Portsmouth favour Premier League credentials as they close in on key Fratton Park appointment
Blues chairman Michael Eisner has thrown his backing behind the creation of the new Fratton Park role
Pompey are closing in on unveiling a head of performance at Fratton Park.
The News understands the Blues are in the process of finalising the newly-created position, with a highly-regarded candidate possessing Premier League experience lined up.
Michael Eisner has strongly pushed for the role, having become frustrated over the startling number of injuries Pompey have suffered over the last few years.
The Blues chairman first announced plans to appoint a head of performance during an interview with The News in August.
Will report to sporting director Rich Hughes
Earlier this month, Pompey filled their long-standing first-team development coach vacancy, with the appointment of League One title-winner Joe Morrell.
Now they are nailing down the head of performance position, with the chosen candidate believed to be currently at another club and required to serve his notice.
Although the precise title has still to be defined, the head of performance will report to sporting director Hughes and oversee the medical and sports science & conditioning (SSC) departments.
On the importance of the role, Eisner previously told The News: ‘This is probably the single biggest area we are working on as relates to the players. It is an area we are putting a lot of focus on, such as performance and medical.
‘We are spending a lot of time all over the world, looking at best practices, medicine, identifying potential problems through motion photography and stuff like that. We want to use technology as best we can.
‘For sure injuries have been a problem. It’s not only a problem we have, it’s a problem all over the Championship, mostly because of non-impact injuries which are happening all over the league.
‘We are looking for a new head in that area, a head of performance, which would be another position built out. It’s steady progression, bringing in a head of performance and building on more departments and steady progression.’
Dreadful recent injury record
Pompey presently have nine players unavailable through injury, with numbers reduced in the past week following the returns of Thomas Waddingham and Franco Umeh to the squad.
For Umeh, who has been blighted by hamstring injuries, the weekend signalled his first squad involvement since January, when the Blues lost to Arsenal in the FA Cup.
Earlier this month, Hughes explained to The News what the new head of performance position would entail.
He said: ‘Effectively, it’s helping to strengthen the medical sports science department and being a very active link between medical sports science, John and the coaches. It’s tying everything together to make sure there’s a very close link.
‘We have a Pompey strategy and we want to replicate how we want to play, how we want to work in the gym, and really tie all those elements together which have been done really well.
‘It’s about coordinating it and bringing it all together to try to maximise player availability, player fitness and player strength. Hopefully that will mean an improvement on injuries.
‘There’s a lot on that front (injuries) and we’ve not shied away from knowing we’ve really been on the sharp end of the injuries in the Championship.
‘But we don’t want to be just best in class, we want someone who has an ability to try to predict where the game’s going, what it looks like and how we stay at the sharp edge of the thinking and periodisation of the players.’