What Cowley is thinking as he begins Project Pompey Rebuild
THERE’S one thing we all seem to be able to agree on after the dispiriting events of the past few days.
Portsmouth Football Club is desperately in need of a summer clearout.
Time for a overhaul, rebuild, reboot, reset, fresh start or to get rid.
Dress it up however you want, but the one consistent theme from Mark Catlin to Danny Cowley to the press to the fans to anyone who follows Pompey and has their senses intact, is we’ve all seen enough to know this squad needs a wrecking ball taking to it.
So where do we begin? Or more pertinently where does the man charged with reshaping the Blues’ on-pitch fortunes start?
The first place, of course, is within the building and what is currently at Cowley’s disposal.
The 11 out-of-contract players are most pressing, with player-of-the-season Craig MacGillivray, Tom Naylor, Jack Whatmough, Ben Close, Ryan Williams, Andy Cannon, Jordy Hiwula, Charlie Daniels and Haji Mnoga the most recognisable names.
Things will become clearer on that front in the coming days with the retained list to be announced by the club. Expect it to be brutal.
It’s ultimately moving on the majority of those players which is going to free up Cowley to bring in the eight new faces he’s looking to recruit in the coming weeks and months.
With a squad limit of 22 in play there’s restrictions for doing so, but it’s those men who will give the new Pompey head coach the most wriggle room.
So, I repeat, expect it to be brutal.
In looking for clues to who will be prioritised to keep, perhaps you had to look to the aftermath of Sunday’s insipid events.
It was there, on Fratton Park’s centre circle, Cowley was separately in deep conversation with skipper Naylor and then Whatmough after the game.
They are the two Cowley wants to keep on most pressingly, and logically enough, they are the two who will have the most interest in their services for next season. Whatmough, of course, is Pompey’s longestserving senior player and a homegrown one to boot. It remains to be seen, however, if interest from a higher level and the financial certainty that move will bring will prove the overriding factor. And the Blues’ management team are keen on keeping Naylor, pictured, although once again, how easy it will be to reach his demands coming off the back of more than a year haemorrhaging £700,000 per month remains to be seen. Mnoga is a young prospect who the club will look to mould moving forward, and will take up an option to do so.
As for the rest? Watch this space. MacGillivray has just collected the cursed News/ Sports Mail Player of the Season award. And we all know how that usually ends up.
Close, Williams and Cannon are probably the next significant names on this list. Then there’s Hiwula and Daniels.
Put it this way, don’t expect too many of those players to be staying around.
The 12 men who are contracted is obviously a different scenario entirely.
Whether Cowley wants the players or not, the club are committed to them moving forward.
Clearly, there are one or two decent assets among that number, players who would generate interest if available.
Evidently, Ronan Curtis is currently the most bankable among them, and hasn’t hid his desire to play in the Championship.
Despite Cowley making the right noises about the Republic of Ireland international going nowhere, it’d be no surprise to see him move on.
Then there’s Marcus Harness, who is the player chief executive Catlin has perhaps fielded the most calls about over the past season or so, especially in his brighter moments over the first half of this campaign.
We know how much John Marquis has laboured amid a loss of confidence in recent weeks, but his goal return still reads 18 for the season.
That, and a long-term record for finding the back of the net, could see him attract suitors if Pompey feel selling is the right thing to do.
It will be factored into Cowley’s thinking to deal at the right price point for these men.
And you can’t see too much fan upset at that happening. Beyond that, though, it’s hard to envisage the Blues experiencing a rush for the players tied down for next season.
So expect plenty of reverberations as the retained list lands in the coming days, with a watchful eye on how it unfolds for the bankable gems tarnished by this season’s failure.
Then it’s a case of assembling the squad who can execute the brand of football Pompey will be playing moving forward. There were palpably issues on that front this season, but the emergence of young Swindon gem Scott Twine as a target this week offers meaningful insight into the direction headed – both in age and style of play.
Harvey White being wanted again next term is another indication Cowley has no fears in turning to young, thrusting talent.
More significant for the Essex man, is the character of those being considered and their ability to be able to shoulder the pressure of playing for Pompey.
There’s been plenty of red flags raised from the existing crop on that front for Cowley to witness in recent weeks.
He may not be able to plan three transfer windows ahead how he usually would, but there’s enough irons in the fire for the man charged with the rebuild to feel he’s adequately covered.
Unlike some of his predecessors, he won’t be building a team completely from scratch.
But perhaps the upheaval we’re about to witness won’t be too far removed from the most frenetic summers of recruitment from yesteryear at Fratton Park.