Portsmouth FC urged to make 'tough' Colby Bishop exit decision | OneFootball

The 29-year-old striker has scored just one goal from open play in 30 Championship matches this season

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…

Portsmouth FC's 1-0 home defeat to Hull City on Saturday leaves John Mousinho's side just five points clear of the Championship relegation zone, in 19th.

In worrying fashion against the Tigers, Pompey's number nine, Colby Bishop, continued his dry run in front of goal - having scored just one goal from open play in 30 league games this season.

Fan patience is seemingly wearing thin for the 29-year-old striker after every match he fails to score in, yet a contract extension signed on the 24th February means he's likely to remain at Fratton Park for another two seasons.

Nevertheless, FLW's Pompey Fan Pundit, Miltos Ioannidis, has called for his club to make a 'tough' decision regarding the ex-Accrington Stanley man once this season has finished.

John Mousinho's stance on Colby Bishop amid Portsmouth social media backlash

Firstly, Mousinho, for his part, has publicly insisted he is unconcerned by Bishop’s ongoing dry spell in front of goal and has pointed to the striker’s broader contribution out of possession and in the build-up.

The Pompey head coach told The News that his "focus with Colby is not on goals. I think we can play well enough with him not scoring - we have other players who can do it as well."

Yet, this is not what the majority of Portsmouth fans think on social media, with one supporter on X claiming that Bishop is on course to have 'the worst season as a striker in Championship history.'

Whilst another two respectively labelled him a 'passenger' in the side, and called for the forward to be dropped from the squad immediately.

It seems as though there’s a huge disconnect between the trust Mousinho has in Bishop to what the fans are seeing in the players’ performances. Which is perhaps why the following claim has been made...

Portsmouth told to make 'tough' Colby Bishop decision in the summer transfer window

FLW’s Portsmouth Fan Pundit Miltos believes that, for all Bishop has given the club, the time is fast approaching for the club to be ruthless and seek an upgrade at centre-forward.

"There is no denial over the things that Colby Bishop has done for this club and the contribution he’s had over the years, we wouldn’t be where we are without him," Miltos told FLW.

"As much as a warrior Bishop is, he’s not capable of matching and complementing the energy of the others around him. That’s why you often see him incapable of getting on the end of chances. He’s either too late or he doesn’t read them at all."

So far this season, Bishop has missed 12 big chances in front of goal - with a shot-conversion rate of just 4.2%, as per FotMob Data.

Having netted 20+ goals in back-to-back League One seasons for the Hampshire club, in 22/23 and 23/24, Miltos believes that is Bishop's ceiling as a footballer.

The Fan Pundit continued with, "So, as much as I love Colby Bishop, we have to get someone in that will be capable of playing to a standard that feels more Championship standard than League One standard. If he was to drop down to League One today, he’d be brilliant at that level.

"But I think Championship - one non penalty goal in 30 games he’s played - obviously you don’t judge an attacker on goals only, but one non-penalty goal in late February kind of speaks for itself."

It was in his final few words on the situation that Miltos called for Portsmouth to make a change, saying, "We have to look, and partly I’m baffled on how we didn’t do it in January, but in the summer definitely, we’ve got to make some tough decisions and Bishop making way for a new striker has to be one of those, in my opinion."

Ultimately, this view is partially supported by the club’s concrete interest in Grenoble forward Nesta Elphege during the January window, with Pompey reportedly seeing a bid turned down before the French-Cameroonian eventually sealed a move to Serie A outfit Parma.