How John Mousinho now feels about future after Portsmouth owner talks and Bristol City interest
Bristol City are weighing up John Mousinho as their new head coach. Here’s the Pompey boss with his position on how the Fratton future looks, after two days of talks with the Eisners and key operators at PO4.
John Mousinho believes he can carry Pompey forward in the Championship following crucial discussions with the club’s owners.
But the Blues boss stressed summit talks taking place over the past two days did not focus on his own future, amid interest in his services from Bristol City.
Mousinho on owner talks: ‘I came away feeling positive’
And Mousinho stated what lies ahead for him is out of his and everyone at Pompey’s control ‘to a certain extent’, with it still unclear how rival Championship interest could develop in the weeks ahead.
Pompey brought the curtain down on the campaign with a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City today, with their survival mission incredibly completed with two games to spare.
Talks with the club’s owners and key protagonists at Fratton Park have been taking place over Thursday and Friday, with Mousinho confident the Eisners want to ‘build towards the Premier League’.
Significantly, the 40-year-old came out of the discussions feeling ‘positive’ about the pathway ahead
When asked if he feels the club can moving forward from relegation battles, Mousinho said: ‘I do, I do.
‘That’s because the answer (from the owners) wasn’t: “We’re unwilling - you can’t do that, we’ll battle away and stay where we are”. It was: “Yes, how can we move forward as a football club”.
‘What we feel, and when I say ‘we’ I mean myself, Rich (Hughes) and Andy (Cullen), is we know what the day-to-day running looks like and have a good idea of what the market looks like as well.
‘We’ve got a good idea of what the clubs coming down and going up into the division are going to spend. So it’s about how we balance that all off.
‘So it’s about where we sit, how do we progress and that’s more the feel of the discussions - and I came away feeling positive.’
Pompey boss: ‘On my future it was never about me’
Mousinho spoke openly and with honesty over his future this week, with one of his key threads the importance of addressing supporters with authenticity.
That was a theme he once again returned to, as he reiterated his need to not to overpromise to the Fratton Faithful.
Mousinho said: ‘On my future, we never discussed that one - it was never about me.
‘The discussions were not about me, I wanted to focus fully about the football club and that’s what we did.
‘My focus was on finishing the season strongly. We did all of the player meetings in the right way, prepare for pre-season next year and make sure we’re in a good spot.
‘I want to get across the future for me is obviously relevant, but it’s out of everyone’s control to a certain extent.
‘What I don’t want to do is disrespect our amazing fans and say I’ll be here forever and a day, because I don’t know. I don’t know one way or the other.
‘There’s been times here when I’ve felt lucky to have my job.
‘We’re talking about player sales this summer and how we can move on in terms of that model. Unfortunately or fortunately or however you look at that, it happens with head coaches, too.
‘There’s been times when coaches and managers mug fans off - I never want to do that.’