Pompey were in a similar situation to Charlton last season, but had hope following the appointment of John Mousinho in January.
Pompey will play one more League One games before the 2023-24 season ends on Saturday.
After securing promotion to the second division of English football, John Mousinho’s team were unable to extend their impressive 17-match unbeaten streak as they hosted Wigan at Fratton Park over the weekend. But that was understandable given the title celebrations that followed the midweek victory over Barnsley.
Following the defeat by the Latics, captain Marlon Pack was presented with the League One championship trophy in front of the Fratton fans. Meanwhile, more events are planned, including a party on Southsea Common on Sunday, April 28 – the day following Lincoln’s final game of the season.
The focus will soon shift to the Blues’ return to the Championship. In the interim, here’s some additional League One news that’s been making waves.
Charlton reavel promotion goal
Charlton are currently unbeaten in 14 games, the longest run in 24 years, after a 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury on Saturday. However, they are on track for their worst league finish in 98 seasons, with the Addicks now in 16th place and unable to catch Bristol Rovers, who are a level higher in the table.
That highlights the difficulties Charlton faced when Nathan Jones took over as manager at the Valley in February. However, with green shoots of growth showing since his arrival, there is already anticipation that the south London club will duplicate Pompey’s accomplishments this season and return to the Championship the following season.
Indeed, the current position at the Addicks is comparable to that at the Blues this time last year, with Pompey’s January signing of John Mousinho helping to improve results and steering the Fratton Park club to an 11-match unbeaten run at the close of the season.
We all know what came next. When asked about his team’s chances of promotion in 2024-25, Jones responded: ‘What we want to do is create a football club over a number of years – in the time frame that we believe is possible – and we will be where we believe we belong. Yes, we want to get promoted as soon as possible. However, we want to develop a football club that is sustainable and forward-thinking and goes after our goals.
‘What we want to do is restore this football club to its former glory. Part of that is being promoted, and part of it is competing in the highest leagues. That is what we want to do. Everything has a time limit, so I’m not going to guarantee that we’ll be promoted. We definitely want to do it again next season. Yes, we hope to finish as champions or among the top two.
‘We have a goal here that we want to achieve, and we feel we will succeed.’
Carlisle United boss on survival ‘challenge’
Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has hailed his squad’s fan support while also noting the massive turnaround required following the club’s 29th defeat of the season on Saturday (News and Star).
The already-relegated Cumbrians lost 3-1 to Wycombe in their penultimate home game. While the manager stated that the club’s fans ‘deserve a medal’ for their support this season, he also acknowledged how difficult it will be to return fighting in League Two next season.
Following the record-breaking loss against the Chairboys, Simpson stated: “This needs a huge turnaround, a huge facelift to it all.” Our biggest problem is that when we begin preseason, we are in a stronger position, and when we begin the following season, we are in a better position, because if we are not, we all know what the ramifications will be. We have a challenge on our hands.
Praising his League One strugglers’ support this season, the Carlisle manager added: ‘At the end of the game (on Saturday), it would have been quite easy to get a barrage of abuse from the supporters, but I didn’t see a single person who stayed behind giving them stick.
‘The reality is, we probably did not deserve (such a warm reaction). I can only appreciate them for this because it would have been extremely simple to do anything else. They deserve a lot of respect for accomplishing it.
