'Tired, worn out and kicked in the teeth': Rich Hughes on his Portsmouth lowest point - before survival highs

For Rich Hughes, Home Park represented rock bottom, the ‘kick in the teeth’ which dumped him to the lowest point of Pompey’s season.

A desperately harsh late 1-0 defeat at Plymouth in November left John Mousinho’s men rooted to the foot of the Championship, seven points adrift of safety with one win all season.

Just 24 hours later, a long-arranged Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust’s AGM called for the sporting director’s attendance, alongside Mousinho and chief executive Andy Cullen to answer fans’ questions.

Michael Eisner’s video message reassured those present that ‘We are not going to be relegated. Period’. In truth, it hardly satisfied supporters amid growing unrest.

Then it was the turn of Hughes and Co to participate in Q&A which contained one particularly tetchy moment involving an increasingly agitated fan quizzing him on the quality of recruitment and the decision to release Sean Raggett and Joe Rafferty.

Ultimately, the Blues would stay up with two games to spare following a remarkable recovery, largely inspired by the Fratton Fortress.

Yet their sporting director reflects on that November night when the club was at its lowest ebb.

‘It was hard from a human and personal level’

Hughes told The News: ‘Plymouth away for me was the lowest point, we played well but didn’t get the point and it was frustrating.

‘John and I did the fans’ forum the following night and we got a lot of criticism and understandably so at that point. It’s tough, everyone was tired and worn out, it’s hard from a human and personal level to keep getting up from the kicks in the teeth.

‘Yet while Plymouth was a really tough night for everyone, within that was a crumb of comfort about the performance, so that’s always a big positive.

‘You look against Coventry (April) that distraught nature of conceding so late on, the boys then reacted in the right way against Derby, pushing forward and showing their mettle when people were potentially questioning them.

Portsmouth’s Rich Hughes: Coventry was horrible

‘Coventry was horrible, though. A friend of mine who works there didn’t say anything to me after the game. He just walked over, gave me a hug and walked off.

‘That’s the wonderful thing, everyone wants their team to be successful, but there’s also that honour among thieves, people who work for football clubs also know the highs and lows, the pain, the sad moments and the good moments and everything in between.

‘You become really conscious of that when you work for a football club, your high moments are normally linked with somebody else’s low moments, and that was a nice touch.

‘He was probably delighted at winning in the last minute, yet spared a thought and had sympathy for us for losing the last kick of the game. It was horrible.’

April’s stoppage-time 1-0 defeat at Coventry represented a dismal 16th defeat in 22 away matches for the Blues.

For their next match away from Fratton Park, Mousinho’s men picked up a remarkable 5-3 triumph at Norwich, signifying their third and last victory on the road of the 2024-25 campaign.

It also put them within three points of safety - achieved days later with a 1-0 win over Watford at Fratton Park.

Yet Pompey’s away results, particularly in the first half of the season, remain frustrating when reflecting on the season.

Portsmouth chief defends away displays

Hughes added: ‘The away performances are obviously going to be a topic for everyone this year and rightly so.

‘There have been certain games when we weren’t at the races and weren’t good enough - but post-January a lot of the away performances were pretty good.

‘West Brom one was poor, we made the decision to rotate the group a bit and it didn't pay off. But, after that, there was a consistency in away performances where we were hard to beat, we weren't as fragile, that was a big factor.

‘We didn’t anticipate going to Norwich and scoring five - and we were annoyed at the three goals we conceded - but there were signs there that we were going to turn a corner away from home. We had found a way of hanging in games.

‘I also liked the reaction to going a goal down at Sheffield Wednesday. We stayed calm, we stayed consistent, and credit to the boys in that game, a game which didn’t really matter for either team.

‘There were moments where they were throwing themselves in front of the ball, Terry Devlin was getting cramp, which kind of sums up this group.

‘They are desperate not to be beaten, which is something to build on to take into next season.’

Your Next Pompey Read: The key positions Pompey must strengthen in summer transfer window