Why Portsmouth's 2022-23 League One season went so wrong and who's to blame

The News asked the Fratton faithful to get involved in our ‘Big Pompey Survey’ to mark the end of the club’s latest League One campaign that resulted in an eighth-placed finish. And, once again, the response was overwhelming as supporters took up the option to have a say on what they’ve witnessed over the past 9-10 months.

This section of our survey was broken down into four segments – thoughts on that eighth place, why it went wrong, Danny Cowley’s sacking and the job done by John Mousinho since. There were various options to chose from each – and in three of the four there was unity among those who took part.

Here’s the results.

Q What's your thoughts on Pompey's 8th-placed finish?

There’s no doubt about it, the vast majority of those who took part in our latest survey believed Pompey under-performed this season.

In fact, 78.5 per cent of those involved stated the Blues’ eighth-placed finish fell below expectations and wasn’t good enough.

Twenty per cent believed falling short of the play-offs is what they expected of the team put together by former boss Danny Cowley and taken over by John Mousinho in January following the club’s decision to change head coaches.

Meanwhile, even though the Blues finished 28 points shy of the automatic promotion places and seven adrift of a top-six finish, 1.5 per cent were of the opinion that Pompey overachieved this term.

Q What was the main reason behind Pompey's latest failure to win promotion or reach the play-offs?

Seven options were offered here, bearing in mind the various factors that understandably come into play over the course of the season.

Among the lesser contributors people voted for were John Mousinho’s appointment (0.5 per cent) and January recruitment (0.4 per cent).

Pompey’s summer recruitment received 4.3 per cent of the vote here, while injuries over the course of the season surprisingly accounted for only 12 per cent of the responses we received.

There were, therefore, other factors at play, according to the fans. Namely, the fact, that many firmly believed that the players on the Pompey pay roll were simply just not good enough to compete with the likes of Plymouth, Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday & Co. 42.8 per cent made that their top answer.

Others zoned in on the lack of first-team investment provided by the owners, with 24.8 per cent believing that was the root cause.

Meanwhile, 15.2 per cent believed Danny Cowley was the main reason behind another forgettable season at Fratton Park.

Q Was the decision to sack Danny Cowley the correct one?

Speaking of Cowley, his sacking was the next subject we put to the fan base – and the response was overwhelming to say the least.

In total, 93.7 per cent of those who took part believed the Blues hierarchy were right to call time on his time in charge back in January.

However, of that huge figure, 54.6 per cent were of the opinion the axe should have fallen much sooner than January 2 and before Pompey recorded stats of just one win from 14 league games.

A mere 3.9 per cent of the vote believed the former Lincoln manager should have been given until the end of the season to turn the Blues’ fortunes around.

Meanwhile, just 2.4 per cent stated Pompey made the wrong decision in sacking Cowley.

What did you make of the job done by John Mousinho?

When John Mousinho – the surprise choice for the vacant Pompey hot seat – was appointed, the Blues sat 15th in the table and closer to the relegation places than the play-off spots.

Yet come the end of the season, the Fratton Park managed to claw back some pride. An eighth-placed finish was recorded thanks to 39 points gathered from the former Oxford defender’s 23 games in charge.

The points difference between the Blues and the drop zone was extended to 25.

As a result, 65.4 per cent believed Mousinho had exceeded expectations following his appointment and had to be congratulated for his efforts.

A decent 27 per cent of voters stated that the 36-year-old had matched expectations. Meanwhile, a mere 7.6 per cent believed Pompey under his leadership should have done better.