John Mousinho talks Pompey transfers

The News, Portsmouth

Pompey head coach speaks to The News following the opening of the summer transfer window.

Transcript

00:00So John we're in the new conference room, meeting room is this at the training ground?

00:07Yeah this will be our new analysis room so everything's coming along really nicely. I

00:10know you guys have had half a tour, we'll finish that off in a bit but yeah things have

00:15come across, things have progressed really nicely over the summer and it's going to be

00:18great to move into this new building. We've been talking about it for a while now and

00:21it's all come together. There's a few bits that we still need to do but only minor bits

00:26before the start of the season. We're looking forward to all getting into this building

00:29and moving over.

00:30Yeah it's worth pointing out this is not finished, there's still plenty of work to do in the

00:34building so yeah before people jump off the building.

00:36Yeah we want to get everything right and sometimes getting everything right means you just take

00:40a couple of extra days in it, a couple of extra weeks. One of the things we do want

00:43to wait for as well is players to come back in the building. There's a couple of players

00:47coming in areas that we want to get their feedback on and not just put everything in

00:51and then have a few complaints for the back of it. So just making sure all those small

00:54bits are right but we've got a bit of time still, we've got a bit of time till the start

00:58of the season and the most important thing for us really is going to be the fact that

01:02we have a couple of areas boxed off when the players come back. The gym is probably the

01:06most important bit with the physio room which is all done and the players' changing rooms

01:10have been done for a while and the pitches have both been dug up and reseeded and re-laid

01:15in areas so they should be brilliant for the start of pre-season, those are the most important

01:19bits.

01:20In terms of the transfer window which opens on Friday, how do you make progress on that?

01:25Obviously there's a huge amount that we know behind the scenes and we feel we're in a really

01:31strong position. I know it's contrasting to last year in terms of the amount of business

01:35that's been done but there's been no surprise to us. First of all it's been a really slow

01:39transfer window for everybody and second of all the circumstances around where we are

01:43this year are different to last year so we're really pleased with the fact that we got Jordan

01:48Dunne, we got Jordan over the line and that was a real top end free agent as far as we

01:53were concerned and a player that we've been really excited about and we've followed for

01:56a while. And then to get Conor Ogilvie's contract renewal done as well, we're really happy with

02:01that and so it's just about building and making sure that we don't rush into anything but

02:05we know that the season or pre-season is around the corner and we do want to get some bodies

02:09through the door but we feel we're in good positions and we feel really, really confident

02:12that we're going to be in a strong position by the time that we report back.

02:16In what respects is the market different this time around?

02:18I think it's just different in terms of the fact that we've gone up a league and the competition

02:22that we have for signing players has changed. I think that it's probably no surprise that

02:28at the top end of League One that Portsmouth, just as a pull and just as a club with the

02:32club size, that was a massive attraction to players and I still think that is, I still

02:36think that the size of the club, the history of the club, everything that goes with coming

02:42down to Portsmouth and Fratton Park is a massive pull for players. I think we're just competing

02:46with a few different clubs at the minute and almost every club in the Championship is massive

02:51in terms of club size, stadium history, a lot of them are established in the Championship

02:56for a while so that's definitely something that we're working hard on to make sure that

02:59we do make sure that players know what they're getting into when they come down here and

03:03that is just different from last year where we were competing with a completely different

03:06set of clubs to sign players.

03:08Is Jordan Williams a good example of that because there were other Championship clubs

03:13in for him?

03:14Yeah and that was no surprise to us because Jordan's had a fantastic career so far. At

03:19He's played a huge amount of games, he's played for three seasons I think in the Championship,

03:23three full seasons, he's had a lot of success. He capped in Barnsley last year, a decent

03:28Barnsley side and we probably saw, I know this wouldn't be the focus of all Portsmouth

03:33fans but that night at Fratton Park, that Tuesday night, I thought Barnsley outplayed

03:36us, they were much better than us. I thought Jordan played really well on the night and

03:40he's been part of that side that's had a lot of success over the past couple of seasons,

03:43narrowly losing out in the play-off finals and the play-off semi-finals and obviously

03:48off the back of that as well, having that Championship experience. So Jordan was a player

03:52that had a lot of interest and we had to work hard to get his signature, particularly because

03:56he spent the majority of his time or all of his career up in Yorkshire and to get him

04:01down and to get him to commit to come down with his young family I think is a sign of

04:06where we're going as a football club and also a sign of Jordan's commitment as well.

04:10Are you close to anything else at the moment?

04:12Yeah, there's a few bits. We're relatively close on them. I'm obviously speaking to Rich,

04:19the recruitment team, every day in terms of making sure that we keep every iron in the

04:24fire that we need to. Again, I think probably the window's been relatively slow so far as

04:30a whole, there hasn't been a huge amount going on, particularly in the Championship and I

04:33think that probably now, with a couple of weeks to go until players start reporting

04:38back for pre-season, I think there's probably going to be more of an urgency on players'

04:41sides to make decisions and to decide where their future lies and I expect things to start

04:47moving if not this week then next week but we are relatively relaxed about the situation.

04:52We're obviously working hard behind the scenes and making sure that we tick every box that

04:55we need to tick on our end and then just making sure that we, first of all, hope for the right

05:01outcome in terms of the top targets and we have plenty underneath that as well just in

05:04case they don't come off.

05:05Are you expecting any more in this week alone?

05:08Possibly, possibly but I don't know, I'm not sure. Again, it depends on a number of

05:12factors but from our point of view we're doing everything we possibly can to get these players

05:17in there. The most important thing is to make sure that we get the right players at the

05:20right time and we don't panic on anything and we give players enough time to make the

05:25correct decisions so, again, it's different to how it was last year. I think we were able

05:31to announce a raft of signings in the first week or so of the transfer window opening

05:36and I think year on year everything's different. Of course, we spoke a lot about getting business

05:41done early last year, that was just something that we were able to do. We want to get our

05:46business done as early as possible, it's just not always the case and there is that fine

05:51balance between making sure that we get our business done as quickly as we can but also

05:55take the players that we want to take.

05:57You mentioned off your calliography signings contract, what's the latest from Marlon Pack?

06:01I'm going to catch up with Rich today but I think there's been positive talks for the

06:06last couple of weeks and that's something that I think we're confident we've been able

06:09to get done so hopefully we'll have that done and dusted and boxed off relatively soon but

06:15I'll catch up with Rich today and find out what the latest on that is. Again, I know

06:20we speak about this a lot but one of the real advantages of this structure at the football

06:25club is that my interactions with Marlon are purely on the football side and I don't have

06:28to get involved in the contractual or the money side of it so Rich is taking care of

06:31everything there with Marlon's agent and, yeah, it does really allow me to separate

06:35the two and to make sure that when hopefully Marlon comes back for the first day of pre-season

06:40all our focus is on everything that goes on in the grass and we don't have to worry about

06:43anything contractually.

06:44But obviously the message is it's encouraging anyway?

06:47Yeah, it's encouraging and I think everybody at the football club will be really pleased

06:51to see Marlon back for next season and he had such a fantastic year last year and it

06:57was obviously by his own admission I think a dream come true to be able to do what he

07:01did and he was fully deserving of everything that came to him in terms of the awards, in

07:06terms of the accolades that he got and the recognition he got as the club captain and

07:12we absolutely love working with him. It was a pleasure to have as club captain, I'm sure

07:15as everybody in the media and all the fans and everybody else connected with the football

07:18club knows so to get Marlon back in the building will be a real positive for us.

07:23And finally, Joe Morell and Zach Swanson were situated there?

07:26Again, I'll catch up with Rich today on those two but that's something that I think

07:31is still ongoing between the agents and the football club so yeah, we'll probably have

07:36an update a bit later on close to pre-season.

07:38First with Joe Morell, would you like him to stay?

07:41You know, Joe's a fantastic player, I think there's some areas that we have to make sure

07:48that we get right, actually with both of them and we had reasons for not taking up the options

07:54on both of those two so it's just about getting that balance right and obviously with Joe

08:00we've got the injury to contend with as well but Joe's an international player, I thought

08:05he was excellent last season for large periods, obviously captain the side in the absence

08:10of Marlon as well so regard Joe really highly and we'll get the update in terms of where

08:15that's going later on.

08:17And Zach?

08:18Yeah, similar with Zach, again just trying to get that update. Zach, sad, I thought when

08:22he played I thought he had a really good season, I thought he was excellent when he came in

08:28and deputised, I thought he'd probably start the season deputising for Joe Rafferty and

08:31towards the back end we used him interchangeably with Joe because I thought we had that luxury

08:35towards the back end of the year, we always spoke about team selection, I thought after

08:38certain games where we'd change full-backs and Zach was the one that came in against

08:42Barnsley, unfortunately he got injured against Barnsley but I think everything's resolved

08:46on that side so yeah, we'll get the update later on today and see where we are.

08:50Is Zach now fit and okay?

08:52Yeah, Zach's fine now, it's that ongoing problem that he's got with the groins but

08:57he's been working hard over the summer to make sure he's back.

09:00So hopefully that's fine now?

09:01Yeah, that should be fine.

09:02Thank you.

09:03Perfect.

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