Portsmouth sporting director’s verdict on summer transfer business after tough Championship start
Pompey are content with the summer transfer business they conducted in preparation for the Championship
And sporting director Rich Hughes acknowledged ‘ruthless’ decisions had to be made over John Mousinho’s squad, after the League One title win.
It’s proved another frantic summer of recruitment activity at PO4, with 15 players arriving and 17 players leaving the club.
That included central figures in the championship season, including the likes of Sean Raggett, Joe Rafferty and Joe Morrell on their way.
Hughes admitted they weren’t easy decisions to make, but were necessary calls as Pompey prepared for the unforgiving Championship terrain.
A debate among supporters has been whether this season’s squad is stronger than the one which lifted the League One title.
When looking at the considerations surrounding the answer to that question, Hughes is confident it’s a positive response.
Speaking at the recent Tony Goodall Fans’ Conference, Hughes said: ‘We had to make some tough decisions at the back end of last season, allowing some players to leave who had played with distinguished service with us.
‘That was hard to do, but the Championship is a tough, physical, aggressive league, and we had to make some ruthless decisions.
‘We’ve brought 15 players in, lowered the average age of the group, reduced the number of loan signings, spent fees, and cast our net further afield to pick up exciting talents.
‘The issue with Colby changed the dynamic of the window for us.
‘We’d prepared for lots of different eventualities, but losing a player in those circumstances changed things significantly. Overall, we’re really pleased – we feel we’re stronger, younger, own a greater percentage of the squad, and feel very positive moving forward.’