Fratton faithful have their say: Where blame lies for Portsmouth's struggling Championship form
We asked the question: Where does the blame lie for Pompey’s current struggles? And you responded in your hundreds
It’s fair to say there’s been plenty of Pompey soul-searching in recent days as everyone with the club in their heart attempts to dissect where it’s been going wrong for the Blues so far this term.
With 15 games of the 2025-26 season completed, John Mousinho’s side sit 20th in the Championship table, just four points above the drop zone and with just three league wins to their name.
Defeat to Hull City on Saturday was Pompey’s seventh of the season and their fourth in five games, leaving us all wondering when and if the team can get themselves out of the rut they currently find themselves in.
The Blues’ current form has also got us all contemplating where the fault lies. As a result, John Mousinho’s management has been questioned. The playing budget afforded by the owners has come in for scrutiny, Pompey’s injury record continues to cause concern Meanwhile, the players themselves has also been criticised for not performing to the levels expected of them.
There’s even some who believe the first team’s present predicament comes down to the perfect storm of the above, with no-one specifically or a financial spreadsheet the primary contributor.
With that in mind, we asked our followers on Facebook: Where do you think the blame lies for Pompey’s struggling Championship form?
And as expected, hundreds of you got in touch to share your much-valued opinions.
We honestly don’t have enough space to include every response we received. Therefore, we’ve condensed the answers into six main topics and presented them in a way that reflects the themes and the volume attached to each.
At the end, see where you stand in the debate.
Your answers to out question: where the blame lies for Pompey’s Championshp struggles
John Mousinho
Ian Peach: I’d say JM first and then the players. JM plays people out of position but is stubborn. Example is Chaplin. Hasn’t played well yet but despite this starts and is never subbed off. Bishop, too. Has struggled but JM won’t change it up enough. Having said that, the players are decent and should be able to adapt to positional change.
Barry Hussey: With the manager!
Eric Brown: Bring back cookie and let him do management without interference
Injuries
Alex Dillon: If Pompey had been able to play Schmid, Shaughnessy, Lang, Segecic and Murphy, plus had Blair, Waddingham etc providing added competition from subs bench, I think they'd be mid-table.
Luke Barnett: I blame the majority on squad depth and injuries. We've lost some really talented players due to injury (Ogilvie, Shaughnessy, Lang, Segecic, Murphy, Schmid) and we don't have a decent enough squad depth to cover. We've bought players like Farrell, who could be an amazing player, but we've seen him play 2-3 times, and he's been less than average. Same goes for Waddingham, again, we've not seen enough of him, due to injury.
We say we're trying to manage the squad like Sunderland have, bringing in young, up and coming players, and selling them for a profit, but it's not working. We need to stop thinking of how much can we make in the future, and start thinking about becoming a quality Championship side, then we can look to the future.
Steve Holt: Injuries - need to find what causes so many. Over training?
Owners/financial backing
Poppybird Hughes: Buck stops at the owners fully.
Pete Davies: Trying to do it on the cheap again like last season.
Ian Hayes: The likelihood is that Pompey will always have one of the weaker budgets in the Championship, The manager needs to take the FA Cup seriously for once, a run in the cup will boost the budget.
Shane Smith: Budget, League One squad & owners. Can’t blame Mous, I put the squad blame on Hughes, he seems to have the final say on players bought in over Mous. Injuries are part & parcel of being a professional footballer, we will be lucky to still have Mous here come the end of the season, can see him going back to Oxford.
David Higgins: Budget. Basic math.
Chris Whiting: We can’t keep blaming injuries. All teams suffer with injuries. IMO it’s our lack of squad depth & quality, a direct result of our low budget. Not sure there is much more Mous can do. As somebody has mentioned, we have well over achieved the past few seasons. It’s just a shame that the Eisners seem to think we can keep getting away with it & won’t invest significantly enough in the team.
Simon Milne: Feel harsh saying this but gotta look at the owners. Can’t fault them for money invested into the ground and the work done around it but has meant limited funds for playing squad.
David Harman: Not enough money put into a competitive playing budget.
Andy Bailey: Playing budget and having to therefore buy unproven risky players who are not up to Championship football level. You might get lucky once in a season where you buy cheap and turns out a success but that is a rarity. Also injures the last couple of seasons for whatever reason that is, either unlucky or something more deep.
Raymond Ray: Money money money, lack of budget! So starts at the top, you only need to look at team values in this league to understand that some teams have spent on 1 player what our whole squad is worth. I still think they did the best with what they had, like trying to buy Champagne on lemonade money.
Summer recruitment
Gary Walters: I think if you look at the squad now vs the end of last season, we're weaker. We haven't replaced Ritchie, Potts & Atkinson, plus we haven't invested in strength in depth, so have no replacements for an out of form centre forward and injuries at left back. Once again the summer recruitment has been poor and we now need to play catch-up in the January window. While I accept that Mousinho has made mistakes, I don't think the major blame is on his shoulders. He proved last season that he's the best man to get us out of this, but he will need support in January. Unfortunately, as much as I understand the Eisner's good intentions, it's just not viable to expect us to do anything other than struggle in this division on the budget they are providing.
The players
Adrian Bennett: Ultimately the players. You can’t blame anyone else for individuals not playing to their best ability. We know they can hold their own in the Championship, but almost all of them are a shadow of where they need to be.
Paul Harrison: Surely buck stops with the players, far too easy to blame the board.
Nick Scott: The players just not up to it we need a goal scorer bishop not for me
All of the above
Damian Dunn: Eisners. Easy question. Budget given at this level isn’t enough and recruitment team going for players with injury history or Australian glass players. I would also look at the training team as the injuries we are picking up is crazy. I would then look at Mous’ tactics and players’ positioning, substitutes questionable. Also got to look at the players themselves. apart from that we arr all good PUP!
Johnny Ball: Firstly I would look at the training methods, and physio, far too many injuries. Also, I would try to buy some proven Championship players in January instead of players on the cheap. Have a long chat to the manager and tell him what’s expected of him, and ask him his opinion of what has gone wrong.
Neil Penny: There’s no one person or department to blame. They all have to share in responsibility. JM is definitely partly at fault this season by ditching the successful tactics adopted last season. The players are not brave enough. AC and finance man need to loosen purse strings a little without going mad. Bigger budgets don’t guarantee success. The Eisners need to stamp their ownership authority and put pressure down on the board to make necessary changes. So, we’re a collective and we succeed or fail as one. Some fans also need to lay off some pretty personal criticism of some players. It really doesn’t help.
Phil Goulding: Management and owners, however let’s not forget some players who are not up for this league and who’s performance have been way behind other players who play their hearts out.
Robbie Main: I think it is everyone's problem, the system used, the players (out of position or not good enough or not just trying), recruitment - are they the best? The manager for the team selected. Not sure about the owner not a lot more they can do.