Four key reasons why Portsmouth dismay has had Twitter and Facebook on overdrive this week

The fall-out from Tuesday night’s draw at Oxford – a team without a win in 15 games prior to the visit of the Blues – has unleashed a tide of fury on both Facebook and Twitter.

In fairness, the rage has been bubbling underneath the surface, ready to explode. That last-chance-saloon play-off door that’s been constantly banging in the wind of late, finally came off it’s now knackered hinges, following another uninspiring display against a side who are just one point off the relegation places.

If only the now often-ridiculed players had shown as much fight as the fighting talk displayed online in recent days.

No-one has escaped the uproar that naturally stems from the realisation that a seventh consecutive season in League One football lies in wait.

The Eisners, the head coach, the players, injury records, Danny Cowley, The News – they (we) have all been on the receiving end of the flak being dished out by supporters, who are also more than happy to front up and get into some heated debates with fellow fans on a subject matter that means so much to them.

That passion has also been sadly missing on the pitch, irrespective of a ongoing eight-match unbeaten run.

And that’s probably the best place to start when examining why the backlash has been so unrelenting since Tuesday.

No passion, no fight

New head coach John Mousinho undoubtedly gave Pompey fans something to aim for following his January appointment.

Fourteen games in and 26 points had been accumulated after the 2-0 win at Bristol Rovers, which more than doubled the tally secured by Danny Cowley in his last 14 matches in charge.

And with six winnable fixtures up next, fans started to believe that an unexpected play-off place was within range.

It’s a pity, though, such belief wasn’t part of the team’s psyche. How else can you explain the six drab results that followed?

The draws against Port Vale, MK Dons, Morecambe, Shrewsbury and Oxford were flat, difficult watches, with the performances produced lacking the commitment that was displayed in the stands for each game.

Even the win against Forest Green was cumbersome as Pompey made hard work of breaking down a side that has conceded 81 times this term to date.

The only real fight shown was when Joe Morrell got himself sent off at Stadium MK for his altercation with Dan Harvie.

He was rightly criticised for that moment of madness, with the Blues leading 1-0 at the time.

But at least it showed a combative side of his game that, generally, hasn’t been shown by the majority of his team-mates in recent games.

Speaking to The News after the Oxford stalemate, our Gaffer for the Day, Simon Milne, said: ‘We are meant to be a top team in this league, so should be pushing for a win against a side who hadn’t got a victory for 15 matches. Our fans became frustrated because our football was so predictable, the tempo was shocking. Set-pieces involved five touches before getting it into the box, short corners, a lack of creativity.’

With 10 senior first-team players out of contract at the end of the season, the writing could now be on the wall for many of those concerned.

That Eisner Tweet

When Pompey owner Michael Eisner tweets after a defeat, you know something is up.

The Blues chairman is normally very selective when it comes to communicating via social media – probably because he’s guaranteed to receive a few choice words from disgruntled Pompey fans in return.

Yet that didn’t stop him reaching for his phone and typing: ‘I rarely tweet when we lose, but I have to say, it’s disappointing the way we’ve been playing lately. #Pompey’ after the draw at Oxford. It was probably the first time the American and the fan base, in general, were singing from the same hymn sheet.

Traditionally, a veil of silence greets such mediocrity, so it proved quite a significant moment for the 81-year-old to speak out. And fair play to him for doing so.

But, as expected, the team were not the only ones on the receiving end of comments about their performance. Indeed, cue the backlash directed at the owner, whose funding of the first team is more often than not the subject of stringent scrutiny.

@adarkelimited responded: ‘As you know Michael, the people at the top of any organisation set the tone for the rest of the business. And so it is with Pompey. Apathy and lack of any real ambition is felt and reflected lower down the chain and that’s what we are witnessing. It’ll be the fans next.’

@ollybirchpompey also replied: ‘Who’d have thought a budget outside the playoffs and a rookie manager would have left us outside the playoffs.’

Positive spin from Mousinho

Eisner’s honest words clearly got fans properly riled up – and he remains at the forefront of supporters’ minds after John Mousinho, on Thursday, admitted he agreed with the owner’s observation.

But the head coach has his part to play on the current environment as well, following his positive take on the Kassam Stadium stalemate.

The Blues boss is normally bang on the money when it comes to his post-match assessment of what’s unfolded before him. But he struck the wrong tone with his thoughts on the U’s result.

Oz Ostler took to Facebook to write: ‘Don’t often comment, but having got up at 4:15am to watch an inept display like that is making me doubt my sanity. Sadly, the poor standard of football is becoming a regular occurrence, and for the coach to claim that we played some really good football is now making me doubt his sanity. Completely clueless.’

‘I don’t know what game he was watching if that was a good league one game,’ wrote Debbie Bennett-hall.

Mousinho insisted he stood by his comments when he spoke to The News again on Thursday. He said: ‘I was talking about a decent point and I said if you take that (result) out of context, I stick by that.’

Yet that still doesn’t wash with some fans, as @Man22Champ wrote on Twitter: ‘How can you see it in another context? But let's play this ridiculous hypothetical line that he’s taking, and it's still not a decent point. We were rubbish, and have been for the last few games.’

There’s sections of the Fratton faithful who still question Mousinho’s suitability for the top Blues job – despite his solid record in charge of a group of players he inherited.

It’s completely unfair to leap on that debate at this moment given the job he’s done so far. There has been significant improvements in results. But performances, of late, will have been noted and will have raised eyebrows among a wider section of fans.

General malaise

Intertwined with the above is the background noise that comes with being a current Pompey fan.

Years of perceived underachievement on the pitch, a desperate want to get out of League One, an inability to compete with the division’s big-spenders, the annual need for squad overhauls, a lack of quality coming through the youth ranks, injury problems - just some of the issues that many believe continue to hold the club back.

There are, of course, those who will counter these grievances and point to the significant investment Tornante have ploughed into the club and Fratton Park’s upgrade since their 2017 takeover.

But when performances on the pitch continue to disappoint and expectations fail to be met, then there’s plenty of fuel to keep arguments going.

Maybe an expected increase in the playing budget that John Mousinho mentioned on Thursday will help dampen ongoing negativity.

Some good news buried in a week of bad tidings.