‘Incredible viewpoint’: Coventry City’s Frank Lampard on touchline feud with Portsmouth boss John Mousinho
It was lively on the touchline as temperatures rose between Frank Lampard and John Mousinho in their side’s Championship showdown.
Frank Lampard believes John Mousinho had an ‘incredible viewpoint’ over the first-half penalty claim which sparked their touchline spat as the bosses collided.
But the Premier League icon stated he had no lingering issues with the Pompey head coach, after their angry exchanges at Fratton Park last night.
Leaders Coventry City came out on top with a 2-1 win to maintain their unbeaten start and keep their place at the top of the table. The game was marked by fierce verbals on the touchline between Mousinho and Lampard, as tempers became frayed in the first half.
The war of words between the pair went on for extended periods as temperature rose, with fourth official Stephen Martin keeping both men separated.
Lampard was adamant it wasn’t a handball by Jay Dasilva from Minhyeok Yang’s cross, though replays put that standpoint on shaky ground.
The former England international believes Mousinho was trying to put pressure on the officials, with there three penalty appeals across the game. Lampard accepted Mousinho doing so in the heat of a Fratton Park battle, but stated it wasn’t behaviour he’d repeat.
He said: ‘I haven’t seen it (the penalty appeal) again, but John managed to have an incredible viewpoint on it and thought it was a penalty.
‘I didn’t think it was at the time - and that’s the end of it.
‘Look, I think it’s one of those stadiums. The crowd are behind the team and there can be pressure on the referee. The added pressure on the fourth official, I don’t think is necessary.
‘It’s the emotion of the game, I understand it. I’d would do similar in different terms. Emotions get the better of you when you want something, but I don’t think it (the penalty appeal) was clear at all.
‘This is the game. I don’t know what John would say, but we are working for our football clubs. We work and prepare for it and we have our emotions. We give them and people give them in different ways.
‘If someone wants to stand by the fourth (official) and give their pressure, whether that’s tactical, that’s the emotions and I understand it. That’s not my style, but I understand it.’
Lampard afforded Pompey respect by changing his approach and going to a 5-2-3 formation for the game, after getting soundly beaten 4-1 at PO4 last term. The Coventry boss stated that was an acknowledgement of the challenge of coming to Fratton Park, with his impressive side good value for their win despite the Blues’ late charge.
He added: ‘The whole team, everything, you know we changed the shape because we felt it was the best way to approach the game considering a bit of respect for Portsmouth, but we wanted to do it in an aggressive way which we thought would be the best opportunity to win the game.
‘We worked around personnel, probably, keeping some players fresh, (Luke) Woolfenden and Ellis Simms coming in and the general work ethic throughout.
‘It’s not a nice place to come and we felt that coming here last year. The only disappointment is the last minute-and-a-half, because I think we were good for our 2-0. We maybe could have scored some more and I’m really, really pleased.’