11-05-2021, 09:07 AM
Exterminator your bang on the money, I remember him at The Valley looking very good against Pompey and, lo and behold, we suddenly signed him - a classic case of act in haste and repent at leisure.
My memories of him (then from the halfway line towards the back of The North Terrace) are that he just strolled through games, hardly breaking out of a walk and attempting to look like an elegant passer of the ball, not a crowd pleaser !
George Smith did his limited level best for Pompey and did have a couple of reasonable seasons but his teams were peopled by too many nondescripts of which Edwards is just another example. He was perhaps almost ahead of his time when he scrapped The Reserves and opted for a squad of about 25 (although his plan was driven by financial requirements). Came to be haunted by his statement on TV that “the only thing around Portsmouth is fish” as a stream of youngsters from the area made it to the old First Division.
In Smith’s defence, he took up the reins from the lamentable Freddie Cox who I still think is the worst Pompey manager since 1946....and that’s quite an achievement considering some of the laughable jokers who have, allegedly, managed Pompey since his time.
My memories of him (then from the halfway line towards the back of The North Terrace) are that he just strolled through games, hardly breaking out of a walk and attempting to look like an elegant passer of the ball, not a crowd pleaser !
George Smith did his limited level best for Pompey and did have a couple of reasonable seasons but his teams were peopled by too many nondescripts of which Edwards is just another example. He was perhaps almost ahead of his time when he scrapped The Reserves and opted for a squad of about 25 (although his plan was driven by financial requirements). Came to be haunted by his statement on TV that “the only thing around Portsmouth is fish” as a stream of youngsters from the area made it to the old First Division.
In Smith’s defence, he took up the reins from the lamentable Freddie Cox who I still think is the worst Pompey manager since 1946....and that’s quite an achievement considering some of the laughable jokers who have, allegedly, managed Pompey since his time.