‘It doesn’t sit right, but they have to’ - Portsmouth owners Tornante warned amid John Mousinho and Rich Hughes speculation
The Pompey playing budget continues to be a concern despite ‘positive’ talks between John Mousinho and the owners last week
Pompey’s owners have been told they can’t afford the club to stand still following another successfull battle against Championship relegation.
Blues’ chairman Michael Eisner and his Tornante associates have been warned they need to keep pace with the rest of the division and increase the first-team playing budget if they want the club to avoid annual flirtations with a return to League One.
Head coach John Mousinho took the same message into his meetings with the Fratton Park hierarchy last week.
But with the 40-year-old’s long-term future at PO4 increasingly falling under the spotlight as his stock in the game continues to rise exponentially, the need for that communication to land has never been more urgent.
‘Hopefully the Eisners will be receptive to it’
In fairness, the Eisners have increased the playing budget each year under Mousinho’s reign, as was evident when they granted a loan move for Conor Chaplin on the final day of the 2025 transfer window.
However, according to The News’ Neil Allen, more needs to be pumped into the funds made available to the head coach and sporting director Rich Hughes if the Blues are to improve on their 16th and 18th-placed finishes in the Championship and, ulitmately, retain the services of Mousinho.
Speaking on the latest episode of Pompey Talk, Allen said: ‘The fact remains that Pompey need more investment to make their (Mousinho and Hughes’) jobs easier, to give them a greater opportunity for Pompey to start climbing the league and having other ambitions and challenges other than finishing one or two places above the relegation zone.
‘We all can acknowledge that football's ruined, it's crazy the financial side of it all, it's crackpot. We all can acknowledge that, but we all can say, wait a minute, we still need a bit more finance to try to somehow maintain pace with the rest of the Championship.
‘It doesn't sit right but they have to. I'm sorry to say they have to.
‘Other clubs are coming up, clubs are coming down. West Ham or Spurs are coming down next season, Birmingham and Wrexham are going to have more money to spend next season, Cardiff are coming back up and probably have something to spend as well.
‘Wolves are coming down. It's going to be another tough season next year and Pompey have to try to keep pace, they can't stand still.
‘So you'd imagine everybody, those three, (CEO Andy) Cullen, Mousinho and Hughes would be saying, “yep we need more money please, please can you help us? “
‘And hopefully the Eisners will be receptive to it.’
Speaking to The News on Saturday, Mousinho revealed the Eisners are looking to build towards the Premier League after positive summit talks with the club’s owners.
But the Blues boss acknowledged that ambition is still likely years in the making, after two days of meetings with the key players at Fratton Park.
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