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Posh big guns fire back - Fergie defends Lewis
Football action from Posh v Barnsley Joe Lewis
Peterborough United have wheeled out their big guns to defend their faltering first-team.
Darren Ferguson has revealed his irritation with Posh fans who continually heckle under-fire goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
The first-team boss suspects too many Posh supporters have never forgiven Lewis for replacing long-term fans’ favourite Mark Tyler.
Barry Fry joined in by calling such criticism ‘soul-destroying’ for the players concerned, the rest of the team and the entire club.
The Posh director of football insists Ferguson and his team will achieve a minor miracle just by staying in the Championship.
And both were backed up by chairman Darragh MacAnthony who has urged the club’s fans to support the team rather than ‘moan and bitch’.
Posh are 17th in the Championship after three straight defeats. The gap between Posh and the relegation zone will be down to six points if Nottingham Forest beat Burnley tonight.
Fergie jumps to the defence of Lewis
DARREN Ferguson has leapt to the defence of under-fire Posh keeper Joe Lewis and suggested that his team will be better off playing away from home this weekend.
Lewis was bombarded with boos and heckles from Posh fans before, during and after Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat by Portsmouth.
And Ferguson refuses to accept it’s just a vocal minority giving Lewis a hard time. The England Under 21 international was blamed for both goals in a recent defeat at home to Brighton and his blunder gifted Portsmouth an early lead at London Road on Saturday which the visitors turned into a 3-0 win.
“It’s not a minority of fans, it’s the majority of them,” the Posh boss insisted. “They’ve given Joe a hard time since he arrived at this club and I’ve never really understood why.
“Maybe it’s because he replaced Mark Tyler as the first-team goalkeeper, but people should remember that the club was in League Two before Joe got here.
“He’s been heavily involved in three promotions and I am just thankful that the lad is strong enough mentally to ignore it all.
“He hears those silly cheers whenever he picks the ball up in the area. Everyone in the team hears it and it is just so pointless.
“Away games could be ideal for us right now. The pressure will be off a bit more and all the players will be able to relax.
“I’m confident we can get something at Burnley and then we have West Ham at our place which will be like an away game anyway as they’ve sold all their tickets already.”
Posh travel to Burnley on Saturday hoping to arrest a run of three successive Championship defeats. Ferguson will watch The Clarets in action at Nottingham Forest tonight,
“I’ve always been prepared for a bad run at some stage this season,” Ferguson added. “It’s how we deal with it that matters.
“I don’t think we lack confidence. I watched the Portsmouth game back yesterday morning and we got into some great positions, but our final ball continually let us down which is why we did not give their goalkeeper anything to do
“I’ve always said that we have enough in the dressing room to play at this level and I’ve seen nothing to make me change my mind.”
Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony agrees. He used his Twitter account to deliver a vote of confidence to his manager and squad.
MacAnthony said: “Posh will come again. We are lucky to have our manager. He knows what’s needed to get us going again.
“The gaffer and the players will bounce back. That’s what they do so I guess we can go into negative mode and bitch and moan, or we can put it all into perspective and do our best to support the team.
“It’s easy to keep blaming our keeper etc for every loss, but let’s be fair we haven’t exactly worked opposition goalkeepers much ourselves lately.”
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Comments
There are 58 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
Poshlady.
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 09:16 PM#57. I was not blaming Lewis for the third goal, merely saying it was the final straw. I may have left early but I was certainly not one of those who boo'd Lewis, Tomlin etc. I just thought Fergie should be more diplomatic when addressing the fans. As you say UTP :)
GNAT
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 06:49 PM#56 Quail. Here you go again . Who would buy Posh if Dmac left. We have the lowest fan base in the division. You said about replacing Fergie with Neil Warnock the other day who has an appalling record when compared to darrens. Yes Fry is still on a percentage of transfers but that is the nature of the game. Anyone who came in the same position would still take a cut. #53 Poshlady. The third goalon Saturday wasnt Joes fault. Not sure whether it was your intention to suggest that or the whole team. It is interesting to note that it was actually Bennett, who we have just sold for 3 million that was badly at fault, but cant remember people calling for him to be dropped for his mistake. I am not a lewis supporter by the way and would prefer Jones. Keep the faith. Up the Posh.
QUAIL
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 05:56 PMThe odds on fergie relegating a third team for the championship must be very good now ,We have had the good times and its now time to rebuild with a new owner, new manger and a fry free influence in the club -does anyoine know or care if he's still getting a cut from transfers ? if so its disgusting outrageous and determental to the team . Anyone who cares about the club can badly see it now needs new manangement and new owners
DexterMorgan
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 04:21 PMI don't need 'business knowledge' to know I'd make a new born baby priority over this club. As a paying supporter, I'm entitled to this opinion so you know what you can do with your patronising comment!
DonB
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 11:20 AMIf it is the intention of DF to secure a reasonable bid for Joe, isn't he a little optimistic?
Poshlady.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 10:06 PMI think Our dear DF would have more success if he said ' I understand why you left early on Saturday. I understand your frustration. But please remember where we were four seasons ago and lets all get behind EVERY member of the team so that together we can bring back the good times' Or something along those lines. To blame the fans for the current form is unforgivable, even worse, saying 'we will be better off playing away this week'. I for one left ten mins before the whistle on Saturday, something I have never done before, but the dismal performance, capped off by that third goal was too much for most of us to bear. Lewis does not inspire confidence. I doubt we would even be in the Chamionship if he had been fit for MK and Old Trafford in May. Jones all the way. We love you Fergie, but stop shifting the blame!!! That is all
voice of treason
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 09:17 PMDear Mr Ferguson, You are the one bringing up the "people dont like Joe because he replaced Mark Tyler", most of us have got over this particular deed. I think you need to realise that there are several reasons why fans are frustrated, 1 - you decided to "rest" Paul Jones after the guy had made no mistakes and did not have any opposing goals attributed to him. 2 - You have offered Joe Lewis an extended contract and to date he has shown no commitment to the club and left the contract offer unsigned, on current form the only team he'll be joining with be Kidderminster Harriers, and 3 - the guy has made many mistakes over the years but you have defended him to no end with no threat of being dropped. I understand your reasons for bringing him back - to try to flog him in the transfer window. Please dont let this loyalty to Joe blind your decisions between now and end of April. Make him one final contract offer, if he doesnt sign it put him in training with the kids and bring Jones back. Better to write off the losses now rather then possibly losing Championship status. I wouldnt boo any player but the individual mistakes made by Lewis are frustrating. A keeper makes a mistake it changes a match. The rest of the players can get away with it but as a goalkeeper you need complete concentration, I would have thought Joe would have realised this and worked on it but unfortunately he hasnt
bringbackjimhall
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 08:09 PMI've been determined not to get involved with the Lewis argument , but I'm seething . Booing is not helpful,and I never condone it's use,however, I can understand the fans' frustration,it's the only way they can get their message across to the powers,short of banging on the management's door, or demonstrating in the car park with placards. What the hell is going on?How long have we got to put up with it all? What has Jonesy got to do to get a game?What has he done wrong?Joe Lewis,in my opinion,played a huge part in getting us relegated from the Championship last time round.If Darren stuck around last time he might have seen for himself. We are lucky to have Jones, lets use him and stop me from ageing so quickly when a cross comes over my heart cannot take it! h
henryjames
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 06:52 PMLewis was signed for a cracking display against us while on loan at macclesfield. Maybe if we had shot from 30 yards or piled crosses into the box we would have seen how poor he is. As stated we got promotion from having to out score opposing teams due to the buffoon between the sticks dropping balls and fluffing crosses. Theres no denying we gonna stay up. Lewis will leave and jones will follow. Df and baz want us to get behind the team. Surely they must understand tomlin and lewis are booed simply because they not good
moonraker
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 06:37 PMFergie jnr, like the old man, appears to have a blind spot where keepers are concerned.
Lulubelle
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 06:05 PMFergie seems annoyed because the criticisms have delayed the signing of Joe's new contract. I've been following this club much longer than Fergie and I can confirm 100% that no other Peterborough United player has been shown anywhere near as much as patience compared to that which Joe Lewis has enjoyed in the last four years. I believe Joe conceded more goals than any other domestic keeper in the two years up to his injury. Fair play to Fergie for defending that, few would bother.
forwhatitsworth
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 04:43 PModdjob if its more important making your mates laugh than posh being succesful then i think your a bit sad to be commenting on here to be honest.unless of course your mates think the same as me that you are making yourself look an idiot and they laugh at you the same as me.
OddJob
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 04:38 PMHe's not digging himself anywhere and he is not "blaming the fans". He is merely stating that booing a player does not help his performance and affects the other players too. Which is 100% fact. Guilty consciences Posh fans?
OddJob
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 04:35 PMIronically cheering our goalie to make my mates laugh is much more important to me than Posh succeeding.
Gwendoline Horseradish
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 04:35 PMFergie digs himself an even deeper hole than the one he's already in. He drops Jones because he's 'tired', even though by his own admission he hasn't made a mistake. He replaces him with a keeper who has refused to commit himself to this club, sits back while that keeper makes mistakes and costs us goals and matches, then blames the fans. And if that's not enough, he then goes on the suggest that 4000 West Ham fans will make more noise than 8000 Posh fans. Glad to know he thinks so highly of us.
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