Portsmouth tagged Championship 'paupers' as their struggle to adjust to step up continues following Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday defeats

That’s the honest verdict of The News’ chief sports writer, Neil Allen, who believes the Blues’ decision to operate a self-sustainable model under owners Tornante ensures they don’t have the financial clout to truly compete with their second-tier peers in the transfer market.

Pompey recruited 15 new players in the summer, with seven of those (including Reuben Swann) arriving for fees as their playing budget doubled.

Yet the money spent on new purchases to reshape the Blues’ League One winning side (believed to be around the £2-3m mark), plus wages, pales into significance when compared to others in the division.

For many, that natural struggle to match or better what rivals have to offer has contributed to the Blues sitting bottom of the Championship table with more than a quarter of the season already completed.

Allen agrees with that sentiment. Although, he maintains it’s far too early to write off the squad assembled over the summer by sporting director Rich Hughes and head coach John Mousinho.

Speaking on the latest episode of Pompey Talk, he said: ‘Clearly, Pompey are the paupers compared to everyone else in this division because they want a sustainable route.

‘We know a lot of clubs out there are getting into a lot of debt, have loans to owners, while others have parachute payments to help with that sort of thing, so Pompey can’t compete there financially at all.

‘The consequence of that is Pompey have a smaller budget, it’s more difficult to recruit at this level, so Rich Hughes has gone for what he’s got in his wallet, basically. 

‘At the moment, it’s looking like the players who have been recruited aren’t up to the required standard. 

‘But I would like to reiterate that it can change. Players’ form can improve, they can develop - Abu Kamara is a prime example of that last season. 

‘So they can get better, but at the moment, as a squad, the recruits look short, some look inconsistent, so they need a lot from a lot more players.’