'Amazing' – Exclusive: John Mousino hailed by ex-Oxford United teammate after Portsmouth title win

26/04/2024 16:17

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho has been lauded by former teammate Josh Murphy for his work since taking over at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth made the move to hire Mousinho as manager in January 2023. It was one that raised eyebrows, and there were sections of the Pompey fanbase who didn’t approve of the move.

The 37-year-old had never held a management role before, only working as a player-coach with Oxford United.

However, Mousinho’s impact at Fratton Park has been huge. With the help of a fantastic recruitment drive last summer, he turned Portsmouth into this season’s League One winners after years of near misses in pursuit of and in the play-offs.

His work has drawn high praise, with the most recent coming from his former Oxford United teammate Josh Murphy.

Speaking exclusively to Sky Bet on behalf of The72, the in-form Oxford man highlighted Mousinho’s football knowledge and character when hailing his work since leaving the Kassam Stadium.

He said:

“John Mousinho has done an amazing job.

“His first full season as a manager, to get promotion, I think that speaks for itself. He is a really good guy, even though I didn’t spend long with him, it was maybe six months.

“He was in a player/coach role here, so did a lot of training and was probably one of the best players in the training sessions, but his football knowledge is brilliant and he’s an all-round great guy.

“Hat’s off to him, he’s done a brilliant job.” 

On the way up

Mousinho’s achievements at Portsmouth are seriously impressive but as they close out the League One season and prepare for the Championship, they won’t be looking to stop there.

Pompey are a club who found success in the Premier League in the 2000s. Dreams of a return there might seem far-fetched at the moment, but they’re a well-supported club with a forward-thinking manager and off-pitch staff members, one being sporting director Richard Hughes.

There will be ambitions of returning to the promised land. Talk of that soon may be a bit early, but therre’s no reason why those at the club shouldn’t dream.

As Murphy highlights, Mousinho is an intelligent boss and having achieved such a feat in his first full season, a bright future in the dugout lays ahead of him. Portsmouth will be hoping he can spend much of the coming years leading them in their bid to kick on further from here.

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