Pompey boss John Mousinho speaks to The News ahead of the League One opener against Bristol Rovers at Fratton Park.
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00:00 John, the first game of the season coming up against Bristol Rovers. A lot of people
00:04 this week have talked about Pompey's ambition. How do you see the situation this season ahead?
00:09 Yeah, I think our ambition is no two ways about it. We want to be competitive and we
00:14 want to be in the mix for promotion. I think we've always been pretty clear about that.
00:21 As this football club in this league, there's always going to be something where there's
00:24 a real pressure on the group and there's pressure on the staff and everyone at the club to actually
00:29 get out of the division. Our ambitions are clear in terms of what we want to achieve
00:33 this year. We know it's going to be very, very difficult and we know there's plenty
00:37 of sides that want to do that as well. What we actually want to do is take one game at
00:41 a time. It's a real boring cliché but take one game at a time. We don't want to get too
00:44 carried away with what's going to go on at the back end of the season and really, really
00:48 focus on Bristol Rovers as a starter and then move on from there. The most important thing
00:53 facing us at the moment is the opponents on Saturday. That's what we have to be laser-focused
00:58 on. Do you genuinely believe that your squad is equipped for a promotion challenge? That's
01:04 the reason we brought these players in in the summer. The whole basis of doing that
01:07 is to have a real strengthened squad that has got two players in pretty much every position.
01:13 If we do have to make changes, first of all we've got the players to come in and do a
01:18 good job and second of all, to be competitive within those positions, i.e. players that
01:23 are vying for positions to push us off the league. That's the reason we've strengthened
01:28 as we've done in the summer. Otherwise, like I said, there's no point in being a portsmith,
01:32 we might as well pack up and go somewhere else. That's the real ambition this year,
01:37 to have developed a squad that can compete at the top end of the league. Of course, as
01:42 he has said and done, you will get promotion. It's not that simple, is it? No, it's not
01:47 and I've played and coached at this level for quite a number of years now. I'm lucky
01:54 enough to have got out of the league as a player and knowing that over the 46 games
01:59 that year, it was incredibly difficult because, like I say, everybody is vying for promotion.
02:05 One thing with Portsmouth is that regardless of where they are in the league, teams come
02:10 to Fratton and they see that as a real scalp and even away from home it can be a real badge
02:15 of honour to beat the club and that's a real difficulty the club faces sometimes. So, regardless
02:19 of where we are in the league, that's something we have to face. I know having done it with
02:22 a smaller club, even when you're up there with a smaller club, everyone goes, 'OK, if
02:27 they're in the top two, then we're going to put a bit of extra effort in'. So, we've got
02:31 to face all of these things. We've also got to face sides that have strengthened really
02:34 well in the summer, who have coached really well. I reckon about 15 or 16 sides in the
02:39 league have got their eye on being competitive and possibly getting promoted this year. Ultimately,
02:44 only three will do it and hopefully we're in the mix. It's much easier said than done
02:50 but we're doing everything we can in there to make sure we're fully equipped for the
02:54 first game of the season and beyond.
02:55 Of course, the Red Deer started at four and you've mentioned it would be a failure for
02:58 Pommer to finish in the top six. What would you say to that?
03:01 Again, my answer would be exactly the same as it was the other night and I'd implore
03:05 anyone that maybe just took the headline and actually listened to the full answer. I think
03:12 the only thing really we're going to be able to judge this season on is what it looks like
03:15 at the back end of the year. I think fans are discerning enough to know that. I don't
03:19 think they need me to tell them whether this season has been a success or not. At the back
03:24 end of the year, I think we take stock of everything in May and we see where we are
03:28 and we see what we've developed as a squad and a side and a football club. I think we
03:32 look at it then and see whether we consider it to have been a success or a failure. Certainly,
03:38 one thing that's going to run through the entire thread of the season is the fact that
03:44 we are going to try and do our best to go up.
03:46 You speak to anyone, whether it be Andy Cullen, Rich Hughes, the players, they all talk about
03:51 promotion is the goal this season.
03:53 Yes, definitely. There's no point in us really trying to dress it down because the pressure
03:59 is there, the external expectation is there and the internal pressure that we put on ourselves
04:04 is there as well. That's what we want to achieve. It's just a case of making sure that we are
04:08 realistic about where we are. One of the things that we've done is we've had the entire pre-season
04:14 in a pretty controlled environment and we really need to see where the squad is at over
04:17 the next couple of months as well. Part of that, and hopefully it happens quicker rather
04:21 than later, is seeing how quickly everything beds in. We've had so many new signings that
04:26 we do need to bed them in quickly. We need to see how they adjust to the league, see
04:29 how they adjust to Portsmouth, see how they adjust to the playing style, the way we train,
04:32 all of these sort of things which present challenges. Ultimately, sometimes these things
04:36 take time. Obviously, the quicker we get it done the better, but we have to take each
04:41 game as it comes and see where we are.
04:43 In terms of new signings, you still have to at least have one player. How's that progressing?
04:47 It's progressing. I think we're in a stage now where hopefully it's going to be days
04:52 rather than weeks in terms of being able to bring somebody into the building, but we want
04:57 to make sure that we get that final signing right. Being in the position we are now where
05:01 we've strengthened over the summer, I think we've brought in 12 new players and we've
05:05 got that one more spot that we want to fill, barring anything that really pops up last
05:08 minute or barring any injuries or anything like that. We just want to make sure we get
05:12 this one right because we think it's a really important part of the squad.
05:14 Is there likely to be any time for Sassenator?
05:17 Possibly, I'd say maybe slightly soon, but again it's not something that hopefully is
05:23 going to drag too far into August, so I want to say days rather than weeks. If not this
05:28 weekend then hopefully we can get something resolved by next week.
05:30 Presumably you identified your target and it's progressing?
05:33 Yes, and we've been like that throughout. These targets we've had on the table for a
05:38 long time and it's a case of this just being the last one that's fit into place, not a
05:46 case of us thinking at the last minute 'oh we want to put together a list of 8/10s and
05:50 then go from there'. We've always had our eye on this, it's just one that's developed
05:53 a bit later than the others.
05:54 Andrew, is that still on the table at all?
05:56 Yes, that's still a possibility.
05:58 Because there were things going out last weekend that he's going to join the team over in Holland?
06:03 Yes, I think until that's done and dusted and I'm yet to hear anything on that then,
06:07 that's certainly still a possibility from our point of view.
06:09 So you're still optimistic then?
06:11 Yes, we're still pursuing that. It's slightly out of our hands because it is out of our
06:17 hands, it's obviously the player and Chelsea's choice so we'll see how that progresses.
06:21 What's the team news a lot for this weekend?
06:24 Yes, I think we've got a fully fit squad to choose from apart from the long-term injury
06:28 to Josh Dockrill and I think it's probably just going to be a bit too soon for Paddy
06:32 Lane with his ankle injury. So apart from that we've got a full bit of health.
06:35 Copy okay?
06:37 All fine, yes. All absolutely fine.
06:38 And Paddy, I spoke to you last Saturday and you weren't sure how long Paddy could be out
06:42 for. Has there been any developments on that?
06:44 Yes, it's a bit more positive than we initially thought and Paddy's come through a lot of
06:49 the rehab really well so we're hoping to have him back out on the grass maybe at the back
06:53 end of this week, if not early next week. Which means it's not training but that'll
06:58 be running and it's the best next step to rehab and getting him fit and back out on
07:02 the pitch. So again hopefully that's going to be a matter of weeks and not months which
07:07 we maybe first feared when Paddy limped off the pitch at AFC.
07:10 So it's positive then, yes?
07:11 Really positive, yes.
07:12 Thank you, cheers.
07:13 Cheers Neil.