Guy: Respect is key for Pompey

Whittingham believes success next season will be measured by ending it out of the red rather than where the Blues finish in League Two.

The new boss has given a passionate assessment of the work that needs to be done to repair Pompey’s standing in the game.

Whittingham has already started work on building his squad for next season by arranging deals with the current squad and meeting potential signings.

Pompey’s wage bill currently stands at around £1.1m and is expected to stay in that region moving forward.

That will place the club outside of the division’s top spenders next term.

The manager has no problem with that, though, and knows he will be operating in the free transfer market.

In contrast to previous bosses, he is adamant that is the way it should be for Pompey moving forward.

Whittingham said: ‘When you come out of administration you have to get your house in order.

‘We will not be respected until we do that.

‘I’m not sure if we can have definitive answers (on budgets). The budgets are governed by people who come through the turnstiles.

‘There is debt that has to be paid off and we will pay it.

‘We aren’t going to get players on contracts and make people wait for money.

‘How can we go to the many people who have suffered from our administrations and then pay stupid wages and transfer fees?

‘You don’t. It’s simple.

‘We owe people so we pay it. That’s how it has to be now.

‘That’s how you get a bit of respect, and we need respect from the football world because we haven’t had that for a long time. That’s not because of the people who are here now, but people who have been here in the past.

‘We have to get our standing back in the football world and make sure we’re a club which is respected.

‘Success will be finishing next season without losing any money.

‘That’s success for me whether we go up or not – running the club properly and not running it at a loss in numbers.’

Pompey will be operating under the guise of the Football League moving forward following a 14-month period in administration.

Whittingham believes that’s a sound policy and feels there has to also be an emphasis on rebuilding the club’s standing in the community.

He said: ‘We have to rebuild, but rebuild properly.

‘That’s not only financially but building relationships with groups and companies.

‘We are going to be scrutinised for a few years, which I think is sensible.

‘We’ve come out of administration before and then gone back into it. We want that moral high ground of saying “we’re doing right here”.’