12-01-2023, 12:26 PM
Off the field
The answer is clearly no. The club have bought their own training ground, which has also not only been extended with additional pitches, but the indoor facilities have been completely refurbished. The stadium has also been completely renovated, with improved access, amenties and concessions. Plus the construction of a new Milton End, which is due to start soon. Although an exact date has yet to be confirmed. Then there is the bigger plan to build a new North Stand, although this hinges on the club getting promoted to the Championship. My only gripe is the time its taken to get all of this done. As somone who works in the construction industry for 20+ years and worked on sports stadia projects in the past, it should never have taken 6 years to get where we are now. Furthermore, I see no reason why we should wait to build a new North stand. The Eisners will be investing in an asset that has an intrinsic value, they will not lose any money by building a new North stand.
On the field
Lets look at where we have finished in the league one over the last few seasons:
2018/2019 - 4th
2019/2020 - 5th
2020/2021 - 8th
2021/2022 - 10th
2022/2023 - ???
The stats speak for themselves dont they?
Lets consider the squad quailty. From our promotion winning season out of league two we had Clarke, Whatmough and Burgess as our centre backs. We now have Raggett, Morrison and Robertson. Enough said. Up front, we had Doyle, Hunt, Main, Naismith and Chaplin. Now we just have one striker on the books, backed up with two poor loan players. If being brutally honest, this smacks of incompetence imho. Who's to blame, most people will point to Cowley, but Cullen should share some responsibility too. An appointment made by the Eisners, who is definately not an upgrade on Caitlin.
Then look at the quality of managers that have been at the helm. On paper Jackett appeared to be the right choice, highly experieneced with a track record of promotion at other clubs. Unfortuantely, the football or Jacketball turned out to be utter shite and results suffered. So we rolled the dice and brought in the Cowley brothers. Highly successfull in non league and gained promotion with Lincoln from league two. Also had one season in the Championship with Huddersfield. Although the Cowleys were experienced, the majority of games managed were in non-league and so it turned out that there was never a plan B, played players out of position and favoured loans in key positions whilst developing youth of other teams at the expense of our own. Now we are looking at a rookie in Liam Manning. Had one good season at MK Dons, a squad he inherited from his predecessor Russell Martin. The cheapest option, which is exactly what we have gone for. The experience and quality of managers / head coaches we appoint appears to be dwindling year on year in the Eisner era?
At the end of the day, Pompey is a football club. The whole premise of the business is playing football. So although the off field improvements are welcomed, the priority is in the playing squad and those that manage it. Unfortunately, we have regressed significantly in this aspect and the buck stops with the Eisners. The policy of 'eat what you kill' is not working and never has since the Eisners took over. They must be a change in strategy going forwards or we will slip further down the league standings in the coming seasons. Some may point to investment in the youth team and development squads, but this has not really bourne any fruit as yet and must not be relied upon as the sole policy in which to gain promotion.
The answer is clearly no. The club have bought their own training ground, which has also not only been extended with additional pitches, but the indoor facilities have been completely refurbished. The stadium has also been completely renovated, with improved access, amenties and concessions. Plus the construction of a new Milton End, which is due to start soon. Although an exact date has yet to be confirmed. Then there is the bigger plan to build a new North Stand, although this hinges on the club getting promoted to the Championship. My only gripe is the time its taken to get all of this done. As somone who works in the construction industry for 20+ years and worked on sports stadia projects in the past, it should never have taken 6 years to get where we are now. Furthermore, I see no reason why we should wait to build a new North stand. The Eisners will be investing in an asset that has an intrinsic value, they will not lose any money by building a new North stand.
On the field
Lets look at where we have finished in the league one over the last few seasons:
2018/2019 - 4th
2019/2020 - 5th
2020/2021 - 8th
2021/2022 - 10th
2022/2023 - ???
The stats speak for themselves dont they?
Lets consider the squad quailty. From our promotion winning season out of league two we had Clarke, Whatmough and Burgess as our centre backs. We now have Raggett, Morrison and Robertson. Enough said. Up front, we had Doyle, Hunt, Main, Naismith and Chaplin. Now we just have one striker on the books, backed up with two poor loan players. If being brutally honest, this smacks of incompetence imho. Who's to blame, most people will point to Cowley, but Cullen should share some responsibility too. An appointment made by the Eisners, who is definately not an upgrade on Caitlin.
Then look at the quality of managers that have been at the helm. On paper Jackett appeared to be the right choice, highly experieneced with a track record of promotion at other clubs. Unfortuantely, the football or Jacketball turned out to be utter shite and results suffered. So we rolled the dice and brought in the Cowley brothers. Highly successfull in non league and gained promotion with Lincoln from league two. Also had one season in the Championship with Huddersfield. Although the Cowleys were experienced, the majority of games managed were in non-league and so it turned out that there was never a plan B, played players out of position and favoured loans in key positions whilst developing youth of other teams at the expense of our own. Now we are looking at a rookie in Liam Manning. Had one good season at MK Dons, a squad he inherited from his predecessor Russell Martin. The cheapest option, which is exactly what we have gone for. The experience and quality of managers / head coaches we appoint appears to be dwindling year on year in the Eisner era?
At the end of the day, Pompey is a football club. The whole premise of the business is playing football. So although the off field improvements are welcomed, the priority is in the playing squad and those that manage it. Unfortunately, we have regressed significantly in this aspect and the buck stops with the Eisners. The policy of 'eat what you kill' is not working and never has since the Eisners took over. They must be a change in strategy going forwards or we will slip further down the league standings in the coming seasons. Some may point to investment in the youth team and development squads, but this has not really bourne any fruit as yet and must not be relied upon as the sole policy in which to gain promotion.