Pressure piling on under-fire ex-Portsmouth boss as flourishing former Fratton Park starlet enjoys reunion
Haji Mnoga has piled the pressure on his former Pompey boss as the defender flourishes in the Football League.
The Somerstown youngster joined Salford on a 12-month deal in late August following his Fratton Park release after 18 appearances and one goal.
The 22-year-old has subsequently established himself in the League Two club’s starting XI, operating as a right-sided centre-half.
On Saturday, Mnoga was handed his sixth start in Salford’s last seven matches - putting him head-to-head with Danny Cowley’s Colchester.
Ironically, the Tanzania international's final Pompey outing came under Cowley in August 2022, when he lined-up against Crawley at centre-half in the Papa John’s Trophy.
He subsequently spent the remaining 18 months of his Fratton Park career on loan at Bromley, Weymouth, Gillingham and Aldershot, before being handed a free transfer last summer.
Ultimately, Mnoga’s reunion with the ex-Blues head coach on Saturday saw Salford claim a 2-1 success - plunging Colchester into growing relegation danger.
The defender played the full 90 minutes as Kylian Kouassi grabbed a 76th-minute winner for the visitors in front of a U’s crowd of 3,936.
That outcome ensures Colchester have won one of their last 11 matches in League Two, while have taken three points over their last six games.
The latest set-back now leaves them one place above the relegation zone with a game in hand, with only Swindon, Carlisle and Morecambe.
Cowley and brother Nicky were appointed at Colchester in January, almost a year to the day after their Fratton Park dismissals, when they were replaced by John Mousinho.
They inherited a side struggling in 22nd, with 23 points from 26 matches, and steered them to League Two safety, albeit courtesy of just three points, with Sutton United and Forest Green relegated.
They remain in relegation trouble this season, inevitably raising questions over the Cowleys’ performance.
Danny Cowley told BBC Radio Essex on Saturday: ‘When you have the amount of injuries we have in the attacking areas, it's always going to be tough for us to find fluidity and find goals, but if you have that, then you have to keep the back door shut.
"There's no hiding place, we are in a difficult moment, we've lost some pace and athleticism at the top end of the pitch and sold a lot of athleticism in the summer, and that leaves you pretty short.
‘That's where we find ourselves at the minute.’
In contrast, Salford are now 13th in League Two under Karl Robinson, with Mnoga having played 11 times so far this term.