'An okay side': John Mousinho addresses remarkable Portsmouth progress as he toasts big anniversary
The Blues failed to win any of their opening 10 games last season, collecting a first victory on October 19, 2024
Marooned in the Championship relegation zone and without a win to their name in any competition, they were bleak times for Pompey.
Fast forward 12 months and the Blues are three points adrift of the play-offs and positioned in 14th spot following three victories from their opening nine matches.
Certainly there is every reason for John Mousinho to approach Leicester on Saturday (7.45pm) with far more optimism than those gloomy early days of their long-awaited Championship reunion.
It wasn’t until October 19, 2024 before a Blues side in 23rd spot collected a maiden win following a 2-1 triumph at fellow strugglers QPR through goals from Freddie Potts and Callum Lang.
Of that starting XI, only Jordan Williams, Connor Ogilvie, Marlon Pack and Regan Poole are expected to line-up at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. While current Foxes boss Marti Cifuentes was Rangers’ head coach on that occasion.
And with seven more points than this stage last season, Mousinho doesn’t need to convince the Fratton faithful that the Blues are now far better equipped at this level.
‘We spent far too many games not being competitive’
Mousinho told The News: ‘We are an okay side so far this year and, regardless of the results, the one thing we wanted to really focus on this season was being a lot more competitive. We spent far too many games last year, particularly away from home, just not being competitive and not being in the games at all.
‘It did take us a long time to adjust to the Championship, that was from a staffing perspective as well, more so myself, in terms of the way we approached games, the way we approached games tactically.
‘We also had players at the start of last season who probably weren’t quite up to the pace of the league and, all of a sudden after 7-8 games, it clicked into gear.
‘Even after that first win against QPR, we were still poor, but, following that second win against Preston, we really clicked into gear. That took us a while to get going. That was one of the advantages of having a year in the Championship, learning from how difficult it is and all of the challenges we were exposed to.
‘Hopefully we continue to face that as we have done in the first nine games, there’s still a massive challenge in front of us because the games come thick and fast and don’t come easier.
‘We are facing a very, very good Leicester side, a team which, despite the lack of incomings, is still littered with talent that was signed for the Premier League.
‘We have to be right at it, we have to be competitive. Away from home last year, it wasn’t the big boys we let ourselves down against, it was actually against some of the other sides.’
Failing to win any of their opening 10 games
Heading to QPR almost a year ago, Mousinho’s men hadn’t won any of their opening 10 matches, including a home Carabao Cup defeat to Millwall.
Of those who started at Loftus Road, Christian Saydee, Mark O’Mahony, Potts and, effectively, Tom McIntyre are no longer at Fratton Park, while Lang, Nicolas Schmid and Josh Murphy are currently injured.
Although even after that precious first taste of victory, it was hardly a resurgence - with the Blues failing to win any of their next four fixtures.
‘Cardiff was probably our worst performance of the season’
Mousinho added: ‘QPR was great because we got that win. My overriding memory after that was I thought we might have turned the corner.
‘Then we probably put in our worst performance of the season on the Tuesday night against Cardiff, so we clearly hadn’t quite got things right at that point.
‘We next lost to Sheffield Wednesday on the Friday night, followed that up with the draw to Hull, lost to Plymouth and then finally the win against Preston.
‘So even after that QPR game, it still took us a while to get going. It probably wasn’t until Preston that I felt we were properly at it as a team.
‘I know we are now in a much better spot in terms of the league, but we still have to make sure we don't get too carried away with ourselves - but it’s certainly a better start.’