'Excited' John Mousinho hails his latest Portsmouth signing - and a welcome reunion
The Wales international midfielder made 105 appearances until his Fratton Park exit in the summer of 2024
John Mousinho hailed his latest Pompey signing and insisted: I’m excited to see how he develops.
A familiar face returned to Fratton Park during the international break, with the Blues unveiling Joe Morrell as first-team development coach.
Having served as captain on occasions under Mousinho in the memorable 2023-24 League One title-winning campaign, the former Wales international is these days forging a coaching career.
Now aged 29, Morrell never again played football competitively after suffering a knee injury at Oxford United in January 2024, although remained with the Blues rehabilitating for 18 months.
After coaching Bristol City’s Under-21s in the second half of last season, he has now returned to the south-coast, filling the vacancy created by Zesh Rehman’s departure in December 2025.
And Mousinho believes Morrell represents an excellent addition to his coaching staff.
‘As a player, I thought he had the requisite characteristics to become a coach’
He told The News: ‘Joe was a fantastic player until his career got cut short, there was so much potential there. The proof in the pudding for me was whenever Joe was available we played him.
‘As a player, I thought he had the requisite characteristics and skill set to go on and become a coach - and potentially a head coach.
‘I never thought it would come this soon, Joe’s still only young, he played his last game aged 27 for us at Oxford, but unfortunately couldn’t recover from the knee injury he picked up that day.
‘It’s so sad to see his career cut short, but I’m really glad he’s jumped into the opportunity to coach. He has already started to cut his teeth, taking up the role with Bristol City, and now he’s here and fully deserves it off the back of his interview process.
‘As individual development coach, Joe isn’t just being pigeonholed in that role either, he's a first-team coach as well. He has to get used to the environment and what it’s actually like to coach at first-team level, being his first first-team coaching job.
‘We will ease him into it, but he has cracked on straight away over the past couple of weeks, working with the boys individually.
‘I trusted him implicitly on the pitch and I think he’ll take that into his coaching. I’m really excited to see how he develops.’
St Mary’s debut
Morrell’s first game as part of Pompey’s backroom was at St Mary’s on Sunday, where he surveyed proceedings from the press box in the 1-0 defeat.
Working alongside two Blues analysts, who were videoing the game, Morrell’s presence offers Mousinho a different perspective in match situations.
Mousinho added: ‘Over the next few weeks where we have game after game after game, a lot of the work we do is tactical, while it’s also about recovery and preparing for games.
‘Joe then has the opportunity to work with the players and make sure that, in the meantime, whether you are in the side or not, you are developing on an individual basis - and not just trying to improve through training and through games.’
Your Next Pompey Read: Yet another set-back for wantaway Portsmouth man as Fratton Park misery continues