• 6 months ago
Pompey boss John Mousinho chats to The News after Pompey are officially crowned League One champions
Transcript
00:00 Here with Pompey boss John Massino. John, just talk to me about those scenes at the end and what they meant to you and your team today.
00:08 It was brilliant to be able to follow up Tuesday night with that, obviously slightly calmer I think today, and to be able to lift the trophy at home and not have it drag on until the back end of the season, that was absolutely superb.
00:18 The scenes were amazing. To be able to, I guess, thank everyone, do it with the families, do it with everybody's kids, partners, all of that was very, very special.
00:27 Of course, these are moments everyone present is going to save for a lifetime.
00:31 Yes, and as they should. I certainly think today was an incredible day. Tuesday night will live long in everybody's memories and to be able to do that back-to-back in the same week is very special.
00:43 In football, as Borussia fans will know, there are very few moments I think that you can actually properly celebrate and it's been a lot of pain and heartache over the past few years.
00:52 For players as well, you might go through a career of 15, 20 years and never have a promotion.
00:58 So, all of these lads have done that. They've not only had a promotion, they've won a league, they've gone up as champions and that's an incredible thing.
01:04 There aren't many people that will be able to say that, so it's very, very special. It's a moment they should savour.
01:09 Yes, you say they've savoured these moments for a lifetime and players have got to reflect on that at the end of their careers and say, 'These are special times'.
01:17 Yes, it's quite right. It's one of those things that has... I've been on the back end of a couple of these occasions as an opposition player and you see people celebrating and lifting trophies in front of you.
01:29 It's one of those you look at and think, 'That's what we have to use to motivate us to go again'.
01:34 I think, on that token, the boys should do exactly the same. They should be able to motivate themselves to have more of these moments in their career and make sure that they don't end up with too many seasons where you're just mid-table and not playing for anything.
01:46 Or at the bottom end of the league. So, I think it's a really, really good thing for the lads to bottle that up. Remember what the feeling is like. Remember what it's like to mount a campaign like this and then to go again as many possible times as they can for the rest of their career.
01:57 Maybe the game itself is a bit messy and some scrappy elements, but perhaps we can forgive the players this time, all told?
02:04 I think so. We're not going to get too hung up on the game. It was a bit disappointing because I still thought we had enough to at least draw the game or win the game in terms of the players that we had out there and the preparation that we had been able to do.
02:15 But we're going to a good side. They really showed that, especially in the first half and they punished us, obviously.
02:19 We were just frustrated, obviously, that we couldn't end on a high here at home at Fatim.
02:23 But I think the post-match celebrations put paid to that and we've had a great afternoon.
02:27 But there was a late charge. It kind of led up nicely to the finale. You gave the fans that late push there, didn't you?
02:34 Yes, I think if it had ended in two, we'd have nailed a bit of a damp scrib and there was nothing to really play for at the back end.
02:39 So getting that goal really did lift the place. I thought we had a couple of chances to obviously get the second, but we didn't manage to do it.
02:45 And ultimately, you get punished at any level if you do what we did. We made a couple of really basic errors and we weren't at it today.
02:52 I can understand why we had the physical and mental preparation going into this game. It was far from ideal and very, very far away from the previous 44 games where we have been properly at it.
03:02 So, one of those that I think we just put in the bin, get on with it and move on to next weekend.
03:06 An obvious focus, Marlon Pack, Buckland boy, back here, your captain lifting a title at his hometown club, obviously very, very special.
03:12 Amazing for him. I think it is literally a dream come true for him. And a lad that was born and bred here and was a Pompey season ticket holder, came through the ranks.
03:23 And as a youth team player, obviously I played with him when he was a Portsmouth lad, I think at the age of 18 or 19 when he came on loan to Wickham to come back to his hometown club and to be able to do that.
03:33 It is the stuff that dreams are made of and he fully, fully deserves it.
03:36 And you can probably tell what the other night meant to him to be able to come back and celebrate that again.
03:41 It is very, very special for Marlon and everybody in Portsmouth that knows him because pretty much everyone does.
03:47 Marlon Pack was named the newest player of the season today. A worthy winner?
03:51 I think so, yes. There is no doubt that he has been absolutely superb this year.
03:55 Coming back from the injury that he had last season where he had surgery, I think, and missed quite a large chunk of the season and came back.
04:03 Got himself going in the last four games and he has just been absolutely superb week in, week out for us.
04:07 As a leader, I think he is right up there in terms of characters that I have played with and characters that I have coached over the years.
04:15 And when I say right up there, I think probably at the top in terms of the way that he galvanises the dressing room, runs the dressing room.
04:20 I never have to get involved in anything that goes on there because Marlon and a few of the other boys, to be fair, they marshal it really well.
04:26 And that is a special thing for a head coach to be able to do because I can actually focus on the coaching.
04:31 And he has got that changing room going. I think everybody that has spoken about what that group is like is bang on.
04:38 They bang on the money. They are a very, very close-knit group and they enjoy themselves whilst working incredibly hard.
04:44 And a lot of that is down to Marlon and the City leadership.
04:48 A very, very close second in the play of the season was Sean Raggett. How heartening to see the recognition for Sean today?
04:54 I think that was particularly special.
04:55 Yes, I think everybody here knows that Sean has put his heart and soul into the football club over the past, I think, seven years and come very, very close.
05:03 There have been so many occasions and I was obviously involved in one of them with the play-off semi-final defeat where Portsmouth have been close to getting out of the league.
05:11 And maybe even not if at the back end of the season, brilliant starts that have faded away.
05:15 So for Sean to be able to do that, unfortunately, the long-range shot didn't go in. That would have been a very nice...
05:20 It was moving a bit though, wasn't it?
05:21 Yes, not quite the same as when he scored here against Fulham.
05:25 But, yes, Sean has got that capability to do that. He does it in training quite a lot.
05:30 I know if anybody watches some of our training footage, they will see that.
05:33 But a fitting tribute, I think, to someone who has played such a massive part in this club's history.
05:40 And I am absolutely thrilled for him.
05:42 Now, how does the next week look for you going up to the final game of the season?
05:46 We will be off on Monday. We will be back in on Tuesday and Wednesday.
05:49 We will have very much a re-introduction day on Tuesday.
05:54 I expect that the boys are physically drained and probably going to be mentally drained by the time they come back in.
05:58 But it is important, I think, that we don't completely take a foot off the gas, particularly with the integrity of the league and the fact that there are teams with points to play for.
06:07 I think it was probably a pretty good thing today that Wigan were safe. They have got nothing to play for.
06:13 Obviously, we are finished in terms of our league position as well.
06:16 But I think next week is a bit different because there are plenty of sides that will be fighting for that play-off position.
06:21 I think Lincoln have moved into sixth today.
06:23 So, it is an important thing for us to make sure that we do it right and give ourselves the best possible chance as well of building a bit of momentum going into next season.
06:32 For you personally, there today, well into the celebrations and your family there and your children on your shoulders, how does that feel?
06:39 It is amazing to be able to do that with everybody that has supported me through my career and put up with everything that I suppose goes into becoming a head coach.
06:50 It is one of those things where at the back of your career, rather than being able to put your feet up when you get home, involves a lot of different work.
06:57 You do your badges and fly off to various parts of the country.
07:00 So, I am really pleased to be able to do that with my wife and my kids and all of my family as well.
07:05 Again, that is Tuesday and today will live long in the memory.
07:09 Marlon Tilly was going to try and get you to do the pump fist salute. I think that was always a Bruce Too Far, wasn't it?
07:13 Yes, it is just not me. I have been in football for I think 19 years now and it is like a new thing that I am not.
07:20 It is just not me. I think everybody understands that. I thought I would do the trophy lift in front of the frat and then to appease everyone.
07:28 I think that was enough for me. I did not want to deviate from where we have been all season.
07:32 Well done, Jon.

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