‘Confidence shaken a bit’: Self-doubt, negativity and a remarkable insight from Portsmouth boss John Mousinho
An authentic and honest insight from the Pompey boss on the personal challenges faced this season in his side’s testing Championship moments.
John Mousinho admitted his confidence has been ‘shaken’ amid managerial self-doubt this season with Pompey.
The Blues boss has highlighted the human side of being the man at the top at Fratton Park, in a campaign where his club looked set for Championship relegation before storming to survival.
Mousinho: ‘I’ve had self doubt and my confidence has been shaken a bit’
Mousinho has spoken with honesty and authenticity over the challenges he’s faced, as Pompey stood on the brink of dropping into the relegation places with forlorn hopes of survival through an eight-game winless run from February to April.
The final two draws of that period paved the way for an incredible three wins in eight days which effectively delivered survival against Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Leicester City.
Mousinho yesterday addressed how he tries to keep a middle ground amid often extreme reactions and the high emotions of a Championship campaign.
That is sometimes easier said than done, with the 6-1 thrashing at QPR a moment which proved testing for the 40-year-old.
When asked about perceptions over his standing now compared to those challenging moments, Mousinho said: ‘There’s no doubt about it that the optics are different.
‘I’ve answered a question (on his rising stock) in terms of how I see myself and how I value my worth and input.
‘I hope I’m relatively self aware. I’ve gone through loads of points this season where I’ve had that self doubt and my confidence has been shaken a bit.
‘But when I win games I also try to downplay it. That’s hopefully quite a good trait.
‘Sometimes I’m overly negative on both sides of the coin and I’ve spoken about that in relation to my approach to the team as well.
‘Sometimes when I win games I don’t get carried away enough and I don’t say to the lads “what a win”.
‘The celebrations are a bit muted and I don’t make a big fanfare of it, because I want to go the next game and next game.
‘How can you be seen as a really good team? Take what you’ve done really well from that and go again, again and again.’
Speaking to The News yesterday, Mousinho touched on the issue of confidence as Pompey’s boss and trying to stay on an even keel amid the twists, turns and emotions of a season.
He said: ‘My focus is always on winning football matches. Whatever comes off the back of that is a consequence of the success of the football club.
‘If you start looking at things which aren’t necessarily there it doesn’t work out particularly well.
‘My point is I’m not thinking all of a sudden we’ve cracked it.
‘What I tried to do when I was in the midst of the relegation battle was say I’m not the world’s worst coach and I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.‘The truth is somewhere in the middle and that’s an important point to try to stick to.
‘That’s what gets you longevity in football and I’d like to manage for a long time and the experience I’ve had here is with longevity at the football club.’