Ian Darke raises Portsmouth finances concern in transfer admission
Portsmouth must at the very least sign players for a better substitutes’ bench this month, according to Ian Darke.
The TV commentator and Blues fan has been vocal over the past few months about bringing in “oven-ready” Championship players to add to John Mousinho’s squad, with Pompey having struggled for consistency and away form.
Rich Hughes and the hierarchy are under pressure to deliver, with the board increasingly badgered by supporters to loosening the pursestrings after a mixed summer window.
Darke raised a concern over when Pompey have the finances to make the sort of signings they need this month.
“If the players Pompey sign aren’t good enough to go straight into the side, they need to be solid cover, because the cover they have at the moment isn’t great,” Darke exclusively told Pompey News.
“But I’ve made the point before – who do you get to fit that mould? Who would sign up for a relegation battle? We wonder how far the finances would stretch in January.”
Portsmouth signed 14 players last summer
Portsmouth overhauled their squad in preparation for their first Championship campaign since 2011-12, and to thoroughly mixed effect, despite a larger injection of cash into the club’s facilities.
Several of the players the club spent fees on, including Abdoulaye Kamara, Elias Sorensen and Harvey Blair, have been branded as future projects rather than what is needed right now, much to the frustration of the Fratton faithful.
Others such as Josh Murphy, Freddie Potts and Nicolas Schmid are contributing with an immediate impact needed for survival after Pompey spent less than £5million last summer.
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