Portsmouth: Owner Michael Eisner says EFL pyramid ‘financial disaster’

Eisner said Pompey, who are 19th this season after 16 games, would be active in the January transfer window but vowed to continue “the path” of buying young players with a view to enhancing the team before being sold on to help offset losses.

On the topic of backing head coach John Mousinho with big-money buys, Eisner referenced the cautionary tale of the expensive signing of Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star first baseman Mo Vaughn in 1999, during Eisner’s time overseeing the Anaheim Angels as part of his role with Disney.

“I know there’s a lot of talk about how we don’t have the most expensive squad, but let me tell you, we owned a baseball team, the first year I had all the pressure from the fans and we bought a $100m first baseman,” Eisner said.

“The first pitch of the first game of the year he fell into the dugout and was out for the season, the second season he had an accident, then he gained 40lbs.

“We decided we were going to go to new, young, aggressive players and it worked, we won the World Series (in 2002). It’s going to work for us eventually on the pitch in Portsmouth.”

Despite Pompey sitting just four points off the relegation zone in their second season after promotion from League One, Eisner assured fans they will not drop back into the third tier.

“Trust me, we will not be relegated, next year we will be way further up the table,” he insisted.

“We have a good team, excellent management, the best CEO, a great coach and sporting director.

“We’re going to keep to the path we’re on. We’re going to keep to young, aggressive players and use loans where we need them for the second half of the season.

“Players are coming back from injuries, now I think we are going to see a change [in fortunes]. We have pulled ourselves together after slow starts before.

“We do not want to be a yo-yo team, we don’t want to go back down to League One – we want to move up the ladder, we want to be financially intelligent.”