Pompey boss John Mousinho gives the latest Blues update ahead of the Championship trip to Watford on Boxing Day.
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00:00Here with Pompey boss John Massino. John, how do you break Fortress Vicarage Road on Boxing Day?
00:09Obviously they've been outstanding at home in Watford.
00:11Yeah, they've been really good, really good at home.
00:14Yeah, we obviously have a game plan in terms of how we're going to approach the game.
00:18I think that the most important thing is that we go there with that sort of freedom in possession
00:26because I think the pressure is very much off us.
00:28There's a huge amount of expectation, I think, for Watford to go and win the game
00:32and to dominate the game at home as they have been doing.
00:35So we can go there with a bit of freedom and certainly enjoy ourselves.
00:39I think on the defensive side of it, we're obviously going to come up with a plan
00:43in terms of how we're going to press and how we're going to close down.
00:45Probably can't quite be as aggressive as we have been at home
00:48and might have to sit up and concede a lot more possession than we'd usually like to.
00:52But yeah, I think that's the respect that we have to show a side that's got so much talent in it
00:57and is really littered with options.
00:59And like I said, the pressure will certainly be on them to win the game.
01:03So for us, we can go there and enjoy it.
01:05But such a buoyancy around the club, effectively.
01:08I know Watford lost in the last time out but in good form
01:11and obviously Pompey in good form themselves going into the game.
01:13Yeah, and I think that's a really interesting one.
01:16Certainly over the last few weeks, I've been really pleased with the form
01:22and really pleased with some of the performances that we've put in
01:25and some of the results that we've had.
01:26And it's about stringing that together back to back and going again on Boxing Day
01:30and going and making sure that we make a good fist of it.
01:32So I think a really exciting game to have.
01:35It's a great local-ish game.
01:37It's just not quite as far as the away fans have been travelling recently.
01:40I know it's still a good old trek once you get up to Watford.
01:43But yeah, I guess some relative local comforts for everyone
01:48and hopefully we enjoy a really good Boxing Day clash.
01:50What do you put the broad improvement in results, shall we say, down to?
01:55I think there's always a lot of factors.
01:57Whenever things aren't going well and whenever things are going well,
01:59I think there's reasons for both and there's a lot of factors that go into it.
02:03I think we've had some really good individual performances.
02:06I think lads have really stepped up to the plate
02:08in terms of what they've been bringing to the side.
02:11Collectively, as a group, I've seen a lot of togetherness
02:14and I've seen a group that's hungry for everybody to do well
02:16and they're willing to work together.
02:18The biggest traits, I think, really for me,
02:20are the amount of work that's been put in by the boys
02:24and the running stats that we see every week
02:26when we're competitive in games are through the roof.
02:28We're very good total distance. The sprinting distance is good.
02:32We show these to the lads after the game
02:34because I think ultimately you just have to run to win games.
02:37If you run, you give yourself half a chance.
02:39It's not particularly glamorous or sexy,
02:42but it does tend to win you football games.
02:45For anybody that watches any football at any point,
02:49that for the majority of the country up and down the leagues is the case.
02:54We've really had that work great.
02:56I think the game plan the lads have bought into
03:00and they've got on top of that.
03:02We've probably had a few bits of luck here and there that have gone away.
03:05Look at the weekend. A really interesting one
03:07because on another day we go 2-0 down
03:09and maybe the result is very different and the whole afternoon is different.
03:12We get a bit of a slice of luck. Maybe we earn it
03:14because Nico stands up and he makes the save
03:16and we get back into the game after that.
03:18But previous games this season, maybe that goes in
03:21and the game is very different.
03:22You have to rely on that a lot in football.
03:24We speak about the fine margins.
03:26There were fine margins even on Friday night when we lost to Derby
03:29that meant that we went in three goals behind at the break
03:32rather than one goal behind or rather than maybe all square.
03:36We didn't do enough to earn that against Derby
03:39and a bit of luck against Coventry and got ourselves back into it.
03:42You mentioned Nico there.
03:44He seems to continually pull out those significant moments in-game.
03:49He's got to be close to signing the last summer for yourself.
03:56He's come in and I think particularly coming in from a foreign country
04:00and looking to have that settling in period.
04:02He's done that really well.
04:03He's not taken a huge amount of time to adjust to the level,
04:07adjust to the league, which is a really quick league
04:09and which is one where there's going to be a lot of demands on him.
04:11He's not coming into a side that's completely dominant
04:13and doesn't face a lot of shots.
04:15There's been times when we have really relied on Nico
04:17to keep the ball out the back of the net.
04:18I think if you look at Saturday, that was a really good example.
04:21You can go back to the Swansea game where Nico was excellent
04:24and a couple of other games to be honest as well
04:27where he's made really, really big saves at crucial moments
04:29and on top of that his distribution and his calmness is excellent.
04:32He also got down to the feet.
04:34I think at the weekend he smothered the ball really well.
04:36If not as quick and if not as front-footed and aggressive off his line
04:40he wouldn't have been able to do it.
04:41So I'm really pleased with his contribution.
04:43You talked about his distribution there.
04:44It's decent but it seems obviously safety first as well.
04:48Is that something you're impressed on him
04:49with the way you've adopted how you've played this season?
04:51Yeah, Nico isn't worried about playing short
04:56and he's actually very good at it
04:58and that's one of the reasons we recruited him.
04:59If we want to play from the back a bit more
05:01then he can certainly do that.
05:02It just hasn't felt that it's the right thing for us to do at the moment
05:05and we want to make sure that we don't invite too much pressure
05:08and Nico's got that kick that can go a long, long way
05:10and we want to make sure that we use that as a tool against sides as well.
05:14So yeah, that's really one of those things with Nico.
05:17We think his distribution is really good.
05:19We want him to take sensible options on the football pitch
05:22and if there are moments to play he actually can do it
05:25and he has done it and we want him to take advantage of that as well.
05:27Has that calm assurance meant something
05:29given the make-up of the back four has changed around a fair bit this season as well?
05:33Yeah, and I think that we've got that in the goalkeeper department.
05:36We've got three goalkeepers that do their business
05:38and they're very, very calm when they do it
05:40and they do spread a lot of calmness into the back four
05:43and I think that whoever plays in there
05:45it's always good to have that experienced head
05:47and to make sure that sometimes the game's slowed down
05:49and you know that if the ball does go past you as a defender
05:52you've got a goalkeeper there who's going to make the save
05:54and yeah, we're blessed actually in that department
05:57where we've got three goalkeepers and a fourth out on loan
05:59that we think can do that.
06:00What about the significance of climbing out of the drop zone
06:02and the mood that has around the place as well?
06:05Yeah, it does. It has some effect but nothing's done at the moment
06:09and we've made that small step which is really, really good.
06:13I don't think we can place too much on it
06:16because we looked at it the other week, we did it the other week
06:19and then had to rely on a couple of other results on the Wednesday
06:22to make sure we were still out of it
06:23and that might happen at certain times during the season.
06:25It's much more about what we do and making sure that we win games
06:29but certainly it's nice to look at the table when we're there
06:32and we've got to try and strive to make sure we get as many points on the board
06:36so we can keep building on what we've built so far
06:39and make sure we don't end up there at the back end of the season.
06:42Sometimes you can hit runs or pick up decent results
06:45and you go in and look at the table in the dressing room afterwards
06:47and it doesn't look any different.
06:49I know it's a small thing but to have something tangible is a philip of sorts.
06:55We've had to build that up over the past number of weeks.
06:58When we won our first game of the season, I think it did lift us to the bottom
07:03because we beat QPR but we still had plenty of work to do
07:08in order to catch everybody above us
07:09but because we've put together a decent enough body of work now
07:12I think since that last international break after the Preston game
07:16things have felt a lot better and the table looks a bit better for it.
07:19There's always names emerging. I know what your reply often is
07:23but Joe Ward was one mentioned in recent days.
07:26Is there any significance in that name?
07:28No. Joe, as far as we're concerned, isn't available and wouldn't be one for us.
07:34Just on the 25-man squad situation, is that something that's a real...
07:40you may have to make some really tough calls
07:44given what you would like to do in January
07:46and having to bounce that off against the 25-man squad at your disposal.
07:50I know you've got 21s as well.
07:52We might do. We might do. We don't know.
07:54We don't know what that looks like yet.
07:56Definitely, we had to make some tough calls in the summer as well.
08:00It's something we might have to do. I don't know how that pans out.
08:03We're not sure who we're going to be able to sign,
08:06how many we're going to be able to sign,
08:08which players are going to come in that are going to shift other players out,
08:10what age those players are going to be.
08:12It's something that we have to take on case by case.
08:16Are you looking to do the amount of recruitment
08:19that would then put an extra focus on that potentially?
08:22Well, if we recruit one, we have to move one out.
08:26Even if we only do one or two, then we still have to move players out.
08:31The focus will be on that. We're not going to have players coming in
08:34and then players in the building that are just deregistered.
08:38We obviously didn't have that intention this year,
08:40but we've ended up with a couple of players
08:41that weren't registered and available to play.
08:43Our goal by the end of January is to not have any players
08:47in and around the squad that aren't eligible to play.
08:49So, two things from that.
08:51That would infer that you're looking to sign players 21 and above for one
08:55because they don't necessarily count if you sign them on a permanent.
08:57Would that be true?
08:59Naturally, if we do, then obviously we've got to shift someone out.
09:05If we bring somebody on that is younger than that,
09:07then that's absolutely fine.
09:09Age has never been a barrier for us in terms of who we're going to sign.
09:12The other thing we've got to be wary of is if we do sign five youngsters,
09:19even if they're good enough for the level,
09:20we've still got a decent squad size and we still need to move players out.
09:24There's still only limited spaces on the bench every weekend.
09:26Regardless of the actual squad numbers we're able to register,
09:29we still have to think about the squad size and the squad numbers we've got anyway.
09:32Again, from that, it doesn't sound like you want to be in a situation,
09:35even though it'd be a horrible call to make,
09:37where you would have to potentially deregister someone
09:39if they couldn't find anywhere to go.
09:41No, we wouldn't want to do it.
09:42If we had to do it, we'd do it.
09:43We're not in the business of making friends here.
09:45We're in the business of making sure that we stay in the Championship.
09:47So, if that happens, it happens.
09:48But we want to be fair for players' careers
09:50and we want to make sure that they are eligible to play football.
09:53I think that's the fairest thing for footballers is actually to be able to play their trade.
09:58You've said about you've got enough players in the development category,
10:03shall we say, in terms of the squad at the moment.
10:05What does Championship experience look like to you?
10:09Because many people would think it would be someone in their late 20s
10:12with 300 games to their name.
10:15Is it that or does it take another form?
10:17It can take any form, really.
10:19It's not about having games at this level.
10:22It's not about having games at the level above.
10:24It's about us assessing whether players are ready to come in and play at this level.
10:29That's all it is.
10:31We just have to make that call and that's what recruitment is about.
10:33It's looking at somebody who might have 500 games in the Championship
10:38and might not be the right players to come in in January.
10:40They might not be the right fit.
10:41We might think, no, they're actually not good enough to come and play in the Championship.
10:44It could be the complete opposite as well.
10:46All it is for us when we talk about bringing in players that are ready to play,
10:51it's about assessing players that can come in and make an impact straight away.
10:56To be honest, we're still never going to ignore the players that we think,
11:00if they're available and if there's good business to be had.
11:03We're not going to avoid the players that we do think build value in the squad.
11:06We're not going to take any of those players over
11:09or instead of players that we think are going to come in and affect us now.
11:12So there won't be a negative impact on the ones you can do now?
11:16Yeah, we still don't want to ignore that because of the lead position we're in.
11:20We don't want to ignore what we're trying to build in the football club.
11:22Would it be that perhaps if there's a player available now,
11:24you might not get in the summer or could lose out to a rival in the summer?
11:28Does that then accelerate doing a deal for a younger player now?
11:30Yeah, quite possibly.
11:32But again, it really depends on what that player has been brought in for
11:37and if the player is ready to come and impact the first team
11:39and that fits one of the number of players that we're bringing in to do that,
11:42then absolutely fine.
11:43That might be a player that's young, that might be a player that's old.
11:47You never know, you never know what it is.
11:49We need players that definitely come in and impact the team.
11:52Have you got a clear idea of the profile of players you'd be looking for in each position?
11:57I guess you wouldn't necessarily close yourself off to one.
12:00Yeah, it's always an interesting one.
12:03I think we talked about the profile of centre-half that we were after last week
12:07and I sort of flippantly talked about the complete centre-half.
12:12To be honest, it's just good players and sometimes we're in a market,
12:16particularly in January, where I think that's what you can be
12:20when you're at the very, very top.
12:21You can go out and you can have a very, very specific profile of player
12:24athletically, technically and everything in between that you want to go and target
12:28and you want to take because you've got unlimited resources
12:30and you can attract those players.
12:32We don't necessarily have that luxury,
12:34so we have to just make sure we bring in good players,
12:36good players that can impact us within reason, obviously.
12:40We're not going to start doing things that are completely against the way
12:42that we want to play, but that's definitely a consideration for us.
12:46I guess you don't know what opportunities you're going to present yourself as well.
12:49There might be something that comes up that often does in the window
12:52when things go late.
12:53Between now and January 1st, things will change.
12:56We've got three games by the time that January 1st is finished
13:00and then by the time we get to mid-Jan, things will have changed again
13:05and things like the FA Cup will come into it with the pressures of Premier League squads
13:12and the fact that a lot of Premier League clubs hold on to players until that date,
13:15like they did with Miles Harris last year.
13:17So there's going to be a huge amount of changes.
13:19That's why sometimes the back end of the transfer window,
13:22I guess for everybody watching externally, is so exciting because things change so quickly.
13:26Players become available at the drop of a hat and you've got to be ready to act.
13:30I just wanted to ask you about some movement at your former club, Oxford.
13:33A former manager, obviously you know all about Gary Rowert.
13:35What do you make of that?
13:36Obviously, it's never nice to hear the manager has lost his job,
13:40but I know Gary from a time at Burton and he was only there briefly
13:44because he actually left to go to Birmingham three months into the stint there,
13:47but he was excellent for me.
13:50I had a lot of time for Gary, still keep in touch with him, still speak to him.
13:54He was a really, really good manager when I had him.
13:57It was no surprise that he went to a higher level and has done so well since then.
14:00He's had a lot of success at a few different clubs.
14:03That's one of those where, sort of wish him well, but sort of don't.
14:09All the best.
14:10Fair enough.
14:11Just injuries then, John.
14:13Some new ones at the weekend, wasn't there?
14:15What's the latest on the bits and pieces from that?
14:17Yeah, so from the weekend, Eli trained today, Abdi trained today, no issues there.
14:21Harvey hasn't trained, so Harvey won't be available for the weekend,
14:24but those two will be available and back in to the squad.
14:27We've got Jordan Williams and Jacob Farrell,
14:31who both did parts of the training session with us today.
14:34Jordan's a lot closer to a full return, which we expect him to fully return to training,
14:38if not tomorrow, then when we get back from Christmas and he'll be back with us
14:41and Jacob should be back and available for the new year.
14:45Sorry, did you mention Terry Devlin there?
14:47Terry's fine, yeah.
14:48Hamstring wasn't it?
14:49Hamstring, yeah, Terry was available to play, but just not to start the weekend, but now he's okay.
14:53Is there any movement on the other lads, Mark Omani, how's he now?
14:56Mark's okay, he's still a couple of weeks away.
14:59Cass still, I think he's still got his knee brace on, so yeah, nothing imminent with Cass.
15:05Mark will be with that next sort of spate of injuries, hopefully coming back in the new year
15:09with Connor Shotton still involved.
15:10Any other business on that?
15:12No, no, that's it.
15:13No, no other injuries for the weekend, clean bill of health after the game,
15:17no injuries that we picked up.
15:19So there's always a couple that we did last week, we picked up the illness to Eli
15:24and the niggle to Rabdu towards the back end of the week,
15:26so you never know what's going to come, but nothing serious.