffer For A Day, Jeff Harris, aged 53 from Copnor, assesses Pompeyâs 3-1 defeat at West Ham...
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Firstly, what do you make of the London Stadium?
Itâs soulless. Pound for pound the home atmosphere is on par with Accrington! Itâs a nice stadium, donât get me wrong, but itâs soulless.
How they are meant to generate any kind of atmosphere I just donât know. The fans are just too far away from the pitch.
When we walked into there, it felt like a WWE arena. There was this massive section and an 80ft-gap between the lower section and top section among the home supporters.
It impacted us. There were four different tiers singing the same songs, but all out of kilter with each other, which killed the atmosphere.
How do you assess Pompeyâs performance?
You have to be pleased with the opening 40 minutes. I thought we dominated, had large scales of possession, we kept the ball, were neat and tidy - then thereâs that sliding doors monument.
Rocco Shein had a shot which the keeper couldnât hold and, if Adrian Segecic tucks that away, it would have been 2-0. Instead, West Ham went to the other end and scored.
In fact, they had two chances in five minutes and put them both away. Then, five minutes into the second half, we were 3-1 down and it was game over.
Who was your man of the match for Pompey?
It has to be Shein. He was industrious, he was box to box, he wanted the ball, he was demanding the ball, he wanted to make things happen.
Rocco could quite easily have been a midfield player who gets the ball and just passes it sideways. Instead, he wanted to affect the game, always keen to go forwards.
I saw him at Bristol Rovers in pre-season and he has gone up levels. Against West Ham he rose to the level that was around him - and Iâm really encouraged.
When Adams dropped back in the second half, I liked the way he and Rocco rotated between that six and eight position. Thatâs what we need to do with those two players, take a breather and recharge. If they can master that, he and Adams can be central to our season.
Are you excited about Abou Kamara?
Definitely. I want to see Adrian Segecic in the 10, I want to see Josh Murphy back on the left, Kamara on right, then either Colby Bishop or Marko Milovanovic up front. Thatâs a good 4-5 attacking players.
We need to get Kamara back to the League One days. Iâm not saying that he didnât want to go to Hull or Getafe, but he definitely wants to be at Pompey and, if one manager can get the best out of him, itâs John Mousinho.
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If we can give him 4-5 weeks worth of patience and not put the pressure on him from day one. Mousinho will get the best out of him. Just donât get on his back.
Nicolas Schmid - 6
Terry Devlin - 6
Conor Shaughnessy - 6
Regan Poole - 6
Zak Swanson - 6
Luke Le Roux - 5
Rocco Shein - 8 - MOM
Adrian Segecic - 7
Ebou Adams - 7
Luke Brooke-Smith - 6
Colby Bishop - 5
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Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later.
Submitting...
Firstly, what do you make of the London Stadium?
Itâs soulless. Pound for pound the home atmosphere is on par with Accrington! Itâs a nice stadium, donât get me wrong, but itâs soulless.
How they are meant to generate any kind of atmosphere I just donât know. The fans are just too far away from the pitch.
When we walked into there, it felt like a WWE arena. There was this massive section and an 80ft-gap between the lower section and top section among the home supporters.
It impacted us. There were four different tiers singing the same songs, but all out of kilter with each other, which killed the atmosphere.
How do you assess Pompeyâs performance?
You have to be pleased with the opening 40 minutes. I thought we dominated, had large scales of possession, we kept the ball, were neat and tidy - then thereâs that sliding doors monument.
Rocco Shein had a shot which the keeper couldnât hold and, if Adrian Segecic tucks that away, it would have been 2-0. Instead, West Ham went to the other end and scored.
In fact, they had two chances in five minutes and put them both away. Then, five minutes into the second half, we were 3-1 down and it was game over.
Who was your man of the match for Pompey?
It has to be Shein. He was industrious, he was box to box, he wanted the ball, he was demanding the ball, he wanted to make things happen.
Rocco could quite easily have been a midfield player who gets the ball and just passes it sideways. Instead, he wanted to affect the game, always keen to go forwards.
I saw him at Bristol Rovers in pre-season and he has gone up levels. Against West Ham he rose to the level that was around him - and Iâm really encouraged.
When Adams dropped back in the second half, I liked the way he and Rocco rotated between that six and eight position. Thatâs what we need to do with those two players, take a breather and recharge. If they can master that, he and Adams can be central to our season.
Are you excited about Abou Kamara?
Definitely. I want to see Adrian Segecic in the 10, I want to see Josh Murphy back on the left, Kamara on right, then either Colby Bishop or Marko Milovanovic up front. Thatâs a good 4-5 attacking players.
We need to get Kamara back to the League One days. Iâm not saying that he didnât want to go to Hull or Getafe, but he definitely wants to be at Pompey and, if one manager can get the best out of him, itâs John Mousinho.
Get access to trustworthy local news for just ÂŁ5 - sign up for a digital subscription to The News
If we can give him 4-5 weeks worth of patience and not put the pressure on him from day one. Mousinho will get the best out of him. Just donât get on his back.
Nicolas Schmid - 6
Terry Devlin - 6
Conor Shaughnessy - 6
Regan Poole - 6
Zak Swanson - 6
Luke Le Roux - 5
Rocco Shein - 8 - MOM
Adrian Segecic - 7
Ebou Adams - 7
Luke Brooke-Smith - 6
Colby Bishop - 5
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