Andy Cullen on why Portsmouth lost patience with Danny Cowley to deliver promotion

And the Blues chief executive admitted supporter reaction against Charlton, which included words aimed at the ex-head coach’s family in attendance, also influenced the board’s decision.

Cowley was informed of his dismissal on Monday night, following a run of one win in 14 League One matches.

Having initially arrived on an interim basis in March 2021, Cowley oversaw 97 matches in all competitions, winning 42 of them.

However, with Pompey plummeting down the table and flailing in 12th place, owners Tornante decided to act.

Cullen told The News: ‘We felt that to achieve our objective of reaching the top six this season we needed to make the change now.

‘Having come through a run of winless (league) games since October, change was needed after Charlton.

‘There are a lot of mitigating circumstances. Obviously we’ve had injuries in the same position with players, we’ve had illness in the squad over the last three games, but still saw two determined performances against Exeter and Ipswich.

‘It was a really tough decision to make, not least with the personal relationships you have with people like Danny and Nicky, who gave everything they possibly could to this football club, every working hour.

‘But Charlton was another game without a win and we just felt, at that point, change was needed.

‘We all witnessed a very difficult reaction from the crowd and were also party to Danny’s family being subjected to some things that shouldn’t really be aimed at people’s families.

‘You are conscious of all of that and the need to look after people, you take the overall position into account – and we are not reactive, knee-jerk people.

‘The board are very patient, we want to give a manager time, and that’s important when you are looking to recruit the next person to come into the hot-seat. They know they’ll be given time to achieve.

‘The average tenure of a Championship manager is less than a year and that’s not what we want to be. We are as patient as we can.

‘If you look at Danny and his record elsewhere, he and Nicky are serial winners, they’ve had success at most of the clubs they’ve been at and can find a way through things.

‘They found a way through a difficult period last season, so we were conscious of giving them time, but it came to a point on Sunday where we needed to act.’

Cullen consulted sporting director Rich Hughes on Monday morning before the Cowleys’ position was discussed in a board meeting that night.

And the chief executive delivered the bombshell face-to-face on the same evening.

He added: ‘I went to see Danny to break the sad news. I gave him a call and asked if we could meet, we went somewhere relatively private and Danny was an absolute gentleman throughout the whole process when I broke the news.

‘We had a mature discussion, but it was very emotional for the both of us.

‘You can talk about the great days you get in football and the joy you can have, but these are some of the dark moments which go hand-in-hand with the game.

‘Danny and Nicky will bounce back and be stronger for the experience. There is no doubt they will bring success to their future careers.’