Joe Morrell: Credit to Danny Cowley for making Portsmouth a better team - and club

That’s the verdict of Joe Morrell, who is convinced the Blues now possess more quality on the off the pitch since the midfielder's arrival in August 2021.

While he is adamant Pompey’s former head coach had not lost the dressing room before his exit on Monday night.

It was Cowley who recruited Morrell to Fratton Park, signifying the second time the pair worked together after a spell at Lincoln.

After 21-and-a-half months at the helm, Cowley leaves Pompey 12th in League One – and the Wales international believes his former boss oversaw club progression.

Morrell told The News: ‘Obviously we haven’t achieved what we wanted, but not every manager can get promoted, not every manager can win trophies.

‘The mark of a good manager's spell is whether he left the club in a better place than when he arrived – and that certainly was the case with the gaffer.

‘This club still has a long way to go, we aren't the finished article by any means, but, if you look at the playing squad, the average age, and its quality, I think it’s much better than the one I came into.

‘A lot of that is down to the manager.

‘We’ve been on a bad run recently, but I don’t think there’s too much bad feeling towards the manager and Nicky, people can see they have given absolutely everything to try to improve this club – and I think they have done.

‘Off the pitch is also a work in progress, they bought the training ground last year and are improving those facilities, while Rich Hughes has come in.

‘The gaffer doesn't take a step back, he wants to be involved in every aspect of the club. There will be improvements here he will have been part of, which maybe people won’t see from the outside.

‘There are definitely improvements off the pitch, which he’s had a hand in, and he was always striving to make this place as good as it can possibly be.’

With one win in their last 14 League One matches, there have been accusations Cowley had lost the dressing room.

Certainly it represented a significant collapse, having been top entering September, but Morrell refutes such claims.

He added: ‘It’s certainly not the case.

‘There will probably be lads in this squad who, when they found out the news, would have thought “Now’s my chance to have a new start with a new manager’.

‘That’s natural. In 10 years of playing, I haven’t had too many sackings of managers, but that’s always the case when it does happen.

‘You always have lads who are maybe out of the team and didn’t have that relationship – who are now maybe more hopeful for the future.

‘Then you have lads who are maybe a bit closer to him, playing more often, and find it a bit more disappointing.

‘It certainly wasn't the case of losing the dressing room, we have a professional group of boys here.’