Crouch stands tall

PORTSMOUTH 2 EVERTON 1:PLAYING on his own up front, Peter Crouch was comfortably the best player on view, impressing not only with his finishing for his two goals but also with his vision, control and hold-up play.

Paul Hart, Portsmouth’s caretaker manager, though, reckons he knew just how good Crouch was going to be a dozen years ago. After this key victory Hart said: “He is totally honest but – you probably don’t know this – I’ve seen him since he was 16 years of age, and what he does doesn’t surprise me.

“He’s a smashing player. He’s got more to offer than just smacking balls into the box to him. He brings people into the play, he gets hold of it, he plays at the sharp end where it’s not all that pleasant.”

Hart added: “I’ve got nothing but admiration for him. I was academy manager at Nottingham Forest when he was coming through and we used to play against him, so I used to see him from a very young age. The academy manager there (at Spurs) was Peter Suddaby, a great friend of mine from Blackpool, and he used to say, ‘You’re going to see something from this fella’.”

Even if Hart saves Portsmouth from relegation this term, he will face major problems if he keeps his job, for he must strengthen the squad while slashing the wage bill. But as Crouch showed on Saturday, the team are playing for him.

Crouch said: “For the first five or 10 minutes we weren’t very good at all but for the rest of the 80 I thought we were fantastic. We dug in and deserved to win the game. The next few games are crucial. The home games are going to be extremely important for us. Nine more games left, and if we continue to play like that we’ll have no trouble.”

Everton were awful, though this was their first defeat in nine matches. It is a little worrying when a side that looks as ordinary as this can establish a nest among the Premier League’s higher branches. But they are a different proposition when Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta are in the team.

They must have expected to get something from the match once they had taken the lead with a smart free-kick from Leighton Baines in the fourth minute. Portsmouth, however, equalised midway through the first half after a corner had been only half-cleared; Glen Johnson, who played on the right of midfield, nodded back for Crouch to head firmly home. Crouch scored his second with another lunging header 15 minutes before time.

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