Departing boss takes aim at Warnock in scathing ‘pub’ remark as Championship side introduce safe standing

With Pompey’s place in next year’s Championship firmly secure, John Mousinho will now be eyeing up further additions to the first team squad so that the Blues can continue their trajectory up the Football League.

Portsmouth are competing in the Championship for the first time in 12 years and will come head-to-head with a number of top sides with much bigger budgets and a higher calibre of players than the team has faced in recent times.

Championship survival will be the main objective next season for Pompey, although some more optimistic fans will hope that the team can take inspiration from surprise-package Ipswich, who incredibly achieved back-to-back promotions with a strong core of the players that got them out of League One.

As excitement builds for the summer transfer window, we take a look at the main headlines surrounding the Championship.

Departing Championship boss takes aim at Neil Warnock for poor pre-season preparations

Huddersfield Town boss Andre Breitenreiter has left by mutual consent after the Terriers’ relegation from the Championship.

The German took the job in February but was unable to turn the team's fortunes around - winning just two of his 13 games in charge.

Before the team’s relegation was confirmed, Breitenreiter admitted that he would never have taken on the job if he was aware of the problems in the team.

He also took aim at one of his predecessors Neil Warnock and attributed the club’s poor fitness to a lacklustre pre-season. He told BBC Sport: “I heard about the really poor pre-season where players trained once a day and the focus was on playing golf and maybe staying in a pub. This never leads to success.

“They did not train enough to be able to play over 90 minutes - this is what I heard from many, many people around the club.”

Championship side confirm safe standing for 2024/25 season

Portsmouth fans can look forward to many new away days next season - including Coventry City who have now introduced safe standing to their ground.

The FA Cup semi-finalists have announced that 2,732 seats will be converted into safe standing following a recent trial period.

The new plans mean that each fan will have their own ticketed standing space, with individual rows separated by barriers. A survey result shows that 80% of fans who took part in the trail were in favour of safe standing.

Managing director Paul Michael told the club website that the change will ‘contribute to maintaining the incredible atmosphere generated by Sky Blues fans.’

Coventry missed out on the play-offs this season, but will be confident of pushing for promotion next term after a narrow play-off final loss to Luton Town back in 2023.