Andrew Moon column: Why Portsmouth should be feeling confident after 2022-23 League One campaign
- Published
Can Pompey have a summer to get fans coming back in August with renewed hope for promotion attempt number seven?
Another season of frustration for Portsmouth but there is cause for optimism.
Ending a season on an 11-match unbeaten run on the face of it sounds positive.
However, the final 11 games perfectly illustrate the issue this campaign.
Far too many draws.
Only the top three in League One have lost fewer matches than Portsmouth this year.
Fourth-placed Barnsley lost two more but had nine more wins and, perhaps crucially, scored 19 more goals.
Pompey only lost three times at home this season but drew (11) more than they won (nine).
It feels cliché to say Fratton Park needs to be a fortress for the club to succeed, but they certainly require more points at home than they managed this season to achieve their aims and to entertain the fanbase, the majority of which will only watch home matches.
The cost of a season ticket
The flaws of this campaign and frustration of a seventh consecutive season in League One are clear for all to see.
What fans really want and need is cause for optimism come August.
Chief executive Andy Cullen told me in our end-of-season chat on Sunday that, after remaining frozen for five years, season ticket prices will go up this summer, albeit by a "sensible" amount.
Last year I had a conversation with someone at the club who privately admitted fears that season ticket numbers could drop given another season in League One and the cost of living crisis.
In the end the number of season tickets purchased increased last summer.
Some fans might be fed up of third-tier football but the loyalty of the fanbase means that the vast majority of supporters will probably renew for another year.
Given the current rate of inflation and frozen prices for a number of years a rise is inevitable at most clubs.
What are Pompey's chances next season?
There are reasons to be positive come August.
Twelve months ago Pompey finished the season strongly but most of their star performers were loan players who would not return.
This year the club's top players during the run-in, such as Colby Bishop and Joe Morrell, are under contract for multiple years.
John Mousinho was in charge for exactly half the League One season and earned 39 points in his spell.
Had Pompey matched that tally in the first half they would have finished inside the top six.
Also League One should be a slightly easier proposition next season.
Big-spending Ipswich are gone and two of the sides coming down from the Championship in Wigan Athletic and Reading have both had points deducted for financial issues this season.
I also heard suggestions MK Dons were likely to spend a fair bit next season but they have been relegated.
'The big question'
But if you are a club as big as Portsmouth on an 11-year run outside the top two divisions then fans are not going to immediately look for the rainbow when water starts falling from the sky.
Bringing in 10 further new players as is likely this summer is exciting for supporters but there are always risks with new signings, in how they will settle, fit in, and cope with the pressure of playing at Fratton Park.
Even with Ipswich gone there will still be big-hitters next season, with Derby and possibly Sheffield Wednesday to fight against.
They are likely to have notably bigger budgets that Pompey.
Also Blues fans do not need reminding that finishing in the play-offs is very different to winning promotion.
The club have not won a play-off match in eight attempts.
It is a big summer for Mousinho but also sporting director Richard Hughes; it is his first summer transfer window at the club.
Signings seem to excite certain people more than actual football.
The big question is can Pompey have a summer to get everyone coming back in August with renewed hope for promotion attempt number seven?
You can hear every Pompey match live on BBC Radio Solent with Andy Moon and former Blues striker and manager Guy Whittingham.
