You- the Portsmouth Community Football Club Manager!

Guys, personal circumstances make it hard to be around on here at the moment, but I'm back now for a little bit.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Scenario: It's June 2013, and YOU have just been appointed Portsmouth's new manager. Our current squad is shown below. What would you do as manager of this squad?

This diagram shown below uses data from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%E2%80%9314_Portsmouth_F.C._season". Thanks to them for that.

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Name[/TD]
[TD]Age[/TD]
[TD]Contract runs until ...[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Phil Smith[/TD]
[TD]34[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Trevor Carson[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]Loan expires n the summer from Bury[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bondz N'Gala[/TD]
[TD]24[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Joe Devera[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sonny Bradley[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Adam Webster[/TD]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ben Chorley[/TD]
[TD]31[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jack Whatmough[/TD]
[TD]17[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2017[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Marcos Painter[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nicky Shorey[/TD]
[TD]33[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Yassin Moutaoukil[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Danny East[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Daniel Alfei[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]Loan expires in the summer from Swansea[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Romain Padovani[/TD]
[TD]24[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Johnny Ertl[/TD]
[TD]31[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2016[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Therry Racon[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Simon Ferry[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Danny Hollands[/TD]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]Loan expires in the summer from Charlton[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rhys McCabe[/TD]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]Loan expires in the summer from Sheffield Wednesday[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wes Fogden[/TD]
[TD]25[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jed Wallace[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ricky Holmes[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Andy Barcham[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2016[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tom Craddock[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ryan Bird[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ryan Taylor[/TD]
[TD]25[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ashley Harris[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Patrick Agyemang[/TD]
[TD]33[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Michael Drennan[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]Loan expires in the summer from Aston Villa[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jake Jervis[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]Out of contract in the summer[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Currently out on loan:[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]David Connolly[/TD]
[TD]36[/TD]
[TD]Unknown[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]John Sullivan[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]Unknown[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dan Butler[/TD]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]Summer 2015[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Average player age: 25.7 years.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All right then- what would you do with the squad if you were manager?

How about making a team with players from here, and then leaving blank the areas where you'd bring in new players?

Which players out of contract would you like to see us keep, and who do you want to see released?

What targets will you set to determine a successful season?

And finally ... what manager you would like to replace you and be the new manager of Portsmouth FC?

 

What targets will you set to determine a successful season?

League Two: Top 7 finish.
F.A. Cup: 3rd round.
League Cup: 3rd round.
Football League Trophy: Try and get as far as possible, but not too concerned over this cup.
Highest Goal Scorer: At least 12 goals.
Average Home Attendance: At least 16,000.

No pressure to the new manager then ...

In the end if this doesn't happen, I guess it doesn't matter too much as long as we're not relegated. We still have out club, and we own it now!





My first choice first eleven, if I could secure it, would be (in our usual 4-4-2- blanks to be filled in with new players):

Carson

Webster Whatmough Chorley Butler

Wallace Ferry

Connolly

This may be too inexperienced, in which case remove one or two out of Butler, Whatmough and Webster and bring in experienced players if it doesn't work out. I also don't think Jed will sign a new contract at Portsmouth FC.

 

Starting at Number One, so to speak, I'd like to make Trevor Carson's move from Bury permanent. He looks a pretty decent 'keeper and, at 26, he could carry on for another 10 years+ if he keeps fit.

As for targets:
Install a manager who is proven at this level so AA can go to do what he does best; nurture the youngsters.

Top half finish, with a top 7 spot being considered a highly successful season.
FA Cup - a home tie against a Premier League opponent would be a highly probable TV game, with the extra revenue that comes with it, so the third round should be targeted.
League Cup - this really is our 'bogey competition' but Bournemouth or Brighton at home in round One would at least get a few more through the turnstiles.
Paint Pot. Any kind of win/cup run is good for morale. Small crowds though probably mean an operating loss on the night so away ties would be better for the club financially. If we get a home tie then the club should charge a fiver with kids for a quid to swell the numbers. It may be the Paint Pot, but there is a Wembley Final to play for!
Highest scorer: Who cares as long as we're banging 'em in.
Average crowd. With so many expecting us to be up around the top of the league this year it'll be interesting to see how many season tickets get renewed. How many was it this year, 11,000ish? I think, regardless, we should average 14,000+, but if we are threatening the playoffs or better then it could rise into the mid to high 16,000s, with near on full houses toward the latter part of the season.

 

I'm wondering if it would be worth trying to re-sign Jamie Ashdown once his contract at Leeds runs out come the end of the season. He might be willing to take the wage drop to come back and we never should have let him go in the first place. I'd certainly try to keep Smith on a back-up but I dont think we'll keep Carson and I'm not sure its worth keeping Sullivan.

I'd also like to tie Webster, Shorey, Wallace and Bird down to new contracts, and I'd lean toward giving Harris a contract as he's still quite young and could yet improve and he's showed enough in the past to think that he could be be a decent player given the chance - he's not really had a shot at the first team this season.

I'd let N'Gala, Moutouakil, Painter, Racon and Jervis go as I dont think they add much to the squad. I'd also let Connolly go because I dont think he's committed enough to either the club or the playing side of the game anymore to justify keeping him on, I'm also leaning towards letting Agyemang go because I think Taylor plays the same kind of role and I dont see much difference in their quality plus he's both much younger and already committed to a longer contract.

My ideal squad with the above taken into consideration therefore would be:

Ashdown, Smith
Webster, Whatmough, Devera, Bradley, Chorley, Shorey, Butler, East
Holmes, Wallace, Padovani, Ertl, Fogden, Ferry, Barcham
Taylor, Bird, Craddock, Harris

This would form a good base for the squad which I feel would be able to compete in the upper-half of the table, maybe even more given a bit of strenghtening, which leads to my expectations for next season.

League Two: Safe Mid-Table season/Competitive in upper-table region

I hoped that this season would have been a stabilizing one but it turned out to be anything but. There was no settled first team squad for most of the season and once more we've gone through a lot of players, this added to Guy Whittingham being sack follwed by Richie Barker's appointment and subsequent sacking and Awford two spells as caretaker have meant that there has been no stability from the top. Next season therefore I expect us to maintain a safe position in mid-table at least and to have a manager last more than one season so that we can start to rebuild properly.

Highest Goal Scorer: 12-15 goals. Be nice to have a 20+ scorer for the first time since Toddy but one step at a time. I actually think Bird is the best bet for top scorer next season provided we actually sign him again and give him a run out, his spell at Cambridge certainly warrents giving him a shot.

Average Home Attendance: 11-15,000 would be reasonable given the average attendance for this season and taking into account the possibility of a drop in attentance following the dissapointing campaign this season and my expectations of an mediocre campaign next season.

 

Who would I keep?

Trevor Carson - he's a decent stopper, but tends to punch the ball away a lot, distribution seems okay.
Phil Smith - he's been okay every time I've seen him play, not sure why he's rarely played.

Adam Webster and Nicky Shorey probably both worth keeping.
Danny Hollands - I'd keep him, I think he's here trying to earn a contract anyway.
Ryan Bird is definitely worth another year's contract - with the right manager and midfield service he could be good, he did well at Cambridge and they aren't too far behind us.
Patrick Agyemang - I'd say he is worth at least another year with us, if not a bit longer.
David Connolly - I would keep him, he's got another year to run on his contract anyway, he also has good coaching quals.
Jed Wallace - we aren't likely to keep him unfortunately - probably off to Wolves in the summer.
Jake Jervis - not too sure about him, maybe we haven't seen the best of him under Barker.

I would get rid of Tom Craddock - he spends far too long injured - too dodgy.
John Sullivan also needs to go - he got sent back from Cambridge. Definitely shouldn't be a professional player.

I would like to see Dan Butler back in the squad - he reminded me a lot of Jason Pearce.

50/50 on Thery Racon at the moment.

Problem is under both Guy and Barker we haven't really seen the best of the players.

 

You know, I just found out that Gary O'Neil's out of contract at the end of the season. Anyone want him back if we could afford it?