Neville Dalton is a journalist and a
So now we know. Paul Hart did not even have confidence that Pompey could beat lowly
That's bottom-of-the-table, no-hopers
But who, like
Add the goal scored by Middlesbrough, who before today had struggled to find the back of the net at all, and that doesn't strike me as a particularly strong justification for the ultra-cautious, clean-sheets-are-everything approach that Pompey's third manager of the season has staked survival on.
It's not just about one up front - recent games have proved that the formation can still provide goals, and it certainly seems to be getting the best out of Niko Kranjcar.
It's the whole ethos of defence is the best form of - well, defence, I suppose - that the manager has instilled.
Yes, of course we don't want to keep shipping goals, but while we may have stemmed the flow a bit, we're hardly impregnable, nor anywhere near it.
We've still conceded the sort of late goal that undid Tony Adams' best efforts; we're still giving away the comical (witness
And by and large, we're failing to achieve what football is supposed to be about - scoring more goals than the opposition.
Hart understandably has strong support, both from within the club, where his success with the younger players prompted the management team to appoint him in Adams' place, and - judging by the message boards - among the supporters, many of whom don't care how we stay up as long as we do.
Well, we might - just. But it's by no means a foregone conclusion. And subscribing to such a negative ethos certainly gives us less leeway if things do go wrong.
What surprised me most about Saturday's result was that many considered it a surprise. For the past fortnight I've been reading comment after comment suggesting we only need to turn up to turn over the crappy Baggies.
They might play pretty football, but their defence is powder-puff - and they can't score goals.
Well, they might have been right about the first element, but while Tony Mowbray was brave enough (should it really be considered brave to field two strikers?) to play 4-4-2, Pompey handed a team low on confidence an unnecessary initiative by once again packing the midfield and leaving Peter Crouch isolated up front.
Ostracising
And even when it was obvious to even the dogmatic that he needed to change things, Hart stood immovable on the sidelines, his arms folded (figuratively as well as literally), insisting that Pompey continue to play in a style that had failed to worry the league's worst team unduly - and for most of the game, with the same personnel.
His refusal to field the two Greek signings is now beyond a joke (as if many of us were ever laughing).
Paul Hart owes it to the fans to be honest about his reasons for ostracising the pair.
For if he continues to allow fans to think it's a footballing decision, he will at a stroke excise most of the credibility that he has about his knowledge of the game.
On a pure footballing basis, Angelos Basinas would walk into that team, certainly ahead of Hayden Mullins and Richard Hughes, and in my opinion Sean Davis as well.
At the very least, he and Davis should be paired to form the keystone of our midfield.
As for Gekas, while I've never condoned his refusal to play for the reserves, it was clear even before that that Hart preferred to stick with more familiar players (I won't say players he knew, as he admitted on taking the job that he had seen little of the first team while looking after the academy).
Even if Hart felt Gekas should be punished for his stance, surely the good of the club should have come before any principle, and the Greek should have been reinstated to the bench long before Saturday to give us real options when games weren't going according to plan.
And I'd venture to suggest that has been often of late, but Hart's philosophy is looking more and more as though a draw will do, home or away.
The manager has tried to twist things slightly by suggesting that to do otherwise would be to be gung-ho, and a relegation scrap is no place to do that (although Mr Redknapp might have argued otherwise as he piloted Pompey to safety a couple of seasons ago).
But the fact is that it doesn't have to be gung-ho to have another striking option on the bench, or to use a second striker, or even different personnel in a similar formation.
But to pair Mullins with Hughes or Davis is to admit that you're more worried about what the opposition might do than posing them problems farther up the field.
So if it's not a footballing decision, why are the Greek international captain and an admittedly largely unknown striker - but with a proven international goalscoring record - not playing for Portsmouth Football Club in one of its many hours of need?
Some have suggested there is a financial element to the decision - and given Pompey's parlous economic situation, it would be understandable if the club wanted to avoid adding to its debts.
But that begs the question: why were they signed in the first place if that was the case? And in any case, Gekas's appearance for a derisory two minutes against
Whatever it is, the fans have a right to know. Oh yes, they do, Messrs Hart and Storrie. They may not own the club, but as sure as any financial injection, they help sustain it. Indeed, they're the reason for having a club in the first place.
And they don't get paid a couple of million for doing so.
So for goodness' sake, let's have some openness and answer the questions that the fans really want to know rather than the ones Pompey decide we want to know.
For Hart is right that now is not the time to turn on the club.
But if bemused fans continue to turn up to support their struggling team ignorant of why such baffling decisions are being made when we continue to be in such dire straits, he'll only have himself to blame if some of them do.