‘Conversation for the summer’: Portsmouth boss’ spending message amid Eisner ‘catastrophe’ warning
Pompey’s financial position in the Championship has been an ongoing topic of conversation but, even with owner Michael Eisner’s prophecies of doom for the game, John Mousinho has more pressing issues.
John Mousinho believes talks over Pompey’s spending need to be shelved until the summer as they fight for their place in the Championship.
And the Blues boss feels Michael Eisner’s warning of impending doom for the English game can’t be a focus for his club, with their second-tier status at stake.
Pompey boss: ‘We know what the expectations were’
Pompey’s position near the bottom of the spending pile at the level they’re currently competing at has been an ongoing topic of conversation this term.
Now Eisner has raised questions about the game’s sustainability and warned of ‘catastrophe’ ahead, as Pompey announced £4.36m losses for the 2024-25 financial year.
No matter the associated difficulties surrounding Pompey’s resources, Mousinho isn’t prepared to entertain talk of that subject with eight games to go this term.
He said: ‘That for me is something right now that is irrelevant, it’s a conversation for the summer.
‘We can’t think we spend too much time thinking about what’s been said, we just have to get our heads down.
‘We’ve got the squad that we’ve got that is more than capable of winning games at the level, because I’ve seen it.
‘We are where we are in terms of everything financially in the league, we know what the expectations were at the start of the season.’
Mousinho: ‘Wider conversation aroun what is and isn’t sustainable’
Eisner’s bleak prophecy comes as huge losses are being announced by Championship clubs, with relegation rivals Leicester City (£71.1m) by far the biggest, but the likes of Hull City (£41.7m), Coventry City (£21.6m) and Norwich City (£20.7m) some of the others.
With the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) now operational and a licensing system for club due to come into play for the 2027-28 season, there are hopes for the game’s future sustainability.
Mousinho has his reservations about how the IFR can rid the game of all its financial ills, however.
He added: ‘There’s a wider conversation around football, what is and isn’t sustainable.
‘My take is it’s a pretty good way to lose a lot of money, buy a football club and do it that way.‘
‘There’s all sorts of degrees to that conversation. It’s something I’ve been a part of in my time with the PFA, but now I have my job to do and what’s in front of me.
‘There’s a debate, what is sustainability in football?
‘We could very, very easily get to a spot where sustainability is you spend what comes in - 99 per cent of clubs at that point then fall foul of that.
‘Then there’s the dream fans have of owners spending a lot of money to get to the Premier League.
‘But as a player and as a coach, I’ve made a living off football and owners putting their hands in their pockets like the Eisners have done over the years. They’ve spent a lot of money, but whether it’s become uncontrollable is a really interesting debate.
‘We have a regulator coming in to solve it, but I’m not sure how you solve it unless you rip everything up. I’m not sure it gets solved because financial restrictions, as they are at the minute, are a bit all over the place.’