‘That isn't an option’: Sky Sports pundit makes huge call over John Mousinho's Portsmouth future amid Bristol City and QPR vacancies
John Mousinho is currently the third longest-serving manager in the Championship
Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman is adamant there are no attractive vacancies in the Championship which would attract John Mousinho.
And the 59-year-old believes the Blues boss remains ‘in the best place’ to continue his impressive rise in the game.
The head coach has enjoyed an outstanding two-and-a-half-year stay at Fratton Park, which saw him lift the League One title in his first full campaign in management.
But it was his work last term which really caught the eye of fellow rivals as he guided Pompey to Championship safety despite winning just one of their opening 14 games.
With his side finishing five points clear of the bottom three in 16th, there has been interest in Mousinho during the close season.
Don Goodman makes claim over John Mousinho’s Pompey future
And although there are current vacancies at Ashton Gate, Hull City and QPR, according to Goodman there is no better place for Mousinho to establish himself as one of English football’s most up and coming managers than at Fratton Park.
Speaking to Football League World, the Sky Sports pundit said: ‘I think clubs should always take it as a compliment if players or their manager are linked with other teams, especially if those teams are higher up the food chain. Having said that, though, I think John is in the perfect place for him at this stage of his career.
‘You're looking at some of the other jobs that are available. I know that Ryan Mason has gone to West Bromwich Albion, so that isn't an option. There's possibly a Bristol City (move) out there, but would you leave Portsmouth for them?
‘There's possibly a Queens Park Rangers, but, again, I think Mousinho is already in the best place and would like to develop himself as a head coach/manager at Portsmouth. It's a big club and I think they will back him.’
John Mousinho’s impressive Pompey achievement
After Michael Carrick’s sacking by Middlesbrough on Wednesday, Mousinho has now become the third longest-serving head coach in the Championship next term.
Wrexham’s Phil Parkinson and Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna lead the way, with the Blues boss’ January 2023 appointment seeing him rise in the table.
In fact, there were 23 managerial departures in the second tier during the 2023-24 campaign, with only Pompey, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United and Burnley sticking with their men.
Despite the Blues’ terrible start to the campaign, they remained with the former Oxford United defender who steered his side to a remarkable 16th-placed finish.
And after his men secured survival against Watford in April, Mousinho credited the Fratton Park hierarchy for sticking by him.
He told The News: ‘Fair play to Pompey, there are definitely times when we have sat and thought that, had it been any other football club, that’s going to be it.
‘An interesting thing, though, is the fans have never turned and that has been a reflection of them knowing what we are trying to achieve, they understand the circumstances. We’ve probably always just managed to put in that performance as well, which keeps everyone on side.
‘But there has been a huge amount of loyalty from the football club to myself, they have stuck by everything we said in that first press conference back in January 2023. Not many clubs do that.
‘Look at the amount of clubs which bring head coaches in. You talk about being a long-term project, but things go wrong after six months and there's a change. Things go wrong after three months and there’s a change.’