Aston Villa youngster Andre Green headed out for Fratton Park and a loan spell with Portsmouth before the August deadline window shut and he made his debut for them in last weekend’s clash with Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.
With plenty of fans throwing their toys on hearing the news and using it as a stick to beat manager Steve Bruce with – there are plenty of valid reasons to do so, loaning Green and Mitch Clark aren’t two of them though – he had a mixed reaction amongst Pompey fans to the 45 minute showing he put in.
It seems as though it was a typical performance we’ve seen from him, full of possibilities but equally plenty of things to improve on. That’s not a criticism, he’s a 20-year-old lad who doesn’t have 20 starting appearances to his name and this is exactly why he needed the loan spell if he wasn’t going to play week in, week out for us and learn that way.
Andre Green typical high level youth player, full of nice touches, no game sense won't pass to players in a better position. Bench for next few games, no bottle
— John Tucker (@Pompeytucks) September 8, 2018
Showed we're really missing Curtis today. Green had little impact in the first half and Wheeler looked unsure throughout the second. Did well to come back and get a point.
— Trev Harvey (@TrevHarveyPFC) September 8, 2018
Andre Green – Clearly a gifted footballer but tried to do too much today. Often overcomplicates things when there’s a easy pass on. Felt he was harshly subbed at HT. Wasn’t great but 45 mins is too quick to be able to make a judgement. Needs to improve quickly though. 5/10
— Pompey™️ Pedro (@PompeyPedro) September 8, 2018
Missed Curtis he feeds of hawkins hold up play green looked lost #Pompey
— pfc brickie (@pfcbrickie) September 8, 2018
Don't see why Green has been subbed ffs #Pompey
— Robert (@robert89__) September 8, 2018
Green, Thompson, Evans and Naylor could have no complaints if they were subbed at half time #Pompey
— Mark Somerset (@mark11s) September 8, 2018
When he’s got a few more games under his belt I’ll ask Rug (Vital Pompey) for a few words on how he’s settling in with them, as it’ll take him a bit to adjust and find his feet, but although the initial reaction is mixed – there’s a fair few positives that he can build on and I’m confident he’ll do just that.