Exclusive:Portsmouth Q&A with Jordan Cross: Transfer window details, Callum Lang antics and John Mousinho’s future

Quite strong quotes from John in your story (on increasing spending this summer) today.

Mark Jeram

My story quoting John Mousinho on the transfer and playing budget moving forward certainly seems to have resonated today.

Firstly, I don’t think what John said here came from a place of anger, frustration or was pre-meditated in any way. He was actually pretty chipper when speaking to the press this week - and pretty considered in his response.

It’s a subject I’ve been keen to get his thoughts on, given a lot of the frustration around the level of spending - with the time to do it after the window’s close.

I think it’s interesting to go back to this time last year when Hayden Matthews was signed for £1.27m, which was a 14-year high, with Mousinho later suggesting ‘we’ll push on from there’ in terms of summer spending.

I know John said in the story today he felt the Blues kicked on as they spent around £3m on Mark Kosznovszky, Luke Le Roux and Josh Knight, but I don’t think that was what he had in mind when addressing increased spending levels last summer.

We had previously spoken about the level going up to £2-2.5m for signings, but the reality is that would have swallowed up most of Pompey’s transfer budget for one player. Yes, the transfer budget had increased four-fold and, yes, the playing budget went up by a few million, but was it enough? Not in my book.

It is pretty intriguing that when I put the figures of £2-3m for a signing next summer to him, John was pretty clear that was a reasonable to level to expect the club to reach for.

That was a long way from happening in the January window, however, with four loans, two permanents and a free coming in. The reported fees were £600,000 for Madiodio Dia and £500,000 for Ebou Adams.

What I will say on that front is the club did have money to spend on the right players in the window, but walked away from those deals when hitting the asking prices - and the selling clubs then inflating those figures. That’s information I’ve had confirmed from multiple sources away from Pompey.

Opting to walk away from those deals certainly points to prudence and a sensible approach, but, in a period where we’ve heard a lot about ‘calculated risks’, isn’t doing so arguably the biggest risk of them all?

Was the Luke Graham deal off because the Senegal defender (Madiodio Dia) came in?

Gary Waters

Hi Gary, when sporting director Rich Hughes talked about clubs ‘moving the goalposts’ over players, this was what he was talking about.

The Dundee defender was a big January target and one which was very much a ‘live’ deal going into transfer deadline day, with the centre-back on ‘standby’ to fly south as and when a fee was agreed with his SPL club.

My information going into deadline day was bids north of £1m had been placed for Graham, with £1.3m likely to be enough to get the deal done. Those numbers were conservative.

I’m now told the starting figure for the 21-year-old was £1.5m, a record for Dundee, with a bid placed for that amount. The figure then continued to escalate from there.

On one side this does give an indication of where Pompey were with their potential spending for players, on the other hand not getting the deal done may be something which bites the Blues on the backside.

I know there’s a sentiment on all sides the deal could be revisited this summer, but there’s also a view Graham could end up at a Scottish powerhouse or similar given the vast interest in him.

So Graham was one pursued for a fair period and Dia was then a move which happened late on, when it became apparent the Scot wasn’t coming in.

They are very different players in terms of being Championship ready. Whereas Graham could’ve come in and played now, I get the impression Dia will be a project.

He has very impressive physical attributes and stats for aerial strength and tackling. He looks quite raw in other areas, though, with his numbers for passing, for example, suggesting work is needed in that area.

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Have we got the full story with Callum Lang?

Martin Graham

Blimey, where to start with this one! What I will say on this subject is there certainly was some Machiavellian shenanigans going on over the the course of the January window here.

It’s probably worth highlighting here we should all be thankful to Callum Lang’s contribution to Pompey’s progress. He quite rightly leaves Fratton Park as a title-winning hero, one who showed his Championship quality last term before the injuries kicked in.

It does seem, however, as more and more information comes to light, Langy perhaps didn’t cover himself in glory in the manner in which he tried to push through the Preston move.

I think when you look at some of the quotes coming out on the subject over recent days, especially from John Mousinho, you can read between the lines on this one.

On Wednesday, John was given plenty of opportunities to praise Lang for his efforts at Pompey, after the Preston deal was concluded. Let’s just say he kept his answers short on the subject.

Some of the noise over Lang’s transfer request and things which happened at the window’s climax will be disappointing to hear, no doubt.

That said, it’s a deal which suited all parties in the final reckoning, Lang’s personal circumstances and represented a good financial return for Pompey.

I’m sure in years to come it will be Lang’s impact on the pitch which will be remembered, over him agitating to get the move done.

Does Mousinho go in the summer?

Various via social media

I’m going to rattle through these last few questions, with time getting tight.

This has been asked a fair bit - and obviously I don’t have a crystal ball on the subject! That said, I do know John is genuinely happy at the club and very much settled in Southsea with his family.

For someone as ambitious as John is, I daresay he perhaps would’ve expected a little more recognition from other clubs in terms of overtures for his services. There has been the odd whisper here and there, but no other suitors have really come on strong for him.

While we all recognise his achievements here, I’m not sure the wider football world necessarily realise quite what a job he’s done in his three years at Pompey - and the constraints he’s worked under.

That said, I think he’s content at Fratton Park and at a club which works for him, at this stage of what is still a formative managerial career. And, for my money, he remains the Blues’ biggest asset.

What was the Ipswich postponement about - did you see that coming?

I must admit I didn’t! I was actually doing my shopping at Tesco in Havant when I got the message!

I know there’s plenty of conspiracy theories on the subject and, perhaps, the postponement helps Pompey to some degree - but nowhere near the level of the first game being called off.

The fact of the matter is, however, the pitch was looking tired by the end of the West Brom game and, in terms of January rainfall, we had 205mm last month with the average figure over the past five years 90mm.

Is there anything in the loan deals to keep the players?

Richard Price

Hi Richard, I’m not aware of any options to buy on the loans - other than the one that is in the agreement with Santos over Gustavo Caballero. I do need to 100 per cent confirm on the others, however.

Perhaps no option is a frustration in the case of, say, Millenic Alli, but you have to consider Luton Town’s position. They know they are giving their asset a platform whereby he can come to the attention of potential buyers. Would they have been so keen to do the deal, if there was an option to buy? Perhaps not.

That wraps up our latest Q&A, hopefully there’s some insight into Pompey affairs for you somewhere. Here’s to a positive result at Deepdale tomorrow!