'We're being held back by an overly-frugal owner': The new Portsmouth protest group hoping to be heard by Michael Eisner
Owners Tornante have invested £54m since taking over the Blues in August 2017
A new protest group has called on Pompey’s owners to ‘show proper intent and proper investment’ amid growing supporter criticism.
The Easter fixture period has seen the emergence of new banners outside stadiums at Pompey games, with their subject matter directed at chairman Michael Eisner and his family.
For the Good Friday fixture at Carrow Road, several groups of young travelling supporters were spotted carrying protest messages, including an ‘Eisners Out, Enough is enough’ flag at Norwich Train Station.
Meanwhile, Pompey Union, founded by Luke Hurren, Cameron Gillon and Cal Metcalfe, met in Frogmore Road before Monday’s clash with Oxford to unveil their banner, calling for more investment into the Blues.
Tornante have so far put £54m into Pompey since taking over in August 2017, including around £25m on Fratton Park, yet it has been another season of Championship struggle for John Mousinho’s men.
And Pompey Union insist their numbers are growing as a section of fans grow restless over the club’s direction under the Eisner family.
‘We just want to see some proper intent, some proper investment’
Hurren, a long-time Pompey season-ticket holder from Havant, told The News: ‘There are three of us who are the main organisers - me, Cal and Cam. We tend to be taking the lead when it comes to organising these sorts of things, we put out most of the posts on social media and have our own individual accounts as well.
‘We have quite a lot of people on board and in group chats, some of which are quite far afield. It’s a big group. We are not linked with the Pompey Coalition, although we have a couple of members in both groups.
‘We aren’t even necessarily asking the Eisners to sell up, we just want to see some proper intent, some proper investment and, ultimately, to start delivering on some of those 2017 promises.
‘We want to put pressure on the owners, we want certain questions answered, we want to see where the club is heading, we want to know is this it - because there certainly aren’t any plans in the pipeline.
‘With the redevelopment of the North Stand, there always seems to be an excuse such as a feasibility study, we need the bridge, it’s loads of money. If we stand still in football - which we are - we will go backwards. Which we are.
‘On the face of it, the Eisners putting in £54m looks like an astronomical amount of money, but, unfortunately in football, particularly in the upper divisions of English football, it’s not a lot.
‘Look at the amount of injuries we have, it can’t be just bad luck, it’s every season. Even in the season we went up, we were ravaged by injuries, in our opinion that’s an insufficient budget for the level we are trying to aspire to.
‘We take ridiculous punts on nobodies from whatever division across the world’
‘That results in either players who aren’t good enough, such as Elias Sorensen, Abdoulaye Kamara, or they haven’t got the fitness to last out the season, such as Callum Lang and Shaughnessy. Brilliant players, but there’s a reason why they fit in our budget.
‘There has to be a reason why we are always ravaged with injuries and why we take these ridiculous punts on nobodies from whatever division across the world - and they come across to England and can’t cut it.
‘We have loads of development players, yet don’t have a development team, it just doesn't make sense. There are so many things which just don’t add up.
‘As a group, tell us where the club is going, what’s the plan, what their ambition is and actually follow through with it. Words are cheap - what we need is action.
‘If we are to stay up this season, which would be a miracle, we cannot survive on a bottom-three budget. It will catch us out eventually.’
On two occasions during last month’s 6-1 debacle at QPR, anti-Eisner chants were clearly audible among the 1,760 travelling support, with emotions high.
Mousinho’s side have subsequently responded encouragingly since that awful performance, with successive draws keeping them one place above the relegation zone with a game in hand.
With the Blues’ Championship status so precarious at present, Pompey Union insist they won’t be taking any banners into matches in order to prevent distraction from the survival battle.
Although they hope Tornante will pick up on the message.
Nothing they have done has wowed me nine years on.
Hurren added: ‘I would credit the Eisners for the set-up with Andy Cullen, Rich Hughes and John Mousinho. It is also worth noting that Fratton Park is better, although I still believe a lot of leg work was put in by the Trust and the Eisners have, to an extent, continued that.
‘Other than promotion to the Championship, I am struggling for anything else to praise them for, if I am honest. Nothing they have done has wowed me nine years on.
‘At the Guildhall, Michael Eisner said if remaining in League One, operating on an eating what we kill basis with minimal upgrades to Fratton Park is what we want, then we don’t need him. The man even said the Premier League, it’s just not going to happen.
‘Ultimately, apart from investing around £25m in the ground, I don’t see anything they have done so far which the Trust couldn’t have achieved. I don’t see an enormous improvement from nine years on from what we had as a fan-owned club.
‘We’re being held back by an overly-frugal owner, who supposedly is here for the long haul. Can he invest more money to build the club up and help it grow?
‘I would be absolutely delighted with a mid-table Championship side which, every now and then, flirts with the play-offs, like Bristol City or Swansea. But I don't see that changing for Pompey going forward.’