Portsmouth boss delivers 'brutal truth' over side's quality after losing out to Oxford United, Lincoln City, Sunderland and Blackpool in play-off race

But the Blues head coach delivered a promise to the Blues faithful he will bring the thrill factor back to Fratton Park if he stays for the long haul.

Cowley looked on as his 12-game tenure as head coach came to a desperate finale, as his team surrendered their grip on the play-offs on the final day with defeat to Accrington.

The 42-year-old gave a no-holds-barred view of the current squad after their failure and their current shortcomings.

And Cowley admitted the reality is there would only have been one outcome in the play-offs if Pompey had got there.

He said: ‘If you want the brutal truth, we weren’t good enough to get promoted.

‘Even if we’d got into the play-offs, we weren’t good enough to get promoted. That’s the truth.

‘That’s the truth, and I include myself in that.

‘I’m not hanging anyone out because I’m including myself in that.

‘I didn’t think enough of our big players were able to bring their best performances against Accrington.

‘I felt that we weren’t able to get our sixes on the ball and we weren’t able to show enough personality.

‘I thought Ronan (Curtis) played with real character and was the most likely to make something happen.

‘I thought George Byers came on and had an influence, but we didn’t get enough from our other attacking players. I think that is fair to say.

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‘I don’t think the league lies after 46 games.

‘If we look at ourselves - me and Nicky included and the playing squad - we’ve finished where the team deserves to finish.’

Cowley explained how he hoped the disappointment of this season’s failing could spark positive change for Pompey moving forward.

And the former Huddersfield underlined his conviction over what he could do to bring the good times back to PO4 - if he’s the man to take the club forward.

Cowley added: ‘I think so (it can be a turning point). I think so.

‘I think this can be a good opportunity to reassess.

‘When you commit the way we’ve committed and come up short, it always hurts.

‘I think when you feel when you’ve let people down it’s never a good feeling

‘But ultimately, it’s the reality so we have to be mindful enough to live in the moment

‘Now is maybe not the time for the post mortem, but we’ll speak to the board and the powers that be, who’ve been incredibly supportive, and we’ll make a decision.

‘It’s their prerogative to do that and, having got to know them, I’m certain they’ll make a decision for the best interests of Portsmouth Football Club.

‘For that reason, I’m okay with that.

‘We don’t know what happens now, that’s football.

‘But I know I can bring exciting times here.

‘I back our relentless work ethic and skill set to be able to do that.

‘But we understood the terms and conditions when we took the role.

‘We’ve given it everything we got and we couldn’t have tried harder. Now the people above us have to make the right decision.

‘But I say it again - they have the best interests of the club at heart.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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