The crucial reason why Portsmouth had to call time on Danny Cowley’s Fratton Park tenure

That’s the verdict of The News’ chief sport writer Neil Allen, who believes the Blues made the correct decision to call time on the head coach’s stay.

Danny and his brother Nicky both departed on Monday evening after a run of one win in 14 league games saw an end to their tenure.

During Cowley’s 21-and-a-half month spell in charge, he failed to finish a campaign within the top six.

And that is something Allen believes was the 44-year-old’s key downfall following news of his sacking earlier in the week.

‘It’s not unexpected,’ he said in the latest episode of the Pompey Q&A.

‘I think it was untenable following the reaction against MK Dons and Charlton. There was a feeling of toxicity against Ipswich as well despite the 2-2 draw.

‘It was clear he had lost the majority of the fans and Fratton Park wasn’t a pleasant place in the last three matches.

‘It had come to a head at that point, I could see no way back for him, especially after MK Dons I just couldn't see how he could restore that.

‘The only way he could do that is through wins but they’re short of confidence at the moment. It’s unfortunate.

‘He had 97 games in charge, entering his fourth transfer window and Pompey were still not consistent play-off contenders.

‘That for me was the crucial thing during his time at the club, he wasn't able to get Pompey consistently challenging for the play-offs.

‘The closest he got was with Kenny Jackett’s team when they lost on the final day against Accrington and dropped out of the play-offs.

‘For me the owners have given him enough time, in the modern era 21 months as a manager is a long time.

‘They gave him transfer windows, they gave him a bigger budget than Kenny Jackett and Paul Cook.

‘Although, it is important to stress that Jackett’s budget was swelled by the sales of Jamal Lowe and Matt Clarke that summer.

‘The only player Cowley sold was Marcus Harness and that went straight into his budget.

‘People have said that he should’ve been given more and that’s a debate that could be had but in the end it just didn’t happen.

‘Managers are judged about what happens on the pitch and Pompey had won one of their last 14 league games, six points from their last nine league outings and there were no signs of that being reversed.

‘It’s such a shame because he’s a great guy and was one of the best managers I’ve ever worked with at Pompey.’