Portsmouth arrival Josh Murphy admits what he accidentally called John Mousinho in training
New Portsmouth signing Josh Murphy admits he has had to get used to the idea of John Mousinho as his boss during pre-season training.
Murphy, speaking to Andrew Moon on BBC Radio Solent [12 July], confesses he was initially calling his head coach “Mous” rather than the esteemed “gaffer” title on the training field.
The duo played together whilst at Oxford United before Mousinho hung up his boots to take on his first managerial role at Fratton Park.
“It’s been a bit weird to start with because I remember him as a player – one of the boys told me I was shouting ‘Mous’ to him when he joined in with the practice,” Murphy laughed.
“But you could always tell he was going to be a manager even when I was playing with him – the way he carried himself with the boys [at Oxford] and even led some sessions.
“As a manager he’s awesome to work with and has some great ideas, and we spoke quite a lot over the summer.”
Murphy brings nous for Mous at Portsmouth
The acquisition of Murphy is a useful one for Portsmouth, who were able to capture the 29-year-old on a free transfer whilst his stock was particularly high, after his Wembley display secured Oxford’s place in the Championship.
The closeness of the winger with Mousinho will no doubt have played a major part in his arrival, and the head coach is pleased with what he has seen from his former teammate so far whilst the squad are put through their paces in 35-degree Croatian heat.
With the priority for Portsmouth being to recruit Championship experience, the knowhow of Murphy picked up during his career is vital – Pompey will be the sixth club he has represented in the division across almost 200 appearances in it.
When you add Murphy’s Premier League spells whilst with Norwich City and Cardiff City into the mix, Mousinho knows the value of the player he has bagged for the Blues.
The objective now for Pompey is to build on the spine of the squad they have ahead of a challenging first handful of fixtures, starting at Leeds United in four weeks’ time.
In other Portsmouth news, the club still hold hope of signing Alex Robertson back from Manchester City.
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