No budgets and infrastructure focus: Details emerge over Portsmouth summit talks
The Pompey boss talks of need to build a club to compete at the top end of Championship and Premier League, after talks with the board and club’s owners.
John Mousinho has explained why details over exact playing budget figures are yet to be ironed out after two days of Pompey summit talks.
The Blues boss has revealed how improving the football set-up and upgrading the club’s infrastructure has been a key area of discussions with the board this week, with director Eric Eisner in the country.
Mousinho: ‘We have to match bigger Championship and bottom-end Premier League clubs’
And boiling down on how Pompey can match Championship heavy-hitters and ‘bottom-end Premier League clubs’ on that front while improving his squad is significant to the pathway ahead.
Mousinho detailed a host of areas which need addressing including training ground improvements, medical, coaching, scouting, data analysis and an in-house recruitment platform.
When asked if exact playing budget details were discussed in talks, the Pompey boss said: ‘No - and that was never the intention to do that. I think it was the wrong time to do that
‘In order to do that we need to think about what it’s going to take for the club as a whole.
‘So it’s not just players. Playing budget and what we spend on players is one thing, but let’s have a look at the training ground and what we have to improve there.
‘We’ve done that year on year on year and spent a fortune on that, but there’s what we need to do there and what we need to do at Fratton Park?
‘What about the staffing and infrastructure at the football club? Where are we with medical? Where are we with the coaching staff? How are we on nutrition, travel and all of those things?
‘We want to take that view. It’s not just we’re going to spend £12m in the summer. You can spend £12m and waste it if you haven’t got the right data, recruitment platform, scouting network and all of these things.
‘We’re building and we’re getting better year on year, but we have to try to match up with the bigger Championship clubs and bottom-end Premier League clubs under a model which is relatively new as well.
‘The sporting director model has been here for a little longer than the time I’ve been here.
‘We have to balance all of that with the fact we need short-term success - and that’s really difficult.
‘So it’s not about the figure we need, that would be counterproductive - it’s about what we need moving forward.’
Mousinho returned to the subject of a holistic approach to improvements to Pompey’s football operation over merely focusing on squad improvements, believing it is a necessary pathway for his club to be ready to compete at the top end of the Championship moving forward.
He said: ‘There’s no point in aiming to do it (pushing for the Premier League) and not being ready for it - so it’s about building towards that.
‘The Championship now has eight places for the play-offs. The ambition’s there and we have to work back now and see if it’s achievable in the current climate.
‘There are so many unknowns at the moment around the regulator and what financial regulations there’s going to be for the Championship next year.
‘So it’s very difficult to properly nail it down, but it’s been a really good start. We do have ambitious owners but ambition shouldn’t be measured in pounds lost.
‘They are willing to lose money, but it’s about how we go about it and whether the club can do it against some of these other giants who are just willing to spend, spend and spend. So we have to see if it’s possible.’