‘We need to be at front of queue’: Portsmouth boss details transfer summit talks over increased player spending
A candid insight given to The News by John Mousinho today, as he discusses the pathway forward for Pompey with transfer and playing budgets at the heart of the issue.
John Mousinho revealed talks will take place next week over bolstering Pompey’s Championship player spending.
And the Blues boss acknowledged there now needs to be discussions with the club’s owners over how they establish their outfit in the second tier moving forward.
Mousinho on budget talks: ‘Those conversations take place next week’
It’s set to be a critical period for that comes next after securing survival this week, following an outstanding three wins on the spin at a massive moment in the campaign.
Mousinho has spoken in honest and clear fashion about how he sees the pathway ahead in a candid interview with The News today.
And that starts with being a front and centre when it comes to bringing in the transfer targets already in the club’s sights.
Mousinho said: ‘The conversation now is how do we move the club forward? How do we move the club forward from the phase we’re in at the moment and establishing ourselves after a couple of tough seasons in the Championship where we’ve scrapped away.
‘We’ve got over the line with a couple of games to go on both occasions, but if we want ambitions to push on as a football club we now need to have those conversations about where we go next.
‘That will be for next week - we’ve got a game to prepare for Saturday.
‘There’s always been a recruitment plan for both levels, so it will give the recruitment team clarity on where we’re going, the level of player and definitely the profile of player.
‘Those conversations will take place next week, so we have clarity before the end of the season.
‘We have to do it quickly because the season comes around quickly. Players want to move and players want to make decisions quite early in May these days.
‘The ones we’re speaking to will hopefully have a lot of suitors, because that’s the type of player we want, we need to be at the front of the queue.’
Pompey boss: ‘We don’t want to be here every year’
Mousinho made it abundantly clear Pompey’s transfer policy over the past couple of seasons has been weighted towards producing short-term results, with their Championship status at stake.
That delivered survival which is an achievement the 39-year-old feels is not to underestimated, but the Pompey boss now feels thinking has to turn towards progression.
Mousinho added: ‘What do we do next to prepare for this not to happen again?
‘How do we make sure we maximise the 10-day head start we have on some of the other sides in the league and some of the sides who are still competing?
‘There’s a lot of other factors to it. There’s a difference between winning a league and getting promoted against staying in the league.
‘Sometimes the achievements are exactly the same in terms of significance.
‘The significance of staying in the league is as significant, because we get to stay in the Championship for another year, but we have to look at it and push on as a club so, at some point, we’re not competing around those relegation spots.
‘I think it’s an achievement we’ve stayed up - but we don’t want to be here every year.
‘The conversation at the back end of the season will be along those lines (what do Pompey want to be?).
‘We’ve been very clear this season, particularly in January, about what we wanted to achieve this year.
‘We were openly short-term in our recruitment in January. We probably did things we probably wouldn’t have done when looking at the long-term strategy of the football club.
‘That’s fine because the priority was staying in the league. Now staying in the league affords us the ability to sit and and talk about long-term strategies in the Championship.’