John Mousinho speaks to The News ahead of Pompey's Good Friday trip to Norwich City.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:01Here with Pompey Boss, John Massino.
00:03John, well and truly into the business end now with a potentially a season-defining period over the Easter period.
00:11Yeah, it certainly could be.
00:13It gets down to the stage of the season now where you get so close to the back end of the season.
00:18These games are incredibly important.
00:22There's six points to play for over the weekend.
00:24That's a huge swing, certainly in terms of how tight it is at the bottom of the league.
00:27So, you know, we're looking forward to it, really sort of relishing the moment.
00:31And I think, you know, pleased to be in the position we're in.
00:33We'd have liked to have picked up a few more points, particularly over the last two or three weeks.
00:36But we haven't. Unfortunately, we're in the position we're in and, yeah, relishing the run.
00:40It's not even effective. You could confirm your place in the division over this period.
00:44So that shows you exactly what the stakes are going in.
00:47Yeah, I think in order to do that, we'd have to rely on other results.
00:51So what we really have to do is to make sure that we focus on ourselves, as cliched as it is,
00:55and make sure that we try and pick up as many points as possible.
00:59That's the most important thing and let everything else take care of itself.
01:01And positive results at the weekend are going to be really important for us,
01:05regardless of what goes on elsewhere.
01:07And hopefully, if we do pick up those results, hopefully it relieves a bit of pressure.
01:10So what's the mood around the place, the feeling as players come to the fore and you've got some injuries coming back?
01:17And just generally, how is it going into this period?
01:20I think overall it's really positive. I know it's really positive.
01:23We've had a couple of great days.
01:24I think that would be affected by the goal on Saturday at sort of 90 plus one minutes, naturally.
01:30If you'd have asked me, and I think you guys did, if you asked me on Thursday afternoon what the mood was like,
01:36it was difficult, obviously, after we'd played so well for the majority of the game and conceded a goal late.
01:42And I suppose it went the other way at the weekend.
01:45I thought we played fine in terms of the performance, but we got the goal that got us back into the game.
01:49It would have been a hammer blow, I think, to have lost that game at the weekend.
01:52Not necessarily with the points, although the point was really important.
01:55I think just the sort of general morale and going into the last four games of the season, picking up the point, keeping Derby at arm's length,
02:02I think it's been a big boost for us and it's been a very, very positive place to be this week and so it should be.
02:08I think I'd sort of go back to it.
02:10This sort of period of the season has felt a little bit disappointing because of the fact we haven't managed to pull away from the relegation zone.
02:18But at the same time, we've been sat here so many times off the back of losses, off the back of trying to search for points here and there.
02:26And I think if 95% of those occasions, if you'd have said with four games to play, you'll have a four-point gap between yourselves and the bottom.
02:32And every chance or the chance certainly in your own hands to stay up at this stage in the season, I think we would have taken it.
02:38Yeah. I mean, I think the character of your team, epitomised by Rob Atkinson, was one of your big take-homes from the weekend.
02:45How much is that going to come to the fore now in this period?
02:49It's big. It's big. Obviously, tactics and the ability to have technical detail in the game and the ability to play football is really important.
02:59But that character also comes into play, I think, a bit more towards the back end of the year when the pressure's on.
03:04And, yeah, let's not sort of mince our words. The pressure's definitely on. And I think that's a good thing.
03:09I do think it's a really good thing for this team and the club when the pressure is on.
03:14And we've certainly got that this weekend. And when you have that, that's when personalities shine through, characters shine through.
03:21And we need big players to stand up in those big moments.
03:23It's a question from myself to you and every presser, because it's constantly evolving, that picture at the bottom.
03:28Do you see it the same as the last time we spoke broadly?
03:31Yeah, broadly, I mean, I think so. I don't take any pleasure in, I think, being right about where we were maybe 12 weeks ago
03:40when people were talking about maybe sort of 44, 45 possibly being enough to stay up.
03:46I don't think it is at all now. And we know it's not. We need more points.
03:49We need more points on the board. And I think it's extremely tight down at the bottom.
03:52You've seen what a couple of wins can do for the likes of Oxford, for the likes of Stoke.
03:56All of a sudden, Plymouth are back in it with the big win at the weekend.
03:58So I think it's very, very tight. And we have to just make sure we take care of business ourselves.
04:05There are sides playing at different times.
04:09Like I said there, it doesn't actually matter what other sides do this weekend.
04:14It's all about what we do. If we come out of it with a couple of positive results, then I think we'll be in a really good spot.
04:19And to obviously, on Friday, get things going away from home.
04:24I mean, broadly, the away performances sometimes haven't quite translated into results.
04:28But the performances have broadly been OK. So how do you make that translation to turn it around?
04:34Yeah, really good point. Really good question.
04:37Since the turn of the new year, we've been in a lot of the away games, certainly since we played West Brom.
04:42I think since then, we've been much, much better in those away games.
04:46And it's certainly not good enough, but we've been losing by one goal here and there.
04:51And we've obviously picked up the win at Oxford as well.
04:53We want to turn that into points. We want to turn it into at least a draw.
04:57And I think we've had the opportunity to do it for the last three away games and deserved a point in all three.
05:02Unfortunately, we haven't. And then we want to turn those into wins as well.
05:04So I think what we have to do to get there is a lot of it is mental.
05:10And a lot of it is making sure that we, first of all, know that we can go to opposition grounds and take something.
05:16We should know that. We should have the confidence to be able to do that.
05:19Looking at what we did to Coventry for the majority of the game, to Millwall, to Preston, even to the likes of Sheffield United.
05:26So we should have that and we should have that in abundance.
05:29And then I think it's just about putting everything else together as well.
05:31That concentration for 100 minutes, not just concentrating for 90% of that, making sure that we keep on top of ourselves and go and finish the job.
05:38And hopefully, having learned the lessons we should have learned from those away games over the past few weeks, we can go and put that all together at Norwich.
05:44Just some broader issues. The agent's fees in the championship have been released in recent days.
05:50Ports were second lowest.
05:53Firstly, just the numbers. I mean, Leeds at the other end, it kind of just probably represents what you're up against.
05:59And, you know, it probably translates into play and budgets as well.
06:02The hierarchy with Leeds up there, way ahead of everyone else, probably down with the Oxford and Derby's.
06:06Does that show the picture of what the championship's like in terms of that?
06:10Yeah, I think so. I don't think anybody's been under any illusions this season about where we are with play and budget.
06:16And I think that's been reflected in, if you see the support that we've had throughout the season.
06:21So when we've lost games, the support's been there. We've drawn games, the support's been there.
06:24Whether it's been those narrow losses, the big losses, I think the fans are fully with us in terms of what we're trying to achieve and what we're trying to get out of this year.
06:32And, yeah, it's probably another reminder of some of the levels in the championship and some of the money that, you know,
06:38some of the money that you have to spend to possibly secure the services of some of these players.
06:42And, yeah, it was obviously the Leeds figure was absolutely massive.
06:47There's some big figures in there as well. So, you know, we try our best to minimise that as a football club.
06:52I think it's one of those things that is absolutely necessary.
06:54And whenever we do pay agents fees, we like to think that we structure things really wisely and try and protect the football club as best as possible.
07:01But if we want to get players in the door, then we have to speak to agents and we have to pay fees.
07:05And that's one of the necessities of the game.
07:08But just on the list, I mean, I think Hull were fourth in that list.
07:11Just under lines, that spend is no guarantee of success at this level as well.
07:18Yeah, I mean, you can look at agents fees.
07:19The bigger, probably the one that everybody's more interested in is probably going to be actual wage structure as well,
07:26which no one knows for certain, but you can have a good guess at it when the figures come out from the EFL.
07:32And, yeah, that's the case, right?
07:34I think we probably saw that last year.
07:36We've seen it this year that spending a huge amount doesn't necessarily guarantee you anything.
07:41And vice versa.
07:42And that's the beauty of football, I think.
07:44That's the beauty of football.
07:45That's the beauty of the season.
07:46Even though, yeah, by and large, probably within certain margins, more often than not,
07:52sides with certain budgets will end in certain league positions.
07:55But there's scope within that to try and change your own outcome and change your own destiny.
08:00And I think that's what's been great about this season.
08:02And I think we've battled through really well to get to January.
08:06I thought we spent wisely in January and gave ourselves half a chance to hopefully compete towards the back end of the season.
08:12And, yeah, it's all about making sure that we make the most of that in the last four games.
08:15Well, you've certainly bridged the gap this season.
08:17I think you've also spoken, honestly, about if Pompey were to stay in the championship,
08:21the evolution and growth of the club in that way as well.
08:25Yeah, and that's probably something that during the season, when you have a bit more time to think about it,
08:29that's something that we've thought about from a club development standpoint.
08:33Right now, we've got, by the time of the weekend, we've got two weeks left in the season.
08:37So we're just fully focused on those games, particularly myself.
08:40And I know that everything's still going on behind the scenes at the football club
08:43to make sure that we're in a good position for next season.
08:45But certainly for myself at the moment, it's just full focus on the next four games.
08:48Yeah.
08:49Rob Atkinson, Heroic, and all these words were bandied around quite right to it at the weekend on Moria.
08:55Can he go to the well again in quick session this weekend?
08:59I think he can once. I doubt he'll be able to do that twice.
09:02I think we've spoken about Rob's desire to play for the football club and how appreciative we are of it.
09:07And I think that's echoed.
09:09I didn't realise quite how much Rob has appreciated what he's got back from the football club as well.
09:15So I'm pretty sure that Rob will probably want to go twice this weekend.
09:19But we'll have to be smart about that because we still have two games to play after that.
09:23And as much as we've probably missed him at the weekend, there still is a young footballer in there that we have to protect.
09:28You haven't had Bristol City on the phone saying, what are you doing here?
09:31No, look, they're a really, really good relationship with the football club over at Bristol City,
09:37whether that's with the coaching staff that we know really well, or Brian, the sporting director.
09:42And, you know, I think it's a healthy relationship after what we did in January and we're trying to help their player.
09:51And yes, certainly no fingers pointed.
09:52I think they know that we're, yes, we might have taken a risk, but we're still trying to be responsible with it.
09:57And, you know, the more Rob plays as well, the better it is for Bristol City.
10:01Yeah. I know you mentioned a side about Canon Lang would like to get back this season,
10:06but it seems like he really is trying to get back to some degree.
10:11I mean, does that not surprise you, knowing that as well?
10:13Yeah, it doesn't surprise me at all.
10:15Carl, he's been training now for the last couple of days, but he is a bit further behind.
10:22I think the likes of, say, Shops and Rob.
10:24So I think Langley was originally a 12-week injury that we're 10 weeks into, I think.
10:29The other issue we have with Langley is, you know, the way that he plays, he's all action, he's 100% all the time.
10:36And centre-back, speaking from experience, you can sometimes just sort of plot up at the back and work your way through games.
10:42And I don't think Callum's got the ability to do that, or I know he hasn't.
10:45So we have to be a bit more careful with him.
10:47So we'll see where he is, probably at the back end of next week.
10:50But I'm very doubtful that we see him again this season.
10:53Very doubtful, but not entirely out of the question.
10:56Not entirely out of the question, but 99.9%, sure.
10:59Is that just, you've got to protect him from himself almost sometimes?
11:02Yeah, and that, the protection from himself, and the fact that we have to look at it and go,
11:08well, have we got a fully fit player coming onto the football pitch as well, as much as Cal wants to come back and play.
11:12So, yeah, we just have to be very careful with it.
11:14Also, I guess the situation comes into play as well, isn't it?
11:17If you're going into the final day still and not decided, then that might affect your thinking, possibly.
11:21Yeah, and again, we've spoken about that at length this year, probably why we got Rob back in quicker than we would have anticipated.
11:28Particularly, I mean, started thinking about it off the back of the Millwall game, and after we played Coventry,
11:32I thought, you know, if we've got half a chance of playing him, then we need to push him back.
11:35So we'll see what that looks like with all the injuries.
11:38Yeah.
11:38Connor Schott-Nessie, we spoke at the weekend.
11:40You sort of, hopefully, could play some sort of part in the Norwich game.
11:43Has that moved on now?
11:44Yeah, we're probably at Sheffield Wednesday with Shocks.
11:47I think, again, he's come back well, but he's only had two training sessions.
11:53So I don't think it's fair for Connor.
11:56Connor's got a different sort of injury record this season to most as well, having hardly featured and having picked up soft-issue injuries.
12:04So with Shocks, I don't think we'll see him until Sheffield Wednesday, and even then it will be for a short period of time.
12:13I think we'll, you know, sort of 10, 15 minutes then.
12:14Okay.
12:15Any other business on the injuries?
12:16I don't think so.
12:17I think that's everything.
12:18Did we say Tom's one of them?
12:20Tom's having a scan today, so we'll get the results of that this afternoon.
12:23And Alex Milosevic you spoke about as well.
12:25Yeah, Alex.
12:26Alex has got a tear in the calf.
12:30It's not too severe, but with two weeks left of the season after this weekend, I think by the time we have him getting back training, I think it's unlikely that we'll see him this season.
12:39But you never know.
12:40We'll see.
12:41Cheers.