Poor old Pompey

Jul 26, 2010 10:00


PORTSMOUTH flew back to England last night reeling after their trip from hell.

from The Sun
Relegated, in administration and hit by a transfer embargo, Pompey could have been forgiven for thinking their luck could not get any worse.

Yet those hopes were dashed on their North American tour, which saw the Fratton Park club:
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DELAYED on their way to San Diego, as their outward journey took 42 hours.
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LOSE goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown injured after colliding with a team-mate, while back-up stopper Jon Stewart broke a leg.
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STRANDED by a lightning storm in Chicago as the trip from Canada to Washington DC took another 27 hours and allowed the players just four hours' sleep.
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UNABLE to train for three days between the matches with Edmonton and DC United.
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FORCED to borrow DC United's away kit after 14 bags went missing en route.
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SHED 4kg each as they played in 38-degree heat in the US capital.
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THRASHED 4-0 by nine-man DC, who are rock-bottom of MLS.
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STUNNED as Hayden Mullins got a red card for being spat at.

New Pompey chief Steve Cotterill had expressed concerns about the tour, which was arranged before he was named boss.

After the 4-0 rout, he said: "The result summed up the tour - it has been really tough.

"The time it took us to get here, we could have flown to Australia. We were OK for 20 minutes but after that we were shot. The next 70 were painful."

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On the hottest day of the year, the defeat was no real surprise for a Pompey side tired, fed-up and relying heavily on youngsters with little or no first-team-experience.

Midfielder Michael Brown said: "The temperature was unbelievable. The lads all lost 4kg. That tells you how hot it was."

DC had two men sent off, including Santino Quaranta for spitting at Mullins, who was also sent off.

Cotterill said: "I can't believe the ref's been allowed to officiate a game. I've never seen anything like it in my life."

Pompey are back in action at Bournemouth on Wednesday.

Cotterill must hope the 50-mile journey down the M27 is incident-free.

usa, football, weird, uk

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