Portsmouth fans baffled as senior exit confirmed – ‘Maybe Eisners are selling…’
Portsmouth are quietly preparing for their second season in the Championship.
Last season saw them survive relegation with a buffer of just five points, a near-miss John Mousinho’s side will want to avoid in the coming season.
Pompey have looked to bolster their options in the transfer window with Adrian Segecic and John Swift arriving so far, and the signing of Mark Kosznovszky is expected to be confirmed imminently.
But an unexpected senior departure confirmed on Thursday (24 July) has raised some confusion within the Blues fanbase.
Portsmouth confirm Brown departure
Portsmouth have confirmed that Tony Brown will step down as the club’s chief operating officer at the end of September.
Brown joined Pompey in 2013, in the aftermath of the fight to save the club from liquidation – a plight that they came within mere hours of.
In the years since, his role grew to include negotiating football and player contracts, and overseeing the development of Pompey’s training ground and Fratton Park.
Portsmouth chief executive officer Andy Cullen called Brown “one of the most outstanding and highly regarded chief financial officers in the football industry.”
It can be expected that Brown will continue to play a role in the rest of Pompey’s transfer window, with his departure date falling after deadline day.
But fans are bemused by the announcement, with one fan suggesting the news may be a precursor to a potential sale of the club by Michael Eisner, and another calling the news “unsettling”.
Portsmouth fans should relax
It is easy to get sucked into assumptions about Portsmouth’s future when a key decision-maker departs from the club.
But Pompey fans should avoid reactionary theories – football is a game of ever-changing faces.
Brown has done his bit in the Blues’ survival and fight for an eventual return to the Premier League.
His departure, whilst unexpected, is just another curve in the road for Portsmouth, who should be trusted by their fans to make the right decision in appointing his successor.
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