Pompey chimes still haunting Toon Army
Records, they say are there to be broken - but if that is to be the case for Newcastle United when they visit Pompey on Sunday surely some solidity is needed if they are to pick up their first win on the south coast since 1991 when Kevin Brock grabbed the winner.
Solidity isn't a word that is alien to Newcastle United this season which made the collapse against Stoke City an even bitter pill to swallow.
For after holding out for a whopping 180 minutes at mighty Chelsea and then not so mighty Middlesbrough, United had done the spade work in the first hour against the Potters.
After that though it was a case of self-destruct for the much maligned Magpies who must get three points at Pompey if they are to avoid being in the bottom three come Sunday night.
There might be some nice scenery on offer for away fans once you get away from the crumbling old stadium.
But looking back there was a 3-1 loss at Fratton Park in 1991/92 when Mick Quinn broke his leg sliding in to score a consolation goal (some consolation like) and even the season in which Newcastle were crowned champions of the First Division a season later, Pompey still took the points.
Pompey's decline and Newcastle's rise to the business end of football then resulted in an 11 year gap.
But despite a few draws (and the 2-1 loss in 2007 under Glenn Roeder), the 1-1 in 2004 still resulted in Lomana LuaLua rubbing salt into the wounds after the on loan Newcastle United player netted late on to secure a point in a story you just couldn't make up.
Victory is in the lap of the Gods on the south coast with Pompey, unbeaten in five games, also prone to the odd defensive lapse themselves.
They've twice chucked away 2-0 leads themselves against AC Milan (not exactly Stoke we know) and Blackburn but they did bounce back to grab a late(ish) winner against Rovers.
So if Newcastle can take advantage of Pompey's defensive snoozing and weather the storms that come there way at Fratton Park, then who knows?
Victory over Tony Adams' side could just be on the menu.
But if it all goes a bit Stoke City from the word go then the Pompey jinx could live to fight another day.
HOW DO YOU RATE THE TOON'S CHANCES AGAINST POMPEY?
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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captcha out captcha out!!! Makes a change from saying ashley out!
Pompey have a few big lads that like to put themselves about, aswell a fair bit of pace. I dont think coloccini+bassong can handle that. Col is slow and been caught out a few times this season, if defoe plays, he'll have trouble. Having said that big birds team lacks the organisation they had under harry and maybe we can exploit that.
The trouble is its hard to be optimistic for a win when our team is just so inconsistant. The chelsea result (i predicted a hammering) was great then the middlesbrough+stoke games were a let down. I honestly cant see where our creativity is going to come from. We dont carve teams open, with butt/guthrie/geremi we cant, we rely too heavily on jonas for flair. If he has a poor game so does the team.
The uncertainty over management will resurface in the summer again and will continue until either ashley says hes staying or does sell up. After this season will jk be given a new short term contract again and minimal spending power, I suppose it will depend on which division we're in. Getting players in will be, good ones anyway will be difficult and thats what worried me for our survival hopes!
I asked santa for some good new players for nufc for xmas. The thing with our santa is, hes more the anti-santa. He doesnt like giving things away and his helper is a poisonous little elf so I guess there wont be a mutinho under the tree!
Trouble with Coloccini is that his confidence is shot since he gave away that penalty.