The justifiable fury clouding judgement over the reality of where Portsmouth today stand

There once was a man from Pompey who had it all.
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Status, wealth, popularity, adulation and all the trappings which came with it were his, along with one of the most expensive properties in the city - until a series of unfortunate events conspired to leave the poor chap destitute and homeless.

Thanks to the love and support of his friends along with his own fierce will he found his feet once again, however, along with some comfort and security. This ambitious fella couldn’t stop himself from reflecting on former glories, though, which led to visits to his old des res. This time firmly on the outside looking in.

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This sadly led to a grisly scene in Broad Street one day, as he stood in the road gawping at the lavish features which were once his - and somehow failed to notice a lorry screaming out of control towards him.

For the weighty contents of that vehicle read the events of the past six months and what lies ahead as EFL clubs convene this week to almost certainly agree on the implementation of a blanket wage cap next season; the unfortunate victim those detached from the reality of where their club currently stand in the English footballing order.

This whole narrative, of course, is one shrouded in the anger which currently resides out there at Pompey’s failure to gain promotion to the Championship at the third attempt, along with the manner of failure. And, let’s have it right, that is entirely warranted.

Delving deeper into the factors fuelling those emotions, look no further than Kenny Jackett’s continuing presence at the helm, an aversion from a majority to his style of football and what many fans feel that says about the owners’ ambition for their club.

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There has and continue to be questions asked on all of the above, but what seems to be happening increasingly is a conflation of these emotive issues with the dire situation affecting Pompey and other EFL members.

There's anger among fans and uncertainty at Fratton Park at presentThere's anger among fans and uncertainty at Fratton Park at present
There's anger among fans and uncertainty at Fratton Park at present

It’s understandable that’s the case with tempers running high, but the gravity and impact of what is happening to the game right now simply can’t be overestimated. And how that factors into the key issues is worth highlighting.

As reported in The News on Monday, Pompey are now haemorrhaging £700,000 per month through the losses in matchday revenue amid the coronavirus crisis, a scenario chief executive Mark Catlin has already stated means he can’t rule out redundancies.

Yes, the Blues did announce profits of £2.05m for the year ending June 2019, but have now had a gaping hole in their balance sheet since March with no certainty on quite how long that will remain the case.

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Now, let’s consider that information against what people are demanding in Jackett’s departure.

If, for argument’s sake there was a desire for that to happen from the Blues hierarchy, it would cost the thicker end of £500,000 to do so with the manager and his staff under contract.

Whatever your feelings on Pompey’s boss, how does that kind of expenditure morally align with an office and training ground full of staff on tenterhooks over their futures amid the impact of Covid-19?

Yet, some fans are calling for Jackett to go and be replaced by Eddie Howe - who was on a reported £4m salary at Bournemouth until recently.

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Even those with their feet slightly nearer terra firma are eyeing options which would either come with a compensation package to current employers, or simply aren’t in Pompey’s financial reach at present. And that’s without considering they have to want to come to a League One club.

Moving on, recruitment and the mechanics of bringing in players is the other issue front and centre at present.

The level of names some feel are within Pompey’s reach continue to be a long way from the reality of where things currently stand.

Take Steve Seddon as an example. He was a player the Blues would’ve realistically hoped would be a permanent recruit as he won hearts and minds during his loan spell last term.

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But even before Covid-19 had ravaged the English game, the word is Birmingham City were quoting the kind of money which was unheard of for a left-back of Seddon’s experience at lower league level.

Then came the events which spun everything for clubs, Seddon becomes a player with a future at St Andrews as they face their own financial crisis and Pompey weren’t in a position to do a deal at the figures quoted anyway.

That consequently increased the significance of retaining Lee Brown, a reliable option across 72 appearances despite the noise to the contrary, whose new deal landed with Sean Raggett’s on Monday.

Yes, they may not be the sexiest of signings but the residual anger appears to have made the pair far worse players than they are overnight to some, a little in the way the fringe youngsters who have moved on have seen their stock rise.

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The significance of getting deals done before Friday’s key EFL vote on the wage cap is well documented. With those discussions already advanced they were solid additions who could be added at the divisional average of £1,300 a week before the cut-off, despite clearly earning more.

There are calls to get more business done, but Jackett’s squad now numbers 20 with just Haji Mnoga below the age threshold of 21. Thus he's not counted towards a proposed squad limit of 22 in the event of the vote being forced through, as, in all probability, it will.

That leaves spots for three players at the time of writing and not a great deal of value out there with negotiations taking place with a stopwatch, almost akin to deadline day. And, as watchers of Sunderland ‘Til I Die will testify, no one wants a Stewart Donald-style Will Grigg panic buy.

Some feel Pompey have been labouring as rivals go about their work, but a look at the business at this level shows a market only just starting to come to life and few done deals which leave you feeling the Blues have missed out. Those who’ve been busy have been recruiting players who would’ve stirred underwhelmed, ambivalent or more likely angry emotions, if they’d turned up at PO4 in the current climate.

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It seems the value in the likely landscape will lie in the loan market instead, with parent clubs shouldering portions of wages which will remain outside of the cap and perhaps open the door to a better quality of player Pompey couldn't otherwise attract.

An important caveat, however, is if the wage cap is either voted down or possibly delayed through legal ramifications, there’s absolutely no excuse for the Eisners not to do all they can to get out of this godforsaken division before it’s implemented.

A curious gripe from some is the Fratton hierarchy are somehow using the position they find themselves in as an excuse to cover limited aspirations. Others aren’t using the same excuses, we hear. This view comes in the same summer in which EFL chairman Rick Parry has spoken of members having a £200m 'cash hole' by next month and warnings from owners over their clubs facing administration and 'thousands of jobs' being lost.

When it comes to the wage cap the quiet, of course, is more logical. Pompey are one of the few clubs agitating because a blanket £2.5m ceiling is an outcome which suits their rivals' agendas. We’ve already seen one EFL vote motivated by self-interest, and rival owners are at least having the honesty to admit reeling in clubs like Pompey, Sunderland and Ipswich and negating their clout is a motivating factor in the vote over any notion of sustainability.

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It’s this series of events which have led to being left comatose outside the Still & West and thinking of what once was - after a failure which may yet go down as one the most significant of modern times.

The fury at that remains raw and justified, but there should also be an acknowledgement of what’s unfolded, the circumstances currently blocking the path forward and reality of where things stand. However bleak it is, there’s certainly no place for the bile we’ve witnessed spill forth and cloud judgement in recent days.

As for that bloke left on the old Portsmouth cobbles? Well, we just hope he can somehow get back up and see better days once again.

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