'Really sensible': Expert Kieran Maguire assesses Portsmouth's alternative financial approach to Championship success

Pompey have been applauded for refusing to sacrifice their financial principles to chase the unachievable in the ‘most bonkers league in world football’.

And it’s a ‘smart’ approach which could equip them to follow the same Premier League pathway as Brentford and Brighton, according to leading football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

The Price of Football podcast regular and University of Liverpool football finance lecturer has been impressed by chairman Michael Eisner’s handling of the Blues as they follow a sustainable model.

Armed with one of the lowest wage bills in the Championship last season, John Mousinho’s men relied on inspirational management, strong team spirit and superb recruitment to steer them into 16th place.

And it’s progress which has impressed Maguire, who has praised Tornante’s ‘sensible ship’ approach overseen by Eisner.

Maguire: Average losses in the Championship are more than £400,000 a week

He told The News: ‘The Championship is an absolutely brutal division, the average losses are in excess of £400,000 a week.

‘The average weekly wage of Leicester in 2023-24 when they were promoted back to the Premier League was £48,000 - and an annual £107.2m wage bill.

‘Pompey’s wage bill was £10.13m in League One. That gap is huge, yet their aim is to grow the club organically with support from Mr Eisner.

‘Pompey rarely come into my vision - and that’s a good thing. I get messages from fans of lots of clubs asking can you take a look at our club? I cannot recall Pompey coming into my little universe, which is fantastic news.

‘I think Michael Eisner has run a really sensible ship and it’s a pretty well-run club. It’s not trying to buy its way out of the Championship - and that's a very sensible approach. You can still be successful, but you have to be smart.

‘You can always spend loads of money, I can assure you there are agents and vultures who will empty your pockets for you - but they are the ones being smart, not you.

‘Look at Steve Lansdown at Bristol City, it has cost £20m a year for the last 7-8 years and they normally don’t get a sniff of promotion.

‘Stoke are backed by the Coates family, who own Bet365, which is without doubt the most successful gambling company in the country. They are absolutely brilliant at what they do and I am no fan of gambling.

‘They have put a fortune into that club and, since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2018, haven’t been higher than 14th in the Championship.

‘The most bonkers division in world football’

‘It’s an absolutely brutal industry and the most bonkers division in world football. You are encouraged to overspend, you’re 46 games away from the Premier League and all of the riches that brings. Then, when you get there, you’re almost certain to be relegated.

‘It is a nuts division, there are lots of people who have been very scarred by it, look what’s happened at Derby with Mel Morris. He ended up putting the club into administration, it cost him £200m.

‘You’ve got the absolute crackpot, lunatic that is Dejphon Chansiri at Sheffield Wednesday. He is sort of well meaning, but hasn't got a clue what he is doing.

‘So Portsmouth are really well-run, they just get on with it. Which makes it frustrating for fans because fans don’t want a sustainable football club or a sensible one, they want one who signs a 22-year-old Venezuelan striker for a club record fee who is going to take them to the Premier League. And you get on board on the basis of his YouTube reel.

‘Newcastle under Mike Ashley were a sustainable football club because they used to break even or make money. Newcastle actually made a profit over the years, which is unheard of, yet fans hated him.

‘They are now owned by Saudi Arabia, losing a fortune every week, but have won the Carabao Cup, they’re in the Champions League next season, and all the fans extol the virtues of the owners.

‘Which is fine until it's not fine. Chelsea fans felt exactly the same about Roman Abramovich. It cost him £900,000 a week for 19 years to run Chelsea - and for that he got a free car park space and a programme. But they love him.’

Maguire pinpoints the recruitment strategies at Brentford and Brighton as fine examples of operating football clubs by being ‘smart’.

The Bees won the May 2021 Championship play-off final against Swansea and last season secured a fifth successive year in the Premier League after claiming 10th spot. They have never finished below 16th during that time.

As for Brighton, next year marks their ninth consecutive Premier League campaign after earning promotion from the Championship in second place in 2016-17. They have never finished lower than 17th.

‘The biggest issue in football is ignoring the noise’

Maguire added: ‘You have to be smart. Build relationships with Premier League clubs, show they can send a couple of players each year who they think are going to develop well.

‘You need a culture at the club which will nurture young talent. You’ve got to have a strategy. Why did Brentford get promoted in 2021 and why are they still in the Premier League? They got promoted by being smart.

‘If you talk to the people at Brentford, they say the one thing we don’t worry about is the table because the table lies. So if we lose four matches on the run and then we look at the data and it says we’re just on the wrong side of the ball, then we are completely relaxed about it. They also have a fanbase who has bought into that.

‘The biggest issue in football is ignoring the noise. As fans, you are conditioned to think losing three matches in a week changes everything.

‘If you have a fanbase who trust the owners, then that will buy you more time and that means you will be less likely to swap managers or try to swap strategy or have a new director of football come in. It gives you more chance of nudging your way forwards.

‘That’s what has happened at Brighton and Brentford. Look at both of those clubs now - you would normally expect them to be somewhere between 8-12 in the Premier League each year.’

Your Next Pompey Read: 'He is going to destroy the club': Milan Mandaric pledges to save troubled Sheffield Wednesday