Continuity may not hold key to desired promotion
CONTINUITY has been a key word in Danny Cowley’s vocabulary in recent weeks.
Ever since focus turned to the summer transfer window – and even before the final ball of the 2021-22 season was kicked – it was made clear that retaining the majority of the existing playing staff at Fratton Park was essential moving forward.
The foundations of a promotion-winning side are already in place, we’ve been led to believe.
All that’s needed is the extra quality that sits on top of that underpinning to make it work.
Making strong those foundations, therefore, explains the Blues’ determination and success in retaining the services of the likes of Sean Raggett, Michael Jacobs and to a lesser extent Reeco Hackett before the transfer window officially opened on June 10.
Activating the clauses on the contracts of Marcus Harness, Louis Thompson, Jay Mingi and Jayden Reid was less taxing. But it still needed to be done.
It now leaves Cowley with a first-team squad of 17 players, which includes Harry Jewitt-White, as the Blues prepare for their first day back on June 20.
That’s a healthier state than the one the Blues boss found himself in this time last year, with triallists aplenty drafted in to make up the numbers after the axe was wielded.
But this reliance on continuity has its flaws.
Namely, the foundations that currently exist are of a side that finished 10th last season. Not outside the top two, not a team worthy of a play-off place, not a side who just missed out on a top six finish – but mid-table.
Secondly, the players who arguably catapulted the Blues to such a position – loanees Gavin Bazunu, Hayden Carter and 15-goal top scorer
George Hirst – are gone and likely never to return.
And that’s why Pompey’s over-reliance on continuity this summer could be a dangerous tactic.
Not only does it rely on the current crop – which could feasibly also be without both
Ronan Curtis and Marcus Harness come September – vastly improving on their performances and consistency levels from last term, it also puts added pressure on Cowley making sure the new additions come in and have a positive impact.