Pompey boss John Mousinho Bristol Rovers presser

The News, Portsmouth

Pompey boss John Mousinho speaks to The News ahead of the League One opener against Bristol Rovers at Fratton Park.

Transcript

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.

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