Is the Posh dream over? Two seasons of disappointment and the long road back
- Matt Mecham
- 16 minutes ago
- 7 min read
There comes a point in every season where fans have to look the truth squarely in the face.
For Peterborough United supporters, that moment arrived somewhere around the last week of January.
It wasn’t after a heavy defeat or a sacking, but when deadline day passed, and Darragh MacAnthony flew home having done almost no business whatsoever outside of selling our back-up striker.
When the window shut, we were left with even fewer players.
And somewhere, deep in the collective heart of the Posh faithful, the promotion dream finally flickered out.
Since then, we’ve had a drop in form and more first-team players added to the injury list.
Peterborough United’s 2025/26 campaign is, for all practical purposes, over.
A season that never began
The cruel irony is that there was genuine optimism after the appointment of Luke Williams in late October, ending months of turgid football with Ferguson.
Williams, who had achieved remarkable things at Notts County, promised a possession-based, high-intensity style that Posh fans had been craving.
December brought four wins in a row and the first stirrings of belief that something might yet be salvaged from a chaotic start.
But football is unforgiving.
And January has proven that this squad does not have the depth to sustain a promotion challenge, or even, in its current broken state, to perform consistently at mid-table level.
Injury woes
The injury list reads more like a hospital ward than a team sheet.
Harry Leonard, Posh's best striker and one of the most exciting young forwards in League One, is reported to be playing through a hernia issue.
Winger Kyrell Lisbie, the club's most dangerous creative outlet, is dealing with hip pain, which saw him hobble off just six minutes into the second half against Barnsley.
Williams is candid about the situation.
"Unfortunately, some of them are going to have to play in some discomfort. That is part of their journey to becoming top players. They are going to have to withstand and endure."
Luke Williams, Posh+ interview
Right now, Rio Adebisi, Jacob Mendy, Donay O’Brien-Brady, Tom Lees, Matt Garbett, Ben Woods, Sam Hughes and Harley Mills are all injured.
Tom O'Connor's loan from Wrexham was terminated early due to injury.
Players are returning to training at a painfully slow trickle, with several not expected back until mid-March at the earliest.
The squad is stretched to breaking point with U21 players making up the bench.
There's a difference between developing young players through meaningful involvement and relying on them because there's no alternative.
Some of them will handle it. And for the ones who don't, the damage to their confidence at a critical point in their development could set them back.
Being forced into the team because everyone else is injured isn't the same as being ready for it.
The window that wasn't
Fans cried out for new signings to replace the injured, but that never happened.
In fairness to MacAnthony and Williams, they were consistent with their public messaging.
"So you've got Harry Leonard, who's one of the finest No. 9s in league one, touch wood he stays fit.
I love signing a player, so even on Sunday, I was thinking, do we need a bit of insurance. Barry said to me "Stop what you're doing", the manager is really happy with everything.
For once, with the chips were at the table, we just kind of we went all in on what we have and what the academy is."
Darragh MacAnthony, The Hard Truth Podcast
No player would be signed for the sake of it. They wanted long-term targets, not panic buys.
I understand the logic.
When you're sitting mid-table with a play-off place a long shot, splashing significant money on short-term fixes is rarely the answer.
But by the time January arrived, this wasn't a squad that needed reinforcing for a promotion push.
It was a squad that needed cover to simply function.
Will we regret it?
The honest answer is: yes.
Not because of what a signing or two might have done for the play-off push.
But because of the cumulative effect of playing with injured players, and a back four containing three right-backs and no natural left-footer, while U21s fill the bench, could yet drag this club into a genuinely uncomfortable position.
The sheer volume of games our small squad are forced to endure is taking its toll.
For example, Kyrell Lisbie was semi-professional and has accumulated over 2,200 minutes already this season, easily 600 minutes more than average in League One, and is now asked to play through pain with a hip injury as there is no credible alternative.
"It is tough with the run of games and my body is feeling it. It's about battling through these knocks and niggles.
Coming from Braintree, I don't remember plaiyng a full 90 minutes and now I'm playing 90s back to back and I've really been feeling it and pushing through it as I know it's an important time in the season. Sometimes the sports science team are annoyed at me because the running stats are not up to scratch but that is because my body is feeling it."
Kyrell Lisbie, Posh+ interview
The battle to avoid relegation is as tight as the battle for promotion meaning a record number of points may be needed to avoid the drop and we are not out of the woods yet.
This season, we had a golden chance to aim for promotion.
The league is the weakest it's been, and a few additions would have seen us compete strongly for play-off places, giving us a great chance at reaching the Championship.
Next season, League One will be much stronger, and there may be trouble ahead.
The summer that's already started
The summer is already taking shape, and it's not great.
Jimmy-Jay Morgan will return to Chelsea, likely seeking a Championship move next season.
Matthew Garbett, who has quietly been one of our most composed performers when fit, heads into a World Cup summer as a New Zealand international. It would be a surprise if he were still at the Weston Homes Stadium in August.
It’s unlikely that Tom Lees will complete another gruelling season as a player. Darragh has already said he wants Tom coaching at Posh.
Sam Hughes has had a long road back with a pretty serious injury that has already set him back once. His minutes must be managed carefully or we risk a recurrence.
Archie Collins, who has started every single league game this season and been our most consistent performer by some distance, is also out of contract in June.
Kyrell Lisbie's remarkable rise in League One will mean that very tempting offers will come in.
That will leave big holes in our squad.
And the accounts tell you why filling those gaps is difficult: the club recorded a loss of £2.3 million for the year ending June 2024, with a £4 million profit on player sales the only thing keeping those numbers manageable.
We're all hoping for two or three players to complete our squad, but few realise that most of our budget will go towards replacing those leaving.
It's always one step forward and two steps back.
As has been stated numerous times, our ambitions, coupled with our small gate, mean we have to sell to remain solvent.
That’s the very foundation of the Peterborough United model.
Two disappointing seasons. What now?
To understand how Posh arrived here, you have to go back to the summer of 2024.
MacAnthony himself, never one to avoid self-reflection when the situation demands it, acknowledged that recruitment during that period was poor.
The consequences are still being felt: unwanted players on the books, a depleted matchday XI, and no budget left to fix it in January.
However, we remain a well-run club with a clear playing identity under Williams.
We also have a chairman and scouting system responsible for a conveyor belt of young talent that has produced real gems.
But competing sustainably in League One, let alone challenging for promotion, requires a level of squad depth that recruitment and injuries have undermined.
This is the second year in a row without a promotion challenge.
At least last season had the EFL Trophy run, which culminated in a Wembley final, giving it meaning.
This season has offered no such consolation.
The 2023/24 season now looks further away than it should. That team, the one that reached second in the table, wasn't some distant golden era.
It was two years ago.
We're barely into March, and yet somehow we're here watching U21s recalled from bottom of the pyramid loans, and key players hobbling through games they shouldn't be playing.
It feels like we’re a shadow of our former selves.
But I don't think the Posh dream is over
Williams is building something, and the philosophy is right.
There's real talent at this club, real quality coming through the academy, and a chairman who has delivered genuine highs over his time here.
"We're the youngest team in the EFL, and we're blessed with that.
Look at all these young players taking their opportunities and still managing to get some decent results and we have full confidence in them."
Luke Williams, Posh+ interview
But this summer has to be different.
We need better recruitment and an honest look at why players keep breaking down.
We need a squad built for a season with real depth, not held together with tape and goodwill by March.
That lack of depth scuppered the 2023/2024 promotion push, and has ended this season before the daffodils have sprung.
The gap between where we are and where we want to be isn't just a few signings away.
It's yet another rebuild.
And rebuilds take time, money and decisions that this club hasn't always got right.
The season ends in May. The road back starts the day after.
I hope that we get it right this time.
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