'I make so many mistakes, every single week in every single game': Portsmouth boss John Mousinho's candid managerial insight
Pompey’s head coach has been at the helm for 164 matches since his appointment in January 2023
John Mousinho delivered a fascinating insight into the managerial mindset and admitted: I make so many mistakes.
Pompey’s head coach is coming under growing pressure from supporters as his struggling side battle to remain in the Championship.
As the mastermind behind the Blues’ League One title triumph in 2023-24, followed by the overachievement of finishing 16th in the Championship last term, his place in Fratton folklore is assured.
However, in the present, Pompey are perilously positioned one point above the relegation zone, having claimed just one point from their last six fixtures, culminating in the QPR debacle.
Naturally, Mousinho’s surprise decision to push Ebou Adams into a number 10 role and partner Marlon Pack and John Swift in the centre of midfield attracted heavy criticism in the aftermath of the 6-1 loss.
Now more than three years into his first managerial position, the 39-year-old candidly reflects on the challenges of being head coach - and the mistakes.
‘The amount of mistakes I make every week is extremely high’
Mousinho told The News: ‘Whenever we set a side up, whenever we put a side out, that is always obviously a reflection on myself and a reflection on what I have asked the boys to do.
‘If I am looking at a game and we are doing things, we’re making poor decisions, then, ultimately, that is down to me, I am the one who is going to get the plaudits, I’m the one who is going to get sacked. That's why head coaches and managers come and go.
‘So I have to take that on the chin and whenever we get things wrong, whether I think players have made mistakes or not, it’s down to me, right.
‘I have picked the players, I have set them up, I have put them in that mindset, I have asked them to do certain things. So I am always going to take that on board and I am always going to take responsibility for that.
‘I make so many mistakes, every single week in every single game. It’s obviously a cliche, every leadership book will tell you that, but the amount of mistakes I make every week is extremely high.
‘That’s just the way it is, I am not going to come off the back of a 6-1 defeat and say I got everything spot on. By the same token, we’ve got the same group and we set the lads up largely the same way from game to game.
‘After you beat Millwall away, people will call you a tactical genius and how you got the boys at it and set them up really well. From Millwall to QPR there was a slight change in personnel for us, yet the approach we took to the games was largely similar.
‘The truth lies somewhere in between both of those. I don’t think all of a sudden you become a horrendous head coach overnight because you lose a game - and you don’t become a genius overnight because you win a game either.
‘It’s just about trying to find those levels of consistency.’
Appointed in January 2023
Mousinho was Pompey chairman Michael Eisner’s surprise choice as head coach in January 2023, having been identified by sporting director Rich Hughes.
He has subsequently overseen 164 Pompey matches, with the landmark of 150 arriving against Arsenal in an FA Cup third-round fixture in January.
Yet, with eight matches remaining, the Blues now face the unpalatable prospect of a return to League One as they scrap with Blackburn, West Brom, Oxford United and Leicester City to avoid the final two relegation spots.
The Blues head to Norwich on Good Friday (3pm) and Mousinho, who signed a new long-term deal in September 2024, is fighting to avoid souring his impressive Fratton Park legacy.
‘For whatever reason, it just hasn’t worked’
He added: ‘I know I have been here a long time now, but I’m still extremely young in my tenure as a coach.
‘Obviously I went straight from being a player to being a coach and we went through a very, very quick evolution of having to adjust to life in the Championship last season.
‘We probably would have wanted to do things slightly differently this year - and I certainly envisaged this year going slightly differently - but it hasn't and we’ve had to adjust along the way.
‘The disappointment for me as a coach is I think we had found a pretty successful formula in terms of playing style and being able to win games, which was coming to fruition towards the back end of February.
‘But, unfortunately in the past six games, for whatever reason, it just hasn’t worked.’