Tuesday 20 May 2008

Pompey Chicken Celebrates Pompey's FA Cup Final Victory With His Memorabilia!

(1) Newspaper special inserts from before the Final:

(2) More pre-Final newspaper inserts and the Pompey magazine produced by The Club and distributed free in the City:



(3) That looks like your FA Cup Final ticket Pompey Chicken!


(4) The FA Cup Final has been won and these are the headlines in The Observer and The Sunday Telegraph:


(5) FA Cup Final programme and The News from Monday with a celebratory picture of Pompey's City Parade on the Sunday:







Friday 9 May 2008

Pictures From Pompey Chicken's Visit To Wembley!

(1) Laying out the shirts before the game!

(2) Arriving at Wembley Central, Pompey fans walking up Olympic Way:
(3) The arch over Wembley Stadium:

(4) Bobby Moore looks out on proceedings:

(5) Banner outside the stadium:
(6) The Pompey fans before the players come out:

(7) The WBA and Pompey badges are paraded before the match:


(8) Pompey have won and will be back at Wembley for the FA Cup Final on May 17th!
(9) The Pompey players salute the Pompey fans!

(10) The TV commentators after the game (watching Alan Hansen on BBC MOTD):

Wednesday 7 May 2008

Pictures From Pompey Chicken's Epic Queue For FA Cup Semi Final Tickets!

(1) It's just after 6:30AM and the sun is rising over Fratton Park:
(2) The ticket office is this way!
(3) Ummm...some way to go yet! (4) I wonder if they ever assembled it?!

(5) High spirits! Carlsberg! Take-Aways! A fun-packed couple of days!
(6) The 'aftermath'!


FA Cup Semi-Final: Pompey Chicken went to Wembley!


Broadsheet Views: FA Cup Semi-Final, 5th April 2008, WBA Versus Pompey

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/apr/07/sport.portsmouth
Pompey handle Baggies' challenge but do little to quicken the pulse
FA Cup Semi-Final West Brom 0 Portsmouth 1
Kanu 54 By David Lacey at Wembley Stadium, The Guardian,
Monday April 7 2008
Perhaps Portsmouth are saving their best till last. Having won a place in the FA Cup semi-finals through doughty defending at Old Trafford, backed by a penalty and a bit of luck, they reached their first final for 69 years after a largely turgid performance and a bit more luck, since the winning goal should have been disallowed for handball.


That said, the return of Harry Redknapp's team to Wembley on May 17 will bring some much-needed novelty to an occasion dominated for the past 17 years by Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. For thirtysomethings such as Sol Campbell and Nwankwo Kanu, both of whom helped Arsenal win the FA Cup in Cardiff, there will be an opportunity to collect winners' medals at Wembley, and David James, 37, whose goalkeeping this season has been sufficiently inspired to regain him his England place, will get a chance to add an honour to a career which has been more colossal than calamitous.


West Bromwich Albion, the most prolific team in the four divisions, came to Wembley on Saturday having scored 99 times in all competitions this season but lost, paradoxically, because they did not start shooting until they had fallen behind despite dominating the first half with their precise passing. At least they can now concentrate on regaining the Premier League place they lost two seasons ago. As it is, reaching the last four has seen them taking an eye off the ball in the Championship so that where they once appeared to be heading for automatic promotion they are now hanging on for a place in the play-offs.


Not that Tony Mowbray and his team would return to Wembley for a play-off final with an extra spring in their step. Saturday's defeat followed the pattern of the way Albion lost last season's deciding play-off against Derby County when they were beaten by a solitary goal after having had most of the play.


Mowbray felt Saturday's display proved his team's ability to compete in the higher division. "In the Championship, teams do not allow you the space Portsmouth did here," he said. "That was not a rise-to-the-occasion performance you saw today. We've been doing this week by week."
Mowbray may be right. If West Bromwich do go up they may, like Reading or Ipswich, surprise opponents with the quality of their passing and movement, not to mention their finishing. Nevertheless it was noticeable on Saturday that free scorers such as the Czech international Roman Bednar and his replacement, Ishmael Miller, made little impression on the first Premier League defence they had encountered in this season's FA Cup, and that the experienced Kevin Phillips, for all his subtle touches, enjoyed few glimpses of goal past Campbell and Sylvain Distin.
Not that Portsmouth looked any more like scoring before they went ahead nine minutes into the second half. "Play up Pompey, Pompey play up," sang their supporters dutifully but for most of the first half Redknapp's side failed to move with the chimes.


Not only does Redknapp share the matey style of Terry Venables, he has a similar knack of spotting when something is not right and making the necessary adjustments. "In the first half they were passing the ball better than us," he explained, "and we had problems getting close to anybody. It was difficult making contact with them. So we changed things at half-time. We pushed Kanu up and brought in Niko Kranjcar and Papa Diop from the flanks to play a bit narrower."


Certainly Jonathan Greening and Robert Koren found the space they had exploited so well in the first half more elusive in the second and when Albion did threaten to bring the scores level late in the match the danger to Portsmouth came more from Carl Hoefkens and Paul Robinson advancing from full-back. By that time the contest should have been put beyond West Brom's reach, Milan Baros and David Nugent, who replaced him, fluffing opportunities set up by Kranjcar's perceptive passes.


At first sight Portsmouth's winner appeared to be down to a slick piece of work by Baros, who chested down a ball from Glen Johnson on the right, turning past Martin Albrechtsen as he did so. Dean Kiely managed to push away the Czech striker's shot but the goalkeeper's attempt to gather the ball was impeded by Zoltan Gera's lunge back to clear it. Amid the confusion Kanu, restored to the Portsmouth attack because Jermain Defoe was cup-tied, tapped the ball into the net.


Television replays showed that Baros, in taking the ball on his chest, had controlled it with an arm. In the immediate and bitter aftermath of losing a semi-final Phillips accused the referee, Howard Webb, of a dereliction of duty. "You know what these officials are like," he said. "They tend to bottle it a little bit in big games." The truth surely was that Webb had not seen the incident. It happens.


Astute low crosses from Hoefkens led to Koren glancing a shot off the Portsmouth crossbar with James looking beaten and Miller putting Albion's best chance of the game wide. After that Baggies became saggies but at least Mowbray's team had done enough to give the winners of the other semi-final more than a glimmer of hope.


Portsmouth, underdogs when they first won the FA Cup by beating Wolves in 1939, are hot favourites now. Not that they will hold the trophy for quite so long if they do win it - unless of course Germany decides to invade Poland again this September.


Man of the match Niko Kranjcar
whose vision and passing brought life to a previously lifeless attack after half-time.
Best moment Kranjcar's cleverly angled through-ball to Milan Baros just past the hour which the Czech striker should have turned into a second goal for Portsmouth
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/apr/06/sport.facup
Kanu claims treasure thanks to plunderer Baros
Observer report, FA Cup Semi-Final West Brom 0 Portsmouth 1
Kanu 54 By Paul Wilson at Wembley, The Observer, Sunday April 6 2008


Harry Redknapp is going to the FA Cup final, Portsmouth have a great chance of their first significant silver for over half a century, and it must be the city's maritime heritage that prompted the stadium DJ to play the Pirates of the Caribbean theme in celebration.

Portsmouth Pirates is perfect. Not because they stole this semi - one-paced West Bromwich were there for the taking - but if Captain Jack Sparrow had joined Redknapp, Tony Adams and Joe Jordan on the Pompey bench he would not have looked wholly out of place.

And there is definitely a piratical gleam in the eye of Nwankwo Kanu, now lining up an improbable third FA Cup winner's medal to add to a bulging treasure chest that also includes Champions League and Uefa Cup winner's medals, titles in Nigeria, Holland and England and an Olympic gold medal. This final hurrah could not be envisaged when the Kanu career was petering out at West Bromwich, though anything is possible for a player who made FA Cup history at the very first attempt. It was Kanu of Arsenal, if you recall, who inadvertently took advantage of a sporting gesture by Sheffield United on his English debut in 1999 to create a situation where Arsène Wenger even more sportingly offered a replay.

'We asked him to play 25 games to earn a new contract, but I'll give him one anyway,' Redknapp said, after Kanu's 26th game of the season. 'We've been relying on Jermain Defoe and I knew we would need someone to weigh in today.'

Albion have history too. They are still the only team ever to win the 'double' of promotion and FA Cup in the same season. They went into this game in a position to repeat their feat of 1931, and ended up sounding as though the promotion part is uppermost in their minds. 'We were good for 75 yards, but never threatened their goalkeeper enough,' manager Tony Mowbray said. 'We showed we could play, though, and if we take that attitude into our next six matches we could be playing in the Premier League next year.'

Albion were responsible for most of the early attacking without making any impression on the Portsmouth defence. Kevin Phillips had a couple of shots blocked, but only Zoltan Gera appeared to have the guile to outwit defenders. The Hungarian brought the first save of the game from David James, though after keeping Manchester United at bay for 90 minutes at Old Trafford in the last round Pompey were not about to be intimidated by a Championship strike force.

Instead, Redknapp's players kept their shape and bided their time, waiting for opportunities to launch Milan Baros on the break. Any Liverpool fan could point out a flaw in that strategy, however, and while Baros had a couple of promising openings it was no great surprise that half time arrived with the game still scoreless. Baros's most conspicuous contribution before the break was to get himself booked for bringing down the ball with a hand to leave himself a clear shooting chance, and even then he put his shot over the bar. Baros also failed to capitalise when Kanu offered him a half-chance in front of goal after 40 minutes, leaving a 30-yard free-kick from Sulley Muntari that flew straight at Dean Kiely as Portsmouth's only attempt on target in the first 45 minutes.

West Bromwich failed to cause James any further palpitations either, though a back header from Glen Johnson had him scurrying when a fumbled pick-up gave James Morrison a glimpse. It was a pity the game was proving so uneventful, since the atmosphere beforehand had been a real throwback.

For the record, Pompey fans kept up the noise for longer, partly because they have such a good tune and partly because from the 54th minute they had something to sing about. There was no real surprise in Kanu scoring against his former club - such things are written in the stars, like Peter Crouch scoring when Liverpool finally give him a start - though it was doubly ironic that the architect should be Baros. Because while the Czech did well to turn Martin Albrechtsen when Johnson launched a ball into the area, and even better to force a save from Kiely, replays suggested he again used an arm in controlling the ball. This time it was less blatant and was not spotted - if it had been, Portsmouth would have been down to 10 men - and Albion compounded their bad luck when Gera hacked the ball out of Kiely's clutches to present Kanu with a tap-in. Without Gera's intervention, Kiely would probably have saved at the second attempt, held the ball on the line or flicked it to safety.

That opened up the game and in an enjoyable last half-hour there were chances at both ends. Pompey ought to have made the game safe when Nico Kranjcar's through pass released Baros, though in a reversion to type the striker showed too much of the ball to Kiely. Robert Koren crashed a shot against James's bar in the best attack Albion had so far managed, then Ishmael Miller wasted a good opportunity by crossing too close to James, with Phillips waiting unmarked at the far post. David Nugent had a shot saved at the other end before Miller passed up perhaps the clearest chance of an equaliser, meeting Carl Hoefkens's low cross at the near post, but failing to keep his shot on target.

Right at the death, Nugent had an opportunity to double Portsmouth's lead, only to waft his shot unconvincingly over the bar. 17 May cannot come quickly enough for Redknapp. After that date Jermain Defoe will no longer be cup-tied.

Man of the match: Sol Campbell
Sulley Muntari was the liveliest of Portsmouth's offensive players but, like the Manchester United encounter, this result was based on defensive solidity. Campbell and Sylvain Distin formed an impenetrable barrier at centre-back, Albion could not get a look-in, and the 33-year-old captain led by example.

THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Terry Wills, Observer reader We didn't expect to win, but at the end we felt we should have done - whether Baros handled or not in the build-up for their goal. You couldn't tell which was the Premier League side, though we played the ball around too much, with one pass too many. But at least we know we'll be able to compete if we gain promotion. The whole of our defence played well, Koren hit the bar and Miller should have scored late on. It was a great day out, we did our share of the shouting and did the Championship proud. Now for Blackpool in the League on Tuesday - that's far more important.
The Fan's Player Ratings Kiely 7; Hoefkens 7, Albrechtsen 8, Clement 8, Robinson 8; Morrison 6 (Brunt 5), Koren 6, Gera 7 (Kim 5), Greening 7; Bednar 6 (Miller 5), Phillips 7
Rick Jewell, Observer reader I'm absolutely delighted, but it was a far tougher game than we thought. All credit to West Brom. They made us look second-best after half time, though without looking too threatening, and they will do better than Derby and Fulham if they make it to the Premier League. Thank goodness for Kanu - he's such a cool predator, unlike Baros and Nugent, who always seemed to need half a yard more thinking time. Our central defenders were impressive, particularly Sol. It's a pity about the Wembley allocation. We could half-fill the place. We've been waiting 69 years, after all.
The Fan's Player Ratings James 6; Johnson 6, Campbell 7, Distin 6, Hreidarsson 6; Diarra 6, Diop 7, Muntari 7, Kranjcar 6; Kanu 6 (Davis 6), Baros 6 (Nugent 6)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3694648.ece
April 7, 2008
Harry Redknapp is so much more than ’Appy ’Arry
West Bromwich Albion 0 Portsmouth 1
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent, at Wembley Stadium
If all there was to Harry Redknapp was a quick wit and an easygoing manner, he would not have lasted two minutes in this sport, let alone to the age of 61. There is a saying in sport about where nice guys finish and it is not at Wembley in May or in a respectable position in the league.
The familiar line is that Redknapp is treated generously by press and public because he is good company and a lovable rogue, but that analysis is as shallow as the suggestion that his teams are solely about acumen in the transfer market and the throwing together of disparate elements in the hope that it works.

Tony Mowbray, the manager of West Bromwich Albion, who are pushing for promotion to the Barclays Premier League, knew why his team lost and there was nothing random about it. “Portsmouth have built their team on strong defence,” he said. “They are sixth in the Premier League on the back of defensive organisation. I take heart that not every team up there is as solid as they are.”

Hear that? Discipline, tactical acumen, order - the sort of qualities often overlooked in Redknapp, masked by a one-liner or a funny story. And, yes, it makes him a popular figure, but that will get a man only so far. Had Portsmouth lost at Wembley on Saturday, had Redknapp thrown away perhaps the best opportunity he will have to lift a leading trophy in English football, he could not have walked away from the calamity with a shrug of his shoulders and a quip.

There would have been a moment of reckoning and it would have been noted that, when it mattered, the Portsmouth manager could not rise to the occasion. And while no one would say that Saturday’s win was a peak performance – the match being won by a scrappy goal from Kanu after 54 minutes – Portsmouth kept it tight, stood up to a lively first-half assault from the Coca-Cola Championship team and improved considerably after half-time when Redknapp made tactical adjustments.

He had a lot to lose, taking over Portsmouth, leaving for Southampton, their fierce rivals, and then going back. Now the money made available by Alexandre Gaydamak, the owner, has begun to have an effect, some may believe that Redknapp had it easy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Reflecting on his time at the club, he spelt out the journey he has taken.
“The first time here, when I was director of football and Milan Mandaric [the chairman at the time] asked me to take over as manager, I refused,” he said. “I really didn’t want it. They had finished just off the bottom five years running – twentieth, nineteenth, eighteenth, twentieth, seventeenth – and I thought, ‘No way do you turn this lot around.’ But he talked me into it and we won promotion as champions. Then I went to Southampton, left a really good team behind and when I returned they had a terrible one.

“First day at the training ground Dejan Stefanovic, who was the captain and a good player before I left, said to me, ‘Gaffer, you’ve got no chance here. This is the worst team I have seen. You must be mad.’ After one morning’s training I realised he was right. I thought, ‘What am I going to do with this lot?’ Where they found some of them, God knows. It was a poor side, bottom of the league and rightly so.

“I remember going to Wigan Athletic, knowing that if we had gone down that day it would have been hard for me to carry on. People forget, I did not come back here with everyone welcoming me, out on the pitch, arms in the air, waving to the crowd. They all say they did now, but when I walked off at Aston Villa after the first game all the banners said ‘Judas bastard’, stuff like that. If I had not got them out of relegation, they would have slaughtered me.”

And that is the side of Redknapp that is often ignored – the one in which he plays the unremarkable role of the damn fine manager, getting his head down, getting on with the job and building useful, often entertaining teams. Why? Because everyone prefers the colour and charm of ’Appy ’Arry, the cheerful Cockney cliché. And he exists, too, just not at the expense of the other guy.

Still, for lovers of light entertainment, here is a true Harry story from the week before the semi-final. He gets a letter, the sort that managers receive all the time. Bloke says he follows Portsmouth home and away with his wife, been to every round of the FA Cup but can’t get a ticket for Wembley. Doesn’t know how the internet works, can’t get to the ground as he lives in Wales.

Harry, being Harry, takes him at face value, phones, leaves a message, says he will call back. It is April 1, but Harry doesn’t remember that. When they finally speak, the bloke says he has been rowing with his mates for two days, thinking it was a wind-up. Anyway, Harry sorts him out. Two together, good seats, too. Now, Arsène Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, seems a charming man also, but can you imagine him doing that?

Redknapp’s secret is that he is not frightened. Not frightened to phone a supporter out of the blue in an act of kindness (because that really does open Pandora’s box with an FA Cup Final around the corner) and not afraid either to make Tony Adams his assistant, when many saw the former Arsenal and England captain as a stalking horse, a threat if things went wrong, rather than a useful colleague.

“I never worried about his presence for one minute,” Redknapp said. “I love having Tony with me. What a player he was. I want Tony to be manager here when my time is up.”
And if, because Redknapp has the confidence to put strong personalities and one of England’s greatest defenders on his staff, Portsmouth have got to a Wembley final by winning four of their five FA Cup ties 1-0, doesn’t that make him a clever old stick? If Fabio Capello were to do that he would be hailed a tactical genius; only because it is Redknapp does anyone think that it happens by accident.
How they rated
West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): D Kiely 6 C Hoefkens 6 M Albrechtsen 6 N Clement 6 P Robinson 6 Z Gera 6 R Koren 7 J Greening 6 J Morrison 6 R Bednar 5 K Phillips 7 Substitutes: I Miller 6 (for Bednar, 60min), C Brunt 5 (for Morrison, 60), Kim Do Heon (for Gera, 74). Not used: M Danek, Pele.
Portsmouth (4-4-2): D James 6 G Johnson 6 S Campbell 7 S Distin 7 H Hreidarsson 7 P Bouba Diop 6 L Diarra 8 S Muntari 7 N Kranjcar 6 M Baros Y 6 Kanu 7 Substitutes: D Nugent (for Baros, 71min), S Davis (for Kanu, 80). Not used: J Ashdown, Lauren, P Mendes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/04/05/ufnfacup105.xml
Portsmouth book FA Cup final spot
By Vicki Hodges and agencies
West Brom (0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 1
Man-of-the-match: Paul Robinson (West Brom) 8/10. Made seven tackles and completed 88 per cent of his passes
A close-range strike from former West Brom striker Kanu was enough to book Portsmouth's place in this season's FA Cup final with a narrow win at Wembley. The Championship side had taken the game to their Premier League opponents and dominated much of the first half.

Kevin Phillips impressed in attack for Tony Mowbray's underdogs and signalled West Brom's intent with the first effort on goal after five minutes, but his 25-yard shot flew over David James' crossbar.

Two minutes later Zoltan Gera stung James' palms with another effort from outside the area. Although the England goalkeeper failed to hold Gera's fiercely struck shot, Sol Campbell was able to clear the danger.

Portsmouth, who failed to get their game going, emerged from the interval with renewed vigour and broke the deadlock inside 10 minutes of the restart through Kanu.

Milan Baros cushioned Glen Johnson's right-wing cross on his chest - albeit with a hint of handball - inside the area and struck a right-foot volley from the angle of the six-yard box.

Den Kiely produced a fine one-handed save diving to his right, but could only take the pace off Baros' shot and the ball continued to roll agonisingly towards the goalline where Kanu was lurking to score from three yards.

While Mowbray's response was to make a double substitution in the 61st minute, Portsmouth went close to doubling their lead when Baros was put through on goal by Niko Kranjcar.
Despite being well placed, the Czech striker was indecisive as he bared down on Kiely and allowed the Albion goalkeeper to rush from his line and make the save.

Portsmouth will face the winners of tomorrow's all-Championship tie between Cardiff and Barnsley at Wembley. Defeat for West Brom, meanwhile, leaves them concentrating on their bid to win promotion back to the top-flight.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/04/05/ufnfaquotes105.xml
Phillips blames officials for West Brom defeat
By Vicki Hodges and agencies

Portsmouth's Baros appeared to have used his arm to help control Glen Johnson's pass but his shot was saved by Dean Kiely before Kanu tapped in the loose ball for the only goal at Wembley.

Gutted: Phillips disappointed with referee following defeat
"You know what these officials are like, they tend to bottle it a little bit in these big games," Phillips said.

"We can hold our heads up high, Portsmouth have been very lucky today if we found that goal when we dominated in the first half."

The former Aston Villa and Sunderland striker was impressive throughout in leading the line for Tony Mowbray's side and he didn't feel West Brom deserved to finish on the losing side.
"We just couldn't find that goal but we've shown we are a quality footballing team," he said.

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp was delighted after seeing his side battle past West Brom to reach the final where they will face the winners of tomorrow's tie between Cardiff and Barnsley.
"It's fantastic to be going to a cup final," Redknapp said.
"Full credit to West Brom, they made a game of it but it's a great day for the club. It's great for the support, I'm delighted for everybody.
"We didn't pass the ball as we can and they passed it better than us for long spells, they are a good team and I think they'll come up this year."
Portsmouth goalkeeper David James said: "I thought we dominated the game, they had a minimal amount of chances.
"It's typical of Portsmouth in the FA Cup this season, we seem to struggle first half but we were confident we were going to win the game."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/04/05/ufnfacup205.xml
Portsmouth book FA Cup final spot
By Duncan White at Wembley

West Brom (0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 1
Man-of-the-match: Paul Robinson (West Brom) 8/10. Made seven tackles and completed 88 per cent of his passes

One year short of the Biblical three score and ten Pompey are back in the FA Cup final.
In front of a record crowd for a semi-final in this competition, Harry Redknapp's side squeezed past their Championship opponents to earn a return to this stadium on May 17.

Occasions like this occur only once in the life cycle of a Portsmouth fan and, judging by the jubilation at the final whistle, there was little danger of it being underappreciated. Redknapp was dignified in victory, extending immediate condolence to his rival Tony Mowbray. However, his adrenaline must have been pumping – winning this tournament would be the pinnacle of a remarkable managerial performance on the South Coast. In two spells at the club he has taken them from second-tier mediocrity to Premier League force.

With these two sets of fans among the most voluble and passionate in the country, the game was never going to want for atmosphere and commitment but, excluding a thrilling final quarter of an hour, this was a niggly, twitchy game, not aided by the poverty of the pitch.

Portsmouth’s winner, scored by the veteran Kanu, was not without its share of controversy.
All game Portsmouth had been hitting long balls down the channels for Milan Baros and finally one of these hopeful passes paid off.

Glen Johnson found him in the box, but in trapping the ball the Czech striker seemed to use as much arm as chest. His subsequent shot was well saved by a diving Dean Kiely only for the ball to squirt loose along the goal line. With Hermann Hreidarsson thundering in, Zoltan Gera hooked the ball away, arguably preventing Kiely from gathering. The ball went straight to Kanu and the gangling Nigerian tapped it into the empty net.

Redknapp claimed that "it never entered my head that it might be hand-ball", but with Baros having already been cautioned in the first half for deliberately using his arm to control the ball, West Brom’s players were furious.

Had the decision gone their way, the Portsmouth striker could even have been sent off.
Still Albion might have clawed their way back to parity. Carl Hoefkens, breaking from right back, twice set up team-mates with excellent opportunities. After a strong run and neat pass by the Dutchman on 75 minutes, Robert Koren sent a powerful shot rattling back off the Portsmouth bar. Ten minutes later Hoefkens’s low cross was hit wide of the near post by substitute Ishmael Miller. By then Portsmouth should have been coasting. With Albion increasingly desperate, huge gaps were opening on the counter- attack.

Midway through the second half Baros was played in by an elegant Niko Kranjcar pass only to take an unnecessary second touch. Kiely had already gone to ground but he managed to seize on Baros’s hesitancy to block the striker’s progress. The hard-running Czech was replaced shortly after, Redknapp calling on David Nugent. In between running offside, the man impersonating a £6 million England international contrived to botch two fine chances to get that important second goal. First he shot straight down Kiely’s throat when well-positioned and then, with just moments left in the game, he nailed a text-book conversion after being set up by the excellent Lassana Diarra.

Aside from Koren hitting the bar, Albion struggled to prise open Portsmouth’s wrought-iron rearguard. Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin are so brutally stingy at the heart of the back four that even the wiles of Kevin Phillips, the Championship’s player of the season, did not really trouble them.

David James, the England goalkeeper, was less obdurate however. In the first half, with Albion passing and moving with fluidity, he twice spilled the ball. With just six minutes gone Gera’s shot dipped late and James could only push the ball loose. Campbell was there to police the situation.
Even more worrying was when, with half-time approaching, James somehow managed to fumble a straightforward claim, giving the lurking Phillips a sniff of a goal from nothing, not to mention raising the communal heart-rate.

It had not been much of a half. Redknapp felt that his players were struggling to get in amongst their opponents and it was true that the Championship side did look the more technically adept in the opening stages.

"We had problems getting close to people, what with Gera moving off the wing and Phillips coming short," Redknapp explained.
"We changed at half-time, getting Kanu to drop deeper, pushing Kranjcar further up and getting Papa Bouba Diop to come narrower."

Diop had been stationed on the right wing and at 6 ft 7 he is no natural winger. With the midfield tightening up, Portsmouth could impose their physical superiority on their opponents. Cardiff and Barnsley will not have watched this act of suffocation with comfort – it will take a mighty effort to prevent Pompey captain Campbell from lifting that jug-eared trophy next month.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/04/06/sfnfro106.xml
Harry Redknapp relishes a Wembley victory
By Duncan White

Harry Redknapp has not won a cup in more than 1,000 games as a manager and Portsmouth have not won this prestigious trophy since the onset of the Second World War. But after defeating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Wembley yesterday, the charismatic Cockney and his Fratton Park brigade are now overwhelming favourites to win the FA Cup on May 17.

With a controversial second-half goal from Kanu, scored after Milan Baros had used his arm in the build-up, Portsmouth overcame a shaky start to defeat their Championship opponents and give Redknapp the chance to win his first major trophy. Should his side triumph over either Barnsley or Cardiff in the final, he will become the first English manager to take home the old pot since Everton's Joe Royle in 1995.

"It was fantastic, a good day," Redknapp said. "It's great for the fans to look forward to a Cup final. It's great for everyone at the club. I look at where we were two years ago [almost relegated from the Premier League], or five years ago when we were near the bottom of the Championship and now we are sixth in the Premier League and in a Cup final."

Redknapp was quick to concede that his side had struggled against West Bromwich Albion in the first half. "They set off better than us," Redknapp said. "They're the best footballing team in the Championship. They get the ball down and they're confident.

"We knew we were never going to get a better chance to get to the Cup final, though. We'll be rightly favourites in the final but on the day, anything can happen."

West Brom striker Kevin Phillips was furious with referee Mark Clattenburg for failing to spot a handball by Baros in the move that led to Portsmouth's goal. "You know what these officials are like, they tend to bottle it a little bit in these big games," Phillips said. "We can hold our heads up high. Portsmouth have been very lucky today. I don't think we deserved to lose."

Unsurprisingly, Albion manager Tony Mowbray was swift to shift the emphasis back to his club's pursuit of promotion and they could well be back at Wembley in the play-off final. "It was important to come out of this game with belief and confidence," Mowbray said. "It would have been very disappointing if we'd failed to perform. The message coming out of the dressing room is that there are six games to go, let's go and earn the right to play teams like Portsmouth every week."

For Portsmouth, a Cup final win would take them into Europe for the first time but Redknapp refused to get ahead of himself: "Europe? Yeah, that'd be nice," he said. "I don't give a monkey's really. I just want to win the FA Cup."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/04/06/sfgpor106.xml
Portsmouth victory ends long FA Cup wait
By Duncan White at Wembley Stadium
West Bromwich Albion (0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 1
One year short of the Biblical three score and ten Pompey are back in the FA Cup final. In front of a record crowd for a semi-final in this competition, Harry Redknapp's side squeezed past their Championship opponents to earn a return to this stadium on May 17. Occasions like this occur only once in the life cycle of a Portsmouth fan and, judging by the jubilation at the final whistle, there was little danger of it being underappreciated.

Redknapp was dignified in victory, extending immediate condolence to his rival Tony Mowbray. However, his adrenaline must have been pumping - winning this tournament would be the pinnacle of a remarkable managerial performance on the South Coast. In two spells at the club he has taken them from second-tier mediocrity to a Premier League force.

With these two sets of fans among the most voluble and passionate in the country, the game was never going to want for atmosphere and commitment but, excluding a thrilling final quarter of an hour, this was a niggly, twitchy game, not aided by the poverty of the pitch.

Portsmouth's winner, scored by the veteran Kanu, was not without its share of controversy. All game Portsmouth had been hitting long balls down the channels for Milan Baros and finally one of these hopeful passes paid off. Glen Johnson found him in the box, but in trapping the ball the Czech striker seemed to use as much arm as chest. His subsequent shot was well saved by a diving Dean Kiely only for the ball to squirt loose along the goal line. With Hermann Hreidarsson thundering in, Zoltan Gera hooked the ball away, arguably preventing Kiely from gathering.

The ball went straight to Kanu and the gangling Nigerian tapped it into the empty net. Redknapp claimed that "it never entered my head that it might be hand-ball", but with Baros having already been cautioned in the first half for deliberately using his arm to control the ball, West Brom's players were furious. Had the decision gone their way, the Portsmouth striker could even have been sent off.
Still Albion might have clawed their way back to parity. Carl Hoefkens, breaking from right back, twice set up team-mates with excellent opportunities. After a strong run and neat pass by the Dutchman on 75 minutes, Robert Koren sent a powerful shot rattling back off the Portsmouth bar. Ten minutes later Hoefkens's low cross was hit wide of the near post by substitute Ishmael Miller.

By then Portsmouth should have been coasting. With Albion increasingly desperate, huge gaps were opening on the counter- attack. Midway through the second half Baros was played in by an elegant Niko Kranjcar pass only to take an unnecessary second touch. Kiely had already gone to ground but he managed to seize on Baros's hesitancy to block the striker's progress.

The hard-running Czech was replaced shortly after, Redknapp calling on David Nugent. In between running offside, the man impersonating a £6?million England international contrived to botch two fine chances to get that important second goal. First he shot straight down Kiely's throat when well-positioned and then, with just moments left in the game, he nailed a text-book conversion after being set up by the excellent Lassana Diarra.

Aside from Koren hitting the bar, Albion struggled to prise open Portsmouth's wrought-iron rearguard. Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin are so brutally stingy at the heart of the back four that even the wiles of Kevin Phillips, the Championship's player of the season, did not really trouble them.

David James, the England goalkeeper, was less obdurate however. In the first half, with Albion passing and moving with fluidity, he twice spilled the ball. With just six minutes gone Gera's shot dipped late and James could only push the ball loose. Campbell was there to police the situation.
Even more worrying was when, with half-time approaching, James somehow managed to fumble a straightforward claim, giving the lurking Phillips a sniff of a goal from nothing, not to mention raising the communal heart-rate. It had not been much of a half.

Redknapp felt that his players were struggling to get in amongst their opponents and it was true that the Championship side did look the more technically adept in the opening stages.
"We had problems getting close to people, what with Gera moving off the wing and Phillips coming short," Redknapp explained. "We changed at half-time, getting Kanu to drop deeper, pushing Kranjcar further up and getting Papa Bouba Diop to come narrower."

Diop had been stationed on the right wing and at 6 ft 7in he is no natural winger. With the midfield tightening up, Portsmouth could impose their physical superiority on their opponents. Cardiff and Barnsley will not have watched this act of suffocation with comfort - it will take a mighty effort to prevent Pompey captain Campbell from lifting that jug-eared trophy next month.

Best moment: Robert Koren could not have struck his second half shot any more cleanly, David James unable to do anything but watch the ball fly past him. Unfortunately for the Slovenian and his team-mates, the ball slapped against the bar and went over.Worst moment: He was Portsmouth’s only real attacking threat all afternoon, but Milan Baros was guilty of the worst miss of the game. Put clean through by a neat Niko Kranjcar through ball, he dithered on the ball until Dean Kiely.

Man of the match
Paul Robinson (West Brom) 8
 Made seven tackles
 Completed 88 per cent of his distribution

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/04/06/sfnkan106.xml
FA Cup win a timely reminder of Kanu's can-do
By Roy Collins

The longer Kanu plays, the fewer boxes remain unticked. A list of achievements that began with the Under-17 World Cup and continued when he came on as a teenage substitute in Ajax's Champions League triumph over Milan in 1995 - Patrick Kluivert scored the winner and Clarence Seedorf and Edgar Davids also contradicted Alan Hansen's assertion that you win nothing with kids - seems certain to be extended when the rangy Nigerian starts an FA Cup final for the first time on May 17. What a career. What an advertisement for Italian heart surgery. A few months short of his 32nd birthday, Kanu would have been all but guaranteed a place in Portsmouth's line-up for the final even if he had not claimed the only goal of this disappointing match.

With Jermain Defoe ineligible because he played for Spurs in the Cup this season and the squad's other striker, David Nugent, still struggling to look anything but a £6 m blot on Harry Redknapp's transfer-market copybook, Kanu and Milan Baros can expect to face notionally less formidable Championship opponents back here next month.

Poor West Bromwich, the club to whom Kanu went on a free transfer after his Arsenal years ended in 2004, had reason to feel aggrieved about the goal because Baros, who had already been shown the yellow card for handling a long ball from Lassana Diarra, used an arm to tame one from Glen Johnson before getting in the shot Dean Kiely could only parry during the prelude to Kanu's tap-in.

But that was the responsibility of the referee, Howard Webb, and his assistants, not Kanu, whose FA Cup fortunes have been a strange mixture since he made his Highbury debut in a tie against Sheffield United nine years ago. On that occasion, collecting a Ray Parlour throw intended for the visiting goalkeeper, who had put the ball out so an injury could be treated, Kanu set up a winner for Marc Overmars; Arsenal, acknowledging their newcomer's innocent error, sportingly offered to play the match again, and again won.

Twice Kanu went to FA Cup finals with Arsenal and, although he received winner's medals, played a mere nine minutes as substitute for Thierry Henry against Chelsea in 2002 and never got off the bench against Southampton a year later. Now, having found his way to the south coast in one of Redknapp's smarter moves - again no fee was involved when he arrived in the wheeler-dealer summer of 2006 - Kanu is the man of the hour. Actually he lasted an hour and 20 minutes before giving way to Sean Davis.

Such a useful player to have at the front - Henry once said all you had to do was hang around Kanu and sooner or later he would slip you a chance - he seemed the ideal foil for the less crafty but quicker Baros. Afterwards, Redknapp disclosed that Kanu's contract stipulated he must play 25 matches to earn another year at the club. That requirement has now been reached, but the manager said: "He was going to get another year whatever happened. He hasn't scored for a while and we've been relying on Defoe for goals. I remember thinking we'd need someone to weigh in."

And so Africa's most decorated footballer ambles on. Even as a youngster, Kanu was deceptive, so tall he had to put up with the usual jibes about having lost his birth certificate, but he did well enough in picking up a trio of Dutch titles for Internazionale to sign him and, by leading his country to a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, became a serious figure on the world stage. His progress was interrupted by the diagnosis of a heart defect and, after being out for six months following an operation to replace a valve, he had played a mere dozen matches for Inter - even if one was a successful Uefa Cup final - when Arsene Wenger paid £4 m for him.

Here his curriculum vitae has grown to embrace two Premier League titles and that pair of FA Cups. What price the hat-trick? Portsmouth will retrace their steps to Wembley as red-hot favourites, for all the luck they enjoyed yesterday against a Championship side who played the majority of such passing football as could be contrived on a pitch that, while not quite English football's answer to Terminal Five, is hardly worthy of its national theatre. Portsmouth played the longer game and were, I suppose, vindicated. But the likes of Kanu, Niko Kranjcar, Sulley Muntari and, for that matter, the more technically significant representatives of whichever club prevails today deserve a less cloying surface. Let's hope six weeks is enough to provide one.

Kanu factfile
Born: Aug 1 1976 (Owerri) Clubs: Fed Works, Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Ajax, Inter Milan, Arsenal, West Brom, PortsmouthInternational caps: 69 (Nigeria) Goals: 13 Honours: 1993 U-17 World Cup, Nigerian Premier League, 1994, 95, 96 Dutch Eredivisie, 1995 Champions League, 1996 Olympic gold,1998 UEFA Cup, 2002, 2004 Premier League, 2002, 2003 FA Cup, 2004 Community Shield 1996, 1999 African Footballer of the Year

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/04/07/sfnjim107.xml
Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth in FA Cup final
By Jim White
Last Updated: 1:20am BST 07/04/2008
Portsmouth fans celebrated victory with the traditional chant of those on the cusp of the final: "Que sera sera/Whatever will be will be/We're going to Wember-lee." The fact they were actually already there, singing at Wembley, didn't seem to strike any of them as odd. Maybe, to reflect these credit-crunch times when the Football Association require the semis to be played at the traditional final venue in order to meet the payments on the mortgage, it is time to rewrite the Cup song book. Though "we're coming back again in a month's time to Wemberlee" doesn't really scan.

For most of the 83,584 in attendance, any breach of custom mattered little. This was a record crowd for a game at this stage of the competition and they were determined to enjoy it. After all, it had been a long time since either set of supporters were anywhere near the Cup's conclusion. On the train to the ground, a bunch of West Brom fans suddenly realised that their noisy ditties about Wolves were being conducted in the quiet carriage.

"Please excuse us," said one of them. "Only we're a bit over-excited. See, we've not been here for 40 years."

For Portsmouth it was even longer -1939 was the last time and a lot had happened in those 69 years. Though according to their manager, Harry Redknapp, most of it had occurred in the last three. Reflecting on his victory, Redknapp recalled returning to the club after his ill-starred trip along the coast to Southampton. "The first time at the training ground, Dejan Stefanovic, who was the captain, said to me: 'Gaffer, you've got no chance here. This is the worst team I have ever seen. You must be mad.' After a morning's training I realised he was right. I thought: 'What am I going to do with this lot?' Where they found some of them, God knows."

Things have changed a bit since then. After a total rebuild of his side, Redknapp is now within 90 minutes of altering the direction of Cup history. Not just by becoming the first English manager since 1995 to lift the trophy, but in breaking the recent stranglehold of the big four. Though no one could accuse Portsmouth of not being big. As West Brom's Kevin Phillips and Zoltan Gera made their way along the Pompey line-up before the game, shaking hands with David James, Papa Bouba Diop and the rest, it looked like men against boys. And the Championship's leading scorers simply found Portsmouth's giant back-line too sizeable an obstacle to outmanoeuvre.
However well they kept possession in the first half, the Baggies never looked remotely threatening; Jonathan Greening, their best player, did most of his neat, controlled passing in the centre circle. Portsmouth contained and held, and then administered the sucker punch. Thus have Redknapp's side arrived at the final without ever once playing as fluently as they can. Though, as the chants ringing around Wembley suggested, no one associated with the club particularly minded.

"The owner was here. He's delighted," Redknapp said. "He sent me a text from the League Cup final, which said: 'My dream is to go to Wembley for a Cup final, can you take your team to Wembley?' And I thought, 'oh no, someone else wants a ticket', so I read it again and it was Sacha [Gaydamak]." No wonder Redknapp was smiling. In a year in which lurid allegations had buzzed round him like a particularly irritating fly, here was vindication. Something he was keen to seize with both hands. "I signed a new contract at the start of the year," he said. "The owner has backed me.New stadium, new training ground. The club is in great shape. When I get in that car tonight, I will go ' get in there!' Two glasses of red and I'll be singing. Then drive home."
After saying that, the architect of Portsmouth's revival paused for a moment to consider. Did he really need any more negative attention this year?
"Nah, you're right," Redknapp said. "I won't be driving."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/04/07/sfnpor107.xml
Kanu keeps Portsmouth FA Cup fairytale alive
By Martin Smith
West Bromwich Albion (0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 1
It had to be Kanu. Free transfer scores against his old club: the FA Cup didn't really need to extend itself to come up with that story. Sometimes the best plot-lines are the most blindingly obvious. "For 'The King', it couldn't have been written any better," said David James, the Portsmouth goalkeeper, Kanu's long-time nickname no longer sounding pretentious, but royally deserved.

Reign supreme: Kanu is mobbed by team-mates after scoring Portsmouth's winner at Wembley
Yet when Dean Kiely - also against a former club, the mischievous script-writers would have noted - scooped the ball away from his goal-line for the second time following Milan Baros's shot, it would have been Kanu that West Bromwich fans wanted to see closing in on the rebound.
It was while wearing an Albion shirt 3½ years ago that Kanu contrived to miss one of the easiest chances ever. Two-one down, a minute to play, the ball came over low in front of the Smethwick End, Kanu stretched and, from a yard out, ballooned the ball over Middlesbrough's crossbar.
If they were hoping he would do something similar under the Wembley Arch they had misjudged their man. From almost three times the distance he kept his composure and tucked the ball neatly past the fallen bodies on the line. Sixty-nine years of FA Cup frustration in Portsmouth were released in that one moment. "Everyone was coming to me [before the game], telling me I was going to score," Kanu said. "I believed in it. I didn't know how it was going to come. And the way it came was a lucky one, but I will take it."

For all the gap-toothed grin and trademark lopsided cap off the field and the long-legged, languid, almost awkward style on it, Kanu is a central figure in manager Harry Redknapp's south coast renaissance.

"Kanu is an inspiration," midfielder Niko Kranjcar said. "It's great to play with him. When you don't know where to give the ball, you give it to him and you get it back. It looks like the ball sticks to his foot; he's got glue on his boots."

He has had a wonderful career. It would be prosaic to suggest that an appearance in the final next month would be the peak; it will, after all, be his third, and he already has two winner's medals, plus assorted others from the Champions League, Uefa Cup, Premier League and Olympic Games.

However, Kanu said: "It would be nice to get a hat-trick [of FA Cup wins], especially at a team like Portsmouth where nobody gave us a chance. Yes, we feel there's a lack of respect. With the players we've got, a lot of people under-rate us. "But we, the players, know what we can do within ourselves. We are not afraid of any team."

Despite a quarter-final victory at Old Trafford, it has been a less than serene journey through the five rounds for Portsmouth. In beating four Championship teams, they have ridden their luck, weathering storms and benefitting from last-minute own goals. At Wembley, it was a case of West Bromwich losing it more than Portsmouth winning it. "We have found it hard," Redknapp admitted. "One of the problems is like today, I had a bit of a dilemma. We have played our best stuff with 4-5-1. We went to Newcastle: ripped them to pieces; Aston Villa: beat them three. We won 12 away games playing 4-5-1 and that system suits us perfectly.
"Today I thought, 'I'm playing Championship opposition at Wembley, do I stick one up there? Does it send out a negative vibe?' So I stick two-up, but we ain't as fluent when we play 4-4-2."
West Bromwich dominated midfield in the first half. Jonathan Greening, Zoltan Gera and Robert Koren tied Portsmouth in knots with their intricate passing, and determination. However, for all their possession - and it was running at 68 per cent at one stage - they did not hurt Portsmouth.
Kevin Phillips and Roman Bednar have scored 39 of West Bromwich's 99 goals between them this season, yet they seemed overawed by the prospect of taking on Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin in the Portsmouth defence. Phillips dropped too deep - at one point having five team-mates ahead of him - and Bednar too wide; they had one shot between them all afternoon.
Greening was forced back into his own half during a second half when Lassana Diarra, Sulley Muntari and Papa Bouba Diop imposed their muscularity on the game. West Bromwich had chances after Kanu's goal, Koren hitting the crossbar, Ishmael Miller skewing just wide, without looking as if they were going to equalise.

There was more than a suggestion of handball by Baros in the build-up to Kanu's goal. "We're not going to bellyache about it," Kiely said. "We put up a good display and lost."
Tomorrow night's game at Blackpool is more important: a win might take Albion top of the table. Unlike Portsmouth, they want to avoid another visit to Wembley. "I don't want to come here again [for the play-off final]," Phillips said. Kanu and his new chums cannot wait to return.

Talking point
Tony Adams believes there will be more winners of the FA Cup from outside the 'Big Four'. "Why?" Portsmouth's assistant manager said. "Because of the Champions League. We are getting stronger and stronger in that. Players will be keeping their eyes on that and it may have a knock-on effect. "


http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/portsmouth-back-in-fa-cup-final-after-69-years-805032.html
Portsmouth back in FA Cup final after 69 years
By Mike Collett, Saturday, 5 April 2008
Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 69 years on Saturday when a 54th minute goal from Nwankwo Kanu gave them a 1-0 semi-final win over West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium.

The Premier League team's slender victory over their Championship (second division) opponents ended the chance of this year's final being the first to be contested by two teams from outside the top flight since league football started in England in 1888-89. Portsmouth will now play either Cardiff City or Barnsley, who meet in an all-Championship semi-final on Sunday, in the final at Wembley on May 17.

West Brom, who were the better team for much of the first half, went close to an equaliser when Robert Koren hit the bar after 75 minutes, but Portsmouth held on to reach the final for the first since they won the cup for the only time in 1939.

With so much at stake for both clubs who were chasing a rare appearance in the showpiece of the English game, the match was a typically tense semi-final that only really came to life in the second half.

Portsmouth, who had largely been outplayed in the opening 45 minutes, broke the deadlock against the run of play when West Brom failed to deal with a long, speculative ball played deep into their box by Glen Johnson. Milan Baros collected the ball between his chest and upper arm then turned and fired in a low shot which goalkeeper Dean Kiely failed to hold.

As the ball ran across the face of the goal Zoltan Gera attempted to clear the ball to safety but could only find Kanu who made no mistake from three metres out to score against his former club.

Baros then had a great chance to wrap up the match for Pompey after 66 minutes but squandered his effort and was substituted five minutes later.

West Brom went forward in search of an equaliser and almost drew level when Koren's well-struck 20-metre shot flew back off the bar with 15 minutes to play.

NO THREAT
Neither side posed any real attacking threat in a poor first half, although West Brom, seeking a place in the final for the first time since they won the FA Cup in 1968, looked the livelier of the two sides.
With Kevin Phillips dropping deep into midfield and both James Morrison and Gera looking to get forward when they could down the flanks, West Brom at least appeared to be looking to score wheras Portsmouth were content to absorb pressure.
Gera had the only dangerous shot on target in the opening half too, and caused some momentary panic in the Portsmouth defence when David James fumbled his well struck sixth minute shot before recovering to save it.
Portsmouth's one direct attempt of the opening half came after 30 minutes when Sulley Muntari sent a 30-metre free kick directly into Kiely's arms.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/west-bromwich-0-portsmouth-1-trickster-works-his-magic-for-pompey-805460.html
West Bromwich 0 Portsmouth 1: Trickster works his magic for Pompey
By Glenn Moore at Wembley StadiumMonday, 7 April 2008

Harry Redknapp was in his element: holding court in the bowels of Wembley, talking football, cracking gags, and reminding everyone what a basket case Portsmouth were before he rescued them six years ago.

He should not have to keep repeating this but, perhaps due to his cheeky-chappie, wheeler-dealer image, Redknapp has never been granted the respect he feels his achievements warrant. He may never have won a title or a cup, but since Brian Little and Roy Hodgson are the only English managers currently in work who have, he is far from alone there. Turning Portsmouth from perennial Championship stragglers to Premier League respectability, and steering them to a first trip to the FA Cup final in 69 years, is no mean feat.

Portsmouth's performance on Saturday underlined that, behind the laughter a smart football brain is whirring. They did not play well. Indeed, Redknapp admitted, they have not played well at any stage in their Cup run. But Portsmouth never looked like being beaten. Redknapp spoke afterwards of playing 4-4-2 instead of his preferred 4-5-1 so as not to appear negative, but it did look as if Portsmouth's game-plan revolved around defending deep to suffocate West Bromwich Albion's free-scoring attack in the safe knowledge that the Championship club's notoriously porous defence would eventually leave a hole. Redknapp's reputation may be built on attractive football, on indulging flair players like Eyal Berkovic, Lomana Lua Lua and Kanu, but the reality is he builds the tricksters' platform first.

Look at Saturday's defence. In goal was the England No 1 making his 778th senior appearance. The back four have played more than 1,700 matches between them, including 131 internationals. They have pace in Glenn Johnson and Sylvain Distin and are physically imposing with an average height of 6ft 2in. Not many teams are going to beat this quartet in the air. Nor are they easy to get behind. So you have to play through them.

Albion tried. They dominated first-half possession with Jonathan Greening pulling the strings but Lassana Diarra is hard to evade and only once, when a flowing move ended with Zoltan Gera worrying James from the edge of the box, did they threaten.

From less possession Portsmouth had looked more dangerous and early in the second half Milan Baros turned Martin Albrechtsen and, though Dean Kiely saved his shot, Kanu tapped in. The Czech probably handled in the process, but it was not a Maradona-type offence. Tony Mowbray, Albion's impressive manager, did not make a fuss.

Though Robert Koren hit the bar, and Ishmael Miller missed from close-in, Albion may not have got that near had Carl Hoefkens not been able to take advantage of an injury-hampered Hermann Hreidarsson.

While Albion turned their thoughts to Blackpool away tomorrow, and the resumption of their promotion campaign, Redknapp's wandered down Memory Lane. He recalled, "When Milan [Mandaric] asked me to take over [in May 2002] I refused. I really didn't want to be the manager. They'd finished 20th, 19th, 18th, 20th, 17th.

"I thought well, you ain't going to turn this round. But we did, we got a new team and we won the Championship. We've never really looked back." He then remembered the infamous walkout to join Southampton. "There was a blip. I left a really good team behind and came back and took over a terrible one. They bought a load of oddmarks. Dejan Stefanovic, who was the captain, said to me, 'Gaffer, you've got no chance here. This is the worst team I have ever seen. You must be mad'. I thought, 'Well, let's see'. After a morning's training I realised he was right."

Redknapp wheeled and dealed and Pompey stayed up – to his considerable relief. "It would have been hard for me if we'd got relegated. I did not walk back in here with everyone welcoming me back. It's no good them all saying, 'Oh yeah, we did'. There was banners up, 'Judas' and all that, from our supporters. It was, 'I've got to do it here, or they'll slaughter me.'" Then Mandaric sold to Alexandre Gaydamak. This year the Russian went to the Carling Cup final with Roman Abramovich. "He sent me a text," said Redknapp. "It said, 'My dream is to go to Wembley for a cup final,' and I thought, 'Someone else wants a ticket'. Then I realised it was Sacha. I thought, 'Hold on, we've got Manchester United away in the next round'.

"When that draw came out I was playing golf with Jamie [Redknapp], some old Etonian and Alastair Campbell. Peter Storrie [Portsmouth's chief executive] was describing the draw on the phone. When he went 'Man United... Portsmouth', I threw my eight-iron further than the ball. They all looked at me thinking, 'What is he doing?'

"We got through, then I get a letter from a fella who says he had been to every round but he couldn't get a ticket. He'd moved to Wales and wasn't sure how to work the internet. So I phoned him and left a message, 'Hello Geoff, it's Harry Redknapp. Ring you later'.

"Of course, it's April 1, but I'd forgotten that. I get him the next day and he says, 'I've had a row with all my mates thinking they was on the wind up'."
Geoff will be on the phone again now. "Two together please Harry, 17 May, Wembley."

Goal: Kanu (54) 0-1
West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): Kiely; Hoefkens, Albrechtsen, Clement, Robinson; Gera (Kim, 73), Koren, Greening, Morrison (Brunt, 60); Bednar (Miller, 60), Phillips. Substitutes not used: Danek (gk), Pele.
Portsmouth (4-4-2): James; Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson; Diop, Muntari, Diarra, Kranjcar; Kanu (Davis, 80), Baros (Nugent, 71). Substitutes not used: Ashdown (gk), Lauren, Pedro Mendes.
Referee: H Webb (Yorkshire).
Booked: Portsmouth Baros.
Man of the match: Johnson.
Attendance: 83,584.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/portsmouth-1-west-bromwich-0-portsmouth-and-kanu-make-most-of-helping-hand-805189.html
Portsmouth 1 West Bromwich 0: Portsmouth and Kanu make most of helping hand
West Bromwich outplay Premier League opponents but arm of Baros and Albion old boy send Redknapp's side into the final
By Steve Tongue at Wembley Sunday, 6 April 2008
Five years ago, as Portsmouth's director of football, Harry Redknapp cringed with embarrassment as his team went in at half-time 4-0 down to West Bromwich Albion. His club's sense of satisfaction at reaching the FA Cup final while sitting sixth in the Premier League is therefore understandable, as well as offering hope to all those suffering dark days in the doldrums. Redknapp must take most of the credit for the transformation, though true satisfaction will only come through finishing the job against either Barnsley or Cardiff City to win his first major trophy in 25 years of management.

West Bromwich may be, in Redknapp's words, "the best footballing team in the Championship by a mile" but the way Portsmouth struggled against them in the first 45 minutes confirmed that they cannot take a first FA Cup win since 1939 for granted. Albion's bright movement and neat passing was undermined by a failure to make sufficient chances, which always had the potential to cost them dearly. So it proved 10 minutes into the second half, when their former striker Nwankwo Kanu scrambled in a goal that should have been disallowed for a handling offence by Milan Baros.

If beaten FA Cup semi-finalists can rarely manage to look on the bright side of life, the losing dressing-room yesterday was less of a morguethan normal, as the players immediately resolved to put bitter disappointment behind them and achieve the season's true priority of promotion back to the Premier League. Last season they knew the despair of losing a play-off final here, and with six games to play the target must be to avoid risking a similar fate.

"Let's hope there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," said Tony Mowbray, a manager whose lugubrious mien makes Avram Grant look like Tommy Cooper. "The message coming out of the dressing-room is, 'Let's go and earn the right to go and play teams like Portsmouth every week'. On the balance of play and chances created, there was nothing in it."

Redknapp admitted that the first half had not gone as planned. "They passed the ball better than us and we had problems," he said. "At half-time we dropped Kanu a bit deeper and had bodies in the middle of the park, and it worked better for us. If we play as we can, we've got a fantastic chance of winning the FA Cup, but we all know that on the day anything can happen."
On 17 May Portsmouth will have to go about their work more successfully than in the first half yesterday. By half-time the two goalkeepers had made one save apiece, though Dean Kiely's for Albion was nothing more than a straightforward catch from Sully Muntari's optimistic 35-yard free-kick. David James, being David James, made harderwork of keeping out a shot by Zoltan Gera, who had been neatly set up by Kevin Phillips. The manner in which Phillips dropped off into midfield to link up the play offered the Championship side much promise, but once they moved the ball closer to goal, Portsmouth's excellent back-four provided a formidable barrier.
Luck ran their way for the goal, however, Baros, who had already been booked, using his arm to control Glen Johnson's pass before hitting a shot that Kiely did well to keep out. The goalkeeper might then have reached the loose ball but for the presence of Gera, who hacked at it, allowing Kanu to tap in. Ports-mouth's best spell followed, during which Baros should have secured victory. Played in by Niko Kranjcar, he delayed and was denied by Kiely.

A proper Cup tie had at last broken out, the ball flying from end to end at greater pace as players tired. Albion, seeking their 100th goal of the season, might have had it when Gera won possession back and shot high, or when Robert Koren took Carl Hoefkens' pass and hit the bar with James beaten. Ishmael Miller took the wrong option in crossing towards Phillips when Koren was unmarked, then Portsmouth, taking off Kanu and reverting to 4-5-1, should have capitalised on Kim Do-Heon's mistake, Kiely saving from the substitute David Nugent.

Albion finished with their goalkeeper in the opposing penalty area, hoping to reach a left-wing corner, but when it was cleared the referee, Howard Webb, indicated that their race had been run – for now. Mowbray, to his credit, was not inclined to dwell on Baros's handling, pointing out: "There's nothing I can do about it now."

Phillips was more forthright about the decisive moment of the game, claiming: "You know what officials are like in these big games, they tend to bottle it a little bit. I don't think we deserved to lose, but promotion is our main aim." It would be a deserved achievement.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/albion-see-good-signs-in-bad-luck-805187.html
Albion see good signs in bad luck
By Ronald Atkin at WembleySunday, 6 April 2008

So Portsmouth go back to Wembley next month for the Cup final and West Bromwich Albion go to Blackpool on Tuesday in continued pursuit of promotion to the Premier League. On this performance, it is a division in which they would not, for a change, struggle.

Pompey were the strugglers in yesterday's FA Cup semi-final, especially in the first half, when Albion's domination verged on the embarrassing against a side chasing a place in Europe. With Kevin Phillips tormenting the central defensive pairing of Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin, Portsmouth's manager, Harry Redknapp, was patrolling his technical area with only a dozen minutes gone, issuing worried signals. Normally, Harry likes to mull over things from his seat in the first half, but so clearly were things going wrong that there was even a beseeching note to the supporters' famous "chimes" of Play Up, Pompey.

They never did play up to any sort of impressive level, not even after the winning goal, which was Nwankwo Kanu's lone, if crucial, contribution against the club where he spent two years before moving to Portsmouth in 2006. Phillips won the battle of the oldies (34 against Kanu's 31) but not the war. Booed from the start by Pompey's supporters because of having once played for Southampton, this scorer of 200 League goals in a five-club career could not find one in his favourite position, playing just off Albion's target man, Roman Bednar.

In fact, David James was only marginally busier than his opposite number, Dean Kiely. Even so, James's end-of-match assertion that "we dominated today" was a long way wide of the mark. Perhaps he had forgotten his 36th-minute blooper, when he moved to the edge of his box and lost the ball, regaining control just ahead of Phillips' arrival. Had that brought a goal, Albion would surely have seen off the last of the Premier League clubs in a season full of woeful Cup performances by teams from the top division.

Having eliminated Manchester United in the quarter-finals, Portsmouth were unable to reproduce anything near that display. "We didn't pass the ball," Redknapp lamented. They didn'trun much, either, being beaten to the ball all over the pitch until they scored.

Albion revelled in the space and you could almost see the thought bubble, "If this is what happens in the Premier League, bring it on". They were undone, in the end, by cruel luck just as Redknapp was preparing to make changes. Milan Baros clearly handled the ball in bringing Glen Johnson's free-kick under control before getting in a shot which Kiely shovelled aside. He would have reclaimed possession had not Zoltan Gera, with the best of intentions, cleared it off the line into the path of Kanu, whose simple sidefoot was the deciding factor.

Redknapp substituted him with 10 minutes left and sent on Sean Davis to reinforce the midfield on the basis of 'what we have, we hold'. And hold on they did, the closest to embarrassment being the Robert Koren crossbar clipper before the substitute Ishmael Miller turned his shot the wrong side of a post.

"All credit to West Brom," said Redknapp. "Tony Mowbray has got them playing the right way. They will go up this year." Mowbray was content to endorse that forecast. "It was important we came out of this game with a bit of confidence and belief," he said. "We are a decent enough team to get out of [the Championship]." It was impossible to argue with Phillips' contention that "we didn't deserve to lose". Or his follow-up: "We can hold our heads high. Portsmouth have been very lucky".

And Albion? Definitely unlucky, for the second time in less than a year at this location, having been beaten by the same score by Derby in the Championship play-off final at the end of last season. Next time, with a bit of luck.

Pictures From Pompey Chicken's Visit To Old Trafford

(1) Getting the kit ready for the match!

(2) A lost football in the Salford Quays, spotted on the way to Old Trafford:
(3) A barge on the canal - oblivious to the 76,000 fans converging on Old Trafford:

(4) The Munich Air Disaster memorial outside Old Trafford:


(5) The 'ghost of George Best' - this poster was in colour but taking the picture taken in black and white you can see right through it. George Best - a true legend!


(6) Fans make their way to the ground:

(7) Sir Matt Busby looks on at proceedings:
(8) Underneath the cavernous Old Trafford stands:

(9) Pompey fans queue-up before the gates open:

(10) A beautiful thing: the Full-Time score from Old Trafford (Sulley Muntari's late penalty seals the Pompey victory):
(11) The 'FA Cup' is held aloft by the fans at full-time:(12) The 'FA Cup' paraded by the Pompey fans out of the ground:

(13) Celebratory chips and Gravy - yum!




Tuesday 6 May 2008

FA Cup Quarter-Final: Pompey Chicken Went To Old Trafford!


Broadsheet Views: FA Cup Quarter-Final, 8th March 2008, Manchester United Versus Pompey


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/mar/09/match.portsmouth
Harry's plot silences theatre of dreams
FA Cup Quarter-Final Manchester United 0 Portsmouth 1
Muntari (pen) 78
by Paul Wilson at Old Trafford, The Observer, Sunday March 9 2008

Never mind Sir Alex Ferguson staying on for another three or four years. His blood pressure will not stand another three or four months of this, and he might just have seen his best chance of another Treble disappear over the horizon as well.

The United manager was on his feet practically the whole game, turning various shades of purple at perceived refereeing injustices and ultimately at his own team's inability to convert pressure and chances into goals. As Portsmouth barely had a shot until the late penalty that put them into the semi-finals this must rank as one of the greatest of FA Cup shocks. Pompey have not won at Old Trafford in over half a century. You could get 10-1 odds on an away win for Harry Redknapp's team and some of us did. It was never a safe bet though, even with United down to 10 men with Rio Ferdinand in goal.

To say Portsmouth rode their luck would be understating the case by the length of the Manchester Ship Canal. United were denied a clear penalty in the first half, saw two certain goals blocked by astonishing interventions from defenders on the line, not to mention the Patrice Evra shot that David James touched on to a post, and had enough close-range opportunities to win a dozen cup ties. Portsmouth came with a simple plan - not to concede early and to frustrate their opponents for as long as possible - and ended up shattering Ferguson's sunny optimism.
'Of course we rode our luck, we were up against a fantastic side,' Redknapp acknowledged. 'United are different class, we came here six weeks ago and got slaughtered. It was the draw no one wanted and Alex didn't exactly rest anyone either, it was pretty much the full monty we were up against. When I saw the teamsheet I must admit I was stuck for words. I usually tell the lads they are the best in the world, but I'm not sure they believe me. I'm not sure what to believe myself now. Perhaps I've been right all along, or perhaps I'm an idiot. We did have a plan this time, though, and we stuck to it.'

Portmouth had offered to bring tickets for a possible replay up to Manchester, but United said not to bother. That motivated Redknapp's players to an extent though the key to this result was United's 2-0 victory over Portsmouth in the League in January. Both goals were scored inside 13 minutes, and by Redknapp's own admission United might have ended up with 10.

Pompey were helped by some lacklustre United attacking play that must have had Ferguson momentarily reviewing the advantages of retirement. Only joking. Ferguson would be happier if Keith Hackett retired instead. 'He's not doing his job properly,' Ferguson fumed about the referees' supervisor. 'The referee's performance today was unacceptable, but he'll be doing it again next week. Don't even ask me why Ronaldo didn't get a penalty, I cannot explain that decision and I don't think anybody could.'

Ferguson later calmed down to the extent of accepting that United had missed too many chances, and that Portsmouth were entitled to play in the way they had. Though he failed to mention Wayne Rooney's booking for the most dangerous tackle of the afternoon, he did have a point about Martin Atkinson's refereeing, certainly over the penalty controversy in the seventh minute. Four minutes earlier Lassana Diarra had barged Cristiano Ronaldo over the touchline with his shoulder. Ferguson thought that should have produced a booking. Atkinson kept his cards in his pocket but did award a foul. Yet when Sylvain Distin did exactly the same thing to Ronaldo in the area, as the winger drove goalwards after accepting a superb pass from Rooney, no offence was deemed to have been committed. Yet if one was a fair shoulder charge, so was the other. The only possible explanation was that Atkinson did not fancy awarding a penalty so early in the game.

For all Ferguson's fury his side still had over 80 minutes in which to win, yet played into Pompey's hands by growing frustrated. Either Rooney or Carlos Tévez should have scored midway through the first half when they caught Portsmouth on the break, but Tévez delayed his pass too long to put Rooney clear, Rooney rounded James but found Sol Campbell had got back in time to dispossess him, and when the loose ball rolled to Tévez with only Glen Johnson defending the goal he inexplicably opted for a snap shot that the defender was able to head away.

That was by no means the end of the slapstick either. In the space of five minutes Tévez inadvertently cleared a goal-bound Nemanja Vidic header off the Portsmouth line, then fell over when Evra's cut-back presented him with a chance in front of goal. Ferguson hoicked him off shortly afterwards, together with the equally disappointing Owen Hargreaves, only to see substitute Michael Carrick miss what looked an open goal when Distin arrived at the last second with a superb tackle on the line.

There was more, much more, but the only thing that matters is that United were caught cold at a corner 12 minutes from time, when James's smart clearance sent Milan Baros and Nico Kranjcar running at just Anderson and Rooney. It was not much of a contest and when the latter squared to the former, Tomasz Kuszczak, on at half-time for groin-strain victim Edwin van der Sar, was obliged to bring down Baros. There was some debate about whether he should have been sent off, with Rooney standing on the line, but once Sulley Muntari had scored past Ferdinand from the spot there was not much point in complaining. Not until after the game, anyway.

'The referee today was unbelievable,' Ronaldo said. 'There were three bad fouls in the first few minutes, and if the referee doesn't want to give yellow cards or penalties he cannot protect the skilful players. I am becoming scared to go past people. It is difficult to play football in these circumstances. It is just a joke.'

Man of the match: Sylvain Distin
Lassana Diarra was magnificent in midfield, but the game really revolved around three moments, the two blocks on the line and the first-half penalty that wasn't. Distin was involved in two of them, with a superb interception to deny Carrick and a perfectly timed shoulder charge to stop Ronaldo.

THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
Ray Hunt, Observer reader We feel a little hard done by, but you have to credit Pompey for their game plan, albeit a limited one. I haven't seen replays in terms of what contact Kuszczak made, but the sending-off was cruel given he wasn't the last man and Ronaldo was flattened by Distin for a blatant penalty in the first half. But it was a fantastic day for Pompey and their fans and I hope they now win the Cup. We couldn't take our chances and it wasn't to be - the crowd were nervous the way it was going at half time. Scholes was really off his game - Carrick and Anderson should have come on earlier - though Evra going forward and Vidic under the aerial assaults were excellent. The stand-out player, though, was Diarra for Pompey - it's hard to see why Arsenal let him go. Fan's player ratings Van der Sar 7 (Kuszczak 6); Brown 6, Ferdinand 7, Vidic 8, Evra 8; Ronaldo 6, Scholes 5, Hargreaves 6 (Carrick 6), Nani 6; Rooney 7, Tevez 6 (Anderson 6)

Colin Farmery, Pompey-Fans.com Without doubt this was the greatest result I've known in 38 years of supporting Pompey. This was once-in-a-lifetime stuff and Project Wembley is on. There's been this feeling all through the Cup run that this could be our year and even when the draw was made I was only disappointed for an hour that it was United. They put their top boys out and don't forget they never lose when Rooney and Ronaldo start. Well, they did today! Sir Alex Ferguson, your boys took one hell of a beating. All our players were absolutely outstanding, restricting United to a couple of chances. This team are up for the Cup and have the mentality to win the competition. The fans never stopped shouting - I brought my wife and son all the way up here. What a day, what an extraordinary day. Fan's player ratings James 10; Johnson 10, Campbell 10, Distin 10, Hreidarsson 10; Utaka 9 (Lauren 10), Diarra 10, Diop 9, Kranjcar 9 (Hughes 10), Muntari 10, Kanu 9 (Baros 10)


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/mar/10/match.manchesterunited
Redknapp builds superiority complex as sourness taints United's hard-luck story
Man of the match Lassana Diarra
FA Cup Quarter-Final, Manchester United 0 Portsmouth 1
Muntari (pen) 78
by Daniel Taylor at Old Trafford, The Guardian, Monday March 10 2008
Contrary to popular opinion, Manchester United do know how to lose with dignity. Or at least their fans do. Five years ago, when Ronaldo scored a Champions League hat-trick here for Real Madrid, the Brazilian left the pitch to a standing ovation and on Saturday there was another show of appreciation from the Stretford End as the scrum of back-slapping, high-fiving Portsmouth players made their way to the tunnel.

Sir Alex Ferguson, a man who operates by the philosophy that a good loser is, well, a loser, will be worried that it is becoming something of a habit given that Manchester City's players were afforded the same treatment following their 2-1 victory here last month.

Nonetheless it was a stirring sight and, as David James, Lassana Diarra, Sol Campbell and the rest of Portsmouth's heroes waved back, something else became apparent: none of the players in blue and white was holding a souvenir red shirt. For once nobody had rushed to Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney at the final whistle. The best souvenirs from an FA Cup run are medals and Harry Redknapp's players were not at Old Trafford to admire the view, soak in the atmosphere and go through the usual small-club routine of hunting out keepsakes. It was only a small thing but it spoke volumes about this obdurate Portsmouth side.

Redknapp had been playing golf when he found out they had been drawn to play United and his immediate reaction was to fling his eight-iron down the fairway in a fit of pique. In the dressing-room afterwards James asked his team-mates who had been "secretly scared" when the draw was made and, to loud laughter, almost everyone raised an arm.

Yet there was no inferiority complex. Redknapp said: "I told them before the game, 'I keep telling the newspapers how good you are. I keep saying I've got the best goalkeeper [James] in the country, two centre-halves [Campbell and Sylvain Distin] I wouldn't swap for anybody, a right-back [Glen Johnson] who should be playing for England, that there's no better midfield player anywhere than Diarra and that Kanu's a magician. Well, get out there and prove it, will you?'"

It was a call to arms that led to one of the finest results in Portsmouth's modern history. The only shame was that the post-match recriminations - when Ferguson and his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, went too far in their condemnation of the referee, Martin Atkinson - provoked enough headlines to deflect some of the glory from a club that had not won at Old Trafford since 1957.
It was the classic diversion technique, an old trick of the United management. But the stench of controversy does not alter the fact that, for everyone associated with Portsmouth, this was an 'If Carlsberg did football ...' kind of day, one that has established them as the best-placed team to win the Cup, for what would be the first time since 1939, when the Second World War allowed them to keep the trophy for seven uninterrupted years.

Ferguson and Queiroz thought it a travesty, pointing to the critical moment seven minutes into the game when Ronaldo hared away from Hermann Hreidarsson, surged into the penalty area and was body-checked to the ground by Distin. Their complaints had some foundation: had it occurred anywhere else on the pitch a free-kick would almost certainly have been awarded. They were entitled to be angry but their protests turned into a rant that smacked of sourness about losing to a team that created only one chance.

For United, it was a story of scuffed shots, goalmouth scrambles, bad luck and a number of telling moments when it felt as though fate was conspiring against them, such as Distin's goal-line clearance to deny Michael Carrick and James's save to turn Patrice Evra's shot against the post. Then James hoofed a long kick and suddenly United had thrown so many players forward that the entire defence had gone awol. Anderson, a midfielder, and Rooney, a striker, were forced into the role of centre-halves as Nico Kranjcar sent Milan Baros clear on goal. He rounded Tomasz Kuszczak, inviting the challenge that led to the penalty and a red card for the offender.

Kuszczak had replaced the injured Edwin van der Sar at half-time and, with no more goalkeepers, Rooney wanted to pull on the gloves but, to Redknapp's delight, Ferguson nominated Rio Ferdinand to face Sulley Muntari's penalty. "I've seen Rio in goal when he was a kid at West Ham," said Redknapp. "I'll be honest with you, he wasn't very good."

Man of the match Lassana Diarra
His performance was reminiscent of Claude Makelele in his prime - no higher compliment
Best moment Dispossessing Owen Hargreaves with a crunching tackle and skipping past Paul Scholes

Pompey's 51-year wait
How they lined up when Portsmouth last won at Old Trafford
Saturday October 19, 1957
Man United 0 Portsmouth 3
Man Utd Wood; Foulkes, P Jones; Coleman, Blanchflower, McGuinness; Berry, Whelan, Dawson, Viollet, Pegg.
Portsmouth Uprichard; Gunter, Wilson; Albury, Rutter, Dickinson; Harris, Gordon, Dougan, Henderson, Newman.
Attendance 38,253
League positions at the time
Man United 4th (final position 9th)
Portsmouth 17th (final position 20th)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2008/03/09/sfgman109.xml
Lassana Diarra helps Portsmouth beat United By Patrick Barclay at Old Trafford
Last Updated: 1:51am GMT 09/03/2008
Manchester United (0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 1
Now Harry Redknapp has completed a hat-trick of FA Cup knockouts of Manchester United - with Bournemouth, West Ham and by virtue of this extraordinarily obdurate Portsmouth display - the question must be asked: should he get to keep them? Certainly not. Indeed on this occasion the prize of a place in the semi-finals could almost be described as stolen goods, given that Portsmouth won the match towards its end with their only clear chance, a penalty, after United had been denied one in the opening stages.

Stretching point: Hargreaves and man-of-the-match Diarra challenge for the ball at Old Trafford
Although referee Martin Atkinson appeared seriously to have erred with the first decision, there could be no arguing with the second. Nor with the dismissal of Tomasz Kuszczak, a half-time replacement for Edwin van der Sar in United's goal, one of whose outstretched arms brought down Milan Baros as the Portsmouth substitute tried to run round him.

To give the victors their further due, another referee might have permitted Baros an earlier opening when he won a tussle with Owen Hargreaves and sprinted clear, only to be judged to have fouled the England midfielder. But the truth is that United made more than enough opportunities to have remained in contention for the treble they succeeded in completing in 1999 (even if such talk seemed a shade premature in the light of our not having reached the Ides of March, let alone the buds of May).

Credit for United's frustration was happily shared by Redknapp, whose negative tactics were vindicated, with heroes such as the central defensive pair of Sylvain Distin and Sol Campbell, Glen Johnson at right-back, David James in goal and, above all, Lassana Diarra in the holding midfield role, where the 22-year-old Frenchman performed the considerable feat of making Hargreaves, England's saving grace at the last World Cup, look pedestrian. Diarra, who left Chelsea and then Arsenal because he fancied himself as a key player, was hailed as such by Redknapp afterwards. "He could play anywhere in the world," said the Portsmouth manager, who also repeated his call for Johnson to be tried again by England. By contrast Sir Alex Ferguson was sourness itself; even those of us who detest the permissive nature of the refereeing regime overseen by Keith Hackett and welcome Ferguson's support would be suspicious of the notion that it works against United all the time.

It did this time, though. Against Cristiano Ronaldo, once more; if he is again voted Footballer of the Year, it will constitute quite a triumph over those who constantly endeavour to chop him down and, for that matter, those who inadequately punish it. When Ronaldo, reflecting on the recent terrible injury to Arsenal's Eduardo, says he is "scared sometimes to do skills", surely even the zombies who are supposed to police the game should listen.

Atkinson is far from the worst referee in the business; his issuing of yellow cards to Papa Bouba Diop and Wayne Rooney inside 20 minutes could be cited. Yet, while giving three free-kicks for early fouls on Ronaldo, he chose to ignore an offence as blatant as any. The play it curtailed was simply magnificent: a crossfield ball from Rooney that invited Ronaldo to take it in full stride, then a spurt goalwards. Distin barged Ronaldo over and, although it was Ferguson who most visibly fulminated, no neutral football-lover would have been any less irked.

With Diarra overshadowing a pallid Paul Scholes as well as Hargreaves in central midfield, Portsmouth settled. They survived another scare when Johnson, showing his England credentials on Gary Neville's patch, headed off the goal-line from Carlos Tevez, and emerged for the second half to discover Kuszczak keeping goal; Van der Sar had strained his groin. But it was a while before they threatened the Pole.

Ronaldo shot wide, headed over and dragged off target from a chance beautifully made by Rooney's return backheel. Ronaldo flicked Michael Carrick through and the substitute passed James only to be thrillingly thwarted by Distin, who got one foot to the ball, then the other, inches from an unguarded net.

A flying James made the save of the match from Patrice Evra, touching the adventurous left-back's half-volley against a post. Then Portsmouth broke, were delighted to find Nani and Anderson acting as emergency defenders, easily carved a path through as Niko Kranjcar did the obvious thing well and left Baros and Sulley Muntari to do the rest, the Ghanaian beating Rio Ferdinand from the spot. So ultimately United had only themselves to blame.

"You have to ride your luck," observed Redknapp, "and I'm not going to sit here and pretend I've some secret formula for beating United. In fact I've taken plenty of beltings here! Only a few weeks ago we came, got beaten by two and it could have been 10. So this took character."

Best moment: Any of Wayne Rooney's links with Cristiano Ronaldo. Pure class. Worst moment: The denial of a penalty for Sylvain Distin's foul on Cristiano Ronaldo – anti-football.
Man of the match Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth) 9
• Scored penalty• Completed 88 per cent of passes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;jsessionid=TXEOLTPFNORCTQFIQMGCFF4AVCBQUIV0?menuId=1087&menuItemId=6828&view=COLUMNIST&grid=F7&targetRule=10

Comments
It may not have been clear live, at full speed, but on TV replay there was clearly no contact on Baros from Kuszczak's arm. The contact that was made was from Baros' knee into Kuszczak's face, which tripped him. I doubt that this was intentional, unless the Utd keeper is either incredibly courageous or stupid . A clear miscarriage of justice which should see his red card rescinded and an apology to Ferguson!Posted by Timbo on March 9, 2008 1:59

The match report is so far badly written it's the usual anti United bias we expect. Player with skill like Ronaldo, Eduardo, Nani, Torres, Fabregas, van Persie are standing no knowing that referees are not going to afford them protection from referees actually punishing player who go out to injure. Many mock what Wenger and Ferguson say, but what's it going to take another player out for over a year because of a jealous hack'em player ?Posted by Jack on March 9, 2008 1:14 PM

Hargreaves does a good job on his own at looking pedestrian. He's awful, actually worse than Darren FletcherPosted by Someone else on March 9, 2008 12:36 PM

This is good. No Top 4 side in the FAC Final.Posted by rodney on March 9, 2008 11:26 AM

Pompeys Distin gave Ronaldo a fair shoulder charge, not seen much these days but Tom Finney and Stan Matthews will tell you all about them!!! Alex Ferguson has been bullying Refs for years now ,this ref was not intimidated by him and gave correct results, a strong ref. Well done Martin Atkinson. It is over due that Ferguson is told he is not to intimidate match officals in the way he does.Posted by James T Cramp on March 9, 2008 11:05 AM

This article feels like it could have been taken from MUTV rather than a national newspaper. Yes, Manchester United did create the more clear chances and yes, we did play a single striker up front. However, when playing one of the richest teams in the country and without a single eligible fully fit striker, what other system does the writer expect us to play? With regard to the 'treatment' of Ronaldo, I can only recall a handful of challenges on him, and those were shoulder charges (which are legal according to the rules of the game) and body checks rather than anything worse - hardly career-threatening. The only dangerous challenge of the day was Rooney's flying leap at Kranjaer which could and possibly should have resulted in a red card. I understand that Ferguson will try to distract attention from his team's defeat in whatever fashion he can, but I am disappointed that a journalist from a supposed 'quality' newspaper is happy to blindly follow the same line.Posted by Jon Buckle on March 9, 2008 10:32 AM

I normally enjoy reading Patrick Barclay's comments and invariably agree with his opinions. On this occasion though he has got it totally wrong. Yes - Portsmouth enjoyed a share of luck and referee's decisions (rare indeed for any away team at Old Trafford). However, except for a couple of robust shoulder to shoulder charges on Ronaldo, Portsmouth played the game fairly. There was only one dangerous challenge in the whole match - from Rooney - in which he was lucky not to see a red card. If Sir Alex Ferguson wants to cut out wreckless tackles from the game, he needs to start at home.Posted by Phil in Somerset on March 9, 2008 10:06 AM

In an otherwise good report, I was surprised that there was no mention of Rooney's studs up "jumping in" tackle that should have got him a red card - it deserved some mention as it was the only dangerous tackle of the game. The Mancs did not lose because of a refereeing display (and, Lord knows, they have won enough because of referees playing the favouritism card Ferguson has suddenly decided to despise) but because, over 90 minutes, there players were unable to score against our players who acted far better as a team.Posted by Chris Millar on March 9, 2008 9:09 AM

I live in Europe. I am big fan of EPL and watch 4 or 5 matches every week-end. I am only bemused, sometimes disgusted with comments and reactions of English media (public?) to games like ManUtd-Portsmouth where physical strength, aggression and negativity beat imagination and skill. 'Determined, committed defensive display' etc. ?? Well I guess Jack the Ripper was determined and committed to what he did as well. Tells you something about reasons behind England's failure to win major international trophies. For us from this side of the Channel it looks worse and much more disgraceful than so called diving. Because young kids are watching that as well. Pompey were entitled to their negative approach - I only think it should not be praised as heroic.Posted by Marcel on March 9, 2008 8:27 AM

Shoulder to shoulder contact is still allowed in the Laws of Football. Was Ronaldo in possession of the ball i.e: was it within one circumference ofteh ball (26in) or had Ronaldo just played it? Yes! The charge was therefore legitimate unless considered dangerous play. Ronaldo was unharmed except for his dignity!Posted by Peter Braybrook on March 9, 2008 8:27 AM

With reference to the penalty which Ronaldo did not get in the opening minutes of the Portsmouth match: Perhaps someone should explain to Sir Alex, and to you, that a shoulder- to-shoulder barge on a player in possession of the ball is permitted. There is no requirement that the player doing the barging "play the ball" or even attempt to play the ball. Given that that is the only form of physical contact permitted by the rules, I don't think the ref. ought to be excoriated for playing by those rules.Posted by Tony Waters on March 9, 2008 6:13 AM

I disagree that the offence against Ronaldo was as blatant as Mr Barclay is stating - I saw shoulder to shoulder which I thought was within the rules of the game - clearly the referee saw the same. Gifted though he is, to paint Ronaldo as a footballing pearl among swine is to overlook his predilection to fall over way too easily, which upsets neutral football lovers much more than debatable refereeing decisions. Also sorry the article did not include any of SAF's post match thoughts. Trust he was as upset as he generally is about unjusitfiably long added time at the end of the game - the 4 minutes that were awarded and the 5 that were played.Posted by Jonathan Atherton on March 9, 2008 5:40 AM

Not a lover of football, but what does Feguson expect? Other teams to roll over and die because they're palying Man Utd? Arrogant fool. More power to Pompey, Hary Redknapp and any other team that can stand up Ferguson's insolent attitude. He does his game no favours by his bluster.Posted by Andy Millar on March 9, 2008 1:40 AM

if you took the time to view the incident for the penalty you will find that the keepers arm did NOT make contact with baros,but it was baros infact that left his leg in to contact the face of the keeper.no other part of the keeper touched him!. but that what player are like these days,in all clubs. Posted by lou on March 9, 2008 1:33 AM

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Carlos Queiroz's United blame game hits low
By Alan Smith
Last Updated: 1:12pm GMT 10/03/2008

Ok, let's take a step back. This is getting out of hand. The growing debate about dangerous tackles, about protecting skilful players and the referee's role in all of this has just reached its nadir (hopefully anyway) with the ridiculous comments emanating from Old Trafford on Saturday following Portsmouth's dramatic FA Cup win over Manchester United.

Tackling issues: Carlos Queiroz was outspoken after United's defeat. Sir Alex Ferguson blames Keith Hackett, the refereeing chief, for what he describes as an unacceptable performance by Martin Atkinson. Meanwhile, Ferguson's assistant, Carlos Quieroz, took it further still, arguing that referees should be given red cards if they don't come up to scratch, replaced by someone else during a match. And if that sounded absurd, the Portuguese coach let himself down badly by bringing Birmingham's Martin Taylor into the argument about the supposed lack of protection for Cristiano Ronaldo.

"This is why the Taylors of the game are allowed to survive and the best players are out of the game." It was a disgraceful remark, dredging up Taylor's leg-breaking but malice-free challenge on Arsenal's Eduardo, as if the defender makes a habit of cynically 'topping' opponents, as if his type should be expelled from the game without further ado.

Arsene Wenger had the good sense to retract his own unsavoury comments on Taylor, albeit grudgingly. Let's hope Quieroz does the same in the interests of good taste.

Look, nobody expects United to be happy about losing. Nor should they have been impressed by Atkinson's display. The official, in truth, made several mistakes on the day, most notably his baffling failure to award a penalty when Sylvain Distin charged across to take out Ronaldo.
But please let's not pretend this happens all the time, that brilliant ball jugglers like Ronaldo are being constantly denied. I mean, United's wondrous winger wouldn't have racked up an amazing 30 goals this season without being granted a stage on which to perform. Silly of him, therefore, to start moaning afterwards, threatening to change his game in order to survive. "I think about the Arsenal player [Eduardo]", he said, "and I'm scared sometimes to do skills because some players do unbelievable fouls and the ref protects the defender, not the skilled player!" Such opinions, alas, lend credence to the deluded belief that today's game has suddenly turned into a brutal free-for-all, as if career-threatening tackles are on the increase. They aren't. I'd put money on that. It's just that the game, thanks to advances in sports science, has become so quick and powerful now that the slightest misjudgment in timing can look very bad.

The number of downright vindictive challenges, however, must be lower than ever. For confirmation, just take a look at some of the grim stuff that went on in the 70s. X-rated, it was, though largely unnoticed by the wider audience at a time when television cameras didn't fill every ground.

Now that they do, every single challenge gets closely scrutinised. If someone gets injured, we want to know why. More worrying still for a contact sport, certain sections of our flock look for ways to eradicate injury altogether. It seems that our heath and safety culture is spreading its wings. Apparently, nobody is allowed to get hurt nowadays. And if they do, there's got to be a reason. Someone must be blamed. It's pathetic. It really is. In a sport where the feet do most of the work, contesting a ball bobbling about at ground level, injuries will happen. They're an inevitable consequence. Time to stop all the talk, then, that Eduardo's unfortunate injury began. Time to stop all the conspiracy theories about players going out to crudely nullify the top dangermen. This isn't a dirty game. In fact, it's cleaner than ever. Easy to forget that when tempers run high. www.telegraph.co.uk/smith

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Giant-killers give FA Cup magic back to fans By Henry Winter
Last Updated: 2:59am GMT 10/03/2008

From Old Trafford to Oakwell this weekend, the FA Cup stirred the emotions of the great, the good and the grumpy. Anger at defeat coloured every toxic comment spilling from the mouth of Sir Alex Ferguson. Across the Pennines, pride in victory fuelled a "thank you" speech from Dickie Bird so lengthy it could have graced the Oscars, Barnsley's No 1 fan showering gratitude on everyone connected with the club including "the tea ladies and ladies who wash the kit". Nothing showed the Cup's power to seize the imagination like United's leaving of it, or Barnsley's staying in it. Ferguson's players fought like tigers to overturn Portsmouth's 1-0 lead only to be thwarted by the defensive brilliance of Glen Johnson, Sol Campbell, David James and a spiky midfield sentry named Lassana Diarra.

Magic of the Cup: the FA Cup quarter-finals provided some colourful scenes at Oakwell and the Riverside as Barnsley and Cardiff City of the Championship disposed of holders Chelsea and Middlesbrough respectively. As the clock ticked down, Wayne Rooney gave Nani the mother, sister and distant cousin of all rollockings for showing mercy to a stricken Portsmouth player and putting the ball out. Up in the gods, Pompey's jubilant fans twirled their shirts in the air, chanted "let's all have a disco" and danced their way to the semis. At the final whistle, Ferguson looked more ready to start a war than a waltz. A distinguished manager and remarkable man, United's driving force embarrassed himself with that vitriolic attack on the refereeing community. When the Football Association disciplinary beaks meet to punish Ferguson for claiming that Martin Atkinson was "on the side" of Portsmouth, they should point out certain unanswerable realities.
Atkinson, one of the game's better referees, undoubtedly erred badly in failing to award Cristiano Ronaldo a blatant penalty when bowled over by Sylvain Distin but it was an honest mistake. Atkinson was hardly culpable for Ferguson's substitute, Michael Carrick, missing the target from a yard. Ferguson also chose the wrong day to lambaste the elite referees' chief, Keith Hackett. He appoints officials in the league, not the Cup. If Ferguson still falters on the road to contrition, the FA should remind him that if he had glanced to his left on Saturday, he would have spotted a certain Pedro Mendes, a midfielder outrageously once denied a goal at Old Trafford that clearly crossed the line. Lady Luck winks at everyone in time.

When Ferguson then disappears in a cloud of self-righteous smoke, the FA can shout after him that he is quite right, elegant crowd-pleasers like Ronaldo do deserve protecting, just as Pompey's Niko Kranjcar did when Rooney dangerously left the ground and launched his muscular frame at the Croatian.

Ferguson is a wonderful manager but his judgement is skewed at times. The vaunted Scot was not alone amongst the troubled aristocrats. On the weekend that downstairs stormed upstairs, similar defiance to Portsmouth's against Ferguson's United could be discovered at Oakwell.
A side assembled for £1 million took the lead against a visiting Chelsea XI costing £100 million, and they then protected that lead with their lives as all around shouted "Yorkshire, Yorkshire". As the late siege of Luke Steele's goalmouth deepened, a Barnsley child in the stands clutched his Thomas the Tank Engine bag tightly for reassurance, occasionally using it as a shield to obscure the sight of Chelsea's scary attacks. When the day was won, the bag flew to the heavens. That was the moment a Yorkshire lad fell in love with football for life. The Cup has that effect.
Barnsley's impressive young manager, Simon Davey, spoke for all outside the roped-off area of the glitterati when he enthused about the lower orders' fervour for the Cup.

"We hope we have put the Cup back up there on its pedestal," said Davey, as the Thomas the Tank Engine bag was reunited with its owner and police and stewards ushered jubilant Barnsley fans off the pitch.

"It has always been a top Premier League team side, a United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea who have won the Cup. We put Liverpool out and now Chelsea. We are making dreams come true. We are putting the magic back in the Cup."

The numbers give substance to Davey's words, to the whiff of revolution in the air. Of the 248 semi-finalists since the War, 72 have worn the colours from United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, with 29 of the 62 trophies falling to that leading quartet. Not since 1987 have one of the Big Four failed to feature in the semis. Throw in Tottenham and Everton and the last time the elite were not represented in the final four was 1975.

The Cup runneth over with joy everywhere. In the BBC bus parked in the Oakwell car-park, familiar faces who know their way to Wembley, illustrious former professionals like Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer and Mark Lawrenson, nibbled on crisps and feasted on the extraordinary event they had just covered. A Barnsley fan walked past with a banner celebrating the Beeb's presence. "Bring Back Lawro's Tash" it read.

The Cup is certainly back in fashion. "Look at the stadium," Davey told his players before kick-off as Oakwell shook with passion. "Look at the supporters. Look at the players you are playing against - and don't miss today. Be focused. These occasions don't come along often. Make sure when you read the papers in the morning, they are talking about you not them."

The more lionised the elite are, the more money the Anelkas and Ballacks earn, and the more vain and histrionic some become, the more teams like Barnsley crave this chance to prove their own worth. "We went out there knowing all our families and friends were watching," reflected Barnsley's outstanding full-back, Rob Kozluk. "They're the people you don't want to let down, not just yourself."

Kozluk kept throwing his body in the way of Chelsea shots. Some of his colleagues even spilled blood for the cause. In chasing down one ball, Martin Devaney collided with Michael Essien, a fate akin to encountering a Baobab tree at speed. "He's still got part of my nose on his forehead now!" smiled Devaney, whose magnificent cross set up Kayode Odejayi's winner. Carlo Cudicini was badly at fault and the keeper may join Florent Malouda and Juliano Belletti hurtling out of the Bridge this summer. Cup humiliations are remembered long, hard and bitterly because of their sudden, high-profile nature. Speculation inevitably intensifies now that the Cup may eventually cost Avram Grant his job.

Chelsea's powerbrokers were hugely disappointed. Neither Roman Abramovich, Eugene Tenenbaum (director) or Peter Kenyon (chief executive) were at Oakwell but the chairman, Bruce Buck, was present, his lawyer's frame perched on a wooden seat, watching the unfolding horror. To his credit Buck had the class to applaud Barnsley off.

Stamford Bridge sources stress that Grant will be their manager next season, but caveats surely abound. Having frittered away the inheritance bequeathed by Jose Mourinho, notably the two Cups, Grant must impress in either the Premier League or Champions League. Chelsea's hierarchy noted that Mourinho's name was chanted briefly by the visiting fans.

"I didn't hear anything," shrugged Grant before admitting blame for the mess. "I am responsible for everything. There will be many negative things said about it [the Cup loss] and I will accept it." Grant patently lacks the authority and nous to lead Chelsea but he did possess the good grace to congratulate Davey and company. His captain followed suit.

"Well done, you deserved it," John Terry told Davey. "Now go and win the Cup."
Some people are on the pitch: Barnsley supporters congratulate Denis Souza after Oakwell victory. Terry then handed his shirt to Odejayi, while Cudicini gave Steele his keeper's top. Barnsley players were unable to repay the compliment. Most had their shirts ripped from their backs by overjoyed fans. Some reached the dressing-room in only their jock-straps.
As regards the pitch invasion, the FA will take into account whether there was negligence by Barnsley on the security front (which there was none) and any violence by their supporters (again, no). Some of the greatest moments in English football have climaxed with people on the pitch.
FA Cup semi-finalists
Barnsley (last won 1912)
Cardiff City (last won 1927)
Portsmouth (last won 1939)
West Bromwich Albion (last won 1968)

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Harry Redknapp happy he's at Portsmouth By Mark Odgen
Last Updated: 2:34am GMT 10/03/2008
Manchester United (0) 0 Portsmouth (0) 1
Harry Redknapp is no Tiger Woods on the golf course, but he might just play the round of his life this afternoon if he maintains his tradition of avoiding the nervous tension of the FA Cup draw by challenging son Jamie to 18 holes. For the first time in living memory, Redknapp's Portsmouth will enter today's draw for the semi-finals as cup favourites having eliminated Manchester United at Old Trafford in a game that underlined the growing perception that Pompey's name is already on this season's FA Cup.

Portsmouth rode their luck all right. United had two efforts cleared off the line, hit the woodwork and were victims of one of the most bewildering non-penalties of the season, about which Sir Alex Ferguson complained bitterly, but Portsmouth took their chance and booked their first semi-final since 1992 when Sulley Muntari's late penalty settled the tie.

So having dispensed of the most successful club in FA Cup history, Redknapp is unlikely to have his mood soured by the outcome of the draw for the last four. "I remember when the draw was made for the quarter-finals," admitted Redknapp. "I was on the golf course with Jamie and I got a phone call from Peter Storrie, our chief executive, who told me we had drawn Manchester United away. I had an eight-iron in my hand and I think it went further than the ball when I heard that!

"The last thing we wanted was United away but after beating them, nothing we'll get in the semi-final draw will be as tough as going to Old Trafford."
With the semi-finals at Wembley, Redknapp will lead a team out at the stadium for the first time in his managerial career.

Already this season he has been overlooked for the England manager's job, before, wisely it seems, rejecting the opportunity to leave Portsmouth for Newcastle. Redknapp said: "It was a difficult decision not to go to Newcastle, but I was thinking about the players who I had encouraged to come here, who I had told what we could achieve and I thought to myself, 'I can't have done that and then just walk away myself'. "Newcastle is a fantastic club but I made the decision and I am happy with it. If I was 40, I might have gone, but I didn't want to be away from my wife and grandchildren. I also have a great team here. "I'm delighted to be in the semi-final and that it's at Wembley. If I'd been knocked out I would probably be sat there saying it's wrong to have the games there, but not now!"

United, unfortunate to lose, hardly covered themselves in glory off the pitch. Both Ferguson and his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, muttered dark accusations about referee Martin Atkinson, who aside from wrongly dismissing appeals for a penalty when Cristiano Ronaldo had been bundled over by Sylvain Distin, called virtually everything else correctly, including the decision to award Portsmouth a late penalty and send off United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak for felling Milan Baros.

Distin, the Portsmouth defender, claimed Atkinson was right to ignore Ronaldo's claims, however. He said: "If every time you touch a player a penalty is awarded then how do you defend? Football is also about contact. He just touched the ball and I turned, I followed the ball, and it was shoulder against shoulder."
Portsmouth, whose solitary FA Cup success came in 1939, possess the individuals to end the long wait and, in Redknapp, a manager whose longevity is deserving of a day in the spotlight. Now all they have to do is win it. Distin said: "If we don't win it now, we will have done all this hard work for nothing. We expect to win it now. It's only two games but it is still a long way and, just because you beat United it doesn't mean you are guaranteed to beat anyone else." your view
Penalty or not?

Man of the matchSulley Ali Muntari (Portsmouth) 9
• Scored the winning goal• Completed 88 per cent of his passes• Set up a goalscoring chance
Everton (1) 3 Portsmouth (1) 1 interactive match report
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Manchester United 0 Portsmouth 1: Red mist may cost Ferguson as dearly as Reds' misses By Jon Culley Monday, 10 March 2008

Some would argue that today should be an occasion to toast Harry Redknapp, for whom the FA Cup has created an opportunity, after the most dramatic of weekends, to strike a blow for a seemingly dying breed as well as to win the first significant honour of a colourful career.

Should Portsmouth win at Wembley in May – and the demise of Chelsea leaves them as strong favourites – Redknapp would be the first English manager to lift one of the two major trophies since Joe Royle won the FA Cup with Everton in 1995.

Yet the fallout from Sir Alex Ferguson's intemperate blast at the referee Martin Atkinson and his superior, Keith Hackett, will dominate today's headlines. The Manchester United manager, who was banned earlier this season for his behaviour towards another official, believes Atkinson should be penalised for an "unacceptable" performance and accused Hackett, who is in charge of the English game's match officials, of appointing referees on the basis of favouritism.

The Football Association said yesterday that it would investigate Ferguson's remarks, made in interviews on Sky television and on United's own channel. They will be obliged also to study comments made by his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, who could find himself in even hotter water.
Speaking to the BBC, Queiroz channelled his anger into a wide-ranging and sometimes bizarre rant in which he described Atkinson as "a robber", who saw the match "from one side" and applied rules in his treatment of United players that he did not apply to Portsmouth.

He drew parallels between Lassana Diarra's treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo and the recent challenge by Birmingham's Martin Taylor that left Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva with a broken leg. He also called for referees to be subject to a red card in the same way as players – and replaced even while a match was in progress.

If the decision by Atkinson not to award a penalty against Sylvain Distin for barging Ronaldo in the seventh minute was the focal point of United's rage, Queiroz insisted that there was more to it than that, naming Diarra, rather than Distin, as the player he believed was the biggest offender.

He accused Diarra of elbowing Ronaldo inside the first minute and Atkinson of allowing the France international to continue employing rough-house tactics effectively without restraint, although Diarra did eventually receive a caution.

"It was a clear penalty [against Distin] but before that there were two attacking fouls on Ronaldo," Queiroz said. "What does Diarra expect when he elbows a player and puts him over the touchline: that he becomes a saint?

"That's why the Taylors of this game can survive and some of the best players are out of the game. It cannot happen any more. The referees were a disgrace – they did not do their job. When referees come here and support players that in the first 15 minutes do nothing but foul, stopping attacking movements, it needs attention bringing to it.

"It is a pity but the game has moved to a situation where the referees also deserve red cards. This referee today, he deserved that somebody come inside the pitch after five minutes, give him a red card and put him out of the game. That is my opinion about these robbers today."
Queiroz said United had no complaint over the penalty awarded to Portsmouth, when the substitute goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak brought down the Pompey substitute Milan Baros and Sulley Muntari scored the winning goal from the spot. Nor did he feel that the red card for Kuszczak was unjust – but, he said, he believed Atkinson had applied one rule for United and another for Portsmouth.

"We accept the penalty against us, but it is exactly what should have happened when Cristiano was alone and he was stopped from scoring a goal – foul, red card, OK.
"We accept the red card against us but what we cannot accept is the referees who are only able to watch one side. That cannot happen, it is not acceptable in the game. There are no different rules for Manchester United."

Ferguson had said that Atkinson's performance "should not be accepted" and called for Hackett's performance to be assessed as closely as the officials he oversees. "I'm assessed as a manager, players are assessed – and that performance should not be accepted," he said. "Keith Hackett has a lot to answer for; he is not doing his job properly. He has to be assessed. His favourites always get the games and that's disappointing. That guy [Atkinson] will referee next week, no problem."

Ferguson was banned from the touchline for two matches and fined £5,000 after he admitted using "abusive and/or insulting words" towards the referee Mark Clattenburg during a match at Bolton last November, when he similarly felt his players were not protected from physical tactics. Amid all this, a splendid defensive performance by Portsmouth, as United spurned chance after chance to render the penalty controversy irrelevant, risks passing without proper recognition, as does the lone voice of Distin, who spoke on behalf of defenders in this debate.
"He [Ronaldo] just touched the ball and I followed the ball; it was shoulder against shoulder," he said. "I am not going to move out of the way and say, 'Go on and pass me', so I try and defend and do my job. Football is also about contact. If every time you touch a player a penalty is awarded, then how do you defend?"

He did defend, heroically, as also did Glen Johnson, supporting Redknapp's claim that he should be in the England squad. Both Distin and Johnson made goal-preventing stops and their goalkeeper, David James, pushed a Patrice Evra shot on to a post.

It was Redknapp's third noteworthy FA Cup win against United, having pulled it off with Bournemouth in 1984 and West Ham in 2001. This time it might preface his winning the trophy.
"I'm excited," he said. "I've never been to Wembley as a player or a manager – the semis is the furthest I've been. After the strides we have made with this club, to win it would be fantastic."

Goal: Muntari pen (78) 0-1.
Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Sar (Kuszczak, h-t); Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Ronaldo, Scholes, Hargreaves (Carrick, 68), Nani; Rooney, Tevez (Anderson 68). Substitutes not used: O'Shea, Park.
Portsmouth (4-1-4-1): James; Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson; Diarra; Utaka (Lauren, 74), Bouba Diop, Muntari, Kranjcar (Hughes, 81); Kanu (Baros, 54). Substitutes not used: Ashdown (gk), Mvuemba.
Referee: M Atkinson (West Yorkshire)
Booked: Manchester United Rooney; Portsmouth Bouba Diop, Diarra.
Sent off: Kuszczak (76).
Man of the match: Johnson.
Attendance: 75,463.

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Manchester Utd 0 Portsmouth 1: Ferguson fury after Muntari sends United crashing out
Scot furious at referee and Ronaldo demands protection
By Nick Townsend at Old TraffordSunday, 9 March 2008

In the week that Sir Alex Ferguson had refuted claims after an interview for French radio that he plans to quit in three years, he stressed that his retirement date depended on the success of his team – and his health. His players will recover from this, but yesterday there was some doubt whether the old ticker would last the match, let alone years.

Seasoned Fergie-watchers have rarely seen the Manchester United manager so animated as he witnessed his team capitulate 12 minutes from time to a Sulley Muntari penalty and Pompey recorded their first victory here for 51 years. They did so on a day of two penalty claims: the one rightly awarded, followed by the dismissal of substitute goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak; and the one denied United early on, wrongly. Ferguson's ire over that incident was surely exacerbated by the fact that, in between, his men should have confirmed their attendance at Wembley.

Ferguson's hackles were raised as early as the sixth minute. A beautiful ball inside Hermann Hreidarsson by Wayne Rooney invited Cristiano Ronaldo to drift inside the Icelander but he was then charged off the ball by Sylvain Distin. It looked like a penalty but referee Martin Atkinson was unmoved.

It provoked a major strop, with an enraged manager berating the referee, assistant and fourth official. Afterwards there was no evidence that Ferguson was in a more reflective mood as he said of Atkinson's failure to act: "It's absolutely ridiculous. I cannot explain it. Managers get sacked because of things like that and he's going to referee a game next week. They had great confidence to hang on knowing the referee was on their side." He also attacked the referees' chief Keith Hackett. "He's not doing his job properly. He needs to be assessed. I'm assessed as a manager, players are assessed, referees should be assessed properly by the right people."
And Ronaldo raised the temperature further by declaring: "They say sometimes that this is the best League in the world, but sometimes they don't protect the skilled players. It's a joke. I may have to change my game. After what happened to that Arsenal player [Eduardo] I'm scared to use my skills." That appeared something of an overreaction. Arguably the most dangerous challenge in the game was a jump tackle by Rooney that was punished by a caution.

But in the furore that followed, it was easy to forget this was Portsmouth's day. It was far from Harry Redknapp's first FA Cup triumph over United; his Bourne-mouth side beat them in 1984, and the West Ham team he then managed did it in 2001. "We came here four weeks ago and got beat 2-0," he admitted. "They could have had 10. Today we had a gameplan and stuck with it, and we grafted. But you always have to ride your luck here."

Beforehand, Ferguson spoke of his concern about the physical stature of the opposition. But though Pompey did seemingly emerge from the land of the giants, there is much quality too. When he warned that Pompey are having their best season in 50 years it proved prescient.
Though Niko Kranjcar produced their only first-half chance, they looked comfortable in that period, other than when Carlos Tevez and Rooney found themselves two against one on the break and really should have scored. Somehow Sol Campbell and David James foiled Rooney and with the keeper out of his goal, Glen Johnson headed off the line from the Argentinian.

After the interval, United looked certain to score. Ronaldo's aim was awry twice and United might have thought this would not be their day when substitute Michael Carrick rounded James but was thwarted by Distin, virtually on the line. Patrice Evra then saw his ferocious effort tipped on to a post by James.

There was a cruel inevitability about what happened next. Kranjcar and substitute Milan Baros broke; the latter was felled by Kuszczak, who came on at half-time after Van der Sar sustained a groin injury. Rio Ferdinand took over in goal but could not deny Muntari from the spot.
So Pompey go to Wembley for the first time since 1939. That choice of venue for a semi-final was another thing that irked Ferguson this week. At least he will not have to concern himself with that now.