Just over 24 hours after being relegated to the Championship, Portsmouth pulled off the most unlikely of results and beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Wembley after extra time, goals coming from Frederic Piquionne and ex-Spurs star Kevin Prince-Boateng.
It was fitting that the winning goal came Boateng's right foot as the young German fired home the final nail in the coffin of Harry Redknapp and Spurs from the penalty spot with just three minutes to go from a pulsating 120.
Piquionne had put Pompey into the lead after he latched onto Boateng's lofted free kick, following Michael Dawson's inopportune slip in the six yard box.
It was a fully deserved win for Avram Grant's side as they Spurs all the way in a real end-to-end game that brought the best from both 'keepers. While Spurs tore into Pompey from the off, the recently relegated side fought back to leave their ex-managers side on the ropes as the sides headed towards halftime.
The second half was almost a mirrored image of the first with Portsmouth dominating the early exchanges before Spurs came strongly back into the game.
With nothing between the two sides as the game headed towards extra time, it took the wrong footing of one of Spurs' best players on the day, Michael Dawson, to gift Piquionne with a goal-scoring chance. The French striker had received close attention all day from the defender chasing a ticket on the plane to South Africa and it was a cruel way to lose the lead.
Portsmouth's fans had cheered every pass, every tackle, every run, and every block that their team made on the day and they took every opportunity they had to boo their ex-players, of which there is a sizeable contingent at Spurs.
Not only is the current Spurs boss, Harry Redknapp, the man who brought Portsmouth to FA Cup glory in 2008, there. But he has also raided the South Coast club for some of their best players. Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Niko Krancjar, and Younnes Kaboul have all joined Redknapp at Tottenham over the last 18 months.
It was therefore somewhat ironic that the man that Redknapp deemed as little more than a troubled makeweight scored what was effectively the winning goal.
Kevin Prince-Boateng did not enjoy the best of times under Juande Ramos or Harry Redknapp, and when the Spurs boss sold him to Portsmouth he would have never figured in his wildest dreams that he would be the player to ruin Tottenham's chances of getting to the final.
The attacking midfielder has been one of Portsmouth's best players in a disastrous season for the club. He has maintained a high standard while many of Pompey's players have struggled under the weight of administration. When Avram Grant took over the full running of the club he signalled that hope way the key.
To Read Portsmouth's FA Cup Shawshank Redemption, click the link.
Stating that the fear of relegation was holding them prisoner but that the hope of an FA Cup Final appearance could set them free.
To win the game in the manner that they did is the stuff of dreams, to win it over your ex-manager and ex-players is right out of a fairytale.
As the final whistle blew, Portsmouth's fans literally turned the air blue as Pompey jerseys and scarves soared high into the Wembley sky. By that stage there were precious few Tottenham fans left in the arena, and as Harry Redknapp choked back his disappointment and hugged his friend Avram Grant, it was Pompey who could look forward to the final.
To have the game against Chelsea, Grant's ex-employers who sacked him after losing the Champions League Final to Manchester United, is just another chapter in a season like no other.
Karma?
Showing posts with label FA Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FA Cup. Show all posts
Mar 7, 2010
Portsmouth's FA Cup Shawshank Redemption
"Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free." Is the famous tag line to The Shawshank Redemption, one of the greatest films ever made. It also offers the greatest insight into the current perils of Portsmouth football club.
For those of you who have yet to see the film, based on the novella by Stephen King, it is a phenomenal story of friendship and above all hope.
The story begins with Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) going to prison for the murder of his wife and her lover, where he meets Red (Morgan Freeman), the prison's go to guy, he can get you whatever you need to make life easier on the inside.
Over the next 136 minutes the film explores some of the darkest aspects of the human soul all the while showing the most unbeatable of all human notions, because once you choose hope anything is possible.
This is the very predicament that Portsmouth now find themselves in. Having been run into the ground through gross mis-management at the highest level and condemned to administartion and almost certain relegation, hope is the one thing that is keeping the club and team going at the moment.
Dealing with the burden of administration and all it's implications is most difficult at the beginning, and Portsmouth's players deserve huge credit for maintaining their dignity through the ordeal.
Red's first quote from the Shawshnk sums up administration perfectly,
"The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing shit they throw on you, and when they put you in that cell, when those bars slam home, that's when you know it's for real. Old life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it. Most new fish come close to madness the first night. Somebody always breaks down crying. Happens every time. The only question is, who's it gonna be? It's as good a thing to bet on as any, I guess. I had my money on Andy Dufresne. I remember my first night. Seems like a long time ago."
Most people who have thought that Portsmouth's players would have folded completely too, but they have dug deep into hither unknown reserves and now they find themselves on the cusp of an unlikely Cup Final.
Having beaten fellow Premiership rivals Birmingham 2-0 to progress into the semi finals of the FA Cup, their manager Avram Grant reflected "It’s more than big – more than football,"
Grant has consistently stated that his club should not be deducted points in light of their financial troubles, which take their administrators back to the High Court to face the debt allegations levelled by HM Revenue & Customs in nine days’ time, when they again confront the possibility of a winding-up order.
The Portsmouth manager maintains that the current regime had to pick up the pieces from the previous owners of the club, and that penalising them for previous sins is unfair.
Of course, as is in Shawshank, everyone serving their sentence there is innocent as well.
"I’m very proud. You can break many things but you can’t break our spirit,” he said."
He added "Some things in your life you never forget, and this is one of those moments. I always say to respect rules, but rules need to be logical."
"This club deserves more than anyone to be at Wembley because the players and fans are victims of things done by others. I will say it again and again until someone listens."
The FA Cup now represents the greatest hope in Portsmouth's horrendous season, it represents a moment when their players can remove the burden hanging over them and play with the joy and abandonment the game is meant to be played in.
During The Shawshank Redemption, there comes one of the greatest moments in movie history.
Music is played across the tannoy system, opera. It is the first piece of music that any of the inmates have heard in years, for some decades. The FA Cup is like that piece of music for Portsmouth, it offers them a respite from the daily grind, a moment when the players can feel like footballers again.
We return to Red who sums the moment up perfectly:
"I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are better left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a grey place dares to dream. It was as if some beautiful bird had flapped into our drab little cage and made these walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free."
Everyone associated with Portsmouth knows that there is a huge cloud hanging over the club. It will take a miracle for them to avoid relegation this year, and next season they will have to cut their cloth accordingly, and again will face a massive uphill battle to keep the club stable in the face of mounting debts.
For fans, of the club the only real thing that is keeping them going at the moment is hope.
Andy Dufresne said "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
With that in mind Portsmouth football club should come through it's present battle's with a few scars as reminders, for the moment fear is holding them prisoner, but hope will eventually set them free.
Share
For those of you who have yet to see the film, based on the novella by Stephen King, it is a phenomenal story of friendship and above all hope.
The story begins with Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) going to prison for the murder of his wife and her lover, where he meets Red (Morgan Freeman), the prison's go to guy, he can get you whatever you need to make life easier on the inside.
Over the next 136 minutes the film explores some of the darkest aspects of the human soul all the while showing the most unbeatable of all human notions, because once you choose hope anything is possible.
This is the very predicament that Portsmouth now find themselves in. Having been run into the ground through gross mis-management at the highest level and condemned to administartion and almost certain relegation, hope is the one thing that is keeping the club and team going at the moment.
Dealing with the burden of administration and all it's implications is most difficult at the beginning, and Portsmouth's players deserve huge credit for maintaining their dignity through the ordeal.
Red's first quote from the Shawshnk sums up administration perfectly,
"The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing shit they throw on you, and when they put you in that cell, when those bars slam home, that's when you know it's for real. Old life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it. Most new fish come close to madness the first night. Somebody always breaks down crying. Happens every time. The only question is, who's it gonna be? It's as good a thing to bet on as any, I guess. I had my money on Andy Dufresne. I remember my first night. Seems like a long time ago."
Most people who have thought that Portsmouth's players would have folded completely too, but they have dug deep into hither unknown reserves and now they find themselves on the cusp of an unlikely Cup Final.
Having beaten fellow Premiership rivals Birmingham 2-0 to progress into the semi finals of the FA Cup, their manager Avram Grant reflected "It’s more than big – more than football,"
Grant has consistently stated that his club should not be deducted points in light of their financial troubles, which take their administrators back to the High Court to face the debt allegations levelled by HM Revenue & Customs in nine days’ time, when they again confront the possibility of a winding-up order.
The Portsmouth manager maintains that the current regime had to pick up the pieces from the previous owners of the club, and that penalising them for previous sins is unfair.
Of course, as is in Shawshank, everyone serving their sentence there is innocent as well.
"I’m very proud. You can break many things but you can’t break our spirit,” he said."
He added "Some things in your life you never forget, and this is one of those moments. I always say to respect rules, but rules need to be logical."
"This club deserves more than anyone to be at Wembley because the players and fans are victims of things done by others. I will say it again and again until someone listens."
The FA Cup now represents the greatest hope in Portsmouth's horrendous season, it represents a moment when their players can remove the burden hanging over them and play with the joy and abandonment the game is meant to be played in.
During The Shawshank Redemption, there comes one of the greatest moments in movie history.
Music is played across the tannoy system, opera. It is the first piece of music that any of the inmates have heard in years, for some decades. The FA Cup is like that piece of music for Portsmouth, it offers them a respite from the daily grind, a moment when the players can feel like footballers again.
We return to Red who sums the moment up perfectly:
"I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are better left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a grey place dares to dream. It was as if some beautiful bird had flapped into our drab little cage and made these walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free."
Everyone associated with Portsmouth knows that there is a huge cloud hanging over the club. It will take a miracle for them to avoid relegation this year, and next season they will have to cut their cloth accordingly, and again will face a massive uphill battle to keep the club stable in the face of mounting debts.
For fans, of the club the only real thing that is keeping them going at the moment is hope.
Andy Dufresne said "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
With that in mind Portsmouth football club should come through it's present battle's with a few scars as reminders, for the moment fear is holding them prisoner, but hope will eventually set them free.
Share
Jan 16, 2010
Liverpool Tells Fans to Book Tickets Early for FA Cup Clash With Burnley
In a week where things have not gone well for Liverpool on the pitch, it appears that their off-pitch exploits are even worse. Yesterday the club sent out e-mails to all its season ticket holders to book their FA Cup fourth-round tickets early...
On Wednesday, fourth from bottom side in the Championship, Reading, knocked the once mighty club out after a 2-1 extra-time win at Anfield.
Jan 13, 2010
DEFCON-1 for Liverpool and Rafael Benitez After Abysmal FA Cup Defeat to Reading
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, Liverpool's disastrous season under their bungling manager Rafael Benitez has almost hit rock bottom. Outplayed by Reading at Anfield, the once great club have bowed out of the FA Cup.
For many fans of Liverpool, Rafa has now reached his rubicon. Last season's progress gave him one more year to bring the club forward, but this season has seen the club lurch from one crisis to another.
Apr 18, 2009
Wenger Outwits Himself in Arsenal's 2-1 Defeat to Chelsea's Dutch Master
A curious team selection by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger handed the FA Cup semifinal to Chelsea on Saturday as the Pensioners had to come from a goal down to win the game 2-1. In reality they dominated the game from start to finish.
Didier Drogba's 84th minute goal along with Florent Malouda's equalizer on the stroke of half-time proved enough to overcome a young Arsenal team.
The young guns were out-fought and out-thought for the vast majority of the match, but not before they gave Chelsea a real shock through Theo Walcott's opener.
Jan 24, 2009
Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham: United Progress to Fifth Round of FA Cup
Two ex-Tottenham Hotspur players combined to put Manchester United through to the fifth round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford tonight. Michael Carrick put Dimitar Berbatov through to score the winner after Roman Pavlyuchenko had given Spurs an early lead.
Jan 22, 2009
The Glory of the FA Cup is Dead and Buried as Teams Prioritise What's Important
Over the last number of years, many news columns have been dedicated to the erosion of the FA Cup. As teams of the highest standard play almost 60 games a season, the FA Cup has often taken on a nuisance value.
As teams challenge for league titles and European titles, the added games that an FA Cup run can bring are being looked at as more and more of a hindrance. But is this right? What motivates teams to turn their back on the oldest knock out competition in the world?
As teams challenge for league titles and European titles, the added games that an FA Cup run can bring are being looked at as more and more of a hindrance. But is this right? What motivates teams to turn their back on the oldest knock out competition in the world?
Jan 2, 2009
The Disappointing EPL Season So Far, Cowboy Films, and Spurs v. Wigan...
As someone who writes quite a bit about Spurs, an unenviable task I tell you. I sat down tonight to watch the FA Cup match between Tottenham and Wigan in the hope of writing a match report.
I saw this Friday night match as a good opportunity to write a recap and publish it. I had a monopoly—it was the only match being played...
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