Hi there,
Portsmouth fan in peace, just wanting to share some of my thoughts on Michael Doyle's return to your club and Carl Baker's potential move.
Not sure why Doyle seems to be getting so much stick off you guys because I absolutely loved him for us. Best captain we've had in many years. Player of the season in 15/16 and this year, of course, skippered us to the title. Passionate, tenacious, and a tough tackler, but read the game so well and would often set the tempo of games. Playing as a holding midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 suited him to a tee. Even at 36, he would hassle all over the pitch and really get in the faces of the opposition, which is ideal in League 2. Got involved in a fair few scraps too. Someone you love to have on your side but would hate to play against. His work on the ball was better than you'd think too. Could switch the play well and always looked to feed the ball into the feet of the attacking midfield players. We tend to dominate possession and he kept us ticking over. Was really disappointed to see him leave.
Baker, on the other hand, seems a real favourite with your supporters. He's had a decent season for us, but nothing special. Scored 9 goals, some very good ones and some of real importance, and set a few up. A solid contribution but he has played practically every game and really went missing in the middle of the campaign. Seemed to play much better when the sun was shining and the pitches were looking better! Would not be adverse to letting him go, especially if we can get a fee for him. I think there's plenty of other players around who could improve on him and it would be a great move for him personally, too. Thank him for his work nonetheless in getting us out of the L2 hellhole.
It's sad to see the current plight of Coventry City and I really hope you can be successful in ousting SISU. Obviously we ourselves know what it's like to be destroyed by terrible owners (although we had multiple!), but I'm sure that brighter times are on the horizon for you. You just can't stop football clubs like yourselves and Pompey from rising again and the fans will simply not let their club be stripped apart, as proven by your protests. I've always considered Cov to be a really good club and the Championship should be the minimum aim for you in the future.
Almost forgot, you've signed Marc McNulty as well! A good finisher in League 2 and will definitely grab you a fair amount of goals. Looks like you are starting to put a decent side together.
Good luck for next season!
Play Up Pompey.
