View: Mousinho knows what’s needed to avoid ruthless Portsmouth plan for future
Portsmouth supporters are beside themselves with concern at the moment, with the Championship table making for grim reading.
With the Blues propping up the division having taken just eight points from 12 games, any initial hopes from the Fratton faithful of anything beyond mere survival have evaporated.
The focus has zoomed straight in on ensuring they finish above three teams this year, and my absolutely not naive belief is that the club have what it takes.
The factors at play here include standard of opposition, injuries and adaptation to the level, all of which Pompey have had to contend with more than most.
Not to mention, while last Friday’s [25 October] home defeat by Sheffield Wednesday was hair-tearing, the Owls had just three points at this stage of last season; they finished 20th on a total of 53.
Birmingham City, by contrast, were in and around the play-offs at this point, as sacking John Eustace for Wayne Rooney proved disastrous for their campaign, unable to recover in an essentially purely self-inflicted relegation to League One.
Portsmouth have time to turn it around
Pompey fans have been seething that the 2-1 win at QPR on 19 October – their first at this level since 2012 – couldn’t set the ball rolling, instead preceding successive defeats to sides who will arguably not rank too far ahead of them come May.
While John Mousinho’s army have struggled with the quality at times – swept aside by the likes of Sunderland and West Brom at Fratton – they have also grafted their way to some creditable draws, and have been minutes away overall from around double their points total. Managing games through to the end with laser focus is vital.
The state of play appeared to be that while Pompey were receiving the benefit of the doubt this time last month, October was underwhelming to the point Mousinho is believed to have little in the tank off the back of the League One title.
Former Blues hero Gareth Evans even admitted after the Sheffield Wednesday defeat that the head coach has potentially just next week’s three games to save his job.
But it’s important a degree of calmness is kept intact – haste won’t get Portsmouth anywhere, and will only yield panic stations and further poor results.
It is worth bearing in mind also that while Portsmouth should not rely on dipping form of other clubs. The bad spell has surely reared its worst head while rivals are yet to endure their period of intense struggle which comes as part and parcel of the Championship.
Hull City [2 November], Plymouth Argyle [5 November] and Preston North End [9 November] are the triple-pronged test before the international break. And while I do not believe this 270 minutes of football should dictate Mousinho’s employment, it could be potentially season-defining.
Four points, minimum – if not, then start to produce a ruthless plan for the near future.
In other Portsmouth news, Mousinho lauds Terry Devlin after what he did recently.
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