'I'll be very, very surprised': Portsmouth boss tips Bristol City man for success after rejecting Fratton Park reunion
The former Luton midfielder made 105 appearances during his time at Fratton Park
John Mousinho has admitted Joe Morrell declined the chance of a Fratton Park return to become part of his backroom team.
However, he’s convinced the former Wales international will be a coaching success elsewhere as he embarks on a new career.
As revealed by The News on Monday, Morrell has been working as an under-21s coach with Bristol City since the turn of the year, following his playing retirement at the age of 28.
The midfielder never recovered from suffering a knee injury while representing the Blues at Oxford United in January 2024 - and was subsequently released following the League One title triumph.
After Morrell called time on his playing days in October, Mousinho approached the Welshman over potentially returning to Pompey to begin his coaching career.
Yet, with the opportunity to replace Zesh Rehman as first-team development coach, the former Blues vice-captain instead opted to look elsewhere - and has since returned to former club Bristol City.
‘I will be very, very surprised if he doesn’t have a successful coaching career’
Mousinho told The News: ‘Joe has got a very good head on his shoulders. He showed some excellent leadership qualities here, hence he was the vice captain for that League One-winning season.
‘I will be very, very surprised if he doesn’t have a successful coaching career.
‘I spoke to Joe after he decided to retire, he decided that he wanted to have a bit more of a prominent role, ie taking the lead with a team a bit more. It was a half conversation which we had and Joe decided that’s what he wanted to pursue.
‘I rated him really highly as a footballer. Unfortunately, with everything which happened with the injury he had to retire early, but he has a very, very smart footballing brain and is a really smart guy. Like I said, I would be very surprised if he doesn’t make it far as a coach.’
Coaching vacancy at Fratton Park
Pompey are still searching for a replacement for Rehman, who left before Christmas to take up a job in Saudi Arabia, ending a successful three-and-a-half years on the south coast.
Under Mousinho, the former Bradford and QPR man was appointed to the new position of first-team development coach in March 2023, involving working individually with players.
At the time, Rehman had temporarily stepped up from his role as the Academy’s lead professional development phase coach to help out with the first-team.
Following the dismissals of Danny and Nicky Cowley, along with the departure of coaches Lorenzo Dolcetti and Simon Bassey in January 2023, Rehman supported new head coach Mousinho and assistant Jon Harley.
The Uefa Pro Licence-qualified coach then remained on the coaching staff until December, when he quit for coaching opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Morrell, who made 105 appearances for Pompey after arriving from Luton in August 2021, has been working at Bristol City since January.
He also featured 37 times for Wales, including at the World Cup finals in Qatar in 2022, before injury sadly curtailed his career at the age of 28.
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