Honest reaction given to John Swift situation at Portsmouth - It's "become very evident" summer prediction was right | OneFootball

John Swift has missed the last four games for Portsmouth

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Having put in one of their best performances of the season last weekend in their home fixture against Millwall, in which they prevailed 3-1, Pompey then followed that up with a disappointing 3-0 defeat away to Sheffield United, in what has been, at best, an inconsistent campaign thus far for the club.

Portsmouth comfortably survived relegation from the Championship last season, marking their first year back in the second tier since the 2011/12 campaign. Ahead of this season, the ambition remained the same: to comfortably survive.

However, after 17 matches, Pompey sit agonisingly just above the relegation zone, two points above Oxford United in 22nd and with a resurgent Sheffield United directly beneath them heading into the weekend.

John Mousinho's side have struggled to build upon their success of survival last season and look in real danger of being dragged into a relegation battle should their form remain the same.

Pompey have had to contend with one of the smallest budgets in the league, which was reflected in their summer transfer business, spending just around £3 million on recruits such as Mark Kosznovszky, Josh Knight, and Adrian Segicic.

Loan additions such as Florian Bianchini, Yang Min-Hyeok, and Conor Chaplin were also joined by the free additions of Josef Bursik and John Swift.

Swift, whose contract with West Brom expired this summer, returned to the club where he had spent much of his youth, bringing a wealth of experience with over 300 games in the Championship, as he was viewed as the new fulcrum of their side.

However, the former Reading and Chelsea midfielder has struggled upon his return to Fratton Park, and in recent weeks has dropped out of the side altogether, having not made an appearance since Portsmouth's 4-0 loss away to Birmingham City.

John Swift has been 'fairly underwhelming' since his return to Portsmouth this season

Football League World's Portsmouth fan pundit, Miltos, has shared their views on Swift, with the Englishman not yet living up to his early expectations upon his arrival.

When asked whether they had been underwhelmed or disappointed by Swift's performances, Miltos said: "Yeah, I would definitely say so.

"I think that when we signed John Swift, there was a heck of a lot of comments coming from West Brom fans saying how John Swift is too slow, he's too predictable, he hasn't got the legs to play in this league anymore. And I'm afraid that, for the most part, we've very quickly come to the realisation of that.

"He's very good technically, that was never in doubt, and I think that he has showcased his ability in a couple of instances.

"Take his goal against Leicester, for example, that was a point. A very well executed move that started and finished with him, and a skill not any player can pull off.

"But I'm afraid that this is not the only thing that you want from your player, especially since we're talking about someone in Swift's position, where we had a lot of absentees in the period when he started to play more.

"We had players like Murphy, Lang, and Segicic out, and we needed someone to not only step up in the absence of them, but because we were already in a bad position in the table and putting in some very mediocre performances.

"We needed someone to provide us with a bit of a different spark, to be aggressive, to be intense, to reignite something, and he hasn't been able to live up to that.

"That's become very evident from times when we would get overrun in midfield. We would never ever be able to be dangerous on the counterattack. We wouldn't capitalise on mistakes that were made in the middle of the park.

"He's definitely not been able to live up to the expectation, that's a certainty, I'm afraid.

"And look, it's a weird dynamic right now at Pompey. We aren't doing particularly well. We just came off one of our best performances of the season, if not the best, against Millwall, where everyone played well. And then we backed that up with another disappointing display at Bramall Lane.

"But I feel like John Swift, he's had his chances to show what he can do, how far he can take this game to help us, and I don't think he's the solution to what we need right now.

"He can be influential in terms of, like, in certain sequences of play when we're leading, or maybe we want to protect the lead, we want someone who is a calmer figure in the middle of the park, someone who can knock the ball around well.

"But I think apart from that, he doesn't really suit the way that we should aspire to play, at least, a more intense style of play. He doesn't suit that at all, and he's been fairly underwhelming."

John Mousinho must find a way to get the best out of John Swift if Portsmouth are to avoid a relegation battle this season

With over 330 appearances in the Championship for the likes of Reading, West Brom, and Brentford, accumulating over 50 goals and 50 assists in that period, expectations of Swift were set high upon his return to his boyhood club this summer.

The 30-year-old seemed like a real coup for Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho, but Swift's recent absence from the side indicates that Mousinho has not been impressed with his performances.

According to Capology, Swift is collecting a reported £20,000-per-week on the South Coast, double the next highest-paid permanently contracted player at the club, Colby Bishop.

Swift has yet to justify that investment, and Mousinho must find a way to get the best out of the supremely talented midfielder if his side is to climb the table sooner rather than later and avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap.